They can't even look one another in the eyes.
He had them for several hours before the rest of the squad figured out where they were being held. Munch came through the door first and caught two bullets. One lodged in his upper thigh, the other in his shoulder.
She's sure he's recovering somewhere in the hospital they're in. To her great relief Cragen told her he'd be okay when he'd stopped by to check on her.
Fin was the one that got the sadistic son of a bitch. He kept firing until he was sure Robert Knight was down. It's hard to kill evil sometimes and like one of those knife wielding lunatics in horror movies, the bastard just kept coming at them.
The scene was an absolute nightmare. The physical abuse she could take. But the mental and emotional torture she could've certainly done without.
8 hours ago…
The heat of the day is visible in waves emanating from the hood of the car as they drive. They ride with the windows down, bringing in warm but refreshing air to quell the stagnancy of a long trip upstate. A check with the IRS revealed that Knight paid taxes on a farmhouse he inherited three years prior.
Elliot drives while Olivia sits in the passenger seat trying to get familiarized with the psychological profile that Huang put together 72 hours ago before they finally identified the man. Since then, they've slept in shifts, have barely eaten and have been at one another's throats. Cragen separated everyone giving them assignments that would take them out of the precinct and off of each other's nerves.
They arrive at their destination just before sundown, tires kicking up dust and rocks as they meander on the dirt road up to the house.
Elliot immediately spots the beat up blue Volvo wagon the suspect was last seen driving. Olivia having spotted it as well immediately gets out her cell phone. With one bar left, she hopes the call will go through.
"Looks like that long shot paid off Captain the Volvo's here," she tells him, leaning towards the open window hoping her call doesn't get dropped.
"Good I'll -all the -ate troo-s in t- back y- up," he responds undiscernibly.
"Wait – what, you're breaking up," she tries to tell him.
"I said-
She lets out a frustrated sigh before turning to Elliot.
"I think he said to wait for the troopers before going in, but he cut out."
"What do you wanna' do," he asks, studying the house before them.
"It's been three days. I want to get this guy, go home, shower and sleep until next year but Cragen said to wait."
"You don't know that. He broke up," he tells her with a smirk on his face. "Do you really want to sit glued to these hot assed vinyl seats waiting on back up for another hour?"
"Hell no," she responds, reaching for the door handle.
They cautiously approach the front door with guns drawn. Elliot runs around to the back while Olivia knocks on the front.
"Robert Allen Knight this is the NYPD, we have a warrant, open the door," she yells, from the porch.
Elliot hears their suspect scrambling out the back as he's approaching and grabs his radio giving chase.
"Liv he's making a run for it out the back door," he yells into the radio.
Olivia arrives behind the house to see Elliot chasing Knight. She's about 20 seconds behind him watching as the two men run through an expanse of trees behind the farmhouse.
After nearly tripping and falling several times along with getting hit in the face with various limbs and brush, she catches up with Elliot. They enter a clearing where they find another house.
Both Elliot and Olivia are unable to close in on Knight and he disappears through the front door of the gray two story clapboard structure.
They end up out of breath together on the rickety front porch stopping to listen for movement.
Elliot takes point, kicking in the front door with Olivia right behind him. At first glance it seems that Knight has simply disappeared into the walls.
Olivia gestures upstairs, silently letting Elliot know that she'll check there while he combs the lower floor.
Once upstairs she sweeps the two bedrooms, the closets and bathroom. Nothing and no one jumps out and she doesn't hear any movement.
Meanwhile Elliot enters the kitchen checking for their suspect there. He sees movement out of his peripheral vision a bit too late as a two by four meets the back of his skull with a dull cracking sound knocking him out.
Knight retrieves Elliot's radio, cell phone and weapon before positioning himself beneath the staircase where he can't be seen as Olivia descends. As she comes down he waits until she's on a lower step before reaching through and pulling on her leg causing her to tumble the rest of the way.
She yells out as she stumbles forward throwing her arms out to break her fall. Her gun scatters away from her, landing a few feet away.
After she gets her bearings she finds Knight standing over her. His mouth turns up into a sadistic smile before he delivers a blow with his fist knocking her out completely.
When they wake up twenty minutes later he's finishing the final touches on Olivia's knots. He has dragged them to the basement and tied them to two poles with heavy gauged rope facing one another.
"I have to say that this visit was unexpected," he says standing between them. "But a welcomed surprise."
"The state troopers aren't that far away Knight," begins Elliot. "Why don't you just save us all the time and trouble and turn yourself in."
"Well Detective Stabler," answers Knight. "This place isn't exactly easy to find and I was not trained to surrender."
Olivia knows this from reading Huang's profile of the serial killer. Robert Allen Knight formerly Sergeant Knight is cunning, physically strong and trained by the military not only to be an efficient killer but not to be caught. At 6'4", 240lbs it won't be easy to take him without force. He'd sooner choose going out in true 'death by cop' fashion with a hail of bullets.
"Once we don't check in they'll come looking for us andyou too," reasons Olivia. "How exactly do you plan on getting out of this," she asks, trying to surreptitiously struggle against her bonds.
"First of all you can stop trying to undo those ropes," he says surprising her by crouching down in front of her. "You'll just end up burning your wrists in the process," he adds smiling as he returns to a standing position. "Secondly, I recognize the futility of trying to so I'm not going to run."
Elliot immediately tenses up. He's a veteran himself. He knows that it means Knight we'll try to shoot his way out no matter the odds. The worry in his eyes is instant as he tries to divert them from Olivia so she won't see but of course, she has already.
Knight produces a pair of leather gloves from the black cargo pants he's wearing and puts them on. In fact he's dressed in the dark color from head to toe. From the combat boots he's wearing to the bandana on his head, everything's black. With his bowie knife at one side and his firearm on the other, he looks as if he's about to go on some covert mission.
"Then what's the plan here," Olivia asks. "You're a decorated Iraqi veteran," she adds trying to appeal to his ego. "How's it going to look to your family or fellow soldiers to commit suicide by cop?"
"After what I did to those three women," he confesses. "I really don't think it'll matter so stop trying to get in my head detective," he tells her. "I've had better qualified people try and it didn't work out for them either," he advises her. "Now," he tells her moving towards Elliot again. "Let the games begin."