TIES THAT BIND, Jay Halstead

002.

And then there was Alba. She stood by the window, her back to the room, her posture rigid. She hadn’t moved since Jay had walked in, as if she were lost in thought, but Jay could feel her presence. It was a weight, a force. He had a sense that if he made one wrong move, one misstep, she’d cut him down without a second thought. The others might be warm, but Alba was cold—like a glacier that didn’t care who it crushed in its path.

Finally, Alba turned, her eyes locking with his. Her gaze was sharp, like a blade. “You’re late,” she said, her voice low and icy.

Jay straightened, meeting her gaze without flinching. “I was getting the lay of the land,” he replied, trying to keep his tone steady. “But I’m here now.”

Alba’s lips curled into a slight, almost imperceptible smirk. “Good. We don’t have time for pleasantries. We’ve got a case to work on.”

She didn’t wait for a response, immediately turning to the table where the case files were spread out. The rest of the team followed her lead, gathering around the table. Jay joined them, taking a seat across from her. The tension in the room was palpable, like a storm ready to break. Jay couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking into a minefield, and Alba was the one holding the detonator.

The case they were discussing was a brutal one—murders that at first seemed unrelated, but as they dug deeper, it became clear that there was something darker tying them together. Jay listened carefully as the team threw out theories, each one more twisted than the last. But it was Alba who led the conversation, her voice cold and steady as she guided them through the evidence.

She didn’t ask for opinions. She didn’t make small talk. Every word she spoke was deliberate, calculated. She didn’t waste time with pleasantries or unnecessary details. She simply got to the point, and it was clear to everyone in the room that she was the one calling the shots.

Jay watched her closely, trying to get a sense of who she was beneath the cold exterior. She was a woman who didn’t just follow the rules—she bent them, broke them, and made her own.

“Jay,” she said suddenly, her voice cutting through the conversation like a knife. “You’ve worked in Intelligence. Tell us what you think.”

Jay was caught off guard. He had expected her to continue leading the discussion, not turn the spotlight on him. But he wasn’t about to back down. He leaned forward, his eyes scanning the case file in front of him. He had seen patterns like this before, patterns that didn’t make sense at first but became clear once you connected the dots.

“Whoever’s behind this is meticulous,” he said, his voice steady. “They’re not sloppy. They’re picking their victims carefully, and they’re leaving just enough evidence to make it look like a random killing spree. But there’s a pattern. I think they’re sending a message.”

Alba’s eyes narrowed, and for a brief moment, Jay thought he had said something wrong. But then she nodded, her lips curling into a small smile. “Good. Keep that in mind as we move forward. We’ll need all of you to think outside the box.”

The rest of the team fell into a tense silence as they continued discussing the case, but Jay couldn’t shake the feeling that Alba was watching him, evaluating him with every word he spoke. She wasn’t just testing his knowledge; she was testing his resolve.

Jay couldn’t help but feel the difference. Back in Chicago, he’d worked with detectives who played by the book, but here, there was no book. Alba was the law, and the rest of them were just trying to keep up.