A throbbing headache was what woke her. Erin blinked twice, before realizing she was lying on the cold, hard ground. Not only was her head giving her grief; her neck felt so sore that she was sure she was going to feel it for a long time. Slowly but surely she managed to push herself up, blinking a couple more times to try and focus on her surroundings.
Where the hell was she?
Beneath her there was nothing else than concrete. Cold, hard concrete where she'd lied upon for more than a couple of hours, Erin guessed. Her entire body was sore from lying in the same position for way too long.
Eventually she sat down, rubbing her face with her fingers, before looking around. She had to assess the situation, figure out exactly where she was. But she didn't see more than the concrete floor and bare walls. There weren't any windows and there was only one door. So that meant only one way out. The only thing she could think of, was that she was being kept somewhere underground. That was the only explanation that made sense.
Erin took a few deep breathes, inhaling and exhaling, to calm herself down. Just because she was locked up in a room with only one exit, didn't mean this was going to be her end. She wouldn't let it come that far. Erin Lindsay was a fighter, not a quitter.
So she got up, finding her balance and stretching her legs when she finally managed to stay up. Carefully, she touched the sore spot in her neck and pulled a face when it hurt even more. She couldn't remember everything that had happened last night, but things were slowly starting to come back to her. After talking to Alec she'd made her way to the elevator where she'd texted Voight before she was ambushed by Paul Vito.
Her phone.
Did she still have her phone? Instinctively her hands went to her pocket, only to sigh disappointed after a few seconds when she realized she didn't have her phone on her any longer. What did she expect? That the Vito brothers would've let her keep her mobile so she could contact Voight and the others? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.
She had no idea what their play was. They probably wanted to trade her for Jay, use her as leverage to finally give Kyle Vito his revenge. Erin knew that if that was the case, Jay would gladly give himself up in exchange for her life. Yesterday he'd told her he was ready to be the bait so they could lure Vito out of his hiding place. And now that they had her… She knew he was going to do whatever it took to get her out of there, no matter what. Jay was stubborn like that. But if she was being entirely honest she had to admit that she would've done the same if the situation had been reversed.
Not just because she was in love with him, but because he was her partner and she had to have his back 24/7, not just when it was convenient for her.
But Erin also knew that Kyle Vito wasn't going to let her go out of his own free will. He was probably going to kill her as soon as he had Jay. The only thing she could hope for was that the team would come up with a great plan to get them both out safe.
Not that she was going to give up without a fight. Hell no.
When she was sure she wasn't going to faint or fall back down again, Erin started to shuffle around the room. There was only one small source of light, a dusty lightbulb that barely lit the room she was in. What she was looking for exactly, she didn't know. Something. Something she could use to fight her way out. Maybe a piece of wood or metal.
There was nothing. Not even a forgotten bolt. Nothing she could use as a weapon. Erin was about to give up when she spotted something on the floor in the far left corner. It was almost not visible because of the horrible lighting, but somehow it had caught her eye. Slowly she walked over and squatted down, looking at the red stains on the floor. It wasn't much, but it couldn't be anything else than blood.
She wasn't the first one to be held here in this basement, or whatever it was.
Right at that moment, the door behind her opened without warning. Erin jumped up, turning around and she could feel her blood pumping, her heartbeat rising. Even though she had a killer headache and she was still kind of dizzy from whatever Vito had given her, she felt the adrenaline building. The urge to fight surfaced, just like the will to live. Whatever they were going to do to her, she wouldn't let them. She just wouldn't'.
Erin had never seen the man who walked into the room in real life before. But she'd seen his face on pictures. More specifically, on the picture that Voight had pasted to the whiteboard in the bullpen a couple of days ago.
Kyle Vito.
"What do you want from me?" Erin hissed, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking at him with eyes full of utter disgust. This man was a piece of trash and he would pay for everything he had done. Not just to Jay, but to Molly and Frank too. And probably Claire as well.
"So full of fire," Kyle answered her with a devious smile on his face, shaking his head while he slowly started walking towards her.
"It'll be a shame to kill such a beautiful woman, but I'm sure you understand that I can't let you live, detective Lindsay. That's your name, right? Erin Lindsay?"
Erin didn't answer him. She just stared at him, giving him the death glare. If only that worked in real life. She wouldn't even hesitate if she had that option. She would waste the son of a bitch in a second. Not that she was a cold hearted killer, because she wasn't. Usually she was all for the justice system and she didn't believe in the death penalty either. But Kyle Vito? Dear god did she want to see him dead. He deserved it.
"Not so talkative anymore, are we detective Lindsay?"
Still not a word. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"I'm sure your team is looking for a way to save you by now," he eventually continued, slipping both of his hands into his pockets. "But they won't find a way. I've made sure there isn't. Tonight, this will all be over. You and your precious boyfriend will no longer be breathing and I can finally leave this godforsaken place. I think I might go somewhere sunny. Florida sounds nice, doesn't it? Or maybe somewhere near the West Coast. I'd like to see the Pacific Ocean one day."
Kyle Vito held still right in front of her, his face only a couple of inches away from hers and Erin stared into his cold, dead eyes. This man was an absolute psychopath. No wonder he'd killed his own wife without even flinching. No wonder he'd wacked so many people he probably lost count. This was the man who'd tried to kill Jay, who was still trying to kill Jay. And now her as well.
Without thinking, she spat in his face.
"You're sick," she said, clenching her teeth. "You're a sick son of a bitch."
Kyle lashed out and hit her hard in the face, causing Erin to loose balance. She staggered back a few steps, hitting the wall with her back, while she carefully touched her burst lip with her fingers. She didn't get time to think, to duck or to defend herself in some way. Vito kept coming at her and before she knew it, he had his fingers around her neck, pushing her head hard against the wall and leaving her gasping for air.
"I swear to God I would waste you right now if I didn't need you," he said. Somehow he sounded calm, even though the look on his face told an entirely different story.
For only a second Erin closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from freaking out. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand and tried to pull his hand away from her neck, but with no luck. It was getting harder for her to breathe normally and she knew that if he didn't let go of her soon, he would choke her to death.
When she felt her head starting to throb again and when she saw that her vision started to blur as soon as she opened her eyes again, she knew she only had one option left. So instead of wriggling his hand off her neck, she did what every girl in her position would do: she kneed him in the balls, as hard as she could. And God did her fingers itch to hurt him some more. But she was no match for Vito, she knew that too. He was bigger, stronger and way more dangerous. She didn't have a gun or any other weapon on her. The only thing she had was her own strength and her wit. That was all she could use to try and stay alive.
Now it was Vito's turn to stagger back a few steps, screaming in agony, but thankfully he'd let go of her neck in the process. Erin fell down on her knees, wheezing for air. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Come on Erin, you can do this, she thought to herself, trying to lift her spirit. She desperately needed to get her breathing under control, she needed to be okay in case she had to fight her way out of here. It was doubtful she was getting out in one piece, but she didn't mind a few injuries.
A burst lip and a headache were now the least of her problems. Her neck had already given her grief because of that injection Paul had given her, but now it was sure as hell gonna end up purple. Still, a bruised neck was always better than a broken one.
"You little bitch," Vito hissed, when he finally seemed to have picked himself together again.
"You deserve everything that's coming your way."
Before she even realized what she was doing, Erin laughed. It wasn't her normal, genuine, happy laugh. No, it was sarcastic, derisive even. Slowly she forced herself to look up to her tormenter.
"Just like Molly deserved everything that came her way?" she asked him, spitting in his direction again, only this time onto his brand new, shining shoes. Shoes he'd probably had to polish every time he killed someone. Or maybe he bought new shoes every time he'd killed someone. Maybe that was his way of celebrating taking a life from someone.
"Just like Frank did? And Claire? What did you do to her, Kyle? Did you kill her too?"
Erin managed to get up on her feet, even though she knew it was only a matter of time before she'd be on the floor again. She knew her comments would provoke him, but she couldn't help it. If Kyle had killed Claire just like he'd killed Molly and Frank, she really needed to know. And if she was still alive somehow, maybe they'd be able to get to her as soon as this was all over. Maybe they'd still be able to save her.
"Shut your filthy mouth," Kyle hissed, pointing his finger at her. His voice wasn't so calm anymore. Now it seemed to match the expression he carried on his face: angry and provoked.
"No," Erin said fiercely, feeling the adrenaline starting to pump through her system again.
"I want to know what you did to her. Is that her blood in the corner?" she didn't even have to point it out for him, because he knew exactly what she was talking about. Kyle Vito may be a criminal, but he was definitely not an idiot. For just a second she saw him glance over to the spot where she'd found the blood only a couple of minutes ago, before he stared her right in the eye again, his face as cold as stone.
"Clearly you managed to turn your own brother into your lapdog. So did he do it? Did he kill her for you? Did you have the guts to do it yourself or did you need someone else to do it?" Her voice started to crack a bit, it sounded even more hoarse than usual. Talking this much after almost being choked to death was never a good idea, but Erin couldn't help it. She wanted the truth and she'd get it.
"I don't owe you an explanation."
"No. No you don't. But since you're going to kill me in a couple of hours, might as well grant me a last wish. I want to know what you did to Claire Paulson."
For a couple of agonizing long seconds, Kyle Vito just stared at her. He didn't say a word and Erin started to wonder if she'd pushed it too far. Maybe this wasn't her smartest move till date. Maybe this would just encourage him to choke her before his deal with Voight after all. She didn't know what he'd planned exactly. Maybe the deal was to trade 'Jay Halstead for Erin Lindsay', either dead or alive. Maybe he would snap in a few seconds and kill her right now.
But he didn't.
In fact, to her surprise, he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and took in a deep breath. As if he was getting ready to tell her the truth.
"If you really want to know so bad," he eventually said, opening his eyes again and looking at her. The anger had disappeared from his eyes, but the cold-heartedness had returned. It even felt as if the temperature in the already cold basement had dropped a few degrees.
"Yes," Erin managed to say, even though she was starting to feel less and less sure. Her heartbeat picked up the pace and she clenched both her hands into fists, as if her body already knew she was going to get bad news.
"Claire is probably dead. Well, I kind of know for sure. I'd doubt anyone could survive this." Vito gestured down to the floor and for a second Erin was confused.
What the hell was he talking about?
The confusion must've been written all over her face, because Vito started laughing. He actually started laughing. Erin looked at him, now more disgusted than confused.
"You really don't get it, do you?" her captor finally asked, shaking his head and turning around, ready to leave the room again.
"Kyle, what did you do to her?"
Vito kept walking and didn't stop until he reached the door to the basement, her holding cell. When he did, he finally turned around and looked at her again, still smiling. As if someone'd just given him the best present ever.
"I had her husband pour cement on top of her. And then I shot him… right… there." Kyle pointed to the spot where she'd discovered the blood earlier. While she stared at the blood in pure horror, she could hear the door close behind Kyle, his laughter fading in the distance.
When a sudden urge to throw up hit her.