Chapter 9

They didn't need to talk to CI's, however, because that day Begnini and Agnello showed up again in the Upton's restaurant.

Jay had just arrived and sat down in the corner booth, when he noticed that Hailey followed her brother to the back. She hadn't said the code-word for him to interfere yet, so he stayed in his booth. He listened to what was happening, prepared to run to her rescue, though.

He could hear Danny's voice, as he argued with someone. Then Hailey's voice, trying to calm down the two men, without success. The voices became louder. Jay was ready to go in, his eyes glued to the door. But it wasn't necessary, he heard how Hailey handed over money, and the unknown man's voice calmed down.

"Finally you came to your senses," he said. "Listen, I've got another business opportunity for you."

Jay listened up.

"This restaurant could use some slot machines in the second room."

"But we don't have a license," Danny objected. "And why would we want them? Our patrons don't care for slot machines."

"Let's hear what your friend has to say," Hailey interrupted her brother quietly.

"She's clearly smarter than you, my friend. The license isn't a problem. We have new machines for you to install, and you pay us a fee. I'm sure your customers would like that. And we could make your business more successful."

Before Danny could say anything, Hailey answered. "Give us a few days to think about this, will you? We have to talk to my father about it, as you might imagine."

"Don't take too long. This is a one-time offer."

With that Jay heard footsteps and a door closing. Seconds later both Danny and Hailey appeared back in the restaurant.

"Hailey!" Jay yelled across the room, so loud that Hailey flinched for real. She ducked, looked around, saw that all eyes were on her. Hailey couldn't prevent from blushing. Okay, back to playing her role. Hastily she approached Jay's booth, sat down next to him.

Jay's face had turned to stone, and Hailey almost believed that he was angry. She lowered her head.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Where were you for so long?" Jay asked loud enough for all to hear. "Who did you meet back there?"

Was that actual fear in her eyes? Jay wanted to take her in his arms, tell her everything was okay, but he had to stay in character. Nevertheless his hand softly touched hers under the table. She grabbed his hand with both hers, convincing herself that it was all make-believe.

"Just business, Jay," she said meekly.

"Begnini?" Jay asked quietly.

"You heard him?"

"Yes. And that's not all. Hailey, we need to talk to Voight now. Be prepared."

She stared into his eyes, looking for a hint of his usual softness, breathed heavily.

"You need to come home now," Jay ordered, his voice loud and sharp.

"But..."

"Hailey! Home! Now!"

"I need to tell my brother."

"Hurry!" Jay's thumb quickly brushed over the back of her hand, then he let go.

Quickly Hailey stood up and crossed the room, head hanging low. Danny looked at her, irritated.

"Danny, I need to leave."

"What's this, Hailey?" her brother asked, worried.

"I told you," Hailey answered. "Don't worry. I'll call you."

"Sure you're okay?" Danny asked again.

"Hailey!" Jay yelled. He was standing by the door, pretending to be very impatient.

"I'm sure, Danny. He's just acting. Jay's a good guy."

With that Hailey almost ran to the door, where Jay immediately put a hand on her shoulder as he shoved her outside. They walked away, and when Hailey sat down in Jay's truck she noticed that she was trembling. This was too close to home. Jay started the car and drove away, but stopped after a few blocks.

He turned to her. "Hailey, are you okay? I'm so sorry. I don't like doing this. Not at all."

Hailey swallowed hard, then nodded. "No need to apologize, Jay. It's just... it brings back bad memories. Memories of things I thought I had overcome."

Jay softly touched Hailey's hand. Hailey's first impulse was to pull her hand away this time, but when she looked into his warm, soft eyes, she slowly relaxed, caressed his warm hand, allowed Jay to comfort her.

"Let's go meet Voight."

They met with their sergeant in an abandoned parking lot under a bridge.

"So it's about gambling," Voight started the conversation.

"Yes, just like you suspected," Hailey answered, all business now. "Protection money is only their introduction into the area. Do you have more information?"

"My contacts told me that Gambino has a large stock of new slot machines waiting to be distributed. I assume they don't work like they are supposed to, so they make more money than they should."

"And Begnini also said he'd take care of the gambling license," Hailey added.

"What do we do now?" Jay asked. "Pretend to accept their suggestion and bust them when they distribute the machines? That could take weeks."

"I don't think so," Voight replied. "They will act quickly, they need to keep the pressure up. As soon as Begnini returns – and I'm convinced he'll be back no later than tomorrow – agree to take the slot machines. I'm sure he already has these fake licenses ready for you. I'll have Burgess look into that. She's also working on an angle to find out who gave them all the business data. And the moment we can make that connection, we'll arrest them. But we must get all of them. Begnini's not our main target. We need to get Gambino too."

"There's one more thing," Jay said. "I think they have one of their guys in the restaurant, watching. There was this guy, sitting in that booth with a woman, two days in a row. And it didn't look like he was there because he enjoyed the food, if you know what I mean. He was trying hard to be inconspicuous, but I'm not sure of that."

"You mean the one at the table along the wall?" Hailey asked. "I will ask my brother if he saw him before."

"It's just a hunch," Jay said.

"Jay, your instincts are usually right, so you should get together with a sketch artist and go through some photos," Voight decided. "And then we'll see what happens tomorrow."

"Sarge, we can't have Hailey in there for too long," Jay remarked. "Not with me having to treat her like that. I don't like that, it's too much pressure."

"I'll be okay," Hailey disagreed. "As long as you don't overdo it. Pretend to pull back for a few days. That's not untypical, after your yelling show today. I'll manage."

Jay looked at her doubtfully.

Voight grumbled. "Your cover is good, keep it up as long as possible. As long as you say you're okay, Upton, I'll go with it."

Hailey nodded, "I'm fine, Sarge. I trust Jay."

"Okay. Go home now. I'll see you both in the office tomorrow morning."

Jay and Hailey returned to Jay's truck and watched their Sergeant leave. Tentatively Jay put an arm around Hailey's shoulders. Without hesitation, Hailey leaned against him, slipped both her arms around his waist and leaned into Jay's comforting embrace. She needed to convince herself that this right here was Jay, not the rude guy in the restaurant. Jay held her tight, didn't move, didn't speak.

When they were back at Hailey's place, her phone rang.

"It's my mom," Hailey said.

"I assume she heard..." Jay added.

Hailey answered the phone, and she silently listened to what her mother had to say. After a while she interrupted. "Mom," she softly said. "Mom, listen to me. I appreciate that your friend told you what happened today. But it's definitely not what it looks like."

Jay wanted to leave, give Hailey some privacy, but she stopped him, silently asked him to stay.

"Mom," she continued. "This was an act. We needed an explanation as to why Jay's always in the restaurant. He is there to watch out, to help if necessary. He's my partner, and he would never hurt me."

Jay heard Hailey's mother talk a while longer, clearly agitated and worried. He knew it would take a lot of convincing before she would believe that he was not abusive, if Hailey decided to introduce him as her boyfriend. Hopefully Maria Upton would believe him, would trust him.

"Yes, mom," Hailey said. "I'm sure it's okay. When this is over, we'll come and visit. And yes, I saw dad."

She ended the phone-call, sighed. "I knew someone would tell her. Let me quickly call Danny, okay?"

"I hope she believes you. I don't want her to think you would stay with an abusive man."

"I wouldn't, Jay. Never. I'm not like my mother. And you're nothing like my father."

She kissed Jay, ran her hand through his hair, looked into his eyes. Jay smiled back at her, the soft smile he seemed to have only for her. "I love you, Hailey."

"I love you too, Jay."

Later, Hailey called her brother, to bring him up to speed as much as possible. Before she talked about the progress of the case, she confirmed again that Jay had just been acting, that he wasn't an abusive boyfriend. She hoped Danny would believe her, would not hold all that had happened today against Jay, because he needed to trust Jay Halstead, the cop. He didn't comment, but told her that the evening had been quiet, nobody had shown up. Hailey informed him about the plan to agree to the slot machine deal. Danny wasn't happy about it, but by now they were so far in that there was no way he could pull out of this anymore. He had to agree to Voight's plan, had to wait for Begnini's next steps.

"Okay," he finished the conversation. "I hope you're right, sis. Because if not, our restaurant will be history. And I hope you're right about Jay."

Jay stayed the night, both needed to reassure each other that what happened in the restaurant was in fact nothing but an undercover operation, that their relationship was different. Nevertheless, Jay was worried. He had noticed how Hailey flinched, how she shrunk when he had yelled at her, when he had grabbed her wrist. He was worried that her bad childhood memories might have been triggered by this – especially since she had also seen her father again. He wanted to be there for her, help her get over this. He wanted to be the man she trusted, just like she had always said. But he knew it would be wrong to force her to talk. She would talk to him when she was ready. When this was over. He wasn't sure if she would want to visit her father again in hospital, or if that was even a good idea. Whatever she decided, though, he would be by her side.

Hailey was grateful that Jay stayed, it was important to have him there. Of course she knew that his behavior in the restaurant was an act, she didn't need any further confirmation of that. SHE had suggested this, after all. Even though she wasn't sure why. However, , it still woke up something in her mind. Brought back reactions she thought she had overcome. Making herself small, talking so quietly, trying to be invisible; all that should have been history. She knew this was something she would have to deal with on her own, but nevertheless it was good to know Jay was with her. Her rock. And she needed to make sure that she didn't have the slightest doubt in Jay, that she didn't subconsciously believe that this undercover persona was the real Jay. Because he wasn't. She had suggested this act, and whatever happened now wasn't what Jay wanted or would do in real life.