Chapter 5: We Found Her, What Now?!
Erin let out a groan as she woke up again, everything was quiet now which she was thankful for. She felt herself getting weaker with the gunshot and stab wound on her shoulder.
The brunette scanned the large room, confused why they brought her to a church. But that was the least of her worries, she needed to get out of the zip ties.
Erin couldn't help but notice how cold it was in the church with winter still lingering. She wondered about the quietness and Ted and Vaughn's whereabouts as she searched for a clock, anticipating one of them checking on her.
She stopped struggling with the zip ties when she heard a door open, licking her lips and looking to see Ted entering with a device.
'So, you're awake?' Ted asked as he walked over to Erin, who just stared at the thing in his arms with her hazel eyes.
'What's that?' she asked, curious about what it was for. Erin saw Ted place it on the table and realized it was some kind of clock showing 9:30. Her heart skipped a beat.
Did the team manage to find the last bomb before it detonated? Or did they give up because of her? 'Something to keep your team on their toes, I've given them 24 more hours to decide,' Ted said as he tinkered with the wires on the makeshift clock, setting the timer and hiding the bomb inside.
Erin frowned at his comment as she observed him adjusting the clock. 'You're really going to mess with me about the time?' she mocked, turning away without noticing the bomb hidden inside the clock. She gulped as he approached her after finishing setting up the clock.
Ted finally reached Erin's height and sneered, 'I guess you're not stupid after all, plus it'll give you something to keep you occupied,' he said, moving his hand to her freezing cheek and brushed his fingers against a bruise.
'Let's see how long it'll take your team to figure out who's more important: you or stopping the bomb?' Erin shook his hand off, locking eyes with him.
'My team can handle both tasks, don't underestimate them,' she replied, fidgeting with her wrists. 'Hank Voight is one of the best; he'll stop the bomb and rescue me.' Ted raised an eyebrow, trailing his hand down Erin's face dangerously close to her neck. 'Oh really?' he questioned.
'Then answer this, detective. If Hank Voight and his team are so great, why did they let Vaughn take you, especially right under their noses?'
Erin tried to drown out Ted's voice by closing her eyes, despising his attempts to challenge her team's capabilities, even though deep down she knew he was making a valid point.
"Hey detective, answer me!" Ted demanded, grabbing Erin's throat, causing her to struggle to breathe. "They didn't let Vaughn take me willingly!" She whispered while trying to free her wrists.
"Oh really? Well, they didn't even try to shoot Vaughn." Ted said, watching Erin fight for air. "Because… I wouldn't allow it," she managed to say between coughs. Tears welled up as Ted's grip tightened around her throat.
Erin wheezed when Ted released his hold on her neck. "That was a dumb move," he remarked, getting up and observing the woman struggling to breathe after the choking. "It's foolish to prioritize others over yourself," he stated.
"It's not dumb, it's something you wouldn't understand. People's lives matter," Erin retorted, wincing from the pain and blood on her neck where the wound was from Vaughn.
"Let's wait and see if your team will pick. They've got until 8:30 to 9:30 pm to make a decision. Once that time comes, boom!" Ted said with a grin. "And I bet they'll be hunting night and day to locate it." Ted taunted, having set the bomb to go off at 10:30 pm because he was confident the team wouldn't find Erin in time.
Erin looked at Ted, confused, but she closed her eyes as he leaned in close to her ear. "I'll be back to check on you, detective," he whispered. "And I have to say, you are stunning," he said, moving his fingers to press against her stomach where the gunshot wound was.
The brunette screamed in pain as Ted pushed his finger into the wound to push the bullet further in. After a few minutes, he pulled out, got up, and left Erin alone.
Erin licked her lips as she watched the door slam shut behind Ted. She turned her gaze to the clock, now showing 9:40, and swallowed as she thought about her team and her mind drifted to Kelly.
"Kelly," Erin whispered, thinking about her boyfriend and what he might be thinking about what had happened.
( Voight, Kelly, Jay and Al)
Kelly's sat in Voight's truck as they follow Al's directions. 'Are you sure this is the way?' Voight asked, all of them were on edge about Erin. 'Yes, take a left,' Al confirmed.
They'd been driving since 7:50, and now it was 9:50, a solid two hours of driving. 'It says we're close to her, by the church,' Al said hopefully, not wanting to end up in the wrong place.
Kelly bit his lip and glanced at Jay sitting beside him in the back seat. 'I have a feeling they're not gonna make it easy,' Jay remarked, trying to reason that Ted and Vaughn wouldn't just hand over Erin.
'We'll deal with that when we get there,' Al said, checking the map and then the road. 'Did Antonio find anything about the bomb yet?' he inquired, eyes on Al. 'No,' Al responded, pondering why the bomb hadn't gone off yet.
Kelly turned back to them and asked, 'Do you think they moved the bomb to a different time?' since they hadn't heard anything about a bomb going off. 'I'm sure they probably rescheduled it for tomorrow,' Voight replied, gripping the steering wheel as he turned onto a dirt road.
The fireman nodded, thinking Jay might be right – why would it be that easy? His eyes scanned the area until a large church came into view, hoping Erin wasn't there in the cold without heat, knowing how much she hated it.
'This is it,' Voight announced as they arrived, hoping they were in the right place, while Kelly and Jay got out of the back seat.
Without realizing it, Kelly started moving towards the church, ignoring Voight and Al yelling for him to come back, his eyes searching for the van they were looking for.
"Hey Kelly, come on back here now!" Voight yelled while chasing after Kelly, not wanting to deal with two people in there. "Erin!" Kelly shouted, hoping for a response as he kicked the door open and widened his blue eyes surveying the room.
Ignoring Voight as the older man caught up to him, Kelly took a step towards Erin in the uncomfortable position on the chair, whispering her name.
Voight intervened, placing a hand on Kelly's shoulder, advising him to approach her slowly so as not to scare her. Inside the cold church, Kelly reached out to Erin, noticing how hurt she was despite wearing a jacket.
"Erin!" he whispered, trying to get her attention, concern evident on his face.
Kelly nodded and took a few steps towards Erin as he watched her waking up. He heard her calling out his name but her voice was still weak. 'Kelly, is that you?' she asked, her voice raspy.
When Kelly heard Erin's voice, he rushed to her and gently placed his hands on her face. 'I'm here, Erin, I got you,' he whispered, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
'What happened to the bomb?' Erin asked as Voight untied her while Kelly held her steady. 'Don't worry about that, it won't go off until tomorrow,' he reassured her. Kelly then wrapped his arms around Erin as they prepared to leave.
'Let's get out of here,' Voight said, leading the way to the door. 'Let's get you out of here,' Kelly whispered as he helped Erin up carefully, accidentally bumping into a clock that showed 10:20. Erin rested her head on Kelly's chest as he stood up and followed Voight out of the church.
Kelly was holding Erin in his arms, following Voight out of the church, and none of them heard a ticking sound coming from the clock.
Erin buried her face in Kelly's chest and looked up at him, about to say something when a loud explosion interrupted her.
She yelped as she was thrown away from Kelly, who collapsed due to the blast. Voight had just exited the church and witnessed it blowing up, causing him to fall to the ground for cover.
'ERIN! KELLY!' Voight yelled, seeing the church collapse. Jay and Al's footsteps hurried over to him upon hearing the explosion, but his ears were ringing so loud he couldn't make out what they were saying.