Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Case is Closed.
Stepping into the police station Jay hesitated for a moment, unable to believe that it had only been two months earlier that he had been rushing out of the very same doors and just down the street was where Caitlyn had been taken. It had taken longer than he would have liked to return to work after what had happened, every day that he'd been sat in the hospital had been another where he couldn't search for Caitlyn.
Once released Will had struggled to stop him from starting his own search for her, insisting the Voight and the team would handle the case while Jay recovered at home from his injury. However, no matter what anyone said or the promises that they had made they were no closer to finding Edward and Caitlyn; with each day that passed the case became colder and the threat of having it closed grew.
Jay swore that he wasn't going to give up, he couldn't just abandon Caitlyn to whatever fate Edward had planned for her; even with the discovery of Laura's body and the growing assumption that Caitlyn might also be dead. He didn't pay much mind to those around him or the looks that he was given knowing what they must have thought of him and what had happened to Caitlyn.
Heading up the stairs to Intelligence, Jay just hoped that they would keep the case going; they couldn't help just give up on Caitlyn and leave her in the hands of a man like Edward. It had been Antonio that had broken the news to Jay about everything that was going on, what had happened to Caitlyn and how they had found Laura at the side of a road; the fact that Edward was her father changed a lot.
"How are you holding up?" Adam asked spotting Jay as he appeared at the top of the stairs, he moved to greet his friend knowing the last few weeks couldn't have been easy for him. He couldn't imagine being in Jay's position and losing someone he cared about like that while he was trapped in hospital unable to do anything to happen.
"I'll be better when Caitlyn's home," Jay told Adam, he wasn't going to lie and he could barely sleep wondering just what was happening to her; he doubted that Edward was going to be happy after killing Laura. His original plan may have been that he wanted to play happy families, that would have all come to an end the moment that he killed Laura and now he was still holding Caitlyn hostage.
"Dude⦠I thought you knew," Adam said looking over his shoulder towards Erin, almost wishing that she'd step up and break the news; he had thought the two were good friends but she hadn't been to see Jay since Laura had been found. In fact, she'd thrown herself into a new relationship and could barely look at Jay now that they were in the same room; if she stared any harder at the computer then Adam was concerned it would crack.
"They've closed the case," Adam murmured not sure how Jay was going to take it, he reached out to rest a hand on Jay's shoulder wanting to offer him some comfort. The decision had not been an easy one and Adam knew that they'd exhausted all their resources, they had done everything that they could to try and find Caitlyn but Edward was good and had covered his tracks. Wherever he was hiding Caitlyn, it wasn't in Chicago and there was nothing that they could do; the room had been cleared and they'd already been assigned a new case.
"You're kidding me, right?" Jay asked shaking his head, he looked around at the others waiting for someone to tell him that this was some sick joke; he stepped back from Adam not wanting to believe this. No one said anything and Jay couldn't help but feel betrayed, he couldn't believe that they were giving up on someone that they'd considered a friend; he wouldn't have done it if it was any of them.
"She's alive out there counting on us to find her," argued Jay, he wanted them to agree with him; he wanted them to help him find Caitlyn and put the bastard that had taken her behind bars. They couldn't let her down when she was relying on them to rescue her before she ended up like Richard and Laura; dumped in some street for the cleaners to find her.
"She's probably dead by now. There's been nothing. No clues. No evidence. They've just disappeared. There is nothing we can do," Antonio explained feeling his pain, he wanted to solve this but the case had run dry. There was nothing more that they could do about this, the team had worked every angle and it wasn't going to get any easier; two months had elapsed since Caitlyn had been abducted, they had done what they could but it was done. The higher ups felt like the team were being wasted on this when there would not be an outcome, they had worked the case for as long as possible before it became clear that this would be one of those cases.
"And you're just going to accept that?" Jay asked looking around, his eyes locking with Alvin's trying to plead with him to take his side in this. Caitlyn was his niece, he should want to find her and make sure that his brother was brought to justice for what he had done; Richard and Laura deserved that at least, they might not have been perfect but they deserved justice.
Alvin couldn't meet Jay's eyes instead he turned away, he knew what Jay wanted from him and he prayed that he had done the right thing; he wished that they could have solved this but a part of him believed that she was gone. It hadn't been an easy decision, Alvin had wept when Hank had told him that the case was being closed down that with everything that was going on it just wasn't feasible to keep the case going when there was nothing for them to run on.
"I can't believe this," Jay said running his fingers through his hair, he backed away from Adam almost wanting to pull his hair out; this was not what he had expected when it came to returning to work. He'd had everything planned out in his head, how he would come back to work and they'd solve this case; bring Caitlyn home and everything else would work itself out. Shaking his head, he turned on his heel and walked back down the stairs unable to believe this; he wasn't going to just give up and pretend that this was okay.
"Jay?" called Erin jumping up from her seat, she hurried down the steps after him unable to believe that he was willing to risk it all for a woman that he had barely been dating for a couple of months. Hell, Caitlyn had been missing for most of that and Erin couldn't understand why Jay couldn't accept that she was gone; they'd done what they could and it wasn't like the case wouldn't be reopened if more evidence showed up.
Ignoring Erin, Jay made his way out of the police station unable to believe that they were all just happy to abandon Caitlyn to whatever fate; he believed that she was still alive, Edward would have dumped her body like he had done with the others. There was just no way that this was going to end well and Jay wasn't just going to pretend that everything was alright; he could barely sleep thinking back to that day. If he'd acted faster and realised it sooner, then perhaps Caitlyn would be here right now instead of wherever she was probably frightened for her life.
"Jay. Would you stop?" Erin snapped reaching for his arm and pulling him to a stop, she stared up at him feeling like a hole was being punched in her chest at the look that filled his face. It hurt worse than when he'd called out for Caitlyn while he was in hospital, she had always hoped that he would one day feel this way about her; she'd tried to be what he needed but that hadn't worked. Her life was a mess and Bunny often caused enough trouble that meant that Erin often found herself in situations that pushed the line in which she had always towed.
"I get it. Losing her was hard but don't throw your life, your friends, your career away for someone that might not even be alive right now," Erin tried to reason with him, it wasn't going to go away or work out like Jay had wanted it to. The two stared at one another for a moment, Erin taking a step towards him; her eyes flickering to his lips and she moved forward to close the gap between them. Only for Jay to take a step back, hurt filled her eyes and she looked away from him for a moment; her hands shaking and when she looked back at him, she saw the regret of knowing what she had planned to do.
"I'm not throwing anything away. I am going to find her and I am going to bring her home," Jay told her, he walked back away from Erin watching her for a moment surer than he had been in a long time about what he was going to do. Turning away, Jay headed over to his car knowing that he was going to need help if he wanted to find Caitlyn; Mouse would be his first call and from there, Jay wasn't sure just where this was going to take him. It wasn't going to be easy and he knew that by turning his back on the team then he had just made the task even harder on himself.
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