"Kiss Erin"
The words rang around in Jay's mind and for a moment time froze and with it, so did Jay. He turned to look at Erin, who stared at him, wide-eyed in shock. He could have sworn he saw something flicker through her eyes, but it was too quick for him to catch. She looked at him expectedly, trustingly, like it was his call, the shock still present on her face all the while. Jay held his breath and looked at her face intently for a moment, searching every corner of it, reminding himself of her features, though he knew, even after five years he had never forgotten them.
And then just like that he turned away from her to look out of the windshield at Russo, who was now crossing the road and coming directly towards them. Luckily, he was looking around over his shoulder and hadn't yet seen Jay staring at him. The detective then averted his gaze to his fiance, who had now left her car and was some twenty steps behind Russo. Even from here, he knew she had her hand ready on her hip to fire her gun if need be. She was crouching though, so as not to be seen by Russo, so Jay couldn't be certain for sure.
Hailey.
This was his friend and partner. His fiance and confidant. He couldn't do this to her. He couldn't give her a front row seat to him making out with his ex, even if it were on the job and she had ordered it. He couldn't cause her pain like that. And then there was Erin. Erin who he cared so deeply about that he wouldn't want to hurt her either. She was in a relationship with her own now, he thought to himself. It wasn't fair to her to put her in a position she didn't ask to be in with no say. It wouldn't be fair to drag up their past history, even if it was momentary and they were over now. Through all the confusion, Jay made up his mind. He wouldn't do it.
"Hailey… I… No… I won't… I'm not doing this to you," he finally struggled into his radio.
"Dammit Halstead, do as I say, you have literal seconds before he sees you!" Hailey's voice sounded frantically furious at Jay's disobedience.
Jay turned to look at Erin, but she was now no longer facing him. Instead, she had her back turned to him and was staring out her side window.
"Erin?!" Hailey's voice pleaded through the radio.
Jay noticed the tenseness in Erin's shoulders as she had her back to him. She remained with her back to him for a moment before she finally turned around to face him.
Jay almost let out a small gasp when he saw her face. Though her features remained neutral, her eyes were cold and distant. Physically she was present in this truck, but mentally, she had recoiled and put her walls up. He knew her that well to know she was on guard.
"Erin come on!" Hailey pleaded once again.
"Things are about to get sticky Jay," Erin spoke, her voice as cold as her eyes. "May-Maybe…"
Jay hesitated.
And then, just like that the frozen time sped up and everything happened in a blur.
Russo had caught sight of Jay and Erin and now had his gun out and raised towards Erin. Jay felt panic rise through his body as his own hands instinctively reached for his gun.
"Move an inch and I shoot her!"
Though the windows on the truck were closed, Russo spoke loudly enough for Jay to heed his warning. He could feel his heart in his throat as Erin's life was dangled in front of his eyes. His heart was thumping so loudly in his chest that he could hear his heartbeat in his own ears. Blood rushed to his head and Jay could begin feeling himself get light headed. He felt sickened to the core… If anything happened to her… He abruptly stopped the thought. He couldn't think like that. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He couldn't. He cursed himself under his breath. But… why? He had put them in this position. Erin wasn't even wearing a vest unlike Jay, snd then there was the fact that her passenger door was closer to Russo than Jay was. She had become an easy target in the firing line. Russo had sniffed out his weakness and he was now going to have to pay for his hesitation. Why had he been so stubborn and not listened to Hailey?
It was the thought of Hailey that slowly pulled him out of his panic.
She was now a mere few steps behind Russo, and as he was so focussed on watching Jay, he hadn't realised her creeping up to him. And then in a flash, Jay let out a huge exhale in relief as Hailey pistol whipped Russo from behind and the man fell to the ground unconscious.
He reached over the console to hold Erin's hand and shakily gave it a squeeze as the reality of what almost went down hit him. Erin didn't look at him though. She was still staring straight ahead like she was in shock.
"Er-" Jay began, wanting to calm her, but his words were immediately halted as he watched Erin's eyes widened in horror whilst she stared at the scene in front of her.
Jay averted his gaze from her to look at the sight in front of him through the windshield of his truck and immediately understood Erin's reaction. Granger now stood behind Hailey, one had wrapped around her body and the other holding a pistol to her temple. Hailey had both her hands raised in the air, palms out in front of her and Jay noticed her gun lay on the ground at her feet. Where had Granger come from? How had Jay missed him? How had he been so distracted? This whole stakeout was quickly becoming a horror film for Jay.
"Fuck! No!" Jay half shouted before he pulled his gun from his holster and swiftly opened his vehicle door.
"Don't move from here, duck for cover" he quickly ordered Erin before he kicked the door shut with his foot, all the while his hands in front of him holding his gun aimed at Granger.
"I wouldn't if I were you," Granger muttered sinisterly. "Unless you want to see her brains splattered all over the sidewalk."
Granger's gun pressed deeper into Hailey's temple as he spoke, the blonde detective who was doing her best to remain calm was now flinching, attempting not to show fear and screw her eyes shut at the feel of his pistol against her head.
Jay decided to bargain to buy time. The rest of the team would be a mere few minutes out by now. If he could keep Granger talking and distract him, someone could take a shot from behind. With how rough Granger was handling Hailey, her body was moving like a rag doll in his arms and Jay couldn't get a clear clean shot from here.
How was this happening. First Erin, and now Hailey. Two of the most important women in his life. Why couldn't it have been his life that was at risk. He would feel a lot better knowing they were protected and safe. He couldn't have anything happen to Hailey. He loved her. He couldn't have this on his conscience. He needed her to be okay and unharmed. He had to act fast.
"Charlie, you don't need to do this," Jay spoke trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. "You kill a cop, this only gets worse for you, you know you're not making it out of here."
Charlie Granger looked at Jay through killer eyes.
"Hmm, maybe you're right," he snarled. "Killing a cop might not be the smartest move, maybe I should go for her instead."
Charlie jutted his chin to the direction Jay was standing in, his eyes never breaking contact with Jay's.
Jay didn't need to turn around to know Charlie was referring to Erin. His blood ran cold. He had known it was a bad idea to bring Erin out into the field unprotected.
"Her blood might look prettier splayed on the floor? What do you think?"
Jay felt anger and bile rise within him. This man was toying with two of the most important people in his life and Jay felt so hopeless.
"I mean, I heard she's staying at her old man's place now that she's in town. Our mutual friend already did a number on dear old dad, it might be nice if we keep the casualties inside the family, what do you say? There's something quite poetic about it all, hmm no?"
His voice was threatening and menacing. The smug confidence in it made Jay grind his teeth, nausea settling in his stomach.
Granger was talking about Voight. He knew about what went down in the stash house. He knew the unnamed man who attacked Voight. He knew about Erin's connection to Voight and where she was staying and that she wasn't living in Chicago. He had done his homework. But most importantly, he was steps ahead of the team when it came to information. Maybe he wasn't simply a low-level distributor. Maybe he knew more about them then they knew about him. The idea made Jay's head spin. His worry kept on switching between Hailey, who was no sooner to get out of Granger's hold, and Erin, who Granger was implying he would come back for. Erin was staying alone at Voight's unprotected. Granger knowing that made her an easy target.
Jay started angling his body away from the truck slowly walking sideways with his gun aimed out of him all the while. He wanted Granger's attention solely on him, and having his body placed in front of his truck which Erin was seated in meant that she was in Granger's line of vision. His slow movements began to work, and Granger began to move to, his eyes and body following Jay as he dragged Hailey with him. His pistol never leaving her forehead.
Whilst Jay now no longer had a view of his truck and therefore Erin, neither did Granger. And for now, Jay would take that as a small win. All he now had to do was to safely have Hailey out of his arms so that he could get a clean shot.
"Look, this doesn't have to be a big showdown. You could let her go and cooperate. You help us bring Barratt down and we could figure something out. Knock a few years off your sentence."
Charlie seemed to mull it over for a moment, before he looked at Jay with a menacing smile.
"But detective, you have me all wrong. Maybe this doesn't have to be a big showdown, but maybe I've always liked a little theatrics."
Jay stiffened, feeling so hopeless as it all happened in slow motion. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. He just needed Hailey here safe in his arms. He could no longer keep a poker face, as his face now reflected the desperation and pain he felt. The professionalism slipped with his calm facade, as his eyes frantically flickered between Hailey's innocently vulnerable face and Granger's finger on the trigger, which began to press down in slow motion.
Jay felt like his hands were metaphorically tied by an invisible rope. What could he do? He needed backup. He needed the rest of the team here NOW.
He prayed to the higher being above that Hailey was saved by some miracle. He didn't care what it took or cost, because he couldn't lose her. But right now, there was nothing he could do. Granger's index finger was a mere few millimeters away from the trigger hitting the hammer when by some miracle, a body came tumbling into Granger, taking him, and Hailey down to the ground in the process.
The three body's crashed to the floor and Jay felt immediate relief. It was quickly wiped away when he realised the new addition to the body was Erin, the three tangled up on the floor in a struggle. Jay ran towards the heap, unable to get a clean shot on Granger who was sandwiched on the ground between Hailey and Erin.
It was all a tangled mess and everything was moving in a blur for Jay. It was evident that there was still a struggle and then Jay felt his heart stop as he realised Granger still had his grip on his gun. Before Jay could even process what this meant, two deafening gun shots sounded in the air. And then everything went still.
Author's note: I'm sorry folks! I know you were waiting on the kiss but I never planned for it to come this early. Or whilst Jay and Hailey were still together. Like I said, I don't want Linstead to be the bad guys here. Breakup needs to happen first. As for why Jay was hesitant, on a deeply subconscious level he didn't trust himself to kiss Erin and not have old feeling brought to the forefront in a way that was undeniable anymore. I'm tired of writing clueless Jay now though, so very soon in the next few chapters I shall have the epiphany moment. Remember, good things appear to those who wait. I was apprehensive about writing this chapter because of the technical police side to it but I hope I did it justice and it kept you all on your toes. Hopefully the next update will be tomorrow. My new philosophy is that shorter chapters will allow me to update more consistently and will also prolong the book so… Let me know what you thought!
