One Call Away

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Search Begins

"Let's go," Hank ordered, time was of the essence and they didn't know if the time that Edward had given them was the right one. 

He didn't trust the younger Olinsky brother for a moment and he would not have put it passed him to misled them on the time that they had to find Caitlyn; they needed to act as quickly as they could. 

Grabbing their jackets, the team prepared to head out and check out the address that they had been informed about; no one wanted to mess this up after giving up on Caitlyn last time. 

They would not forgive themselves if she died because they hadn't pushed for the case to remain open instead of allowing it to become one of those unsolved cases.

***

Stepping into the room that had all the crime scene investigators in, Jay came to a stop watching them work as his eyes caught on the chain that had been used to hold Caitlyn in this room; he didn't listen to the others as they talked behind him. 

The room was virtually empty and the old faded blue wallpaper that had started to peel away from the wall in places; the walls were no better and it was clear the place had been abandoned for a long time. 

Jay could see the marks on the wall counting down the days that Caitlyn had been trapped here, days in which he had searched for her but had never succeeded. 

Never had he thought to search this far out, Jay cursed himself for not planning his search better; he should have searched areas like these and he should have found her before any of this had happened. 

"What do we know so far?" Hank asked peering into the room over Jay's shoulder, he patted the younger man on the back before he turned to the rest of the team. 

He had no doubts that this was a second location and wherever she had been originally held before here was still out there; it was the place that Laura had died and they were still missing pieces of the puzzles. 

"I spoke to a couple of locals and they say that they saw a man driving out of here in a truck and heading East," Kim stated looking up from her notes, she wasn't sure how this would help but it was something. 

There were officers searching the fields around the house just in case there was any sign of disturbed ground that could hold a possible location for someone being buried there. 

"I want eyes in the sky. Where did Edward go from here? Where was he hiding before this?" Hank ordered turning to look back at the room, there were signs of a struggle and he couldn't imagine how that had ended. 

Given that Edward had ended up in hospital needing medical care then he could only imagine how Caitlyn had come off in such a fight against a man that had already murdered her parents. 

There was no telling what state Caitlyn had been buried in, she could have serious injuries and he had a medical team on standby for the moment that they did find her. 

Hank wasn't taking any chances, he didn't want to consider the chance that when they found Caitlyn that she might have passed; he didn't think that was something they needed to worry about yet. 

Stepping into the room and away from the others, Jay moved towards the chain eyeing the blood that stained the floor; he didn't want to think about the fact that it may very well belong to Caitlyn and how bad her injuries might be. 

Despite the fact that Caitlyn had been buried alive, the last thing that he wanted to add to that in his mind was the fact that she might also have injuries that could quicken her death. 

He would never forgive himself if she didn't make it, he could have saved her and kept her safe if he'd acted quicker; his search had led to nothing and the idea that she might die like this terrified him. 

Kneeling down on the floor, his eyes traced each of the marks that had been made by Caitlyn; trying to imagine how she might have felt waiting for a rescue that wasn't coming for her here. 

"Halstead?" Hank called over to the younger man, a frown set upon his face and he wouldn't hesitate to bench the other man if he thought for a moment that this was going to go south or would become too much for him. 

There was much to be considered and if he knew anything about how Edward worked then this wasn't going to be as straight forward as they hoped and there was a chance that Caitlyn would not make it. 

"How are you holding up?" Hank asked watching Jay approach him, the house was being searched and they were trying to track where the truck that Edward had been driving had gone. 

It had been found in the hospital car park and was being searched for clues but where it had gone from here before it had turned up at the hospital was anyone's guess. 

"I can handle this Sarge. I just want to find her," Jay insisted, he had no doubts that Voight would bench him if for a moment he felt like Jay was a threat to the investigation. 

There was no way that he was going to sit around and wait for news, he needed to be there when they found Caitlyn no matter what the result might be; he wanted to see her returned home and Edward punished for what he had done. 

Jay would make sure of that, Edward wouldn't be allowed to get away with all that he had put Caitlyn through and the people that had suffered because of his actions.