explosion (jay halstead / one chicago)

chapter 20

jay's pov

"The deal goes down; we do not intervene until we see the money." Voight intensely studied each member of Intelligence in turn, resting his eyes on me for a little longer than necessary. "We only have this one chance." He looked at Liz. "You don't blow your cover until we have them arrested. If anything goes wrong, use the code word and we'll be right there. Andrea and some others from Madrid PD are at the house where your mother is being kept. They will enter as soon as they have our permission." Everyone nodded. "Let's get you dressed up." Erin smiled at Liz and the two women left towards the locker room. Meanwhile, Voight headed to his office for a few final preparations.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. In a few hours, this whole thing would be over, I told myself. All I wanted was for Liz to feel safe again. Adam decided to sit on my desk. "So, how did last night go?" I frowned. "What do you mean?" My friend smirked. "I mean... Last night... You... That pretty Spanish girl hanging around the station lately." He laughed. "What are you implying?" I asked. Of course I knew what he was implying, and that he was trying to continue the conversation where he left off yesterday. But it was funny to keep him talking and guessing, especially because there wasn't much I could contribute to the topic. Adam sent me a look of disbelief. "I'm saying it would have been a perfect opportunity to get in her pants, Halstead."

Within a second, I felt the attention of Kevin and Antonio shift towards our conversation, as Adam wasn't exactly whispering. Good thing the girls weren't in the room. "You know what, Ruzek," I winked at my friend. "In case I do happen to sleep with this girl, you'll be the first to know." Kevin raised an eyebrow at me. "So, am I getting this right? You really haven't slept with her?" I shrugged. "No. Why is that such a shock to all of you?" Adam, Kevin and Antonio exchanged knowing glances. Then Adam spoke up again. "One, because the way you and Liz behave 24/7, anybody would think you're all over each other as soon as you're alone." He laughed at his own words. "And second?" I asked. Adam shrugged. "Two, because that means you must really fucking love her, man."

Before I could respond to him, Kim entered from the corridor. "Jay, can I talk to you for a minute?" I nodded absentmindedly and followed her out of the room. Of course, Ruzek was right, I did love Liz, possibly more than I ever loved anyone in my life. Which was exactly why I didn't want to rush anything. I knew her past was fucked up, and I had experienced first-hand how much that could impact her present relationships. I really wanted to get this right.

"Did you read it before you gave it to me?" I looked at Kim in confusion. I was so caught up in my thoughts I hadn't been listening to her. "What?" She sighed. "The journal. Did you read it?" Oh, right. I had given Liz's journal with notes on Vince and his gang and everything that happened in Madrid to Kim so she could scan it and send it to the Spanish colleagues. I shook my head. "No. Why?" Kim looked around to make sure no one was close. "Did Liz ever mention the name Alejandro?" I shook my head again. "Who's that?"

Kim appeared indecisive, looking at me, then at the journal in her hands, then to the floor, and finally back at me. "Maybe you should talk to her about it?" she then backpedalled. "Kim," I studied her. "There's obviously a reason we're standing here. So please just tell me what it is." She still seemed unsure about what to do but then sighed and opened the journal on the page she had kept her finger on. After taking a deep breath, she read it to me:

"25th June. Alejandro has been released from prison. He showed up at our doorstep when he knew I was alone; his friends must have told him where to find me. He doesn't carry a badge and gun anymore, but there's still the same stupid smirk on his face. He was drunk and he wanted to do it again. He has nothing left. He lost his job and he lost his future. And it's all because of me."

When Kim finished, she looked up at me and met my eyes. "She's talking about a cop." I understood now why my colleague was asking me about that Alejandro guy. What Liz said in this paragraph was basically that a cop lost his job and went to prison, and that it was her fault. I remembered the conversations Liz and I had about her past. She never mentioned a cop, and she always claimed that until she moved to Chicago, she would have told the police she didn't talk to cops anytime. Of course I knew that there were things about her life in Madrid that Liz kept from me, but I had seen a lot of her vulnerable side. She would have told me if there was something that could harm me, and I didn't believe she had ever done anything to willingly harm someone else. There had to be an explanation.

"Do you have the full name of that cop?" I asked. Kim eyed me with suspicion. "Jay, I just thought you should know. I like Liz and I don't want to think she did anything either. But I've seen too many people I believed were good do really bad things. All I'm saying is you're a cop, you're dating her, and whatever this is, you don't know about it." I leaned against the wall behind me and ran a hand over my face. "Do you have the full name or not?" Kim nodded. "Alejandro Sebastian Muñez Garcia." Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone and typed the name into Google search. Maybe we were lucky, and the internet knew something. I stared at a tweet that showed up on my screen. "Cop Alejandro Sebastian Muñez Garcia free after just a few years. They should have locked him up for a lifetime." The user had added a link to a newspaper article. Quickly skimming over the text, I felt anger build up inside me. "What is it?" Kim asked. I took a deep breath before I read it to her.

"Former police officer released from prison. Alejandro M. was released yesterday morning after a six-year sentence. He had been convicted of rape after he sexually abused Elisa S., 14 years at the time, repeatedly under the false promise of helping her out of the gang life she was forced to live. Elisa was known as the underage girlfriend of young Westside Dragons boss Vincente G. When he was arrested two years after Alejandro M., many expected her to become one of the first female leaders in the local crime scene. Elisa however opted to leave the gang life, but sources say she has returned after her boyfriend was released from prison earlier this year. His relationship with the underage gangster's girlfriend did not only send Alejandro M. to prison, he further lost his job at Madrid Police Department. It has never been laid open what evidence lead to his conviction, but it is said a video showed one of his brutal offences."

I silently exchanged a glance with Kim. I was feeling a million things at the same time, but it all came down to three: frustration, sadness, and anger. Raped? At 14 years? By a police officer? That didn't just sound like hell, it was hell. More than that. Putting that asshole behind bars for six years didn't even come close to justice. Knowing this, everything made sense. It made sense that Liz flinched whenever she saw a police badge or gun. It made sense that she shivered and pulled her sleeves over her hands protectively when she talked to an officer. It made sense that she pushed me away and ran when we first kissed. Hell, it even made sense that she was so freaking scared to fall in love with me. I could all piece it together.

"I get it now, everything," I whispered. All I wanted was to hug Liz, protect her, and never let go. Kim patted my shoulder while I leaned back against the wall again and closed my eyes. "We should get going." Adam rushed past us, then stopped in his tracks. He turned around, eyeing us worriedly. "Everything good?" I took a deep breath and nodded. "All fine." Talking to Liz about this – if she wanted, that was – would have to wait until after the deal.

Hardly half an hour later, we were all in our positions, Kim and I hiding behind what was left of an abandoned building's outer wall, from where I would have a perfect shot if needed. "Jay, you okay?" Kim asked. Of course she knew that what we had just discovered was a huge thing, but we couldn't let that get to us in this moment. I nodded. "We just gotta focus on this right now, one thing at a time."

A few minutes later, Vince showed up. Just like the time before, he was accompanied by his friend Hugo, the one that Liz had been so close with back in Madrid. He waited by the car as Vince and Liz started talking about the deal. Liz showed the coke to him and demanded to see the money. He went over to the trunk of his car and pulled out a duffel bag before unzipping it. "Bingo," Kim whispered beside me. We were both ready to take off towards the scene once Voight gave his command. Vince's back was facing us, and he was blocking our view on Liz.

"Go," the Sergeant instructed. Antonio and Erin approached from the side opposite us at the same time we approached from ours. "Chicago PD. Hands where we can see them," Erin shouted, causing Hugo next to the car to put his hands in the air, and Liz to do the same, turning to face Erin.

Everything happened very fast, and before any one of us reached the scene, Vince pulled a weapon and took a step forward. Only when Kim put up a hand to hold me back, I realised that something was going on, since it was hard to make out from our angle. All alarms went off in my head as I realized what Vince was doing.

He had put one arm around Liz's neck from behind, and he was pointing his gun at her head.

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as always, thanks for reading and leave a vote or comment if you like! ❤️  decided to have a bit of a cliffhanger here, sorry not sorry xD  also this book might get a new cover soon, just saying to avoid confusion ;)