Chapter 12

Tru and Carisi sat at the kitchen island in her apartment. Her high school yearbook was opened in front of them, and she had run her hands through her hair and now they rested, gripping the back of her neck. She stared at the picture of Carson open in front of them.

"I can't believe I didn't remember him," Tru said quietly.

"It only takes a little thing to set these guys off." Carisi offered.

Tru bit her bottom lip, "What did he say?"

"He asked if I thought you were mine." Carisi said.

Tru stared at him for a minute, "Like the pictures said…she's mine."

Carisi nodded, "And this," he pulled the two pictures of himself hugging her and the piece of paper that said once again, she's mine. Tru gazed at them in disbelief. "I received them early this morning."

"How did he—"

"I don't know." Carisi shook his head.

Tru was silent for a few minutes, mulling over something in her mind. She sighed heavily finally and said, "Maybe I should just leave town."

Carisi narrowed his eyes on her, "You want to run away?"

"Do you blame me?" She asked.

Carisi shook his head, "No but if you run you're letting him win," Sonny leaned forward, looking into her eyes, making sure she heard the words he was saying. "I promise you my team will bring this guy down."

Tru nodded as she ran her hands through her hair, "Speaking of your team…" She trailed off for a minute, "Did you get in a lot of trouble with your boss?"

Sonny smiled at her, "Nothing I can't handle." Carisi replied. He looked her over and couldn't help but notice how tired she looked. Her eyes wore the dark bags of being kept awake at night, tossing and turning, worrying. Her shoulders drooped forward with the weight of the world on them. "You should get some rest."

"I can't." She said simply. He didn't ask why, he knew why. She was afraid of him.

Carisi stood up and gently grabbed her by the shoulders, leading her to the sofa. She was tired she just left him, he sat her down and leaned down in front of her, "You need to rest, even if it's just for a couple hours. I won't let anything happen to you."

He grabbed the soft, green through blanket from the back of the sofa and draped it over her. "Can you turn the t.v on?" She asked. "I can't just lay here and listen to my thoughts…it drives me crazy."

"Sure," he picked up the remote and turned the television to a late-night sitcom. He moved around the living room, dimming the lights, and pulling the curtains closed. He made sure the door was locked, and he noticed she had added two deadbolts and a chain lock to the door. He shook his head, wishing he could help make her feel safe. Hoping he did make her feel safe.

He took a seat in the oversized chair adjacent to the couch, and crossed one leg over the other, leaning his arm against the arm of the chair he rubbed his temple, staring at the woman he had grown so close to. He found himself thinking about how beautiful she was, how strong she was. She was trying so hard not to let this animal bring her down, she refused to let him darken her light and that made Caris fall even harder for her.

Before he knew it his own tiredness set in. His eyes were heavy and harder and harder to keep open. He felt his muscles relaxing into the chair as he began to fall asleep too.

Carson Goldberg walked into his apartment and slammed the door angrily behind him. The arrogance of that cop was getting to him. The cop thought he had him between a rock and a hard place but he didn't. He didn't know anything yet. He shrugged off his jean jacket and threw it onto the chair as he walked over to his computer screens. The live video feed from Tru's apartment was already pulled up. Carson sat down in front of it, grabbing the bottle of liquor that he kept next to it his filled his glass and took a big, long drink feeling it burn down his throat.

He scanned the screens trying to see what was going on. Tru laid sleeping on the couch, with a blanket pulled all around her. Her hair fell against her face. He remembered her hair, and the smell of it filling his nostrils when he was on top of her. He must have smelled every shampoo bottle in the drugstore trying to find the brand she used until all the smells blended and he wasn't able to find it.

Something caught his eye from the corner of the frame, almost out of sight. An arm moving maybe. With only the light from the television on in her apartment it was hard for him to see. He squinted closer, wishing he had put a camera at that angle. He could make out the silhouette of a man and he didn't have to see him to know who he was.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He exclaimed out loud.

He poured himself another drink and downed it. "What do I have to do to get rid of this guy?" He said, again to himself. He had already exposed their "relationship," to his boss and coworkers, and got him reprimanded. He had sent countless messages and threats. Both Tru and the detective should know better by now. He would have to up the game. Send them a message neither one of them could ignore. He would show them once and for all. She belonged to him.

Carisi was awaken by a sound in the dead of night, not even realizing he had fallen asleep. He blinked his eyes, trying to fend off the grogginess and comprehend what was going on. Was something wrong? He heard it again, a whimper. He sat up, remembering he was at Tru's and he was supposed to be keeping watch over her. He looked over at her and she was still laying on the couch, the blanket had been kicked off and she was struggling in her sleep. She cried out again. Carisi rushed over to her, lightly shaking her shoulder.

"Tru," he said, "Tru wake up."

She let out a blood curdling scream when he touched her and jerked away from him backing up against the back of the couch as far as she could. She kicked her feet at him, her eyes springing open and her arms instinctively pushing him away.

"Hey, Tru, Tru! It's just me!" Carisi said, having to speak louder and louder. "Hey it's Sonny!"

Tru stopped when she heard his voice and he clicked on the lamp next to the sofa. "It's just me, you were having a bad dream."

Tru stared at him, out of breath, her curly hair as wild and crazy as her actions had just been. She started to speak, "Sonny-I-I'm…"

"It's okay," He said.

Her hand flew to her mouth, "I think I'm gonna be sick." She exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and ran to the bathroom. He heard her retching from the other room. He remembered her getting sick the other day also, having to puke after the lineup. She walked back into the room, pulling her hair off her neck into a high bun. Her skin looked pale and glistened with sweat. A sickening thought crossed his mind. He remembered how they were able to get DNA from the second attack…because he didn't wear a condom.

"Tru…" He said uncertainly, not sure if he wanted to open this can of worms.

"Yeah?" She asked distractedly as she walked across the room, she was reaching for her glass of water.

He tried to find the right words, but it didn't matter, there wasn't a right way to say this. "You don't think you're…. pregnant…. Do you?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him, eyes wide with fear and confusion. "What?" She exclaimed. "Of course not!"

"Are you sure?" He asked.

He could see the panic rising in her chest, "They gave me that morning after pill both times…"

"But still those are only 75% effective." He said.

She raced across the room to the calendar hanging on the wall and began to count days, doing the math. After a minute she said, "It's barely late…"

"You should go see your doctor," Carisi insisted.

"No, no, no I can't deal with that right now," she said as she took a seat at the bar. She buried her head in her hands.

"Ok then, um…" Carisi walked around to the other side so he was looking at her. "Do you want me to get one of those home tests?"

She looked up at him, surprised, "You would do that?"

"Of course," he replied. He slid into his jacket and headed for the door, not caring that it was 4 o'clock in the morning, there was a store open somewhere and this needed resolved right away.

He pulled open the door and started to walk out it when something caught his eye on the floor. He looked down and saw a medium sized, bright red box. "What is this?" He asked, bending down he wrapped his coat around it when he picked it up careful to not leave any fingerprints on it.

"What is what?" Tru asked, turning her head to see what he was talking about. He set the box down in front of her on the bar. "What is that?" She asked wearily.

"We're about to find out," Carisi said as he carefully removed the lid. They let out a gasp in unison when they saw what was inside. Tru jumped back off her chair and her hand flew over her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my god."

Carisi stared down at the box and the contents inside-two dead birds. One was a bright yellow, the other one blue, both laid out on their back with their wings spread open touching each other. There was a dark red line of blood right down the center of their little chests and stick pins stuck in them. "Bastard."

Carisi's fists clenched on the counter so hard his knuckles had turned white. After the initial shock, Tru came closer, slowly peering into the box once more, she could only bring herself to look for a second.

"These are love birds," she said, looking at Carisi. "This is about me and you."

He looked at her, wanting to protect her with every fiber in his being. A deep, dark sense of impeding doom rose from within him. The stakes were being raised. He could feel it in his gut. He got the message loud and clear. Good one Goldberg, he thought, but I'm still not going anywhere.