4:30 am
It was still dark in Chicago and most people were, or at least most of them, in bed to sleep.
Of course there were exceptions.
There were those who worked at night, but also those who kept the small hours.
The first was the case of the intelligence detectives.
They had vanquished a gang of robbers by arresting suspects and interrogating them late into the night.
Hayley and Jay left the precinct. The cold in Chicago was bitter especially at this time of night.
The detective had asked Halstead for a ride early in the morning to get to work. She had left her car at the mechanic the night before because it was causing her problems and she would only get it back the following evening.
So Jay had to drive her home before he could finally get to her apartment to relax.
After walking a long way to reach the detective's car, they got on it and after turning on the heating to maximum they left to go to Hayley's.
It didn't take long to arrive, the roads were clear.
They took two hot croissants from the bar downstairs and two coffees and went up to the apartment.
They had breakfast together and around 5:30 Jay left.
He couldn't wait to lie down on his bed and sleep as much as possible.
Given the late hour they had done that day they shouldn't have worked. It was their day off and Halstead wanted to spend it sleeping and then maybe something could be arranged in the evening.
Maybe he could have called his brother and if it wasn't his turn to do something with him.
She hadn't seen him for a while.
Unfortunately, with the work they both had absurd schedules and it was often complicated that they had the same free moments and that they were schedules that allowed them to do a little bit together.
After ten minutes on the road he finally parked in front of his building and got out to reach his apartment.
The cold of the morning made his face freeze.
When he got home, the first thing he did was turn on the heaters and immediately took a quick hot shower.
Put on the pants and sweatshirt of the overalls, it darkened in the bedroom by closing the blinds and he went to bed. After a very short time he fell asleep. He was exhausted.