During a text conversation late the previous night, Jay and Erin had arranged to meet up for breakfast before going into work.
Jay had arrived first, and settled himself into a booth at the diner he had chosen for what he supposed was a date of sorts. He hoped Erin would be in a good mood when she arrived, but imagined it was more likely that she wouldn't be, given that she was going to be up before Superintendent Kelton over the Martinez mess. He didn't envy that appointment at all.
Only a couple of minutes after he sat down, Erin walked in. She was wearing her uniform, which he couldn't help finding seriously attractive. It was the first time he had seen her actually wear the rank of sergeant, and that made him proud of her. She smiled as she walked over, which was a good start.
"Hey. Good morning," he said, standing to greet her.
"Morning. How are you?" She kissed him on the lips.
"I'm good. You look great in uniform, I must say."
"Thanks. Shame I only have to wear it when I'm about to get my ass kicked all over Kelton's office."
"It won't be that bad, Er."
"You sound more confident than I am," she grumbled, taking a seat in the booth.
"How's Hank?" he asked as he sat opposite her, deciding a subject change might be a good idea.
It brought a smile to her face right away. "He's good. He's got himself some consulting work that he can do from home, working at his own pace. He was very pleased about it."
"That's great," Jay said, smiling. He owed a lot to Hank Voight, and genuinely wished him nothing but the best. The way his career had been stolen from him by his stroke was truly awful. The man had deserved to reach retirement age and leave Intelligence with dignity. But life often wasn't fair, unfortunately.
"He asked about the undercover job, and I told him all about it."
"Hopefully not all about it. A few things happened at the safe house that I wouldn't be keen on him knowing."
"Jay!" Erin cried, laughing. It was the exact reaction he had hoped for in his attempt to lighten the mood.
A waitress chose that moment to come over for their order, intruding before he could make a joke about a broken bed. Jay had the advantage of knowing what he wanted to order, having eaten at the diner before. Erin had to quickly pick up a menu. Jay began by ordering coffee for them both.
"Anything to eat?" the waitress asked.
"Yeah. I'll get the All-American breakfast, please," Jay said.
"And I'll get a ham and cheese omelette," Erin added.
"Coming up," the waitress said cheerfully, leaving them to it.
"So what did Hank have to say about the operation, and the mess it turned into?"
Erin sighed. "He said sometimes things go sideways no matter what you do. Other times they go sideways because someone screws up. These things happen. Part of being a sergeant is knowing how to deal with all eventualities when they happen."
"You told him about Purrazzo's ill-judged usage of her initiative?"
Erin grunted a laugh. "Interesting way you put that. Yes, I told him about it. And I told him I could have just as easily fired her when I decided not to."
"What made you go with keeping her?" It was an answer he very much wanted. He was glad his partner and understudy was staying, but he wasn't the one running the unit. He wanted to understand how Erin's mind worked when she was making decisions as a sergeant.
"Partially the gutsy way she stood up and took responsibility in front of the whole team. I couldn't help admiring that. That's the kind of backbone I need in my unit. But the biggest reasons? I believe in her. And I see myself in her, to an extent anyway."
Jay liked the openness of the conversation. They were now at the point where they could talk about work like any other couple when they were on personal time, ignoring as much as possible the fact that they worked together, with Erin as his boss.
"How do you see yourself in her?" he asked.
"Hank saw a lot of potential in me when I was in uniform, and not just because of our personal relationship. He saw someone who could make an excellent detective. He saw raw talent, and he decided to take it upon himself to shape that talent. That's how I see Purrazzo. Yes, she's green in some respects, maybe too many right now for a unit like Intelligence to be honest. But I didn't take her on for right now. I took her on for years to come, and unless she pulls another major screw up like yesterday's, I think she'll prove to be a great asset to the team."
"Plus women are under represented in policing."
"Plus women are under represented in policing," Erin agreed. "I very much want to keep Purrazzo on the team, but as her mentor you need to know that I'll have to let her go if she does make a screw up like that again. Intelligence cannot carry passengers, and I can't risk my people being killed due to recklessness."
"I understand that. She understands that. We spoke about it last night at Molly's. There's no doubt she's determined not to mess up her last chance."
The waitress returned to the table with a large tray containing their food and drinks. She put it on the table, then set the items in front of them. "Enjoy," she said when she was done.
"Thank you," Jay said.
Erin used the interruption to change the subject. "How was your night at Adam and Kim's?"
"Good, thanks. Chilled. It was nice to catch up with them. They were both happy that the three of you got to talking at Molly's. I think they miss your friendship. Actually, scratch that. I know they miss your friendship."
Erin's eyes remained on her breakfast for a moment while she ate. "I miss their friendship too," she said quietly. "I wonder if they'll feel the same way after today. I'm going to have to have everyone in my office individually over this Martinez disaster after I get back from my roasting from Kelton."
"They won't hold it against you outside of work, Er. That separation is something we're all getting used to now."
"Yeah, I suppose we are," Erin said. Her tone hinted that as yet, she wasn't quite convinced.
Halstead got to the 21st before Lindsay after their breakfast date. When he walked into Intelligence, he found everyone else at their desks. They all knew today wasn't a day to show up after the boss. The room was quiet too, with everyone working on their reports from the previous day's operation. The usually fairly jovial morning atmosphere was nowhere to be found. He assumed Zelina Vega was staying out of the line of fire in her office, although he couldn't see in there from his end of the main room.
"Morning," he said to the group.
Greetings came back his way, but there was no banter along with them. Erin would probably be glad when she walked in, he imagined. Laughing and joking wouldn't have impressed her at all, not today.
"Haven't been looking forward to today," Purrazzo said to him quietly after he sat down.
"Get through it. Take whatever Sergeant Lindsay has to say to you, and move on. I know you got harsher treatment in the marines, so this will be a breeze by comparison."
"Now you put it that way..." Purrazzo said, managing a smile. Then she quickly wiped the look off her face as Lindsay walked in.
"Morning all," Lindsay said, all business. "I've been summoned to Superintendent Kelton this morning. When I get back, I'll be speaking to you all individually about what happened yesterday. It would be in your interest to have your reports completed by then. Before I leave, I'll be reading your reports on the murder you solved. Any questions?"
Silence.
"Good. Short of an RPG attack on the station, I don't want to be disturbed for the next half hour."
With that, Lindsay went into her office and closed the door.
Although he had been undercover, Halstead wasn't exempt from the report writing session. He decided he had better get to work.
Just under half an hour later, Lindsay opened her door. "Halstead, Purrazzo, come in, please."
As they both got up, Purrazzo gave Halstead the kind of look that said, "What did I do now?"
Halstead could sympathise. He had been there himself after a big screw up. It put you on edge for a while, waiting for some unforeseen train to come hurtling down the tracks and finish you off.
"Remember what I told you earlier," he said to her under his breath as they walked around their desks. He then followed her into Lindsay's office and closed the door.
"Sit down," Lindsay said, now sitting behind her desk, with a report in her hand.
Halstead sat, wondering if Purrazzo's report wasn't up to standard. As her mentor for the previous case, Ruzek shouldn't have allowed that to be the case.
"This your report on the previous case, Purrazzo," Lindsay said.
"Is it okay, Sergeant? I mean, ma'am."
"The report is fine. What I want to talk to you about is the detail, namely your performance on the case. This was excellent work, Purrazzo. You should be proud of what you accomplished. A murderer is in custody largely because of the information you got out of the hooker."
"Thank you," Purrazzo said sincerely. After a rough ride the day before, the praise clearly meant a lot to her.
"What I want from now on is this standard of work on every case, and no more of what happened yesterday."
Purrazzo nodded. "Absolutely, ma'am."
"Now, this hooker, Alexa..."
"Bliss. Alexa Bliss," Purrazzo helped out as Lindsay referred back to the report for the name.
Lindsay cracked a smile. "Good name for a hooker. So, this Alexa Bliss, Olinsky thinks she would make a good CI. I agree with him. We're going to take her on, and you're going to be her handler, Purrazzo."
"That sounds great to me. Will Detective Halstead be teaching me what I need to know and what I need to do?"
"He will." Lindsay looked at Halstead. "I assume you have no objection or reason why Purrazzo shouldn't take this on?"
"Absolutely not. I think she'll do a good job running a CI," he said positively. "I'll show her the ropes. When do you want us to start?"
"Now," Lindsay said. "Go over and pay Ms Bliss a visit. Tell her we can pay good money for information, and offer protection if needed."
"She'll want to know how much money, assuming she's interested at all," Purrazzo said. "She's a very good looking woman, and I get the impression she charges a lot for her, uh, services. Offering her chump change would likely get us laughed out of the door."
"I recommend we dangle the carrot," Halstead said. "Tell her all payments are subject to the quality of information provided, and conditional on successful arrests, but if she plays her cards right she could make big money. We could mention that top level CIs can make six figures a year."
"A hooker isn't going to make six figures for coughing up drug dealers," Lindsay said almost sardonically.
"I'm not saying she would. I said dangle the carrot. Once she's informing, she'll be on the hook. Hell, she's already informed once, and given us a murderer. She's probably going to start by asking where her money is for that."
"I was thinking that," Purrazzo said.
"Hmmm," Lindsay said thoughtfully, taking a moment to consider it. "Okay, tell her if she agrees to come on-board as a CI, we'll start her off by paying her ten grand for the last case."
"Ten grand," Purrazzo said, contemplating making that kind of money so easily. "Ten of those a year and she would make six figures."
Lindsay gave a single laugh. "Not that it's ever going to happen, but if she gives us ten murders a year we can clear up, she'll be welcome to six figures. Right, off you go. I won't be here when you get back, so I'll get an update from you this afternoon. And Purrazzo, we'll work on your report on yesterday's operation together."
"Yes, Sergeant," Purrazzo said. As ever, she defaulted to military-level respect when discipline was even close to the subject of conversation. The Marines must drill that into people exceptionally hard, Halstead thought.
"Good luck with Kelton," Jay said to Erin before he followed his partner out of the office. It was a small personal moment to end a meeting that had been all business.
A/N: What do you think Alexa Bliss will be like? Will she agree to become a CI?