Brian was in his vehicle against Nick's order. Only a small crack of light was coming up on the horizon. The sun was just beginning to show the foreshadows of its arrival. It was the ongoing pain he felt that he hadn't been there the first time that was driving him to the terminal.
Traffic began popping up on the interstate as he drove toward Brooklyn. Sirens that he could hear from outside his window made him aware he wasn't alone as he headed to the location. He caught a glimpse of a trail of patrol cars, SWAT, and EMS disappearing into the traffic in front of him.
It wasn't fair that Lewis had gotten so many chances to get back at Olivia. On the stand, he'd been able to traumatized her again. And now this. Brian wanted him dead. And if Olivia didn't get the chance to herself, he would be the one to do it.
Fin got onto the interstate with at least twelve other patrol cars. Fire rescue was speeding ahead of them all. There was no skimping on this case. Everyone in the NYPD already knew and was sending their backup. Enough was enough.
His body had gone rigid as he drove. The terror of having to see Olivia like she had been in the beach house - or worse - enveloped him. Then his mind played questions that he didn't have answers to. The series ended with: Would she even still be alive?
Lewis finished what he'd started and withdrew himself from his most special victim. He didn't have the opportunity to look into her eyes, for they remained closed. The blackout was another long one, no doubt brought to a lengthy period by the previous concussion she'd had. Lewis redressed himself and her with the energy that he regained after his release. The pain from the hammer's blows didn't even register on the Richter scale of his nerves.
He retrieved from her back pocket the small instrument Olivia had used to escape. He knew she had to have it with her somewhere. And when he found it, he tossed it out the first window he saw. It alerted him to the tiny sliver of green beginning its ascent on the horizon. The sun was on its way, but was still hours off. He still had time.
Olivia's body was dead weight as he took her by the arms and dragged her to where Emily had been cuffed. Lewis remembered the little girl. He hated Olivia for letting her escape, but he knew that the child would be no match for the other criminals out in the city's darkness. The man knew he didn't have to fear her tattling.
Olivia's wrists wrinkled when he put the cuffs on tight. Her arms were straight above her as she remained on her back, that wink of skin peering at Lewis between her pants and the bottom of her shirt. He grinned at her. He'd taken what she'd been fighting so hard to keep from him. And he planned to take it again, the next time while she watched and felt him.
"Hang in there, Sweetheart." He whispered in her ear. "We're not done yet."
The first of the patrol cars, along with Nick, Fin, and Amanda, dove into the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. They were only minutes from the scene, and each of their heart's took on a rhythm of fear. They braced themselves for whatever they'd find.
The second light of dawn attempted to break through the clouds, but the early morning remained dreary. The thick cloud cover made it impossible for more than a sliver of light to break through. The amount of lights bouncing off the walls in the tunnel was enough to impress and further drive each officer faster.
Olivia had told Lewis that her partner, her squad, the entire NYPD would hunt him down. She was right. The entire city was racing to her side now. The tunnel led the fleet of screaming vehicles into Brooklyn. Nick's lip was sore from being bitten so hard for so long. The largest pain in his gut was caused by the uncertainty of what they would find. If Olivia was alive, what would keep Lewis from killing her the moment he heard sirens? And even if he didn't hear the sirens, he'd be sure to hear the vehicles on the gravel. His mind worked on overdrive and he picked up the radio to speak to every officer in every vehicle.
"We need to turn off sirens and lights now. Perp is hard of hearing - maybe we'll get lucky."
When Emily couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, she let her head rest back against the door. She fell into a restless, terrifying sleep. The nightmares took her to a realm she wished she could fight her way out of, but found herself trapped in. Lewis' face, the scar, his teeth as he smiled all flashed in front of her closed eyes. Her body moved, uncomfortable in its place. Still, she could not wake.
Emily was only five years old. The things she didn't know were best to be left unknown. One day she would understand. One day the nightmares would end.
Nearly a half hour after she'd gotten the call from Nick, Amanda turned onto the road that harbored the Red Hook Grain Terminal. Every vehicle was parked far enough away from the terminal that it would make it hard for Lewis to see or hear them. All the officers and paramedics had received the word to turn off sirens and headlights. It was just the darkness and them.
Nick was standing in a jacket that another officer had handed him. Fin stood next to him, gun drawn, ready to go in. Amanda jogged up to the two, talking to a large group of SWAT, other NYPD backup, and EMT's.
"This place is huge." She was out of breath as she took in the size of the challenge they faced. Olivia was somewhere in there. She was in there with Lewis.
"We're going in." Fin said to her plainly.
She already knew what he meant. They were going to find Olivia if it took all day. They were going to find Lewis and put a bullet in his brain if Olivia hadn't.
"And if he hears us?" One officer questioned, obviously thinking much like the others were. No one wanted their rescue to be cause for Lewis to pull the trigger while he held the gun to Olivia's head.
"That's a risk we have to take." Nick swallowed hard as he scaled the building.
It was huge. They could be anywhere.
Brian stopped before the turn to the bay road. He watched from his car as the other vehicles, silent, dark, congregated. From where he sat, Brian could see Amanda, Fin, and Nick. He saw the others getting ready to go in. It was so hard for him to breathe. He wanted to be in there with them, but he knew his limits.
He couldn't go. He couldn't be the one to hesitate, lose perspective and cause Lewis to pull the trigger. So he would wait. He had no other choice.
Olivia opened her eyes in agonizing confusion only ten or so minutes after Lewis had lifted himself off of her. Even with the pain coursing through her right arm where the wire-cutter had done its damage, the throbbing between her legs pained her more deeply. For only a minute, she had to wonder again where she was. Her head was pierced with needles, her cheeks and arms on fire. When Lewis spoke, she remembered.
"Welcome back." He had done it. He had raped her. She could feel it.
Her eyes were wide in panic. She was a victim.
Survivor. She corrected herself, closing her eyes as Lewis approached her. Survivor.
He leaned down as the lump in her throat pushed tears out of her eyes, and sent them rolling across her face. It was over.
"You're the best I've ever had."
Her stomach was empty, but Olivia turned her head to the side and did an awful dry heave. Her entire body gagged on the staleness of the room. His face, so close to hers, smelled like drugs, perspiration. Worst of all, he smelled like her.
Olivia's body calmed from its sickness, and she forced her face to turn to his. With the last of the spit she had in her dry mouth, Olivia wheeled it at her assailant, the man she would kill. Lewis did back up as the spray hit him squarely in the face.
The pangs sent upward from her core made her tears dry up, replaced by sounds of discomfort.
"You're going to die here." The rasping sound was hardly a voice. Olivia didn't even recognize it as her own. She didn't care.
"That right?" Lewis did what he had before, licking his fingers that glistened with her saliva.
"How are you feeling?" All he had to do was mention it and he knew that it was a blow that Olivia could almost physically feel. She moved in her discomfort, squinting her eyes shut again. She wished he would kill her.
"The only one in there we're retrieving is Sergeant Benson." Nick made the objective quite clear as he, Amanda, Fin, and a huge group of other officers jogged toward the building.
The entrance was dark as they approached it.
"Split up in twos. Cover as much ground as possible." Fin instructed them, fear still changing his voice as it left his throat.
The lights that they each held shone into the desolate blackness of the terminal's bowels. When the first area broke off, Fin gave Amanda a quick pat on the back before leaving her and Nick. He and a group of others headed down the hallway. Neither Amanda nor Nick could say anything as they continued into the main floor of the building. They just held their guns as tightly as they ever had.
The pillars inside the concrete structure wound around and around for too long. Nick and Amanda paused every once in a while to train their ears for voices, cries, anything. They stepped into an open area over twenty minutes after they'd arrived on scene. Both were beginning to think it was hopeless. The open space yielded to a series of staircases built years and years before. Nick paused at the base, listening.
"You know, you woke up before I thought you would. You ready for round two?" Lewis went for her handcuffs, holding the gun in his hand as he released her from her restraints.
After all, the mattress was on the other side of the room. He hadn't wanted her resting comfortably for too long.
Olivia found it difficult to keep quiet as the pains in her sent shock waves through her. She wasn't going to be cuffed again. He wouldn't get the chance to assault her again. Olivia shrugged away from his grip. As he pulled her back into his chest, Olivia pushed the top of her head into his chin. Lewis bit his tongue hard as a result of the unexpected contact.
Nick heard what Amanda did. It was the low reverberations of a voice followed by a lighter tone. He began the ascent up the stairs carefully as his heart pounded. She was still alive. They had a chance to save her. When he stepped onto the third staircase toward the upper areas, both he and Amanda heard the sudden scuffling above them. Then a man's voice sounded.
They shared a terrified glance in the dim light. Their feet picked up the pace. Amanda's ears took in a sound that made them both cringe. Olivia screamed.
Lewis had taken but a moment to put a hand to his bleeding mouth as Olivia went for the gun in his hand. She needed it in hers to kill him then and there. The cold metal of it was in both of their hands as they struggled.
It was suddenly a deadlock. Olivia couldn't move. Lewis couldn't move. He broke that lock when he brought his fist down on Olivia's back. The air left her lungs like a balloon popping. She staggered only a bit, her hand still on the weapon. Lewis had just shaken the weapon free from her hand, sending her nearly to the floor. He was pushing her arm behind her back painfully when they both heard the voice in the doorway.
"Lewis. Get the hell away from her."