Eeeek I know it's been a minute! Will spare you all the details but here is the next chapter.
Erin bit her lip as she stood at the bottom of the steps. Normally when she woke up to an empty space beside her, she'd fumble for Jay's pillow before realizing she'd tossed it off in the night in an attempt to get closer to her partner. She'd resort to pulling the covers as high as they could go after confirming the kids were still asleep and it was indeed too early to rise, hoping to squeeze out an extra few minutes.
This morning, her routine check of the baby monitors revealed two empty cribs. She sprung out of bed (and Erin Lindsay never sprung out of bed) and hustled down the hall to confirm that while her boys were still missing, her little girl was safe.
Piper was huddled under the covers, all her pillows on the floor beside her. Erin resisted the urge to sigh loudly. She knew her little bug was going to have a tough night after getting spooked at soccer pick up, but she hadn't heard her over the baby monitor. She did however hear her partner shed the sheets several times, and after seeing the pillows on the floor, the heavy breath escaped her lips. At least Jay had woken up when their little girl was struggling.
She lingered in the doorway before continuing her search for her boys downstairs, hoping to find Jay asleep on the couch with Liam and Ryan in their downstairs cribs. She and Jay had stayed up later than they should have of trying to strategize how to best move forward with Piper's continued anxiety, especially as they approached the school year. Jay fell asleep with a notebook on his chest that Erin found when she kicked off the sheets. As much as she loved his diligence, he needed sleep especially with his goals of becoming a sergeant.
Erin scanned the dim living room, brow furrowed. Jay wouldn't take off with the boys. Plus, Ryan hated the car so he wouldn't have taken them for a drive.
She narrowed her eyes as the room came into better focus. The blankets were folded neatly on the back of the couch, and all the pillows were in their proper place. After Jay ushered her up the steps for a hot shower after a rough day, she was fairly confident that the downstairs of their home was a disaster.
Leave it to her partner to clean and reorganize.
Erin paused when the muffled sound of repeated exhales came up from the basement door. Of course. All the pieces were coming together. The boys had woken up and Jay was either already awake, or woke up when he heard them, and chose to bring them downstairs to avoid rousing her or Piper.
Jay Halstead really was something else.
She padded softly down the steps to their basement that was supposed to be Jay's man-cave, but had really turned into their home gym. Pre-pregnancy, occasionally he could convince her to join in on a morning workout while Piper snoozed upstairs, but in the haze of postpartum hormones, breastfeeding and recovering from a C-section (not to mention the other near-death experiences), waking up before the sun to sweat in the basement was low on her list of priorities.
Jay caught her gaze mid-burpee. "Last set," he managed, dropping down to the yoga mat before springing back up, "One sec."
Erin bit her lip. Her fiancé was sexy.
"You're ridiculous," she informed him, "It's still dark outside."
"Natural adrenaline," Jay explained in an exhale after landing on his feet. Jay wiped his forehead with the towel he had resting atop a bottle of water, "You know, I gotta stay awake somehow, and apparently the coffee police are after me."
Erin responded with an exaggerated eye roll. "Last I checked, I wasn't the police," she said, shaking her head when Jay offered a cheeky grin, "I'm just worried about that heart of yours." She rested her cool fingertips on Jay's bare chest and raised her eyebrows.
"Coffee FBI, then," he acquiesced. Jay covered Erin's fingers with his sweaty hand. "I'm good, babe. Gettin' in better shape so I can keep up with those two." He tilted his head toward the boys who were in their bouncy seats, Liam with a teething toy at his lips and Ryan with the stuffed turtle. "Plus, they were up already. Thought you could use a couple more minutes of sleep."
"You could use more sleep," Erin countered, "I heard you get up for Noodle in the middle of the night. You've got a big case this week."
"I feel good," Jay promised, "I feel like myself again. Only better." He smiled again. "Plus, they get a kick out of the burpees. Totally think it's hilarious. Isn't that right guys?" His smile widened when Ryan gurgled. "Thanks for backing me up, bubba."
"You are such a goon." Erin rolled her eyes again when Jay reached his hands out to pull her close. "Nuh-uh. You're sweaty." She squealed. "Babe!"
"I thought you liked me sweaty," Jay teased, raising his eyebrows as Erin shook her head, "C'mon, Er. Don't deny it."
Erin scanned her fiancé's body. For getting stabbed six months ago, Jay really did look good. "What are you wearing?" she asked, pointing to the shorts he was wearing, "When did you get those?"
Jay glanced down at the shorts he'd pulled out of the drawer blindly that morning. "Pretty sure you bought me these," he replied, "What? Too much thigh?"
She shook her head. "Just enough." Erin cleared her throat. "My eyes only, got it? Not acceptable attire for the gym."
"Your eyes only," Jay parroted, "Just like that outfit of yours that's in the back of our closet-"
"Little ears!" Erin gestured to the boys who were still preoccupied with their respective toys. "We're raising gentlemen, remember?"
"They don't understand," he insisted, "We've got a couple of years before they start asking any questions." Jay leaned down to kiss Erin's neck. "And I don't need a special outfit to think you're hot, babe."
"Probably can't even fit into that anymore," Erin replied dryly, "You might have to settle for an old Blackhawks t shirt." She tugged at the oversized shirt of Jay's that she had worn to bed.
"That's not settling. That's the dream." Jay rubbed the worn sleeve of his old shirt between his sweaty fingertips. "What's mine is yours." He kissed her lips gently.
"Mm," she murmured, pulling back, "We can't. Not with the boys watching." Erin exhaled heavily. "Noodle will be up soon."
"I was going to let her sleep as long as possible," he informed her, switching over seamlessly into dad-mode, "Tough day yesterday, and not her best night. Not the worst, but she needs to sleep. Especially with how much activity is happening at camp."
Erin smiled and rubbed his chest gently. "You're a really good daddy," she breathed, "Really good. Hottest dad at summer camp pick up."
Jay chuckled when Liam started to cry. "Aw, dude, really?"
"He dropped the toy," Erin explained, crouching down to lift her son into her arms. "Here, buddy. That's better, huh?" She kissed the top of his soft hair. "Oh, you could use a change."
"Ryan Poop Machine Halstead needs one too," Jay determined after lifting Ryan up, "You had a clean one like forty five minutes ago." He tickled his tummy. "Thankfully a happy guy this morning though. Let's get you two changed."
"Babe?" Erin turned back down the steps to catch her partner's gaze, one of their sons in his arms. He really did look good. "Maybe uh, tonight, after the kids are in bed we could-"
"Oh, definitely."
"I don't feel good."
Jay nearly dropped the baby bottles he was preparing for his two babbling sons in their baby bouncer seats. The boys had slept through the night and were happily observing their daddy as he bustled around the kitchen in an effort to get all of the Halsteads out the door on time.
Piper, on the other hand, had slept through the night fitfully. Jay had woken twice to plaintive whimpers coming from the baby monitor, his sweet little bug caught in yet another nightmare. Her sleep had been good for weeks and it had been a while since he was up almost every hour, but after Piper's hysterical tears the day before, both he and Erin had anticipated the difficult night.
"What's wrong?" he asked, abandoning the bottles on the counter to approach Piper, who was standing at the bottom of the steps, still in her clothes from the day before. He crouched down to meet her eyeline and stroked her hair back. "What hurts, kiddo?"
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself. Jay placed his fingertips against her forehead, relief momentarily filling his veins. Piper wasn't running a fever, and her color was good. "Your head?" Jay pressed, lightly stroking her hair back with his thumb, "Your stomach?"
Piper shrugged again and shrank into herself further. "I don't know."
Jay furrowed his brow as he studied his little girl. Complaining about not feeling well was completely out of character for his kid. Piper (in true Lindsay fashion) was the type of child to attempt to muscle through anything and everything, evident in how she nearly passed out from pneumonia the year prior after attempting to conceal it from her parents. He and Erin had worked hard to set the expectation that Piper could come to them with anything, but especially if she was feeling sick. She'd gotten better about admitting to headaches and feeling tired when they pressed, but fully confessing to feeling crummy first thing in the morning without any prompting – this was uncharted territory.
Piper jumped slightly when the sound of Erin's work shoes came from the top of the steps. "What's going on?" Erin asked lightly, adjusting her blazer as she descended. She paused when she took in her partner's troubled expression and Piper's huddled frame. "Babe?"
"Pipes isn't feeling too good," Jay said slowly, again pressing his fingers to her forehead. Still no fever. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on with his kid, which was troubling him almost as much as the fact that she wasn't feeling well. He could usually get to the bottom of anything fairly quickly, he was a detective after all, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Oh, sweet girl," Erin murmured, reaching a hand to smooth her hair back, "I'm sorry, Noodle bug." She immediately frowned when Piper flinched and exchanged a worried glance with Jay. "Is your head hurting?"
Piper shook her head slowly. "Your belly?" Erin crouched down beside Jay and reached forward to rub Piper's arm. She paused again when she felt Piper recoil ever so slightly. Something was off about her kid.
"I don't know," she whispered sadly, shrinking back further, "I-I-I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry," Jay promised, offering a small smile in the hopes that he'd get one in return, "How about you sit with Mommy on the couch for a little while I get the boys their bottles, and then we'll see what we can do to get you feeling better, hm?"
Erin frowned further when Piper flinched again. "Maybe you can stick with Daddy," she suggested, "And I'll get the boys their bottles. How does that sound?"
Piper sniffed slightly and tentatively accepted a boost into her daddy's arms. Jay could feel how his little girl was trembling slightly, clearly out of sorts. "I gotcha," he murmured, pressing a kiss atop her head. He extended a hand to help Erin up. "Boys have clean diapers and daycare bags are good to go."
Erin smiled gratefully, the concern in her eyes only growing as she watched her partner hold their first baby. She had a big meeting, Jay was running point on a case to further prove his readiness for promotion and the previous day had been derailed at camp pick up. It was not an ideal time for a sick kid.
"There are my handsome little guys," Erin cooed, tickling Ryan's tummy while carefully lifting the bottle to Liam's lips, "Did you guys have a good time watching Daddy in the kitchen? Did you?" She beamed when Ryan babbled. Her boys were adorable. "You love watching him, don't you?"
Despite the out-of-sorts little girl on his shoulder, Jay had to smile. Watching Erin love their boys and them love her right back always filled his heart. She was an incredible mother to all of their kids. "I might call Will," she said after both boys were hungrily drinking from their bottles, "See if he-"
"I don't want Will," Piper croaked, shaking her head rapidly, "I'm not sick."
Jay raised his eyebrows slightly. "Kiddo-"
"I'm not," she insisted tearfully, "I don't want to go."
Erin lifted Liam into her arms when he finished the bottle. "Sweetheart, if you're not feeling good-"
"I don't know what's going on," she interrupted woefully, tightening her grip on Jay's t shirt, "I'm sorry."
Jay and Erin exchanged a glance. "We'll figure it out," Jay promised after a moment, pressing a kiss to the side of Piper's head. "It's going to be okay."
"Shh, bubba," Erin murmured, attempting to lift an increasingly unhappy Ryan while also holding Liam. She bounced both boys gently while watching Jay carefully cradle their first baby in his arms.
With Piper, there were good days and bad days. Any type of trigger could shift their sweet little bug's demeanor from her usual self to a shadow of the person she used to be. Erin swallowed. The early days with Piper were such a blur, but also in vivid color. She remembered first laying eyes on an all-too-thin, all-too-petrified child, clutching the hand of her former partner-
Erin drew in a sharp breath at the realization.
It was the middle of July.
Two years prior, she returned home from assignment to dozens of missed calls and texts from her father, who she hadn't been talking too all that frequently. Her world was turned upside down in the best way possible.
And Piper's had too.
Despite the fact that meeting Piper and getting to be a part of her sister's life was a good thing, there was a fair amount of trauma associated with the entire process. Her little girl had been through years of turmoil, only to be met with more in Bunny's attempt for custody. It was no wonder that she was suddenly seeing figures that looked like their biological father.
Jay gave his partner a worried look as he continued to stroke Piper's hair back with his fingertips. She shook her head in response, the lump in her throat growing. It had been two years. And they hadn't remembered.
The year before, Jay took the day off and took Piper on a special hike while Erin muscled through morning sickness at work. A year ago, the boys were just the unknown baby growing in her belly and causing all sorts of mayhem for her body. Even so, she and Jay were prepared for the occasion. This year, they were anything but.
"Noodle-"
"'m sorry," Piper whimpered again, shifting slightly in Jay's lap at Erin's voice. She knew her parents couldn't stay with her all day. They had to go to work and her little brothers had to go to daycare. "I…I know you gotta work." She sniffed. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Jay reminded her, shooting another worried look to Erin, "It's okay to not feel good. Sometimes it's our body's way of telling us to take it easy. And you've been working really hard at soccer camp, right?" He grimaced slightly when Piper shrugged.
"How about if you came to work with me today?" Erin offered, "I have some meetings, but maybe you could do some reading in my office?"
"You gotta eat, Pipes," Jay said, doing his best to keep the frustration out of his voice, "C'mon. Just a few bites of oatmeal."
It had been a long night. Well really, it had been a long week. Piper missed three days of soccer camp after nights of nightmare-riddled sleep. The boys were teething in full force so they weren't sleeping much as well, resulting in five on-edge, exhausted and irritable Halsteads.
Piper looked up from her full bowl of oatmeal to meet her father's gaze. She could tell her daddy was really tired. She was tired too. Every time she went to sleep, she saw the man in the park. "How about a smoothie?" he suggested, pulling open the fridge with a fussy Ryan against his chest, "Or a turkey sandwich? Frozen pizza?"
"'s not breakfast," she mumbled, pushing the lukewarm oatmeal around the bowl, "I'm just not hungry."
"You weren't hungry for dinner either," he replied, reaching across the counter to feel his daughter's forehead, "Food is what we need for energy, kiddo. Pizza for breakfast is fine by me if it gets you to just eat something."
"You need energy for camp, Noodle," Erin said, forcing a smile as she made her way down the steps with Liam on her hip, "And especially for whatever Will has planned for you guys after camp."
On the advice of Dr. Murphy, they were attempting to get back into their summer routine. With Jay waiting for his final sergeant's exam and Erin in the throes of her new job, routine was what their whole family needed. Everything had been askew since Piper spotted the Kenny look alike from across the soccer field at camp, and their family desperately needed routine.
Hank confirmed that their biological father was behind bars after visiting the prison himself, but even that didn't convince Piper. She had been completely out of sorts for almost a week.
"Will's picking me up?" Piper looked confused, "Not you or Daddy?"
Erin exchanged a look with her partner. Jay was supposed to inform Piper of the schedule change that morning but based on the concern on her daughter's face, that hadn't happened.
"I forgot," Jay said honestly, "Sorry kiddo, I meant to tell you this morning. Will is going to get you from soccer camp today because Mommy and I have an appointment for the boys. Really for Ryan."
As if on cue, the fussy baby erupted into sobs.
"What's wrong with him?" Piper asked worriedly, her eyes trained on her wailing little brother in Jay's arms, change of her routine forgotten, "Is Ryan hurt?"
"No, no," Jay promised quickly, bouncing on his feet in an attempt to comfort his son, "We thought he might be hungry or need a change but we tried both he's just not having it."
Ryan was typically the more agreeable twin, but in the last week was just as out of sorts as his big sister. Erin managed to get a doctor's appointment at last minute which just so happened to conflict with camp pick up. Jay wrinkled his brow when Ryan wailed again. "Shh, bubba. It's okay." He looked over at Erin. Thankfully, Liam was drifting off against her chest.
"They've both been fed this morning," she sighed, running her fingertips over Liam's head carefully, "You checked his diaper?"
Jay nodded and lifted the screaming baby to check again. "He's dry. What's going on, little man? What are you trying to tell us?"
"Maybe I could try," Piper offered, pushing out her chair to hurry to the couch, "You look like you need a break, Daddy."
"Do you think you can take Liam for a little?" Erin asked, extending the sleepy baby to her little girl, "I can see if Ryan is hungry again."
Piper held her arms out to accept her little brother. "Shh," she whispered when his tiny features wrinkled at the motion, "'s okay buddy." She patted his back gently and pressed a kiss to his head.
"C'mere, bubs," Erin said, standing to take Ryan, "You hungry?" She grimaced when he howled again.
"I think he's hurting," Piper whispered sadly, "It's good you're taking him to the doctor."
Jay managed a small smile. Piper always worried about her brothers more than herself which usually caused him concern, but today it was a welcome respite and could potentially work in his favor. "You know what kiddo, Ryan hasn't been all that hungry. Maybe it would help if he saw you taking a few bites?"
"Your boys didn't just inherit your eyes, nose and lips, Halstead," Erin said, exhaling heavily into the receiver, "Ry Guy is lactose intolerant, and the doc is pretty sure Liam is as well."
Jay widened his eyes. "No way. I'm not-"
"Don't say you're not lactose intolerant," she interrupted, "Both your sons are, and seeing as their mom can eat a pint of ice cream and their daddy can't even handle milk in his coffee, it's clear where they get it from."
"Damn," he said, "I'm sorry, babe."
"It's genetics. Not like you could control that," Erin replied, "And we have an answer at least. I'm supposed to cut out dairy and we're switching their formula. Dr. Edelman is pretty sure it'll do the trick. I already gave them the new formula and Ryan hasn't made a peep this whole way home. You hear that? Nothin'."
"Wow," Jay mused, "Any chance Pipes is lactose intolerant too?"
"I asked," she said dryly, "Dr. Edelman doesn't think there's anything physically wrong with her. At least not right now. If she keeps not eating, we're back to iron supplements and probably a bunch of others."
Jay rubbed his forehead in aspiration. He remembered just how thin Piper was when she first came to live with him. His little girl had made remarkable progress and put on much-needed weight in two years but was still well behind where she needed to be. Going backwards wasn't an option. "So her professional opinion is ice cream for every meal."
"I already texted Will to see if he can get her to eat some when he picks her up. But you might have cracked the code. That monkey see, monkey do thing was pretty genius this morning." She glanced into the rearview mirror to check on Ryan, "That oatmeal was the first meal I've seen her finish in like a week. Got Ryan to finish his bottle too."
Jay snorted. "Our kids are monkeys now?"
"With how tightly she's been clinging to you this week, yeah," she replied, "I thought we were going to have to drop her off at soccer camp in tears. Poor little man here saved the day by being lactose intolerant."
"Leave it to the little Lindsay to put her brothers before her."
"Lindsay-Halstead," Erin corrected him, "Don't forget that."
"Could never," Jay replied, smile forming on his lips, "I was hoping I'd be done here to surprise her at pick up, but you know how they always bristle when the cops show up."
Erin glanced into the rearview again, this time checking on Liam. "You got to see him?"
"In the flesh," he confirmed, "Behind bars, cuffs on. Definitely not at the park or terrorizing our kid. Physically, anyway."
Erin let out a breath. As much as she knew Jay wanted to be at the appointment for the boys, they had another child to worry about. He'd gotten approval from Hank to take the trip down to Menard to see Kenny Charlton with his own eyes in the hopes that his confirmation would put Piper at ease. The only day the prison would allow conflicted with the appointment, so they decided a divide and conquer strategy would have to do.
"I'm really glad he's behind bars still," she said honestly, "But that means there's something else scaring Piper. And I don't know what it is."
"She's wiped," Will reported, carefully shifting a sleeping Piper into his brother's arms, "Wasn't interested in an after camp snack, or dinner. Finally managed some ice cream but…" He trailed off when Jay nodded in understanding. The little girl was far from being herself.
After picking up a timid and scared version of his niece from the soccer field, Will called in for backup. Even if he couldn't get through, his girlfriend usually could.
Erin accepted Piper's backpack from Hailey. "Thank you," she murmured, carefully stroking Piper's hair back. She let out a breath. "We're…we're worried."
Hailey nodded slowly. "Couldn't get much from her," she said apologetically, "She was glad to know Ryan's okay but she's still real spooked about whoever she saw down by the field last week."
Erin let out a breath. If she was being honest, she wasn't surprised. "I'm sorry," she said lamely, unsure of what else she could say, "We um, we don't really know what to do at this point." She swallowed the lump in her throat when she met Hailey's concerned gaze. "There are all sorts of reasons she could be seeing whoever it is and none of them are good. We've already got her in therapy and then today the doctor started talking about hallucinations and-"
"She's going to be okay, Er," Will interrupted, putting a careful hand on her shoulder, "Kids see things all the time. Bad dreams aren't uncommon, and night terrors aren't out of the ordinary for a kid who's been through as much as yours has."
Erin shook her head, biting down hard on her lip. "Kids see their biological father who is supposed to be in jail? In broad daylight?"
Will didn't reply immediately. "You're doing the best you can," he said finally, giving her shoulder a squeeze, "That's all you can do."
She blinked quickly. "T-thank you for taking her, again," she said, clearing her throat, "We're working through what childcare looks like in the fall and-"
"Here for whatever you need," Will cut her off, "I mean it. You guys try to get some sleep. Hopefully the boys' new diet let everyone get some rest."
Erin sank beside her partner on the couch, the worry about her daughter weighing heavily on her heart. "You want to talk about it?" Jay offered softly, reaching his arm around her shoulders, "It was a big day."
"Big day," she echoed in exhale, "Big day. You drove for like nine hours. And I've got three lactose intolerant Halsteads. And Mama can't even have ice cream to take the edge off." She wrinkled her brow when Jay snorted. "Not fair."
"Not fair," he repeated, "I'm sorry, babe." He stroked some of her hair back, "You want a long shower? I can bring her up to bed and check on the boys."
Erin managed a small smile. "This is about the only place she sleeps," she remarked sadly, gesturing to Piper on her partner's chest, "You're her safe place."
"You are too," Jay said seriously, "Mama's girl. I think she just likes me because I'm warm." He offered a playful grin but it slipped from his lips when Erin didn't return it. "Babe-"
"I can't…I can't stop thinking about what comes next. Right now it's only soccer camp, but what happens when it's school? We've already been accused of babying her, and she's eleven now. I'm trying not to think too far ahead but it's where my mind is going today." Erin swallowed the lump in her throat for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "She's not going to be our little bug forever."
Jay was quiet for a moment. He'd be lying if he told his fiancé that he hadn't had the same thought. Piper was little and still just a child, but eventually, she would grow up. He wouldn't be able to hold her in his lap to regulate her racing heart. He wouldn't be able to carry her in his arms when she was too inconsolable to move. Time was moving and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.
"We're going to do everything we can," he said honestly, "We'll…we'll try anything. Maybe Dr. Murphy isn't right the right fit. Maybe we need to try something else, or-" He paused when Piper twitched slightly. Immediately, he recognized the all-too-familiar pinched brow of his daughter descending into a nightmare. "Shh, kiddo. Just a bad dream. You're safe."
Piper froze. She knew where she was. She was with her daddy. She could feel his heart beating gently and his breath on the top of her head. Next to him, she was supposed to be safe.
But she didn't feel safe.
"He's…he's not in jail," Piper gasped out, abruptly pulling back from Jay's shoulder, "We have to go."
Erin and Jay exchanged a look as Jay tightened his grip on the shaking child in his arms. In a matter of seconds, the slack form of his little girl finally at rest had turned rigid with fear. "Just a bad dream, Noodle," Erin soothed, stroking Piper's cheek with her fingertips, "You're home, with Daddy and me. Will and Hailey just dropped you off and the boys are upstairs sleeping."
Jay wrinkled his brow when his child swallowed a gulp of air. "The people who hurt you are in prison," he said as firmly as he could, "They're not getting out."
Piper shook her head rapidly. "I-I saw him," she spluttered, panic rising in her throat, "I saw him crossing the road by the field again. He's not in jail."
"Who did you see?" Erin asked carefully, her own heart thumping in her chest as she attempted to provide comfort to her rapidly-dissolving daughter. She hated having to ask but with Piper's history, there were far too many scary people she could have seen in addition to the person they'd heard about before. "Who was it?"
Piper shook her head again, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She didn't want to say his name out loud. She tried her hardest not to think about him, but he was still around, which meant he was still a risk to her family. "Was he in your head?" Jay probed, "Maybe in your dreams?"
"No!" Piper shrieked, scrambling off the couch, "He's not in jail for real and he's gonna come and-" She gasped for air and choked out a painful cough. Erin grimaced. She recognized that cough. Her daughter was inches from a full-fledged panic attack.
"Piper-"
"You don't believe me!" she spluttered, backing away from her parents as she crouched on the living room floor, "Nobody believes me!"
"We believe you," Jay tried, getting to his knees on the carpet, "We're trying to understand-"
"You think I'm crazy!" Piper coughed harshly and gasped again, "You don't know, you didn't see!"
"Sweetheart-" Erin paused when a loud knock at the door interrupted Piper's desperate gasps.
"He's here," she wheezed, "He's here, he's here-"
Jay reached forward and pulled Piper into his arms when the lock in the door turned. "It's us," Will called out, raising his hands when he saw Erin eye the safe, "Just us."
"Just Will, kiddo," Jay whispered into Piper's ear, "Just Will and Hailey." He resisted the urge to shoot his brother a killer look. An unannounced visitor was not helping his current situation.
"Sorry," Hailey said apologetically, hastily holding her phone out to Erin, "Didn't mean to startle you guys but after today when she said she saw him again, I requested the pod footage. It just came through and I think you need to see this."
Erin looked to her partner, who was holding Piper tightly against his chest as she shuddered, both trying to protect and calm her down. She glanced down at the phone in Hailey's palm and watched as the footage played across the screen, her heart now beating in her ears.
"How…how is this possible?" she choked out, looking to Jay again, "He's supposed to be in prison. Jay saw him there, today."
"And that was when this footage was taken," Hailey informed her, "Whoever this is, it isn't Kenny Charlton."