Sherrif Cooper had answered his phone after a few rings, sounding groggy at first, but snapped into focus as soon as he heard Carisi.. He told Rollins and Carisi he'd be driving them out to Thomas' property. First he needed to get a few things together. They all needed to wear their vests before going. Thomas was a cop, not to mention allegedly, a serial killer. He was bound to have an arsenal at his home. Cooper called Deputy Branch on his cell phone and told him not to use the radios, Jeff might be listening. His house was out there, in the country. It would take time to get there, and they didn't want him knowing they were coming. Cooper's 4 wheel drive would be better on the back roads. Amanda had talked to Olivia and she was getting on the way too. One of the state troopers at the motel had a 4 wheel drive and had Liv, Elliott, Fin and another state trooper in his car. The cadets were being roused right now.
It would take about 30 minutes to get to Jeff Thomas's house from Liberty and a bit longer from the motel where Liv was coming from. Mrs. Cooper had managed to quickly brew coffee and get 3 cups in their hands before they left. Carisi opened the front door to let Rollins through first, but they both turned back when they heard Alice call his name.
"Sam". Amanda realized she didn't know his first name. They saw Cooper embracing his wife of 20 years. Alice was whispering something to him, and he nodded before pulling back, to look her in the eyes and caress her cheek. Carisi pulled at Rollins vest. She turned and he gestured for them to go outside. It felt like they were intruding. Carisi quietly closed the door behind them. He could only hope he and Amanda would have what these two obviously did. A life together, still in love.
It was still cloudy out, but the bright autumn moon created a hazy dull light that allowed them to see a little. No city lights out here. They stood by the truck. Dominick put his arm around her, pulling her close. Amanda's arm instinctively tried to wrap around him, but the bulky vests were in the way. She hung her hand on the front of the vest, pulling it down a bit.
"You see that"? She asked him.
"Hm"? He wasn't sure what she was referring to.
In the dim light he could see her nod back to the house.
"The way he looked at her...after how many years"? She asked as if she was asking if he'd just seen a unicorn.
"Not like they love each other because they've been together so long, but like really in love". Amanda saw it in their faces before they'd shut the door.
Carisi would have chuckled if he didn't know she was serious. He'd been lucky enough to have several examples of a love that lasted like that in his life, but Amanda didn't. He could tell it was a foreign concept to her.
"Yea. They are". He responded confidently, and pulled her closer.
She leaned in as close as she could to him.
"You know"... he started, thinking now was as good a time as any to mention this, seeing how they were about to face off with a serial killer who may, or may not have a house full of guns and traps.
"If I'm being honest...A part of me has been in love with you for the better part of seven years Amanda Rollins. Only now that we're together... it's just...stronger. Every day, I just grow more in love with you. The way they are? Doesn't surprise me at all".
She looked up, and even in the dim moonlight he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.
"You have not Carisi". She refused to believe that was true.
"You don't have to believe me, but it is a fact. I really can't remember a time when I knew you, without being, at least a little bit, in love with you". He said it with such conviction.
"So...do you picture things like you and me...together... in 20 years? Is that something you think about"? Amanda asked, after trying to swallow the tears that threatened to spring to her eyes again. She thought about all the time she'd wasted by denying herself the right to be with him.
"Oh, I know it will be. I have no doubts". He pushed her around in front of him so he could wrap both arms around her, as much as possible with the vests in the way.
"If you really want to know, I think about it quite a bit". He smiled.
"I thought men were supposed to think about sex every two minutes". She joked.
"Yea... Can't deny that". He laughed.
"I can't speak on behalf of all men, but with you, it might even be more than that". She didn't have to see him in the darkness to know he had that smirk on his face.
Just then Cooper opened the door, and rushed to the truck apologizing to them for the delay.
Carisi told him he had nothing to apologize for while they all got in. As he turned down the drive, he talked to them about what they'd be walking into.
"We were out at his place a few years ago for a barbecue when he started. Thomas has several buildings on the property. We're gonna need to enter with enough force to be able to check them all at once...in case he tries to run". Cooper wished they'd had time for him to draw a map of the ones he knew about. It would be hard to find them all in the daytime, let alone in the pitch blackness.
He'd told Branch to bring spotlights from the station, they needed to have as much light as they could.
Carisi hadn't worn a gun since he joined the DAs office 2 years ago, but he still went to the range on a regular basis for practice. A part of him was always worried Hadid would fire him and he'd need to go back to being a cop again. It was also something he could do with Amanda. As much as he loved his job, he missed working with her. The little things like stopping for coffee after they'd interviewed a bunch of witnesses and had to get through a ton of paperwork after. He remembered when they'd stand in line, people always assumed they were together. He'd seen men watching her, then catching his eye and quickly looking away. Assuming he was her husband, boyfriend, or whatever and not wanting to be caught ogling her in front of him. Sometimes he'd even make sure they'd see his badge & gun if they didn't stop. He'd have a moment of wishful thinking every time. If Amanda ever noticed, she did a good job of hiding it.
They hit a bump in the road and he was snapped back to the present.
Sherrif Cooper had Deputy Branch and Olivia on a call, they were going to meet about a mile from the drive to Thomas's place to wait for enough of them to hit the place hard and with overwhelming force.
Amanda hated the idea of being just outside his property. Thinking what might be happening with Kat made her want to rush in there. It would be another half hour once they got there before they could go in. She put her head in her hands. In the dark Carisi still saw her, and knew what she was thinking. He reached back and squeezed her hand. She lifted her head and took his hand in both hers. She wasn't one to pray but she said a silent prayer Kat could hang on till they got there.
Cooper turned the lights of the truck off and slowed down as he neared the driveway. The house was a ways back, but he didn't want to alert him someone was here. He thought he could make out a light between the trees of the house. He turned just enough to back out and turned around and drove about a mile back and pulled off to the side of the road to wait.
Slowly cars began arriving. They were quiet, and were all told to arrive without lights, they needed the element of surprise.
Amanda was anxious to get on the property. She looked up at the sky, just beginning to show less black as dawn approached. At least they wouldn't need the spotlights for long. Hopefully they'd find her quickly. Finally it seemed they had enough deputies, cops and volunteers to enter. Instead of using the cars, they chose to go on foot. Using the driveway. Cooper figured he would have some kind of alert system if a car entered. Hopefully without one, it would give them more time. Without radios they had to depend on timing. 4 teams would approach the 4 main buildings and all breach at the same time. Volunteers waited at the road for the all clear to come in and assist if needed.
Rollins and Carisi were on the team with Cooper at the main house. They waited until 5:14 am before breaching each structure at the same time. The no knock warrants were secured with the help of Manhattan ADA Carisi. Nearly impossible to come by nowadays. The next few minutes were incredibly tense, the teams were each warned to watch out for any kind of traps.
They cleared the main house. The 2 sheds. The garage. All buildings were clear. No sign of Thomas, Kat or the missing waitress. They were all left confused. Jeff couldn't have known they were coming. He had to have a second location. Cooper called the dogs and handlers in, maybe they'd have luck.
By 6 am the property was swarming with police, forensics teams, and search dogs, and still no sign of them.
The dogs had caught Kats scent and given them hope at first. But then they stalled out in the middle of the property and kept going in circles. The handlers didn't know what was going on. Cooper suggested maybe he had some kind of aircraft. You could buy different things online, maybe that was his getaway plan. It didn't explain why they saw nothing that morning though. Unless he fled previously, thinking he was going to be caught eventually. The bomb squad along with ESU were giving the property a once over before they started really looking in earnest for clues.
Amanda was sitting on the steps of the main house, her head in her hands. She had expected they'd find him and end up in a firefight of some kind. She was preparing herself for that. But this? This was just finding nothing at all. Carisi walked up briskly with one of the dog handlers. Amanda lifted her head when she heard the excitement in his voice.
"I told these guys about the dog in Central Park", Carisi stood in front of her and motioned to the man next to him, leading a beautiful German Shepherd. "That we think he belonged to Thomas. They suggested getting the dog up here, and he might be able to lead us to wherever he's holding them". Carisi paused, and got his phone out while he waited for a reaction from Amanda.
"I guess it's worth a shot, we've got absolutely nothing as of right now, and acres of property to search". Amanda motioned around her. Nothing but woods around the clearing where all his buildings were. Some of them pretty dense too. It would take months to cover the whole place.
Just then an ESU officer walked up to his Captain, holding some device attached to a wire.
"Trip Wire". Was set off way back at the road. He knew we were here way before we breached".
Carisi dialed and brought his phone up to his ear.
"Liv, I need you to get your guy to pick up Jenn Rapone, the animal control officer and the dog and bring them here"...
"Yea, I'm calling her right now to meet them".
He hung up the phone and dialed again.
Unlike Carisi, Jenn picked up her phone on the first ring. Turned out she hadn't slept much and was already on her way to work. Carisi told her to get the dog then walk over to the police station next door. The helicopter would be picking her up there, on the roof.
It would take them an hour to get here by chopper. So they had an hour to dig up any possible clues they could. So he knew they were coming. How'd he escape? By air? Underground tunnel? There's no way he got past them on the road. They spent the next hour looking for any clue they could find.
When the helicopter arrived, and Jenn Rapone jumped down with the big shepherd, Rollins realized this could be their last shot at finding Kat in time. And this was not a trained rescue dog. Just some dog that likely lived here. She tried to control the emotions welling up inside her. She and Carisi stood just outside the area they cleared for the chopper. They had one of the K9 Search and Rescue guides with them as well as Deputy Branch. Sheriff Cooper had taken over the search inside the main house, trying to find any possible hidden areas with ground penetrating radar now that the bomb squad had done a sweep. Fin, Elliot and Liv had taken the other 2 main buildings to do the same thing.
They'd cleared the other dogs out of the area and sent searchers either outside the property lines or inside the buildings.
The helicopter took off again, they were assisting in the search with a FLIR thermal camera.
When Jenn led the dog to them, she smiled when she saw Rollins, then gave a knowing look to Carisi. Just a flash of one, they had much bigger issues to deal with right now.
"Detective Rollins, wish I could say good to see you again, but under the circumstances"...she nodded to Carisi too "Sonny".
Amanda nodded, smiling until she heard 'Sonny'. Guess she got over her need to be formal with him. She pushed that thought out of her head. Even if this woman did have a thing for Carisi, Rollins knew he would never...
Carisi introduced her to Deputy Branch, who blushed when he shook her hand, making her smile again, and the K9 handler, Caroline Lee.
Caroline let them know she needed to run a few tests with the dog. She said shepherds were generally quick learners and she could assess his ability pretty quickly. See if they'd be wasting time trying to get him to help out. They'd usually have him watch another dog but there was no time to test how he was with other dogs.
They watched as she took him to task, first giving him a treat, then letting him watch where she put it, and snap a clicker telling him to find it. She did that a few times, then had them take the dog so he couldn't see where she put the treat. When they brought him back, she told him to find it and snapped the clicker again. He sniffed the ground, and followed almost exactly the path she'd taken. He found the treat quickly.
Now the hard part, Rollins gave them her jacket, then they walked the dog into the house, and she hid herself. Then they tried to have him sniff her jacket while she waited. At first he just kept looking for more treats, but he caught on fast enough even if it wasn't perfect.
Finally...they got Kat's jacket from one of the evidence bags. They stuck the jacket in front of him and Jenn snapped the clicker. He looked at her, twisting his head to the side.
"Where is she"? Jenn spoke dog as much as any dog lover did. Raise your voice, make it sound like playtime. She stuck the jacket to his nose again. "Goooo get em'! This time the dog started to run, turned back confused. Caroline had told him to 'find it' each time. So she put the jacket in front of his nose again and said "Find it"! The dog panted, and spun around, running and sniffing the ground.
"Oh my God, is he really doing it? I thought this was a serious long shot". Amanda couldn't believe it.
"Don't get your hopes up yet, he might just be running away". The handler spoke.
"Or just playing". Jenn added.
But Carisi saw the dog's head glued to the ground, going in a fairly straight line, deeper into the property. They realized he was moving fast and that they'd never be able to keep up if he took off at full speed. After a few minutes, he quit sniffing the ground and just sprinted.
"Shit". Jenn exclaimed. "He's running".
All four of them ran after the dog, and several officers exited the buildings they were waiting in. Giving them room to see if this would work. Seemed like it might be over and they'd just need to get back to their own search. Jenn was the fastest out of all of them but even she lost sight of the black dog for a few minutes. Then suddenly she ran into a clearing and he was just...sitting there.
"Ugh, you are seriously a bad dog". Her tone wasn't mean, the dog couldn't help it. Carisi ran up, then the trainer and Rollins. All of them out of breath from the quick sprint. He hadn't moved, so Jenn hooked the leash back up to the harness she'd put on him.
"I'm sorry guys, I was really hoping he'd be able to help". Jenn tried to lead him back but he wouldn't budge. When she tried to pull harder, his bark startled all of them. He just stood there...barking. Then, almost as if the dog were frustrated with them he pawed at the ground...then looked back at them.
"Carisi"... Amanda began to look at the ground, and held her hands out, directing the handler and Jenn to back up.
"I got you"...Dominick's response. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and picked up the sat phone to call Liv and get everyone here now. The dog had led them to the right place...but it was under them.