"And you're sure it's a controlled meet? Like, there won't be any surprises?" Hailey asked Garrett over the phone. She was pulling on her boots, as Jay had finished buttoning up his coat. Her phone was sitting on their bed, as they both continued their movements about the room.
"Yes." Garrett said simply, as if this was going to be a piece of cake. Hailey wished she could believe that, but she still couldn't shake the feeling something was amiss.
"Alright, we'll see you in 30 minutes." Jay said, and Hailey nodded at him, assuming that was her cue to hang up the phone now.
"Bye," she said quickly, before pressing END.
She sighed, tucking her phone into her coat pocket before zipping up her other shoe. She ran a hand through her hair and fell back onto the mattress. She felt the bed shift, and before she knew it, Jay had joined her, even matching her heavy sigh with one of his own.
She stole a glance at him, hating that she could feel his eyes on her already…even though she secretly loved how intuitive he was when it came to her thoughts. Like he already knew what she was thinking before she even vocalized it.
"Hailey."
She turned her head slowly at the sound of her name. His green eyes were soft, the same as his lips were, which curved into a tiny smile.
"Tell me what's on your mind."
She smiled at him, twisting her lips as if she had to think about it. "Well, since you're giving me that look, like you already know…do I even have to say it?" She asked, half joking.
His lip ticked up on one side, almost making a smirk. But his eyes were still soft, like he was treading lightly, trying to search her for something.
"Why are you worried about tonight?" He asked her, not overtly saying he knew, but sincerely asking for her take on things.
"I just…I don't trust Garrett. And I hate having someone on my team I don't trust."
"I know…I get it, I do. But, you and me? We've got this. Okay? Garrett just wants to do a little show and tell….from what he laid out earlier, it seems like he'll be doing most of the talking anyhow. A good faith effort, and we can nail the higher ups. Then no more bad dope is going out on the streets…at least not from this side of town."
"I know….and you're right, about catching those SOB's." She sucked in a breath. "It'll just be the first time since…."
Jay didn't say anything, he just pulled her into him, hugging her tightly. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, his hands rubbing soothing circles on her back and arms.
"And I just–– I wanna be in control, you know? I don't want to let it get to me." She whispered, looking up at him, attempting to blink back the tears that started to build up. She didn't let herself get emotional like this…but with Jay, it was different. With him, she felt safe. So, she did something she never really did. She let a tear slip down her cheek.
She still felt silly, being nervous and unsure. She was never like this. No, scratch that. She never let herself be like this. She buried her head into Jay's chest, wanting a tiny reprieve from her internal monologue.
"Hey, it's okay, Hailey. You're nothing less even if it does get to you, you hear me?" He pulled back from her a little bit, tilting her chin up with his fingers. He wiped away a couple more tears from her cheeks with his thumb, his hand still caressing that side of her face. "You're the strongest woman I know. And I know you can do this. You know I've got you, okay? Nothing's gonna happen to you, not on my watch."
Then she saw something she didn't expect. Jay was the one getting choked up. "I know I didn't protect you that night; and you don't know how sorry I still am for that. But just know, I'm never letting anything like that even come close to happening again. Alright? Please, please, believe that."
Hailey managed to smile through her tears, grabbing Jay's face and pulling him to her so she could kiss him. It was simple, and sweet, nothing over the top, but just enough to let him know that she did believe him. She trusted him completely. And she hadn't had that in forever.
"Thank you." She whispered when she finally pulled away.
He looked at her inquisitively, before it dawned on him. "I'll always be here for you, Hailey. Always," he said genuinely.
"I know, and you have no idea what that means to me, Jay. I hope you at least know how much I trust you. I trust you with my life, 100%, completely."
He leaned in and kissed her, surprising her like she had done to him just moments earlier. There was a little more fire behind it, and Hailey felt her body spark against his, lighting up as his hands wrapped around her waist.
She closed her eyes for a brief second, just so she could focus on him. His essence: everything that made him Jay. And when she opened her eyes, she saw that his were once again soft, and his lips matched their tone, dialing it back slightly.
When they both simmered down, they eventually broke apart, figuring they should probably get going or they'd be late. No way they'd explain themselves out of that one.
"There you are!" Garrett said, practically shoving the both of them from Jay's truck once their feet touched the graveled road.
"Jesus, would you calm down?!" Hailey hissed, not in the mood for this. Jay grabbed her hand as Garrett kept trying to goad them forward.
"Would you lay off, man? Alright, we're moving, see!" Jay said firmly, gently pulling Hailey to him and taking steps forward towards the seedy establishment that lied in front of them.
"Just go inside. Room 102. He's waiting."
Hailey and Jay made their way around the motel's fenced entryway, into the first outside hallway of rooms. 102 was right in front of them within seconds.
He was about to knock on the door when Booth's voiced echoed to them outside. "Come on in."
Jay and Hailey tentatively took steps inside the motel room, which smelled of cigarettes and booze, not to mention looked like a frat house blew through.
"Ah, finally. My two favorite people," Booth said, waving his beer around as he leaned forward in his chair. "Sit, sit," he said, pointing to the two empty chairs that sat empty by the sad excuse for a dining table.
"Alright Ron, let's just get this over with," Jay spat, not wanting Hailey to have to be here any longer than need be.
"Where's Reynolds?" He barked, looking past them and out to the door, which was half open. He attempted to stagger to his feet, but he fell back down onto the chair.
"Alright, alright, look, we'll go grab Garrett; just hold on Ronnie," Hailey stated, getting up and grabbing Jay's hand. "He was right behind us, he couldn't have gotten far." She reassured him. If she had to be here, she was at least gonna try her best to sell it. She wanted to nail him, but more importantly, whomever he was working for or with.
They got up and entered the hallway. Strangely enough, Garrett was nowhere in sight. Where the hell was he?
"Look, I'll go ask at the desk if he got another room or something. You check the rest of the hallway and upstairs?" She offered, looking at him.
Jay nodded, patting his jeans pocket where his cell was. Hailey's eyes glanced from his phone to his face, understanding. He'd call when he found him. She bit her lip as the sinking feeling in her stomach came back. But then she remembered Jay's words: We got this. I've got you. And she knew he did.
She squeezed his hand once more before they parted ways, Jay heading down the hall, while Hailey rounded the corner to the office.
"Hi, ma'am," she called to the clerk. "Is Garrett Reynolds staying in a separate room from Ronald Booth?"
The older woman looked up at her, then back to her mailboxes with room key hooks and numbers attached. "Lemme see here….Reynolds. 201. Upstairs."
"Thanks," Hailey said, dashing out of the office to text Jay. She had just pulled out her phone to send him a message when she heard the worst sound in the world.
"Garrett, I swear to god, if you got cold feet, I am going to kill you," Jay muttered to himself, shaking his head as he bounded up the stairs to the second floor. He struck out on the rest of the first floor, so up to 2 he went.
"Garrett?" He called, not really caring about other guests right now. It's not like this was the Ritz or something. "Garrett, where the hell are you?"
He pounded in on some doors, most of which were locked, or he was met with angry shouts. 205…204…203…202….come on, he begged with who, he wasn't completely sure, as he pounded on the door of 201.
Surprisingly, the door popped right open. Course, that wasn't what really shocked Jay. What had Jay speechless was Garrett, surrounded by bundles of cash, counting up his money like he didn't have a care in the world.
"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded, making Garrett's head shoot up.
"What am I doing? Man, what the hell are you doing in here?!"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? You're the one that needs to start talking! Now!"
Garrett dropped the bills from his hand, standing up to encroach on Jay's space. Jay got in his face too, ready for whatever this was going to be.
"Start talking, Garrett." He seethed, feeling his blood boil as the seconds ticked by.
"I don't answer to you," he spat, pushing Jay out of his way.
"Oh, like hell," Jay whispered, shoving Garrett against the wall of his room, his elbow across his neck.
"What the hell is all this?"
Garrett smirked, laughing in his face. "Are you really that clueless?"
Jay's eyes widened at the realization at what this was. What he was. No, this couldn't be happening. There was no way…was there? The evidence is staring you right in the face, his mind chided.
He barely heard the click of Garrett's gun on his temple, until his grave voice snapped him back. "Back up, Halstead."
Jay raised his hands slowly, backing away. "Look, Garrett, whatever this is…it doesn't have to go down like this." He tried to reason.
"You really don't get it, do you?"
Jay couldn't stop his brows from knitting together. "So, you're working with Booth, you're not just UC, you're dirty. Fine, okay. But what the hell does that have to do with us?"
"Because you and Hailey couldn't leave well enough alone. If she would've just let him do what he wanted at that party, we wouldn't be here right now. We stood to make bank on that deal for permanent distribution with Booth's biggest players. But now, because of that bitch, I'm back to counting my bets and watching my back."
"What did you just say?" Jay's tone was clipped, his voice didn't sound like his own to his ears anymore. Because if he heard what he thought he just heard, Garrett knew what Booth was going to do to Hailey that night of New Year's Eve.
Garrett just scoffed, shaking his head at the thought, like both Jay and Hailey weren't even worth his time anymore.
That's when Jay saw red. That's when he lunged at Garrett. And that's when the gun went off.
Hailey ran like she had never run before. "10-1, 10-1, we've got shots fired at 211 West Racine, Motel 6 off of Route 9. I need an ambulance rolled to my location now!" She screamed into her radio.
"10-1 heard, 2113, ambo en route."
She bolted up the stairs, ready to draw her gun at the first sign of movement. In her peripheral, she saw a figure come out of the doorway. Shit, that was Garrett's room.
"Show me your hands!" She screamed, raising her weapon.
She came face to face with Garrett, who had blood spatter on his shirt and face. His hands were raised, but his eyes were panicked.
"Hailey," he said, grabbing for her arms. She instinctively lowered her weapon, scanning Garrett for any injuries. He wasn't bleeding from any specific place on his body. Then whose blood was it?
No. She tried to push past him, but he held her in his grasp. "Hailey, I'm sorry…"
"No!" She screamed, looking from him to the room, where the door was half open, and she could see blood on the mirror and the chair.
"Garrett! Let me go! I have to help him!"
"Hailey!" He yelled at her, so loudly, it made her freeze. "He's gone. I'm sorry. Booth, he…he saw Jay come in, and this was where the money was. He thought Jay was trying to make off with his cash. They fought, and he shot him. Point blank range."
"Where the hell were you?!" She screamed at him, pushing at his chest.
"Booth cold cocked me. I was down for the count until the gun went off. I tried to stop him, but he took off down the back stairway, I think…he was gone before I could even blink."
"Garrett, I have to see him. He has to be okay!"
"Hailey, I checked him for vitals. He's gone. He doesn't have a pulse. I'm sorry."
Hailey felt her lip quiver, and she felt her legs give out. Garrett attempted to catch her as she collapsed to the floor, on her knees, her hands over her face. She sobbed, and sobbed.
"Jay!" She cried his name, she cried for all the things she never got to tell him. Like she loved him. And she needed him. But now he was gone. And she couldn't imagine how she was supposed to get through this. Because the one person who had her back this whole time, was no longer here. To hold her up. So, who could blame her for completely giving up?
She succumbed to her sadness, not even registering Garrett leading her away from the scene. She thought she saw him talk to the paramedics, but maybe not. She couldn't believe anything right now.
Little did she know how right she was.
A/N: Slipping the author's note down here this time, so ya'll could soak in the chapter. I know, I know...but just trust me, it's far from over. Okay? Sorry for the long wait in updating...writing for my job had to take precedent over fanfic for last week. I sincerely really and truly hope to churn out another chapter as kind of an "after" chapter to this – like how Hailey copes. Anyhow, hope you guys liked this one. Thanks for all the great feedback! Can't wait for the mini crossover next week! -K.