Chapter 32
Without either Jay or Erin really noticing it, four months quickly flew by and winter turned into spring and spring gave way to the beginning of summer. Like the weather that was quickly heating up, Erin felt like the cases they were dealing with were getting more and more intense.
Like this current one.
"Five women!" Voight roared, slamming his palm on the whiteboard. "Five women dead and we still have no connections between any of them."
On the whiteboard were the faces of the five murdered victims— all white women, in their 20s and 30s, and all looking like they were the picture of suburbia. Only all of them were found slashed to death and dumped in dumpsters all around Chicago.
"Now these women all look like they belong in some kind of mommy group," Al remarked, studying the pictures. "There are no evidence of them at least knowing each other?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, I've scanned through all of their social medias and they weren't following each other, didn't follow the same pages. No indication that they knew each other."
"But Al, you're right about one thing. All of them were mothers," Erin added. "They all had kids."
"Husbands?"
"Some of them were married, yeah," Jay replied to Al's question. "Not all of them. Two were married and the other three were single mothers. Either divorced or a dad was never in the picture."
"The way their bodies were killed and discarded though, it's cruel. Almost like overkill." Erin remarked, her heart going out for all those poor women.
"But not all of them had signs of sexual assault right?"
"Right Serge," Kevin replied. "Although all of them were found with traces of semen."
"So what are we thinking here? They were working girls? Caught in a bad situation?"
"Okay, let's start with that theory. Go talk to your CIs, reach out to whoever is in the know, we're not stopping until we find a connection. Got it?" The team nodded.
"So Tara got the all clear from her doctors yesterday," Erin said happily, joining Jay in the break room. "She got the go ahead to start her physical therapy."
"That's good," Jay smiled, handing Erin the coffee he was preparing for her. She took a sip, closing her eyes at the taste. District coffee wasn't always the best but Jay always knew just the right amount of sugar and creamer to put to make it somewhat bearable. "When is she going to start?"
"Ewan said that he can be here as fast as tomorrow so tomorrow." Jay quirked his eyebrow at the mention of Ewan. "What?" Erin retorted, catching his look. She pressed her lips together, tilting her head. "What's that look for?"
Jay shrugged, focused on stirring his own cup of coffee. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah but you gave me a look."
"What look?" Erin arched her brows, trying to imitate Jay's earlier look. "That's just how I look all the time!" Jay claimed. Erin stared him down. "Okay," Jay said, giving in. "I just think it's interesting that a doctor that's renowned like Ewan could just drop everything that easily."
"Well, he got Tara scheduled in for months. It was just a matter of when," Erin explained. She stepped closer to Jay. "And I thought you weren't jealous of Ewan anymore?" She had thought Jay had made his peace with Ewan and his unrequited feelings for her back in New York.
"I'm not jealous," Jay immediately denied. He bent his head down to meet Erin's eyes, a teasing smirk on his face. "I'm not. I trust you. Besides, I know I'm much better looking than him." He grinned.
"Yeah much better in bed too," Erin replied.
"Damn righ—- wait! What?" Erin smirked, getting Jay right where she wanted him. "What?" Erin just shrugged, decidedly mute, enjoying Jay being flustered. "Erin."
"What?" she replied, innocently. "I told you that you were better in bed. I thought you'd take that as a compliment." Jay narrowed his eyes, catching the teasing smirk on her lips.
"You know that's not very funny," Jay said, finally realizing that Erin was just teasing him. Erin smacked his chest lightly, Jay catching her hand and holding it. He glanced out the window of the break room to see if they were being watched, satisfied when he saw everyone just doing their own thing. It was still a balancing act for them, trying to be professional as they could be at work but unable to hold back on showing affections.
Before they were extremely professional, mostly because of Erin and Jay had gone along with it, just catching stolen moments in locker rooms and their cars here and there. But this time around, Erin had been more relaxed about her need to be professional at work and Jay had taken full advantage of it. Like now. He brought her hand that he was holding to his lips, dropping a kiss on it. Erin smiled, returning her hand back on his chest, splaying her palm on the hard pecs.
"So you're going to be busy tomorrow then?"
"Yeah," Erin replied. "I told Tara that I'd be there for her first session, at least until she feels comfortable with Ewan so I'll be at Chicago Med." Jay nodded, knowing that there was no way Erin would break her promise that she made to Tara months ago to be there for the woman. "You'll be okay by yourself?"
Jay rolled his eyes, as if to say 'of course'. "I'll be fine. It'll give me time to see my other girlfriend." Erin smacked his chest, not appreciating his joke. "I'm kidding!" Erin pointed her finger at him to say he'd better be kidding before grabbing his face and giving him a quick kiss.
"I'll kill them all," Erin teased, Jay flashing back to the one of the few times he could recall Erin getting jealous. After all, it wasn't like Erin had a reason to be jealous.
Erin grimaced when she saw the dead body on the ground, the slash marks on the poor woman's battered body were gruesome enough for Erin to want to throw up. And she was usually good with seeing blood. But there was something about a person stabbed to death numerous times before being tossed into a dumpster like trash that was just extremely sad. She crouched down, getting a closer look.
"She was in the dumpster?" The patrol officer nodded.
"Yeah, the motel manager called it in. Found her body when he was taking out the trash." Erin glanced over to the motel manager who was standing a few feet away, giving his statement to Jay. She thanked the patrol officer and walked over to Jay.
"It was horrible," she caught the tail end of the manager's statement, Jay taking notes in his notepad he carried around.
"Have you seen her around?"
"Yeah," the manager replied. "I have. Several times." The manager leaned in closer. "She might've been a call girl. She was here several times in the past two weeks. Never got a room under her name though. Just had a room ready to go."
"Did you get a look at any of the guys she was with?" Jay questioned.
The manager shook his head. "This isn't the best motel in the best area so we do get a lot of things like this. I just...I was just taught not to ask questions, as long as the room is paid for. I'm sorry." Jay nodded and the manager left, leaving Erin and Jay alone.
"It would make sense," Erin spoke, running over the information they've gotten over the case. "A couple of the other women were found in dumpsters with motels nearby. We knew that it was a possibility." Jay nodded, agreeing with Erin.
"Let's get this back to the team."
"I reached out to a CI of mine and I think we can safely confirm that these victims were all prostitutes," Antonio said to the group, to the surprise of no one. "This CI, she's a call girl and said for the past three months, they've seen a downturn in business because of new competition."
"That's one way to put it."
Antonio ignored Adam and continued on. "A new major player on scene. His speciality is white clean cut women."
"We ran the financials on the victims and they were all struggling money-wise. Most of them didn't have jobs and those that did were living paycheck to paycheck. The motel manager also said that the motel is a hotzone for prostitution and he has seen the latest victim a couple of time prior to her death." Erin stood up and faced the group. "Guys, I think we've found the newest prostituion ring in Chicago."
"Only this one is more discreet," Jay added. "No one is going to see these women on the streets and think they're hookers. Look at them." Jay pointed to the women on the board. "No prior records on any of them. They just all seem like women that fell on hard times and saw no way out."
"Any idea who's the pimp that's whoring these women out is?"
"My CI gave us a few leads," Antonio replied, pointing over to Kevin. "Kev has narrowed it down to a few possibles."
Kevin stood up and walked over to the whiteboard, pasting a picture on it. "Lou Hammington a.k.a Sweet Lou. Served a dime in Leavenworth for pimping and got out six months ago and relocated back to Chicago. Before that, he also did time for assault. Now me and Ruzek scanned through the pods and see if we can put him on the map on any of the locations and he was seen hanging around a couple of the motels that the victims were found at."
"Great," Voight said. "I need the warrant for his arrest in my hand like yesterday."
"Voight, all the evidence we have right now are just circumstantial. We need something more substantial if we're going to go after him," Erin explained. "Besides he may be the handler but we still have no indications that he was the one that killed these women."
"Aside from his prior record, the same M.O and the fact that he's pimping these women out."
"Yeah aside from that," Erin snarked back. "We need to find out the motive. If he's the pimp then why would he literally kill off his profits? He can't make any money without them."
"Where is he getting these women from anyways?" Jay added. "Doesn't look like they run in the same circle."
"Do your jobs and figure it out!" Voight barked. "I want that bastard in front of me by today." They all exchanged looks with one another, knowing to be quiet whenever Voight became like that. They were all about to return to work to find out the information needed when the phone rang, Kevin picking it up.
"There's been another victim," he announced to the group, hanging up the phone. "Polk Motel."
"Eww," Erin whispered to herself as she and Kim entered the fleabag motel. To call the motel run down would be a compliment as it looked like it was about to literally fall apart and the stench of alcohol and just indescribable stink greeted the Intelligence team as soon as they stepped into the motel.
"No five stars accommodations here," Kim joked, her voice sound nasally as she held her nose closed.
Erin scoffed. "Five stars? This place would be lucky if it got one." The two partners entered the room that the victim was located in. The newest victim differed from the previous one in this one major way— instead of being dumped in the dumpster, she was found in the room. Judging by the plastic tarp that was strewn aside in the room, it seemed as though whoever was responsible for the murder was planning on dumping the body but had scattered before he was able to.
"Who was the room registered to?" Erin questioned the motel manager, who still seemed in shock at the body that was covered by a tarp to hide the gruesome nature.
"Um…" the manager thought his answer over, "To Logan Something or another."
Erin arched her eyebrows. "No last names?"
"We're not exactly by the books type of establishment here," the manager replied. "As long as the guest has cash, we're told by the owner to not ask any questions. I mean, we rent by the hour for god's sake. We're not exactly getting the most upscale clientele here."
"That's all the more reasons to get the proper names then isn't it?" Kim chided. "To keep records in case things like this go down."
The manager held up his hand. "Hey, I don't make the rules. I just follow the ones set by the owner." Erin and Kim rolled their eyes, telling the manager that he was able to leave. Erin walked over to the body and knelt down next to it, slowly removing the tarp that was covering the body to see who the victim was.
"I know her," Erin voiced, seeing the familiar looking face of the victim. She wracked her brain trying to figure out just who the woman was. The woman was blonde, mid-30s if Erin had to guess, looked similar to other victims— like the opposite of what a prostitute would look like. Erin felt Kim next to her, taking a closer look at the woman.
"Hmm," Kim frowned. "She doesn't look familiar to me." Erin narrowed her eyes, still trying to find out where she knew this woman from. "We still don't have an I.D yet for her." Kim added.
"Erin?" Erin heard Jay's voice coming from down the hall and finally things snapped into place for her. Jay's voice had triggered the memory of where she knew this woman from. Erin's eyes widened and she quickly worked to cover the body up again and stood up, trying to intercept Jay before he entered the room.
"Jay!" She got there in time, stopping Jay from entering with a hand on his chest. He looked at her in confusion wondering why she was stopping him from going in. She held him in place. "Jay," she slowly said. "There's something you should know before you see the body."
"What is it?" Jay asked, his concern growing over the strange way Erin was acting. "Are you okay?"
She patted his chest a couple of times, taking a deep breath. "The victim...it's Lissa Egan." Hearing Jay's voice led Erin to remember just who the woman lying dead on the floor once. She had only met this Lissa Egan once before— at the funeral for Lissa's husband, Terry Egan. The woman had been inconsolable then, having to bury her husband while she was pregnant.
Erin would never be able to forget the turbulent time when Jay worked as security for the dispensary and the ambush that nearly killed him and killed his friend, Terry Egan. It was the first time Erin had truly realized just how much she loved him and just how close she came to losing him. That was also the first time she saw a glimpse of the weight Jay was carrying on his shoulder— one that Will had inadvertently let slipped out about before. Survivor's guilt— Dr. Charles had told her once in one of their old sessions when she was working through her own guilt over Nadia's death. Jay carried that around with him— that guilt of making it back from Afghanistan while many of his friends and comrades didn't, that guilt of surviving the ambush attack while Terry bled out to his death underneath the freeway overpass, that guilt that drove Jay into leaving their home and led to their breakup— and she knew that despite him trying to work through it in his group sessions, it was something that would never truly go away. After all, hers over Nadia's death hadn't. It was something she still carried around.
Jay looked like he didn't believe her and he moved past her to the dead body and lifted away the tarp, confirming the identity of the deceased.
"What? How?" he could barely stammered the words out, his hand covering his mouth in shock. "She's not a prostitute? How could this happen?" Erin couldn't provide him an answer. All she could do was join him by his side and laid a comforting hand on his back— rubbing the tense surface and trying to show him that she was there for him.
"I'm so sorry Jay." He didn't reply, just kept his eyes on Lissa whose lifeless eyes were staring back up at them, empty yet haunting at the same time. Erin reached over to grab the tarp from him and covered her body back up, not wanting Jay to look at her any longer. They'd seen enough.
"Lissa Egan," Jay spoke, voice rough and eyes red. "She was 34 years old, had a 3 year old son named Jordan, her husband was Terry Egan…"
Erin knew he was having a hard time continuing on so she did so for him. "Terry was the victim of the ambush attack that Jay was in four years ago," Erin started, reminding everyone of the case they all worked years ago. "Um, we ran her financials and found out Lissa lost her job about six months ago and was about to lose her house. She didn't have any family in the area so she was left to raise Jordan by herself. That's where Lou probably came and took advantage, knowing that she needed the money."
"So he tricked her out? Damn," Kevin exhaled, shaking his head. Everyone had their eyes on Jay as he paced back and forth in the bullpen, worried about him. They all had cases that weighted more heavily on them than others and they all knew that losing someone he knew would weigh more heavily on Jay.
"We searched her home and found a log of the clients she kept," Kim held up a small notepad in her hand. "And going through her list, it seems as though Lou kept getting bigger and bigger cut with each client. So we're thinking that maybe some of the girls that were working for him decided that enough is enough and decided to fight back."
"And he probably didn't take it so well so he started off-ing them one by one," Erin added. "Probably thought no one would put the pieces together since the victims didn't fit the usual stereotypes."
"Hey guys," Platt interrupted them, a frightened looking woman following behind her. "This is Melody. She has some information regarding the case." Voight pointed his finger at Erin, telling her to take care of it. Erin stood up and approached the woman, smiling at Platt as a thank you.
"Hi Melody? I'm Detective Lindsay," she said softly, trying to get the woman to feel more comfortable. "You have information about the case that could help us?" Melody didn't reply. Her eyes were glued to the pictures on the whiteboard, specifically on Lissa's picture. Erin followed her gaze and gave her a sad understanding look. "You knew Lissa?" Melody nodded. Erin glanced around the room and lightly placed her hand on Melody's arm. "Why don't we go talk in the break room, just the two of us?" She led Melody in the break room and closed the door.
"I shouldn't be here," Melody began, eyes darting back and forth around the room. "I shouldn't have come."
"Melody, whatever information you may have can help us greatly. We want to catch who did this to those women? To your friend, Lissa. But we need your help. Please." Melody closed her eyes, dropping her head down. Erin held Melody's hands. "I promise you Melody, you're not going to get in trouble here," Erin reassured the woman, thinking that Melody didn't want to come forward because she didn't want to get in trouble for soliciting. "We just want any information you can tell us. I promise you that."
Melody nodded. "Okay, then I know who killed them."
"Who?"
"Lou," Melody confirmed. "He's umm..he's our handler. I guess that's what you call those guys. Or a pimp. I don't...I don't really know." It was understandable to Erin, Melody fitting the description of the other victim herself. "I've never done this before but times got hard. My child support payment stopped coming in and I had to support my daughter somehow. I tried getting a job, I swear I did but I couldn't afford daycare while I worked or anything so I had no other options. I was about to get evicted from my apartment. Me and my daughter were about to be thrown out on the streets."
"And that's when you started working for Lou?" Melody nodded. "How did you meet him?"
"He approached me at a grocery store," Melody replied. "I was at the cashier and I didn't have enough money and my daughter was crying. I was about to have a breakdown and that's when he stepped in and paid for my groceries." She let out an empty laugh. "I thought 'wow what a nice man' at first. But I should've known there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"So he saw you were having a hard time and he just threw out an offer to become a prostitute?"
"Pretty much," Melody said. "I thanked him for paying and asked him how I could pay him back. He said he had a business opportunity for me. Told me that I wouldn't struggle for money again. LIttle did I know what the job was. Of course I told him to fuck off at first then my daughter got sick and I couldn't afford to take her to the doctor so I did it one time, promised myself that it was only going to be one time."
"But it's never just one time," Erin finished for Melody. After all, Erin had been there herself. She had been 14, cold and hungry and saw no other way to get the money she needed. So she sold the only thing she had— herself. She understood the desperating that Melody and these other women went through. "How long have you been working for him?"
"Four months."
"And that's how you know Lissa?"
"Yeah. The girls, sometimes we get sent out in pairs or groups. Depends on the clients. I met Lissa during one of those times. We got to talking and realized that we were pretty much in the same situation and became friends." Melody started crying. "I can't believe she's really gone."
"Melody, you said you were sure that it was Lou who did it. What makes you so sure?"
"I heard it straight from him." Erin frowned, waiting for Melody to continue. "We started out giving Lou half of our cut. None of the girls ever done this before so we don't know the rules or the rates. But Lou said it was more than generous for us to be getting half. Then he wanted more and more, said he can't afford to give us that big of a cut anymore, that he had his own bills to pay." Melody sighed, lacing her fingers on the table together. "Of course we tried to protest at first. I mean we were the ones that had to go and actually sleep with random strangers and we were barely making it as it is. Lou didn't like it, started slapping some of the girls around. Some of the girls tried to get out but now they're on your board instead."
"You're saying that all those victims tried to get out of the game?" Melody nodded. "And Lou couldn't have that happened." Now it made more sense to Erin. Why Lou was willing to kill women that would've made him money. It was because if the women got what they wanted, they'd no longer be working for him and would stop making him money.
Erin glanced outside the window, seeing the picture of Lissa. Lissa wanted out and she lost her life because of it.
"Melody," Erin turned back to Melody, "how would one get in touch with Lou?"
Erin followed Jay into the office downstairs, her hand on his back as a sign of support. He was all tense and rigid, not that she could blame him. He hadn't said much since they found Lissa's dead body and he pretty much went dead silent after finding out just what kind of life Lissa was leading after the tragic death of her husband. She knew somehow Jay felt responsible for Lissa having to resort to prostituting herself to make ends meet. That was how Jay was. He bore the brunt and carried the weight of the world on his own shoulders so others wouldn't have to.
Waiting inside of the office was a young woman in a suit and next to her was a little boy— blond and tiny— and Erin's heart cracked at seeing his scared little face. Jordan was only three and he had already lost both of his parents in senseless ways. Her heart went out to the innocent young boy who would have to grow up without knowing his mom and his dad and would in all likelihood end up in the system.
"Hi," the DCFS worker greeted them. "I'm Linda and I'll be working Jordan's case." Erin tried to return the smile but it was hard to find anything to smile about in this case. Erin directed her gaze down to Jordan who was sitting in the chair, holding onto his teddy bear tightly in his hand.
"Hi Jordan." He didn't say anything, just tossing an unsure look to both her and Jay. Jay hadn't said anything yet, just standing there silently taking everything in. Erin stepped around him to take the lead, knowing that he needed her to. "What's your bear name?"
"Teddy." Erin smiled— a more genuine one this time— and reached over to shake Teddy's hand.
"That's a nice name," she told Jordan.
"My mommy said it sounds like my daddy's name." With that, whatever little thing that was holding Erin's heart together completely broke. She felt her eyes glistened but she held them back as much as she could. She'd have to be strong here. Especially as Jay noticeably bristled at Jordan's words and muttered a few variations of needing to get out of there and he quickly made his way out of the office. Erin wanted to go after her boyfriend and just hold him as he fall apart in her arms and then piece him back together but she knew Jordan was the priority for now.
"I'm sorry," she told Linda. "It's...it's a hard case." Linda nodded, giving Erin an understanding look. During her time at SVU, Erin knew just how hard these cases got. A case involving a child— especially such a young child at that— was never easy. Add a personal connection to that? Then it became just near impossible to keep any distance and professionalism in that.
"I'm really sorry to hear about Jordan's mother but seeing as though she was the last remaining parent for Jordan, we're going to have to put Jordan under our care, until we find a relative willing to take him in or we can place him in a foster home."
Erin knew all of this already— could recite the procedures when it came to tender aged child forward and backwards. "I don't think he has any close relatives that live around in this area," Erin informed Linda. "I really don't want him to go in foster care. Not if we can help it. Until you can find a relative, is it possible for Jordan to stay under my care? I mean, I'm a police officer. My boyfriend knew Jordan's parents and I think that he'd really love it. Just temporarily if that makes it better."
Linda gave her a sympathetic look. "I know that people are wary of foster care system but really, sometimes that's the best option for the child. I can promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that Jordan gets a good home. I wish I could release Jordan to you but even temporarily, my hands are tied. I have to follow the proper procedures."
Erin sighed, accepting Linda's answer. There was nothing she could do but let Jordan go in the system, for now at least. "Please do me a favor?" she asked Linda. "Just please keep us in the loop about him. He's….he's really important to us."
"Of course." Erin stepped aside as Linda and Jordan stood up and made their way out of the office. Erin waved, a smile on her face, as Jordan waved goodbye, holding up Teddy in his hands. "Bye Jordan."
Erin found him just where she'd expected he'd be— in the locker room, hunched over on the bench with his face in his hand. His breathing was harsh and strained like he was having a panic attack and immediately, Erin made her way over to him, her own heart in her throat at finding him in that state.
"Breathe Jay, just breathe," she stroked his back, hoping to calm him down. But he was far away from her right now. He wasn't hearing her— far too stuck in his mind to hear anything around him. "Babe," she tried again softly but to no avail. Finally, she crouched down in front of him, her knees on the ground, and held his face firmly in her hand. "Jay, I'm here. You're okay. You're going to be okay." She repeated that over and over again, stroking his jaw with her thumbs, hoping that she could break through to him because he was scaring her. "Just breathe." She took deep breaths, showing him to do the same and follow her lead. Every inhale and exhale of his was shaky but soon it began to make a difference and he slowly came back to her. She was still holding his face, needing that contact for her own sake. "You're okay, you're okay."
His breathing slowed but remained just as shaky as before and he blinked rapidly several times, like he finally realized what happened. "Erin," he breathed out and all she could do in that moment was to connect their forehead together, pressing hard against him. "I…." he began, trying to explain what happened.
"Shhh," she whispered softly. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'm here." He nodded against her forehead and took in deep breaths, still trying to return to his normal state. Finally she pulled away to get a better look at him, giving him a smile as he met her eyes. "Better?"
He nodded, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I can't….I couldn't stay in there," he explained. "Seeing Jordan, hearing him talk about his parents. I couldn't."
"I know. It's okay."
"No it's not!" He shook himself out of her hold suddenly, catching her off guard. "I failed his dad and he's dead. I failed his mom and she's dead and I failed him because I'm too weak to stay in the fucking room when I needed to? It's not okay."
"Jay," she reached for him again, Jay evading her comforting touch. "None of this is your fault! What happened with Terry and what happened to Lissa, it's not your fault!" She would repeat that a million times if it was what it took for him to believe her. Because it was the truth. Because he needed to hear it.
"We were a team. When we went on those bank runs, we were supposed to be a team and I didn't protect him. Then I promised myself that I wasn't going to fail Terry again and would be there for his family but I didn't keep that promise." He tugged at his hair. "I didn't know just how much they were struggling Erin. That Lissa had to sell her body for money. I didn't know any of that was happening. And now Jordan, he lost both of his parents. That's my fault!"
"Jay, Terry's death...as horrible and as tragic as it was, it wasn't your fault. You were caught in an ambush attack. You had seconds to react and you know you did everything you could. Lissa, you didn't know."
"I should have!"
"Why?" she said right back. "You had a lot on your own plate okay? Jay, I love that you are the type of man that cares that much about others, that you want to carry that load on your shoulders but it wasn't your responsibility." She knew she sounded horrible right now but to her it was the facts. Jay wasn't responsible for Lissa and Jordan, no matter how guilty he felt about Terry. If Erin needed to be the bad guy in this and say these things to make Jay see the truth, then she'd gladly be the villain.
She tried reaching out to him again and was slightly relieved when he didn't move away, letting her hold his face so he was looking at her. "This isn't your fault. None of it. I know that you checked in whenever you could with them and you know people, they have their pride. That was probably the reason why Lissa didn't say anything to you about what she was going through. There's no way you could've known so please, don't blame yourself for this." He closed his eyes, leaning into her hold.
"It's hard," Jay admitted. "To be one left standing when people around you get hurt and die. To be the one who goes home at night and sleep in my own bed when they can't ever again." Erin nodded, understanding where Jay was coming from. She knew that it was the biggest source of Jay's guilt— that he made it home when his friends didn't. That he was the one who had to tell the wives and parents of the fallen soldiers that their husband and son wouldn't be coming home. That was why Terry's death hit so hard for Jay— because Terry was supposed to home already. He had made it, he survived being overseas. But instead of living a happy life with his wife and their son, he was gunned down in the streets. And now his wife was gone too— all because she lost her husband and had to do whatever it took to survive.
"I know babe, I know." She thumbed his face lightly, tracing the lines that had made their way on his face. "I'm sorry." She gave him a soft kiss, just a small connection of their lips. He brought his hand up to keep her head in place and reconnected their lips, stronger and firmer this time. She happily obliged, happy to give him the comfort he needed in that moment.
They had left the district early, their plan to catch Lou having set for the next day. Despite not having eaten since breakfast, their appetite didn't make its appearance that night and they both opted to just go to bed early.
Erin brought up the blanket to her chest and turned her head to look at Jay lying next to her. He was so close physically but he still felt so far away. She knew he had a lot on his mind and that despite their conversation in the locker room, he was still having a hard time. She knew the feeling of guilt well herself. When Nadia died, she plunged into deep grief that was fueled by guilt— guilt about bringing Nadia into her life, guilt for being the reason why Yates even saw Nadia in the first place, and guilt about getting Nadia killed. She knew, now, that she wasn't at fault for Nadia's death— that Yates' actions fell on him and him only— but back then, she couldn't let herself see that. So she understood just exactly how Jay was feeling.
She turned her body towards and scooted closer until his back was against her chest. Slowly she brought her arms around his body, covering him in her embrace. She was the big spoon, protecting his fragile heart and mind tonight, keeping the demons away. She felt him relaxed a bit in her arms and he scooted back until he was completely flushed against her and she tugged him even closer to her. She smiled into his hair when he held her hand that was resting on his stomach, lacing their fingers together. She was grateful that he was letting her be there for him tonight, that he was reaching out to her instead of pushing her away like she did him during her grief. She voiced that gratefulness with a kiss on the back of his head, closing her eyes as her lips remained on him.
He clutched her fingers tighter and she slid her leg in between his. She didn't need to say anything— knew that it was better not to say anything. Sometimes words weren't necessary and just physical touch was the better antidote. She moved her lips from the back of his head to the crevice of his neck and letting her lips remain there— it wasn't sexual or meant to arouse him. It was just a much needed connection— her lips on his skin, the pulse on his neck beating rhythmically under her lips as both of them drifted off into sleep.
Erin wasn't surprised to not find Jay next to her the next morning but she was surprised to not find him in their home at all. She got worried until she saw the note he left for her on the kitchen counter, next to the coffee he had made for her, stating that he wanted to go in early and didn't want to make her.
After a much needed shower and a quick breakfast, Erin bounded up the steps to the 21st district, hoping that their plan to catch Lou would go smoothly and they could put the case to rest.
"Lindsay," Platt called from her desk and Erin made her way over, giving the desk sergeant a small nod. "I saw Jay came in early today. He okay?" Erin nodded, knowing that Trudy was truly concerned for Jay if she was calling him by his first name and not Halstead or any of the colorful nicknames she had came up for him over the years.
"It's just a tough case," Erin said, Trudy giving her an understanding look. Erin was about to make her way up but stopped and turned back around. "Actually Sergeant, do you think you can help me with something? It's really important."
"Of course," Platt immediately answered, not hesitating a bit. "What do you need?"
Erin saw Jay already at his desk, head down and focused on something on his computer. He heard her footsteps as he looked up and gave her a small smile, as if to tell her without words that he was okay. But she saw the dark circles underneath his eyes, the tight pull of his lips and she knew that he didn't get a good enough sleep as he needed.
"Okay, we're all set!" Voight announced to the group as he came out of his office, Melody following him and Erin hurriedly made her way over to her own desk and sat down. "Today, we're stopping this bastard from killing any more women."
"What's the plan again?" Antonio asked.
"Melody here has agreed to help us out and arranged a meeting with Sweet Lou for today," Voight explained to the group.
"And how did she do that?"
Voight turned to Olinsky. "Told him that she had a new girl that was interested in working for him. He bought it easily," Voight shrugged.
"Probably because he lost half of his work force," Adam snarked under his breath.
"So one of us going undercover?" Hailey spoke up, pointing to her, Erin and Kim. Voight nodded. "Who is…" Before Hailey could get her question out, Kim raised her hand.
"I volunteer," Kim said, standing up. "I mean, if you don't mind sir, I volunteer to go undercover. I know I don't have a lot of experience with going undercover but I really think I can do this. Besides, I want to get more experience." Voight shrugged, about to agree to Kim.
"Whoa no way!" Melody shouted. "I'm risking my life here going against Lou and you're not sending me in there with someone inexperienced. I need someone that I can count on when things go sideway. Not someone that's going to get me killed."
"Hey!" Kim shouted, offended. "I can do this!"
"If you send me in there with her, I'm out! You hear me?" Melody argued right back. She turned to the group and landed her eyes on Erin. "How about her? She looks like she knows what she's doing and I would feel far more comfortable going in with her." Erin sputtered, not knowing what to reply. It wasn't as though she had a problem going undercover, she just didn't want to step on Kim's toes, knowing just how much the other detective was dying to go on an undercover mission.
Voight turned to Erin, asking her wordlessly and Erin just shrugged, leaving it up to them. She saw Jay about to protest about sending her in but before he could, Voight agreed to Melody's terms.
"Alright, Lindsay. You and Melody then. Go get changed." Erin nodded, sending a small apologetic smile over to Kim who just waved it off, letting Erin know she was fine.
"Sir," Jay stood up, stopping Voight from going back into his office. "Is this really a good idea? Sending in Erin to meet with someone as violent as Lou?"
Voight licked his lips, glaring at Jay. "You got any other bright ideas to catch this Lou in the act Halstead? If so, please do share with the group." Jay crossed his arms, his jaw tensing. "We're going to be listening in the whole time and Erin'll be wired up and we'll be able to watch the whole thing."
"I get that but you know as well as I do that having eyes and ears on the inside pretty much means jackshit when things go sideways," Jay bit back, referring to what happened with him and Derek Keyes when he went undercover. There were a lot of things that could go wrong when it came to missions like this, especially when the target was someone as violent and vicious as Lou.
"Jay, I got this." Erin said, holding his eyes. Jay set his jaw, his muscles tensing as he sat on the edge of his desk. He tsked, obviously unhappy about Erin being sent in.
"Are we doing this or not? Because the meeting is in half an hour and Lou hates it when people are late." Melody interrupted.
"Go get changed!" Voight ordered Erin again and she nodded, making her way into the locker room and trying to avoid Jay's eyes on her way there.
"I don't like this." Erin turned to find Jay stomping his way into the locker room, his face troubled. She zipped up the skirt she was wearing for the mission and laced up her thigh high boots before turning to face him.
"Jay, I'll be fine." She placed her hand on his chest, hoping to ease his worry. "I've done this hundreds of times before."
"Yeah I know that," Jay returned, sighing. "But this Lou. You saw how he cut up those women and killed them. He's dangerous Erin and I don't like the fact that you're going in there with the purpose of riling him up so he'd lose it and attack you."
That was their plan for the mission— Melody would make the introduction of Erin being interested in working for Lou then Melody would drop the bomb about wanting to get out. Their goal was to get Lou angry enough so he'd lose control and get angry and hopefully he'd incriminate himself and would let out that he would kill them like he killed all those other women and they'd catch him on tape. It was definitely a risky plan and Erin knew a lot could go wrong and there was a big chance of Lou actually attacking them physically and Erin would have to fend him off but it was a chance she had to take if she wanted to bring him down and bring justice to all those women that were murdered— Lissa included.
"I know you're worried."
"I'm terrified!" Jay corrected her, holding her hand that was on his chest and bringing it to his lips. "I can't lose you Erin."
"You won't!" she reassured him. "I'll be okay."
"You can't promise me that," Jay argued. "No one can." She knew how hard it was for Jay to show this vulnerable side of himself and the fact that he was doing so was because he was going through his own battle. She just wished she could promise him that she'd be alright but he was right. It was a promise she couldn't make.
She cupped his face and met his gaze. "You're right. I can't make that promise, no matter how much I want to. But I can promise you this Jay. That I'm going to do whatever it takes to come home to you. I'll fight like hell if it means I get to be with you." She leaned forward to kiss him, searing her promise into the kiss. He held her face, caressing the skin with his thumb. "I'll be okay. I know you're watching my back." He kissed her forehead, resting his lips for a while before reluctantly letting her go so she could finish getting ready.
"I got you," Jay told her. And Erin knew without him needing to voice it that he'd always have her back. After all, he was her back-up and they were the type of partners that mattered the most— life partners.
Erin's heart thumped hard against her chest, adrenaline rushing through her body. Although she knew Jay was worried and anxious, she couldn't deny the familiar rush that came over her at going undercover again. It had been a while since she last went on a similar mission but they had always been her favorite— both at Intelligence and at FBI. Her time at SVU didn't require her to go undercover much and she missed it. She used to live for missions like this in her younger and more reckless days. It used to give her life before she knew what really made her happy in her life.
"Ready?" Poor Melody was looking like a nervous wreck, knowing the dangerous she was about to walk into. Erin grabbed her hand. "Melody it'll be fine. I'll be right next to you the whole time okay? And the whole team will just be right outside, ready to come in if something goes wrong." Melody nodded, letting Erin's words of reassurance wash over her. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Melody replied, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this," she said, knocking on the motel door.
Soon enough, Erin stood in the dingy motel room, trying to stay still as Lou scanned her body up and down with his beady eyes. Erin felt like she needed a shower just from the way he looked at her alone, grunting approval every so often at what he was seeing.
"Turn around." Erin did as ordered, feeling Lou's eyes on her ass. "Hmm, not bad. I can do some business with you girl."
"Great," Melody cut in. "Told you I had a good one for you."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Lou replied. "Here's the terms sweetheart. 70-30. That's 70% of the cut for me and 30 for you. That's a nice little deal I'm offering you because I think I can make a lot of money off of you."
"I need more than 30," Erin replied.
Lou laughed. "Ask Melody here if it's a good deal," Lou retorted, "Other bitches only get 20%." Erin nodded, accepting the deal. Lou smiled deviously. "Good answer, sweetheart. Not that you had much of a choice anyway."
"Great!" Melody said, clapping her hand. "Now that we have a deal, we can talk about what I get out of this."
Jay listened in on the conversation that was taking place in the motel room, his leg bouncing up and down in place. He wasn't happy at all with the plan and he had a gut feeling like something was about to go wrong. He knew Erin was capable of taking care of herself, she was a badass and she was a professional when it came to going undercover. He knew all that. But she was also the love of his life first and foremost and he would always worry about her. Especially when she was putting her life at risk and baiting someone as unhinged and violent as Lou. Every time Jay closed his eyes, he saw the vicious and gruesome way the victims were slashed to death. Their mangled bodies tossed in the dumpster, Lissa's dead eyes staring back at him, all blood drained from her body from all the knife wounds on her body. Lou did all that. He inflicted all those knife wounds and slashes on his victims and now Erin was in the room with him, trying to incite his anger so they'd get his confession on tape.
"Your cut?" Jay heard Lou's laugh over the headphone. "What makes you think you're going to get a cut?"
"I did bring you a girl," Melody responded. Jay had to hand it to her, she didn't sound scared. "I'm owed something for my effort right?"
"What do you want then?"
"I want out," Melody demanded, following the plan. "I want to get out and she can take my place." Jay saw from the pin sized camera Erin wore that Lou was touching Erin now, putting his dirty hands all over her. Jay tensed his jaws, trying to contain his anger at seeing Lou paw his girlfriend freely.
"I don't know how much this bitch could make me yet," Lou said, "I'm not letting you go just yet."
"She's good, I can promise you that," Melody replied. "She'll make you lots of money that you won't miss me Sweet Lou. You'll be too busy with setting up dates for her."
Lou walked over to Melody and without warning, he backhanded her, Melody crying out in pain. The Intelligence team was ready to make a move but Voight held his hand up, telling them to stay in place. "I told you you're not getting out bitch!" Lou roared, screaming in Melody's face. "What is it with you whores? Always wanting out sooner or later, like you guys have any other options. Do you realize just what I have done for you sluts? Do you remember just how hungry and desperate you were when I found you and gave you jobs and put food on the table for you? Now all of you guys want out, you ungrateful bitches! Why? Huh? Are you too good for me now?"
Melody shook her head, tears coming out of her face. "Lou, I'm sorry. But it's just….your cut has gotten too much. We're barely making enough money now!"
"Do you think I get to keep all of the money?" Lou shouted again. "Huh? That I get to keep the whole cut?" He slapped Melody again, Erin running over to her trying to stop Lou from hitting her again.
"Hey!" Erin shouted, protecting Melody by stepping in front of her.
"Move bitch!" Lou pushed Erin who stumbled back from the force. Jay stood up, his anger boiling over at seeing Lou push Erin. He was ready to barge in and taking that anger out on Lou until that bastard couldn't eat solid food for the rest of his life.
"Sit down!" Voight barked. "We don't have the confession yet." Jay gritted his teeth, wondering just how his Sergeant could stand by and watch. "Sit!" Jay complied, muttering curses under his breath.
The team saw Lou made his way over to Melody now, grabbing her by her hair and tossing her aside like she was a rag doll. "You're not getting out ever! You hear me?" He spat in her face, like he completely lost control of himself and Melody was quivering in fear, nodding profusely just so Lou would let go of her hair.
"Let her go!" Erin shouted, trying to pull Lou off of the woman, but he was far too strong and too consumed with his rage. "Hey!" Erin yelled again, hoping to get his attention away from Melody and focused on her. Lou turned his fury onto Erin, tossing Melody to the side who fell on the bed in a heap, sobbing. Lou grabbed Erin by her hair now, holding her in a tight grip. Erin fought back as much as she could, trying to pry his hold off of her. She kneeled him in his groin and he groaned out in pain, his hold on her loosening and she took the chance to help Melody up, ready to make the exit out the room if they needed to.
But Lou recovered, pulling out a switchblade from his pocket and the unmistakable noise of the blade unsheathing from its holder stopped Erin in her tracks. The two women turned to find Lou with a sinister grin on his face, holding up the knife in his hand.
That was enough for Jay and he pulled off his headphone, ready to barge his way inside and get his hands on Lou but he felt Voight grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down in his seat.
"Serge!" Jay protested, his face red with anger. "We need to go in now!"
"Not yet! Not until we have a confession!"
"He has a goddamn knife out!" Jay screamed. "It's Erin!" He saw Voight's jaw muscles working but the Sergeant didn't change his stance, keeping Jay in place with a hand on his shoulder.
Then everything happened in a blur. Jay lost all semblance of control and order when he saw Lou charged towards Erin and Melody, ready to stab the two women like he did to all of his victims prior. Erin barely had enough time to push Melody out of the way before she narrowly escaped getting stabbed by Lou. Then she was locked in a battle for her life as she tried to hold Lou off, dodging him as he blindly swung his knife around, trying to make contact with whatever flesh he could. Melody tucked herself in the corner, making herself no help to the battle as Erin tried to fend Lou off.
Jay pushed off Voight's hold on him, not giving a damn about the order to stay and he ran out the surveillance van to the motel room. All he had on his mind was to get to Erin and kill the bastard for even putting a hand on Erin. All he saw was the red burning rage in his eyes when he kicked the door open with his feet and saw Lou's menacing form over Erin, his girl holding her hand in pain.
Jay could barely registered Lou's shouts of 'I'm going to kill you bitch! Like I killed all the others!', his hands grabbing Lou's shirt to turn him around and punching him hard across the face. Jay punched him again and again, the knife knocked out of Lou's hand and they both fell to the ground, tumbling. Jay didn't hear Erin's voice telling him to stop, he didn't hear his team coming in ready to make the arrest, he didn't hear them actually getting Lou's confession on tape. There was no sound in his ears. It was like all of his senses shut down, making way for one lone sense to overpower everything else because Jay would swear he could actually see that red hot rage that overtook his body. Because he didn't just see Lou's disgusting face as they fought on the ground, Jay punching him over and over again. Jay saw Yates' face. Jay saw Stan. He saw Daly. It was like everything he went through the past six months— everything he held inside could no longer be contained, finally coming out. Even the retaliation hits Lou managed to get in didn't register with Jay. Nothing did. Not until the strong arms of Kevin pulled him off of the guy, Kevin and Adam working together to hold Jay back, both of them together too strong for Jay to fight off.
He was panting now, exhausted from the fight and coming down from anger. He briefly saw Olinsky and Antonio cuffing Lou and hauling him out of the room, maybe if he focused enough he'd see Kim and Hailey comforting Melody in the corner of the room. But all he wanted to find was Erin but he didn't see her. Satisfied that he was calmed enough, Kevin and Adam released their hold on him but still remaining close just in case they needed to hold him down again.
"Erin…." Jay finally got out, searching for her. Kevin patted his back and told him that she was outside to get herself checked out by the medics and that Voight was with her. Jay needed to get to her but Kevin stood in the way.
"Just hold on a minute man," Kevin said, stopping Jay. "Just take a breather before you go out." Adam handed Jay a water bottle but he refused, just wanting to make sure Erin was okay. That was the only thing on his mind, the image of her lying on the ground holding onto her arm was stabbing him in the chest. He stepped around Kevin, the latter letting him go knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop Jay.
Jay found her, sitting on the edge of the ambulance, getting her wound taped up by a medic. Voight was next to her, asking her question and Erin nodding in reply. Despite seeing that she was relatively okay, the rock on his chest still didn't ease and he stumbled towards her. Voight stepped forward like he wanted to stop Jay but Jay needed to see her and if he needed to push his Sergeant out of the way to do so, he'd gladly do so.
Luckily it seemed as though Erin needed to be near him as much as he did her because she said something to Voight that Jay couldn't hear and Voight reluctantly left his pseudo daughter's side. She directed her attention to Jay, giving him a small smile and a soft 'hi'.
He crumbled at hearing her voice, rushing forward to hold her in his arms, not caring that he was probably getting his sweat and even some of his blood on her. He just needed to hold her, feel her in his arms and know for sure that she was fine. She was holding onto him just as hard, clenching at his vest like she was holding on for dear life. He pulled away to study her face, tangling his hand in her hair and scanning her face.
"I'm okay Jay," she reassured him, joining her hand to his that was in her hair. "I'm fine." He looked down at the bandage that was now covering her arm. "It's just a scratch. Barely a flesh wound," she told him. "I don't even need stitches." He couldn't speak, no words would come to him so he did what he could do, he rested his forehead against hers, breathing her in, letting her shallow breaths comfort him and let him know that she was there.
That moment of consolation was cut short when Voight returned and ordered Jay to get his own injuries checked out. "I'm fine," he tried to refuse.
"You already disobeyed my orders once already Halstead," Voight barked, anger clear on his face. "Don't make it twice. Go get yourself checked out and get back to the precinct." Voight left little room for negotiation and Jay felt himself being pulled over to the other ambulance by Olinsky, Erin giving him a smile as he was pulled away from her.
Olinsky stayed with Jay while he got a couple of butterfly stitches on the cuts he obtained during the fight and afterwards, the older man drove them back to the station. Jay was grateful that if it was anyone, it was Olinsky that decided to stay with him because somehow, the man just knew when to talk and just when Jay needed silence.
Back in the bullpen, Jay braced himself as he knew he was about to face the wrath of Voight's anger for disobeying his orders. The team was already back at their desk, their faces tense even though they had just captured the culprit behind all the murders. It was as though they were waiting for the showdown between Jay and Voight to begin.
"What the fuck were you thinking Halstead?!" Voight erupted before Jay could barely sit down at his desk.
Jay was ready to fight back, the anger that had been simmering all day still remaining. "Was I supposed to wait until he stabbed Erin before we made a move?"
Voight slammed his hand down loudly on Jay's desk, the detective not flinching at the sound. "What you were supposed to do was to follow my order and stay put until I told you it was time to breach. Do you realize what you could've done when you lost your mind and went in? You jeopardized the whole case. You were lucky that we got a confession anyway from Lou!"
"Hank," Erin called out, trying to calm both men down.
Voight redirected his anger towards Erin. "You two! I warned you two about in-house relationships and how it would affect your work. But you guys promised me that it wouldn't. I knew better but I didn't listen to myself. Now look at it." He pointed at Jay. "Your boyfriend could've lost us the case because he wanted to play hero."
"Hank, that's not fair!" Erin argued. "We've never let our relationship affect our work."
"Then what do you call today?"
"I call today not wanting Erin to die," Jay spat, standing up. "I call that putting her life ahead of a case, not because she's my girlfriend but because she's a detective, a member of our team." Jay couldn't hold his own anger back, surging him on. "You were willing to leave her in there with him, knowing that he had a weapon and she didn't! You might've been able to stand by and wait until she was stabbed or worse, killed but I wasn't. If that makes me unprofessional then fuck yeah, I'm fucking unprofessional! But I wasn't going to let another person die under his hands!"
"Jay!" Erin called, trying to calm him down so they wouldn't escalate the situation between them. "Let's just all calm down okay? All of us. We got the confession, Lou is in our custody. Everything turned out the way it should."
"Oh?" Voight returned, mockingly. "Am I supposed to celebrate my detective not following my order? Or that your relationship almost cost us the case?"
Jay had enough. "What do you want from me here Voight?" Jay fumed. "You want me to quit? Leave this unit? Break up with Erin just so I can stay and you can finally get what you wanted all along? You want my badge?"
"Jay!"
Voight sucked in his breath, trying to reign in his anger. "Get out of here Halstead," Voight ordered, pointing towards the stairs. "Leave before you say something you can't take back. It's obvious you're not in the right state of mind to do your job. I'm giving you a chance here. Take the day off. Get your head right before you come back."
Jay scoffed, looking over at Erin. She nodded, agreeing with Voight. "Unbelievable," Jay muttered and he stalked out of the room, forcefully grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and he stomped down the stairs, still fuming.
"Jay!"
"Father Mulligan." The priest sat down next to Jay in the pew. "How are you?"
"Good as can be under the circumstance," the priest replied. "I'm sure you heard about one of our parishioners, Lissa Egan?" Jay nodded, looking down. "We're preparing a funeral arrangement for her. She didn't have family in the area so the parishioners are doing what they can to help out. Poor soul."
"That's good. That's great actually," Jay said. He hadn't even had time to think about properly burying Lissa. She had no one in her life that could do it so he was grateful that the Church was stepping in for her. "I want to help in any way I can."
"Thank you Jay."
That was how Jay found himself putting up flower arrangements at the end of each pew, preparing for the funeral services for Lissa the next day. He had to admit, shifting his focus into something else had done wonders to quell his anger down. He could almost forget about his earlier fight with Voight. He knew Erin would be worried, wondering where he was by now and would have probably already called him but he needed this time. He didn't like who he was earlier, it reminded him too much of how he was when he first came home, taking his anger out on people. She deserved better than to get that side of him so he needed the time to get himself right, like Voight said.
"Jay?" He turned around when he heard his name being called, arching his brow in surprise when he saw Brianna made her way towards him. "Hi," she smiled, pulling him into a hug. "How have you been? It's been a long while since I've seen you."
Jay was surprised to see his former boss there, wondering why she was there. "Hi," he responded. "What are you doing here?"
"One of my employees heard about Lissa and she goes to this Church. Told me that they were having a service for her so I just wanted to come down and make a donation toward the services." Jay nodded, accepting Brianna's answer. "Although," Brianna said, reaching over to hold Jay's hands. "I have to admit, I was hoping I'd see you at the service too. But I guess I'm lucky and found you here today."
Jay didn't know what to respond, always finding it uncomfortable whenever he got hit on by her.
"Listen Jay, I know you and Terry were friends so this must be difficult for you." Jay nodded, wanting to steer the conversation back on safe grounds. "I feel so bad for their son. What was his name again?"
"Jordan," Jay replied, pulling his hand out of Brianna's.
"Jordan," Brianna repeated. "I um...I always wanted to reach out to Lissa, offer help but I never got around to it. It's a regret of mine." Jay nodded, understanding her feelings. "I want to help Jordan out too. I was thinking about maybe setting up a college fund or something for him. Give him some financial security for his future. I just feel so terrible for him."
"I'm sure he could really use that." Brianna smiled as she watched Jay put on the last flower arrangement.
"Hey," she called him, biting her lips. "If you're done here, maybe we could get a drink? It'd be great to catch up and I don't know..I could really use someone to talk to about everything?" Jay sighed, thinking. "Just a friendly drink?"
Jay nodded. "I still have a few things to finish up around here but drinks sounds good."
Brianna smiled, finally getting the answer she wanted. "Great. I'll see you later then?"
"I'll see you."
"Everything went well for the first session," Erin smiled, happy for Tara and the first successful session she had with Ewan. "Now a few more and we can talk about you flying over to New York and continuing your sessions over there with me."
"Thank you doc," Tara said, patting Ewan's hands gratefully. "I look forward to more sessions."
Erin leaned down to hug Tara goodbye and she followed Ewan out of the room.
"Thanks Ewan, for everything you're doing for Tara. I really appreciate it."
Ewan smiled, waving Erin's thank you off. "I do what I can. Anything for you, you know that." Erin didn't reply, just smiling back. "So it's my first night in Chicago and if I recall correctly, the last time I was here someone offered to take me out and show me the city properly. I think it's time to collect on that offer."
Erin hesitated, too occupied with Jay to go out with Ewan. "Oh umm…"
"Oh come one," Ewan whined. "I'm only in town for a couple of days." He paused. "Is it because of your boyfriend? Does he have a problem with us hanging out?"
"No." Erin shook her head. "No, he trusts me and knows that you and me are just friends. It's just..we had a pretty hard case today."
"All the more reasons to go out and have some fun then. Come on. He can come out with us too."
Erin sighed, giving in. She did owe Ewan this. "Fine, just let me call him."
She stepped aside and called Jay, immediately getting his voicemail like she had been the whole day. She was worried and anxious of where he was now, knowing that he wasn't home when she swung by earlier.
"Well?" Ewan asked when she made her way back over to him.
"He's not picking up his phone."
Ewan put his arms around Erin. "I'm sure he's okay. His phone probably died or something. Why don't we go get dinner then maybe when your boyfriend finally picks up his phone later, he can join us?"
Erin sighed, giving in. "Let's go to dinner."
