Hi friends! All of you continue to blow my mind with your sweet messages and support for this story. I can never thank you enough! Here's the next chapter, and don't worry, it's not as emotional heavy as the previous ones. I hope you enjoy and as always, can't wait to hear your thoughts and predictions on how things will turn out! And spoiler alert - I'll be posting chapter 14 on Friday! ;)
They've only been gone a little over an hour when Jay's phone starts ringing, displaying an unknown caller on the screen. He accepts the call within a second as he stands from his desk and walks into the break room for some privacy.
"Hello?" He says into the phone, closing the door behind him.
"Hi," Hailey says, her voice quiet and tired as it comes through the speaker.
He sits down on the small couch of the break room, a smile coming over his face at the sound of her voice as he breathes out, "Hey you."
"We're here," she tells him.
"Thanks for calling. How are the new digs?"
"Not bad, not home though," she says.
A long sigh comes through from her end a moment later and he knows she's running a hand through her hair like she always does whenever she's nervous or stressed or needing something to do with her hands.
"I called Vanessa after you guys left," he tells her, giving her the distraction he knows she needs. "Let her know what was going on. She said she loves you guys and hopes to see you soon."
"Thanks for that. Everything happened so fast. I didn't even get to tell her goodbye. Could you – "
"Of course I will," Jay says.
"Thanks," Hailey says, blowing out another heavy sigh.
"I know you haven't been with them long, but are Wilson and Morales treating you guys alright?" He asks.
"Yeah, they're not much for conversation, but they seem nice enough and Ave's got them wrapped around her finger already."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jay laughs.
"Yeah, she tends to have that effect on people."
"She got me quick, that's for sure."
"Yeah, she did," Hailey says, her voice still quiet, but he can hear the smile in her words, and then it's gone a second later as she says, "They told me phone calls have to be short. A safety precaution."
"I figured," Jay says, thankful she can't see his face or the tears he feels burning harshly in the corners of his eyes. "How much longer do I have you for?"
"A minute or two."
"I'll take it."
"I miss you," Hailey blurts out. "It's only been an hour and I miss you. I missed you as soon as you closed that damn car door."
He hears her sniffling through the phone and wishes more than anything he could wrap his arms around her, but he can't and it makes everything in him ache just a little bit more than it already does.
"I miss you too. I miss you and that little girl so much already. I didn't think it was possible to miss someone this much."
"Yeah," she whispers, letting out a sigh. "I guess I'll talk to you later? They said to keep the calls short, but that doesn't mean we can't talk more than once a day."
"I'll call you later tonight if it's not too late when I get home."
"I don't care what time it is," she tells him.
"Then I will call you regardless," he says, smiling into the phone.
"Good. Be safe."
"You too. Don't worry, you'll be home soon," Jay assures her.
"I hope so. Bye Jay."
"Bye Hailey."
He ends the call and drops his phone to his lap, sighing loudly as he leans his head back against the couch.
There's a knock on the door a few moments later and he lifts his head just as Kevin opens it and stands in the doorway. "We got something bro."
"What's up?" Jay asks, rising to his feet quickly and following Kevin out into the bullpen.
He finds Kim and Adam at the whiteboard, Antonio talking quietly on the phone at his desk, and Voight standing in the middle of the pen.
"That guy Steven Phillips? The case we flipped back to Narcotics?" Kim says, stepping to the side of the board as she looks over at him and Kevin.
"What about him?" Jay asks.
"Ruze and I just got back from talking to his wife," she says, shaking her head in near disbelief. "Guess who he was working for under the table?"
Jay quirks an eyebrow, his eyes widening. "Ron Booth?"
"Yup," Kim says. "Phillips was a delivery driver for his paint business."
"So he was working for the bastard," Jay breathes out.
Adam steps forward, nodding his head. "Yeah, but not the way you're thinking. The wife said Phillips was as straight and narrow as they come. Good guy, volunteered, they went to church every week, just wanted to make some extra cash. She told us that Phillips had a bad feeling about what he was carrying in the truck, said he started asking questions."
"Does she know when he started asking questions?" Jay asks.
"Yeah," Adam sighs. "A week before the explosion. She told us Steve got a phone call the day of, said his boss had a last minute job and no one else was available. Told him to meet him at his house. The same damn house that blew up."
"Then that's it?" Jay says, shooting a glance to Voight. "We got him for murder."
Voight shakes his head. "It's circumstantial at best. We need solid proof that Booth was in that house or at least near it otherwise no judge is giving us a warrant for anything."
"I got that," Antonio says, stepping around his desk. "Pod camera caught the same make and model of Booth's vehicle near the scene, four houses down. Ran the plate and it's a match."
"We got him," Jay says again, eyeing his Sergeant.
Voight nods, looking over at Antonio. "Dawson, get us a warrant and have the bomb squad meet us at his house. We're not taking any chances. The rest of you, gear up."
Antonio nods, getting back on the phone while the rest of the team disperses and heads downstairs. They all gear up quickly and roll out soon after they get their warrant, arriving at a single family home a short drive from the district. The bomb squad shows up a few minutes after Intelligence, and once they're sure the house is safe, they give the all-clear for Voight and the team to move in.
Adam and Antonio take the back of the house while the others move toward the front door, Jay leading them and Kevin behind him with a battering ram in his hands. Jay announces their presence and rings the doorbell twice, and after no answer, he nods at Kevin who then rams the door once and hard, sending it flying open.
The team makes their way inside, clearing each room quickly only to come up empty handed.
"He's in the wind," Adam shakes his head as they all meet in the living room.
Kim nods beside him in confirmation, pointing over her shoulder to the stairs. "Closet in one of the rooms upstairs is empty and there's a suitcase missing from a set we found."
"He could be hiding out at his warehouse," Jay suggests, glancing over at their Sergeant.
"Warrant only covers his residence, not his place of employment," Antonio says, glancing between the two men.
Alvin shrugs beside him as he holsters his gun. "Exigent circumstances. He owns the business."
Voight nods, smirking at his friend then turns for the front door. "Let's go."
They leave the house and roll up outside of an industrial warehouse twenty minutes later, only to find that empty as well when they go inside, not a single person in sight.
"He's running," Antonio says, as they regroup outside the building.
Jay shakes his head, his hands on his hips. "No, he's not."
"He cleared out his closet, took a suitcase with him, and it's the middle of a workday," Antonio says, gesturing around at the warehouse. "Did you see anyone working inside?"
Jay scoffs at him, looking over at the man. "You don't know the things this guy has done, what Hailey has told me, okay? He's not gonna just give up and run away. That's too easy!"
"Then where is he, Jay?" He bites back.
"I don't know!" Jay shouts, throwing his hands in the air in and shaking his head again.
Kevin sidles up beside Jay, clapping a hand over his shoulder and giving a comforting squeeze as Voight steps between Jay and Antonio, raising his hands between the two.
"Everybody relax," he says. "What about the nephew?"
"We can't find him anywhere, Sarge. Probably laying low just like Booth," Kevin says as he drops his hand from Jay, then tilts his head. "Kid has a habit though. I got a CI I could talk to, might know something."
"Go, take Halstead with you," Voight tells him, glancing at Jay with a look of concern.
"Got it Sarge," Kevin nods, then turns to Jay. "C'mon bro."
Jay follows him as Kevin leads him away and Voight turns to face the rest of the team, jutting his chin at the building behind them.
"Tear this place apart and call in patrol for backup. I want everything bagged and tagged, and make sure someone pulls the footage from that camera at the front door," Voight tells them and they nod, moving to go back inside, and then he calls out to Antonio. "Hold up a sec."
"What?" The man asks, tilting his head at his boss.
Voight steps toward him, shaking his head before he gruffly says, "You know this isn't a normal case, bro. This guy is after one of our own. So we throw everything we got into it, ya understand?"
"Even if that means bending the rules or going off book?" Antonio pushes back.
Voight nods slowly, a knowing smirk spreading over his face as he stares back at the man in front of him. "I remember those things didn't exactly matter to you when Diego was kidnapped or Gabby nearly got lit up by that arsonist a while back. It's family, Antonio."
"Yeah," he sighs, nodding. "Yeah, I got it. I'm sorry."
Voight nods back at him, clapping a hand over his shoulder as they turn to head inside the warehouse again. "Let's find this prick."
The team heads back to the district a short while later, each of them digging into the phone records and financials of Booth and his employees, his family history, anything they can to try and find something that will lead them to where the man might be.
Jay and Kevin enter the bullpen about an hour after the team, Voight waving them into his office when he spots them.
"How'd it go?" He asks.
"Good actually," Jay says, nodding to Kevin. "Kev's CI gave us the name of a dealer that Tyler might be using. We found the dealer and he confirmed the kid is a frequent customer, but he hasn't seen him in a few days."
"Which means he might be looking to score soon. They're both in on this thing with Upton, I doubt they're hiding out together," Voight says and they both nod.
"Dealer is willing to play ball and contact us if Tyler reaches out to him, but…" Kevin trails off, glancing over at Jay before looking back to their Sergeant.
"But?" Voight presses.
"He doesn't wanna be charged for possession or distribution," Jay sighs. "Said if he's helping the cops, we should return the favor."
Voight nods, leaning back in his chair and looking at Jay. "What do you think?"
Jay stares back at him, his hands on his hips as shrugs at his boss. "I think I'll do whatever I have to so we can find this kid and his uncle."
"Thought so," Voight smirks, nodding again at the two men. "Tell the dealer we'll look the other way, this time at least since he's acting on behalf of CPD. We'll sit on him and hope Whitlock turns up. Take shifts, twelve hours, teams of two."
"Copy Sarge," Kevin says, Jay nodding beside him and they turn around to head out of the office.
"Jay? Hold up," Voight calls out to him, stopping the man in his tracks.
Jay turns back to face him, an eyebrow raised, and Voight nods at him.
"Shut the door."
He does as his Sergeant says and sits down in a chair in front of the man's desk, jutting his chin toward him. "What's up?"
"You tell me what's up. Your head on straight for this?"
"I just wanna find these guys, Sarge."
"I know you do, we all do. You didn't answer my question though," Voight says.
"I just wanna find them," Jay says again quietly, shrugging once more as he looks over at his Sergeant. "I don't care what I have to do or what needs to be done in order for that to happen. For Hailey and Avery to be safe. For them to come home."
Voight nods, clasping his hands together in his lap as he stares back at his detective. "Is that because you wanna do your job and get Booth off the street or because of whatever is going on between you and Hailey?"
"Sarge – "
"I'm not stupid, Jay. I have eyes. Also had ears yesterday when I heard that kid call you her father. You seem to have a much bigger stake in all this than the rest of us."
Jay sighs, shrugging his shoulders again. "Hailey and I, we – we care about each other. We're – I don't really know, but her and Avery mean a lot to me. Regardless of our relationship status or whatever does or doesn't happen between us, I just want them safe."
"You really think I care about your relationship status, Jay?" Voight asks, his brows furrowing together as he leans forward over his desk and stares over at the man in front of him. "After everything that's happened the last few years, the only thing I care about is whether or not you can handle this. I don't need you losing your head and getting yourself or someone else hurt out there or worse. So if you can't handle it, I need to know and I need to know now."
Jay sighs, his jaw tense as he keeps quiet for a moment, and then he nods his head slowly. "I'm good, Sarge. I promise."
"Alright," Voight says, taking him for his word and tilting his head to the door. "You and Atwater take the first shift. Let's hope this kid turns up."
Jay nods again as he stands from the chair and leaves the office, finding Kevin waiting for him at his desk and the two head out again.
It's just after three in the afternoon when Jay and Kevin arrive at the corner of their dealer's turf. They let the guy know he's got a deal, that he won't be charged if he helps deliver Tyler, and the guy assures them he'll signal to them if the kid shows. The first few hours into their surveillance are uneventful, time ticking by slowly until the day turns to night.
A little after seven, Jay remembers his promise to call Hailey when he got home and he realizes he won't be back there until the next day so he pulls out his phone. Kevin is keeping watch out of the back window of their surveillance van so he shoots off a text to her burner phone so she doesn't worry.
Kev and I have been running surveillance since around 3pm. 12 hours. Won't be home til tomorrow, but I didn't want you to worry. I'll call you in the morning. Kiss Ave for me.
She responds a moment later.
I will. Be safe.
He stuffs his phone back into his pocket and puts his attention back on surveilling the dealer, feeling Kevin's eyes on him shortly after.
"You good bro?"
"Yeah," Jay nods. "I just wanna find this damn kid. He's the only thing we have left that might lead us to Booth."
"We'll get him. Both of 'em."
"I hope you're right Kev," Jay says quietly.
His friend claps him over his back, patting him twice, then drops his hand as they continue watching the dealer across the street.
The first night of surveillance ends up being a total bust when Tyler doesn't show. Kim and Adam roll up at three in the morning for their twelve hour shift, taking over for Jay and Kevin so the two men can go home and rest up for a while.
It's nearly 4AM when Jay enters his apartment and he immediately falls onto his couch, blowing out a long, deep sigh and running his hand over the back of his head. The exhaustion and frustration and the worry over his partner and her daughter already taking a heavy toll on him, and they haven't even been gone for a full twenty-four hours. All he wants is to hear Hailey's voice, but it's too late – or early, and even though he's almost certain she's most likely not sleeping, he doesn't want to chance it and wake her.
He pulls himself up from his couch instead, turns off the lights and goes into his bedroom. He kicks off his jeans, pulls off his shirt, and falls into his bed, sighing heavily again as he moves under the blankets and tries to get comfortable.
The only thing that makes him eventually doze off is the image of Hailey and Avery in his head, the two of them safe and beside him in his bed and him holding them both in his arms.
He manages to sleep for a bit, blinking his eyes open to sunlight streaming in through his bedroom window and he quickly reaches for his phone on the nightstand. It's a little after eight and there is nothing new from the team or Voight so he swipes a finger across the screen, and then brings the phone to his ear.
"You should be sleeping," Hailey scolds him when she picks up after the second ring.
"I slept for a bit," Jay tells her.
"Hmmm, define a bit?"
"Like four hours."
She hums out another response and he knows she's smirking at the other end of the line.
"Did you sleep?" Jay asks her.
"I slept for a bit," she says, her tone teasing as she throws his words back at him and he lets out a light laugh into the phone.
"Ave awake?"
"Yeah, hang on," Hailey tells him.
There's some shuffling in the background as Hailey calls for her daughter and a second later he hears Avery's excited voice come through the speaker.
"Hi Jay!"
"Good morning bug!" Jay says grinning into the phone. "How are you?"
"I'm good, eating breakfast with Agent Wilson and Mor - Mor…I dunno his name, but he's here too!"
"That's nice. You having fun on your trip with mama so far?"
"Yeah, but I miss you and auntie and Kevin and everybody. Do you know when we're comin' home again?"
"I miss you too, Ave. We all miss you so much. You and mama will be home soon though. I promise," Jay tells her.
"I hope so. Mama says I gotta give the phone back now. Bye Jay!"
"Bye bug. I love you," he says softly.
"Love you too!" She tells him and then it goes quiet for a second before Hailey comes back on the line.
"That kid is something else," Jay says, chuckling into the speaker.
"Tell me about it," she sighs. "We don't have a lot of time left. How was the surveillance gig last night?"
"A bust," he tells her truthfully.
"Who's it for?" She asks.
"A dealer that knows Tyler. We're hoping he'll try and score soon so we can scoop him up."
"Good plan," Hailey tells him.
"We'll see if it works," Jay says as the lingering exhaustion takes over and he breathes out a deep yawn.
Hailey sighs from the end of the line. "Please take care of yourself Jay."
"I'm fine."
"You call sleeping four hours fine?"
"You're one to talk," he teases.
"I know," she says. "But I'm also not the one running twelve hour surveillance from the back of a van. And I also know you. Ave and I are safe for the time being. You don't need to worry about us."
"Yeah, that's unlikely."
"I worry enough for the both of us," she says, a small laugh escaping her. "I'm serious Jay. You need to take care of yourself as much as you try and take care of everyone else. Promise me."
"I'll try, I promise," he tells her.
It goes silent over the line and he wonders if he should tell her about the events of the day before, and as if she can read his mind he hears her voice come through the speaker again.
"You didn't start surveillance until yesterday afternoon. You found something, didn't you?"
"Yeah, we did," Jay sighs into the phone, lifting his free hand and running it over his face. "That Phillips guy, from the Narcotics case? He was working off the books as a driver for Booth's paint business. He's clean, but he started asking questions. Pod caught Booth's plate near the scene of the explosion."
"Jesus Christ," Hailey breathes out.
When he doesn't say anything more, she asks, "What else aren't you telling me?"
He sighs again, sitting up in his bed. "We were able to get a warrant for Booth's house, but he had already cleared out. We hit his warehouse too and no one was there. He's in the wind."
"It can't be that easy. He doesn't just stop. He's not a runner, Jay," she tells him, her voice breaking off at the end as she speaks.
"I'll find him, Hailey. I swear to you, I'll find him."
"I know," she breathes out heavily. It's quiet for a moment and then she says, "I should go. Our time is definitely up and Morales is giving me the look."
"Alright. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye Jay."
Hailey hangs up after he says goodbye and she blows out another deep sigh as she heads into the kitchen. She sits down next to Avery at the small dining table and reaches out a hand to run through the little girl's hair as she colors in one of her books.
Avery seems lost in her own world as she continues to color quietly, and then she looks up at her mother a few minutes later with scrunched eyebrows and a little head tilt.
"Can I ask you somethin' mama?"
Hailey smiles at her, nodding her head. "Sure you can."
"You 'member at my birthday party when you said you were gonna get me a daddy some day?"
Hailey swallows nervously, stilling her hand in Avery's hair, but nods again as she says, "Yeah, I remember."
"Can I pick my own daddy?" Avery asks, staring at her mother with bright blue eyes.
Hailey lets out a quiet sigh, shaking her head slowly as a sad smile forms on her face. "It doesn't really work that way baby."
"Oh. Okay," Avery says, turning her eyes back to the coloring book in front of her.
Hailey drops her hand from the little girl's hair down to the side of her face and brushes a finger over her cheek gently. "You really love Jay, huh?"
"Yeah, I love him a lot," Avery nods quickly, reaching for a different crayon, but not meeting her mother's eyes.
"He loves you a lot too," Hailey tells her before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.
Three more days pass with no luck in finding Tyler or Booth, and Voight makes the difficult decision to kill the surveillance operation on the drug dealer when it doesn't pan out. No other leads come up, leaving Jay feeling completely useless. He tries to keep the promise he made to Hailey, tries to sleep more than four to five hours at a time, but he always ends up waking in the middle of the night or too early in the morning so he finds himself at the district earlier than the rest of his team.
Today is no different as he drags himself into the bullpen before the sun comes up. He combs over every piece of paper in every file, searches again and again through the computer database, watches endless amounts of pod footage in hopes that something will pop or he'll see something new that can help them, but he always comes up empty handed.
He groans loudly from the frustration as he leans back in his desk chair and runs a hand over his face.
It's barely seven in the morning and other than himself and his heavy sighs, the bullpen is empty and quiet. He pulls himself up from his chair and heads into the break room to make a fresh pot of coffee and leans back against the counter, staring off blankly as the machine brews behind him.
There's a shuffling of steps in the distance a few minutes later and when he turns his head he finds Trudy making her way toward him.
"You're in early," she comments as she crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the doorway.
"Yeah," Jay sighs, then tilts his head at her. "You too. What are you doing here?"
"Probably the same as you. Saw your truck in the lot, knew I'd find you right where we left you yesterday. I'm assuming you're here off the books since no one approved the OT."
"I don't care about overtime, Trudy," he says softly, tilting his head at her again with a look in his eyes that has her shaking her head and staring back at him with concern.
"I know," she tells him. "I also know there's no use in telling you to slow down and not work yourself to the bone so let me help."
"Really?" Jay asks, quirking an eyebrow.
"You're not the only one who wants to find this son of a bitch. Let's go," she says, hooking a thumb over her shoulder.
"Where?"
"That drug dealer of yours. Let's pay him a visit."
"Voight canned the surveillance though."
"Doesn't mean we can't talk to the guy," Trudy smirks.
Jay shrugs, a small smile peeking out over his face as he looks back at her. "Let's go wake him up then."
He follows after her into the bullpen, forgetting the coffee behind him and the two head downstairs and out to his truck in the parking lot.
They make the drive over to the dealer's house and when Jay parks the truck along the street he glances over at his desk Sergeant in the passenger seat.
"How do you wanna play this? Good cop, bad cop and press the guy?"
Trudy turns her head, a smirk on her face again as she reaches for the door handle. "How about bad cop, bad cop? We don't owe this punk anything. Let's go."
"Sounds good to me," Jay smiles back, getting out of the cab and meeting her on the sidewalk.
They make their way up the front steps of the house, Trudy with a hand resting over her gun just in case the guy gets squirrelly, and Jay lifts an arm and bangs on the door several times.
A light turns on a few minutes later, casting a dim glow through the small windowpane of the front door, followed by some rustling behind it, and then they hear, "Who is it?"
"Chicago PD! Open the door, now!" Jay calls through the door harshly.
The lock turns a second later and the door opens, the dealer shaking his head quickly.
"Man, it is seven in the morning! I tried to help y'all. Your boy didn't show!"
"Maybe he didn't show because you tipped him off. You realize that's obstruction right?" Trudy tells him, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I didn't tip him off! I'm not that dumb. What do you want from me?"
"Make him show," Jay says, his voice turning to ice as he takes a step forward into the man's home and stands directly in front of his face. "Make some calls. Tell him you got new product. Tell him whatever you have to so he comes to see you."
"What makes you think he'll even buy it? That he'll show?" The guy asks, staring up at Jay as he towers over the dealer.
"Because you may not be dumb, but we're hoping he is. So make the call," Jay hisses at him before pulling a business card from his pocket. "Then you call me when it's set up or I'm gonna come back here and knock on your door every God damn day until I get Whitlock. Do you understand me?"
The guy swallows hard, blinking a few times and glancing over Jay's shoulder at Trudy, but all the woman does is smirk at him and shrug her shoulders.
"Alright," the guy breathes out, nodding quickly as he takes the card from Jay's hand. "Alright, I'll do it. Just, just chill man."
"Good choice," Jay says smugly as he pats a hand over the guy's shoulder, making him flinch, and then he backs away from him.
He steps out of the house as Trudy turns to the dealer, a smirk still on her face as she says, "Have a nice day!"
Her and Jay make their way back to the truck, jumping into the cab, and as Jay turns over the ignition, Trudy shakes her head at him.
"Man, I missed that," she snickers. "Don't see too much action these days behind the front desk."
Jay chuckles, putting the truck into drive and heading back to the district.
"You miss her, don't you? Both of 'em?" Trudy says a few minutes into the drive.
Jay glances over at her briefly, taking in the knowing look on her face before he turns his eyes back to the road, and then nods. "Yeah, yeah I do."
"They'll be home soon. We'll get this guy," she tells him.
"We keep saying that, but we haven't exactly had the best of luck," he says, a dejected tone in his words.
"I know, but ya gotta keep the faith and not lose hope, Halstead. The second you do, things get a lot scarier. We owe it to Hailey and that little girl to not give up."
"I'm not giving up. Not until they're safe."
"Yeah, I know that too," Trudy smirks.
He tilts his head over at her, catching the grin on her face as it slowly fades, and he smiles back at her.
"Thanks Trudy," Jay says softly as he glances over at her again and she nods at him.
He turns his eyes back to the road, but her words play over and over in his head as he continues the drive back to the district.
The rest of the day moves slowly and uneventful and when the time comes for the team to go home, Jay is the first one to rush out of the bullpen.
He's tired and angry, at himself and Booth and the entire situation, and when he gets home he thinks about calling Hailey, knowing her voice alone will cheer him up, but he decides against it. He doesn't want to worry her with his mood or have her blaming herself for any of what's going on, so he puts his phone, gun and badge on his nightstand, and then goes into the kitchen. He grabs a beer from his fridge and heads to his couch, turning on the television to try and distract himself from his racing mind.
An hour passes, one beer quickly turning into two, then almost three, but when he reaches for the third bottle in the fridge he sighs loudly, dropping his head and grabbing a bottle of water instead. He goes back into the living room, turns off the television and the lights, and heads for the bedroom again. He sets the water down on the nightstand and strips down to his boxers, then climbs into bed just as his phone rings.
He breathes out a heavy sigh, knowing who it is before he even reaches for his phone, and he has half a mind to not answer it, but he can't do that to her. He won't.
"Hello?" He says, quieter than he intends it to.
"Were you sleeping? I'm sorry," Hailey says quickly and he can see her shaking her head in his mind. "We can talk tomorrow."
"I wasn't sleeping," is all he says.
"Oh, okay," she breathes out, the sound of his tone not going unnoticed. "You sound kinda off. Are you okay? I talked to Voight a little while ago and he said you guys had left, but you hadn't called so…are you mad at me?"
"I'm mad, but not at you. Never at you," he says softer this time and hoping she hears the sincerity in his voice. "It's just been one of those days and I didn't wanna bother you with my bad mood."
"You never bother me," she assures him. "But I'll let you go. Get some sleep. We can talk another time."
"Hailey, no, I'm sorry. I – I had every intention of calling you when I got home tonight, but I…" he trails off, sighing loudly. "I ended up throwing myself a pity party and I just didn't wanna worry you."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"I'm just frustrated and I miss you guys."
"I know. We miss you too."
He sighs again, then smiles a moment later as he says, "I'd much rather talk about you. How was your day? How's Ave?"
"Same as all the others. Boring and lonely," she tells him. "Ave is good, sleeping right now. I'm kinda really glad she has no idea what's going on though."
"And how are you holding up? Besides the boredom and the loneliness."
"I'm fine, not sleeping very well, but that's normal. Every little noise just puts me on edge, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Have you guys gotten any leads? What's going on over there?"
"We're still hoping the itch to score will be bad enough that Tyler will come out of whatever hole he's hiding in."
"Well, he's an addict, thanks to his uncle. He'll pop up soon enough. What about Booth?"
"Nothing yet. We've checked the warehouse and his house again, but he hasn't surfaced. Guy's like a damn ghost."
"That's how he's always been. Only seen and heard when he wants to be," she scoffs.
"We're gonna get him Hailey," he tells her, trying to stay positive for her as Platt's words come back to the forefront of his mind.
"I know. It's just the waiting part that sucks. I'm ready for this to be over. I wanna go back to work. I wanna be back home. I want things to go back to how they used to be."
"You want everything to go back to how it used to be?"
"You're subtle," she teases, a small laugh echoing through the phone, and then her quiet voice comes a moment later. "But to answer your question, no, not everything."
"Good to know."
"Mhmmm," she hums, but he can hear the smile in it before she asks, "How are you, really?"
"I'm alright. I'll be better when you and the kid are home though. Kev and I grabbed a drink at Molly's last night and I saw Vanessa for a bit. Everyone's been asking about you."
"Ugh, I miss everyone and Molly's. Just being around people in general. And take-out. What I would do for deep dish right now."
"Well, as soon as you're back home we'll go to Bartoli's and get you a pie. I also owe a certain four year old a trip to the aquarium. Ever since I told her about those penguins in that documentary you and I watched, she hasn't stopped talking about 'em."
"She'll love that," Hailey says before she groans. "God, I miss Bartoli's."
"I promise I'll take you for deep dish as soon as this is over. Just you and me. Maybe we can convince Vanessa and Kev to watch Ave."
"Oh yeah? That your way of asking me out, Halstead?"
"Maybe. You saying yes, Upton?"
"Maybe."
He hums out a response, a smirk coming over his face, and then he hears her sad voice come through a moment later.
"I gotta go."
"I know," Jay sighs. "We gotta keep it short. I'll call in the morning to talk to Ave. That okay?"
"Like you even need to ask. I swear she misses you more than I do. I don't think I've ever seen someone pout as much as that kid has these past few days."
He snorts back a laugh, then the silence comes, a few seconds ticking by before he breathes out her name.
"Yeah?"
"I uh, I just – I…"
"Don't say it," Hailey says quickly, almost painfully and pleading. "Not like this. Not when we aren't together in the same place."
He breathes out a heavy sigh, nodding even though she can't see him, then whispers, "Okay."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Try and get some sleep, okay?"
"I will. Goodnight Hailey."
"Night Jay."
He ends the call and drops his phone on the nightstand, then turns off the light before lying down in bed. He's not sure how less than a five minute conversation with her can lift his mood as much as it has, but it does and it has him smiling as he settles against his pillows.
He knows it's going to be another long night with only a few hours of sleep as he thinks about his partner, worrying for her and her daughter's safe return home, but he somehow feels more hopeful as he plays back his conversation with Trudy in his head again.
He can't lose hope. Can't stop believing that things will be okay again even though the last few days has had him feeling the complete opposite. He closes his eyes, an image of Hailey and Avery forming in his head again just like all the previous nights before since they've been gone. He pictures them smiling and laughing and safe and home with him.
He holds on to the fact that soon they will be together again. Holds on to the hope that someday they'll be able to finally be a family.