Here's chapter 8! It was really long so we split it into 8 and 9, which I'll post tomorrow. I hope this one is better than the last few for you guys, we're trying to make things a little less volatile.
Enjoy!
"You stuck me with a pregnant cop?" Erin heard from who she guessed what was her new partner on Friday as she walked into the 14th district. Jay had just dropped her off before going to his second week of teaching marksmanship.
Erin hesitantly walked up to meet her new partner. "Erin Lindsay." she extended her hand to the olive skinned woman.
The new partner flipped her curly black hair from her face before grabbing Erin's hand, giving it a less than enthusiastic handshake. "Daniela Ramos."
Erin pursed her lips in a small smile. This was going to be an interesting day.
As soon as they got out to the squad car, Daniela made a beeline for the driver's seat.
"Nuh-uh," Erin shook her head and pursed her lips, "I drive."
"Says who?" Daniela asked.
"Says me, scooch." Erin walked around to the driver's side of the car and got in.
"So you're pregnant, huh?" Officer Ramos asked as she got into the passenger seat of the squad car. They both buckled up as Erin shifted the car into drive.
"Yeah," Erin focused as she swerved in and out of traffic, "three months along."
"They still have you working?"
"Evidently," she clenched her jaw tightly, preventing her from saying something she'd regret.
"What happened to your old partner?"
It wasn't any of her business but Erin decided to enlighten her, "He moved up."
Twenty minutes later, the two officers received a radio call of a possible sighting of a gang member entering a house near the intersection of Spaulding and Beach, just west of the park. The wanted offender, Pablo Sosa was supposedly wearing black pants, blue shoes and a yellow jacket. Erin parallel parked across the street on the perpendicular block, almost hitting the curb.
"Jeez," Ramos grumbled, holding the handle above the door, "watch out for the curb."
Erin sighed and parked before turning to her new partner, "For your information, I received top score in my precision driving course at the police academy," That shut her new partner up quickly but not without an eyeroll of course, "I don't need your input on my driving." That was one thing that hit a nerve with Erin.
Erin unbuckled her seatbelt, giving her swollen abdomen some relief she took in her surroundings. "We're on the Humboldt Park beat, keep an eye out." She reached into the glove box and pulled out two binoculars.
"Hey, white girl, I grew up 12 blocks from here, I'm not scared of Humboldt Park."
"It's not about being scared or not, it's about being alert," Erin stated as she handed her partner a pair of binoculars, "sometimes being comfortable isn't always wise. Cops who get comfortable can miss out on a minor detail that could lead to major lead."
"I won't get comfortable," Ramos stated as a promise, "and stop talking to me like I'm a rookie."
"Good. Now grab those and look," Erin ordered pointing to the second pair of binoculars.
After an hour of sitting in the hot car, their eyes sore from having the binoculars pressed firmly to their eyes. Suddenly, the front door opened and a man in a yellow jacket, blue shoes and black pants strutted out.
"This is 14-25," Erin reported into her radio
"Go for 14-25," the dispatcher replied on the other end.
"The described male is not Pablo Sosa, I repeat, not Pablo Sosa."
"Thanks, 14-25, we've got a better lead across town," Erin sighed in relief as she and Daniela buckled their seatbelts. She was getting tired of staring at the same thing only to have it be a false alarm. She started the engine on the Malibu and headed back towards the district.
"So when do you go on maternity leave?" Daniela asked, breaking the silence.
"I plan on being in the field as long as the vest fits, then I'm on desk duty," Erin replied as she wove in and out of Chicago's grid of streets.
"So where is the baby's dad? He isn't like a deadbeat?"
"No he isn't a deadbeat. He is around." Erin assured her new partner.
"Why don't you talk about him then?" Ramo pressed.
"I've known you for less than a day, Ramos, nothing personal, but it took him three years of our partnership to get to where he is now."
"Oh!" Daniela was intrigued now, "Your old partner's the father?"
Erin rolled her eyes. Fuck. Hopefully she didn't know who her old partner was.
"No, he works at the academy." It wasn't a lie, but it sure didn't sound like the detective that her partner had become. Erin pulled into the parking lot of the 14th district. As soon as she shut off the car, they got out, leaving it to bake in the hot sun.
As they approached the front doors to the district, a tall man exited the building. "Halstead?" Sure enough, it was Jay Halstead in the flesh, wearing his classic jeans, boots, blue shirt and badge and gun clipped to his belt."
"Hey! I hoped I'd run into you, I was just talking with Marino about some stuff. Is this your new partner?" The guy was in a good mood, she could tell; he had an infectious smile plastered to his face.
"Yes. Daniela Ramos," Erin's new partner answered for her .
Jay held his hand out to shake her hand, "Jay Halstead, Lindsay's old partner, nice to meet you."
Erin hoped that no one had noticed her face as it paled; Ramos had seen and now wore a shit eating grin as she caught on to why Erin didn't talk about her former partner much: he was the father of her baby; not to mention he was easy on the eyes. "Nice to meet you too," Daniela replied.
"You guys got anything going on right now?" Jay asked, training his eyes on Erin, "I want to take you out."
"Out?" Erin was a bit taken aback.
"To lunch," Jay replied as if it was obvious.
Erin didn't really want to get her food from a vending machine which was what she to do since half of the food in the breakroom made her stomach churn. With a smile of relief, she took Jay up on his offer, "Sure," Erin replied meekly, not missing the way his dazzling smile got even bigger.
In the meantime, Daniela watched the two former partners exchange glances at one another. A small smirk on her face as they tried to act casual as if they didn't have a history.
"Portillo's?" Jay offered, turning to Erin after Daniela had said goodbye and headed inside the precinct.
"Where?" Erin racked her brain, but couldn't remember ever hearing that word before.
"You've never been to Portillo's?" Jay asked in disbelief. Who in Chicago hadn't heard of Portillo's? "It's a hot dog place, they've also got the best chocolate cake; let's go!"
Erin's mouth watered at the sound of cake and followed him to an unmarked department issued Chevy Malibu, almost identical to the car she'd been driving only moments ago. This is what he got for working at the academy? Nice.
"Am I driving?" Erin asked as she noticed Halstead hadn't walked around to the driver's side as they approached the car.
"No, I am," Jay assured her as he opened the passenger door for her. Erin was about to protest him driving but the simple act of him opening the door for her caught her off guard. He waited for to be comfortably seated before shutting the door gently. Still stunned by the act of chivalry, she watched through the windshield as his tall striking frame walked around the front bumper and got in the driver's seat.
"Let me guess, you thought you were going to drive? Why is it that you always insist on driving?" Jay asked, starting up the car. It still smelled like new leather and now, the subtle scent of his cologne.
Erin shrugged, giving his question some thought before she answered, "I want to be control of my life. If I were to get into an accident it'll be my own fault; no one elses."
"Are you telling me you don't trust me behind the wheel?" Jay joked.
Erin let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes, "I just want to be the one responsible for my own life. How I live it, how I leave it," she bite her lip nervously as she opened up to Jay, "I don't know if it's because my mother put my life on the line for her own habits or whatever but I just feel comfortable when I'm the one driving."
"You know if you want I can pull over and we can switch spots?" He didn't want to make her uncomfortable or worried.
Erin quickly shook her head, "No, you drive. I have to learn to trust people."
Jay let a few seconds of silence fill the car before he spoke, "You can always trust me. You know that, right?"
"That's why you have back up?"
Jay smirked, "Exactly." Even though they were no longer partners they still had a bond that was instilled in them, "Some things will never change." After all, they were trained to have each other's back.
As the two walked in the restaurant, Erin gazed at the western style decor around the walls of the restaurant. Around the walls and up near the high ceiling, there was a facade of a nineteenth century building, complete with siding, windows and a clothesline. The tables were adorned with red and white checkered tablecloths, old sepia photos and barn doors. Jay led them to stand in a queue that stretched from the counters in the back, to the center of the restaurant, splitting the place in two. A picket fence formed the queue and bordered booths and dining areas.
"What do you want?" Jay asked, snapping her out of her surveillance of the decor. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking down and to his left at her.
"I don't know, what should I get?" Erin hadn't been here before, and the menu was so large, she knew she wouldn't be able to pick something by the time they got to the front of the line.
Jay turned to his right and grabbed a menu from a stack on a counter at the back of the queue before handing it to Erin. "Their Chicago style dogs are so good, that's what I'm getting."
"I had sport peppers the other day and they gave me heartburn so bad," Erin laughed; sport peppers were a crucial ingredient on a Chicago style hot dog, along with the absence of ketchup. Besides the vomiting, heartburn was another symptom of pregnancy she could do without.
"Order them without," Jay suggested.
Erin nodded and looked back to the menu, "Oh, good they have shakes, I'm obsessed with shakes."
Soon enough it was their turn to order. After Erin stumbled and stuttered through her order Jay expertly recited his as if he came here as often as he brushed his teeth. Next, they made their way down the line to pay. Without warning, Jay swiftly cut in front of Erin as she approached the register.
"We're together," he told the cashier, earning a raised eyebrow from Erin; he didn't notice. A single transaction later, and they were taking their number cards to a table.
"You wish we were together, Halstead," Erin mumbled, slightly trailing behind as she followed him. Once again, as if it were routine, he made a beeline to a particular booth along a wall of windows.
"What?" Jay snapped his head back to look at her and followed her with his eyes as they sat down.
"I'm kidding. Thanks for paying," Erin laughed at the shock and confusion on his face.
"You're welcome," Jay responded.
"Earlier in the car," Erin slowly stated, "I didn't mean to drop my mommy issues on you."
Jay was quick to stop her, "We all have issues when it comes to trusting others," he let out a sigh as he rubbed his brows, "I had hard time trusting my fellow soldiers at first. It's one thing in training, but once we got to Afghanistan, it was a completely different story."
"Why is that?"
"I felt like I had to look over my shoulder every second, even if I knew that someone was covering me."
"How'd you make it stop?"
"I had to trust them in order to get my job done; I had no choice. Once I learned that they weren't going to let me down, I eased up. I know you might take longer to trust people, with non-work related things as well, but I just want you to know that I know where you're coming from and you can trust me." Erin smiled at Jay's sincerity. She had always known, deep down, that he wouldn't ever do anything untrustworthy, but that had been over ridden by her instincts.
"So how do you like your new partner?" Jay switched the topic after their food had been brought over.
"She isn't you," Erin stated simply and went back to her milkshake. It was her favorite part of the meal she had decided and she hadn't even tried the hot dog or fries yet.
"She can't be that bad."
"Well she isn't the easiest person to get along with it," Erin let out a sigh as she looked at Jay, "I guess I just miss you...well not you…I mean our partnership."
Jay couldn't help but laugh as Erin stumbled over her words, "Well I miss our partnership too. It's hard not seeing you everyday."
"But you do see me everyday at home," Erin stated.
Jay smirked, "You know what I mean."