Partners in Crime

Chapter 13 - Falling on deaf ears

*No one's P.O.V*

The Intelligence unit was hard at work on their computers, their efforts growing more desperate by the minute. If Vincent Jenkins followed his normal pattern, Carson Myers had only two hours left to live.

Sean Roman entered the squad room and the smell of pizza filled the air.

Each member of the Intelligence unit eagerly rose to their feet to grab a slice of pizza. No words were spoken, only a nod of thanks to Roman was exchanged before they went back to their desks to continue working.

Once everyone else had taken a slice of pizza, Roman took a few slices back over to the desk he shared with Burgess on a plate.

*The next morning*

*Erin's P.O.V*

My eyes fluttered open when I heard someone shuffling around in the corner of the room. I sat up slowly and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting in the room. Jenkins hadn't turned the lights on yet.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the lighting, I saw that the young boy Jenkins had brought in yesterday was huddled up in the top corner of the mattress that was laid out on the floor for him.

I started to get up to go over and try and comfort him but swiftly sat back down when the lights flickered to life and Jenkins burst through the door.

He strode over to the boy and stopped dead in his tracks after glancing down at the mattress. Jenkins clenched his fists, causing the boy to cower in fear.

"I give you a warm place to sleep and this is how you thank me? By pissing the bed! You disgusting little bastard!" he bellowed, causing the young boy to tear up.

"I'm sowwy" the boy whimpered, trying desperately to retreat as far back into the corner as possible.

"Damn right you'll be sorry!" Jenkins hollered before dragging the young boy off the bed by his t-shirt. He proceeded to strike the boy repeatedly in the stomach and back.

"STOP! You are hurting him" I pleaded, desperately hoping he would stop the relentless attack.

Jenkins roughly tossed the boy to the hard cement floor before turning to face me, his expression fierce.

"What did you say? You trying to tell me what to do?" he seethed, stalking over to me and dragging me to my feet by my throat.

"Please don't hurt him" I begged, tears now streaming down my face. Jenkins growled at me and tightened his grip around my neck.

I couldn't speak, and it was becoming harder for me to breath as Jenkins kept a steady pressure on my throat. Black spots started to dance in my vision. Just before darkness took over, Jenkins threw me to the floor and kicked my stomach. I curled up in agony and defeat.

Jenkins spat on me before turning back around to continue beating the young boy. I was powerless to stop him.

After what felt like a lifetime of listening to the young boy scream out in agony and begging for Jenkins to stop, his screams and pleas for mercy finally fell silent. Was he dead?

Jenkins tossed the boy onto the mattress before storming out and slamming the door.

I gingerly pulled myself up into a sitting position, ignoring the searing pain in my stomach from where Jenkins had kicked me. I dragged myself across the room and tentatively checked to see if the boy still had a pulse.

I let out a shaky breath when I found his pulse. I considered picking him up but didn't want to frighten him when he regained consciousness. I sat next to the mattress and waited for him to wake up. He looked so young, probably no older than three or four. I should have done more to stop Jenkins from hurting him. Tears rolled down my face as I took in the boy's battered appearance. His t-shirt was soaked with blood and I was pretty sure his arm was broken. I should have protected him.

*10 minutes later*

The boy's eyes began to flutter open and he checked his surroundings in a panic.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you" I soothed, not moving for fear of scaring him further. He stopped moving and studied me from a distance, trying to decide if I posed a threat to him. After a while he relaxed, obviously concluding that I didn't pose a threat to him.

"My name is Erin. What is your name?" I asked, remaining firmly in where I was so as not to startle him.

"Carson" he replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"What's wrong?" I asked gently.

"My pants are wet. It hurts" he replied, his bottom lip quivering.

"Well let's get you cleaned up then" I said, picking him up and placing him on the side of the sink on the other side of the room.

Once Carson was all cleaned up and dressed in new clothes from the assortment of children's clothing that Jenkins kept in a basket next to the sink, I placed him down on my mattress. I sat down next to him with my back up against the wall.

Carson curled up into my side and within minutes he was fast asleep. I wrapped my arms around him protectively and drifted off to sleep.

A.N.///// I hope you enjoy this chapter! 
The next chapter will have a big twist in it and will cause the Intelligence Unit to become more desperate than ever before to find Erin and the little boy. 

Thank you Shelly for editing yet another chapter. I couldn't do this without you!

Updates may be a little slow for the forseeable future as I am back at uni and I have a lot of big assignments to work on but will do my best to upload at least once a fortnight. 

Please feel free to give me any feedback on the story so far. I read it all and really appreciate the feedback. Let me know if you have any ideas or if you want me to include something in the story. I will consider every suggestion :)

Until next time lovelies

AJ  xxxx