Allegiance
Chapter Thirteen: Catching UpWith An Old Friend
Cragen
Cragen let out a sigh as he leaned up against the front of the car. Munch was beside him, his hands in his coat pockets, staring dejectedly at the ground. Just ahead of them Elliot paced back and forth like an angry panther in a cage. Fin stood staring intently at the vast rail yard that lay spread out before them.
"This is bullshit, Captain," Elliot said furiously.
"I know," Cragen replied. He shared Elliot's frustration at this situation. Once they found this place—thanks to Elliot—Lieutenant Carbine of the New York State Police had decided to position his men around the perimeter, surrounding the train yard, until they received more manpower to go inside to do a thorough search. While Carbine thought his was a sound tactic, this was still Olivia and Casey's lives at stake here. Cragen and his boys were raring to get in there and help them.
But the rail yard was a vast complex, with a multitude of buildings, both abandoned and still in use, all spread out over an immense network of train tracks. Even if the four of them started searching on their own, they wouldn't even cover half of the rail yard in one evening. They had no choice but to wait for extra manpower from the state police to come in. And that was taking way too long, in Cragen's estimation.
Cragen glanced up at Fin, who still stood staring at the rail yard. "See anything, Fin?"
"Nah," Fin growled. "Can't see shit."
"Elliot's right, this is bullshit, Captain," Munch said darkly.
"Yes it is," Cragen agreed. "But I remind you yet again that this is Long Island, and we are out of our jurisdiction. We have no choice but to follow the troopers' lead for now...no matter how frustrating it is."
Elliot stopped pacing and said, "And God only knows what Lister's doing to Liv and Casey while we're standing around here, holding our dic—"
He was interrupted by the sound of gunfire in the distance.
"THERE!" Fin pointed. "I saw a muzzle flash in the second story window of that building right there!"
Elliot ran up next to him. "That building right on the edge there?"
"Yeah, the one with the faded billboard on the side, see?"
"All right, c'mon," Cragen said, as he pulled out his gun. "Let's go!"
But Elliot was already gone. He had taken off running like a shot towards the building in the rail yard even before Cragen gave the order. It took everything they had for Cragen, Munch and Fin just to keep up behind him.
Elliot quickly jumped over a train track, but Cragen, Munch and Fin stopped short when a freight train suddenly appeared from around a bend, rumbling by right in front of them. They were cut off from Elliot until the train had finished passing.
"We would get the longest train in history!" Munch said, agitated. "How long is this thing, twelve miles?"
"There's the caboose," Cragen pointed hopefully.
"That ain't the caboose," Fin said dourly.
Cragen saw that he was right, it was just another boxcar—one in a long line of boxcars that stretched back as far as the eye could see. "I think this damn train really is twelve miles long!" he said with aggravation.
Casey. A few minutes earlier.
Casey froze in sheer terror once she saw Lister aim the gun at them from the window. 'Dear God,' she thought, 'I'm going to d—'
"MOVE!" Olivia screamed, as she shoved Casey right into the wall.
Casey grunted as the force of Olivia's shove bashed her up against the aluminum sliding on the wall. But she certainly didn't mind, for Olivia had just saved their lives. By abruptly pressing themselves up against he side of the building, just under the sloped roof, they were effectively out of the line of Lister's fire. Casey flinched when she heard the gun above them erupt, letting loose a barrage of bullets that rained on the ground directly ahead of them.
"Get moving," Olivia told her. "But stay close to the wall. I'll be right behind you."
As she made her way along the side of the wall, Casey glanced back and saw that Olivia used the building itself as support for her bum ankle. She was making good time, until Olivia abruptly stopped and pointed at something that was in front of Casey.
Casey was stunned to see Edward Lister, who now stood on the ground in front of her. He had obviously slid down the roof just as they had. He reached out and grabbed her by the neck. Casey let out a choked-off grunt as Lister effortlessly lifted her off of her feet and held her up close to his body. Casey stopped fighting once he aimed the gun right at her head.
"Get over here," Lister said to Olivia in a low, scary tone of voice.
"NO! Get away, Liv!" Casey cried. "RUN!"
"Yeah, Liv, go ahead and run," Lister said, mockingly. "Run, and Casey dies right here, right now. But if you come over here, then I'll let the both of you live."
"Ok," Olivia said, as she held her hands up. "Just think about this for a moment, all right? There's no need for you to do this."
"Spare me that hostage negotiation bullshit," Lister coldly said, "and get over here. Now."
Olivia looked up at something behind them, and abruptly burst into a broad smile of relief.
Lister rapidly swung around in the opposite direction, pulling Casey about with him. She then saw what Olivia had seen, and it was the most beautiful, awe-inspiring sight that Casey had ever seen in her life to that point.
Elliot Stabler slowly walked up to them, aiming his gun at Edward Lister.
"Hey Eddie," he said, his voice calm and casual. "Long time no see."
Elliot
Elliot had his Glock aimed right at Lister's head, but the bastard quickly realized that and kept Casey's head in front of his, blocking Elliot's line of fire. Although her eyes were wide and tear-filled, and Lister's Glock was aimed straight into her right cheek, Casey still gave him a broad smile.
"Hey, kid," he said with deep affection. "Hang in there, ok?"
"She'll be just fine," Lister said, "as long as you do exactly what I say. Benson, this is your lucky day! Get over by Elliot."
Olivia exchanged a look of disbelief with Elliot before she hobbled over to him. Elliot held out his left hand to her while still aiming his Glock with his right. When she got close enough, Elliot pulled Olivia towards him and gave her a tight hug with one arm. She briefly rested her head on his shoulder.
"You ok?" Elliot asked. He still stared at Lister, aiming the Glock at him.
"I busted my ankle," she replied. Olivia was also trembling, no doubt from standing in the freezing cold without her jacket. "I can't walk."
Lister began to back away from them slowly, holding Casey in front of him all the while. "Now the both of you just stay there," he said. "While Ms. Novak and I bid you farewell."
'Where the hell's Cragen, Munch and Fin?' Elliot wondered. 'They should have been here by now.' He realized that he had to stall Lister in any way possible. "Hey Eddie?"
"Yes, Elliot?" he said from behind Casey.
"I've got something to tell you."
"And what would that be, Elliot?"
"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up this right, then anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you do not—"
"Give me a break, Elliot."
"I'm trying to!" Elliot shot back. "This place is surrounded by the state police. There's nowhere for you to go, man. Just give it up."
"And be arrested by you?" Lister asked, as he continued backing up with Casey as his hostage. "No thanks. I'll see you around, Elliot."
Elliot's heart broke when he saw Casey give him one last, longing look before Lister pulled her out of sight around a corner.
Olivia shook her head. "He's gonna kill her the first chance he gets."
"I know." Elliot holstered his Glock, and then he removed his coat and gave it to Olivia, who immediately put it on. His coat was so big on her that it gave her the appearance of wearing a baggy robe.
Elliot did a double take when he saw a long train snaking through the rail yard. That train wasn't there before. "Shit. I think I know what's holding up Cragen and the others. That train."
He pulled out a .22 caliber auto from his ankle holster and gave it to Olivia.
She gave him a strange look, but didn't say anything. Still, Elliot knew what caused her puzzlement: he normally didn't pack an extra piece like this except only on special occasions, and this was one of them.
"My cell phone's in the inside right pocket," he told her, pointing at his coat. "Call Cragen and tell him I'm headed East after Lister and Casey."
"Will do, and be careful!" Olivia called after him.
Elliot raced down to the end of the building. When he got to the corner, he carefully peered around, his gun at the ready. He just caught a glimpse of Lister dragging Casey behind a freight car. Casey had her hands together in front of her, as if she were in prayer. Her wrists could have been bound, but he didn't get long enough a look to be sure.
Elliot broke into a run, holding his gun out before him. When he got to the edge of the freight car, he paused and peered around the corner.
There was nobody there.
'What the hell?' Elliot thought.
Beyond the freight car it opened up into a broad area of empty train tracks, about the size of an acre, before the ground dropped off sharply. Lister couldn't have covered an area this large, especially while hauling a hostage.
'Where are they?' he wondered. And then Elliot glanced at the freight car that he stood next to. 'Could they be inside?'
Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, and Elliot stared up just in time to see Lister diving off the roof of the freight car, coming down right on top of him.
Elliot tried to bring up his gun to fire, but Lister slammed into him just then, knocking him to the ground.
"Hi, Elliot," Lister said into his ear. "Just couldn't leave without giving you a little love tap."
He punched Elliot hard in the stomach just then, and when Lister made a motion to punch him again, Elliot brought up his leg and kneed him hard in the groin. That forced Lister off of Elliot, who raised his gun—only to discover to his horror that he no longer held the gun in his hand.
Elliot saw his Glock on the ground about a foot away from him. He reached out to grab the gun—
—just as Lister kicked him hard in the side.
The kick sent Elliot helplessly rolling over the ground, past the gun, and before he could even get his bearings, Lister came over and kicked him again.
Yet when Lister came up to kick Elliot a third time, he was in for a surprise. Just as Lister swung his foot forward, Elliot abruptly reached out and grabbed it with both hands.
Lister had a stunned expression on his face as Elliot savagely twisted his foot, causing Lister to fall helplessly to the ground. Once Lister landed, Elliot was on top of him; he delivered three brutal punches to Lister's face, with the last punch causing Lister's nose to burst open with blood.
Elliot let out an angry growl when Lister flung a handful of gravel into his face. In the instant he took to clear his vision, Lister was back on his feet.
Elliot glanced up just in time to see Lister deliver a kick right to his face. And then everything went numb as the entire world fell sideways. But Elliot knew that wasn't the case; Lister's kick had knocked him down and almost knocked him unconscious.
'Stay awake, stay the hell awake,' Elliot ordered himself. He could slowly sense feeling coming back to his body, but he still couldn't move anything. He stared up at Lister, who loomed over him threateningly.
"I'm not going to kill you," Lister announced. "I could have killed you in Novak's office. And I'm not going to kill you here. No, you see, I still like my idea of getting to you through your loved ones, Elliot."
Suddenly, Lister glanced up as the reflection of emergency lights shone on his face. "Looks like you weren't kidding when you said there were cops coming."
When the feeling finally returned to Elliot's body, it was accompanied by sheer, agonizing pain. It was struggle for him to simply lift his arm. When he heard a train horn blare, he saw there was another freight train rumbling just below the rise they both stood on.
"I guess we'll just have to continue this game some other time," Lister said, wiping blood from his damaged nose. "Good bye, Elliot. When next we meet, it'll be over the body of one of your kids. Semper Fi, baby."
The thought of this monster going after his children, the horrifying image of Maureen, Elizabeth, Liz and Dickie all cowering in fear from this sick bastard, was all the fuel that Elliot needed. "You better kill me now, Eddie," he snarled. "Because the only way you're ever getting near my kids is over my dead body!"
Lister smugly laughed at him as he spun around and walked away.
Elliot found the inner strength to lunge forward and grab Lister's foot in mid-step. He pulled Lister's foot up, tripping the man and causing him to fall over the top of the rise they were on.
Once Lister disappeared over the rise, Elliot stood up and charged forward to resume the fight. He stopped when he saw that Lister had slipped on the loose gravel, and rolled down the slope of the rise—
—and landed right on the train tracks.
When the bright light of the oncoming freight train's locomotive illuminated him, Edward Lister had barely a second to stare in open-mouth terror at it before the train ran him over.
Elliot let out a bark of laughter—then stopped when that proved to be very painful. As the freight train continued to rumble on by below him, Elliot whispered, "Semper Fi, asshole."
He wondered where the hell Casey was during all of this. He recalled that Lister had jumped him from the freight car; maybe that was where Casey was…he hoped.
As he walked back to the freight car, Elliot bent over to retrieve his gun from the ground. This simple effort caused him great pain, and it made him wonder if his ribs were broken. He resumed walking, and, playing a hunch, went up to the freight car from which Lister jumped him. He called out Casey's name.
He was relieved to hear her call back from within the freight car. Elliot grimaced in pain as he slid the side door open, and was rewarded with the sight of Casey, alive and well. At least as well as she could be, considering Casey stood awkwardly on her tip-toes with her wrists handcuffed to a hook on the wall above her head.
Gritting his teeth at the pain, Elliot climbed inside the car. Casey regarded him with concern as he approached her. "Elliot, are you all right?"
"You should see the other guy," he jokingly said, as he released her wrists from the handcuffs with a key.
As soon as her arms were free, Casey tightly hugged Elliot—which caused him to groan very loudly. Casey immediately pulled away as she timidly said, "Sorry. Where are you hurt?"
"Forget it," he said, as he embraced her again. "I'm just glad you're safe. C'mon, let's get back to Liv."
"What happened to Lister?" she asked.
"Run over by a train," Elliot replied, as they climbed out of the freight car.
Casey regarded him anxiously. "Did you give him any help?"
Elliot chuckled as he removed his suit jacket and gave it to her to wear. "I didn't push him, if that's what you're implying."
"Even if you did, nobody would blame you," Casey told him as she slipped his jacket on. "Thanks."
About a half dozen troopers of the New York State Police emerged from around the side of the freight car. They drew their guns and ordered Elliot to raise his hands, even after Elliot identified himself as a police officer.
"He's all right!" Casey shouted at them. "I'm Casey Novak…you know, the hostage? This man just saved my life!"
It was only when Fin and Munch appeared and vouched for Elliot that the troopers finally relented. Elliot briefed them on what happened, and where they could find Lister's body, assuming the train didn't smear it too badly from here to Montauk. Munch and Fin went with the troopers to check out Lister's body while Elliot and Casey walked back to Olivia.
Once they returned to the front of the building, they found Olivia leaning up against a pile of crates amid a group of police officers, both troopers and county boys. When Olivia saw them coming, she burst into a broad smile and limped over to Casey.
"No, Liv," Casey said, "you shouldn't put any weight on that ank—"
Casey was cut off when Olivia grabbed her in a tight embrace. Both women held each other briefly as Elliot gingerly took a seat on the pile of crates.
Olivia's smile faded when she saw how much pain Elliot was in. "You all right, El?"
"Oh, yeah," Elliot said, as let out a deep sigh. "I feel much better now that Edward Lister is gone."
After he explained to her what had happened with Lister, Olivia nodded with satisfaction. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," she said bluntly. "Look, they've got a bus coming for me. But maybe you should take it instead, Elliot."
Elliot started to laugh, until he stopped when it hurt once more. "Oh man, I look that bad, huh?" He grew solemn as he glanced at Casey and Olivia, who both sat on the crate on either side of him. He put his arms around the both of them and softly said, "Come here."
"Elliot, your ribs!" Casey fretted.
"Never mind my ribs. I just…." He broke off, getting choked up with emotion. "For a while there, I thought I lost you two. And now I just wanna…oh, just me a hug, will ya?"
The three of them warmly embraced at the same time, with Casey and Olivia resting their heads on each of his shoulders, and Elliot savored the moment for as long as it lasted.
They broke their embrace when Munch and Fin approached. "They found Lister," Munch said. "Or what's left of him. He's been sliced clean in half."
"Man when you go off on somebody, you don't mess around, do ya?" Fin said with a grin. He turned to Munch and added, "Remind me to never get this guy mad at me, huh?"
"That goes double for me," Munch replied.
Cragen appeared with Lieutenant Carbine of the state police. Like everyone else, Cragen gave Elliot a pained look of concern. "You ok?"
"It hurts like a son of a bitch," Elliot admitted. "But I'll live, Cap. Hell, I'm doing far better than Eddie Lister is right now."
"What happened to Lister?" Carbine asked.
Elliot thought about it for a second—and then, with a pleasant air, said, "Eddie caught the train."
Munch and Fin both let out low groans at that. Cragen grimaced while Lieutenant Carbine stared at him in puzzlement.
"Oh Jeez, Elliot," Casey said with a shake of her head.
Olivia gave him a disgusted look. "You were just waiting to say that, weren't you?"
Elliot simply smiled serenely at her.
...to be concluded in the next, and final, chapter.