Fugitive

Chapter 1

The flight from New York to Chicago took about one hour and forty-nine minutes. During the journey, Mia found herself feeling paranoid, as if everything would just come at her, wrap around her neck and choke her to death. Nothing in her life made sense anymore. Well, nothing made sense to her ever since her mother died years ago. The only person she could ever count on to help her, to protect her, to support her...was her brother. And she needed to find him fast.

**

"Jay!" Mia hugged her older brother tightly, burying her face into his shoulder.

"I'm really happy you're back, Mia," Jay confessed.

"Well, Chicago's home, I was going to come back at some point."

Jay chuckled, wrapping his strong arm around Mia's slim shoulders, before grabbing her bag with his free hand. He raised an eyebrow at the bag. "That's it? No other bags?"

Mia smiled sheepishly. "Uh yeah, it was a last minute decision to come back."

"Mia?" Jay asked, his voice lowering in pitch. He was concerned. As a Chicago cop, in the Intelligence Unit, he had been taught to watch body language and any sign of hesitation or nervousness on the criminal's part, including the eyes. He hadn't missed the way his younger sister's body had stiffened and how her eyes had immediately averted from his.

"Jay, it's nothing," Mia lied. "I just felt homesick."

Jay decided to let it go for now. "Alright," he conceded, hugging Mia again. "Let's get home."

Mia raised an eyebrow. "You mean, home with your girlfriend, right?"

Jay laughed as the two Halsteads walked to his car. "Yeah, I live with her."

"I'm so proud of you, Jay," Mia smiled warmly. "You've come so far. Don't let what happened screw what you have, because even though I haven't met her yet, I know she's special. If my big brother is dating and living with his current girlfriend, she must really be a keeper."

"Trust me, you'll love her and she'll love you."

Mia nodded as she jumped into the passenger seat of Jay's car. He placed her bag in the trunk of his SUV before he hopped into the driver's seat and gunned the engine. There was a comfortable silence, one Mia would have loved to stay in, if it meant forgetting about everything else. But she hadn't seen her brother in ages and she wanted to catch up with him.

"So Intelligence huh?" Mia grinned. "How'd you manage that, brother?"

Jay shook his head, his eyes trained on the road ahead. "Try getting shot in the shoulder," he replied.

Mia's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "It was an undercover op in a gang unit. My only option was to attack before they burned the bar down."

"Wow. Well, as much as I wish I had known, I'm just glad you aren't dead," Mia commented, looking out the window.

**

Forty minutes later, Mia and Jay reached Erin's and Jay's apartment. Still holding his sister's bag, Jay grabbed the apartment keys from the back pocket of his jeans. He unlocked the front door and ushered Mia in ahead of him. Mia stepped into the well-furnished and neat little apartment, and her eyes landed on a beautiful, slim woman.

"Mia, that's my girlfriend and partner from work, Erin Lindsay," Jay introduced. "Erin, this is my little sister, Mia."

Erin stepped forward, a friendly smile on her face. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mia," she remarked, every word filled with pure honesty. She shook Mia's hand.