"Hallie, do you have any idea where your sister might have went,
anywhere she usually goes?" Brian asked calmly.

"No, I don't where she would go, she doesn't go out much…" Hallie said
trying to sound truthful, even though she knew where Ali went, and
sort of wanted to go there herself. It was the only place they could
get away.

"Any friends, anything?" Brian questioned.

"No, I swear I have no idea," Hallie replied.

"Ok, relax it's going to be fine".

"Detective Cassidy, I don't feel really good…is it ok if I go to
the bathroom?" Hallie asked, even though she was lying about that too.

"Yeah sure honey, it's to the right," said Brian.

"You sure your ok?"

"Yeah I'm sure." Hallie replied quietly walking to the bathroom. Brian's eyes watched her as she shut the door.

"Ok, I hope you are." Brian said as Hallie left the hospital room.

I have to get out of this place, I'm not going to take the chance of
being wound up with my parents or a foster home Hallie thought to
herself.

She went to the bathroom and saw a window that wasn't open, but it
looked fairly easy to open it.

She climbed up the sink and took the latch to open the window. It
opened, and the cool wind of the spring weather blew into her face.

Finally she was free and going to be away.

The cold air hit her face and she smiled. She knew where her sister was and she was going to the same place. She had no other choice, this was the only place she felt loved.

Running as fast as she could, which was fast because she used to be on the track team, she ran past families in the park and couples kissing in what they thought was private.

Turning one more sharp corner and running past known drug areas she finally stopped to catch her breath in front of a man.

"Why Hallie, wasn't expecting you around lovely, what do you need?" he asked in a cold voice. Hallie ignored his tone and stood up.

"I need drugs Terrell, you know, have you seen Ali around?"

Terrell looked around and smiled.

"No, shall I be expecting her?"

"You've seen her, don't give me that shit, I just need to talk to her then you can have her back and I will go to work."

Terrell did a once over on Hallie exasperated and desperate look.

"With a client." he said simply.

"Listen, the police are on the way, if you want to stay in business I suggest you get her over to me!"

Terrell's smile disappeared as he quickly pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed

"Hey, yeah man you have Ali Laos? Yeah right, that little cutie, her sister is here – she's wants to see her," Terrell said.

"He said it will have to wait," Terrell told Hallie, holding his hand over the speaker of the phone.

"Well, tell him I need to see her really soon, or the police will find me," Hallie said desperately.

"Yeah, she wants to see her soon," Terrell explained to the person on the other line.

"He said that if you want to see her, to come by in twenty minutes," Terrell said as he shut off his phone.

"Ok, where are they?" Hallie asked.

"Down at the Stars Motel, 86th street," Terrell said.

"Can I have some drugs now," Hallie asked as she wanted heroin badly for herself.

"That's going to cost ya, 50 bucks," Terrell said smiling, "Or a good half hour?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 30 minutes you said?" Hallie asked hating this part of the deal.

"Yes, and a good 30 minutes too." Terrell said huskily. Hallie walked toward him and draped her arms around his neck and started to kiss him.

"Ohhh baby, just as good as your sister, mmmm." he moaned.

30 minutes was up and Hallie got herself dressed.

"Here you go baby." Terrell handed her some heroin and returned to his work.

It had been fifteen minutes and Hallie still didn't return from the bathroom. Brian started to worry.

He came to knock on the door.

"Hallie, are you ok?" Brian asked.

No answer.

"Hallie, you in there?" Brian asked again, this time more concerned.

Still silence.

"Hallie?" Brian yelled this time.

He opened the door to the restroom and it was empty. But he did see the open window, Hallie ran away too.

Oh man! Brian thought to himself.

He took out his phone to call Elliot.

"Yeah, Elliot? Hallie ran away too," Brian said.

"I know, I'm an idiot!-- she said she needed to use the bathroom---, what was I supposed to do? Look, we have two missing girls,-- we got to go find them—You booked the parents? All right, well let's get a team set up to find them. Yeah –alright," Brian said as he talked to Elliot.

Brian felt really guilty for what happened. He should have known better.

Hallie was walking down the New York City streets as she approached Stars Hotel. She could see it distinctly by the pink neon sign.

It was dark out, and the wind started to chill Hallie who only had a long sleeve shirt on.

She went into the reception area, and asked the lobbyist if a Ali and another man came in.

"Yeah, the older brother and sister? Yeah, they're in room 214, take the stairs to go up there---Hey you look just like that girl, you related?" the lobbyist asked.

"Uh, yeah we are," Hallie said as she walked away quickly.

She left the reception area and headed for the stairs of the motel to room 214. The stairs were metal but they were apparently painted green and had carpet on them. The cheap kind that was made out of the material of a door mat.

She finally got in front of room 214 and knocked on the door. It took awhile for it to finally open.

A tall man, late twenties to early thirties came out without a shirt.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I'm Hallie, you know, the sister of the girl you're with?" Hallie explained.

"Yeah, you actually came, well your sister already left," the man said smirking.

"Where?" Hallie asked.

"I don't know, I got my money's worth why should I care. Bye," he slammed the door in front of her.

That's just what I needed. Hallie thought to herself sarcastically

She went down the stairs and started shooting heroin in the alley.

If Ali wants to go about, so can I and I will. Hallie thought as she injected herself.

She started to feel drowsy, but enjoyed the sensation of relaxation the heroin brought her. She liked the needle as it pricked her arm and left more scars.

My release, that's all, just a release.

Ali walked down 14th street. She figured by now the police were searching for her by now. She didn't care, where she was going no one would find her. The wind picked up even more and rain gently started to fall.

After about 10 minutes of walking in the rain Ali heard sirens coming close to her. Quickly, she ducked into a dark alley and huddled in a fetal position for awhile trying to get some body heat. The sirens passed and Ali stood again. She brushed her self off and continued to walk.

She thought about Hallie. How could she just abandoned her like this? Sure, Hallie knew where she was at first, getting some money for this trip. Prostitution wasn't her choice. It was a last resort. The only way she could get money and drugs was by selling herself to some guy who can't get it himself and has to pay. She didn't choose this life, she deserved it.

Brian was about to give up looking for the twins. Ali was probably long gone by now, Brian had no clue where. Elliot was infuriated with him. He had taken a separate car to look for Hallie.

The more Brian thought about Hallie and Ali's life the more he started to feel like he was understanding.