Starting Over (A Linstead Story)

Chapter 2

When Jay walked back into Intelligence, Voight was standing near the whiteboard at the far end of the bullpen, ready to deliver a briefing. He showed no impatience at having to wait for Jay, but a curious look did appear on his face when Jay walked towards him rather than sitting down at his desk.

"Need to talk to you, sarge," Jay said.

"I'm about to start a briefing."

"I need to talk to you," Jay repeated before walking into Voight's office. He noticed Erin looking at him from her desk, wondering what was up. Her explanation would have to wait.

Voight knew Jay wouldn't behave the way he had without a good reason, so he followed him into the office and closed the door. "What's going on?" he asked on his way around the desk.

Jay had already sat down in front of it. He felt stressed and on edge, unable to even sit comfortably, so badly had the shocking news rocked him.

"I, uh... just found out I have a sister. Half sister. She turned up downstairs."

Hank shook his head in a sign of disbelief. "A half sister? Your dad had a kid with another woman?"

"So she said. I can't believe it. Well, I can believe it because I do believe what she said. At least, I'm convinced she believes it. Claimed her mom told her the truth about who her dad was on her death bed, and about Will and I. She went to Med to find Will, which obviously didn't work out, so she came here and got me."

"Damn," Hank breathed. "That is a big shock for you. What did you say to her? What's her name anyway?"

"Jess. Jessica Sutton," Jay said. And there was something else that had just started bothering him. "Sarge, I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."

"Oh? Where?"

"I don't know. Don't have a specific memory to associate with the feeling. There's just something telling me I've seen her before."

"I don't know the name," Hank said thoughtfully. "You don't think you've arrested her at some point, do you? What did she tell you about herself?"

"No, that's not it," Jay said, feeling confident of that at least. "I didn't find out anything about her really. To be honest? I kind of went off at her. Pretty much kicked her out of the station."

Hank took a couple of seconds to decide what to say next. "Did she deserve that?"

"No," Jay admitted. "I was reeling, and I shot the messenger."

Hank's expression showed that he approved of Jay recognising he had overstepped the mark. "Whatever wrongs her mom and your dad may have committed, it's not Jess's fault. If she's only just found out, she's likely as shocked by the whole thing as you are."

"Said she found out three weeks ago. I got her number, sarge. She left a piece of paper with it on."

"Take some time to think about what's happened. Then, if you think it's the right to do, give her a call and see if you can start over." It was clear that Hank thought it was the right thing to do.

Jay sighed. "There's a lot of starting over going on lately. I'll think about it all. Thanks, sarge."

"After the briefing, I'm sending you and Erin out to do some surveillance. You might use the opportunity talk to her about it."

Jay nodded. Thanking the man again wasn't necessary, so they both got up and went back out to the bullpen, where the briefing got underway.

Erin sat opposite Jay, their two desks pushed together so that they sat facing each other. She glanced at him with concern while trying not to be too obvious about being distracted from the briefing.