They'd both been attempting to fall asleep for about twenty minutes when Erin broke the silence with a question, "is it just me or is this boat rocking way more than it was earlier?" She'd been unable to get comfortable. Every time she shut her eyes, she felt as though she was falling out of bed. At first she thought it was one of those weird dreams where you think your falling but then your body jerks itself awake.
Jay waited for a moment, to see if he noticed any difference. "I don't think so. I don't know…maybe a little, I guess."
"I keep feeling like I'm falling out of bed. It's making me dizzy."
"Dizzy? Have you ever gotten sea sick before?"
"You know what, now that you mention it, I got sick last time I was yachting around Lake Michigan." She replied sarcastically.
"I'll take that as a no." She muttered beneath his breath. "Maybe there's someplace on bored where we can get you some Dramamine if you want it?"
"Drama-what?" She was tired and irritated at this point.
"They're motion sickness prevention pills."
"No. No pills."
"It's not like a pain killer, Er. If you need it you should take it so you don't get sick."
"I said no pills, Jay."
"Okay, no pills." He agreed. Although he knew it'd probably help her feel better, he'd support her decision. If she thought taking any kind of pill, even one that wasn't addictive, was a bad idea, he couldn't argue. She knew better than anyone else what limits she could and couldn't push with her sobriety.
"It's probably just the wind picking up out there. I'm sure it'll die down soon. You'll be okay." He placed a comforting hand on her back. "Maybe trying to fall asleep so you can't feel it would be a good idea though." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"Yeah. Maybe." She answered then fluffed her pillow to try and relax. "I'll try again."
A few hours later, Jay woke to the first clap of thunder around midnight. The boat was rocking more than it had been, not enough to make them need to dock yet, but definitely enough to cause nausea and motion sickness, even for him. Thankfully, Erin remained knocked out cold through the entire storm. He'd looked over and checked to see if she'd awaken numerous times. If the rough waves were making him get nauseous, he was worried that she would have been in pretty bad shape if she were to have woken up.
At one point during the storm, they hit a particularly bumpy wave, and Erin's arm rapidly flung over and wrapped around Jay's middle —anchoring herself to him while still completely asleep. They remained in that position for the rest of the night. Jay had thought about moving her arm back to her side of the bed, realizing that it probably wasn't appropriate given the status of their relationship, but he figured they end up back in the same position the next time they hit a large wave, so he left it be.
The storm raged on into the early hours of the morning and he hadn't been able to fall back asleep until around 4 a.m. Not long after, they were both startled awake.
"Erin I —Oh." Madison entered the bedroom and flicked on the light, before losing track of her thought upon noticing two bodies in the bed.
Out of habit, Erin pulled the covers against herself as if she needed to cover up, Jay covered his eyes with his hands slowly adjusting to the sudden brightness of the room, and Madison ignored the fact that they had been asleep, and continued chattering after the initial shock of finding them together.
"This makes a lot of sense actually. I didn't see it coming, but it makes sense." She looked them up and down. "Someone should probably let Colin know though, because I'm pretty sure this would come as a shock to him to."
"No!" Erin panicked. When Madison's eyes widened in shock, Erin took a deep breath. "You don't need to tell Colin anything, because this," She pointed between herself and Jay, "is nothing. His bed was just way to small, so I let him sleep up here. You can't say anything to Colin, understand?"
A sly grin appeared on Madison's lips. "Oh, I get it. I should probably be opposed to you using my friends, but Colin kind of deserves it, so go ahead. Although, if this is supposed to be kept a secret he," She pointed towards Jay, "should probably hurry up and get back to his room. The crew loves to gossip. Everyone will know within hours if you two get caught."
"What time is it?" Jay mumbled. He'd switched from covering his eyes with his hands, to having his pillow over his face.
"It's 6:30. I couldn't sleep anymore after being asleep all day yesterday."
With an irritated groan, Jay sat up and flung his legs over the side of the bed. Looking down he realized he was only wearing boxers. "I probably need my shirt back. To avoid suspicion." He grumbled. He was usually a morning person, but only getting two hours of sleep before being abruptly awoken could make anyone grumpy.
Erin cheeks blushed at the mention of the shirt. They were doing a terrible job at convincing Madison that nothing was going on between them. There was a sad sense of irony to the entire situation. Madison thought together, Erin wished they were together, but in actuality they were telling the truth. Jay had only slept there because he didn't want to sleep in his too small bunk.
"I'll go change." She padded to the bathroom attempting to make sure the shirt covered her on the short walk. She hadn't thought much about it last night, but now it seemed like she was only teasing herself. Lying half naked in bed next to him, pretending everything was fine, and like they were together again. It was almost cruel.
While Erin changed, Jay did his best to slide into his sweat pants without standing from the bed. He kept replaying in his mind Erin yelling the night before about how Madison was only a child. Maybe she wasn't legally, but wasn't much older than Nadia had been, and that fact alone made being around her half naked feel awkward and creepy.
When Erin returned in a white bathrobe, she flung the t-shit over to Jay. "Do you wanna just meet here in about an hour?"
"Yeah, I'll be back." Jay nodded in agreement. "Thanks for not making me sleep in that little bunk downstairs."
"You're welcome."
"So are you feeling better this morning?" Erin turned to Madison, ignoring the grin the younger woman still wore in response to fining Jay in her bed.
"Probably not as good as you're feeling." She gave a suggestive wink. "I have to admit, sneaking around with your partner on this boat is brave. It's not that big of a yacht."
Erin groaned and rolled her eyes. "Madison, I can promise you that nothing happened between Jay and I last night. He was only up here because his bunk was made for a child." It came out sadder than she had intended. Thankfully Madison didn't seem to notice. "Anyways, we need to talk about some things you said yesterday morning."
"Like what? I was a little bit out of it, Erin, which I'm quite certain you noticed. Thank you for helping me by the way."
"You're welcome, but you mentioned that you knew someone was in town the day of you sister's murder. Actually, you repeatedly mentioned that 'he' was in town. I just need you to tell me who this unspecified 'he' is. "
"I was just drunk and high. I didn't know what I was saying."
"Don't lie to me, Madison." Erin noticed the younger girl visibly gulp, but she stood firm, still refusing to answer the detective. "Fine. I wanted to hear it from you, but Clarice already told me you were talking about your dad." It was a blatant lie, but if it got Madison to talk it was worth it.
Madison's jaw dropped open. "That bitch." She spoke under her breath. A moment later she sighed and met Erin's waiting gaze. "Look, I knew he was in Chicago that day, but I never got to talk to him about why he was there, or what happened. I flew in with my mom, and the police picked us up at the airport. I had to give my official statement before I got to talk to my dad. If I said anything before I knew the truth, it would have looked bad for him. You guys would have automatically thought he did it, just like you do now. But I know he didn't, Erin. He loves my sister and I. It just wasn't him. It couldn't have been."
"If you're being honest and that that really is the case, why were you so upset yesterday about the fact he was in town?"
"I wasn't upset that he was in town, I was upset because I lied about it. I was already a little bit drunk when I saw the news articles with the leaked security camera footage proving he was in Chicago that day. I got scared that I was going to get in trouble for lying about knowing he was in town, so I drank more, and I bought some coke to take the edge off. That's why I was so upset and wasted yesterday morning. I was afraid. I am afraid, but I never thought that he could have really done it."
"You can't lie to me anymore, Madison." Erin spoke sternly.
"I'm not!" Madison defended herself. "I promise."
"I know." Erin nodded. "I know you're now right now, but in the future you need to be one hundred percent honest with me. That's the only way we can protect you, and the only way we're ever going to find out the truth about what happened to your sister."
The girl nodded eagerly. "Okay. I promise. No more lies." She took in a deep inhale, followed by an equally deep exhale. "In that case, there's something else you should know about my sister and the week she died. It's actually the reason I came to you room to begin with." She apused as if waitiong for a response.
"Okay, what is it?"
"She called me two days before it happened."
"You said you hadn't talked in six months."
"And we hadn't until that call. I mean, technically I wasn't lying, because I didn't answer when she called. She left me a message. She asked for money, which I wasn't surprised by. Every phone call from her was about money or needing help with something. Then she said she was pregnant. I just automatically assumed it was another lie and a scheme to make me feel bad and help her. She said she was pregnant, didn't know what to do, and she that needed money. I never thought it was true, but what if she was being honest? That's why I came in here to talk to you this early in the morning. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe she called my dad for help when I didn't answer, and that's why he was in town that day. There is a way you can find out if she was telling the truth about being pregnant, right? Like the coroner person or whatever can tell that sort of thing?"
Erin ran her hand through her hair. It was a lot of information to take in at once. "Yeah, they can tell in an autopsy. Especially if they know what they're looking for." Just as she finished speaking there was a swift knock at the door.
Erin pulled it open and Jay walked in casually, completely oblivious to massive amount of information and case development Erin had just gathered. "You're not dressed yet?" He observed before noticing the expression on her face. "What?" He asked tentatively.
"You just missed a lot. We either need cellphone coverage to call Voight, or we need to get back to the city, now."