Finding my way in Chicago

chapter 7

Jay's Pov:

I was sitting at my desk when I heard the gate open. It was probably Erin coming up. She had dropped off Phoebe at the firehouse with Kelly. It was probably best Phoebe wasn't here today. We're all trying to run down leads about the case. No one can figure out who the guy in the picture is. So he is either a nobody or somebig person who has managed to stay hidden and off the grid. Voight just came out of his office when Erin was coming up the stairs.

"Where's Phoebe?" Adam asked.

"I dropped her off at the firehouse with Kelly. She wanted to hangout with him today. Which is probably a good idea because I don't want her worrying about the case because that's exactly what she would be doing if she was here right now." She tells everyone. Obviously showing she cares a lot about her already.

"That's better because she won't be worrying about what's going on here and she'll have more to do there." Antonio tells everyone.

"Is she staying with you again tonight?" Voight asks.

"Yeah. I'm going to pick her up after shift." Erin said.

"Good." He tells her.

"So what do we know?" She asked us.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We can't find anything on this guy." I tell her. I slam the file in my hand on my desk.

"So no name, nothing. He has to be a pro. If we can't get anything on him that means he's not an ameature. He knows how to not get made, stay away from crime, and not to get pulled into it. Until the other day." Erin says looking between me and the guys.

"What do you mean?" Kev asked.

"He made a mistake. He got caught. Phoebe caught him. That's where he went wrong. That's how we're going to find him." I add answering Kev's question .

"Exactly. He managed to stay hidden and unnoticed for so long and now that we are looking for him he's going to know something is up." Erin says.

"Wait, that means he's going to backtrace his steps and realize where he went wrong. Phoebe told us the whole reason why she didn't come forward before was because she thought he saw her. What if he had?" Adam asked.

"It means he's going to go after Phoebe. Because even if he thinks she didn't see anything, he's not going to risk it. He's gonna go after Phoebe once he figures out who she is." Al tells everyone. Everybody gets this really worried look on their faces including Voight. Erin's face looks the most worried.

After a few moments of silence and everyone looking at each other i speak up.

"How is it that this young girl just came into our lives and we are all so worried about her? I mean yeah we worry about a lot of our victims, but she is different." I ask them. Looking around at everyone's faces, I see they're realizing it too. Erin smiles and so do I. I started to think about last night. I could see they had already connected. They only knew each other for a couple of hours and they're already so close. Then this morning Phoebe was acting like a little sister I wish had. I always pictured that if i had a sister she would tease me about girls and ship me with them and everything. I really don't want anything to happen to her.

"She is different. I can't explain it, but she's already become family to me. I have no words for it. I mean just think about, I'm not the only one who feels it. Last night when we got back to my apartment she and I were laughing and making jokes." Erin says with tears in her eyes, but she doesn't let them fall. She is trying to stay strong around us. I hope she knows she doesn't need to try to stay strong we're all here for her, especially me. I mean she's my partner, why wouldn't I be.

"She is a sweet girl. She is definitely smart. Her instincts are just a whole other level. She would make one hell of a cop one day." Antonio says. Everyone agrees with him.

"Also she's been through so much in her life, it's insane. After all the physical, mental, and verbal abuse from her mom, and losing most of her family in a year span. Then what family she had left bailed on her. After all of that crap she has managed to stay so strong. She puts a smile on her face everyday and still makes jokes. How does she do it?" Adam asked.

"She has a big, loving heart." Al said.

"She's one of a kind and we're all lucky to know her." Kev says.

"Guys we can't let anything happen to her. We just can't. We have to protect her. I don't want anything happening to her and I know you guys don't so we need to catch this guy and make sure he doesn't lay a finger on her." Adam says.

"Let's find this son of a bitch." Voight says walking back into his office.

My phone dings. I haven't been on it since last night and it's been blowing up, i just haven't had the chance to check it. So I turn it on and swipe over and my eyes get really big. I saw a picture of Erin and I sleeping on the couch this morning. I start wondering how did this happen and when. Then i realize.

"Phoebe!" I whisper loudly. Erin heard me and looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. I put up my finger to tell her to hold on. I get up and walk over to her desk and hand her my phone. She looks at it and just smiles and shakes her head. I look at her really confused. She pulls out her phone and opens it then hands it to me. I see the exact same picture as her home screen too. I start to chuckle and she does too. We trade phones back. I walk back over to my desk and sit down. Erin and I just stare at each other for a moment. I don't want it to stop. Last night it was so easy for me to fall asleep because she was there. I just know it. There is definitely something there. I feel it but i know how she feels about this job and if something were to happen between us and Voight found out he would either kick one of us out, most likely me, or have us end it immediately. So i know nothing will happen. I need to stop thinking about it. I have been her partner for a year and that's probably all I will be. I just wish I knew how she felt.