We all need help | s a w

eighteen

"Kailey, you're not even supposed to be in today. You should go home." Carrie said, nodding her head towards the exit.

"Go home? How am I supposed to go home at a time like this?" She asked, leaning back over the computer monitor. Carrie placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her.

"This doesn't have to be your fight." She said, looking sympathetic. Kailey told her about what the man had said to her previously, about the comments he made about her brother.

"Eric asked me to be here, so I'm staying." She said, studying the screen. "Besides, what else do I have to do? This is my case, I've typed up the last report, I don't have another place to be." She said. She stood up straight, grumbling at the ache in her bone. "Fuck." She whispered, rolling her shoulder out.

"You're still in pain?" She asked. Kailey gave a nod. She squeezed her shoulder blades together, leaning her head back. "Has your therapist cleared you yet?"

"Jesus, Carrie. It's a broken collarbone, not a missing limb." She sighed. The other woman conceded. She walked back out to the main area, not able to look at the screen for much longer. By now, a few people had already died. The tech team was trying to get a video feed on where the house was. Little did Kailey know, when they received the new address, she would be baffled at the information. The other set of monitors located at the address this feed was linked to held a camera in the bathroom below the house. The same bathroom she saved Adam from.

Eric was sitting with John, who had asked to speak to him in private. The radio sat on the floor beside his chair was giving them access to the conversation being held. Kailey walked down the stairs, and back out into the open. When her eyes hit daylight, she refreshed herself. She took a deep breath, thinking back on the events of the day. She collected herself and walked back inside, peacefully arranging the two bodies of their fallen officers so they were out of the way. She looked around the staircase, not finding anything of interest. She trundled back up the steps, finding Carrie on the phone with the tech team. Eric was back in the room with the monitors, seemingly finished with his conversation.

"Where is this god damn tech team?" He asked, looking at Carrie.

"They should be here any second." She sighed.

"Another second is too fucking long." Rigg said, pacing the room.

"Look, I know how this guy works, okay? He's playing a game. Eric just needs to stay in it a little bit longer." She shot back.

"We need to start thinking outside the box, okay? Or his son is gonna end up in one." Rigg pointed to Eric, who was rubbing his head in anxiety.

"Guys, there's no use in fighting over this. We don't have anything to go off of right now. Acting would be irrational." Kailey said. Carrie looked over at a bulletin board and stood, seeming to have a revelation.

"His work. That's how you do it. I mean, he's relishing this. It's an opportunity to be heard, to be studied." She explained. "Threaten to destroy his work." She looked to Eric. Eric turned to look over at John, sitting in the other room.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? If we piss him off, he might never tell us where they are." Kailey reasoned. Eric didn't listen, but stormed out of the room and started throwing papers on the ground as he went. He tore through drawings, threw books around, but John was unfazed. He didn't care about Eric's backlash, but he made it a point to tell him that it would be hard to convict him if he destroyed all the evidence. The tech team arrived, rushing in to tend to the monitors. The two argued back and fourth, then John spoke to the people in the other room. He knew they were listening on the radio.