The next morning Erin goes back to the Halstead farm with Jay. She goes to see Penny first, but she stops dead in her tracks when she sees 'I found you' painted in red just outside her stall.
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She just stands there staring at the paint as it dries. Her blood runs cold; her skin becomes as white as a sheet, and at some point tears run down her cheeks. The minutes that pass feel like hours, and when she's able to form coherent thoughts, she thinks about how she has to leave. She thinks about how she can't put anyone else through this, Charlie wants her, and she's afraid of what he'll do to get her. She's bad news, no matter where she goes, or how many good people she meets, her past and her demons find her and drag her back down. She can't bring this family down with her, she has to go.
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"So you told mom to ask Nat and I to give her another grandchild?" Will says to his younger brother, with a laugh as they slowly walk to the stables.
"Yeah sorry about that." Jay says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No you're not."
"No, I'm not, she was asking me if I was using protection with Erin, and I tried to avert the topic elsewhere."
"Oh baby brother, are you not ready for that yet?"
"Not really, and don't call me that."
"What, baby brother?" Will says teasingly.
"Seriously Will." Jay says, glaring at his brother.
"Alright, but uh I actually brought it up cause mom's going to get what she wants in about seven months."
"Really?" Jay says, not really believing his brother, but he can tell by the serious look on his face that he's not pulling his leg.
"Congrats man." Jay says patting his brother on the back.
"Thanks, but you're having the next one." Will says, giving Jay's shoulder a light shove.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Jay says with a light chuckle, as they round the corner into the stables. Jay almost walks right through the paint, but Will sees it, and grabs his brother's shirt pulling him back.
"What?" Jay asks Will, before following his brother's line of sight. He gulps, and goes to pull Erin into him, but she pushes him away. He doesn't understand, but instead of trying again, he decides to call the unit.
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Within twenty minutes they're all there; taking pictures and searching in and all around the stables for evidence. Adam finds red footprints that lead from the words, to just outside of the building.
Jay goes over where Erin is pacing in front of a couple of the stalls. Her face is stained from tears, and her hands are trembling as she bites at her nails.
"Hey." He says from a couple feet away. She looks at him, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek, as she shakes her head, about what he's not sure, but it makes him want to pull her into him more. He takes another step towards her, but she takes one back. He moves closer to her again, but this time he doesn't stop, and wraps his arms around her. Her palms lay flat against his chest trying to push him away, but he won't let her. She gives in eventually, and though her body is still tense, and rigid, he feels her melt into his embrace. She buries her face in his chest, and her hands clutch his shirt, as he strokes the back of her head, and places a comforting, lingering kiss to her temple. The fabric of his shirt slowing becomes darker as her tears soak through to his skin.
Kim cautiously walks towards them to ask Erin a couple of questions, but Erin still doesn't talk, she just nods or shakes her head to answer the questions. Kevin comes to get Jay, and they go to where Adam and Al are looking at the footprints.
"Look familiar?" Adam asks pointing down, to the stained concrete floor.
"There's the same drag mark as back at the cabin, but we pretty much already knew it'd be him."
"The person has a limp?" Erin says as they walk back into the stables when its starts to rain outside.
"Yeah." Kevin says.
"Charlie doesn't have a limp."
"But how long has it been since you've seen him?" Adam asks.
"I haven't seen him since the trial."
"Exactly." Antonio says
"But there's no record of him getting injured in jail." Jay throws in
"So either he got injured after he escaped, or its not him." Adam adds, and pretty much everyone nods.
"Something else that doesn't make sense is why he used paint here." Kim says.
Erin sneaks off without any of them noticing, and they continue to discuss.
"What do you mean?" Adam asks.
"It says in here that he wrote 'I found you' in blood back in Chicago, so why use paint here? If this is Pugliese wouldn't you think if anything he'd have gotten even more confident, being as how he found her here." Kim look in the file, in her hand, and pointing.
"You'd think." Kevin says
"But using paint suggests the opposite." Al pipes in.
When Erin gets to the house, she goes to the kitchen and grabs Jay's truck keys. She looks at the picture of the whole Halstead family, and smiles weakly as more tears fall from her eyes at a quicker pace. She lifts her hand, and runs it down the side of the frame gently before she heads for the door.
"Erin sweetheart what's going on?" Ms. Belle asks coming in just as Erin was about to leave.
"I'm sorry Ms. Belle, I have to go." Erin says as she walks past the older woman, and leaves the house. She goes to the truck, and turns the key in the ignition, she wipes the rain drops and tears off her face, before she turns to look behind her, and then she turns to the other side, and backs out of the spot in front of the grey and white farm house. She takes one last look at the house. Her mind takes her back to the day she and Jay first kissed, and then she looks in the rearview at the stables, and her heart constricts thinking about what she's leaving behind, or who she's leaving behind. Her vision is blurred from her tears or the rain she's not sure, but she tries her best to focus as she gets to the main road.
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Ms. Belle goes to the stables, when she finds that no one else is in the house. When she gets there, she takes in the red paint covering the floor in front of her newest horse's stall. Her heartbreaks for Erin and she goes to talk to Jay.
"I'll get the paint removed soon." He says
"I'm more worried about your girl." Ms. Belle says
"Was she at the house?" Jay asks panicked after he looks around and doesn't see her.
"She was when I got here, but she apologized, and said she had to go. She drove off in your truck just now."
"Can I use your truck?" Jay asks, and his mom nods again, and hands him her keys. He runs off in the same direction in which he walked in, and goes to his mother's pick up.
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"I have cameras in here." Ms. Belle says to her the group, after she watches her younger son run off, and she gets closer to them.
"Where's the equipment?" Al asks
"This way." She says pointing to the back of the stables, and leading the way.
When they reach the small office like room, Ms. Belle unlocks it, and steps to the side. Al looks between Adam and Kevin and nods towards the computer monitor. Kevin sits down in the chair, moving the mouse, and pressing some buttons on the keyboard, as Adam stands next to him. The two of them rewind the footage to a few hours prior. They quickly see a hooded figure dressed in all black. In reverse it doesn't seem that they can make out the person's face, but when they press play, they're able to get a glimpse of their perp's face and they're all equal parts shocked and confused.
"Is that-?" Antonio asks, and everyone nods; not even needing him to finish his question.
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Jay goes far past the speed limit to get to the cabin; hoping she's there. When he turns down the gravel drive way leading up to his house, he slams the truck in park; blocking his truck in, before he jumps out. He runs to the front door; turning the knob, and opening it. Once he walks inside his heart rate slows slightly, and the need to hurry, and rush leaves him. He goes to the room that she occupied at first, and his heart rate picks up again. He finds her throwing her things into the second duffel bag; sitting next to a full one.
"Erin?" He says; his voice cracking.
"I have to go." She says, trying to sound cold, but he can hear the pain and sadness in her voice, and see it on her face, even though she's avoiding his gaze. Its the same pain he felt inside, when his mom said she left, and the same sadness he feels at hearing her say those words now.
"No you don't Erin. Please just stay. I'm not going to let him hurt you."
"I can't stay Jay, either he found me, or I have someone else following me and I don't want to put you in danger." She says, finally looking up at him. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he has three frown lines on his forehead. Water is running down his face, and there's a drop near his nose that disappears and reappears with each quick breathe he takes. His usually bright blue green eyes, are now glassy and grey. She fights with herself on whether or not she should say what's on the tip of tongue. She wonders if its too soon, but it's how she feels, and she figures if this is the last time she's going to see him, she should let him know.
She can't do it though, she doesn't want to make this any harder than it already is, so she continues; pushing that thought aside. "I want to stay. I've never felt like I've belonged anywhere except for here, with you. But I can't put you or your family through this, or put any of you at risk anymore than I already have." She says
"I can handle it, we can handle it. This is part of my job." He says back.
"It's not part of your job anymore." She says; sniffling. "I'm sorry." She says, her shoulder brushing up against his as she walks past him. She clips the leash to her dog's collar, and pats Carly's head once more before she leaves the house that she's called home for the last three months. She lets Chance jump in the yellow cab first, before she climbs in. She closes the door, and that's when her tears fall again, and there's no stopping them. She can't bring herself to look back at the cabin, even when she sees her dog turn his head and place it in between the headrests of the backseat.
Jay stands there frozen in place in one of the guest bedroom of his house, for a few minutes before he plops down and sits on the edge of the bed, and the smell of her perfume wafts his nostrils. Never in his life has he felt this kind of heartbreak. This babysitting assignment as he called it in the beginning; letting his home become a safe house was supposed to be his punishment, and he thought he'd be happy when it was over and he could go back to his life. But this; getting close to her, just to watch her leave is his punishment. He doesn't allow himself to wallow for long before he's getting back up, and walking out the front door. He's not sure where she went, but he guesses she went to the train station since she took Chance. So he turns right out of his drive way, and drives towards the depot, except when he gets close to the bridge, traffic is at a stand still. He pulls off to the side, the gravel between the road and the grass, crunches under the tires as he parks the truck. He gets out, and runs; his feet cause a small splash; hitting the asphalt hard, as he begins to sprint towards the bridge. It's been down pouring for the better part of a hour, and the large rain drops sting as they come in contact with his face. He soon sees why the traffic is stopped. There's a car accident, it's seems a car and SUV traveling in opposite directions hit each other head on, and about fifteen feet away, the metal and wood railing on the side of the bridge is distorted. There's a small crowd of people standing under their umbrellas near the edge; gasping and talking as they look down. When Jay pushes his way through, he sees Chance swimming around a sinking yellow cab; whining. It's an image he won't soon forget.
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A/N: I hope you guys don't hate me too much for two cliffhangers in a row. As always your lovely reviews are appreciated, and I'll try to get the next chapter finished and up as soon as I can… Thanks, and I hope you all have a great weekend. Much Love.