16. Chapter 16

Thank you to everyone who posted a review. I really appreciate it. This chapter has some angsty Linstead in it, as well as some Severide unfortunately. LOL! Hopefully though, I hope you'll like the direction this story is going. Please read and review. It really does make it so much easier to write. Thank you!

Chapter 15

The Intelligence team were gathered around the case board, trying to pull together everything they had discovered to try and find a link between the victims. "So is there anything concrete to link the Montgomery's and the Professor and her toy boy together?" Voight barked.

"We did notice in their banking that the Montgomery's and Finley both paid $2000 dollars a month to a foundation known as Walton Manor." Atwater said.

"The foundation is marketed to give once in a lifetime experiences to those in need." Ruzek said.

"The website, the taxcode, the building...on the surface, it seems legit!" Dawson added.

"Seems?" Voight questioned.

"Well, you can't exactly walk off the street into the foundation." Erin explained. "It is invitation only."

"We tried to talk to anyone in the foundation and they lawyered up on us." Jay added.

"What are you saying?" Voight barked.

"We think we found our secret society." Olinski answered. "The only problem is, because it is so secret, we don't know who's involved to get in."

"There could be lawyers, judges, senators...even the police commissioner could be a member." Dawson stated.

"We don't think we'll be able to get a warrant anytime soon." Erin said.

"Well find me another way in then!" Voight snapped. "Use your C.I.s; they have to know some of the funky shit going on behind closed doors in this city!" Voight stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him.

"Well their bedroom antics are really something I don't want to know about my C.I.s." Jay joked to Erin as they walked back to their desks.

"Well we have to ask the questions to get the answers." Erin muttered.

He playfully elbowed Erin. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Of course." Erin retorted and sat behind her desk. "I'm just getting on with my job."

Jay sighed and shook his head as he headed towards his desk. It was going to be a long day.

Jay placed the phone back on its receiver and stood up, pulling on his jacket. He lifted his badge and gun. "Hey Lindsay, I think I might have a lead from one of my C.I.s." He stated, glancing over at her desk. "Are you ready to roll?"

She never looked up from her paperwork. "Either take Atwater or go yourself." She replied. "I'm busy."

Jay sighed and shook his head. He stepped towards her desk and leaned over, until he was just centimetres from her ear. "Look Erin, I get that I may have been a little abrupt at the gym on Saturday." Jay stated quietly. "But you seriously have to stop dishing the attitude."

"I'm just being professional Halstead...as per your request." She answered, looking up at him. "I'm working on something here." She returned to her paperwork.

Jay paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "Is this seriously how things are going to go between us?" Jay hissed in her ear. She didn't respond. "Look, we really have to get this shit out in the open or we're gonna have to ask Voight to reassign partners."

"I don't know what 'shit' you're talking about." Erin replied. "I don't accompany you every time you talk to a C.I.."

"You've been blanking me all day!" Jay hissed.

"I've been working on this case!" Erin quietly snapped back, looking at Jay.

"Come to my place tonight so we can talk this out." Jay pleaded, trying to calm the situation.

"But we can't 'hang out' anymore." Erin retorted. "Remember, we're just 'partners'?"

"We'll not even be that if you keep this up." Jay muttered under his breath. "Now is not the time for you to be stubborn Erin!" Erin scoffed but Jay continued. "I really do think we need to talk and clear the air."

Erin inwardly sighed. She knew he wasn't going to drop it but she couldn't help but feel that he was giving her mixed signals. She didn't understand their relationship/partnership anymore. "I can't do tonight." She finally replied. "I have Severide coming over."

"Whatever Erin; at least I made the offer..." He stated and then sighed. He walked away and headed towards the stairwell to exit the office, stopping briefly to inform Nadia where he was heading in case anything came up.

Erin looked up, watching him go; twirling the pen she held in her hand. She inwardly groaned and dropped the pen. She ran her fingers through her hair and hung her head. She hated how he had this affect on her; how he could never just let her be pissed at him without guilt tripping her. She couldn't help but think that maybe he was right, maybe a little space would do them good; maybe a change of partner was the best thing for them.

Erin stood in her kitchen, wearing jeans and a white box t-shirt, that was sliding off her right shoulder. Erin lifted a bottle of wine out of her fridge and poured herself a drink and then replaced the wine back in the fridge. She took a gulp of the wine then sat the glass down and sighed.

It had been a long day. The team were sure that Walton Manor was some sort of sex club and before she had left work, they had just discovered a link between the Montgomery's home and Professor Lindley's mother's home. It was based in the same building.

Jay had not returned to the office after meeting his C.I., not that Erin had cared. She knew he was okay. She just didn't want to face him again today. Things had never been so bad between them. Even during Jay's rants about Voight being dirty, or the Lonnie case and Erin not being there for him the way she should have been, they had always managed to have some sort of connection.

Her phone began to ring. She glanced down at her caller I.D.; Jay's picture flashed up. She groaned and swiped to ignore his call. It was the fourth of the night. Why couldn't he just give up? He knew Severide was seeing her tonight.

"Did you get a call out?" Kelly asked, stepping out of Erin's bedroom; pulling on a t-shirt.

"What?" She asked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh no, it was an um...telemarketer."

"God I hate those!" Kelly stated, wrapping his arms around Erin from behind. He placed a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder. "Thank you for letting me use your shower. I got a call out just before my shift ended and I knew if I showered at the station I'd be late."

"It's no problem." Erin replied, turning her body around to face him. She cuddled into him. "I'm just glad you're here."

"Hey..." Kelly softly said, rubbing her back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...it was just a bad day in the office that's all." She sighed, sinking further into his arms.

Before Kelly could respond, Erin's door began to shake with continuous knocking. Erin jumped back from Kelly's hold in surprise.

"Are you expecting someone?" Kelly asked as Erin approached the door.

"Nope." Erin replied as she peeked through the peep hole before opening the door to reveal Nadia. "Nadia?"

"Why the hell are you not answering your phone?" Nadia snapped before her eyes fell on Kelly. "Oh, hi Severide."

"Hi Nadia." Kelly replied.

Erin groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could not believe that Jay had involved Nadia in this. "Kelly, can you give me and Nadia a few minutes?" Erin asked.

"Sure." Kelly replied, picking up on the tension. He walked off into the bedroom.

Once Kelly had left the room, Erin spun around to face Nadia. "The only calls I haven't answered are Jay's!" She hissed. "I can't believe he sent you!"

"He sent me because he's been trying to deliver a message." Nadia replied.

"What now?" She asked. Then suddenly, she realised that those calls could have been the hospital. Jay had asked her a few months into their partnership if he could put her down as his 'I.C.E. – in case of emergencies' person. "Oh, God! Is he okay?"

"Oh, now you show some concern!" Nadia retorted.

"Nadia..."Erin sighed.

"Jay has been trying to get in contact with you because his C.I. paid off." Nadia replied. "He returned just after you left and now Voight has ordered an undercover operation with you and Jay. It could last anything from a week to a few months. Voight has given you both tonight to get your affairs in order before he fills you in tomorrow. He and Dawson are working on the details now."

"Voight has put Halstead and I together undercover on a potentially long term case?" Erin asked, leaning back on her kitchen counter, her body reacting to the news.

"Yep...Jay seemed pretty surprised too." Nadia replied. "He even tried to suggest Ruzek and Burgess but Voight wants experience."

Erin nodded her head. She knew why Jay had made the suggestion. This operation had come at the worst possible time in their partnership.

"Look, I'm going to head home and give you time to get your affairs together." Nadia said, nodding her head towards the bedroom towards the end of her sentence.

Erin nodded, understanding what she had meant. "Thanks Nadia." Erin said. "I guess I'll still see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Nadia replied, giving her a quick hug before leaving.

As soon as Erin closed the door, she turned to face her bedroom; finding Kelly leaning again the doorframe. "How much of that did you actually hear?" She asked.

"Enough." Kelly replied and Erin nodded, walking towards him. "So am I one of the 'affairs' you have to put in order?"

"Kelly, this is part of my job...if you're going to be with me, you're going to have to get used to it." Erin replied. "This isn't the first time I've faced long term undercover work and it won't be my last."

"Yeah but with Jay..." He trailed off.

"Trust me, with Jay it is nothing but professional." Erin reassured him, shoving her hands in her back pockets.

He nodded, trying to convince himself to ignore his doubts. "So after tonight, I might not see you for a few months?" He asked.

"Yeah." Erin replied. "So you have a few options and I am completely cool with what you decide..."

"You're going to suggest a break, aren't you?" Kelly answered.

"I'm just trying to be fair to you." Erin replied. "I could be back next week and we could forget this ever happened but I could be gone for months...and you could meet someone else. I just don't want you tied to anything when I don't have the answers for you."

"Right now Erin, I just want you." Kelly replied, cupping her face.

"Okay but if you do meet someone..." Erin started to say. "I will understand, that's all I'm saying, because a few months is a long time with no contact."

"Thanks for saying that but I won't need those reassurances." Kelly said. "I'm all your Erin Lindsay." Kelly pressed his lips against Erin's. "All yours."

He engulfed Erin in a hug; Erin clung to him; her face half buried in his shoulder; trying to erase the doubts in her mind; she wasn't sure she was 'all his' and she was struggling to shake that feeling.

To be continued...