Erin paced closer towards the bed. She assumed Madison was referring to her father, but she needed to hear her say it. "Who? Madison, who are you talking about?" The girl continued to cry out slews of nonsensical syllables instead of answering the question.
She looked to the door and wished Jay was in the room with her. He was always good at the whole comforting distraught women thing. It was probably his charm, and his deep reassuring voice, and the way he wrapped his muscular arms around you. Shit, Erin focus. She shook her head to try and forget about the feeling of Jay Halstead wrapped around her.
Tentatively, Erin took a seat on the bed beside her. She placed a hand on her back. "Who was in town that day, Madison? I need you to answer me, please."
Madison began to hyperventilate as she sobbed, and Erin was now pretty positive she had drank that entire bottle of vodka on her own. She was a mess. A hysterical, smeared makeup, mess.
"I'm gonna be sick." Erin heard her mumble.
Erin Lindsay could handle most things. Blood didn't phase her, gore was no problem, dead bodies she was used to at his point, but the one thing she could handle was vomit. "No. No. No. Don't be sick. Let's get you to the bathroom."
She stood from the bed and attempted to guide Madison towards the restroom. It was like moving dead weight. Madison was no help at all. Before Erin could say anything else the girl was emptying the contents of her stomach onto the carpet before Erin's feet.
That was it. Se needed backup. "Jay! Jay, get in here!" She shouted out for her partner, and she swore she'd never seen him burst into a room so quickly.
"What's going on?" He frantically called with his gun drawn. He first noticed the ghostly white paleness of Erin's face. Her eyes were wide like she'd seen something horrifying, and her hand pointed down at the young socialite hunched over on the floor. He'd seen that look on her face a few months back when she tried to help him get through the stomach flu. He knew first hand she did not deal with other peoples sickness well. When he saw the bile he cringed himself. This was more than he signed up for.
"I couldn't get her to the bathroom in time. She's drunk off her ass." Erin's voice sounded nasally as she tried not to breath in the wretched smell. "I can't stand here. I'm gonna be sick, Jay."
"No! You're fine, Erin. Pull it together. Go start the shower and I'll carry her in there okay?"
His partner nodded eagerly, appreciating any excuse to get away from the mess.
Two and a half hours later, Erin and Jay were guiding Madison into the backseat of the car service vehicle that was waiting out front of the hotel. They felt instant relief the moment they closed the door of the car, dismissing them of their "babysitting duties," at least for a little while.
They climbed into the backseat of the black SUV that was waiting for them right behind Madison's car. "That was insane." Erin sighed finally able to take a moment to relax. She knew she probably acted similarly when she used to go on binges, but to be sober and witnessing the meltdown was an entirely different beast. It was draining and horrifying. She felt more thankful than ever to be sober.
The driver turned around giving the partners a quick glance at a familiar face. "Rough morning I take it?" Antonio Dawson's voice sounded from the drives seat.
"You don't even know man." Jay replied with a sigh matching Erin's previous one. "Madison was drunk and hysterical. It was crazy. I imagine that's what dealing with a grumpy toddler is like, and for that I give you props for doing it twice."
"That bad was it?" Antonio laughed.
"God it was ridiculous. I had to do her hair for her and help her put on her shoes and everything." Erin chuckled realizing how ridiculous it all sounded. She glanced towards Jay. "If it's really anything like that, we're never having kids." Shit. Her eyes grew wide at her own slip of the tongue. "I mean I. I'm never having kids. " The more she spoke the more tongue-tied she got. "I mean not necessarily ever but… So any news about Gregory Parker?" She turned her attention to Antonio in an attempt to change the subject. She desperately wished the leather seat of the car could swallow her whole, and save her from the embarrassment. Of course Antonio had to be there to witness how incredibly awkward she was around her partner lately.
The older detective smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing worth noting yet. How about you two? Everything's going well? Any word from Madison?"
With a grin still on his lips from Erin's earlier misspeak, Jay answered, "She kept repeating over and over that she knew 'he' was in town that night, but we don't know who 'he' is."
Now that she could think straight, Erin chimed in. "I assume it's Gregory, but she never said it was her dad, so we can't be sure. I'm going to work on getting more out of her on the boat. Hopefully she'll talk once she's not so inebriated. We'll probably wait a few days to make contact unless it's urgent though."
"You might not be able to contact us anyways. Mouse isn't sure how your phones will work on the lake. It depends on how far out, and what direction the boat goes, so be careful out there. Voight's nervous about it. Let's just say you two are lucky you don't have to be in the pen right now."
"We'll be fine." Erin scoffed and rolled her eyes. She couldn't help but think Hank's uneasiness stemmed from the fact he still thought her incapable.
When they finally arrived at the docks, Madison's friends seemed entirely unfazed by their lateness, or by Madison's hung-over state. The boat crew led Erin to her room first, before showing Jay the crew bunking area he was expected to sleep in. It took every ounce of will power for Erin not to erupt into laughter upon viewing Jay's sleeping quarters. The bunks couldn't have been much wider than Halstead's shoulders, and they were definitely not as long as him height wise. On the contrary, Erin's room was simple and clean, with a crisp white duvet on a queen-sized bed. It wasn't large but it had its own bathroom, and Erin was sure Jay had never been so envious in his life.
"You're gonna let me sleep in here right?" He sat on the edge of her bed while she was in the bathroom changing.
"I didn't plan on it."
"Come on, Er. You can't really expect me to sleep down there in the bunks."
"You were a soldier, Halstead. Aren't you used to less than ideal sleeping conditions?" She teased through the door.
"That's not the point." He scoffed. "This bed is plenty big enough…" His thoughts trailed of when the bathroom door opened revealing his partner in a little black bikini.
"I'm gonna kill Burgess." Erin complained, not that Jay could actually comprehend a word she was saying. "This is the is the only swim suit she packed that actually somewhat covers my ass."
It barely does that, but I'm not complaining. Jay thought to himself.
She groaned a final time in irritation. "Whatever. I'll just have to deal. When in Rome, right?" She slipped a pair of sunglasses onto her face. "What's the plan for the rest of the day?" She asked her partner.
Jay shook his head to snap his mind back to reality and away from thoughts of her milky pale skin contrasting with the tiny pieces of black fabric. "First and foremost, we need to verify that she was referring to Gregory earlier. How did you feel about her friends at brunch? Should we be keeping a close eye on them?"
"No, I don't feel like any of them were very threatening. The twins seem spoiled, but harmless. Joshua was a bit more difficult to get a read on, but I haven't seen he and Clarice go five minutes without their tongues in each others mouths, so if he knows something, she has to too."
"See how close you can get to her then."
"Yeah, if I can pry the two of them away from each other."
"Well then let's get this show on the road, Ms. Parker." He opened the door with a wink before they headed up to the top deck. Now that they had taken a few days to get a good feel for the mission, it was time to get to really get the ball rolling.