Grace & the Windy City (Chicago P.D)

Chapter 3- Ultimatum

Adam left his apartment by 7:30 the next morning and drove to his dad's. He made sure to softly shut the door so that he didn't wake Grace, who was sleeping like a baby on the sofa. As he drove through the city, the sun was rising and casted an orange light against the tall office buildings. Once he arrived at his dad's, he walked hurried up the front steps and pounded on the glass door.

"I had no idea she was still in the city. I thought she moved in with her mother." Bob defended himself.

The two of them were in the living room trying to work things out. Adam gave him a look.

"For Christ's sake Adam, I haven't seen her in weeks."

"Well, she's been here this whole time. She told me all about the visit from the cops, and how after that she was through. I guess something kicked in and she thought I should know about what you've been up to, Pops."

"What? The private security job?" Bob saved his hand, rejecting the idea that he was into something bad. "The guy I work for carries a lot of cash on him, that's how I get paid."

"He pays you fifty-thousand in cash for a couple hours of private security? I don't buy it. Not with all those missed payment notices Grace mentioned." Adam told him. "And Grace...she seems pretty sure of herself. She knew what she saw."

"I'm telling you, she's overreacting. This is her way of getting back at me for divorcing her mother."

"Then she's gone a crazy length to get back at you," he said, obviously not believing his father. "We barely talked about the divorce. You need to get out of whatever business this guy's got you tied up in and apologize to Grace. In that order, too."

"I've got a good thing going Adam— this job, it's..."

"I'm sure it is. Getting paid to hold dirty money. But this isn't you." Adam pointed to his father. "If you need help getting out, I can help. But time is running out and when you get busted for what he's involved in, you'll lose custody of your Grace and the respect of the city. You've got one week."

    Later that morning at a diner down the street from her brother's apartment, Grace took a large bite of her french toast while Adam updated her on what their father had to say.

    "You've gotta tell your mom what's going on."

Grace disagreed. "I already told you I won't. Would you want to leave all your friends to finish high school in some random town? I bet Dad will come around, especially after the two of you spoke."

"I gave him one week to get it done on his own. I guess we'll see."

Grace anxiously tucked her hair behind her ears and sighed, "I can't believe we ended up here. Giving Dad, a cop an ultimatum to get out of some illegal arrangement."

    "You and me both, sister," Adam replied while he sipped his coffee. He looked closely at Grace and figured there was something else going on she wasn't being forthcoming about.

    The pair finished their breakfast, then Adam paid the bill and they left to go do errands. Inside the grocery store, Grace was giving Adam a hard time for the type of orange juice he was buying when a firefighter from 51 recognized them.

    "You buy the kind with pulp still in it?" Matt Casey asked, with a bag of bagels under his arm.

    "Hey, Matt. How's it going?" Adam asked, excited to see a familiar face. "Grace, this is Matt Casey, he's a firefighter at 51. Matt, my sister Grace."

    Grace looked up from studying the nutrition facts of the orange juice bottle and smiled politely.

    "Nice to meet you, Grace," he smiled. "Adam, you coming to Molly's tonight?"

    "As long as I can get a sitter for this one," Adam gestured to his sister, who mocked him.

    "Ha, ha, very funny," she replied.

    "For real though, I think it's karaoke night tonight." Matt teased.

"Then I will 100% be there, man."

    The two of them waved goodbye and Grace crossed off the last item on the list. Grace spent the evening writing a book report while Adam started dinner and periodically awkwardly trying to make conversation with his sister. They covered some more basics like Adam's other sister Kate, Bob and Colleen's divorce, and the ice cream place by the water that their dad used to take them to.

    Hours later, Grace was lying on the sofa half-consciously watching an old re-run of ER, a show her dad sometimes watched. She was seconds from dozing off when her phone ringing jolted her awake.

    "Hello?" she answered, her heart racing.

    "Grace, it's dad."

    "What do you want?" Grace asked, resting her head on the pillow. "It's late," which reminded her that Adam still wasn't back from Molly's. It was close to 2:00am.

    "Why did you tell Adam my business?" Grace could sense his anger from the quick tone he used.

    "Are we really discussing this now? A little too late, don't you think?"

"I'll admit, I haven't been the greatest dad lately and I'm in a bit of hot water because of the divorce and everything but it'll blow over soon enough."

"If you really care about us," Grace's voice sounded like it was about to crack. "You'll end it now. Otherwise you'll lose us and your career. You'll have nothing..."

She hoped as harsh as it sounded, he would finally listen. Grace then heard Adam outside in the hallway fumbling with the key. "I've gotta go," she hung up just as the door opened and the hallway light came pouring into the dark apartment.

"Hey. How was Molly's?" Grace asked as she stood up from the sofa, turning a lamp on.

Adam set his coat down on one of the barstools. "It was a good night," he nodded.

"Good."

"How was your night?" Adam asked.

"It was fine," Grace shrugged as she went to go brush her teeth promptly ending the interaction.

    Adam yawned, "Alright, goodnight I guess."