23. Chapter 23

A/N: I have no words for how sorry I am for abandoning this story for so long. I lost sight of where I was taking this story and just needed to take a break and regroup and figure out what the storyline was for this, but I have now and I have all the remaining chapters planned out! I'll be in Fiji for 2.5 weeks in July after my exams so I will be writing up all the chapters for this story to post when I get back home while I relax on the beach haha

Also for the people thinking that this storyline will be exactly like the storyline of 'Love Lives On'. While it may have inspired this storyline, I do have my own plan for the story :)

Apologies for any spelling mistakes, I rushed a little to get this out for you guys before my exams this week.

Enjoy!

"You okay?" Jay asks as Erin gets into the car.

Erin nods quietly "It's just sad. I've known him for so long, and I never knew any of his past."

"We're going to find the people who did this to her Erin, just like we promised him. That's all we can do now." Jay reassures.

"I know. I just … I think about if that were us. I don't know if I would be strong enough to give you and Ben up, even if meant protecting you."

"I get it, I couldn't imagine if we had to do that." Jay said taking her hand in his "But we're here, and we've got to figure out who did this so we can get justice for Haley, and so we can give Warner some peace."

Erin nods, taking a breath before starting the car and driving off towards the district, keeping Jay's hand in hers on top of the console.

"I called Voight while I was waiting for you, they're already looking into Hayes and any known associates."

"Good. The sooner he's locked up the sooner Emma is safer, and we can find a good family for her."

"Actually," Jay says nervously "I already have a plan for that."

"Don't get too comfortable, we got something to chase up." Voight says as Erin and Jay walk into the bullpen.

"You've already got info on Hayes?" Erin says surprised.

Atwater nods "LKA and a girlfriend, Ellie Harper. Antonio and Halstead are going to check in with the girlfriend."

"The rest of us are going to check the house." Adam adds.

Jay nods, looking at Dawson "Let's get going then."

…

"This is going to sound weird, but it's nice hanging out with you." Antonio says as he pulls up in front of Ellie Harper's house "We haven't really worked together that much, or hung out, in the past couple months."

Jay smiles sadly "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry Tony, things have just been so hectic lately. We should try and set up a night with the guys so we can all hang out and catch up together, I want to hear how things are going with Brett." Jay says with a smirk.

Antonio shakes his head "I walked right into that one." He mutters getting out of the car.

They both walk up the stairs leading to the front porch, Jay eyeing the house in appreciation. It's got a cottage feel to it, despite the modern suburban houses it's surrounded by. The sandstone lining the outside of the two-storey house gives the place a warm feel.

'Not the kind of house you'd think a rich, drug-dealing murderer would have.' Jay thinks to himself.

Jay leans against the wall as Antonio knocks on the door. There's a voice in the distant yelling, "Coming!", before the door opens and a petite, fair-skinned woman with long auburn locks opens the door.

"Ellie Harper?" Antonio asks, flashing his badge.

"Yes?" She says nervously.

"Do you know a Jonathan Hayes?" Jay says roughly.

"... No, I don't." Ellie answers, her eyes switching between Jay and Antonio.

"Yeah, ok." Jay scoffs, Antonio glaring at him.

Antonio turns to face the young woman again, giving her a friendly smile "Well, you won't mind if we take you down to the station with us to ask you a couple of questions then."

"Look, I already told you I don't know anything. My son is asleep upstairs, I don't have time for-"

"Your boyfriend is being accused of murder Miss Harper. So, if you don't get your son and come with us right now, I will be forced to use the warrant that we've gotten to take you in, which means we then have to give your son into DCFS until you're cleared." Jay cuts her off, his voice letting her know he isn't being courteous anymore "But if you come with us now, your son can stay with you at the district, and we can keep both of you safe. The choice is yours."

Ellie stands for a moment, her eyes looking down at her hands "I need to get some things for him."

Antonio nods "We'll come with you."

…

"There's nothing here." Kim sighs "It doesn't look like anyone's lived here for months."

"Something's not right." Atwater says "Why would he keep the house?"

"It's a distraction. He's obviously not living here, but the property being in his name means it makes it harder for us to figure out where he's actually going to be staying." Erin says, joining the group.

"The place is clean, I found some money stashed away in the fireplace but it's not enough to look suspicious." Ruzek says, lifting up the duffel bag to show the team.

Erin's phone buzzes and she looks down to see Olivia Benson calling her. Erin frowns, silencing the call when she sees Hank approaching.

"Dawson and Halstead got Hayes' girlfriend, she's got a kid with her too. We need to go." Hank says.

The team nods in agreement, all of them heading back to their cars. Erin takes her phone out as it buzzes again, Olivia having left a text message.

Call me when you get a chance, I need to talk to you.

Olivia.

"Where is she?" Alvin asks as the team comes into the bullpen.

Antonio stands from his chair "She's in interrogation. But she doesn't want to talk to us, someone took a bit too aggressive of an approach to her."

"She gave me her damn baby, surely she doesn't hate me that much." Jay says as he steps out of the breakroom, a little baby in his arms.

Erin smiles as she walks towards her boyfriend, looking down at the little boy "You look good with a baby Halstead." Erin says softly.

Jay smiles cheekily "Oh yeah?"

There's a loud cough, and Erin turns to see Voight looking at them with a blank face.

"I think your actual kid is waiting for you."

"Oh, um, yeah. I'll go, you stay here with Elliot." Jay says passing Erin the baby.

"Elliot?" Erin questions.

"Elliot Hayes." Jay emphasises, looking at his surprised team before walking away.

…

Jay returns half-an-hour later, Ben in tow as he walks up the stairs "Any progress?"

Ruzek shakes his head "She's tight-lipped. Won't talk to me and Atwater."

"Let's try a different tactic." Erin says "Kim, come with me."

"And what are you going to do that we didn't?" Ruzek raises an eyebrow.

Erin looks at him pointedly "It's called a mother's touch Ruzek. She's going to want to protect her kid at all costs, and luckily a fellow mother is more trustworthy than a man with commitment issues."

Kim holds in her laugh as Adam eyes his fiancée, who blows him a kiss and follows her friend to talk to Ellie Harper.

…

Erin and Kim enter the interrogation room, Ellie scowls at the two of them as she leans back in her seat.

"I already said I'm not talking to you guys." she says.

Erin smiles sweetly as she sits down across from the woman "You know it's your lucky day, right? Intelligence is willing to offer you a deal."

"I don't give a fuck; I'm not giving you guys anything." Ellie growls.

Kim opens the manila folder she brought in with her, laying out a photo of Haley and Emma at her preschool.

"See this woman? Her name is Haley Morgan. This," Kim points to the photo with Emma "Is her daughter."

"And I'm supposed to care, why?" Ellie says.

"Because she's dead." Erin says, Kim spreading out the photos of Haley's body when it was found in the house "And your boyfriend is the one who killed her."

"I already told you, I don't know who you're talking about." Ellie presses.

"Let me get this straight; you don't know anything about Jonathan Hayes, but you'll put his name on your son's birth certificate?" Kim scoffs.

"... Ok fine, so I know him. It doesn't mean I have anything to do with this."

"We don't think that you do. But I do think you know where we can find him." Kim says.

Ellie rolls her eyes "Why do you think for one moment that I'd help you?"

"Because we're the only ones that can keep your son from being put into the system until he's 18 years old, while you sit in jail for interfering in a police investigation." Erin says.

Ellie's eyes widen with panic "What!? You can't do that!"

"Oh, we can. But we won't if you help us." Kim adds.

"Look, whatever you think J did, he didn't. He's a good man, I know him." Ellie says adamantly.

Erin sighs "He's a bad guy Ellie. He's a drug-dealer, a cheater, and a murderer."

"He wouldn't cheat on me, and he wouldn't kill anyone."

"According to the police files we have on him, you've been associated with him for over four years. Jonathan was dating Haley for the same time." Kim says, showing her the few photos Agent Warner had of Hayes with Haley before she went into the Witness Protection Program.

"He loves me, and Elliot. We're his family." Ellie pleads, her voice desperate for her words to ring true.

"Ellie, I know what it's like to want to believe the best in a person. He's the father of your child, and you want to believe that he loves you and your son, but he doesn't. He doesn't care about you." Erin pauses, remembering her own mother.

"The only thing that's keeping you alive right now is that you're the mother of his child, and even that's not a guarantee. Haley was in the same position as you are." Erin says, pushing the photo of Emma and Haley towards Ellie,

"He's done this before, and he'll do it again. And before you know it, you'll end up just like Haley did."

"But we can protect you, and Elliot." Kim says.

Ellie shakes her head "You can't guarantee that. He's got connections everywhere; I'd never be safe."

"You have two options here Ellie; try your luck with Hayes and wait until we arrest him, and you. Your son will be put into the foster system, and by the time you see him again he won't need his mother anymore. Or you can tell us what Hayes is up to, and we can put you down as a confidential information, and you and Elliot can start your lives over without having to worry about Hayes and his crew ever again."

Ellie stares at the photo of Haley and Emma, her fingers brushing over the little girl.

"They've both got his eyes." She says softly, referring to Emma-Grace and Elliot"...You promise you'll keep us safe?"

"You have my word." Erin says "We're going to take him down, and his crew. He's not going to be out of jail for years to come."

Ellie nods her head, taking a deep breath before looking back up at Erin and Kim "he's doing his business out of a club in South Chicago. He wants to expand his drug deals into Chicago, and he's been meeting with some guys that run their business through part of the shipping docks. He's supposed to be meeting to finalise the deal with them tomorrow night at the club, I'm supposed to be working the night shift there to help him with customers." Ellie says defeated.

"Thank you, I know it doesn't seem like it but you're doing the right thing." Erin says reassuringly.

Ellie looks up at Erin as they walk out "I hope so."

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Jay says pulling on his t-shirt.

Erin eyes her boyfriend, glancing at his abs before his shirt conceals them "Well, now I really wish you weren't going out."

Jay chuckles as he grabs his wallet from the nightstand "I promised Tony we'd hang out with the guys, I think he need a boys night out."

Erin smirks, pulling the blanket off so she was laying in just his t-shirt and her panties "Are you sure you don't want to stay at home?"

"Don't tempt me." Jay whispers, leaning down to peck her lips "Call me if you have any problems, okay?"

"We'll be fine, the kids are already asleep, I just have to make sure they don't get up." Erin chuckles softly "Have fun with your boys, then come have fun with me."

Jay groans leaning his head on her shoulder "You don't play fair."

"I never claimed to babe." Erin said kissing him again "Go, before you're late."

"I love you." Jay says as he heads out of their bedroom.

"I love you too." Erin calls out, the front door closing a few moments later.

Erin lays back in bed, smiling to herself. She had never felt so blissful before. Despite the circumstances at work, she and Jay had never been stronger. She felt grateful for her family, her little boy who was the light of her life, her wonderful, supportive, loving boyfriend; the father of her child, her partner, the love of her life.

The ringtone of her phone distracted her, reaching over to see Olivia calling again.

"Hey Liv, sorry I meant to call you, it's just been a hectic day." Erin says.

"Sorry Erin, I would've called if it wasn't important." Olivia replies "I need to talk to you."

"... Is everything okay?" Erin asks worriedly.

"It's Yates. He's trying to cut a deal to shorten his sentence."

Erin feels her heart drop "What?"

"The DA wants to know how many women he's killed, they need his help identifying some of the women that we couldn't. They're willing to cut his sentence by up to 10 years."

"They can't do that!" Erin exclaims, tears building in her eyes "He can't just get away with what he's done to all those women, what he did to Nadia."

"Erin, I'm doing what I can. I should be able to persuade them from not cutting it down so much, but I can't stop the deal from happening. He wants to talk to Rollins, I wanted to know if you would consider coming too. I thought … It might be a chance for you to get some closure."

"Uh, I don't know Olivia."

"You don't have to give me an answer right away Erin, Rollins isn't going to see him until Monday."

"Monday night we have a UC op. I'll have to check in with Hank." Erin says, still in shock from Olivia's news.

"That's alright. Take the night to think about it, and let me know in the morning."

"Alright, Thanks." Erin says quietly.

"I'm sorry if I upset you Erin, I just thought you should know."

"I know, thank you Liv. I'll call you in the morning." Erin says before hanging up.

She lays back down in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. She felt the tears start to fall and her vision blurred. She couldn't believe this was happening, she thought she had put the trauma with Yates behind them. It felt like when Nadia had died, like the world was beginning to close in again.

She really wished Jay was here.

A/N: I know this ending isn't the best, but I'm going to try and post this week before I leave for Fiji. I hope you guys are all still reading, I promise not to leave this story for so long again!

I'll be putting Jay's night out with the boys in next chapter, and the rest of Haley and Emma Grace's story as well.

Please drop a review and let me know what you thought!

Maddie :)