The next day, at the District, Hank talked to Michelle in the interrogation room about what happened with Shane the night before. After the conversation ended, she had asked him to bring her a custody form for her to fill out. When she was done, she requested to give it to Jay Halstead.
Jay walked out of the break room with two cups of coffee. One for him and one for Hailey.
"Thanks." she said to him.
"No problem. It's our everyday jet fuel." Jay said as he sat back in his desk chair and put his feet up on his desk.
Hank walked back to the Intelligence Unit with an envelope in his hands.
"Halstead? Can I see you in my office?" he asked.
"Sure." Jay said, then stood up from his desk.
"Shut the door, please." Hank said as he sat down behind his desk.
"Yes, sir." Jay said, then shut the door behind him.
"I just got done talking to Michelle." Hank said, starting a conversation.
"Is she okay?" Jay asked.
"Yeah. She was able to tell me everything that happened with her and Shane." Hank said.
"Good thing there's a cell with his name on it." Jay said.
"There's one more thing. She also filled this out and requested to give it to you." Hank said, then slid the envelope across his desk to Jay.
Jay took it into his hands and opened it. He pulled out the form and read it to himself. He had a shocked expression on his face after he was done reading it.
"Michelle signed away her parental rights?" Jay questioned.
"Yeah, that's not all. She signed over guardianship to you. Michelle feels that her daughter can use a male role model like you in her life." Hank said.
"Sarge, the last thing I need right now is to take care of someone else. I don't know how to take care of a kid." Jay said.
"First, she's 17 years old, so not a kid per say. Second, Michelle didn't want her daughter being placed in the system so she put her all trust in you. You can't turn your back on them now." Hank explained.
Jay knew that was all it took to convince himself that he has to do this to help someone else.
"All right. I'll do it." he said.
"Excellent." Hank said as he stood up from his desk.
"I'll get in touch with her friend's parents to see if they bring her to the station." Jay said when he stood up from the seat.
"It's already been done. Take the rest of the day off so that you can get to know her and help her settle in." Hank said as he opened his office door to show Jay out.
"What? Take the day off? Come on, you know that's not me." Jay questioned.
"You know damn well that you don't disobey a direct order from me. Don't worry, we'll get touch with you if anything comes up." Hank said.
Jay sighs and walks back to his desk. He gathers his things to take back home and waits. He stares at the guardianship form, thinking about the whole abuse situation. Everyone in the Intelligence Unit absolutely hates the cases that involve children.
An hour had passed and Hank walks out of his office, which gets Jay's attention.
"Come on, the girl's here." he said as he walks across the room.
Jay immediately grabs his things from his desk and follows his Sergeant down to the lobby. They walk down the steps to find a teenage girl sitting on the bench with a backpack, a large duffel bag, and a small suitcase.
"Kiera Ralston?" Hank said to get her attention.
"Yes?" the girl responded.
"I'm sure you remember Detective Jay Halstead. He'll be your temporary guardian for the time being until the abuse case gets resolved. I'll leave you both to it." Hank said, then pats Jay's shoulder and went back up the steps.
It was just Jay and Kiera in the lobby. He clears his throat.
"It's, uh, nice to see you again, Kiera." he said, offering his right hand for her to shake.
Surprisingly, she didn't hesitate to shake his hand. Usually, abuse survivors are reluctant to meet new people because they're unsure as to whether or not they can trust them.
"Nice to see you too, Detective." Kiera said in a cordial voice.
"Please, call me Jay." he said.
"Sorry, that's just me being respectful." Kiera said, placing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"All right. Well, I'm done for the day, so let's head home." Jay said.
"Okay." Kiera said, standing up from the bench and grabbing her suitcase.
"Let me take that for you." Jay offered, then grabbed the duffel bag.
"Good luck, Jay. You're gonna need it." Trudy said to him before they walked out the door.
Jay just smirked in annoyance. The two of them walked out to the parking lot. Jay pulls out his keys to unlock his truck. He opens the back door to put Kiera's bags in the floorboard.
"Thanks." Kiera says, then puts her backpack beside her suitcase.
The two of them get in the front seats of his truck. Jay starts it up and pulls out of the parking lot. He noticed that Kiera was fidgeting with her hands.
"Umm, do you want to listen to music?" Jay asked.
"Sure." she said.
"Nice, I can't stand awkward silence during car rides." Jay said.
He stopped at a red light and turned on the radio. One song sounded like it was coming to an end, then another song started to play. It got Kiera's attention and she turned up the volume.
"You know this song?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, it's one of my favorites." she answered.
Jay saw the band name and sing title on the radio screen. It was 'Fix My Eyes' by for KING & COUNTRY.
The light turned green when the song got to the chorus. Jay noticed that Kiera was smiling as she sang the lyrics. It made him laugh to see her enjoying a moment of happiness.
'Maybe this will turn out all right.' Jay thought.
After about ten minutes of driving, Jay pulls into a parking garage next to an apartment building. He parked in his police parking space on the first level, then the two of them get out of the truck. Jay took Kiera's things out of the backseat and he guides her out the parking garage. They walked over to the apartment complex, then he guides Kiera to the elevator.
He pressed the 5 button and they get off on the 5th floor. They walk down to his apartment that's on the right side of the hallway. It's apartment F. Jay pulls out his key and unlocked the door to reveal his apartment.
"Here we are. It's not much, but it's enough. What do you think?" he said.
"Not much? This is awesome!" Kiera said.
"Let me show to you to the guest bedroom." Jay said, then walked down the hallway and opened the door.
Kiera walks into the room and looks around. She drops her things and collapses onto the soft bed. Jay smiled as he leaned against the door frame.
"Why don't you get unpacked and I'll figure out something for lunch?" Jay suggested, then he left the girl.
Jay then goes to his room to change his clothes. He selected a brown T-shirt, along with a yellow and blue plaid shirt. He placed his police badge and handgun holster in the safe that's under his nightstand by his bed.
After that, Jay rummages through the junk drawer in the kitchen to find some restaurant menus. He took out the menu of a pizza place and looked through it at the island. Then, Kiera walked out.
"Hey." she said.
"Hey. How do you feel about pizza?" Jay asked.
"I'm always down for pizza." Kiera said.
"Uhh, do you like anything in particular?" Jay asked.
"I just like pepperoni and cheese." Kiera requested.
"You got it! I'll call it in, then we'll go pick it up." Jay said, then pulled out his phone to place their order.
Kiera went back to the guest bedroom to finish unpacking her stuff and finding the proper places to put everything. Lastly, she pulled a blue folder out of her backpack and stared at it.
Then, there was a clap of thunder. It was so loud that it made Kiera jump. She ran out of the guest room to find Jay.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"Yeah. Do you hear that thunder?" Kiera asked.
"Yeah. Whatcha got there?" Jay asked when he noticed the blue folder in her hands.
"Oh, yeah. I was told to give this to you. It has all of my information." Kiera said.
Jay took the blue folder from her and opened it. It had her birth certificate, passport, social security card, insurance forms, and medical records.
"Thanks, Kiera. This'll help. Looks like we better get going so we can beat the rain." Jay said, then he walked towards the door.
Kiera followed him out of the apartment and back out to the parking garage. Jay drove them to the pizza place and Kiera went inside to get their order. Jay kept an eye on the weather. A few minutes later, Kiera walked out with a pizza box and two drink cups. Jay noticed that she was struggling to balance it all, so he got out of the truck to help.
"Here. Let me take those for you." he said as he grabbed the drink cups off the top of the pizza box.
They both got in the truck and drove back to the apartment complex. They arrived just in time because the rain started to come down hard.
"We timed that right." Kiera said, looking out the window.
Jay put the pizza box on the island and went to the cabinets to pull out two plates. Kiera sat down on one of the stools at the island.
"I don't know which soda is which." she said.
"I got us both the same." Jay answered.
"Oh okay." Kiera said.
Jay pulled out two slices of pizza and put them on the plates.
"Lunch is served, my lady." he said as he gave her the plate.
"Why thank you." Kiera said.
"How about we watch a movie?" Jay suggested as he grabbed his plate and drink cup.
"Sure." Kiera said.
She grabbed her plate and drink, then sat down on the couch next to Jay. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and handed it to Kiera.
"Your pick." he said.
She grabbed the remote from him and turned on the TV. She went to the search bar to look up a movie. She typed in "Priceless" and clicked play.
"I've never seen this movie before. What's it about?" Jay asked, then took a bite of his pizza.
"You know the song we listened to when we left the police station?" Kiera asked.
"Yeah?" Jay said.
"The band made this movie and one of the singers actually plays the main character. It's about a widowed father named James, who loses custody of his young daughter after not being able to hold down a steady job. Desperate for money, James agrees to drive a truck across the country with no questions asked. During the journey, he discovers that he's actually transporting two sisters to a human trafficking ring." Kiera explains.
"Man, that's intense." Jay says.
"Yeah, but it's a powerful story." Kiera says.
Then, the movie starts. After all his years on the police force, Jay had never seen a story unfold like it did in the movie. It's stories like that, that can make a person see the magnitude of the crime.
Kiera finishes her pizza, then moves closer to Jay. She ends up leaning on his left side. He notices and places his left arm around her for comfort. The movie was at the part where James was walking through the streets looking for Antonia, while a somber version of the song, 'Priceless' was playing in the background.
Just then, Jay looks down to see Kiera pulling a necklace out of her shirt. It had a coin pendant and a shield charm on it.
"What's that?" he asked.
"The band also makes these necklaces to show a person's true worth. My best friend, Cheyanne gave it to me before she moved away after we graduated from middle school." Kiera explained.
"Wow." Jay softly said.
Just as the movie was ending, Jay noticed that Kiera had fallen asleep on the couch. He turned the TV off and carefully got off the couch. He grabbed a blanket to put it over Kiera as she slept, then put the dishes away.
Jay grabbed the blue folder from the island and walked over to his desk in the other corner of the living room. He looked through all the papers to see if there's anything he needs to be aware of while she's in his care.
~~~~~~~~~~
About two hours later, Kiera woke up from her nap and the rain finally let up. They spent the rest of the day talking about random things and playing video games.
Later that night, Jay gives Kiera a self-defense keychain that has pepper spray, a handheld alarm, a key that's actually a discrete pocket knife, and a kuboton. After that, the two of them call it a night.
Right before Kiera went to bed, she suddenly remembered something. She walked out of the guest room and knocked on Jay's bedroom door.
"Come in." he said from the other side of the door.
She opened it and walked into his room.
"Kiera, what's up?" Jay asked as he put his phone on charge.
"I just wanted to tell you something." she said.
"What is it?" he asked, then he pat his bed to make her come sit next to him.
Kiera sat down and stared at him for a few seconds. The next thing he knew, she pulled him into a hug. Jay was caught off guard, but he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.
"Thank you for everything." she softly into his shoulder.
After a few seconds, she let go from the hug. Jay could see it in her eyes of how grateful this girl was to him, but he also saw how exhausted she was.
"Come on, go get some rest. You've had a long day." Jay said.
"Good night." Kiera said.
"I forgot to tell you something. If you need anything in the middle of the night, you just wake me up." Jay said.
"Thanks. I'll keep that mind." Kiera said, then walked out of Jay's bedroom and back into hers.
She got in bed and was relieved that she was finally going to get some shuteye after many sleepless nights of being in fear.