Jays POV
It was Wednesday night. While Lilly was taking a shower, I rummaged around the backpack to get the phone number. Apparently, Abby had had another phone number for Lilly, which made her only available to her daughter. After all, my sensed one hundred phone calls and messages were ignored by her.
I waited until Lilly went to bed and slept before I chose the new number from Abby.
"Hello." her voice said.
"Hello Abby. Long heard nothing from you." I said calmly.
"Jay... how did you know... Lilly." She stammered.
"Lilly knows nothing about it."
"What do you want? I don't have much time." she said angrily.
"I want to know from you why you leave your daughter" I said.
"My daughter? She is yours too. I had to get rid of my flight" she said.
"Why are you in the Army anyway? You have a child!" I said something louder.
"Maybe because the Army is my life. I've waived 7 years."
"That doesn't give you the right to impose a child on me and then go away!"
"Looks like the super-detective came to his limits." Abby said.
"Don't you understand what you've done? It was called a meeting in the park and not I did send the child by taxi and went off. Do you know what could have happened?" I said.
"If you don't want Lilly, send her to a boarding school." Abby said.
"Yes exactly. I'm sending a 7-year-old to the boarding school!" I ironed.
"What is your problem?" Abby asked.
"My problem is that I had a happy life with a girlfriend a few weeks ago, and from now on I must be playing daddy while you are in Afghanistan." I replied. I love my daughter very much. Never could I leave Lilly in the long run more, but Abby's behavior was not okay.
"I'm sorry Jay. The child also messed up my life." she said.
"Why didn't you tell me right from the beginning that I was supposed to take care of Lilly and you were away for a longer time?" I calmed down again and became quieter.
"I just didn't know how you react. I didn't know if you wanted a child." she said.
"Of course. Lilly is my child and a great little girl. How long do you stay?" I asked.
"Probably a whole year." she replied.
"In less than two weeks it's her birthday." I said softly.
"I know. She loves chocolate cream pie." she said.
„Who doesn't love chocolate pie." I grinned.
"Is Lilly doing well? Did she settled in? "Abby asked gently.
"Yeah, I think so. We spent the weekend at the zoo and waterpark. She's getting more relaxed." I said.
"That's nice to hear, Jay. Take care of our girl. Maybe we can make a videochat for her birthday." Abby said.
"She would be happy about it. Abby. Take care of yourself, too. Lilly needs you."
I finished the phone call and leaned back on the couch. Lilly will live here for a whole year? Definitely, I need a larger apartment. She needed her own room and I returned to a bed, although the sofa bed was okay. Above all, I have to save the relationship with Erin. Yes Lilly exists, but there is no reason why Erin should be angry. I knew nothing about Lilly and it was long before our relationship. I have not cheated to her. Erin would certainly be a good friend for her.
CPDCPDCPD
My alarm clock woke me up early in the morning. I went for a shower, dressed, and made coffee before I wanted to wake up Lilly. This was our everyday routine in the morning now.
I opened the door and approached the bed. Gently I tried to grab Lilly to shake her slightly at the shoulder. But my hand reached into the void. Only a few cushions formed her body under the blanket.
"Damn it" I murmured. I searched the apartment and called for her. Nothing. I woke up Will, who came home late at night.
"Jay what's going on?" He asked sleepily.
"Lilly is gone." I replied worried.
"You sure? Maybe she's in the bathroom or plays hide." Will mumbled.
"Yes. She is gone. She is neither in the bathroom nor under the bed or in the closet. Damn shit. Will. I lost a kid within 12 days." I said horrified.
"Keep calm detective. Can it be that Lilly is with the neighbor?" Will asked.
"I don't know. Jacket, scarf, gloves, hat, shoes and backpack are gone." I replied truthfully.
"Or build a snowman outside." Will thought, looking out into the snowy landscape.
"You're not much help." I said angrily.
I looked for my stuff and asked my neighbor, who had not heard of Lilly either. First, Will and I searched our area and the park - no trace of Lilly. Even on the nearby playground wasn't she. I asked every single person - nothing.
"It makes no sense. Go back to the apartment. Tell me when Lilly shows up. I'm going to the district. From there I have better options to look for her." I said.
"Jay. Everything will be fine." Will said and I nodded. It looks more and more out then, as if Lilly ran away - but why? She was happy, after all?
On the way to the District I stopped here and there looking for my daughter. But without success.
"Wow. Detective-super-bad-humored. The clock change was already" Platt said.
Without comment, I sprinted up the stairs to the Intelligence. I was one and a half hour late and on top of that Lilly had disappeared.
"Halstead. Nice to see you today." Voight said gruffly.
"Lilly. This morning she was not in her bed. Her backpack is also gone." I explained. I hung a picture of both of us on the wall. It was a selfie, which we did together at the weekend. It was the only picture I had of Lilly at all.
"I want every patrolman this city gets a picture of her. In addition, every subway station, bus station, airport and train station should be checked." I added.
"We need a motive. Why is Lilly gone? What is her destination? With whom she could be?" Al mused.
"Ruzek look at all the surveillance records around Halstead's apartment and locate her cell phone. Lindsay and Atwater drive the area again. Al and Burgess inform you if Lilly is perhaps with friends or with other well-known persons. Halstead on a word." Voight said.
I followed Voight in his office and closed the door behind me.
"Did something happen at home?" He asked.
"No. Not that I know."
"Kids don't run away just like that. Had she anger with Will or the Nanny?" Voight asked.
"No. She and Will understand each other very well. I don't know. She would then talk to me." I replied.
"Think about it. Why should Lilly run away?"
"I don't know. There was nothing happening ... that is, I talked to Abby last night." I thought, and I sat down on the chair. I ran my hand through my face before I continued, "It could be that Lilly heard something that wasn't meant for her. I've made Abby's allegations of why she is forcing a child on me, which I ultimately didn't mean."
"That explains a lot." Voight said, "Stay calm Halstead. We are looking for her."
"There are minus five degrees Celsius outside."
"It's more important that we find her as soon as possible."
I nodded and left his office. After several unsuccessful hours, everyone in the bullpen met for the exchange of information.
"What do we know so far?" Voight asked
"No luck with cell phone location. But I've found a video recording of her. At first I thought she had run away in the middle of the night, but the records a street corner from the apartment, showed her at 6.10 and at 6.34. She was at a subway station." Ruzek said.
"She knew exactly when I was taking a shower." I muttered speechless.
"Lilly has a grandmother in Philadelphia. She lives in the retirement home." Al said.
"These are more like 19 hours by train." Atwater said.
"We have scoured the region. No Lilly." Erin said
"Alright. Checks the stops of possible subway routes. The route to Philadelphia is to be monitored. The train crew and bus staff should be informed. Also the police in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania." Voight said.
"Will be done." Erin said and took the phone in her hand.
A felt eternity passed, but there was simply no news. No one camera captured Lilly and we didn't know where to look for her anymore. All areas where a child would go were checked several times by us. Everyone was looking for Lilly. Even the surrounding hospitals were telephoned by Kim.
"That's all? We'll stop for today?" I asked in horror. The clock showed shortly after 11pm.
"What do you think I should do?" Voight asked.
"She can freeze in the cold." I replied, slightly irritated.
"I can't just conjure up the child. She knows where to find a warm place."
"And if she is hurt?" I said.
"Jay. We do EVERYTHING to find your daughter, but exhausted detectives don't help me. Take a rest. Sleep out." Voight said.
CPDCPDCPD
At home I looked at the painted pictures of Lilly. Meanwhile, they embellished my room. I looked at her drawing pad, which lay on the dresser. She painted very well. I flipped through page after page and stopped at a drawing. "Me with Daddy and Uncle Will." I read softly. A slightly sad smile spread out. Daddy, I thought silently. So far she just called me Jay.
I lay down on the other side of my bed. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to check my messages. Instead, I opened the self-image and looked back and forth between the picture and the empty bedside.
"Where are you?" I asked softly. A tear streamed down my cheek. This girl did it. She has penetrated my heart in just a few days. So far it had only been Erin. I could never forgive myself if Lilly never came home again.
At night I didn't sleep very well. I thought about what might happen and how I should tell Abby that Lilly was gone.
CPDCPDCPD
I was the first of us detectives in the office and rechecked all surveillance cameras. Gradually everyone came. Through the windows to Voight's office, I watched as he phoned worried and Al stood beside him. He was terrified. He talked to Al and then they came out to us.
"Her backpack was found. Lincoln Avenue." Voight said in a quiet tone.
"At the Chicago River." Atwater said.
"Yes. The backpack was in the water."
"W-What?" I said in a trembling voice. I watched as almost everyone stood petted. It was bad news - damn bad news. The chance of survival is zero and we all knew that.
"Squad 3 is on the spot with divers." Al informed.
"Halstead. Come on lets go." Voight said.
INFORMATION
minus 5 degrees Celsius = 23 degrees Fahrenheit