CHAPTER ONE
"Monty, this is Detective Benson, Detective Munch, and-"
"Just call me Fin."
"...and Fin," Captain Cragen introduced. "This is Detective Monty Tyler from the GBI. She'll be helping us collar the I-85 rapist who showed up in New York a few days ago. Monty, brief us on this creep."
"He began his days along I-85 in Georgia, taking people from gas stations near the exit ramps. He'd use the highway to take victims to his hideaway, where he would rape them for many hours, sometimes days. Five of his victims died from their injuries, and there are some Georgian DA's who would love to get their hands on this guy."
"Why did he move north? Why would he get away from his comfort zone?" Detective Munch asked.
"He accidentally grabbed a former Klan member. Since this guy is black, according to his living victims, the remaining Klan members are ready to kill anyone who looks like him. There's two dead already, both innocent. The members that killed them have been charged, but you know as well as I do that the others will keep going until one of us gets this guy."
"But why New York? I know some men from the Klan who hang out up here," Fin said sternly.
"It's easy to hide out," Detective Benson whispered before I had a chance to reply. "All of the victims were found near industrial districts that have a lot of empty buildings thanks to the recession and outsourcing. He only strikes at night in low traffic, making his getaways quick and painless, unlike what he did to his victims. And just like in Georgia, we've got one dead. Until we catch this guy, it's more than innocent black men that are at risk."
"Fin and Olivia, go to the crime lab and start looking over the files Monty brought from Georgia. Start developing some patterns with this guy. Munch, take Monty up to Mercy where they've got the latest victim. He might be talking now," Cragen whispered.
"Cars are this way," Munch led. I followed him, looking around the busy precinct curiously. "Not this busy in Atlanta?"
"I was actually with the GBI, not a local precinct. But no, they were never this crazy. How many guys work here?"
"Not as many as there should be. We've had problems with our old building, and they're still in the process of moving people around. We're actually some of the first to get our desks back...or rather new desks to replace the ones we lost."
"Did you lose files?"
"Of course. Those were the first to get hit. Luckily our scanning crew is pretty on top of things. Everything was already scanned in before the room flooded, and the files that hadn't been scanned were in water-proof containers."
"Talk about lucky," I whispered, getting into the passenger side and fastening my seatbelt.
New York and I had never met before, and I'd never seen so many tall buildings in my life. But I knew in my heart that I had to team up with Special Victims on this case, mainly because this guy had made my life a living hell for the past three years.
I planned on making a permanent change in my life, which is something Cragen knew but didn't mention. I was in the process of leaving the GBI for a local job when I received word of connections in the NYC, and the choice was made for me. And since I had already sold my home, the move was pretty permanent: I had nowhere to go back to.
"I hope you had traffic where you are because it's a nightmare up here."
"I think it's worse down there, but I guess I'll find out won't I?" I smirked, watching taxis take up every available space with daring maneuvers. I definitely wasn't in Georgia anymore.
I was lucky to have old friends up here, and I was currently sleeping on their couch since their guest bedroom was now a nursery. But since the baby was due in two weeks, I had to find another place fast.
"Come on! You've got a whole lane! Why do you want mine?" Munch yelled. He immediately got on the guy's bumper, making me nervous. But I knew the sightseeing while we weren't busy was a better choice anyway, so I got back to looking at the shiny, tall buildings.
Atlanta did have its share of skyscrapers, but none this tall and wide. I'd been in a few in my day: once I captured a corporate murderer who felt killing off his competitors was better than out-bidding them, and another time I took down an elaborate drug smuggling ring being ran right above a bank that kept noticing a "strange white dust coming from the floor above." I looked forward to being inside one in New York, but I'd have time for that when the job was done.
"How much further?" I asked. Munch shrugged.
"Block-wise only about three, but this traffic is a nightmare. I say we'll be here another hour unless things don't clear up."
"Mind if I make a phone call?"
"No, go right ahead," he replied.
I pulled out my phone and hit "1," the number of a now former colleague of mine. She answered immediately.
"Find anything new?"
"There's more victims than I was told yesterday, but I expected that."
"He's still getting faster?"
"It looks that way. Their timeline shows about one every two days."
"Damn!" she hissed. "We've got bigger problems down here. Three more young black men are dead, none of them the guy. It's getting out of control, and we're petitioning the governor to bar the story from the news."
"Sounds like a good idea. Who killed them all? More Klansmen?"
"One was a woman who saw a man acting strange at a gas station. It turns out he was a mentally impaired young man who hung out there a lot. She is being charged, but her lawyers are trying an insanity defense. The other two were by the same Klansman, and he's been caught as well."
"If you need my signature on that petition, just fax it over. I have an account with the Kinkos on 88th and...I don't remember. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't put two that close together."
"You'd be surprised...," Munch muttered, inching the car forward maybe two feet before traffic stopped again.
"I'll look it up. Get your new friends to help you out if you can. We need all the help we can get."
"I'll try. Listen, could you deliver those flowers for me? It's all automatic: you just have to pick them up and take them there, and make sure you get the old ones too."
"I'll do that for you. I take you're near someone? You'd usually give a more detailed command than that."
"Yes. The less who know the less they can use it against me."
"You're still trying to get a job there?"
"The paperwork is in the system, but we'll see what happens. A lot of people are up for it, though mine is more..."
"Personal. I know. Listen, I've got to head out in a few minutes. I'll take care of the flowers on my way home tonight. And Monty? Don't forget to open up every once in a while. You can't just be in your own little world, especially with all that on your chest."
"I know, and I'll try to remember that. It'll be hard, but I'll do what I can."
"Good girl. See you later," she smiled, hanging up.
Munch eyed me carefully as we approached the reason for the traffic: a taxi and a limo ran into each other. He began trying to move into another lane quietly, but I knew he was wondering about my phone call.
His phone rang and he picked it up as we moved over and began to go at a normal speed again. "Yeah this is Munch," he said. He paused to listen, then put the phone on speaker.
"We just got a bulletin from Jersey. They have three cases like ours from about two weeks ago, which makes sense if he was travelling up the highway from the south using the coastal route. Olivia ran the system for more hits, and in his month off he raped fifteen people. Three of those are dead now."
"All along I-90?" I asked.
"Yeah. He even stopped off in DC to make a hit. She was a congresswoman from Idaho. This case just got a lot bigger than us."
"Should we still stop by Mercy?" Munch asked.
"You're not there yet? Damn traffic," Fin muttered. "The Captain is in a meeting, so stick to the plan unless we call you back."
"Can do. Keep us updated," Munch whispered.
"Will do," Fin replied, and the call was ended.
"I'll tell my friends to scratch that petition. It's probably all over the big news networks now."
"No doubt, especially if a congresswoman is one of the victims. What's with the deaths you mentioned? Something about the Klan?" "They killed two more men, and a woman killed another. They caught both of the perpetrators, but this is getting out of hand. And once the Klan finds out more are dead all the way up to New York, they're likely to retaliate further."
"I thought they were a little more low-key now days?"
"Depends on the situation. A few years back three black men killed a white woman for her car. The Klan was furious, especially when they heard she was tortured and raped. They found the men before the cops could. Let's just say interrogation was easy: they forced the men to record their story. It was allowed in court and the three are serving life. The Klansmen got some years themselves for kidnapping and torture. We'd never seen anything like it before."
"What is the world coming to?" he whispered, finding us a parking space and leading me to the victim's room, which was in the mental health wing of the hospital.
"Detective Munch?" a doctor called. The two shook hands and looked to me.
"Doctor, this is Detective Tyler from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. She's helping us with the case, and the Captain asked me to bring her along. Is he talking yet?"
"Not a word. And you can't meet with him either: he tried to commit suicide again, so we have him in a special area of the ward. We've removed all garments and taped his fingernails to keep him from scratching himself. He's on full-monitoring, and we just can't risk him having another episode."
"What about his family? Where are they?" I asked.
"He's a divorced hermit," Munch whispered. "He has no friends, and he used to only leave his house once a night to buy one egg, one pint of milk, and he'd buy a loaf of bread every Friday. Now he'll probably never leave his house again, if he can ever leave here."
"But the ex is in contact with us. They have a daughter together and he had visitation rights. She can't remove them without his consent or a lawyer's. She's been hounding us trying to get in with him, but we've been successful at keeping her away so far."
"If anything changes, you have our number," Munch nodded. He and the doctor shook hands again.
"I take you and him are friends?" I asked. He nodded.
"We grew up near each other, so we had a lot of classes together in grade school. He went for a different career than I did though, and we only meet up in situations like this."
"That's a horrible way to meet up, but I get it," I whispered. He glanced at me as we took the elevator back to the car.
"I sense some baggage there. You have a personal reason for coming to SVU?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I murmured. He sighed and shifted his feet a little as the elevator stopped and let on more people.
"Having a personal connection to any of these cases always makes things harder. We've all had a case that reminded us of our own lives, or was from our own lives. I've had an uncle cross paths with a case and an ex-wife. It's never easy, but if you have a passion for it, you should pursue it."
We got back into the car and made our way back to the precinct. I never responded to him: I didn't want to give too much away.
Back at the office, we gathered in the captain's office for more news.
"After we discovered the number of other cases, I got a call from the FBI. They're taking over this case until further notice. All of our evidence, including what Monty brought from Georgia, is being handed over to them. They're going to keep us updated, and they'd like our cooperation if anything else comes up," Captain Cragen said quietly. "And after they said they'd keep us updated, they announced another victim, this time a child in Pennsylvania."
"He's just going to take a victim for every exit in America," Fin whispered, shaking his head.
"How's the man at Mercy doing?"
"Still not talking, and he's on suicide watch," Munch replied. Detective Benson sighed.
"Well we have other cases. Fin, you and Benson start running paperwork from that Jane Doe rape from two days ago. Munch, the backlog from last week. Monty, can I talk to you?" Cragen asked. The office cleared, leaving us alone. "My people like you, and this case was more for us than the GBI connections. They want you on a trial basis for about a month before they decide, but you've got a job. I'll take you over to headquarters for your paperwork and supplies."
I smiled and shook his hand, letting him lead me to the parking lot and to another police building. After I finished my paperwork, I was issued a badge, a uniform (which I'd only have to wear on proper occasions), a gun, and a can of pepper spray. I was allowed to keep my Taser thanks to proper licensing, and I was soon at a desk in SVU's area filling out paperwork like everyone else.
A/N: There is more to come, so be ready for updates soon! Also, if any readers have a deviantArt account, would you please follow the links on my profile and fave the story? Thanks!