Daddy's Little Girl - Part 3

Father, please. We've come so close - please let Lizzie be okay. I just want to take her home. Please God...please.

Elliot's prayer was more of a desperate plea. He was begging God. He made promises to God that he would make sure he went to confession twice a month, and that his family and him would faithfully be at Mass on Sunday's. He promised that he wouldn't drink, and that he'd try to control his temper more.

Elliot began to cry again as he started to race towards Long Island. He'd never been this emotional before. But, of course, this was his daughter. Please God, please. He was begging over and over again.

He turned on his police lights and sirens so that he wouldn't have to be stuck in the terrible New York traffic. That was the last thing he needed to be in. He raced through tolls and began to scramble around Long Island, looking for the street name Munch told him to begin his search.

Finally, he got to the place. He stepped out of his car, looked around, and took a deep breath. It was dark outside, and the street reaked of dead animals and moth balls. Elliot glanced around, looking for a place to begin to search. His eyes darted to a small, abandoned looking wearhouse. He figured that would be his best place to start.

He slowly crept inside, making sure he was very quiet doing so. He noticed the lights were on in another bedroom, giving him the impression that someone was staying there. He pulled his gun out and crept closer and closer to the doorway, stopping right at the edge, and peeked inside.

Nothing.

Nothing but teddy bears, a large bed, little girl clothing, and...blood.

Elliot was frozen in fear, a tear trickled down his cheek. Was that the blood of his youngest daughter? Manning up, and putting his fear behind him, Elliot searched the rest of the house.

"Lizzie...Lizzie.." he called her name softly, like he normally does when he's putting her to bed. He hear nothing. The house was silent. That's when he remembered something..

"Daddy! The man is coming down the stairs."

Elliot's eyes darted left and right, up and down. It was dark in most of the house. He was scanning the area, looking for steps. When nothing popped out at him, he dropped to the floor and began crawling around, looking for a trap door.

Click.

He'd opened some type of latch. It was a trap door, leading to an underground cellar. The steps were very narrow, and long. It looked like it would take an eternity to get to the bottom. Elliot climbed down there, scurrying down the steps quietly, but fast. When he reached his half way point, he heard screaming.

"STTTTOOOOOP IT.. PLEASSEEE...STO-OOOOP!" A little girls voice rang through the room, piercing the air.

"D-DA-DDDDYYYYY.. D-AA-"

"SHUT UP! STUPID GIRL, DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO BE QUIET! I TOLD YOU, NO ONE CAN FIND YOU HERE..NOT EVEN YOUR DUMB POLICE OFFICER OF A FATHER..."

The little girl was frantically sobbing now. "Please..." she whispered, "please let me go, I won't tell anybody who you are..I'll keep my mouth-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP! CAN YOU NOT HEAR? ARE YOU DEAF, YOU STUPID KID? YOU'RE NEVER GOING HOME. DO YOU HEAR ME? NEVER! DOESN'T YOUR FATHER COME HOME AT NIGHTS AND TELL YOU WHAT WORK IS LIKE? DOESN'T HE?"

"No, I swear! I promise...he doesn't talk about that stuff at home..m-m-mommy doesn't like to hear it..." Elizabeth sobbed.

"Stupid girl. I honestly feel sorry for you. I don't want to have to kill you, but that would ruin my reputation. You see, the other girls that came down here and didn't behave - well, I killed them, too. Then I left their bodies all out in the middle of the street, so everyone can see what I did to them. That's what's gonna happen to you Elizabeth."

Elliot couldn't listen any longer. "ELIZABETH!" He screamed, pulling his gun out.

He raced down the rest of the steps, and saw a man, about 6'2", 200 pounds, staring at him. The mas holding a long rope, the same kind of rope that Elliot used to tie an old tire to his tree in his front yard to make the kids a tire swing. What Elliot didn't notice was that the man had a gun.

The man pulled it out and pointed directly towards Elliot, "come any closer, and I'll kill her." The man said.

Elizabeth let out a scream. "Shut up!" The man said, taking his free hand and striking Elizabeth across the face. Elizabeth's face turned fire engine red, and tears began to stream down her face.

Elliot steped towards the man. "Please, sir. This is my kid. She's my baby girl. Please don't hurt her..please..." This was unlike Elliot, he had never tried to sweet talk a perp before.

"And what do you expect me to do? Let her go so you can arrest me? Fat chance of that!" The man snarled, and spit on the ground near Elliot's feet. Elliot's eyes went to Elizabeth, who was shaking and crying. He looked directly into her eyes. He was trying to speak to her with his eyes instead of his mouth.

Move away from him. Slowly.

Elizabeth somehow got the message, and she slowly and quietly scooted herself to the left, farther away from the man.

"Nobody is getting out of this room alive tonight, Elliot Stabler. I will make s-"

The man's eyes went cold, he clutched his heart with both hands and began gasping for air. Shh...ugg...ahhh... The man began making many noises, trying to get air. His gun dropped to the floor, and so did he, lying in a pool of blood.

Elliot ran over to Elizabeth and scooped her into his big arms. She looked so tiny compared to him. She nestled herself into his neck and began to cry.

"Daddy...I was s-soo scared..."

"Shh, it's alright baby. I got you now...shhh...shh...Oh Lizzie, oh God I'm so sorry honey...shhh...I love you...I love you Lizzie..." Elliot too was crying...his tears slid down into his daughters hair. He rubbed her back and held her, crying, for nearly ten minutes before she lifted her tear-stained face and looked into his eyes.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"C-can w-we go h-ome now?" She asked so innocently through her sobs.

"Yes baby, yes we can." Elliot smiled and cried at the same time, kissing his daughters cheek over and over again.

Thank you, God. Thank you. Elliot praised.

He'd done it. His daughter was safe in his arms. Tonight was going to be a good night. All was okay. Elizabeth was going home to be safe and sound. All was going to be well in the Stabler house..