A/N: Thank you TigreLily, Xella134, and Rockstargoddess101 for the reviews!


Chapter 2: Communication Preparations

"I'm still not sure that holding a press conference is the best plan," Stabler muttered, crossing his arms as he challenged Agent Huang's prior assessment.

"I understand where you're coming from, Elliot," Huang said calmly, "but I think this perp is looking for attention, and a press conference is the best way to try and set up a pathway for communication."

Stabler shook his head and shifted his weight. "What if this plan backfires and he decides keeping Amy Wu alive is too much of a risk and he kills her?"

"What if he does?" Huang asked, his eyes waiting for a reaction.

Stabler's eyes pinched tightly together, and his mouth stood open in confusion.

Huang shook his head. "He'll kill her anyway if you don't find her before the day is out, and from what I've gathered, you don't have much to go on. It seems highly unlikely that not involving the media will bring about any better results."

"Hold on now," Stabler began. "What makes you so sure this guy wants extra attention -- he hasn't tried to contact the police or the media in any way."

"But he did contact the family members -- taunting them, in fact -- as well as placing anonymous phone calls to the buildings where he placed the bodies. He may not have called the police directly, but he wanted those bodies found. He wants people to know what he's capable of doing."

Benson stepped into the conversation. "So you think he might contact us if we address the media?" she asked, interlacing her fingers.

Agent Huang nodded his head vigorously. "I think he will."

He walked over to the board, and gestured to the time line they had drawn. "Just look at the abductions themselves -- he kidnaps these women from within their own homes during broad daylight in high-traffic areas. The possibility of being seen makes it that much more exciting for him, and his current successes has built up his confidence level. I'm willing to bet he's itching to lord it over someone, and who better for that than the police."

"Alright," Cragen said slowly, "I agree with you so far -- but why Olivia?"

Huang smiled. "Put yourself in the perp's position. Who would seem less threatening to your ability to manipulate the situation -- a man in uniform complete with shield and brass buttons? Or a woman? No offense, Liv."

Benson managed to grin tightly. "None taken."

"Personally, I think I'd be a little more confident if I were being chased by a slightly-portly teddy bear like yourself, boss, rather than by Olivia. Sorry, chief," Munch quipped as he strode into the squad room.

The group pretended to ignore him as Huang continued.

"If the perp sees the press conference -- and trust me, he's been anxiously waiting for one -- he's going to associate whoever speaks with the investigation. He's going to expect the speaker to be the one in charge of the manhunt. We already know from his choice of victim that he wants to control women. By putting Olivia at the helm, he's not going to be able to resist exerting his absolute control over her and the police simultaneously."

Stabler shifted uncomfortably as he watched Benson agree with Huang. "You said he's already waiting -- wouldn't he feel the urge to manipulate the police even if a man addresses him?"

Benson began making moves to object, but Huang answered the question. "It's more than likely. I believe he'd respond faster to a woman challenging him, but he still might respond to a man."

"There," Stabler reasoned, turning to his boss. "Why not let someone else do it? I really don't think we should put Olivia in his sights."

"Shut up, Elliot," Benson suggested. "I'll do it. We're racing the clock here, and if he'll respond faster to me, then so be it."

Huang turned to Olivia, his eyes filled with concern. "What I'm suggesting is no easy task -- I'm not going to try and sugar coat anything. This guy will fixate on you, Olivia -- and you will need to prepare yourself for that."

"No," Stabler said with force. "No way -- this guy is too dangerous."

Benson turned her head to glare at her partner.

"Liv," Elliot pleaded, responding to her look of contempt.

She shook her head. "Elliot, you're not the one who gets to make that decision."

"No, but I am," Cragen interrupted. He turned to face Benson. "Olivia, are you sure you can handle it?"

Benson nodded in response. "I'm ready, Captain. I'll be fine."

Stabler sighed heavily and walked back to his desk shaking his head.

"Okay," Cragen agreed, checking his watch. "The press conference begins in a little less than three hours. Munch, I assume from your presence here that you have something to share."

Munch looked at him over his glasses. "I now see why they made you captain. First and foremost -- my currently absent partner called. Nothing new from the husband."

"Alright," Cragen stated. "And what did you get? Please tell me you got something."

He held up a manilla file folder in his hands. "I worked those lab rats to the bone, and came up with these: a dark-blue car not half a block from the Koster apartment the morning of -- presumably a Toyota Camry, but the lab can't be a hundred percent sure -- and a strikingly similar vehicle parked in an alley next to the second body dump. Trash cans at the edge of the alleyway managed to block the license plate, and the security camera wasn't turned on until after the car was already parked there, but we managed to get this."

Munch tossed the previously mentioned video stills onto the desk and pulled another sheet from the folder. "You guys don't pay me enough."

Benson rolled her eyes. "More like we don't pay the lab techs enough."

"Au contraire, Mrs. Doubtful -- I pulled this myself while the mice where having a cheese nip break." He dropped the photo on top of the rest.

"Oh my God," Benson whispered as she picked it up. "You didn't --"

She trailed off as she studied the photo intensely. In between her fingers, the shadowy image of a man stared at her as he pulled open the driver's side door.

Munch sat down on the edge of her desk. "Lab puts him at six-foot give or take an inch, Caucasian, with dark hair. That's about all we can glean from the lousy video. The resolution of the camera was little better than crap, but the boys down there are working on cleaning it up somewhat. They still aren't sure they can do much, but I promised a steak dinner to anyone who gets it done."

Stabler stood over Benson's shoulder and glanced at the photo. "White, maybe six-foot, dark hair? That narrows it down."

Cragen ignored the sulking detective's outburst. "That's all well and good, but how exactly do we know it's our perp? We don't even know if its the same vehicle yet."

"Ah!" Munch pointed his finger into the air. "As you can see in the picture, the upper right corner of the car's back end -- right there, just above the taillights -- is what appears to be a swatch of lighter paint -- either white or yellow, eggshell maybe." He dug around in the stack pulling out some of the other video captures. "That little swatch was outside of Marilyn Koster's apartment for sure. And in this photo," Munch said as he pulled another one from the folder,"which was taken five days ago outside of Amy Wu's residence, we are able to see just the rear right corner of a dark-blue car parked out-of-view. The same swatch appears there."

Munch handed the photos one-by-one to Benson, who then passed them on to her partner.

"Okay," Cragen breathed. "At the very least, its an extreme coincidence and he may have seen something. Dr. Huang, do we dare run it?"

Agent Huang stepped over and examined the photos. "This guy thinks he's unstoppable. If we reveal the fact that he may have slipped up right away, it just might be enough to turn him off. We need him to think we're chasing our tails. Release a description of the car, but refer to it being a dark sedan -- possibly black, even -- and forget about the paint swatch. Hold back the photo of him as well. The quality of the footage isn't good enough to be of any reassurance to the public -- for all we know it could be Detective Stabler. Plus, he won't try as hard to find us if he thinks we already know who he is."