Erin had tried to keep herself calm and collected while she drove over to the Hotchner home. She knew that acting too sad or out of sorts would have effects on Elise's mood. Since things were already so nebulous about what would happen from this point forward, she knew that she needed to keep her daughter happy and focused on anything other than asking questions. Especially since any questions might result in Erin having to reveal to her that the trip they were taking did not include her father or her uncle Aaron.
Turning up the music a little, she began to sing along with the song, knowing that Elise loved it when she sang, even if she didn't think that she had a very good voice. It helped that it was a song she loved, so she was able to put a little extra heart into it, even if she wasn't feeling all that eager to sing. An accident along the way caused her to run later than she would have liked, and she hoped that she wouldn't arrive too late. She knew that time was of the essence in a case like this, and didn't want to be the cause of anything bad happening to Haley or Jack or Elise. Their lax control over the months since Haley had gone into hiding had drawn her daughter into this madness, and as soon as she knew that they were safe, she was going to have to beg David and Aaron for forgiveness.
Finally, she turned onto the familiar street and slowed her driving, suddenly finding ice filling the pit of her stomach. Erin didn't know why she was nervous, other than the fact that she didn't know what was going to happen next, but she tried to take a few calming breaths, to will herself to be warm, even when she thought about the next few hours. Letting out a long breath, she turned into the driveway. The garage door was down, so she parked to the far right, in order to hide the vehicle from the road, since that side of the gate was currently closed.
As she got Elise out of her car seat, the gate began to close, which made her feel a little more at ease. Evidently, Haley had been watching for her, and was doing what she could to keep them safe. Glancing around, Erin took firm hold of Elise's hand and brought her to the door, climbing the shallow brick steps before raising her hand to knock on the door. There was a long pause, which caused her to be on edge once more, since she would have thought that Haley would have answered right away. Instead, it was Jack opening the door nearly two minutes later, and Erin tried not to frown at him. "Elise! Aunt Erin! You're finally here!"
She let out a low oof when he rushed forward and hugged her tightly, before wrapping his chubby little arms around Elise, kissing her cheek with childish abandon. "I'm so glad to see you, Jack. How have you been?"
"Good, but I've missed Daddy and you. But you're here now, and you get to meet our new friend."
Erin frowned a little as he pulled Elise inside, and she followed after him, kicking herself for not bringing her phone with her, as she was starting to feel like there was something a bit wrong with this situation, but she was left without a way to reach out to David or Aaron, to let them know what was going on. Still, she closed the door quietly, not wanting to alarm anyone by acting nervous or jumpy. As she followed Jack and Elise into the living room, her worst fears were realized when she looked into the face of pure evil, wearing a devilish smile as he lifted his shirt a little to reveal a gun before casually pulling out a wicked looking knife to pick at his fingernails with.
"It is so good of you to join us, Erin. I'm sorry for the little white lie I told to get you over here, but I felt that it was better that we had a family affair for what's to come next. Hey, Jackie boy, who's this?" Foyet asked as he knelt down next to their children, his hand never setting the knife down, which told Erin that they had to tread lightly if they were all going to get out of this situation alive.
"This is Elise, my aunt Erin's daughter. I've missed her so much!" Jack answered as he and Elise beamed at Foyet before starting to play with the toys on the coffee table.
"I am so sorry, Erin. I had no clue that this was going to happen. I don't have my phone."
She nodded as she stepped closer to Haley, never really taking her eye off Foyet as he interacted with the children. From everything she knew about the man, he was extremely fast and extremely deadly. She didn't have her service weapon, there hadn't been time enough to grab it before she and Elise had left to come here, falling right into Foyet's trap. Plus, she was ungainly at the moment, her baby bump making her awkward and slowing her responses. So even if she had had her weapon, odds were more likely than not that Foyet would kill either Elise or Jack, and not show any remorse over it. "Ladies, you don't need your phones, I have a phone that we'll be using shortly. I just wanted to get a feel for how things were. Erin, am I correct in thinking that Jack and Elise don't know the T-R-U-T-H?"
Erin frowned when he spelled out that word like they were children, her hackles raising as an intense wave of anger swept over her body. "No. There are things that we all feel should wait until they're older before we explain to them," she bit out, clasping Haley's hand after feeling it brush against hers.
"That's a shame, Elise should know that her mother is a whore. And now, they won't ever hear the truth because they're going to D-I-E." Erin felt her stomach roil angrily at those words, knowing then and there that she would fight tooth and nail to protect her children, along with Jack and Haley. "They are adorable, though. It would have been safer for everyone if you had just joined Haley in WitSec in the first place. I mean, I would have found you all, eventually. Everyone makes mistakes. But it looks like you've made a rather large one, Erin. How close are you to your due date?"
"She'll be here in January," she whispered, her hand tightening around Haley's, finding herself on the verge of tears, but not wanting to let them fall, since she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. "She's our last little miracle."
"She would have been," Foyet said, twirling the knife dangerously close to Elise's head as he jerked his chin upwards. "Come over here, I don't like you standing so close to Haley. I don't want you two to plan something while we're waiting for the last piece to fall into place here."
"And that would be?" Erin asked as she did what he wanted, knowing that if she placated him, there might be a chance of getting them out of this situation.
"For Aaron to call and let me know that he's on his way here. He already knows that I have Haley and Jack, but it will be all the sweeter to let him know that his boss and daughter are also under my command." A shiver coursed down her spine, and for the first time, Erin felt like they might not get out of this situation alive.
