"Hey, put me on speaker," Voight stated his instructions after Kim picked up the phone. "Kim I need you and Kevin to stay behind and see if there is anything you can find that will help us locate Hannah. Hailey?"
"Yeah?"
"You and Jay head to the scene. Al and Antonio are working on another case. They'll meet us on scene." Voight instructed as the conversation between the three of us died down enough for me to grab my phone off the desk.
"Copy." Firing off a text to Jay, I walked away just as Voight was informing Kim to do anything they could to find Hannah as I walked the few short steps upstairs. As I was rounding the corner Jay was already coming down from Intelligence, jacket in hand.
"Hey. Voight say how things were going with the case?"
"No. Whoever Hannah is with, it looks like they're trying to avoid every camera in Chicago." Walking in long strides towards the parking lot, Jay clicked the button on the remote and hopped into his truck about a minute later.
"We'll find something. We almost always do." He said confidently, placing the key into the ignition and his truck roared to life.
"What?"
"Since you're here, I take it everything worked out with Eva?"
"Yes and no." I found myself hesitating a little on the latter part because I wasn't sure how he was going to take it. There was a reason why I liked to keep my life private, even when it came to him. I was opening up a little more but this whole "letting people in" still felt new and I felt every fiber of me fighting against it whenever he asked a question.
"Okay. What's the latter?" He questioned further. I took a few seconds to ponder my response carefully before opening my mouth again.
"Her nanny offered to take Eva while I was working." I mentioned, just as we stopped at the light. "Did you know her son went to the same school as Eva?"
"I think I may have heard that once but I would have never connected the two together." A rush of cars passed by as we waited for the light to turn green. "How did she react when you told her?"
"She was nervous.I would like to think she was okay with not having to go to the after school program. Regardless, she's still going with someone she doesn't know."
"She will. And who knows, maybe having someone around her age will be good for her, especially if she's still trying to make friends." The light turned green and we continued onto the street over. The credit union grew closer and he parked in the lot next to it.
"Maybe. I don't want to give up her hopes. I wish this situation would last forever but it may only be temporary. We'll see what happens."
"What do you mean by temporary?" Shifting the key, he pulled it out of the ignition as we both sat there in half silence. "Is her nanny only watching her for a little while?"
"Probably just until I can find someone to watch her full-time. I mean, I can only hope it will. Speaking of, someone from her school called earlier so I should probably try and see what's happening before I get out."
"Then I will meet you out there." Quickly sliding out of his seat, he closed the door behind him and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Keeping an eye on the side mirror as I dialed, I watched as he greeted Voight.
"Adlai E. Stevenson, this is Josie. How can I help you?" A new but unfamiliar voice greeted me on the other side of the phone. I was half expecting it to be Ellen since she had been there this morning. Then again, maybe the secretary got pulled away somewhere or had to leave for some reason.
"Hi, my name is Hailey Upton. I received a call earlier but no message."
"Okay. Let me put you on hold and see if I can figure out who called you." The phone clicked slightly signaling that I had indeed been put on hold. I kept my eye on the way that Voight and Jay were conversing and figured they were most likely talking about the case and not anything else.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"Hey, Hailey. This is Ellen. Sorry. I got pulled away for a minute. We had a copier issue that needed to be resolved before the school day was over." The kind secretary's voice was definitely a relief to hear. "As for who called you, I just asked Eva's teacher and she said she was trying to get a hold of you to discuss how things are going with Eva."
"I'm sorry. It's just been a crazy time adjusting." I really did feel bad but I was still trying to learn how to juggle being a parent, dealing with a child who was adjusting and grieving, as well as returning to work full-time.
"I know it is. She told me she knows you're busy and to call her tonight if you can. Do you have a pen?"
"I have my phone. Give me a second and I can write it down." Pulling up the notes section of my phone, I turned up the volume just enough for me to hear the number but no one else who may be in listening distance of the truck. "Okay, I'm ready."
"312-567-8019."
"And that's her cell phone number?"
"It is. If she doesn't answer, leave her a message and she'll call you back."
"I will, thank you, Ellen." Just as I was about to hang up with her, I saw Antonio pull up on the other side of the lot. "Do you know if Eva has been in the office today?"
"I thought I would see her like I usually do but she hasn't been in today. I have a few things to pass out to the teachers later on, so if I don't see her before long, I can make sure everything's going okay."
"I appreciate that."
"Texting, okay?" She asked as I paused with my hand on the door lever. I could see Antonio stepping out of his truck and I wanted to meet up with the group at the same time he did.
"That's fine. Thanks, Ellen."
"Bye."
"Bye." Stepping out of the truck, I noticed the ambulance that had been parked near the corner of the credit union was now transporting any injured to the hospital. I grabbed my folder from off the seat and locked the door.
"Hailey," Antonio called as he walked quickly to catch up with me. "Are we backing up Robbery Homicide on this?"
"No, we're taking it." I figured that Voight hadn't filled him in on much like the rest of us. "Voight and Ruzek were here when it kicked off. It was on the heels of an abduction."
