Chapter 21
"It's not Erin. It's not her."
Jay was adamant, even if everyone else around him seemed to be thinking the worst. Voight seemed like he was trying to hold back his emotions, tears threatening to fall out of his eyes while Kim made no attempt to stop hers, openly crying softly at the thought of losing her best friend. "Stop crying Kim," Jay admonished. "There's no reason to cry because it's not Erin inside."
The look others gave him was worrying, like he was in denial.
"Halstead." Jay turned to glare at Adam, hating the tone Adam was speaking to him with. Like Jay was coming unhinged and they needed to treat him with kid's gloves. "Come on, we should go back to the station."
"What you should do is take your damn hands off of me," Jay sneered, brushing off the comforting hand that Adam had on his shoulder roughly. "Don't fucking touch me. I'm not going anywhere until I can go inside and prove to you guys that it's not Erin." To his credit, Adam didn't look a bit angry at the harsh way Jay was treating him, the younger man understanding that Jay was dealing with a lot at the moment and needed to let some of his stress out. He was unable to do much else for Jay so he didn't mind being Jay's punching bag for the moment.
Jay gripped the dog tags tighter in his fists, the object weighting heavier than ever before. His mind was racing a million miles a minute, running through all the possible scenario of how his tags could've ended up here, ones that didn't involve Erin being burned to death. No, that wasn't possible. They had their whole lives out in front of them, their future. He kept running those words through his head, trying his best to drown out the more rational but harrowing thoughts of Erin being gone so he wouldn't break down, not right here. Not right now. Erin needed him still. She was still waiting somewhere out there for him, waiting for him to find her and rescue her. To be by her side, her back up, while she got justice for the victims and herself against Stan. So no, it couldn't be Erin inside the house.
He heard whispers going behind his back, his team talking in hush tones with each other while they waited for the firemen to bring the body out to bring to the coroner. Voight and Olivia remained quiet, just silently waiting for the body to come out. Severide and Casey had warned them that the body was burned beyond recognition and that it might not be the best idea for them to see it. But screw that as far as Jay was concerned, he needed to see it. He needed to see the body with his own eyes so he'd know that it wasn't Erin.
Finally after waiting what felt like forever, they brought the body out on a stretcher, a white sheet covering it. Jay sucked in a breath, heart beating hard against his chest as he walked over to the body. The first thing he immediately noticed got him coming to an abrupt halt.
"Halstead?" Olivia questioned, wondering why he wasn't walking closer. "It's okay. We need to see the body," Olivia said, coming to the conclusion that Jay wasn't walking any closer because he didn't want to see the body.
"No, it's…." he paused, blinking his eyes several times to make sure what he was seeing was right. He felt tears began to well in his eyes at what he saw. "It's…..those are Erin's boots." He could barely breathe when he stepped closer to examine the boots that were sticking out from underneath the white sheets. He knew those boots. Those were the same ones Erin was wearing when they went to pick their Christmas tree, all happy and clueless about what was to come. Those were the same ones she got wet so he had carried her to the car, her body all close to him and keeping him warm. Those were the same ones she had thrown haphazardly in front the fire to dry as they made love on the living room floor, in front of their Christmas tree. Now those were the ones, charred and burned, but remaining recognizable enough to taunt him that the body was Erin.
"I'm sorry," Severide offered weakly, his own face red and teary. Jay shook the useless apology off, he didn't need platitudes right now. He couldn't handle them right now. What he needed were answers. He needed to go back out and find Erin.
"I need a confirmed ID on the body ASAP!" Voight demanded. If Jay was in a better state, he would've credited Voight for being able to remain so detached, even though Erin was his daughter in every way that mattered. Perhaps having been through several tragedies in his life and losing the most important people to him had conditioned his Sergeant. Severide and Casey nodded, knowing the importance of the case.
"We'll take care of it Voight," Severide said. "Just get the guy. For Erin."
Jay hated the way they were talking, like it was 100% confirmed that the body was Erin and that she was gone. As far as he was concerned, she was still out there somewhere, waiting for him. She wasn't dead.
"It's not Erin," he repeated again, glaring at the people around him, daring them to say otherwise. "So stop acting as though you guys know for damn sure it's her!"
Severide, Casey and Voight exchanged looks with each other and it was Jay's breaking point. If one more person looked at him or treated him as though he was crazy, he was going to lose it on them. "It's not her!" he gritted out, staring them down so they'd listen and understand his words. Voight motioned for Severide and Casey to take the body away. "Erin is still alive!" Jay said to Voight, "We have to continue looking for her. She's still out there and she's waiting for us!"
Voight just nodded stiffly. "Let's go find her then."
"The coroner's rushing to get us an ID. They're going to process the body and hope that they can get a useable print to match. Otherwise it might take longer until we can get a positive I.D," Kim informed the group as everyone gathered back in the bullpen.
Voight nodded, rubbing his nose bridge. He was about to speak when Jay interrupted his superior. "It doesn't matter because we're not going to stop looking for Erin. That body doesn't change anything. We're not going to stop until we get Erin back safe." He stared down his team, hands cocked on his hips. Everyone smartly remained quiet, just nodding in response. "Good. Let's get back to finding her."
If Voight was angry that Jay had interrupted him or seemed to be speaking as though he was in charge, he didn't show it, just giving him a nod as a show of support. They all had the same goal: find Erin.
"Alright, how about the tip line? Any credible tips coming in?"
Platt stepped up. "We've managed to sift through many of them and think we've found several credible ones that should be checked out." The Sergeant's demeanor was muted and sullen, still feeling guilty for falling for Stan's diversion and letting Erin down.
"Alright," Voight said, taking the papers from Platt and looking them over. "Let's split up. Al, why don't you take a couple of guys with you and check these locations out?" Al gestured for Adam and Kevin to follow and they left the bullpen. "Halstead? You good enough to join us?"
Jay took a deep breath and steadied himself. He needed to calm down so he can join in on the search for Erin. "Yeah, I got this." Voight studied him for a minute before accepting his answer. "I'm good." Jay repeated for emphasis. "I'm going to find Erin. I'll get her back."
Voight just nodded in reply, a silent understanding between both men. They needed the most important person in their lives back and they were not going to stop until she was back.
As the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, the team's hope began to fall further and further down. They had been at it all night and now it was morning, the sunlight reminding them that it had been over 8 hours since Erin had been missing and they were no closer to finding her. But Jay wasn't giving up and he wouldn't let anyone else give up either. Erin was still out there, alive and they needed to find her.
"Any more tips?" The exhaustion was clear in Fin's voice as everyone gathered back in the bullpen, the long list of tips already searched and cleared with no sign of Erin and Jenny.
"Yeah, they've been coming in steadily," Kim replied since she stayed behind to man the tip line along with Olivia, not trusting any other officers to do so after what happened with Maloney earlier. All the searches involved was being overseen by at least one Intelligence or SVU members. They weren't going to take any chances with this, no more allowing Stan to stay one step ahead of them. "All the news stations have been running the press conference all day, they're staying on top of this and making sure that the public knows what's going on."
"Okay, how about any useful tips then? Any places we can check out?" Jay questioned. Kim gave him a worried look, taking in his red eyes. He knew he looked like shit right now, hair all messed up tugging at it all night long, eyes wide and red from both the cold and all the unshed tears and lips red and swollen from biting at them in frustration. He looked like he aged 20 years in 8 hours and he felt like it too. But he needed Kim to focus on the task and not waste her time and energy worrying about him. He wasn't the priority right now, Erin was. "Kim!" She snapped out of her inspection at Jay's bark and a small flash of guilt went through Jay. He was losing his cool and taking his frustrations out on people that didn't deserve them. He'd apologize later but right now he was solely focused on breaking down more doors and following any leads they got.
"Right, sorry," Kim offered, grimacing. "A few tips that can maybe pan out but," she sighed. "The problem is that Stan's description is so common that half of the people calling in are confusing him with any random white guy in their neighborhood."
Jay let out a grunt of frustration. "Okay then we follow any and every lead we can. I don't care how long it takes, how many tips we get, I'm not stopping."
There were three things Erin first noticed when she first stirred, all of them overwhelming her to finally regain consciousness. First was the blinding sunlight streaming in through the window of the room. The bright light was too much for her eyes after having been out cold for so long. She couldn't see anything at first, just the glare of the light too much for her.
The second was the overwhelming stench in the room. The smell was so nauseating and vile that she gagged several times. She didn't know what the stench was or where it was coming from but just the overpowering smell was enough to rouse her awake.
And the third was the freezing state of the room.
"Oh thank god you're awake!" Erin blinked several times, trying to regain her sight and find out where the voice came from. Her eyes finally adjusted in the bright room and she looked around the room, trying to figure out where Stan had taken her.
"Jenny!"A sense of relief came over Erin when she saw that the girl was still alive. But then Erin finally took in the state of Jenny, still bound to a chair, tear tracks running down her face, hair messed up. She looked like she'd been through the ringer. "Are you okay?" Erin questioned, her voice still hoarse from not being used for a while.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," Jenny replied. "Are you? I was worried because you've been out since he dragged you in a long time ago." Erin winced at her head throbbing but still managed to give a small nod to Jenny as not to worry the girl any further. She touched the back of her head, the area sensitive after being hit. She grimaced when she felt the dried up blood caked on there. The last thing she remembered was watching Jay's back as her team went to rescue Jenny at Stan's childhood home. Then just as she was about to go back up to the station and the bullpen, she heard Maloney, Adam's friend, called her name before being hit in the back of her head. She vaguely remembered lying on the floor of the rollup, unable to get up, and hearing confused voice of Gutierrez then the distinctive sound of a gun silencer. She couldn't even distinguish whose body it was that dropped near her after the gun went off, couldn't held her head back up to see what was going on, the pain from the blow too much to handle. Then all she saw through the blur was the menacing smile on Stan's face as he stood over her, Erin unable to defend herself, as she felt something being injected in her body then she was out cold.
"How long ago was that?" Erin asked, trying to comprehend everything that was happening but still having a difficult time fighting through the fog. She recalled her team leaving some time before midnight and whatever took place happened quickly after they left. Now the sun was out which didn't happen until around 7:00 due to it being winter.
"I don't know," Jenny replied, "Maybe 8, 9 hours?"
Erin gasped with panic when she finally realized the state of undressed she was in, her bra and her underwear the only form of clothing that remained on her body. No wonder she was freezing as soon as she woke up, she was practically naked, unprotected against the harsh condition of the weather. She patted herself down, squeezing her eyes tightly, just trying her best to recall what had happened, if her worst nightmare had taken place.
Jenny must've realized what was running through Erin's mind because she filled in the gap without being asked. "He didn't do what you're thinking of." Erin's head snapped up at Jenny's words, waiting for the girl to elaborate. "I saw you were fully clothed when he first brought you in. Then he just took off your clothes and left. Nothing else happened." A huge amount of relief coursed through Erin's body, grateful that nothing else had happened. She didn't need anything more to make her throw up, the stench that permeated the room was enough. She tried to stop from gagging but couldn't.
"What is that smell?" she rasped out, trying to hold her stomach in. She didn't have any food in her stomach to actually throw up but the vileness of the smell was too much.
"I don't know," Jenny shrugged. "It smelled like this ever since I got here. Just breathe through your nose. The smell dies down after a while, or maybe my sense of smell is completely destroyed by now."
Erin exerted energy so she could sit up, tucking her legs in to her body in a weak attempt to get a little bit of warmth. "How long have you been here? How did Stan get to you?"
"I don't know," Jenny replied, voice weak and defeated. "I just remembered answering the door to my apartment because I saw an officer on the other side of the door. I thought that he was there for my protection like you said so I didn't think much of it. I opened the door and let him in and I turned my back for a second then he hit me on the head. The next thing I know I woke up here and Stan is next to me, watching me while I was out cold."
"I'm so sorry Jenny," Erin said. "It's my fault! I will get you out, I promise." Jenny just looked at Erin, not saying anything. Erin didn't blame the girl. She wouldn't believe herself if she was in Jenny's place. After all, Erin had promised to protect her but instead Erin had gotten Jenny into this mess. Erin scanned the familiar looking room, looking for a way out. She stood up gingerly, her legs weak from whatever drug Stan had injected her with. She stumbled her way over to Jenny and knelt down, looking for a way to free Jenny from the restraints Stan had her in. She realized why Stan didn't feel the need to have Erin in restraints when she unsuccessfully tried to undo the knot binding Jenny's legs and hands to the chair. It was useless, the rope was tied too taut for Erin to undo with just her bare hands. She quickly scanned the room again, hoping for something—anything—that could be useful but finding nothing. Stan had left them completely defenseless, the room was completely empty except for her, Jenny and the chair. She had nothing on her body to utilize, no object she can "Macgyver" to get them out. She walked over to the door and was unsurprised to find it locked. She made her way over to the large windows next and looked out, thinking maybe they could escape that way. But the windows too were completely locked and even if they were open, the fall would be too far to make their escape. Stan wasn't stupid, they were truly trapped and had no way out.
"It's no use is it?" Erin looked at Jenny, not answering the younger woman's question but it seemed as though the answer was already written on Erin's face. They'd have to wait until Stan came back and just hope and pray that they'll find a way to escape. "We're going to die here. We're dead!" Jenny cried.
Erin shook her head. "No we're not," Erin tried to comfort her. "Hey! Look at me!" Erin shouted, snapping Jenny's attention to her. "We're not going to die here! Okay? We are going to get out of here. My team is going to find us and they'll get us home. And I'm not giving up. I will get you out safe and sound! That's a promise okay?"
Jenny continued to cry and Erin just let her, knowing that the other woman was just scared out of her mind and no words of comfort would be enough right now. Erin sat her shivering body back down on the cold floor, her mind going to Jay. She knew he must be freaking out right now at her missing. She hated the thought of putting him through that again, his biggest fear coming true. She knew that he wouldn't stop until he found her though, her whole team won't. She trusted her team and knew they would be doing their best right now. Jay would be scorching the earth to get to her, she'd just have to hold on until he found her. In the meantime, she wasn't planning on going down easily. Whatever Stan had planned for her, if he wanted to kill her, then she'd give him hell before he could get what he wanted.
"Hey, you guys are finally back!" Kim said immediately when the team walked back into the bullpen. "I was just about to call you guys."
Jay quickly strode over to where Kim was. "You got something?" He couldn't stop hope from making it into his voice. After all night and now morning of following one tip after another and not having any of them panned out, he was desperate for some good news.
"Oh yeah," Kim replied. "So a tip came in earlier from a liquor store owner over on Cermak. He just caught the footage on the news about Stan and Erin missing and guess what?" She caught the look of annoyance on Jay's face, just urging her to cut the dramatics and hurry up with the actual news. "So he saw Stan around 2 a.m hooking a girl matching Erin's description."
"I knew it," Jay said, knowing his gut was right. "The body's not Erin."
"He's sending over the security footage he got from his store camera and it's going to come in any minute now."
"Got it!" Kevin shouted, getting everyone attention. Jay rushed over to Kevin's desk and pointed to the computer.
"Let's see it!" Jay demanded, crouching closer in front of the monitor so he can closely inspect the security footage coming in. Jay watched as the camera captured Stan getting out of his car on the curb in front of a woman, matching Erin's description—white, petite, brunette.
"Look, those are Erin's boots!" Jay exclaimed, pointing to the screen where Stan was giving the homeless woman a pile of clothes—Erin's clothes—with her boots on top. "He wanted us to think that the body was Erin, even made sure the victim was wearing Erin's clothes." Jay tried to not let his mind go there, the implications of where Erin's clothes were and what it meant for Erin. He'd lose it otherwise. He made eye contact with Olivia who seemed to be on the same wavelength as him. He couldn't blame her, after all Olivia dealt with rape cases every day. He tried to take a deep breath, finding it difficult to do so, and he started panting, getting attention of his team.
"Halstead?" The concern was palpable in Antonio's voice. Jay shook him off, focusing back on the footage. He needed to see it, he needed to see if there was any clue—just any hint—as to Erin's whereabouts were. His eyes remained on the screen as the woman got into Stan's car and left with him, completely unaware of her fate.
"So he wanted us to think that the body was Erin," Antonio concluded. Not that it was a new development since the team was pretty much operating under that thinking anyways, not believing that Erin was actually gone. But still, they couldn't lie about the slight relief that they all felt when they found evidence that actually corroborate their belief. "He made sure that the woman was wearing Erin's clothes." Everyone exchanged looks at that, the unspoken implication hung in the air. Jay clenched his fists, unable to stop his mind from going to the worst place. He swore that if Stan laid one finger on Erin, Jay would kill him with his bare hands and he would enjoy it.
"Guys, the lab just sent over the results," Kim announced, looking at her phone. "They found a partial print that was usable on the body and it's not Erin." Even though Jay knew in his guts that the body wasn't Erin, he couldn't deny the small weight that lifted off his chest when there was actual confirmation that it wasn't Erin. "The print matched to a Madison Reese. She was a working girl that was living on the street and had been arrested a couple of times for solicitation so her prints were in the database."
"He went through all the trouble to make sure we think that Erin was in that house. Jay's dog tags, Erin's clothes, he even made sure that girl matched Erin's description. Why?"
"Because he wanted us to throw us off the path," Jay answered Rollin's question. "He wanted us to think she was dead so we'd stop looking for her."
"Why?" Kim asked.
Jay's eyes flashed with realization. "Because he still has her in the area."
Erin groaned softly as she begun to wake, her body laid face down on the cold ground. She had no idea what kind of drug Stan injected into her body with but all she knew was that she was having a hard time staying awake for long periods of time. She had no idea when she even dozed off or how long it had been but the return of the stench from earlier had woken her up. The smell was somehow even worse now and she wanted to throw up. She blinked several times, groaning at the fog she was in and turned her head to the side, gasping loudly at what she saw staring back at her.
Suddenly she understood where the stench was coming from.
Staring back at her was the decomposing corpse of Yates, wrapped in a plastic bag but the effects of being buried 6 feet under for over 3 years still visible. Erin screamed—both in shock and fear—quickly sitting up and she began backing away from it, scooting back from the dead body as fast as she can. She didn't get far before she hit something on her other side and she turned around, only to come face to face with two more dead bodies, only these two bodies were much fresher. Tim and Martha Rappaport. Stan's adoptive parents.
Erin covered her nose and mouth with her hand, the close proximity to the odor of the rotting bodies too much for her to handle, especially since she was already nauseated from her head wound. She couldn't believe her eyes. Stan had killed his parents. All this time, they had thought that his parents were on vacation like their employees thought but they were murdered—by their adoptive son. Stan had truly gone off the deep end. He was also the one that dug Yates' body up from his grave. No wonder they didn't find it when they exhumed Yates' grave, Stan had his body with him all along. A sick keepsake of his father.
Erin snapped her head over to Jenny, concerned that the girl was being so quiet. Erin had certainly freaked out when she saw the bodies, her heart was still beating loudly. But Jenny was in a total catatonic state, mouth and eyes wide open, gasping to herself. She seemed like she was in total shock. Erin crawled her way over to her, patting her all over. "Jenny?" Erin tried getting her attention, calling her name several times but nothing was working. Jenny was going through a panic attack. Not that Erin could blame her, the shock of seeing three dead bodies too big for someone like Jenny to handle. Even Erin was having a hard time herself and dead bodies were regular occurrences in her job. But digging and stealing a dead body from the grave to keep for themselves and murdering his own parents and keeping the rotting bodies were definitely new for Erin.
"Jenny!" She tried again, still not getting a reply. She resorted to one final measure and slapped Jenny's face, hoping that it would snap the girl's attention back to her. "Jenny?"
It seemed to work a bit as Jenny began to stammer out incoherent words. "He….his parents….bodies.."
"I know, I know," Erin got on her knees and held Jenny's shoulders, trying her best to comfort and calm her down. "It's okay. They're just bodies. It's fine."
Jenny let out a huge sob, her body trembling all over. Erin shushed her, both trying to calm her down and keeping her quiet, not wanting to get Stan's attention. "Jenny, calm down okay? It's gonna be okay." Nothing seemed to be working and Erin was getting frustrated herself. "Shh," she tried again. "You don't want Stan to come in here do you?"
"A bit late for that," Erin's head snapped to the door, Stan standing underneath the doorway. "Hello Erin." Immediately Erin's protective mode kicked in and she stood up as best she could and stood in front of Jenny, protecting the younger woman.
"What the hell do you want?" Erin bit out, doing her best to steel her voice. She would never let Stan know that she was scared out of her mind right now. She wouldn't let him know that he could get to her.
He just chuckled and Erin hated that sound. "I already got everything I want right here." He gestured to the room. "My dear adoptive parents, my real dad, the love of my life," he leaned to the side to look at Jenny behind Erin's back, smiling at her. "And now I also have you."
Erin studied Stan cautiously as he walked closer to her. She stood in place, not backing down. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her. "What do you want with me? Why me?" She needed to know why Stan was after her, if it was really simple as her being the one that shot and killed Yates? Or if there was a more sinister and twisted reason—a logic that only Stan understood—behind all of this. Stan reached out and caressed Erin's hair, Erin doing her best not to flinch at the contact, and he smiled at her, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"You're special Erin. That's why."
Erin took in his cryptic words. "What do you mean?" She held her breath as his hand made its way down her jaw, cupping her face and lifted it up slightly. She glared at him, anger and fear surging at the look on his face. She felt so creeped out being this close to him. He leaned his face in so it was inches away from her, Erin doing her best not to recoil in disgust.
"It's so sad," Stan began, puffs of his breath coming out on Erin's face from being so close to him. "That you don't know how special you are. Doesn't your boyfriend make you feel that way?" Erin gritted her teeth, the last thing she wanted to talk to Stan about was Jay. He was the best part of her life, she didn't want Stan tainting it with his twisted words. "Doesn't he tell you how much he loves you? How special you are to him? How much he loves you?" Erin remained silent, not answering his questions. Stan gripped her jaw tighter. "Answer me!" he demanded but Erin just glared back, remaining quiet. A flash of pure anger made its way onto his face, a sneer coming over it before he spat out, "it doesn't matter anyway because sooner or later, you would've betrayed him. Like the bitch behind you." He directed his gaze to a trembling Jenny behind Erin. "I did all those things for her. Treated her like a queen, provided her with everything she wanted and what did she do? Betrayed me anyways. Cheated on me like a whore!"
Jenny shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No Stan."
"She didn't cheat on you," Erin replied, directing Stan's attention back to her. "She didn't betray you."
He tightened his hold on Erin's face and dragged it closer until his lips were practically on hers. "She did!" he screamed in Erin's face. "She betrayed me by cheating on me with some loser from her restaurant!" Suddenly he let go of Erin's face, pushing to her to side as he bent down and got in Jenny's face. "You cheated on me you fucking slut! I loved you!"
"Hey!" Erin shouted, grabbing Stan's shoulder and getting him away from Jenny. "Get away from her!" She pushed him as best she can and stood in between them again. "Don't you dare touch her!" she pointed her finger at Stan, warning him to stay away from the scared girl in the chair.
"Stan, I didn't cheat on you," Jenny sobbed, begging Stan to believe her. "I loved you."
"Lies! Lies! They're all lies!" Stan screamed, tugging on his hairs. "Everyone lies!" His shouts drowned out the tearful protests from Jenny of how she wasn't lying to him and her begging him to believe her. "Everyone always lies!"
"She's not lying," Erin tried to reason with Stan, despite how useless it might've seen. "She loved you. She didn't cheat on you. Okay? She told me that the first time I met her. That guy from the restaurant? He was nobody."
Stan scoffed. "Why should I believe you? You're a woman, you lie as easily as you breathe."
"I'm not lying!"
"I don't believe you," Stan replied. "You're lying just like she is, just like my so called mother did and just like my real mother did to my dad!"
Erin shook her head vehemently, knowing Stan needed to know the truth about Yates and how he was manipulating Stan. "No, your real birth mother didn't lie to Yates. He is the one who lied to you. He was manipulating you." That seemed to have gotten Stan's attention so Erin continued on. "He lied to you when he said that your birth mother lied to him and that she didn't love you. They weren't together. Okay? He raped her and got her pregnant. He didn't even know that you existed until about three years ago."
"Shut up!" Stan barked. "Stop your lies!"
"They're not lies," Erin urged on, pushing the boundaries. "Your mom wanted to protect you from him. Yates was sick and he was evil. She loves you enough to give you up to people who can protect you better. It broke her heart but she did it because she loves you!"
Stan growled and grabbed Erin's throat and with strength that she didn't know he had, he dragged and slammed her to the wall, his hand remained tight on her throat. "My real father was the only one who told me the truth! My parents," he said mockingly, "was lying to me my entire life. And when they didn't want me anymore, they left me in that hellhole alone."
"You needed help!" Erin gasped out. "You are sick Stan and they were getting you the help you needed!"
Stan lifted Erin by her throat and slammed her back to the wall, Erin wincing at the harsh contact the back of her head made against the wall. "I'm not sick!" Stan roared in Erin's face. "They just wanted to get rid of me! They made up lies so they can lock me up! Just like everyone else did to my father."
"Stan," Erin tried again, her throat closing up by his tight grip. "Your mother loves you, your adoptive parents loved you, Jenny loves you! The only person that didn't was Yates. Okay? He was lying to you the entire time. He was manipulating you for his own selfish needs. He wanted you to follow in his footsteps, he wanted you to hate your real mother. He wanted you to become like him, kill people for his own sick pleasure!"
Her words angered Stan beyond control and he began to choke Erin again. She tried to fight him off, hitting him everywhere she could with her hands and trying to pry him off of her but she was too weak. She heard Jenny calling her name in the background, worried for her life but there was nothing Erin could do. With a burst of strength, she brought her leg up and kneed him in his groin, causing him to groan in pain. That gave Erin enough room to push him away and she made her escape, running away from him. She tried to head to the door so she could get help and backup for Jenny.
She felt the pain first before she heard the loud bang of the gun. She collapsed onto the ground and she quickly registered the blood beginning to pour out of her thigh, the bullet from Stan's gun being the culprit. She looked over to him and he was holding the gun out, pointing it at her. She felt immense amount of pain at the wound, trying her best not to cry out at how much pain she was in. She began breathing hard, trying to control herself but having a difficult time doing so. She heard Jenny's worried cries but she didn't fully register it, the fact that she was shot and that Stan was armed were the only things on her mind.
"You're not going anywhere!" Stan sneered, still pointing the gun at her. "Not by yourself anyways. Not until we're all ready." Erin looked up at him confused and saw him reaching for something in his pocket, pulling out a lighter.
"What are you doing?" she managed to stammer out through the pain.
A menacing grin came over Stan's face, still holding up the lighter. "Like I said, you're not going anywhere. Not yet. You smell that?" He sniffed around, the grin still on his face. Erin looked at him, confused and she tried to do the same, wondering what smell he was talking about. The smell of the dead bodies were overpowering every other odor. But Erin heard a faint hissing sound coming from outside the door and her eyes widened with fear and realization at Stan's plan. "Yeah that's the gas leaking into this house. You move again and I'll light this up and," Stan threatened, mimicking the sound of house exploding, "Boom!"
Jay paced around the room, hands on his hips, as the ideas whirled past in the bullpen. With the confirmation that the body inside wasn't Erin, it seemed to reenergized the team and motivated them even more to find Erin faster.
"Okay so he wanted us to think that Erin was already dead," Olivia spoke to the group.
"So we'd stop looking for her," Fin finished. "And he can have all the time he wants with her. They got to still be in the area."
"Okay let's look through the list and the tips that came in and narrow down any locations that are close by. Even if we've checked them already, we'll re-check them." Olivia ordered.
"Hold on," Jay held up his hand. "We can't just recheck the same area over and over again. It's wasting our time," he argued. "There has be a special location near here that he has taken her to."
"Yeah," Dodds replied. "How are we going to figure out where's the location?"
Jay rubbed his forehead, deep in thought. He felt like the answer was right in front of him and that he was failing Erin by not seeing it. He couldn't fail her. "Okay, so we know Yates did everything for a reason. Most of his victims were random but when he had his target set on Erin and Nellie, he planned his attack meticulously."
"Yeah," Olivia agreed. "He was planning his revenge on his family for a long time in prison. He was the one who also reached out to Stan first."
"So we know that Stan was following in Yates' footsteps, targeting the same type of women, the same M.O." Jay continued.
"And Erin," Hailey joined in. "His victims were all random both in New York and Chicago except for Erin. She was the only one he was targeting specifically. Well except for Jenny now."
Something in his head clicked for Jay. "New York, New York," he muttered to himself, earning curious looks from other people.
"Halstead?" Voight barked, catching Jay's attention. "Something to share with the group?"
"Yeah," Jay nodded stiffly. "Why New York? Why would he killed those two victims in New York? He had no ties there. He grew up in Chicago. Every family ties he had was in Chicago."
Kim snapped her finger. "Because Erin was in New York at the time."
Jay nodded, eyes unblinking. "Exactly. That's why you guys came to Chicago," he said, pointing to SVU. "Because the cases were connected. If there was no victims in New York then Voight wouldn't have called you guys in."
"So he wanted to lure Erin to Chicago," Adam theorized. "So he can kill her? Why couldn't he just do that in New York?"
"Because he needed to finish it where it started," Jay finished, finally seeing the answer. "That's what he said in the video, that he needed to finish where it all started. There has to be a specific location then."
"Where? We know it's not his childhood home. Where else could it all have started for Stan?" Voight questioned, pointing his finger. Jay stopped his pacing and walked closer to the whiteboard, studying the timeline.
"It's not where it all started for him," Jay ventured, turning to the group. "It's where it all started for Yates. Think about this. With Erin, it was all about getting revenge for her killing Yates. It has all been about Yates when it comes to Erin's involvement." Jay snapped his finger. "Yates' childhood home, the house where Erin shot him. That has to be it!"
"Except like I said, that house has been bought by some realty group to be remodeled and flipped." Kevin spoke up. "It's no longer abandoned like before. It's private property now. I don't' think that Evermark Property would be kind enough to leave the property open for a serial killer to get his revenge."
Jay's eyebrows furrowed and he snapped his head to Kevin's direction. "What did you say?"
Kevin licked his lips. "Um, I said I don't think Evermark Property would be…"
"Evermark Property," Jay cut Kevin off, running over to his desk and searching through the files that were on it. "Evermark. That name," he muttered to himself, leafing through the papers, searching for something. The team exchanged curious looks with each other at Jay's behavior and they all walked closer, gathering around Jay's desk.
"Halstead?" Voight called out, expecting Jay to explain what he was doing.
"Evermark!" Jay exclaimed, fingers snapping on the paper. "I knew that name sounds familiar. Get this. You know how the Rappaports owned car dealerships and several companies in the area?" They all nodded, waiting for further explanation. "And guess what? Evermark is the name of a shell company they owned. That realty group that bought Yates' house? It's not a legit realty group. Stan bought that house using his parents' dirty money. That's where he has Erin."
"Alright," excitement and hope seeped in Voight's voice. "Vest up!" he ordered and everyone began to make their way down to the rollup, finally getting somewhere. Jay was stopped in his track by Voight's hand on his shoulder, the younger detective looking back at Voight. "Good job!" Voight said, catching Jay off guard.
He just nodded in reply, the words of how he'd do anything for Erin remained unspoken in the air but both men seemed to understand each other. "Let's go!" Voight said, patting Jay's shoulder. It was time to get their girl back.
"Stan," Erin started cautiously, slowly getting up on her leg despite the gunshot wound on her thigh. "You don't want to do that."
"Of course I do."
"If you light that lighter, everyone here will die, you get that? Including you."
Stan just laughed. "Duh, that's the point Erin." He shook his head, still laughing. "That's why I've brought all of you here. All the important people in my life. My parents who abandoned me, my father, the love of my life and you. Why continue living in this world filled with lies and empty promises when we can be together forever in a better place?" He pointed to the dead bodies of Yates and his parents. "Look, they're already waiting for us." He walked over to them and crouched them to caress the corpses. Erin tried to hold in her disgust at the action.
"Stan," Erin tried again. "You don't want to do that. You have a whole life to live here, in this world. Okay? Your dad wouldn't want you to do that."
"Don't act like you knew him Detective," Stan sneered. "The only person that understood him was me and the only person that truly understood me was him. We were one and the same and you took him away from me."
"And you want to get your revenge on me, I get that."
Stan chuckled loudly. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head. "You got me all wrong. I don't want revenge on you. I want you to join us. You were very special to my dad you know? That's why he was so focused on you. That's why I'm bringing you with us." Erin knew it was hopeless trying to reason with Stan at this point. He was completely gone, sanity was no longer with Stan. She glanced over at Jenny who was understandingly in fear for her life, begging with her eyes to Erin to stop Stan.
Erin turned back to Stan, trying to think of her options. She needed to stop him from lighting that lighter. The second he did, the whole house would explode and all of them would burn right along with the house. She couldn't let that happen. Not to Jenny. Not to herself. Not to Jay. She needed to give herself a chance, do anything she could so she could survive this. The house exploding would give her zero chance of survival. There had to be another option. She needed to fight. She made a promise to Jay that she would do anything to stay with him. They had their whole future to look forward to.
"Any last words before we see each other on the other side?"
Erin sucked in a breath, preparing for her next move. She glanced over at Jenny, giving her a reassuring look with her eyes before she turned back to Stan who had his hand on the button of the lighter, ready to blow the house up along with everyone else in it. With one final burst of strength she had, ignoring the searing pain from her thigh, she made her move, running as fast as she can to catch Stan off guard. She threw her body at Stan, surging forward and the momentum threw them through the window, glass shattering around them from the collision and they were in a free fall to the ground, unable to control their bodies.
The last thing that flashed through Erin's mind was Jay's smiling face staring up at her before her body hit the ground, head hitting the ground in a painful thud and indescribable pain coursing through all over her body. One last hope and prayer to survive this and see Jay's real smiling face was that last thing that ran through Erin's mind before her world went dark and she was completely pulled under.