⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS YOU
chapter twenty four. the number of rats.

Sam and Jay are at the hospital with Voight and Benson, waiting on news about the nurse that got beaten, raped and burned at her house.

After telling Voight that the victim's sister is on her way, Jay and Sam walk down the hall and are met with Jay's brother, Will.

"Hey" Jay says.

"Hey. How's Victoria? Any word?" Will asks.

"We saw the crime scene. It can't be good" Sam says.

"What happened?"

"Fire department found her in a burning building. She's got burns all over her body. Her skull was fractured and she'd been sexually assulted" Jay says.

"This is horrible" Will says, "She's the nicest person"

"You know her?"

"Just in passing. She's a nurse in maternity. Any idea who did it?"

"Would we be standing here if we did?"

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Back on the unit, the intelligence team is gathered around the whiteboard and listens to Olivia Benson, while she updates them about the case.

"So the first victim, Alice Whitlock, raped and murdered. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. She was a nurse at the columbia Presbyterian. Second vic, Lisa Hoffman. She was raped and killed in the same fashion as Whitlock, but she was found completely burned in her own car along the Harlem river" Liv says, "Green nail polish was applied to both of these victims at some point during the crime. Debra McCulloch" Liv continues on, pointing to the picture of the third victim, "was last seen exiting a bar on 53rd and 3rd. She was a nurse at Mount Sinai. So, all three victims in New York, 2004. Witnesses were consistent, they all saw a man in medical clothing and his arm in a sling approaching these women"

"The victim from here, she have green nail polish on?" Sam asks.

"Don't know yet"

"Yeah. Lab techs gonna check when the doctor gives the okay, but there's no guarantee we'll find out either way. Her hands were severely burned, she was trying to cover her face" Voight says.

"Also, there was no DNA at either of the New York crime scenes" Benson adds.

"Are there any theories why he stopped for ten years?" Adam asks.

"Sadly, we don't know that he has" Olivia answers, "So, our suspect is a male, white, 5 '9", approximatelly forty years old. He's either in the medical field or, obviously, posing as someone who is. There's nothing physically distinctive about him. All witnesses, again, were consistent when they described him. They said that he was average looking and normal"

"These details of the crimes have gone out to every news and radio station in town" Dawson says.

"We check city wide and in the suburbs on missile x cards and information reports on any attempted abductions or suspicious calls" Voight says, as Sam picks up her desk phone.

"I'm gonna have Mouse triangulate the cell towers on the girls phone and check all social media. We can find out if she electronically checked in anywhere during the day" Lindsay says.

"I'll check the sex offender files and recently released parolees" Dawson says.

"Good" Voight says.

"That was Olinsky at Chicago Med" Sam says, hanging up the phone, "Victoria didn't make it"

🌙🌙🌙

Antonio, Adam and Erin are outside the victims house and neighborhood asking people about the suspect, while Sam and Jay are looking around the victim's burned house with Matt Casey.

"Offender balled newspaper and shredded rubber and piled it near the victim" Matt says pointing his flashlight into the bedroom, "then he left a trail of the same combo to the back door. Used lighter fluid as an accelerant. Lit it, then left out the back door"

Sam, Jay and Matt duck under some crime scene tape on the bedroom door as Casey continues on, saying, "Some burning rubber dropped down a coax cable hole in the floor, right here" Matt steps on the area he's talking about to show Sam and Jay, "Which is why we initially thought it started downstairs"

"Okay, so the offender drags the victim up the back staircase into the bedroom." Jay says, "There's no way we're pulling any DNA out of here"

"Definitely not" Sam agrees.

"I heard whoever did this has done it before?" Casey asks.

"Yeah, it's looking like it" Jay answers.

"Hey, check it out" Sam says, picking up a small bottle with fire residue on it from the ground next to the bed and showing it to Jay, "it's a nail polish bottle"

"What color did the offender use on the victims?" Jay questions.

"Green" Sam says, opening the bottle to find out it's indeed green nail polish, "well, now there's no doubt"

🌙🌙🌙

"Jay!" Sam shouts, looking through the freezer.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He asks, walking into the kitchen.

"Baby, where did all the rocky road ice cream go?"

"You ate it all last night, remember?" Jay asks, leaning on the counter.

"Shoot. The baby wanted some"

"The baby or you?"

"Me but the baby didn't disagree" Sam says seriously and Jay laughs. "Come on, let's go to bed. It's late and we have to get up early"

"Can you give me a back massage?"

"Yes, baby. Of course"

"And can we get some rocky road tomorrow?"

"Yes, I promise" Jay says, guiding his pregnant girlfriend to their bedroom.

"I love you, Jay Halstead. Do I tell you that enough?"

"Everyday" Jay smiles, which causes Sam to get butterflies in her stomach.

"Good" Sam smiles, placing her hands on her growing tummy as they walk into their bedroom.

After the back massage Jay promised, Sam gets settled into bed, and Jay soon joins her and wraps his arm around her waist and places his hand on her stomach.

"Can I tell you something, Sammy?" Jay asks.

"Anything"

"You have made me the happiest guy on this planet. Not just cause you made me a dad, but because I have never felt this way about someone. I'm in love with you, Sammy and I never wanna lose you"

Sam turns over to face her gorgeous boyfriend and wipes the tears from her eyes. "I'm in love with you too, Jay." Sam closes the gap between them with a passionate kiss, "and you will never lose me"

🌙🌙🌙

"Awesome. After you two, all I need is Ruzek to sign the card" Nadia says, as she, Sam and Jay are in the locker room at the 21st district, signing Erin's birthday card.

"Careful with Ruzek, he's terrible at keeping secrets" Sam says, passing the card to Jay for him to sign.

"Okay. So, I'm gonna steal her car keys to pick up the cake and if that doesn't work, can I borrow one of yours?"

"Yeah. No problem" Sam says.

"Awesome"

"What's no problem?" Erin asks, walking around the corner.

"It's...it's all under control" Jay says as he and Sam leave the locker room and head for the unit.

"What did you write?" Jay asks his beautiful girlfriend.

"'Happy Birthday to the future godmother. I love you'"

"Well, that's definitely better than what I wrote"

"Which was?" Sam questions.

"'Happy Birthday. You rock girl!'"

Sam stops walking and looks at her boyfriend and says, "Please tell me you didn't really write, 'you rock girl' to the godmother of our child?"

Silence filled between the couple before Sam bursts out laughing and walking away. "Oh my god, you're never gonna live that one down"

Sam and Jay walk back onto the unit to see that Fin and Amaro have arrived from New York and Sam goes over to them and hugs Fin and gives Amaro a shy smile. "Hey guys, welcome back"

"Thanks" Amaro says, "so, the rumors are true. You're pregnant"

"Yeah, I guess so" Sam smiles, placing both her hands on her belly.

"I'm just proud to say, I'm the first one she told" Fin smiles.

"Yeah, you better be" Sam smiles, nudging the male detective.

Sam and Fin are very close friends. They met on that robbery rape case a few years back and they instantly clicked.

Once mostly everyone is back on the unit, Amaro starts passing out files to everyone.

"So, this is everything pertinent from our files on the New York Victims" Amaro says, as Voight walks in and they say hi.

"Hey, I guess that tip line must have paid off" Atwater says, as he and Adam walk onto the unit, "Apparently some woman just called over in bucktown. She said that some guy two weeks ago was asking for help unloading boxes from his car"

"Was she attacked?" Sam asks.

"No, she got a weird feeling and took off" Adam answers, "get this though. The guy was wearing scrubs"

"I'll go interview this woman" Sam says, getting the address from Adam and grabbing her coat with Amaro not far behind.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam and Nick get out of the car and walk down the sidewalk to get to Charlotte Reegans apartment to talk to her about the tip she called in.

"So, you and Halstead huh?" Amaro asks the brown eyed girl, who he was once in love with.

"Don't start Nick, please"

"What, I just asked a question"

"I know you to well Nick Amaro, okay. There's always another meaning behind everything you ask"

"And you're pregnant"

"There it is"

"What?" Amaro asks.

"You're upset that I'm pregnant"

"No, just confused is all"

"I'm not talking about this" Sam says, ringing the doorbell.

"Well, we have to"

"Well, we're not going to" Sam says, when the door opens, "Charlotte Reegan?"

"Yes"

"Hi, I'm detective Miller" Sam says, holding up her shield, "and this is detective Amaro. You called in a tip last night?"

"Yeah. Wow, you guys got here quick"

"Hey, Charlotte. Would you mind taking us through what happened?" Nick asks.

"Of course. Come in"

Charlotte leads Sam and Nick into her small apartment, picking up a few things off the ground as she enters. "Sorry about the mess. This place is so small my stuff gets everywhere"

"You know, when I was your age, I slept in a closet in New York. Six hundred a month" Nick says.

"So, Charlotte. What happened two weeks ago?" Sam questions.

"Uh, well, it gets claustrophobic in here. So I went for a walk. I was over by the park and there was this guy standing by his car. Said he needed help moving a box to the passenger seat" Charlotte explains, "you know, he had a sling on his arm and doctor pants on under his jacket, so I walked over to help but when I got to the car I saw this car jack thingy in the back seat and he was just a little too...I don't know, too friendly. Too chatty"

"Did you get a good look at him?" Nick asks.

"Not really. It was night. He was a white guy. He was wearing a cap"

"What kind of car was he driving?" Sam questions.

"Subaru. Wagon. I remember because my aunt has one. Uh, dark green. I didn't get a license plate though. I just turned and gripped my keys in my hand and started walking"

"If you see this guy again, would you be able to identify him?" Sam asks.

As the two detectives leave the apartment and head back to the car, Amaro says, "we're gonna talk about this"

"There's nothing to talk about"

"I wanted to have a baby with you and you said you never wanted to have kids again after what happened with your son and now you're pregnant?"

Sam walks over to the drivers side door, "I'm not discussing this with you. You broke up with me remember? Now get in the car or walk back" then she gets into her jeep. Nick sighs and gets in.

🌙🌙🌙

"Jay, baby. Calm down" Sam says, trying to calm her boyfriend down in the locker room by rubbing her hand in circles on his back.

"I can't. You weren't in that room, Sam"

"I know"

"Can you believe they actually think my brother did this"

"They're just going on what the evidence shows"

"And it's crap. Will did not do this"

"I know" Sam says, pulling Jay into a hug.

~~~

"Home address, employer information and what else?" Gregory Yates asks, writing down the information on a notepad in interrogation led by Sam and Nick, after Mouse found the car from a
security tape from Charlottes apartment building and Burgess and Roman tracking it down.

"Cell phone number" Sam says.

"Oh, of course"

"So, what brings you to Chicago, Mr Yates?" Amaro questions.

"Employment"

"Where?" Sam asks.

"Medhelp. It's an urgent care facility on the south side"

"So, you were a professor at Columbia in New York" Amaro says, reading over a file, "residency at Presbyterian"

"That's correct"

"When was this?" Nick questions.

"Well, I'm sure that file states it"

"I'm asking you"

"Ten years or so" Yates says, leaning back in the chair.

"Where've you been since then?" Sam questions.

"Oh, all over. Traveling. Lots of time in New Orleans. Now, there is a lawless town. My job as a physician, you know, there's always a need. Always a spot to fill"

Sam and Nick tilt their heads to the side as Yates starts to get this look in his eyes.

"How'd you go from being a doctor at one of the best hospitals in the country to working at an urgent care?" Sam asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him"

Sam raises her eyebrow at the weird man.

"Croucho Marx. Oh, see, I bet you don't even know who that is"

"You ever been to Chicago Med?" Sam asks.

"Oh, sure"

"As a patient or..." Sam asks and Yates chuckles. "No, actually. I have lunch there sometimes"

"Do you know this woman?" Amaro asks, sliding a picture of the first victim in front of Yates as he sits up in the chair.

"No"

"Her?" Nick asks, sliding a picture of the second victim in front of him. "Her...her.. Or her" Nick slides the rest of the victim's photos in front of Yates.

"No"

"No?"

"No. Are any of these the pedestrians that the car I'm purchasing supposedly struck? That is the reason that I was brought in. Am I correct?"

Sam looks down at Yates' arms and notice there's no hair on them and asks, "You shave your arms, doctor?"

"My whole body, actually" Yates says, turning around in his seat, "It's for cycling. Helps reduce drag"

"You know, I'm new to the city. What's the best spot around here for cycling" Amaro questions.

"I don't know, my bike's still in storage" Yates answers, still looking at Sam, "Am I under arrest? I do have a general sense of my rights as a US citizen"

"You're free to go" Sam says and Yates stands up, as well as Nick and Yates grabs his jacket and heads for the door, followed by Sam, "Thanks for coming in"

"Oh, I'm happy to help"

"Do you have any travel plans, Mr. Yates?" Sam asks, as the two enter the hall.

"None. Are you kidding? I just got to your beautiful city. I can't wait to explore it. Oh, and congratulations on the pregnancy"

"I'll walk you out" Sam says, following Yates out of the unit after he says 'hello' to Nadia, which she thought was weird.

Sam goes over to her desk and turns her computer on and starts doing some paperwork.

"Get a states attorney on board ASAP. Give 'em particulars, probable cause and let 'em know we believe this guy is good for it" Voight tells Sam, who nods her head, "Alright, one of you figure out who's gonna be the affiant on his phone"

"I'm on it, boss" Ruzek says.

"We are gonna run this clean. We're gonna run this thorough. We're gonna run it by the book. Everybody understand?" Voight asks and everyone agrees.

~~~

Sam, Erin, Jay and Will walk into Hank's office, so Will can tell Voight what he knows about Greg Yates.

"He was one of those instructors that made the students call him by his first name. Liked to hang out at the bars we went to. Some bought into it but I always got a creepy vibe" Will explains, "Someone invited him out to a party one night and Yates corners me. Starts talking about who has the best ass. Who he'd like to have sex with first. Debra McCulloch was at that party. The nurse that went missing"

"Was it the night she went missing?" Erin asks.

"No. I think it was, like, three nights before that, but, they were both there. He could easily have met her that night"

"Sam, you have a call" Nadia says and Sam turns around, "It's Greg Yates"

Sam sits at her desk as everyone stands around her and Nadia puts the phone on speaker.

"Detective Miller" Sam says.

"I can't help but think that we got off on the wrong foot"

"How do you mean?" Sam asks.

"Oh, I just feel like I made a bad impression on your co workers back there. I would like to try and win you guys back. Are you free to meet for a short conversation?"

"Sure. Why don't you come by the district"

"No, just you and me. The pavilion at Millennium park in three hours. Thank you for your time in advance" Yates says before hanging up the phone and Sam looks at Voight. "I'm meeting him"

~~~

Both the intelligence team and the SVU team gather around the basement putting on their vests, while Mouse gets Sam ready for the meet.

"Alright, so, Voight will be able to communicate with you through this" Mouse says, giving Sam an ear wig and said girl puts it in and pulls down her hat more to cover her ears, "Now, I'd use your phone in your other ear, assuming you like to hear over four thousand hertz"

"Okay" Sam chuckles, "Good?"

"Yeah"

"I still don't like this" Jay says, bringing his girlfriend into a hug.

"Jay, I'll be fine"

"Please, be careful"

"I will, promise"

"We'll be nearby in case anything goes sideways" Antonio tells Sam and Jay sighs.

"Hey, Al, you guys find a good look out yet?" Voight asks.

"We'll be near the pedestrian bridges a few hundred yards away"

"Fin, Amaro, you're on the ground with Ruzek and Antonio. Now, I don't like this as much as the rest of you, what with Sam being pregnant, but she's smart and this is our chance to catch Yates, alright? Stay sharp" Voight says.

Sam's phone starts ringing and she raises an eyebrow at the caller and answers it, "Sergeant Benson"

"Sam, Fin told me your going to meet with Yates, alone?"

"Yeah, I figure he's either looking to confess, he's playing us or he's looking to do something stupid and even if it's the last one, he's been at this for ten years, it's worth it if we can finally bring him down"

"Look, just remember, if he's reaching out to you, he's feeling the pressure, right? He could be capable of anything right now"

"I'll be ready, Sergeant" Sam says.

"You and the baby be safe"

"Thank you. We will"

🌙🌙🌙

Sam walks along the pavilion at the Millennium park and sits in one of the plastic stadium seats.

"Anyone got eyes on Yates?" Sam asks, into her ear wig.

"Halstead you got eyes on him?" Voight asks through his