One Call Away

Chapter Eight: A Warning

"How was your weekend?" Jay asked approaching Caitlyn's desk, he set down the coffee that he had brought her and sipped on his own; he glanced around seeing that the office was still a little empty at this hour of the morning. 

Antonio was working at his desk, a phone pressed to his ear and he was distracted with talking with his wife; he seemed almost frustrated with their conversation. 

"Quiet... stayed home, watched some films with my roommate... tried to contact by mother," Caitlyn replied with a shrug of her shoulders, she leant back in her chair still feeling rather disappointed that her mother hadn't called her back. 

She knew that Richard might need more time but she had hoped her mother would speak to her; she just wanted answers and she was sure her mother would explain herself. 

"Still nothing?" Jay asked recalling that she was had been trying to contact her mother for a little while now; he found it strange that she hadn't heard anything back at all. 

He had to admit that month that Caitlyn had been working for the unit, it did strike him as odd that neither her mother or her step-father had reached out; he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. 

"I've got a friend who is good with computers... maybe I could give him a call and he could check some things out for you," Jay offered sure that Mouse might be able to help her since she had been going around in circles for a month now. 

Caitlyn looked up at him surprised, she hadn't expected him to offer to help her; even Alvin seemed content to just let things play out and she was certain that it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. 

The rest of the team started to come in at this point and Jay glanced back at the nervously, he didn't want his offer to be caught by any of them. 

"We could discuss it after work at Molly's," Jay suggested knowing that away from work would be the right place to talk about this; he was sure that she'd be able to fill him in on what was happening there.

Caitlyn nodded her head, a little relieved for the help and she knew that she could use any help that she got if she was going to get answers; she didn't know why no one would answer her calls or tell her about her father. 

"Halstead. I think Ruzek was looking for you," Erin called walking over to her desk, she shrugged off her coat and looked at her partner as she turned on her computer. 

Jay nodded his head and moved away from Caitlyn's desk going to see what Adam wanted; he didn't notice the look that Erin had on her face as he left. 

Getting up from her desk, Erin moved over to Caitlyn's glancing around making sure that no one was going to listen in; she rested her hands on the desk and leant forward staring at Caitlyn. 

"Stay away from him," Erin said quietly so that their conversation, her little investigation had turned up nothing and it hadn't escaped her notice that Voight had hidden some files away so that they couldn't be found. 

She didn't know what Caitlyn was hiding but she feared for Jay and she knew that there were whispers that someone was spying on the unit. 

Caitlyn opened her mouth to reply, not sure what Erin was talking about and why she wanted her to stay away from Jay when they were just friends when Erin interrupted her. 

"I don't know what your game is or what you really are doing here but you're not going to pull Jay down with you," Erin threatened staring right at Caitlyn, she would protect any of her friends and she didn't know what sort of trouble that Caitlyn had brought with her. 

Without another word, Erin turned and walked away hoping that her warning would be enough.

***

"Caitlyn this is Mouse... he's an old army buddy of mine," Jay said introducing Caitlyn to his friend, the bar at Molly's was rather packed by they had managed to snag a table at the back of the room. 

Caitlyn smiled offering her hand for Mouse to shake, she didn't care that he looked like he'd been sleeping on the streets or the fact that he clearly hadn't washed in a while just that he wanted to help her. 

"Greg Gerwitz," Mouse corrected with a smile, he had to admit that he had been surprised when Jay had come to see him and asked him to help Caitlyn out. 

He tended to keep him out of the new life he had built for himself after the army and Mouse knew that it must be important if he had come to help for help and not the tech guy in his department. 

"Okay... why don't you catch Mouse up on what's been going on?" Jay suggested sure that would help, he was rather curious himself what had brought Caitlyn to Chicago but he guessed that it was big if she was trying to reach out to her parents. 

Caitlyn took a deep breath before she launched into the story about how her mother had drunkenly revealed that Richard wasn't her father and what had happened since then. 

"So, you have no idea who te guy might be?" Mouse said nibbling on the nuts that were on the table, he was starving and even the fries that he had snagged from Jay on the way over weren't doing it for him right now. 

Jay sat back a little stunned about Caitlyn's story, this certainly wasn't what he had been expecting; he had imagined some tale about her escaping an abusive ex or something that had made her come to Chicago. 

"Not a clue... I figured Uncle Al might be able to help me since he's always sort of been there for me," Caitlyn replied looking down at the table, she had hoped he'd tell her about her father but he had almost buried that bit instead making sure she had everything that she needed.

"Wait... Uncle Al?" Jay asked taken back, he certainly hadn't expected that and she didn't call Alvin that at work; he guessed that Alvin had told her to play down their relationship to keep her safe or something. 

Mouse glanced at his friend, a small smile playing on his lips before he focused back on Caitlyn; he was sure that something more was going on here than Jay was telling him. 

"I've always called him that... it's how he was introduced to me," Caitlyn replied shrugging her shoulders, she had always wondered why her mother had insisted on him being Uncle Alvin and her godfather. 

A small part of her had wondered if there was something more to it but she knew that Alvin didn't have any siblings; she was sure it would have been mentioned before now if he had. 

Excusing herself so that she could get a drink, Caitlyn left the table wanting a moment before they continued to talk; she still couldn't believe that her life had turned out this way. 

"You like her," Mouse teased seeing the look on his friend's face, he couldn't help but feel amused by that; he had thought for sure that his friend had this thing for another detective in his unit but nothing seemed to come of that. 

Now he was introducing Caitlyn to his old army friend and Mouse knew that had to be a sign for something. 

Jay quickly looked away from Caitlyn almost choking on his beer as he did so, he stared at Mouse and quickly shook his head not knowing where Mouse might have gotten such an idea. 

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Jay denied with a shake of his head, he sipped on his beer as his eyes swept back to Caitlyn who was at the bar talking with Gabby. 

Caitlyn was nothing but a friend to him and he was trying to help her out of the crappy situation she was in.