Chapter 9 – Trent Lamont
Author Note: This end scene relates to Season 2 Episode 13 of Chicago PD. I have sort of explained the events of the episode but changed a few details.
End of week two at the cabin.
Lexi stood at the kitchen sink cleaning up all the utensils she had used to make herself and Jay dinner. She had been at the cabin for two weeks now, the first week had been a bad time, she didn't remember much of it, she spent most of it drunk on tequila or fighting a setting in hangover with whiskey laced black coffee.
Jay had helped her when she had finally asked for his support, he gave her the same tips and tricks he had been given at the few PTSD therapy sessions he had actually attended, he had bought her a book about dealing with grief that had been recommend to him, he had found a therapist local to the cabin and set up weekly sessions for her, he called her at least once a day and had been to the cabin and stayed with her every weekend or day off he had from work.
Lexi was feeling better, she was really grieving, not just going through the motions, she was dealing with all her emotions, sadness, hurt, anger, guilt, anxiety, depression, all of them.
The fact she was coping with everything, she owed a lot to Jay, so she had taken the time to cook him a dinner for whenever he was due to arrive. She knew his work schedule so knew when to expect him or he would call her if he were going to be late. Kelly never called to tell her he was going to be late.
Lexi couldn't help but compare Jay to Kelly. It had been two weeks and she still hadn't heard from Kelly, although she had made no attempt to call him either.
Lexi had come to get excited in anticipation of Jay's visits. Nothing else had happened between them, he would hug her when she needed it and he would kiss her cheek whenever he left but nothing more. Every time she thought of him or saw him, she remembered the moment they shared in his kitchen and it made her stomach do a happy little flip.
Lexi was lost in the daydream of her kiss with Jay when his voice rang through the cabin. "Honey, I'm home". Lexi was still chuckling to herself when he entered the kitchen carrying grocery bags with his overnight bag slung over his shoulder. "Hey beautiful" he said placing the bags on the counter top and crossing the kitchen to kiss her forehead whilst she stirred the pot of spaghetti and meatball sauce she had on the stove.
"Hey handsome" Lexi replied. Jay stuck his finger in the pot of sauce "hey, hey" Lexi moaned as she slapped his hand away.
Jay smiled and licked the sauce from his finger smiling "Delicious"
Lexi laughed at him "Put the groceries away and set the table"
"Yes Ma'am" Jay saluted her and set about his given tasks.
"That was amazing" Jay sat back in his chair and put his hands on his stomach. "Best spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had. Thank you"
"It's the least I can do" Lexi said taking a sip of the red wine Jay had been kind enough to bring with him. "I should be thanking you"
"For what?" Jay was a little confused, he didn't remember doing anything she needed to thank him for.
"All of this for a start" Lexi told him motioning her arm to include the whole the room to signify the cabin. Lexi stood and picked up her own and Jay's dirty plates, taking the dirty dishes to the sink "For taking up all your time. You really don't have to come here every time you get a spare minute"
Jay followed her carrying the wine glasses placing them on the counter next to the sink, he waited for her to look at him then said, "I know I don't have to, I want to"
"Like you don't have better things to do on a Friday night"
"Oh, let's see" Jay leant on the surface beside her as she began to fill the sink with hot soapy water "there was the offer of poker night with Adam and Olinsky, or sit in my apartment, alone, and watch Friends re-runs"
"Those aren't your only options, Halstead. I'm sure there's some girl in your phone book you could call up, take out, have a nice meal with"
"Isn't that what I just did?" Jay asked nudging her arm with his own.
Lexi looked up at him and laughed "Touché"
"Just so you know that bottle of wine wasn't cheap, so you better put out!" Jay smirked as Lexi cupped some water from the sink in her hands and threw it at Jay as he jumped out the way. Jay stood behind her smirking and put his hands on her shoulders, she looked up and could see his face reflected in the window in front of her "In all seriousness, there's nowhere else I'd rather be" he placed a kiss on top of her head.
Even looking at his slightly distorted reflection in the window Lexi knew and felt he meant it, he didn't want to be anywhere else other than here with her.
After they had cleaned up dinner, they sat on the couch together. Lexi sat with her legs draped over Jay's who sat beside her, drinking the last of the wine. "You seem better" Jay observed.
"I feel better" Lexi smiled a little. "The therapy sessions are helping"
Jay nodded "good, I'm glad." Jay wanted to tell her that Kelly had asked to see her. She deserved to know, but he didn't want it to make her take a step back, she was recovering, she was getting over Kelly, dealing with Shay's death, he didn't want her to go backwards. "I noticed you haven't been wearing your engagement ring."
"Yeah, figured it was time." Lexi admitted, she sighed heavily. "I gave him a million chances and he crossed a line. I can't forgive him this time"
Jay nodded in agreement. "Makes sense, he betrayed you"
"I think maybe sometimes I stayed with him for Shay. We both promised her we wouldn't put her in the middle of us, would never make her take sides. We never did, but I think maybe I gave in too much, I backed down too often to make life easier for us all, to keep my promise to her"
"She'd have understood" Jay assured her Lexi half smiled at him, he was right.
A few days later. Jay sat at his desk in the intelligence unit, he picked up his phone and texted Lexi.
Jay: Hey beautiful, how's it going?
Lexi: Good, just got back from a walk. Going to make some lunch. How's it going there?
Jay: Slow.
Lexi: That's the right pace for you. Lol.
Jay: Lol. I seem to remember you liked my pace.
Lexi: Ha-ha. I have no idea what you're talking about *winky face emoji*
Jay: I'd be more than happy to refresh your memory.
Lexi: Lol. Do some police work Detective, I'll see you Friday?
Jay: Looking forward to it. *kiss face emoji*
Lexi: Me too *heart emoji*
"Jay" Adam called in a tone that told Jay it wasn't the first time he had called his name to get his attention.
"What? What?" Jay asked quickly locking his phone and placing it on the desk.
Adam smirked at him "Who's got you smiling at your phone?"
"Like you have to ask" Burgess remarked smirking as Jay couldn't hide his grin.
End of week four at the cabin.
Lexi sat on the end of the dock looking out at the blue water of the lake, her feet dangling over the edge but not quite touching the cold water below. The wind picked up and Lexi inhaled deeply closing her eyes, the chill reminded her of the day she left Chicago four weeks ago.
She still hadn't spoken with Kelly. She had spoken to her mother a few times, but they were short conversations and Lexi felt she was burdening her whenever they spoke.
Lexi heard the familiar car engine get closer and then turn off. Jay had arrived. He must have spotted her on the dock because she heard his footsteps approaching.
Opening her eyes and looking up she saw Jay staring down at her, he didn't wear his usual smile. "We got him" Jay told her as he sat beside her. Jay had called her a few days before to say they had reason to believe the fire that had caused Shay's death had been set deliberately. The CPD were helping Kelly and Gabriela investigate it all. He had kept her updated on everything about the case but didn't mention Kelly when he spoke to her. "His name was Trent Lamont, he had been stalking her, he set the fires"
Lexi didn't respond for a minute, ensuring Jay had finished speaking "his name was?" She questioned Jay's use of a passive term.
"I told you, we got him" Lexi closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Jay watched her closely as she exhaled and opened her eyes looking out at the water, she looked better, healthier, more like her old self. The first few times he had seen her, she hadn't looked good, he wasn't sure she had been eating or sleeping well, if at all, but today she looked more like her old self.
"Come on," she said standing up and dusting herself off "I've been marinating some chicken all morning, I need to put it in the oven"
"Please tell me it's your Thai sweet chilli chicken?" Jay asked jumping up, excited like a kid.
"The team have been asking about you" Jay told Lexi whilst he set the table for dinner. "They want to know when you're coming back"
Lexi was over the other side of the open plan kitchen making the final preparations to their dinner. Lexi smiled asking, "Are they all okay?" Jay noticed she had purposely avoided answering the question.
"Yeah everyone's good" Jay crossed the kitchen to the breakfast bar that split the kitchen from the dining area, "Platt asked me to give you this" he picked up the thick blank white envelope that had been sticking out of his bag that sat on the bar stool. Lexi glanced over whilst placing cooked rice from a pan to the plates in front of her, she could see no writing on the envelope and it had never been sealed but she knew what it contained, Jay explained "she figured I knew about it. Were you going to tell me? Or just disappear in the night?"
Lexi put the rice pan on to the counter top and turned to look at him. "Come on that's not fair"
"Isn't it? What's not fair is my partner and my friend applied for a transfer and didn't bother to tell me"
Lexi crossed her arms and looked out of the window at the night setting in, she couldn't take the hurt in his eyes "It was never set in stone, I was just looking at all the options."
"I didn't know you needed options" Jay confessed walking around the breakfast bar and standing a few feet in front of her.
"What am I supposed to do Jay?" she asked taking her gaze from the window to look him in the eye, "I can't stay here, and I can't come back to Chicago, pretend every thing's okay, pretend nothing reminds me of her, of him?" Lexi saw the flicker of hurt on Jay's face when she said 'him' but chose to ignore it.
"You've worked so hard to get where you are now in the CPD, you can't give that up" Jay was trying to find reasons for her to stay.
"I have no place to live"
"Live with me" he blurted out, the second he said it he realised it made sense. "we've lived together before, I have a spare room, I could do with the help"
Lexi laughed punching him in the shoulder, "I am not a live-in maid!"
"I don't expect you to be. Come on, it makes sense, we can carpool"
"What if you want to bring a girl home?"
"I don't want too". Lexi raised her eyebrows at him a sceptical look on her face, she had heard all his stories, all his good one-night stands and all the bad ones. "Don't look at me like that". - I only want you - Jay thought but didn't say.
"I haven't made any decisions" Lexi assured him, "can we just drop it for now? Dinner is getting cold."
Jay sighed, feeling a little defeated "Fine, but this conversation's not over. We are going to talk about this whether you want to or not." He didn't want her to transfer, he didn't want to lose her, the last 4 weeks had been bad enough without her as his partner, he didn't want to think about it being a permanent state.
Lexi and Jay ate dinner making casual conversation, then Lexi asked what exactly had happened with Trent Lamont.
Jay explained Kelly and Gabby had found the evidence and provided it to the arson investigation team, who after doing all they could decided there wasn't enough evidence to arrest Lamont, let alone convict him. That's when Gabby had called Antonio and asked for his help.
"Kelly had confronted Trent outside his office, he all but admitted it but we all know how hard arson is to prove" Jay told her, Lexi listened intently trying to keep her emotions in check. "Gabby and Antonio confronted him at his place of work, embarrassed him, Antonio made some bullshit up of him spitting at him to get cuffs on the guy. We get him in an interrogation room with Voight and he doesn't blink, he's just pissed cause we were underestimating him. Burgess and Atwater tailed him in uniform, followed him in to a pizza shop. He goes to the bathroom, appears two minutes later, asks them if they are following him"
"This guy has no fear" Lexi agreed.
Jay nodded in agreement. "You haven't heard the worst of it yet. He approaches me in the car outside, gives me a pizza says it's for the precinct just as Burgess and Atwater's squad car goes in flames! We discovered he'd been using two different aliases, and he was responsible for the fire that killed Peter Mill's dad. We found out his real name and go to his address, there's pictures of Gabby everywhere, he's been using some computer software to message her as if she were Brett, luring her to some apartment building. He cornered her in an elevator, poured in gasoline and was ready to drop a lighter, when I…" Jay cleared his throat "so I shot him."
"Thank you, Jay," Lexi told him, reaching over and touching his hand. She knew it wasn't easy to kill someone, anyone, even if it were someone evil. Someone without a soul, it still took a part of your soul to pull a trigger and kill another human being. "Thank you again for having my back"