Unlikely Partners Chapter 5
"Was Perez's crew behind this?" Jay wondered. They couldn't help but think about work.
"They didn't grab us for ransom. "Kim ruled out, lifting their cuffed hands to indicate that they were trapped underground. "Obviously."
"I remember smelling something sweet after we were handcuffed. And then we woke up in this van." Jay recalled, struggling to remember other details.
"Were they running counter-intelligence?" Kim asked as they started to dig into the circumstances of the case they were now buried in. "And we were made right away?" added Jay.
"Okay, let's work like we were working a case and find what we can collect in this van." Kim suggested, giving the pair something productive to do. They moved their cuffed hands to reach around.
"Is this what they used to knock us out?" Kim asked distastefully, as the smell was still pungent on the cloth. "Chloroform." Jay answered. "Effective way to subdue."
"What else? They had to be in a rush. Maybe they left some evidence behind." Kim stated hopefully. Falling into their work habits helped them not feel so useless. "I see keys in the ignition. Can we reach them?" Kim wondered excitedly.
"It's worth a try. Tell me to stop if it hurts." Jay declared. Kim agreed, easily, too easily if you really knew her and her stubbornness.
The pair pushed against the driver's seat and console to brace themselves and lifted their joined hands to stretch over their heads. Jay made an easier stretch and Kim struggled to give him an extra inch or two. She grimaced as she pulled her arm too far, almost afraid that she just dislocated her shoulder.
Jay grunted but grabbed them on his second try. "Got them!" He shouted but there was no response from Burgess, and she wasn't moving either.
All of a sudden she was in total darkness again, but she could hear Jay shouting, "Kim!" as he was shaking her awake. He felt her face was sweaty and clammy and her breathing was heavy but she was awake.
"Don't do that again, promise?" Jay begged her, worried.
"Promise." Kim whispered painfully. She really did not want to experience that again.
After a few minutes Kim rallied her strength. "Let's keep looking for clues."
"You're stubborn." Jay noted amused.
"I prefer persistent." Kim argued.
"Let's check the console and cupholders." Jay suggested, knowing Kim wasn't going to stop anyway. They retrieved some receipts, a crushed coffee cup, a parking garage ticket and a plastic bag from Walmart.
"Check this out. Tickets to the Cubs game for today." Kim was excited until she realized what that meant. That their whole plan to follow Perez's guys was doomed from the start. She handed the tickets over to Jay to let him see the evidence for himself. "5 rows behind us." He said in shock.
"How did they know where we would be sitting?" Jay asked, confused.
"Or who we were?" Kim said with a shiver. Jay moved his hand over a foot and took her hand in his to reassure her, but the truth was he was just as freaked out as Kim.
"They were careless with all this evidence because they were certain that we would die in the explosion and all of this that would be left would be charred." Jay declared annoyed at how badly this whole situation played out.
"Including us." Kim added fearfully. The adrenaline from earlier had worn off and fatigue set in and brought forth some raw emotions. The two of them sat in silence as the weight of their shared revelations fell heavy between them.
KIM POV
"Did you play any sports besides baseball in high school?" Kim asked, wanting to know more about Jay Halstead than she had gleaned in the years just working with him.
"No, I was focused on getting a college scholarship so I just played baseball. And then when I turned 18 I decided to join the Army." Jay answered quietly. "Just needed to get away from Chicago for a while and I wasn't a good enough baseball player and college was too expensive." She found that hard to believe, but she didn't push him on it. She knew talking about his time in the Army was a sensitive subject.
"Do you do any sports now?" Kim continued to fill the silence with easy questions.
"I go running every morning." Jay answered. "It gets me ready for the day.
"Me too." Kim agreed. "What route do you run?" She asked, now that she knew they had that in common.
"EIther the Loop downtown or Millennium Park."
"I'm surprised I haven't seen you yet on one of our runs." Kim stated. "I've always wanted to run the Chicago half marathon." Jay was not surprised that Kim said that; she was such a goal oriented person. "If anyone can do it, it's you."He surprised her with the compliment.
"In fact, when we get out of here I'll do it with you." He promised. If Jay knew that Kim was a goal oriented person, then Kim knew that Jay was a reliable person. But she worried that that might be the last promise he would make.
"What was your first case?" Jay asked Kim, curiously.
"One of the first ones Kev and I worked was a lady who was a hoarder. We would go give her a warning to clean up from the city and when we would come back Platt would send up back to her house, sure we were missing something." I don't think she thought Kev and I would make it. Kim stated. "She was training us to look deeper. So we go back and we find this boy in a wall in her house, and I was shocked. But I learned a lesson that day. I learned a lot that first year." Kim added truthfully.
"How about you?" she returned the question, intrigued about his career before Intelligence.
"I was on patrol and my partner and I were watching a crack house waiting for a runner to come out so we could snatch him up and get him to flip for some guys higher up in the food chain. When he finally comes out, he is butt naked." Jay is telling the story with a straight face, but Kim just bursts out laughing. "Of course, my partner is the senior officer, so I have to cuff him." He shuddered. "I was glad Antonio brought me upstairs 3 months later."
"That's a good one." Kim agreed, still laughing. The two went back and forth for a time, sharing funny stories and scary stories and avoiding the sad ones.
"What's your favorite take out places? I'm getting bored of my usuals." Kim asked Jay for advice.
"Bodhi Thai Bistro or Umai or Bar Louie." Jay suggested. "Where do you go usually?"
"Anywhere with Thai food, yum. Canton Regio has the best Mexican food in Chicago, Strings Ramen Shop or The Rosebud." Kim answered. "I went on a food tour last year and it was amazing."
"That does sound amazing." Jay agreed. "Favorite pizza place?"
"Sbarro." Kim said without laughing.
"You're kidding right?" "Tell me you're kidding."
"Yes I'm kidding. Giordano's." "I can't believe you believed me." She teased him.
"You're a cop, you have a good poker face." Jay argued playfully.
"Favorite pizza topping?" She asked.
"Sausage. You?"
Kim debated before answering, "Mushroom and Onions."
"Portillo's Hot Dog's are the bomb." She added and he had to agree. "Loaded with relish."
"Can I ask a serious question?" Jay carefully wandered into deeper territory.
"Sure." Kim answered. Not that he was surprised, she was pretty open about things, he just wasn't used to getting answers from previous partners.
"Why did you turn down Intelligence when it was first offered to you?" he asked, knowing how badly she had wanted to join their team.
Kim was quiet at first and Jay felt he overstepped, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that one…" he started but Kim stopped his apology.
"It's fine. It's an honest question, and I can give you an honest answer. I asked myself that after the fact. I kicked myself, but I loved the beat. I love helping the people of Chicago in a tangible way. I had more to learn about myself and about being a cop." She spoke wistfully, she had once been the bright eyed officer but now she had seen too much. But I have no regrets about staying the extra time." Kim stated purposefully.
"Have you thought about becoming a detective?" Jay asked. "You have great natural instincts." he complimented her.
"Yeah, Kevin, Adam and I had thought we would all do it together. But they haven't brought it up in a long time, so I think I am just going to do it on my own." She admitted.
"I can help you study if you want." Jay offered helpfully. "That would be great, thanks Jay." Kim said gratefully, hoping that she would actually get out of here alive to become a detective.
JAY POV
"Ok changing the subject, what do you do when you are not at work?" Halstead asked his partner.
"Besides going to Molly's so much that I should work there?" Kim laughed but regretted that when she inhaled a huge breath of dust, and immediately started coughing. She continued on after a minute with a dry throat and a deep voice, "Hang out with Stella and Sylvie, hang out with Adam, hang out with my sister and Zoe, and teach dance to 4 and 5 year old girls at the Chicago School of Ballet, teach BARRE classes."
"Can i come to one of your classes?" He asked half seriously. "Do you wear a tutu?" (Where the hell did that thought come from and why did it come out?) Luckily she laughed at his stupid question.
Why was he envisioning her in a tutu, her long legs wrapped around him, and them alone in his apartment? (WHOA! Come back to Earth, Jay, he mentally scolded himself)
Kim laughed, "Yes, and yes." she replied to both questions. "You will have to audition like the rest of the class. And there is a dress code. Black pants and white top."
He found her laugh contagious, made him think less of the situation they were in and that's saying a lot. It was so easy talking with Kim. He found himself smiling and staring at her for no reason at all. (Was he flirting with Burgess?)
"You know if we ever catch a case about ballet, you're going to have to tell everybody." He teased her.
"How long did you do ballet for?" he asked curiously. She seemed to light up when she talked about it. "I started when I was four and did it through college, so 18 years."
"Damn, that's a long time. You must have been really good." (Again with the compliments, Jay) "I hope so, my mother paid a lot of money for my classes." she shrugged off the compliment, he noticed she did that a lot. He also noticed that other than Nicole and Zoe she didn't talk about her family.
KIM POV
"My turn to ask some questions." Kim began, pretending to be serious. "What do you do outside of work?" She copied his question.
"I like coaching baseball at the old catholic school I went to. Sometimes I get to see my brother if we're not both working, maybe golf or fishing, be outdoors as much as possible."
"OK, how do you feel about karaoke?" She asked randomly. "Love it." he replied honestly. "Favorite karaoke song on 3, 2,1….go" They both answered the same song at the same time, Bye, Bye, Bye by N'Sync." They both burst out laughing.
"I've been killing that song since college." Kim joked." Next group night out, we are doing karaoke."
"Absolutely." Jay agreed. "Let's recap, so far we have decided to go karoaking, run a marathon, get thai food, Top Golf, food tour, skydiving…"
"Don't forget kayaking!" Kim added to the list.
"And fishing!" Jay decreed.
"And tattoos!" She shouted, adding to the bucket list.
Their energy was low, Kim's head was resting on Jay's shoulder and his hand was resting on her thigh, sometimes tapping, sometimes scratching.
"What's your favorite vegetable?" Kim asked the most ridiculous question. Jay laughed out loud. "Is this what we've come to? We've literally run out of questions?"
"Answer the question, Halstead." she demanded.
"Okay, I want it on the record that this answer is completely under duress."
"Duly noted, go ahead detective and answer the question." Kim sort of drifted off thinking about being with Jay in an interrogation room alone.
(Pay attention, Kim she told herself)
"Beets." he replied, completely serious. He wondered for a minute about him and Kim alone in an interrogation room late at night. Jay, get a grip man. He scolded himself, shaking his head. Thinking of Voight, helped him focus his thoughts.