Sorry it's been so long... This chapter took a while and gave me fits...as a result this chapter is longer... :) I hope you enjoy it.

*I do not own Chicago PD or the characters*

Evelyn got in her car and shut the door. Before she could lock the doors the passenger door opened and Alvin Olinsky got in and closed the door.

"Geez!" She shouted.

"You should always lock your doors." He said simply.

She glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Polish crime syndicate. Podolski still in?" He asked casually.

"Get out."

"No. I need to know."

"I don't know the answer." She leaned her head against the headrest.

"If you had to hazard a guess." He looked her.

She scoffed. "If I had to guess."

He waited for her answer.

"I would imagine that someone in the family is still involved somehow. Definitely less activity now."

"Compared to when? When you were a kid?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"How did you know Hank made people disappear?"

She snickered. "The heads of the syndicate used to tell their kids stories about cops making people disappear. We learned at a young age not to trust cops."

"But yet you trusted Hank and Trudy." He said.

"I did. I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to survive. They didn't betray my fledging trust." She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"I've had hits put out on me before, but never by members of my family." He couldn't imagine what she went through.

"It's rough." She nodded.

"Know that you have people to talk to. Anytime." He handed her his card. "Hank's number is on the back."

"Thank you." She nodded.

"Anytime." He smiled before opening the car door.

After he shut the door she locked the doors and drove home. She thought about calling Jay but she didn't.

"Hey Halstead." Ruzek called him.

"Yeah?" Halstead looked up.

"The other day. When I told Evelyn she didn't look like a Martinez."

Halstead rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you said that."

"I know." He shrugged. "You said I didn't look like a Ruzek, and she said I did. What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know Adam. You'll have to ask her." He didn't know what she meant by that.

"Good evening." Evelyn walked up to the table where Jay, Adam Ruzek and Kim Burgess were.

"Hey. Glad you could make it." Jay hugged her. "What's up with the funeral attire?"

She was wearing a black dress and black heels. "I came from a wake."

"Oh gosh. Who died?"

"Cousin Frankie." She shook her head. "My sister in law called me this morning and told me that Cousin Frankie was dead. She said he was poisoned. My first reaction was total shock. I was upset, but then I realized that I don't even have a cousin named Frankie."

"So who died?" He asked.

"My niece's pet iguana. His name is Cousin Frankie. He got out of his aquarium and found the rat poison. Nina is devastated." She downed the shot that Jay handed her.

"That's terrible." Kim said.

"It is, but I am relieved it wasn't a person." That was always concerning.

"So I have a question." Adam began. He glanced at Jay who nodded.

"What's that?" Evelyn asked.

"That day you told me I looked like a Ruzek. What did you mean?" He asked.

Evelyn chuckled. "I wondered if you caught that." She chuckled again. "You look like your dad. It's a good thing." She smiled at his confused reaction.

"How do you know my dad?" He asked as Christopher Herrmann walked up with four beers. "Thanks Herrmann." He nodded.

"He arrested my brother." She took a sip of her beer. "Twice." She held up two fingers and laughed. "Nick got off on some technicality the first time. I heard the second time he wasn't so lucky. He hasn't been arrested since."

"Apparently he learned his lesson." Adam commented.

"Oh no. He just learned to be smart and not get caught." She smirked.

"Ah."

"So what's up with Olinsky?" She asked.

"Al? What about him?" Adam wondered why she asked.

"Where's he at?"

"Home I guess. Why?"

"No reason. He asked me some very pointed questions the other night." It wasn't sitting well with her.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Jay asked. He didn't know what Olinsky was up to and felt the need to protect her.

"Questions about my family. He wanted to know if they were still involved in the Syndicate. I think he thinks I know more than I'm saying. And maybe I do. He's just so cryptic."

"That's Al." Adam said.

"When did Al talk to you?" Jay asked. He didn't remember it happening.

"After you left. I got in my car, he opened the passenger door and got in before I could lock my doors." She regretted not calling Jay.

"What?" He was mad that Al had cornered her like that.

"I thought about calling you, but I just went home."

"I wish you had." He took her hand in his.

"I should have."

"I'll talk to him about it." He fumed.

"No. Don't." She said softly. "It's okay. I'm fine." She didn't sound certain.

"What did he want exactly?"

"He wanted to know if anyone in the family was still involved in the Syndicate. I told him if I had to guess I'm sure someone still was. And I didn't hear about things like I did when I was younger. He asked me how I knew Hank made people disappear. Parents used to scare their kids into not trusting cops. He told me I could call him or Hank if I ever needed anything." She shrugged. "I don't know Jay. Maybe I do know more than I think I do."

"I want to know if they talk to you again." He said firmly. He didn't want them backing her into a corner.

"I'll be fine." She insisted.

"I'm sure you will be, but I want to help."

She wrapped her arms around him. "You're sweet." She placed a kiss against his cheek and let her lips linger for a moment.

He felt his pulse quicken. He had never let his feelings for her be anything more than friendship. He had to admit he liked her arms around him. Before he could think it through he moved his mouth to meet hers in a brief kiss.

Her lips tingled when they met his. She had wondered for a long time what it would be like to kiss him. She reluctantly pulled away when her phone started ringing. Pulling it out of her purse she frowned when she didn't recognize the number.

"Who is it?" He wanted to kiss her again.

"I don't know." She dropped the phone back in her purse. "I should get home."

"Why?" He wondered if he shouldn't have kissed her.

"My brothers don't like me to be out late." She smirked.

"Alright." He nodded. "Be careful." He still had his arms around her waist.

"I will. Goodnight." She kissed his cheek, her pulse still racing from their kiss.

"Goodnight."

"It feels wrong to spy on them." Kim whispered to Adam.

"Nah. We aren't spying. We walked outside and observed them making out." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"And I get to question him about it tomorrow." He chuckled.

"Don't tease him. And don't say anything to Lindsey about it." She warned.

"I won't." He kissed her head.

Evelyn shut her car door and locked it before walking inside the apartment above her parents' house.

"Hey Evie." Her brother Ricky skipped up the stairs after her.

"Hey Ricky." She kicked off her shoes.

"Just checking on you." He shrugged.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem. Did you have a nice night?" He was fishing.

"Yeah. It was nice. I had drinks with friends."

"Don't you think Nick or I should meet these friends of yours?" He crossed his arms.

"I don't need either of you scaring them off. They're just friends." Her pulse quickened when she thought of the kiss with Jay, but she would still say they were just friends.

"Okay." He held up his hands in defense. "Just checking." He smirked before looking serious again. "It's not Brandon is it?"

"No. It's not. You two would be the first to know if it was." She realized why he had been fishing.

"We'd better be. You know Nick violated his parole by going to D.C. to find Brandon."

"It didn't really dawn on me at the time. I was in such shock at everything Brandon had told me." She shook her head. The memories were still so painful. "I wish you hadn't brought it up." She blinked back tears.

"I'm sorry Evie. What I meant to say was that Nick means well, and we are both protective of you. We'll do anything for you." He hugged her.

"I know. Thanks Ricky. Love you."

"Love you too Evie. Night." He turned and walked out.

Adam Ruzek and Antonio Dawson met Sean Roman and Kim Burgess for lunch at a café on their beat.

"Hi Paula." Burgess smiled at the waitress.

"Hi Kim. Hi Sean." She smiled as she showed them to a table.

"This is Adam and Antonio." Roman introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." She said.

"Likewise." Adam and Antonio said at the same time.

She took their order and disappeared into the kitchen.

"You two come here often?" Antonio asked.

"A couple times a month." Roman shrugged. "Good food. And fast."

What seemed like a few minutes later, Paula reappeared with their lunch. "Enjoy." She said before cringing at the crash in the kitchen and the raised voices that followed.

"Everything okay in there?" Roman gestured to the kitchen.

She rolled her eyes. "My husband and his sister. They're arguing." There was another crash followed by more shouts in a foreign language. "One will shout in one language and the other in a different one. I think they do it so I don't know what they are arguing about." She shrugged.

"I asked you a question!" Evelyn shouted at her brother in Polish.

"And I told you I didn't want to talk about it!" Nicholas shouted back in Italian.

She had asked him if he actually drove Brandon to the airport or not. "I am tired of being told not to ask or being told that you don't want to talk about it. You might as well tell me to shut up!" She fumed and threw another pot at him.

He dodged and it clattered to the floor. "Evie." He placed his hands on her shoulders and spoke in English. "I don't want you to be a part of this life. I want to protect you and keep you safe. I couldn't do that with Brandon. Yes, I took him to the airport. Whether he actually ended up in Mexico or not I don't know. I promise I didn't hurt him. That would have made my parole violation worse." He smirked.

"That isn't funny." She fussed.

"I know. I'm sorry. I love you Evie." He hugged her.

"Love you too."

"You two sort everything out?" Paula asked her husband when he emerged from the kitchen.

He shrugged. "I didn't start it."

She gave him a look. "You never do."

"I promise I didn't this time." He kissed her head. "I'm gonna go so that I'm not here when she comes out."

"Nicholas." She cautioned. "You don't want your sister for an enemy."

"She's not. She loves me too much." He smirked.

"Don't be so cocky. You almost lost her. You don't want that to happen again."

"I know Love. I'll be back soon." He smiled at her before walking out the front door.

"He's gone you can come out now." She called to Evelyn.

"That sneaky bastard." She didn't see the members of Chicago PD sitting at a table.

"What was that all about or do I want to know?" She rolled her eyes.

"I am sick and tired of his lies." She fumed. "And he knows Italian pisses me off!" She pressed an icepack against her eye.

Antonio and Adam looked at each other; they both recognized the voice.

"Dear God! What happened to your face?" Paula looked up and saw the icepack.

"And don't you dare say you don't know. You are as bad as my husband." She fussed when Evelyn hesitated.

"No, I know. It's just stupid." She rolled her eyes. "I walked into the door frame this morning. I was half asleep when I walked into the bathroom. I was awake after that." She dropped the icepack on the table. "Does it look bad?"

"It does." Paula grimaced. "Is that why you and Nick actually started fighting?"

"Yeah. Nick and Ricky both think Brandon is back in the picture." She shook her head. "He's not, but Nick still didn't buy my story of hitting the door frame. And it's my bad eye." She groaned.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Adam finally spoke up.

Evelyn muttered under her breath and turned around. "Great. So you guys heard all of that. Just great."

"What do you mean your bad eye?" Adam asked.

"I was training to be a sniper and during one of the exercises I got something in my eye and scratched my cornea. My eye healed and I can still see fine."

"You just can't be a sniper."

"Nope, and while I can see, my depth perception in that eye is off. What are you guys even doing here?"

"Lunch. Apparently Sean and Kim come here quite often." Adam shrugged.

"Good food." Kim responded.

"It is." Evelyn smiled.

"Hey Sarge." Antonio answered his phone and listened to Voight. "Sure thing." He nodded and hung up. "Voight would like to see you. He found something out about the ring."

"Okay. Do me a favor?" Evelyn asked.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Don't let Trudy see me. She'll have a cow over my eye."

"We'll distract her." Kim smiled.

"Thanks."

"Did Brandon beat your or something?" Ruzek asked.

"My brothers just never liked him." She ignored the question. "He never beat me. After my second tour he was different. He threatened a couple times and swung at me once."

"Just once?" Adam didn't sound convinced.

"Just once. I caught his arm and kicked his feet out from under him. He didn't swing again."

"Good Girl." Antonio smirked.

True to their word Burgess and Roman had Platt's attention when Evelyn walked in with Antonio and Adam.

"Hey Sarge." Antonio greeted Voight.

Evelyn was relieved Jay wasn't there. He would have a cow over her eye too.

"Evie. What happened?" Voight asked.

"It's my bad eye. I walked into the door frame this morning. I was half asleep." She explained.

Hank didn't look convinced.

"Nick didn't buy my story either, but it's the truth."

"Have a seat." He said.

She sat in the chair across from his desk. "Antonio said you found something about the ring?"

"Mmhmm." He sat in his chair. "The evidence points to the Gonzalez cartel. They were probably not involved directly. Most of the stolen jewelry showed up within months. Your ring was one of a few pieces that never did. We think there was one or two people that held on to those pieces."

"He never said where it came from. I always assumed he bought it. He had plenty of money."

"Family money?" Hank asked.

"Yeah. Plus the money he made with his 'sales'."

"Speaking of which." He glanced at the file on his desk. "There is no record of a Brandon Rodriguez."

"Who was I engaged to?" She shook her head.

"There is a record for a Brandon Gonzalez. He has a rap sheet full of priors. He's originally from Los Angeles. His passport was flagged at LAX three weeks ago."

"Humph." She pulled out her phone. "I've had a few calls from a number I didn't recognize. I haven't answered and no voicemails were left. The calls started three weeks ago."

"You think it's him?" Antonio asked.

"I don't know. I haven't told anyone. I'd be afraid my brother would call in the cavalry."

"I know I would for my sister." Antonio smiled.

"But you wouldn't be calling in the syndicate." She smirked.

"True." He admitted.

"Write down the number and I'll have Mouse trace it." Hank instructed.

"What do I do if the number shows up again?" The phone was off and Mouse wasn't able to trace it.

"Call us and we'll have Mouse trace it." Hank said.

She nodded and picked up her phone. She froze when it buzzed and the number popped up.

"Mouse." Hank called. "Run it again." He turned to Evelyn. "Evie. Can you answer it?"

"Yeah." Her throat felt dry. "Hello?" She answered, praying that it wasn't Brandon.

"Hey Baby!" A familiar voice greeted her. "Long time no talk huh?"

She didn't know what to say.

"Evelyn. You there?" He wondered if she had hung up.

"Uh yeah." She looked to Hank for help.

"Keep him talking." Hank mouthed.

"I'm just surprised to hear from you. I guess I thought I never would hear from you again. I wasn't even sure if you were still alive."

"I'm still alive. I'm good."

"Good. That's good." She was relieved to know her brother hadn't killed him.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm calling."

"Sure."

"I miss you Baby. I really do." He admitted.

She swore her heart stopped beating. "Brandon. Please don't say that." She could barely whisper. Tears filled her eyes.

Antonio looked at Voight who nodded. They both knew Evelyn wasn't going to be able to stay on the phone long enough to get the trace.

Antonio snatched the phone from her. "Who the hell is this?!" He demanded.

"Who the hell are you?" Brandon fired back.

"I asked you first. And why are you making my lady cry?"

"Your lady?" Brandon knew he shouldn't be surprised. "My mistake."

"Yeah it is. So why did you call? Just to say you missed her?" He glanced at Evelyn, tears were streaming down her cheeks. He wondered why someone would be so heartless.

"I do miss her. I messed up…"

"You're damn straight you messed up!" Antonio yelled. "You screwed around on her while she was serving her country fighting for your sorry ass to keep your freedom!"

"She told you that?"

"Who do you think helped her pick up the pieces of the mess you left?" He lied, but hoped he sounded convincing.

Brandon swallowed hard. She had moved on. "Tell her I'm sorry? I called because I need the ring back. Apparently it was never mine to give. She told me she sold it, but I never believed her. I'm afraid of what might happen to her if she tries to sell it. It's been off the radar for a while and it needs to stay that way. And whatever she does tell her not to go to the cops."

"What do they have to do with anything?"

"Nothin' man. Just tell her that okay?"

Hank gave Antonio the thumbs up. Mouse had tracked the number.

"Yeah. I'll tell her."

"Tell her I'm sorry. 'Cause I really am." He said before he ended the call.

Antonio set the phone down. "Wow." He muttered.

"That was crazy." Ruzek said.

Evelyn felt numb. The tears had dried on her face. She didn't know how to react. She was glad that Antonio took up for her. He didn't have to do that.

"Here's the address Sarge." Mouse handed Voight a piece of paper.

"Where is he?" Evelyn asked quietly.

Voight didn't answer her.

She wondered if he heard her. "Hank?"

"It's better you don't know." He shoved the paper in his pocket. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. And we will keep you safe. I promise." He squeezed her shoulder.

She nodded. "I trust you Hank."

"Hey Ev." Mouse hugged her. "Don't let this break you. You're stronger than that. I've seen it."

"Thanks Mouse." She smiled. "Can someone take me home?"

"Oh yeah. You rode with us." Adam said. "Sure thing."

"Antonio. Can you take her?" Voight asked."

"Sure thing Sarge." He nodded.

"Thanks again Antonio. What you said…"

"Hey. Just playing the part. I think I convinced him." He smirked.

"I think you did." She walked up the steps to her door. He followed her up. "Tell me something." She unlocked her door and opened it. "Am I safe?"

"You are. We'll find him and we'll keep you safe."

"Thanks." She didn't sound convinced.

"Want me to search your apartment?" He joked.

"Would you?" She was glad he offered.

"Sure thing." He followed her inside.

She watched him search, thankful that she had cleaned up recently and didn't have her laundry hanging to dry all through her kitchen.

"All clear." He pulled out his card. "Call any of us if you need anything."

"Will do. Thanks Antonio."

"You're welcome."

"Are you waiting for a goodbye kiss?" She teased.

"No." He chuckled.

"I'll give you one anyway." She smirked and kissed his cheek.

He wasn't sure what to think of that. Or what to say. He couldn't deny she was beautiful. But he had heard Ruzek say something that she and Jay had kissed. "Night Evie." He smiled.

"Night Detective Antonio Dawson."

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought! Reviews/thought/suggestions/etc. are always welcome! :)