I am aware that this story has been going on for a while. I don't quite want to end it just yet. I feel like I still have a lot to tell, but on the other hand, I'm worried you guys might start to lose interest if I drag it out to long. Please let me know if you do start to lose interest so I can do my best to fix that. Moving on, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Nine: I've Seen Their Eyes

(This Close – Bradley Caleb)

"Shelby Blanc," Olinsky greeted the small girl. "Hi, my name is Alvin. Do you remember me? From the warehouse?" She nodded, earning a smile from the detective. "This is my partner. His name is Adam."

The two detectives pulled up chairs on the other side of the table from Shelby. She was in the small room beside Voight's office. The sun was pouring into the room. Morning had broken and Halstead was still missing.

"Where's my dad?" She asked.

"He's talking to our boss right now. You can go see him in a moment, but first we'd like to ask you some questions. Is that alright with you?"

She looked around nervously. "Why isn't Antonio here? Or Kevin?"

Ruzek smiled warmly. "Antonio is fine. He just needed a couple stitches, so he's at the hospital, but he's just fine. And Kevin is just working on something else okay?"

It wasn't a lie. Voight had sent Atwater and Roman to go check out the field where Hansen Kane had died. It was a bit of a stretch, but they figured it was worth it to check it out.

Shelby nodded.

"Alright, can you run us through what happened to you? Before we showed up?" Olinsky asked.

After a moment, the young girl nodded. "I don't remember a lot."

"That's okay," Ruzek promised. "Just tell us what you do remember."

She nodded once more. "I don't remember how they found me, but...when I woke up, I had a bag over my head. I couldn't see anything. I think I was being carried, over someone's shoulder maybe. I heard them talking though."

"What did they say?"

"They said they'd come to early. They weren't supposed to have brought me yet. Someone else...they said it was fine. We were both dead anyways..." She paused for a moment.

"They took the bag off my head then and put me down on the ground. I was in the room where you'd found me. There were three men. One who had carried me in. I never got a good look at him, but I heard the other guy call him Ripper. Then there was a guy hanging from the ceiling. He looked really beaten up. The third one seemed to be in charge. He was really tall and muscular. He was really mean. He had an evil look in his eyes."

"Did he have any distinguishing features? Maybe a tattoo or a scar?" Olinsky asked.

Shelby bit her lip. "I- I don't know...wait- I think so. There was something on the right side of his face. I- I couldn't make it out. Everything was really blurry."

"That's okay. They probably had you drugged," Ruzek explained.

"Uh- huh," she whimpered.

"Ruzek," Olinsky ordered. "Go update Nadia and give Voight a call. Make sure they both know one of our perps has a marking on the right side of his face."

The younger detective nodded and headed off.

"You can continue," Olinsky added.

"Okay," she whispered. "The tattooed guy, he said he needed to speak to the other guy, asked him to step out with him. I was so tired, I just stood there. After they left though, the man hanging from the ceiling he woke up. Or- Or maybe he was already awake, I don't know."

"That's Jay right?"

"Yeah. He said that was his name. Asked me mine. I told him. He said- He said it was going to be okay. His team was looking for him. He said they'd find him, and me."

"Sounds like Jay," Olinsky said with a smile. "Did he he say anything else?"

"He made me promise that if I was found first and he wasn't, I had to tell something to Erin Lindsay and only Erin Lindsay. He said he wasn't sure if she was alive or not, but I could only tell her."

"Alright. Once we're done here I'll take you to the hospital and you can talk to her okay? For now, tell me what happened next."

"The two returned; Ripper and the tattooed guy. They lowered Jay down from the ceiling and brought in a chair. Jay tried to escape and he almost got out of the room, but they stopped him. He was really beaten up and weak. I didn't even think he'd be able to walk, but..." She started to cry.

"Shelby, it's okay."

She shook her head as sobs racked through her body. "No. No. It's not. They took him away, said they was going to kill him. Then they put me in that chair and...and they snapped a photo of me and left. Must've been hours later when the tattooed guy came with the memory stick and taped it to my leg, said it was Jay's goodbye."

Olinsky nodded sadly. "So it was just the two guys?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get you to the hospital."

"A bomb vest?"

Dawson nodded, but said nothing.

"A bomb, attached to a vest, that's he's wearing."

Again, Dawson nodded without a sound.

Lindsay leaning back in the hospital bed, slamming her head against the portion that had been lifted up. Dawson didn't speak. He just let out a tense breath and swallowed.

They had moved back to Lindsay's room, where she had been reattached to all a couple machines. Voight had just called with the news a couple minutes ago.

"I don't...I don't even know how to feel at this point," Lindsay confessed. "I feel like I should be- I don't know- losing my mind and I am, but..."

"It's like it's not real," Dawson summarized. "Sounds pretty damn stupid considering how real it is, but...I know how you feel."

Lindsay ran her hands over her face. "I need to do something...maybe then I'll...I'll feel..." She trailed off. After a moment, she spoke up again. "I need to help find him. I need to get out of here." She sat upright and began pulling at cords and tubes.

Dawson shot to his feet and grabbed her hands. "Easy," he pleaded. "Easy. You can't take those out."

"The hell I can't!" she screamed, pushing Dawson back.

She froze and stared at her hands in horror. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just- I can't stay here. I'm so far away from the action that it feels like it's not happening. This hospital is like so stupid happy place and I can't handle that. I need to be a part of the case."

Dawson sat on the bed beside her. "First of all, this hospital is not a happy place. You nearly died here. We almost lost you, but, as I said before, I know how you feel. When I was shot, both times, I needed to be doing something, but I couldn't...and when I couldn't, slowly, it was almost like it wasn't real anymore because I wasn't a part of it."

Lindsay nodded. "I need...I need him."

Dawson smirked. "The truth is out," he whispered jokingly.

Lindsay laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully. "Not like that."

"You keep telling yourself that."

Voight knocked at the door of a run-down apartment building. After a moment, it swung open. A girl with long black hair opened the door.

Her hair was filled with different coloured neon streaks. She had a small hoop piercing on her bottom lip, on which she wore dark red lip stick. She had on way to much eye make-up. She wore a black leather jacket and dark red, short shorts.

"Vanessa Sykes?" He asked.

The girl shifted her weight onto her right foot. "It's Essa," she corrected.

Voight took a moment. "May I come in?"

"Like hell," she snapped. "Gonna tell me who you are?"

"I wasn't sure you'd recognize me. My name is Hank Voight. I knew you through Hansen Kane."

"Out!" She shouted immediately. "Get out of my bloody sight!"

"Essa?" Came another voice from inside the apartment. "You okay babe?"

Essa tensed up. "Yup," she exclaimed uncomfortably. "All good."

Voight tried to look past the girl to get a good look at the owner of the male voice, but the woman in front of him made it nearly impossible.

"You should go," she insisted, more quietly this time.

"I know you're mad-" Voight tried.

"Mad? Mad doesn't quite cover it." She stepped a bit closer to Voight. "I almost had my life back together," she whispered. "I was...I was this close...and you ruined everything. Now, get out of my sight."

Voight saw tears threatening to fall from her eyes, so he nodded and turned.

"Oh, and Essa," Voight warned, turning around just as she was closing the door. "If I find out you had anything to do with it, I will kill you myself."

Essa stood firm. "I," she stated. "Have no idea what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh," Voight muttered. "Have a nice day Essa."

"So," Olinsky said. "Not the girlfriend."

Voight shrugged, even though Olinsky couldn't tell if he was shrugging or not through the phone. "I'm not crossing her off the list just yet. She still seemed pretty mad. She's changed a lot. I'm going to go talk to another old friend of Hansen's."

Olinsky sighed. "Let me know how it goes. We're pulling up to the hospital now. I'll let you know what Shelby's got to say as soon as we know."

"Okay."

And with that the two hung up.

Olinsky and Ruzek lead Shelby into the hospital. They stopped at the front desk where they saw Dawson filling out paper work.

"What're you doing?" Olinsky asked.

"I'm signing Lindsay out."

"Voight's not going to like that one bit."

Dawson sighed. "What're you guys doing here?"

Shelby smiled brightly. "I have a message that I can only tell Erin Lindsay."

Dawson raised an eyebrow. "It's from Halstead," Ruzek explained.

Olinsky looked at his partner. "You want to take her to see Lindsay now? We'll catch up."

Ruzek nodded and lead Shelby off.

"You're signing her out?" Olinsky repeated.

Dawson sighed. "She going crazy in here Al. If it was Ruzek or Voight out there and you were the one sitting in that hospital bed-"

"I never said I didn't understand your reasoning. I get that she feels useless, but she got shot not even a day ago."

"She's recovering remarkably fast. The doctors are willing to let her go as long as she is left on desk duty."

"And how long until that isn't enough either?"

"Alvin," Dawson pleaded.

The older detective sighed. "Desk duty."

Dawson nodded. "That's all I ask."

"Hank Voight?" was the greeting Voight received when he knocked on the door of an average duplex. The man who answered had well trimmed dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing nice jeans and a plain grey t-shirt.

"Leland Marshall," Voight replied. "It's been a while."

"You can say that. What brings you here?"

"It''s kind of a long story."

"Of course, of course. Come on in."

Voight followed Leland into the middle class house. He took a seat at the dining room table.

"Can I get you anything?"

Voight shook his head. "No thank you Leland."

"Just Lee now," he said with a smile as he sat down across the table from Voight. "I can honestly say I did not expect a visit from you today. What's it been? Nine years? Ten?"

"Nine," Voight confirmed. "Clearly, a lot's changed since then. I just came from Vanessa's place."

"Yeah," the man said quietly. "She- She took it...bad. Blames you...a lot."

"I noticed."

Lee sighed. "I tried to help her out, but she wasn't having any of it. She just...lost her mind. All she could think about was revenge on you. I accepted it for what it was: a tragedy, but she...Vanessa couldn't move past it."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

Lee shrugged. "Must've been a good year ago. She moved in with some new guy. I can't even remember his name, but he was trouble. I tried to help her- convince her to move out, but...he was just like her father, and Hansen's."

"Falling back into her old life," Voight summarized.

Lee nodded. "I know I shouldn't have given up on her, but I was finally getting my life together. I'd proposed to my girlfriend, I had a steady, well-paying job. I couldn't let her drag me down with her any more."

"I understand. Was she still mad at me specifically?"

"I'm not sure. Her hatred became so overwhelming. She could barely think straight. I don't even think she really remembered you or Hansen. All she knew was anger. Can I ask what this is all about? Is she in trouble?"

"I have reason to believe someone is mad at me about Hansen and they're getting their revenge."

"I don't understand. Someone is attacking you because of Hansen?"

Voight nodded. "Do you think it could be Vanessa?"

"I...I'd never have suspected she'd actually act on her ideas. Sure, she had plans. She used to go over them with me all the time, but I never thought she'd actually do anything. I thought it was just her way of grieving."

"Do you remember any of her plans?"

"It was all so long ago," he admitted. "I honestly don't remember most of them, and there were so many plans. I think one involved throwing you out of a plane into a sea of piranhas."

"Were they all so ridiculous?"

"Most of them- If memory serves. There was one thing though..." Lee trailed off.

"What?"

"When I first told her that the man she moved in with was bad news, she said it was part of the plan. She was dead serious. There was so much hatred in her eyes. I asked her what plan and she just smiled. She never mentioned it again."

"And you never caught the name of the man she moved in with."

"No sorry."

Then, the front door swung open.

"Lee, honey, could you give me a hand with these groceries?"

"Valerie!" Lee scolded, rushing off. "The doctor said no heavy lifting!"

Voight rose to his feet and made his way over to the front door where he saw Lee helping a very pregnant women with a bunch of bags of groceries.

"Yes, but we were all out of- Oh. I didn't know you were having friends over." She set the bags down lightly and went over to shake Voight's hand. "He never tells me anything anymore," she teased.

Lee laughed awkwardly. "It was a surprise visit."

Voight smiled politely. "And I was just leaving."

"Oh, and I was going to make such a tasty lunch. Couldn't you stay?"

Voight went to speak, but was cut off by Lee, saving him the trouble. "He's a very busy man. He's in the middle of something right now."

"Oh well," Valerie whistled as she gave Lee a kiss on the cheek and strolling off into the house.

Lee rolled his eyes. "She's such a ditz, but I love her to death."

Voight nodded. "I'm sure. Thank you for your time. Here's my card if anything else comes to mind."

"Of course. Oh! Wait a minute." Lee grabbed a noted pad and pen from a nearby counter and scribbled down a name. "Serena Courtney. She's a therapist. I suggested her to Vanessa. I don't know if she even listened and there may be restrictions or some patient-doctor-confidentiality-thing, but..."

"Thank you," Voight said politely, accepting the note.

Olinsky and Dawson neared Lindsay's room. Ruzek was standing outside. "She doesn't want us in there," the newest detective explained. The other two nodded.

"You two can go," Dawson offered. "I'll drive Lindsay and Shelby back to precinct after they're done talking."

Ruzek and Olinsky nodded. "Alright," Olinsky said. "Just- be smart. Don't let Lindsay push herself or Voight will have all our heads."

Dawson nodded and smiled as the two walked off. He looked into the small hospital room. Lindsay was wide awake and sitting on the edge of her bed. Shelby sat beside her.

"He seemed really nice," Shelby said after an awkward silence.

Lindsay nodded. "He was."

"He-"

"Is," Lindsay blurted.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry," Lindsay stammered. "I said 'he was' and I meant to say 'he is,' because he's not...he's not gone."

"How can you know that?" Shelby whispered.

"Jay said we'd find you right? How did you know we would?"

"I don't know," Shelby confessed.

"You had faith in him," Lindsay whispered. She dared not raise her voice any louder, in fear that she'd break out in tears. Shelby coming to her hospital room made it all too real, too fast and she was struggling to hold back her tears.

"Like you have faith in him?"

Lindsay nodded, forcing a smile. "Last year, everyone thought that Jay did a very bad thing. They thought he killed a man. It was a bad man and Jay didn't like him, but he didn't kill him. Everyone thought he did though."

"Did you?"

Lindsay's smile died. "Of course I didn't. I'm his partner." The words tasted strange coming out of her mouth though. She honestly wasn't sure if they were true or not. "But that's not the point. The point is that he came back to work with the guy who did it willing to confess. Even though no one else was really there for him, he got out that mess."

"But he's not alone this time. You've got his back this time. Right?" Shelby asked.

"Exactly," Lindsay said with a faked smile. "So have faith."

She could almost imagine Jay laughing at her. "That's some good advice there Linds. Maybe you should take your own advice every once in a while."

"Are you crying?" Shelby asked quietly.

Lindsay wiped away tears. "I'm just tired. What did you want to tell me?"

"Jay gave me a message, but he said I could only tell Erin Lindsay."

"And what was that message?"

"I know who Ripper is."

Wow. That chapter actually took me all day to write. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I hope you enjoyed. It kind of jumped around a lot, so I hope it wasn't too much. It's not my best work, but it's not my worst. As always, keep your lovely comments and ideas (reviews) coming. Next chapter will be up next Sunday.

Next Chapter:

Chapter Ten: The Strongest Among You