Hello and welcome to another story by yours truly. I have a few one-shots written for my One-shot Wednesday challenge and this is something that has been floating around my head for a while now. It's pretty angsty, just FYI. I would probably rate it a T...maybe even an M in the second part. I intend on this being a two shot. Part one is from Jay's POV and part two will be Hailey's. There is a brief hinting at some sexual abuse/trauma. Nothing graphic but I don't want to trigger anyone so here's the warning. Thanks for stopping by another random thought from my brain. Hope you enjoy!
Jay's POV
My 6am alarm blared through the darkness of my room, causing me to groan and roll out of bed. I threw on some track pants and a sweatshirt and made my way out of the apartment for my morning jog, shivering at the cold November air. I found that starting my day with some exercise helped to keep me motivated throughout the day and it was always a good way to clear my head from the nightmares I suffered the night before. Although, to be honest, they had been coming few and far between as of late. I finished my jog and returned to my apartment, hoping in the shower quickly before throwing on some clothes and heading back out the door for work. I stopped for coffee on the way, grabbing two, as per usual. One for me and one for Hailey. When I pulled into the lot I noticed her car wasn't here yet, but I was pretty early so I didn't think anything of it. I jogged up the steps in the building, exchanging a brief banter with Platt and then trudged up the steps into Intelligence. I set Hailey's coffee on her empty desk and then made my way over to sit down at mine. The bullpen seemed extra quiet this morning, possibly due to Hailey and Vanessa's absence. Their banter usually filled the room, with Vanessa typically carrying most of the conversation while Hailey just nodded and smiled in response. Vanessa had been sent over to Narcotics as a loan out to help them with an undercover case so she would be gone most of the week. I settled into my work, bringing my computer up and planning to work on some open files until my partner arrived and we got sent out on a case. Adam, Kevin and Kim all sat at their respective desks doing the same thing. Footsteps sounded from the stairwell, causing me to look up just as Voight breached the top of the steps. He strode through the bullpen, looking down at the phone in his hand and looking rather moody. He stopped just short of his door and turned to face us.
"Alright, we're already running one man short today so we'll have to swap some partners around. I just got word from patrol of a body over in Grant Park. Let's get ready to roll on that."
His eyes scanned the room, taking in the nods being sent his way.
"Kim and Kevin, why don't you head that way and we'll meet you there. Adam you'll ride with me today. Where's Hailey?"
He finished with a look in my direction. I glanced over to her still empty desk and gave him a shrug. It wasn't like Hailey to be late and now she officially was.
"I'll call her on the way over."
I stood from my chair, pulling out my phone and heading down the stairs behind Kevin and Kim.
My first call went unanswered so I sent a text as I made my way outside to the truck.
Hey, not like you to be late. We're rolling out on a case. Call me.
I hit send just as I reached the drivers side and climbed in. I started the truck and sat for a moment, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. My impatience got the best of me so I decided to try calling again. Once again, the ringing went unanswered. I pulled out of the lot, intending to point towards our scene but something in me made me reconsider. I picked my phone back up and dialed Voight.
"Hey, I can't reach Hailey. I'm gonna swing by her place and see what's up."
I made the turn leading me to her neighborhood, not really caring if he was about to tell me no.
"Alright, just meet us there."
Came his gruff response and I disconnected, picking up the pace as I drove. I pulled up in front of her townhouse and noted the black SUV in her driveway. So she was still home, maybe she had slept through her alarm. I jumped out of the truck and made my way up her steps but the closer I got, the more my heart sunk. As I cleared the top step I could see that her front door was open just a crack and the marks along the frame told me it had been forced open. Without hesitation, I pulled my gun out from its holster and pushed the door open. There didn't appear to be anything out of place in the entryway, so I eased into the kitchen next. Finding that empty I made my way into her living room, which looked normal aside from a blanket laying beside the couch, which wasn't something that raised any real concern. I cleared the rest of the lower half and then crept up the steps. The first thing I spotted was a potted plant that had been knocked onto the floor, my first real sign of a struggle. I refocused my aim in front of me and scanned the little landing at the top of the steps. Her bedroom door was open slightly and I made my way inside. Her bed was unmade, the covers tossed all about the mattress. I didn't know if that was unusual or not as I had never seen her bedroom before, but as my eyes scanned the rest of the room my heart sunk even more. Her drawers had been pulled from the dresser, with clothes strewn about the floor. The mirror above her dresser was shattered as if someone had punched it. I stepped into her bathroom quickly, finding it empty and headed to clear the rest of this floor. I pulled my phone back out and called Voight again. My heart hammering in my chest as I awaited his answer.
"Voight."
I swallowed hard, still struggling to process what I had just walked into.
"Hank, we have a problem. I'm at Hailey's. There's signs of forced entry and a possible struggle and she's not here."
My voice cracked as I said the last part and I forced myself to swallow hard again.
"Call it in. Have them ping her phone. We'll be right there."
And with that he hung up. I looked around her room again, my head throbbing at the sight and then did as Voight instructed, heading back down to wait in her kitchen. I tried calling her phone again while I waited for everyone else to show up, just for the hell of it. My heart sunk even further when I heard her tell tale ring coming from a spot on her counter. Her phone was here so it was no use pinging it. I walked over to the phone that was lighting up with my face. Normally I would have smiled at the ridiculous picture she had of me as her contact info but I could only feel an ice cold wave of worrying settling into my core. I picked up the phone and swiped it open, thankful she didn't have a passcode on it. I hesitated for a moment, feeling like I was breaching her privacy, but then brought up her texts to see if she had made any plans to meet with someone. Finding nothing but messages exchanged with me and Vanessa, I switched to her call log and found nothing useful there either. I could hear car doors shutting outside and looked out the window to see Voight and Adam jogging into the house, Kevin and Kim right behind them and a patrol car in the distance. Voight came into the kitchen, giving me a look that I'm sure was meant to be reassuring but it fell flat with the way I was feeling.
"There's nothing downstairs but her bedroom is trashed. A plant knocked over in the hall. Her phone is right here so can't ping it."
My words came out choppy and broken but they all nodded in my direction, taking the information in.
"Anything on it?"
Voight asked, nodding to her phone still clutched in my hand. I shook my head no and tried to fight the hopeless feeling that was taking over me. Voight took charge then, delegating everyone onto a different task. I knew he was speaking but I couldn't understand what he was saying, his words sounding mumbled as they reached my ears. I watched as he walked over to me, I felt his hand grip my shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze and making me focus on what he was saying.
"Jay, I want you to head back to Intelligence, in case she shows up."
My temper flared then and I bit my tongue to hold back what I wanted to say.
"Don't do that. You're not benching me. She's my partner and I'm going to help find her."
My nostrils flared with the held back emotion. Voight, still gripping my shoulder, stared into my eyes, searching them to get a read on my mental state. He must have realized this wasn't a battle he was going to win so instead he gave me a curt nod, releasing my shoulder, before he turned to leave the kitchen. We spent another hour at her house, looking for anything that might help point us in her direction but came up with nothing. Eventually, we all left, returning to the 21st to go over what we knew so far. With each minute that passed my heart sunk even further. I listened to Adam ramble off the limited facts we had, heard Kim saying something about traffic cams and how she hadn't seen anything indicating who had taken Hailey. Kevin came up to the board and pinned a picture of Hailey onto the board, writing the word missing underneath her face in bold, red letters. The sight made me clenched my fists under my desk as I struggled to control my breathing. I didn't want to sit here, I didn't want any of us sitting here, but truthfully there was nowhere else to be right now. We had nothing to go on. Kim had talked to her neighbors, both of whom had seen nothing suspicious. Kevin had widened his search of the traffic cams, hoping to find something in the mix of cars that was the early commute from her neighborhood. Adam was scouring her CI files, looking for anything that would indicate someone had gotten a beef with her and could be our possible suspect. Voight was working in his office, making calls to his own CI's and trying to pull anything out of them he could. And I just sat at my desk, feeling hopeless and useless as my partner was out there with god knows who. I had to find her.
Hours passed, what felt like an eternity, before we got a lead. Kevin had managed to find a truck that had pulled onto her street early this morning, speeding away about a half hour later. It wasn't much, but it was something. We managed to blow up the image and got a plate off the truck. After what felt like another eternity, we got a name back.
"Jacob Mendyka, 33 year old male, no known connection to Hailey or any of her CI's. We got two LKA's and patrol is headed out to check them now."
Kevin rambled off the new information while Kim wrote it out on the board. I didn't want patrol to go check, I wanted to do it myself in case they missed something. But I knew it was the quickest option. Shortly after, Kevin's phone rang and my eyes trailed him as he paced around the bullpen. I could tell by the look on his face when he turned back to us that there was nothing new to report.
"First address was empty, no sign that anyone's been there in a while. Waiting on the second address still."
He looked directly at me as he spoke, everyone seemed to be doing that. She was my partner after all, of course this would be affecting me the worse. Kevin's phone buzzed again and he shook his head when he read the text.
"Second apartment is a bust too. Sorry man…"
He trailed off, looking at me again. I was standing up, leaning against my desk, but the realization that we were basically back at square one had my temper flaring.
"Damnit!"
I yelled, my anger boiling over. I struck my desk with my fist, knocking over the jar of pens and causing everyone to jump. I ignored them and the stinging in my hand as I walked out of the bullpen and into the breakroom. My hands gripped the counter in front of the sink and I dipped my head down, trying to get a hold of myself. I heard someone enter the room but didn't bother to look up. Adam came to stand beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey man, we're gonna find her."
He tried to comfort me but I was still reeling. I forced more air into my lungs as I nodded in response, not trusting my voice to speak. We stood in silence for a moment, Adam not sure what else to say and me not wanting to say anything. Suddenly, Kim's voice traveled loudly into the breakroom and we both bolted out to see what was up.
"I've got something! Jacob has a property in Wisconsin and I have him heading north on 94. I notified Illinois State Police to see if they can cut him off."
Her words spurred everyone into motion and soon we were all in the vehicles, ready to follow him. I could only hope that this was the lead we needed and that we could find her in time. I hoped into the truck and squealed out of the parking lot, everyone else behind me as I began the near five hour race to Wisconsin.
Kim called with an update about an hour into the drive. Illinois PD had been unable to locate him. I pushed the gas pedal down further, eager to close the gap between us. The local PD had been notified and they had a patrol car in place at the address but it was a huge amount of property, spanning nearly one hundred acres. They assured Kim they had K9's available to track if needed.
We rolled into the small Wisconsin town in just shy of five hours, traffic hadn't been bad and I was more than pushy with my driving the few times it had become an issue. Kim got ahold of the officers holding down the property, only to be told no one had arrived yet. Voight sent Kim and Kevin to meet at the local sheriff's office in the hope that this tiny town might have traffic cameras. As I drove down the main street of the town, I found that possibility highly unlikely. Adam, who was riding with Voight, had managed to get some information on the property from the local courthouse and it included a map. I glanced down at my GPS as I got closer to the address and then made the turn on the long driveway leading into the woods. A few feet back, out of sight from the main road, sat the local patrol car. He informed me no one had come onto the property and the small cabin at the end of the driveway had been empty. I thanked him and continued up the driveway with Voight and Adam in the car behind me. I came to a stop in front of the building that was more of a shack than a cabin and jumped out of the truck. Voight pulled up beside me and they both got out. Adam came to the hood of their vehicle and pulled up the email of the map on his phone.
"Ahh...there's like three points of entry on this property. They only sat on this one."
He groaned in frustration at the realization they could already be somewhere on the property and the one patrol car had been useless to stop them. I rubbed my face, once again struggling to control my temper and looked at Voight for what to do next. He looked around the small clearing around us before letting out a sigh.
"There's no way we can search this alone. Adam, get a hold of local again and have them bring out the dogs."
He looked my way again and I shook my head in frustration. There's no way I was waiting for them to assemble their K9 teams. I had adam send me a screenshot of the map and set off on one of the trails behind the cabin. I watched as Adam and Voight took the path opposite of mine. Just before I entered the trees I could see Kim and Kevin pulling in with two sheriff cars behind them. I started with a brisk walk but soon was jogging along the rough terrain. I glanced down every now and then at the map on my phone. If this map was accurate, it would lead me to another clearing in the middle of the woods and I hoped that maybe there was another building where I would find Hailey. I don't know how long I ran before I finally burst into the clearing. I let out a yell of frustration when all I found was an old deer shanty, but still jogged over to check it anyway. I pulled out my phone again, trying to decide which direction to point next when Voight's name flashed across my screen.
"Jay, back to the cabin. We've got her."
My heart stuttered with his words. I didn't want to get my hopes up until I saw her for myself so I quickly pointed back in the direction I came from and set out at a full force run. I burst back into the first clearing, my lungs burning from the jagged breathes I had been taking during my run. My heart pounded in my chest as I jogged across the field, watching in horror as a cot was pushed into the back of an ambulance. I was too far away to see clearly but I was almost certain I saw blonde hair at the head of the cot. My heart stopped again at the sight and I closed the distance between us at a run. I reached the ambulance just as the door was slammed in my face. I went to open it back up but Voight stepped in front of me. My temper flared and I was ready to move him out of the way but he held firm.
"Just give them a minute Jay…"
He shook his head at me and the look I saw in his eyes had me panicking. I tried to look through the small window in the door but it was too tinted for me to see in. After what felt like forever, the door opened and a younger looking EMT poked her head out.
"We can take one in with us, but we need to get moving. She's in rough shape."
Without hesitation, and without anyone moving to stop me, I instantly stepped forward and climbed into the rig. The girl motioned for me to sit on the bench beside Hailey and as I sat down I looked at her for the first time. She looked ice cold, her normally pink lips were a frightening shade of blue. Her eyes were shut and sunken. Her hair was drenched as it spread out underneath her and I noted the blood caked into her head. I watched as another medic placed a mask over her face and began pumping the bag, blowing air into her lungs. I looked down the rest of her body and realized she appeared to be naked, although they had loaded layers of blankets on top of her. I looked at the floor by the foot of the bed and saw a pile of bloodied clothes laying there. That made me feel a little better, knowing that the medics had removed her clothed versus whoever took her. The ambulance lurched forward then and the sound of their sirens filled the tiny compartment around us. I watched as the one girl, who looked much too young to be doing anything of the sort, started an IV in Hailey's arm. Normally the sight of needles would have got to me but I was too distracted by Hailey's appearance to care. She looked up at me then with a gentle smile.
"You can hold her hand if you want."
She nodded towards the blankets laying over Hailey's waist. Without thinking, I immediately reached my hand under the blankets, finding hers and clasping it in my own. I was shocked at just how icy she felt and began rubbing my fingers over her palm, hoping to warm it up a little. I realized this was the first time I had ever held Hailey's hand and if I had ever imagined it, which, to be honest I had, this was certainly not the manner in which I thought it would happen. I was silent the entire way to the hospital, listening to the beeping of the monitor, the choppy conversation shared between the two medics as they exchanged medical terms that were way over my head, and just watching Hailey's chest rise and fall with the air the other medic was still forcing into her. Finally we came to a stop and I hoped out of the rig beside the cot. The tiny building standing above us, with its flickering EMERGENCY ROOM sign hanging just above the ambulance, paled in comparison to Chicago Med. But, I supposed that was to be expected. Small town, small hospital. I walked beside the cot as they pushed her in, never letting go of Hailey's hand. I felt slightly satisfied when I noted that it had warmed ever so slightly in my grip. They wheeled her into a small room and suddenly we were surrounded by a team of staff. I heard someone ask me to leave but ignored them. They lined the cot up next to the bed and one of the nurses started pulling the blankets off of her. I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment as Hailey's bare chest was exposed beside me, but averted my eyes to the bruises covering her torso. With another sweep of her hand, the nurse yanked the rest of the blankets off, exposing Hailey's lower body. Thankfully, most of her was covered by a pair of black boyshorts but they didn't conceal the dried blood caking her thighs. I swallowed hard at the realization of what that could mean but pushed the thoughts from my head. A firm hand gripped my arm, causing me to look away and down to see a shorter woman with a reassuring smile on her face.
"You need to step out so they can look her over. We'll let you right back in when they're done."
Reluctantly, I let go of her hand and stepped away from the bed. The woman led me out of the room, turning to tug the curtain shut behind us, but not before I watched them slide her over onto the hospital bed. I saw the pool of blood Hailey had left on the EMS cot and my heart ached at the thought. The woman led me out to a tiny waiting room and instructed me to have a seat until she returned. I was only there for a moment before the rest of my unit stormed in, immediately heading my way and starting a barrage of questions I couldn't answer. Voight silenced them and they all picked seats along the row next to me. Voight chose the chair beside mine and we all fell into a silence as we waited. I tried to push all the worst case scenario thoughts out of my head but the sight of her bloody thighs is something that would haunt me until I knew otherwise. I prayed that she would make it through this and I could have my Hailey back. I paused for a moment as I considered that thought. My Hailey. Sure, she was my partner, my friend, but in all actuality...she wasn't mine, not really. I pushed back the awful thoughts swirling about my head as suddenly a new line of thinking made its way to the forefront.
My Hailey.