Chapter 7
"Wake up!"
As he felt a sharp kick that made him double over on the floor, the pain that ran through his body was enough to shake off the effects of the sedative. And then he lay there on his side, looking up at Greg, who glared down at him,it all came flooding back, and Munch tried to think, to estimate how long he had been stuck there in the cellar - but he still felt in a fog from either the drugs, or from the blow to his head when he had fallen the day before:
It had to be morning now because the cellar door was open and looking up a flight of wooden stairs, he saw an open door,and beyond that, sunlight shone through a cracked window...
"I'm going to kill you," Greg stated.
Munch pulled his thoughts together just enough to try and reason with him.
"It's not too late, Greg. You can stop this now and take off and maybe no one will ever find you. If you kill me, the cops will never, ever give up until they find you. And by the way..." he paused, drawing in a breath that hurt his cracked rib, "The trail will lead to the house and to you. Right now I'm sure Lisa is telling the cops everything she knows and when they run checks they will find out all about you - and then it's just a matter of time."
"Lisa knows nothing!" he said angrily, and stepped closer.
Munch knew he couldn't put up a fight lying injured on the floor with his hands cuffed, and he guessed that so far he had got away with some bad bruising, a few cracked bones and a concussion. He could survive all of that. But the only real chance he had of surviving this ordeal was to count on his colleagues to find him in time, and he didn't know if that would be possible.
But he wasn't going to die without speaking his mind, even if the next kick was harder or worse followed...
"Even if you kill me you won't win, they will find you!" he said, "And you will rot in jail for the rest of your days if they don't hand you the death penalty! And Lisa will still love me - and hate you for what you've done!"
Munch had braced himself, expecting to be kicked again, but instead Greg grabbed hold of him and dragged him to his feet. Munch cried out in pain and then reasoned it would be a wise move to let Greg take him up the stairs - that way he could save his strength to put up a fight when they were out of here, and there were no more flights of stairs to negotiate. He thought of Olivia and Eliot and Fin and Cragen, and then he thought of Lisa. Every step was agony, but he let Greg drag him up the stairway, because he was determined to fight and survive,and even if he didn't make it, he would certainly die trying...
In the squad room, Lisa was sitting with Olivia, and her gaze was fixed on the empty desk that belonged to Munch.
"I just want him back, and I want him safe," she said tearfully.
Liv had already seen an example of how easily Lisa lost it, and she looked at her kindly, speaking to her much in the way she would speak to a victim of an assault, because it was pretty clear that Lisa felt like the victim too – she was frightened, she was looking at her like she seemed sure the world would come to an end if Munch didn't get through this.
"We all want to find him," she said, and then as Lisa rubbed her hands together and blinked away tears, Liv saw the jagged scar on her wrist.
Oh great, she thought flatly, Now I have to watch out for two people...
Liv immediately pulled back on that thought, considering her judgement of her somewhat harsh. She had seen enough victims in her time to know that Lisa had at some point been a victim of something, even if just the harshness of life - not everyone was set up to deal with living and dealing with bad times effectively, and if this applied to Lisa, it wasn't her fault.
Then Liv noticed the way Lisa was holding on to her cellphone, she was clutching at it and kept on looking down at it like she was desperately hoping it was going to ring.
"He won't call you," she said to her, "He can't, not right now. And I'm going to need to take a look at your phone just to confirm what you said about how many times you called him. It's just to check everything you said about what you did when he didn't show up."
Lisa's grip tightened on her phone.
"No, you can't do that."
Liv looked at her in surprise.
"Excuse me? Lisa, we're trying to find Munch, we need that phone!"
"You don't understand," she said quietly, as a flash of guilt darkened her pale eyes," After he left for work he sent me some messages and I sent him some back. This was not on working time - he just wanted to text me while he was having breakfast. I don't want it to affect his job."
"Having a personal conversation is not going to get him in trouble. And if it's what I think it is, no one in this investigation has interest in his sex life, we just want to access everything on the phone to check your story – also there might be something that you missed, that we might spot, that could provide a clue."
She handed the phone over and gave a heavy sigh.
"I don't want him to lose his job over this -"
"Why would he lose his job?"
They both looked around to see Cragen had joined them. His gaze fell on the cell phone and then he picked it up.
"What's this about? Is there something you're not telling us, Lisa?"
She shook her head.
"It's not like that -"
"Then I'll take the phone," he replied, and he picked up the cell phone and went back into his office.
"Oh no," Lisa said quietly, and before Liv could ask her why she was so worried, her phone rang, and she picked up the call.
"We've found his gun and his cell phone at the house, in Volkov's room," said Fin, "And I just got a call from the real estate company that leased Volkov the house - he also rented another place about twenty minute's drive from here – the place is falling apart, apparently it seemed a little odd at the time that he was so keen to snap it up – my guess is, that's where he takes his victims."
"And you think he could be over there with Munch?"
"We're on our way to find out." Fin replied, and then he ended the call.
Lisa looked sharply at Liv.
"What's happening?"
"Did Greg ever talk to you about a second property?"
She shook her head.
"All I know is, he was busy with property deals - I thought he was buying a place."
"No, but he rented a second property not far from where he was living."
She shook her head.
"I didn't know that."
Then she thought for a moment.
"I remember on the day we moved in I was very stressed,I had to take my meds to cope, I slept very heavy that night...but I thought I heard noises. I heard Greg talking on the phone but I couldn't understand him, and then I heard a woman scream. But I thought it was a dream. What if it wasn't? What else is he capable of?"
Liv shook her head.
"I don't know," she replied, "But you can be sure we will find out when this is over."
"How could I not see it?" Lisa said to her, "Why couldn't I see what he was really like? I knew he was a bastard but I thought he was just being tough over business, it was all about making money..I didn't think he would ever hurt anyone."
"How much cocaine did he take this morning?"
"I saw him take some...I think a single line, but I don't know how much he put in it. I don't take drugs, Detective Benson. The only medication I use is necessary and prescribed by my doctor. And I thought Greg was clean now."
"You didn't know him at all, you just thought you did," Liv said to her, "And it's not your fault you didn't see through his act. You had no way of knowing what he was really capable of, and I'm sure Munch didn't see it, either. Some people are really clever at hiding their true face. And when you see it, when the mask comes off, its too late. But the good news about guys like Greg is, eventually, they get over confident and they make mistakes. He's already made several because Munch's cell phone and gun have been found at the house hidden in his bedroom. He's not as smart as he thinks he is, and that's good news for all of us."
Lisa drew some comfort from her words.
"So you think John stands a chance of being found alive?"
"I hope so," Liv replied, as she wished she could be more positive, but to say more, to suggest that was definite, really would have been hoping for too much...
Cragen sat in his office and looked at Lisa's phone. He noticed he battery was low, so he checked the call records quickly, noticed that Lisa had tried to call Munch more than forty times since he had gone missing, and then he went on to look at the text messages.
And then he realised what Lisa had been so anxious about, as he read a message sent by Munch:
'It means a lot that you understand. I came so hard last night when you held me down. Take me over again tonight, I'll love you always, Munchman.'
Munch liked to be mildly dominated?
He checked another message, a reply from Lisa, 'I love you too, and I'll always hold you down till you cant take it any more.'
Cragen breathed a weary sigh.
He had never thought Munch would be the type to be into kink. And it wouldn't look too good if this got out, either - because this was the Special Victim's Unit, officers working this unit were supposed to have no sexual kinks... Even though John's kinks seemed mild, he knew he couldn't let this get any further. But Fin had already called in to say, they had found John's phone. And if Munch hadn't cleaned out his messages...
Cragen picked up the phone and called Fin's number.
"We're on the way over to the house now, Cap," Fin said.
"Do you have John's phone?"
"Yeah, I gave it to Stabler, why?"
"Where's Stabler?"
"Right next to me."
"Okay, just hold on to that phone don't pass it to anyone else - and when you get back here I want you to hand it to me, okay?"
"Okay," Fin replied, and then the call ended.
Cragen looked at Lisa's phone once more and thought long and hard about what to do for the best:
Deleting the relevant messages off both phones seemed like the best option once the other phone was handed into his office...
Munch had shifted between wanting to pass out and needing to draw up the last reserve of his strength to fight back as he was shoved out of the back door and then stumbled down some steps towards the open door of a parked car.
That car was his own...
As pain and dizziness swamped him he saw the open door growing closer, he looked at the back seat and he knew, because he had seen enough crime scenes to predict how this would play out:
Greg planned to kill him, leave his body in his own car, maybe he would fire it afterwards when he dumped it to destroy the evidence, or maybe not...he saw no gasoline unless it was already in the trunk.
So far, he had seen no weapon, and if Greg planned to finish him off with his fists he felt sure that gave him some hope that it would be a fight he might stand a chance to win. He was in pain and covered in blood from the head wound that throbbed and made his vision blur as dizziness came over him in waves, and he sharply reminded himself he was not going out without a fight as he was given another shove and stumbled closer to the car.
It was then Munch wondered again about the murder weapon. Unless he had taken his gun and it was already in the car, he saw nothing... Greg definitely wasn't armed. He had seen no weapons when he had been standing over him.
Then Greg gave him another shove and he put up his hand, catching the roof of the car as he balanced there for a moment as the world spun violently again and his vision blurred heavily. Then Munch saw the hammer on the front passenger seat,and that was when he made a last desperate attempt for freedom, turning around and slamming a fist into Greg's face.
He stumbled back, but then Munch saw fury in his eyes as he brought up his fist, and the blow to his face knocked him back, and Munch fell heavily beside the open car door. Greg dragged him in, and even the weight of his body hitting the back seats caused him agony. As he lay there deciding the safest thing to do would be to play dead, all thoughts of kicking out at his assailant were cancelled by the slamming of the car door, a jolt that shook at his cracked bones.
Then Greg was in the car, and he looked back at him, his eyes dark and cold as he smiled.
"I'm driving you out to the woods," he said, "Then I'm going to kill you with a hammer and set light to the car. I shall walk back here, clean up, get changed, then go home. If the police think they have anything on me, they won't be able to prove it."
The blood was drying tight on his face and Munch managed to open his eyes briefly, and then he closed them again, thinking only of the fact that he had little time left to stop him - and the best way he could try for it now, would be to attack him while he was at the wheel. His hands were cuffed, but if he could get them over the front seat and choke him...The car would crash, but it was all he had left now...
As Fin drove towards the road that led to their destination, back up followed behind, and he kept his eyes on the road at all times as he sped up, hoping they would not be too late.
"He's got to be at the house," he said.
"What did Cragen want?" Eliot asked.
"He asked us to hold on to John's phone."
"It's safe with me,"El replied, trying not to think too much about how sick he had felt placing the blood stained phone into an evidence bag, "We're about ten minutes away from the house now...maybe we won't be too late."
"Ten minutes is too long for me," said Fin, and he pushed the car harder, picking up more speed as he thought of Munch and desperately hoped his partner was still alive.
When Cragen finished another phone call, he left his office and walked over to the desk where Olivia sat with Lisa, who was telling her everything that had happened, and Olivia was writing it down, knowing the statement had to be useful - but feeling certain she would have been of more use out there looking for Munch instead of making the choice to be the one to look after his girlfriend and started the paperwork.
"I just spoke to law enforcement agencies in Russia and the United Kingdom," Cragen said, and he looked to Lisa, knew there would be no easy way to break the news, and then turned his attention to Liv:
"Volkov's got a record for sexual assault and was tried for rape in '97 but the case collapsed due to lack of evidence. And running his DNA through the system, I've matched him to a recent attempted rape - our man with the camera – and also to the murder of Vik Dimitry. I did some digging and guess what? Volkov is Dimitry's brother. They were both in the business of filming rape and murder and selling it on the black market. It looks like Vik was the main man and his little brother wanted in, but then Vik went to prison. He comes out, gets murdered, there's something in it for Greg – I'm guessing there's a tape or a disc somewhere, his master copy. It's all Greg would have been interested in – Vik was ruined financially by his time inside."
Then he looked again to Lisa.
"Have you ever seen any camera equipment, or a tape, anything that he might have wanted to keep safe somewhere?"
Lisa thought about it.
"He bought a camcorder...high end...he got it in London, he brought it with him."
"Do you know where the camera is now?"
She shook her head
"At the house?I don't know, I'm guessing, I don't know where he puts his personal possessions."
"What kind of camera?" Cragen asked her, "Is it a video camera or does it record to a disc?"
"It looked quite small...a disc, I think."
"Okay,I'll get uniform to go over the place again. Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell me?"
She shook her head, and then he saw fear in her eyes.
"How long before we get news on John?" she said quietly.
"Hopefully soon, if he's at the house," Cragen said, "Our people will be there in the next few minutes."
And Lisa looked to Liv, and in that moment Olivia Benson saw such fear in her eyes she felt sure if Munch didn't make it, neither would his girlfriend, because she looked on the brink of collapse.
Munch was on his side, on the back seat of the car, his hair and face streaked with dried blood that had stiffened his clothing and every bone in his body ached and the pain came and went in waves, and those waves went so deep he wanted to throw up. But his thoughts were on that hammer on the front passenger seat. He knew if he didn't fight back, Greg was going to kill him.
He also knew movement would hurt, but at least pain reminded him that for now, he was still alive – and wouldn't stay that way unless he did something decisive...
As Greg reached for the keys to start the engine, Munch lunged forward, bringing his cuffed arms over the top of the driver's seat.
Then he pulled on the cuffs as his cracked wrist throbbed, and pulled back tightly against Greg's throat.
Greg started to choke and thrash about wildly, and suddenly the hammer was in his hand and he was lashing out blindly behind him, and as he slammed the hammer down, and then as his wrist hit the top of the seat with a crack, the claw end of the hammer glanced the side of his head as Munch jerked back, he felt a thump and then flesh tearing, and as he felt another wave of dizziness, his last thoughts as lost consciousness was that it wasn't the hammer that had caused it, because the hammer had only glanced him - this had to be down to the fall from the cellar steps,because his head had been hurting since he had been knocked out... He guessed it was over, that Greg would kill him for sure,and then Munch slumped back, and Greg grabbed his cuffed hands and pushed them off his throat, and shoved Munch against the now blood spattered back seat of the car, and as he gasped for air and reached a shaking hand towards the keys in the ignition, he saw flashing lights and then the driver's door was wrenched open.
Greg stared in shock at the detective who stood there, pointing a gun in his face.
"Give me a reason to pull this trigger," said Fin as anger blazed in his eyes. Eliot pulled open the back door, saw blood up the window and blood on the seats, and John Munch lying motionless, battered and bleeding with his hands cuffed.
Tears burned in his eyes as he looked over his shoulder to his colleagues.
"Someone call a bus!" he yelled.
