Chapter 25

I stepped out of my house, wearing my leather jacket, boots, and sunglasses and was holding a pair of gloves in my hand.

Jay had parked his bike on the pavement in front of the steps to my house and was leaning against it. He watched me walk towards him with the affectionate expression on his face that melted my heart every time I saw it.

The scene reminded me of the time he'd picked me up for our first date. We had barely known each other back then, but his face had already displayed the first hints of the fondness that was now fully developed in his gentle eyes and smile.

I beamed as I walked up to him and into his embrace.

"Good morning," he grinned and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Hey," I said softly and gave him a peck on the lips, then took a step back to look at his bike. "This is nice!"

It was an all-black motorcycle in a classic retro style that reminded me of a bike from the 1970s that my dad used to own. Jay's bike also resembled the one in the painting in his living room.

"Thank you," Jay said proudly and took off his backpack. "Since you're sitting behind me, it might be best if you wore this."

He handed it to me, and I was surprised by its weight.

I put it on and bounced slightly. "What's in this?"

"Just some water and snacks, I brought a few presents for the kid from the district and some things we're going to need for the surprise activity," he smirked teasingly.

I raised an eyebrow. "When will you tell me what the surprise is?"

"We'll stop at the place on our way back this afternoon. Want me to put your bag into the backpack?" he asked, and I handed him my small crossbody bag and turned around so he could pack it away.

When he was done, he picked up one of the motorcycle helmets sitting on the seat next to him. "This one's slightly smaller. I think it should fit," he commented and slid it onto my head and closed the buckle for me.

I studied his face with a mixture of serene and warm contentment and childlike excitement in my chest. Jay broke the peaceful moment and pulled me out of my thoughts by knocking on my helmet.

"All safe. Wouldn't want anything to happen to that beautiful head of yours," he quipped.

I rolled my eyes with a grin and pulled my gloves on.

"You're well prepared," he acknowledged with a smile as he fastened the buckle of his own helmet.

"Yeah, the last time I rode a bike with my brother my hands nearly froze off. Don't want to repeat that."

He hinged down the footrests for the passenger, straddled the bike, and folded up the kickstand. "Are you ready?" he asked with a grin.

"I could barely sleep 'cause I was ready last night!" I declared and got onto the bike behind him.

He chuckled and unhooked his sunglasses from his jacket and put them on. "Hold on," he told me over his shoulder, and I gripped onto his waist.

We rolled onto the street slowly, and when the road was clear, Jay turned the accelerator throttle and we lunged forwards. I let out a thrilled shriek and quickly wrapped my arms around his waist more tightly. As we flew around the first corner, my heart started hammering in excitement, and my stomach fluttered with the same sensation I knew from roller-coaster rides. Soon, we entered the highway, and Jay weaved through the cars skilfully until we reached the outskirts of the city. There, the road was almost entirely empty, and Jay accelerated to the maximum speed limit. Exhilaration pulsed through my body, and a grin was permanently glued to my face. I felt the wind on my face and slid one of my hands up to Jay's chest and hugged him close to me. He let go of the left handle and laid his hand on top of mine briefly, squeezing it slightly.

The ride took a little over two hours, and I enjoyed every minute of it, resting my head on Jay's shoulder and watching the trees and crop fields fly past.

A few miles outside of Madison, Jay drove onto the parking lot of a gas station.

"Let's take a short break," he called out to me as we came to a stop near some picnic tables and a few other motorcycles.

He took off his helmet, and I dismounted from the bike and handed him his backpack so he could get out the water bottle. After I'd slipped my helmet off, I bent over to shake my hair out since it had become glued to my head during the long ride.

When I straightened up and threw my hair back, I heard laughs and whistles and a male voice holler, "Shake it, baby!"

I turned my head to find three guys lounging on one of the picnic tables, drinking beers and watching me with slimy grins on their faces.

One of them winked when they saw me looking. "Why don't you come over here and shake some more?"

I stared back at them for a moment, unimpressed, then turned to Jay to see that he had perked up on his bike and was shooting daggers their way.

"I'm right here!" he barked at them and spread his arms out in front of him, equally annoyed and perplexed by their macho behaviour towards me in front of him.

They nudged each other and laughed, unfazed because they outnumbered him.

Jay got off his bike and took a step towards them. "Need me to come talk to you?" he asked in an agitated tone.

Their grins disappeared from their faces as they realised that he had no reservations about taking on all three of them and quickly turned away to mind their own business.

"Geez!" Jay huffed with his brows furrowed as he moved back to the bike to hand me the water bottle.

I couldn't help but giggle at the situation, and when he saw my reaction, his face lightened up too.

"Did you enjoy the ride?" he asked, moving on from the incident.

"Loved it!" I exclaimed and watched him smile in return but sensed some discomfort in his expression and stance.

"Are you alright?" I inquired, concerned, and handed the bottle back to him.

"Yeah," he sighed and twisted the bottle in his hands. "I guess I'm a little nervous about seeing the boy and his family again."

"I can understand that," I mumbled and walked around the bike to rub his arm comfortingly. "But since they were nice to you last time, I'd assume that it won't be any different today. And it might be really good for you to see the boy doing better."

"You're probably right," he concurred and got his phone out of his pocket and took a moment to read and type something. "Could you navigate us to this address, please. I told his mum that we would be there between noon and 1 pm."

He handed me his phone, and we got back onto the bike and pulled out of the parking lot. I navigated him with pats on the shoulders and pointing since the traffic around us was too loud to hear each other at times, and twenty minutes later, we arrived in a residential area in front of a blue house with a big tree in the yard.

"Would you like me to wait here or come inside with you?" I asked when he'd turned off the motorcycle and stood on the pavement staring at the front door of the house.

He didn't reply but looked back at me and reached out his hand. I grabbed it, and together we walked up to the house and rang the doorbell.

A middle-aged woman with long, black braids opened the door and a little Russell Terrier whizzed past her onto the front porch.

"Detective Halstead," she addressed Jay with a welcoming smile as the dog jumped up my leg, and I knelt on the floor to greet it. "I'm sorry, I thought I had locked her in the living room," she told me.

"That's alright," I laughed as the terrier licked across the side of my neck.

"Hello, Mrs John. Please, call me Jay and this is Hailey," Jay introduced me and shook her hand while I smiled up at her.

"I'm Marissa. Come in you two," she said and took a step back. "Franklin is in the living room. I'm sure you'll be glad to see that he's doing much better." She closed the door behind us and led the way to the living room.

In an armchair next to the sofa, sat a teenaged boy reading a book. He wore a sling around his arm and neck, and the arm had a cast on it that reached from just below his shoulder to his hand. His right eye had the remnants of a bruise underneath it.

When he saw us walk in, he placed his book onto the side table and greeted us with a bright smile. "Detective Jay! Good to see you again," he called out and motioned towards the couch next to his armchair.

Jay sat down and placed his backpack on the floor next to him. The little dog was still jumping around me excitedly, so I settled down onto the carpet with her on the other side of the armchair.

"You too, Franklin! You're looking much better than the last time I saw you. How are you doing?" Jay asked.

"I'm doing alright, can't complain," the boy smiled.

"He's been living like a king," Marissa told us and sat down next to Jay. "Gets his food prepared and brought to him, doesn't have to go to school. He's loving it."

"The doctors said I should take it easy," Franklin chuckled.

"He's doing well now. The first few days were a little more difficult. The pain meds didn't work that well, and he was in quite a bit of pain," Marissa said a little more seriously.

I looked over at Jay who wore a wistfully pensive expression on his face.

"Yeah, but I stopped taking them yesterday and I've been fine. The cast itches sometimes, but apart from that, I'm good," Franklin objected trying to lighten the mood.

"I see you already have lots of signatures on your cast," I observed and moved closer to have a look.

"Yeah," he said happily. "My friends came by yesterday and signed and drew on it."

"Pretty cool," I approved. "You're a Badgers fan?" I asked, pointing at the football T-shirt he was wearing.

"Yeah, he's a huge fan," his mother verified.

I saw a Sharpie laying on the coffee table and picked it up. "Mind if I add something?"

Franklin agreed eagerly, and I found a blank spot on his cast and got to work. Using the image on his T-shirt as a reference, I sketched out the Badger's mascot while Marissa filled Jay in on what the last week had been like for Franklin and her.

"There," I concluded when I was done and put the cap back on the pen.

"Cool!" Franklin gushed happily, stretching out the word. "Thank you!"

"Great, Hailey. Now he won't find the presents I brought him as cool anymore," Jay joked, and I shrugged apologetically.

Franklin straightened up. "Presents?"

"Yeah, just some little things I thought you might like," Jay said and opened his backpack. "When I visited you at the hospital, I saw that your parents had brought you a big stack of books. So I brought you this one about the history of the CPD. I read it when I was a teenager, and it was one of the reasons why I joined the force."

Jay handed the book to Franklin who immediately flipped through its pages curiously.

"When I told my desk Sergeant that I was looking for presents for you, she was all too eager to help me out and brought me everything she could find," Jay continued, and one after another, pulled out a CPD mug, T-shirt, hoodie, and baseball cap.

Franklin's eyes lit up. "Thank you," he rejoiced and put on the baseball cap.

"And if you're ever in Chicago, you can come by the precinct of the 21st district, and we'll give you a tour," Jay added.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you, Jay," Marissa acknowledged.

"Are you a police officer too?" Franklin asked me.

"No, I'm not. But it's funny that you ask because I'm starting my training at the police academy tomorrow," I said and Jay and I spent the next hour answering Franklin's myriad of questions, telling him the story about Wright and other tales Jay could think of.

Franklin was a very lively and curious kid and was fascinated with everything we told him. After every reply we gave him, he had three more questions. I enjoyed our time with him and hoped that it did Jay a world of good to see the kid thrive.

When it was time to leave, we said our goodbyes to Franklin and walked out into the hallway with Marissa where Jay opened his backpack one more time and got out an envelope.

"We collected this at the precinct for any added expenses you and your family have had," Jay said and tried handing it to Marissa.

At first, she held her hands up and didn't want to take it.

"Please take it. I'm deeply sorry and feel so guilty about what happened and what I put Franklin and you and your husband through. This is my way of trying to make amends," Jay pleaded, and she gave in and took the envelope.

"Jay, no one here blames you or holds a grudge against you," she objected.

"Thank you for letting me see Franklin. I'm so glad that he's doing better. Please stop by the station if you ever come to Chicago," Jay said and shook her hand.

I did the same and patted the dog on the head to say goodbye.

"Have a safe trip!" Marissa called after us as we walked down the steps of the front porch.

I glanced back and waved.

"I don't deserve this," Jay muttered under his breath as we reached his bike. "I don't deserve any of this. If this had happened to my kid, I would have ripped the guy driving the car to shreds no matter if it was an accident or not. I don't understand why they're so nice to me. I don't deserve this."

He picked up his helmet and gripped its rim so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

I stepped closer to him. "Maybe, maybe not," I said and laid my hands on top of his. "But it's for them to decide, and they made the decision to forgive you. It's that simple. There's no point in demurring, just accept it."

He nodded stiffly.

"And isn't it great how good the kid is doing?" I asked encouragingly.

"Yeah," Jay sighed. "I was really glad to see how much he's improved already."

"Good," I smiled up at him and watched a hint of a smile creep onto the corner of his mouth too.

"Should we find a place to have lunch? I'm pretty hungry," he suggested and wrapped his arms around my waist.

I nodded, and he leaned down to place a kiss on my forehead. "I'm glad you came with me," he whispered, and I felt his lips and beard tickle my skin.

I smiled in return and reached my hand behind his neck to pull him in for a long, tender kiss.

We found a diner nearby and sat in a booth by the windowfront. I intertwined my legs with Jay's under the table as we scanned through the menu.

"This is only the second time we've been out to a restaurant together," I noticed and glanced up at him briefly.

"I should take you out more often," he noted and smiled.

"Maybe. But if I had the choice between eating at a restaurant or having pizza in bed with you, I'd always pick the latter," I said and smirked at him flirtatiously.

He stared back at me for a few seconds with a glow in his eyes until the waitress arrived at our table.

"I didn't know you could draw," Jay remarked after we'd placed our orders.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me yet, Jay," I replied in a joking, mysterious tone.

Jay chuckled. "True. But I learn more about you every single day, and the more I learn, the more you mean to me."

I blushed and chewed on my bottom lip to keep the massive grin under control that wanted to form on my face.

"One thing I learned in the last hour alone is how good you are with kids. You were great with Franklin," he continued. "And that you like dogs."

"Same goes for you too," I said sincerely. "And of course I love dogs!"

Our food and drinks arrived, and I dug in hungrily.

"How did your evening with Will go?" I asked and took a sip from my drink.

"Really good actually," Jay replied. "We met up in the afternoon, and after we'd gone back to my place, we just kept talking. He stayed the night because it ended up being so late. I can't remember the last time we had such a long and intense conversation. It felt really good."

"I'm very glad to hear it," I smiled at his words and the contented expression on his face.

"Oh and he recommended Doctor Charles to me. I got a message from Will earlier saying that he talked to him and made an appointment for me. You know Doctor Charles, the head of Psychiatry, who sat a few tables down from us at Molly's the other night."

"Yeah, I remember him. That's great news. I'm very interested to see how that goes."

"Me too," Jay sighed. "Even though I know it's a good step and therapy will probably help me out a lot, I still have that voice in my head telling me that therapy just isn't for me, that I don't need it, and that I should be able to cope with everything on my own."

"I assume those thoughts are pretty normal. It can be difficult to accept that you might need help. My dad never accepted that and nearly lost the restaurant because of it," I explained and got lost in thought for a moment.

Jay nodded quietly.

After we'd finished our meal and I had paid for us, we walked out to the motorcycle and put our gear back on.

Jay took a slightly different route on our way back, and when we were about half an hour outside of Chicago, he took an exit off the highway.

"Ready for the surprise activity?" he called over his shoulder.