⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS US
chapter eleven. nationwide man hunt.

"Bye my beautiful baby girl" Sam says, giving her 3 month old daughter kisses all over her face, making her smile and laugh. Sam gives Grace to Jay who says, "Sam, please. Will you talk to me?"

Sam ignored her fiancée and walks over to Denise and kisses the top of her head and says, "I'll be back soon. Be good please"

"Always"

Sam smiles then grabs her suitcase that's by the door when she hears Jay say, "I love you"

Sam takes a deep breath and opens the door to leave, shutting it behind her and tears appearing in her chocolate brown eyes.

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Green Haven
Correctional Facility
Thursday, February 4th

Once Sam and Erin land in New york they grab a cab and head to the facility that Greg Yates is being held at to ask him questions.

Once the detectives walk into the interrogation room at Green Haven they sit across from Yates, who says, "Detective Miller. I see you had your baby. How'd you lose all that baby weight? Do you breastfeed?"

"Shut up, Yates" Sam says.

Yates puts his hands up in defense, when Sam puts some pictures of skeletal remains in front of him. Greg takes takes a minute to look through the pictures and Sam notices the look in his eyes, like back in Chicago when her and Nick had initially interviewed him.

"Yates" Sam says.

"Yes?" Yates says, "These are disturbing. Fractured skulls, broken hyoid bones. These girls were driven all the way from Chicago to that bleak Bronx boneyard. That same place that your friend, Nadia, was found"

"After you murdered her" Erin states.

"Dr. Yates, we're here because you might have information about these victims" Sam says.

"Who they were? How they got here? Where did they come from" Yates mocks.

"Why don't you start with who they are"

"These are just bones. Yeah? You couldn't find DNA on any of them, so I will guess that they came from working girls"

"Guess?" Sam asks, "You told SVU some of these victims might have been from Chicago"

"Did I? Oh, yeah"

"We have some missing persons photos we'd like you to take a look at" Sam says, showing Yates 5 pictures of missing girls.

"Hmm. So young" Yates says, biting his lower lip and Sam wanted to knock him out right then and there, "I don't imagine that's what they looked like when their killer encountered them"

"Where?" Lindsay asks, getting fed up.

"Maybe a truck stop, whoring themselves out for cocaine. You must know the power of addiction"

"We're here to talk about these girls, not me"

"Nadia, talked alot about you two on our drive. Mostly Erin, though. How Sergeant Voight took you off the street, mentored you. That man has a lot of anger. It must have been very scary growing up in his home"

"We're done" Sam says, as the two stand up to leave.

"Sorry you wasted your trip"

"Sure" Erin says.

"Tell the warden I'd be much more comfortable talking with detective Rollins"

"She's not coming up here" Sam informs him. Yates turns around and says, "Why not...ooh, she must've had her baby too. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"That's none of your business" Erin says.

"What about your baby, detective Miller"

"What detective Lindsay said"

"You want closure for these families? Get her here" Yates demands, "By tomorrow"

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Sam and Erin are now back at SVU with Lieutenant Benson, Sergeant Dodds, Detective Rollins, the other detective Miller (Sam's cousin) and detective Carisi sitting around a white board.

"I knew I should have gone up there" Rollins says.

"Rollins..." Liv says. Amanda turns around and says, "what? He didn't give you anything, did he?"

"I don't know that he has anything to give" Erin states, taking a sip of her coffee.

"He never shows his cards on the first pass. And nothings for free. What did he ask for?"

"He wants to talk with you" Sam says.

"He's bored!" Olivia exclaims, "he gets off on pulling everybody's strings"

"He gave us Rudnick. And he knows more about those bones than he's ever let on." Rollins says.

"Yeah, he's still claiming those bodies might be Chicago girls? Come on" Carisi states.

"We do have these four women who went missing when Yates moved to Chicago" Sam says, "one of them is a working girl who was a patient at his urgent care center"

"And he did seem to recognize her. He could've driven her East, like he did with Nadia" Lindsay says.

"Isn't he appealing that conviction? I mean, why would he confess to more crimes?" Dodd's asks.

"No, but he doesn't confess" Rollins says, " I keep the conversation hypothetical, and he just fills in the blanks"

"Look, sergeant Voight would really like to give these girls' families some answers" Erin says.

"I know" Liv says, "okay. But, Carisi, you go with"

~~~

The next day, before Sam walks into the SVU squad room and she looks at her yet again ringing phone to see Jays name popping up.

"What do you want Jay?"

"For you to talk to me. Are you okay?"

"You asked if I killed someone. I would never do that, and for you to even ask- I mean you're supposed to have my back, we're getting married and if you can't trust me then.."

"I do, Sam. I promise I do"

"Well, I don't believe you. Look, I gotta go. Give Gracie and Denise kisses for me" Sam says, hanging up her phone and walks over to the group who is on video chat with Rollins and Carisi telling them that Yates wants to move cells.

"Yates wants to be transferred to Honor Block" Olivia says, not believing what she's hearing right now.

"He's a serial killer. That's not happening" Dodd's says.

"Actually, once you're in prison, whatever you did to get there doesn't really matter" Sonny says, "they use the carrot of the honor block to encourage good behavior"

"He's not capable of good behavior" Roxanne states.

"He did make one show of good faith" Rollins says.

"He knows something about the girls?" Sam asks.

"Siobhan Kelly, the patient at his urgent care center? He suggested you check truck stops outside of Gary" Rollins says, as Sam walks away from the group to catch Voight up on what's been happening, "and he may know more but he's not gonna say anything until he's transferred"

"Of course he won't" Benson says. Erin crosses her arms over her chest and asks, "Lieutenant, is this a good idea?"

"I doubt the warden would approve that" Dodd's says.

"Find out. I want you both back here tonight"

~~~

"No we haven't heard anything yet...Okay, we'll let you know" Lindsay says, then hangs up her phone and walks back over to Sam who is sitting at Finns desk, "Voight wants us back tonight"

"We should at least wait to find out what Yates had to say"

"Okay, thanks" Sonny says, hanging up his desk phone and stands up, "I just tried Barbas office. They haven't heard from him in four hours."

"What the hell is going on up there?" Erin questions.

"Hopefully, Yates is talking. I'll try the warden again" Rollins says, walking over to her desk and picks up her desk phone.

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After getting a call from Voight telling Sam and Erin not to board the plane back home, they instead meet up with the SVU team to help find Yates and Rudnick who had escaped and who are now looking for Bronwyn Freed, who helped them escape.

"What's the deal with this girl? She got a thing for serial killers?" Sam asks as she, Erin, Rollins, Roxanne and Benson find Bronwyn's husbands car.

"More or less" Liv says.

"This her car?" Erin asks.

"Well, it's the same make and model as her husbands but different plates"

"Yates would switch them" Erin states.

"No sign of him or Rudnick?" Sam asks.

"There was nothing in the car. But they were here. The dogs picked up their sent" Amanda says.

"Hey, Lieutenant! I got something over here!" Carisi shouts, as the group runs over to them to find Sonny taking something out of the dumpster and handing it over as evidence, "I got a jumpsuit, a dress and a wig"

"Okay. So the question now is, where's Rudnick's body?" Benson questions.

"Hey! The dogs are on something" Dodd's shouts out as the group runs after the sergeant to a maroon car.

"Cars locked, Lieutenant"

"What? Open it!"

Dodd's smashes in the drivers side window to open the trunk. Erin, Roxanne and Sam take their guns out and nod at him and when the trunk flies open they find Bronwyn tied up.

"Where are they?! Where's Yates?!" Erin demands.

"I don't know. Help me, please"

"Alright well you were with them. How long ago?" Amanda questions.

"Before noon. He, Yates, he made me..." Bronwyn starts crying and Olivia says. "Get her out of here"

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New York State
Police Barracks
North county station
Storyville, New York
Sunday, February 7th

"Just got a still from the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge, time stamped yesterday morning" Dodd's says, showing Erin, Sam, Roxanne and Carisi a still from the iPad.

"That looks like two church ladies" Sam comments.

"Nah, that's Bronwyn and Rudnick" Carisi states, walking over to one of the large white boards with the New York State map on it, "he's wearing the wig and the dress we found near the car"

"Yates was probably hiding in the back while they drove upstate" Erin suggests.

"Yeah, it's a smart plan. Nobody's gonna be looking for them at that hour, and even if somebody were, two women in a Subaru ain't gonna raise any flags" Sonny says.

"And once they get past Albany, in a less trafficked area, they don't need Bronwyn anymore. So they dumped her in that lot" Dodd's adds.

~~~

"Benson says Bronwyn gave Rudnick a gun and a map of the Adirondack State Park" Dodd's says, as Carisi rolls out a map and Sam and Erin look over it with him.

"Adirondack park? That's six million acres" an officer says.

"Yeah. It's why we need to look in the north end" Sonny says, "when Rollins and I apprehended Rudnick he was in Buffalo. Just shy of the Canadian border"

"What was his escape plan?" Sam asks.

"He has passports and cash but beyond that we never found out" Carisi says.

"That's Rudnick, but yates? The last time he was on the run, he killed Nadia and he went on a spree" Erin states.

"Yeah, were not even sure if these two are still together. There's bad blood between the two of them"

"Yeah. Well, anything is possible. They could have split up. One could've killed the other" Dodd's says.

"We had some more sightings" an officer says.

"How many?" Sam asks.

"Too many" the officer says, handing the paper to the group, "all over the county, state. As far as the Texas Mexico border"

"Any sightings on the way up to Canada?" Dodd's asks.

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108 Brady Road
Gloversville, New York
Sunday, February 7th

"Son of a bitch" Erin says, as she and Sam look at the body of a trooper who was killed and raped. Sam puts a hand on her friends shoulder and asks, "you okay?"

"This is Yates"

"I know and we'll get him. Whatever it takes"

"They found prison issued underwear. They're checking for DNA." Dodd's says as he and Roxanne walk into the house where Erin and Sam are, who stand back up.

"It's Yates. How'd the trooper end up here?" Erin questions.

"First responder got a call from a neighbor who saw smoke coming out of the chimney. The owner never stays here in winter" Dodd's says.

"How long ago?" Sam asks.

"An hour. They also found a blood trail outside. One of them may be hurt. Might have slowed them down. Dogs are on both scents." Dodd's says, leaving the house.

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"Copy that Lieutenant" Sam says into her phone then hangs up as she and Erin drive down the road, "that was Benson. She wants us to come back"

"Yeah, I'm not doing that"

"I know. I got your back, Erin"

"I know. Thanks, Sammy. What the hell was that?" Erin says, stopping the car and backing up to see a state troopers vehicle and a truck parked on a dirt road.

"There's been no radio traffic. Pull over, let's check it out"

Erin pulls onto the dirt road and both detectives get out of the car with their guns drawn.

"This is detective Miller, Chicago Pd, backing up the NYPD. Requesting back up. County road three, six miles west of Plessis" Sam says over the radio.

"Copy That. Back up en route"

"Clear" Erin says, looking into the troopers vehicle, then runs over to the trooper who is laying next to the truck, shot point blank in the head, "he's gone. And so is his gun"

The next thing that was heard was gunshots. A bullet hitting Sam's shoulder, who falls down onto the snow.

"Erin stay down! Take cover!" Sam shouts, groaning in pain, scooting towards the troopers vehicle then takes out her radio and says, "this is detective Miller. Shots fired. Two officers down. Suspect is armed and in flight. Requesting immediate back up."

"Sammy, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Please, don't do anything stupid"

Erin gets up and starts walking towards the woods.

"Erin! Wait, Erin!"

Erin walks into the woods, gun and flashlight out.

"Damn it" Sam groans as she gets up and follows running after Erin through the woods

"Erin, wait!" Sam yells, running behind Erin who then trips and loses balance, holding her knee. Sam helps Erin up and helps her find her gun and flashlight.

Then they come across a log cabin and slowly walk inside with their guns still drawn and looking around when they see a little girl hiding under a bed.

"Hey, it's okay" Erin says, kneeling down, while Sam holds her shoulder in pain, "we're the police. Are you okay?"

"My daddy" the girl says in fear when they hear gun fire.

"I need you to stay right where you are, okay?" Erin says, before the two detectives walk outside, guns and flashlights drawn looking around the wooded area.

The two hear a truck behind them, and the driver being Greg Yates, about to run them over when Erin moves herself and Sam outta the way.

"Son of a bitch" Sam groans in pain, lying in the snow as Lindsay stands up and starts shooting at the back of the truck.

Sam stands up and they turn around and walk towards a tree to see a man shot in the head and a piece of paper sticking out from his mouth.

Erin checks his pulse and says, "he's gone"

"What the hell is in his mouth?" Sam questions. Erin takes the piece of paper from the mans mouth and opens it up and reads, "'see you back home, Erin. P.S hope the shoulders okay detective Miller '"

Erin looks up at Sam who says, "he's going back to Chicago"

to be continued...