Jay was sitting on the hood of his truck, waiting for Antonio to show up.
"You look bored," Antonio said walking up behind him.
"I've been sitting at home all day. What do you expect?" Jay couldn't keep the bitterness out of his tone.
"Well, I would ask if you did it," Jay glared at his friend, "But, going off your comment this morning, I don't think you did it."
"Of course, I didn't do it," Jay was getting worked up, "I've wanted to do it, sure, but I'm not that type of person. And I thought you guys knew that." Jay was way past angry.
"Well, I don't know about Voight, but I know the type of man you are and I also know that you should be the one who at least should take a look at the case," Antonio said as he handed the case file over to Jay.
"Thanks," Jay mumbled. Just then, he saw Will and Maddie start walking towards him and Antonio. He should have known that Maddie was going to get what she wants and help Jay either he wants it or not.
"So, Antonio, I'm gonna tell you something that no one knows about in Intelligence," Jay said.
Antonio was confused, "Ok."
"I have two siblings, an older brother, and a younger sister," Jay said. What was he so nervous about? "I'm telling you this because my sister is as stubborn as me and isn't gonna leave me alone until I'm cleared. And, therefore, they're walking over here."
Antonio was shocked. He didn't expect Jay would hide something like that.
"You kept your work life and home life separate," Antonio said. "Why?"
"It's easier," Jay said, he didn't specify what was easier but he couldn't get into it now.
Will and Maddie were now within talking distance.
"I thought I told you to get food," Jay said, he should have known this was gonna happen.
"We did, it's in the car," Maddie said. "And besides, no one is gonna blame my brother for killing someone without having to talk to me first."
Jay chuckled. Maddie's sassiness was at an all-time high right now. "Well, no one here is accusing me of the crime, so drop the sassiness meter, it's up too high."
"No." Maddie crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Antonio laughed, "She's just like you."
"Shut up," Jay shot a playful glare at Antonio, "Anyways, Antonio, this is my brother, Will, he is an ED doctor at Med. And this is my baby sister, Madelyn. Guys, this is Antonio Dawson, a coworker of mine and the guy who brought me into the unit."
"Nice to meet you," Will shook Antonio's hand. Maddie just glared. "Mads, I'm pretty sure there's a truce, you can stop glaring now."
"Fine," Maddie lightened her tone.
"Well, it was nice to meet you both but I need to get back to the station," Antonio said and he started to walk away, "Wait, Jay, you didn't get that from me."
"Get what?" Jay replied with a smirk.
"Ok, now what?" Maddie asked.
"We figure out who killed Lonnie Rodiger," Jay replied, "And when I say we, I mean me because you guys aren't detectives."
"You're the main suspect, so isn't that against police policy or something?" Will asked.
"Fine, you can help me," Jay would rather give in now than have two stubborn pain in the asses nagging him all day.
When the Halsteads got back to Jay's apartment, Mouse was waiting for them.
"Hey guys, Will said that you might need help today," Mouse said when he saw them. Jay looked over to Will.
"Um, yeah, I thought you could help with us getting Jay unsuspended," Will said, still not looking at his brother. That wasn't the real reason but Jay would get mad if he voiced the real reason.
"Jay was suspended?" Mouse asked.
"Yes, I was suspended and Will," Jay sent a glare over his brother, "I know why you texted Mouse."
"Why don't we get into Jay's apartment and work on getting Jay's job back?" Maddie suggested. She could tell her brothers were getting work up and would start fighting soon.
They walked in and got to work. About an hour in, they got a knock on the door. Jay didn't know who it would be so he put up guard a little bit. When Jay saw it was Alvin Olinsky, he lowered it.
"Hey, Al," Jay said, "What brings you here?"
"Hey, kid," Al replied, "I thought I would come by and see if anyone else was offering you any help." Al figured the answer would be no one but he wanted to check.
"Uh, Antonio got me the file," Jay said, "No one else has talked to me."
"Do you need any help?" Al asked. He fully expected Jay to pull away.
"Uh, yeah, I would like to run something by you," Jay said and motioned for him to come in. This would be the second person from his unit to find out he had been hiding from his team. Jay and Al walked in and Al saw Will, Mouse, and Maddie all in the living room.
"Um, Al, this is my brother, Will, my sister, Maddie, and my best friend, Greg or Mouse whichever you prefer," Jay said a little nervously, "Will, Mads, and Mouse, this is Alvin Olinsky, he works with me too."
Alvin looked at Jay when he said 'too.'
"Nice to meet you," Alvin said. He wasn't surprised that Jay had been hiding from Intelligence. Alvin turned to Jay, "You said you wanted to run something by me?"
"Yeah," Jay grabbed the file and his camera. "Phil Rodiger said that Lonnie never came home last night but I didn't come here and watch the game till after I saw him enter his house."
While Jay was talking, Alvin looked at the file and the picture Jay took. Will, Maddie, and Mouse still haven't moved. Jay motioned to them to calm down and relax. Maddie was still on guard for her brother even after being told to relax.
"Phil Rodiger lied to the police," Al said.
"That's what I thought but I wanted a more experienced mind to look at it as well," Jay said.
"I assume that you're going to find Rodiger and bring him in?" Al asked. Jay nodded. "Ok, I'll keep the interrogation room open."
"Ok, thanks," Jay said to Al.
Jay walked into the district and completely ignored Platt's looks. He just wanted to get in and out before Maddie decided to "protect" him. He went up the stairs to Intelligence. When he got there, he was welcomed by a small grin from Antonio, a glare from Voight, and a surprised look from everyone else in the bullpen. Al walked out of the hallway that leads to the interrogation room. He gave a reassuring look to Jay and walked to his desk.
Jay walked to the interrogation room and sat Phil Rodiger down. He didn't talk till after he came back out.
"Phil Rodiger lied to the police about Lonnie and then confessed to the murder of the prick," Jay said. He had an edge in his voice as he spoke. He handed over a printed picture with time and date on it. Voight told Erin to talk to Rodiger and everyone walked into the observation room.
After the interrogation, everyone was doing what they were doing before Jay got there. Jay walked into the room and Voight handed over his gun and badge. He got a bunch of half-assed comments like how they knew the whole time he was innocent. He noticed that the crime photo was taken down and put on his desk. He moved to his desk and put it away.
"Why do you keep that photo?" Erin asked. Of course, now she was talking to him. Antonio and Al looked at Jay as he answered.
"It reminds me to never break my promises," Jay said, now everyone was looking at him, "I promised the Corsons that I would get justice for Ben and I made sure that Lonnie wouldn't kill another kid. I just never thought that his dad would kill him. I'll see you guys later." With that, Jay walked out of the bullpen.