Misunderstood

Chapter 8

Olivia was fuming inside. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to burst right out of her chest and land on the dashboard on the passanger seat of the car. Fin was driving, way too fast for Carisi's liking who was sitting in the back, clutching onto the seatbelt for dear life. Liv was too angry to be driving and had asked Fin, who immediately accepted while trying to suppress a grin of excitement. Carisi had silently gotten into the back seat, without any arguments, a worried look on his now pale features. He could never get use to Fin's way of driving.

They still had no address for the Garcia brothers but instead of wasting time trying to locate them, they decided to bring in Father Anthony and have a go of him, check his temperature, make him sweat. They would find the brothers eventually.

As the black SUV pulled up in front of a small townhouse, they all scanned the area and saw the top of a church poking through the tree tops a couple of blocks away from one of the churches he had been allocated to. "Let's check the house first." Liv said as they got out, secured their vests and made sure that each of their gun was loaded and ready to fire if necessary.

Fin was the one who knocked on the door, his voice loud and firm. "NYPD, open up!" Liv could tell how much he enjoyed saying that phrase and found herself smiling slightly. When there was no answer Fin didn't hesitate to bust the door in, gun in hand, ready for any kinds of altercations.

They searched the house, room by room but there was no sign of Father Anthony. There was, however, a crucifix in every room, on every wall and even in the ceiling, on each door and above every window. There was a smell of something rotten, dirty dishes piled up on the kitchen counter, the floor was filthy with mud and plain old dirt and on the kitchen table there was a photo. One single photo in the whole house and it was staring right at them.

Liv felt her chest tighten as she saw a very familiar blonde positioned next to an older man that she could only guess was her father. They had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, similar bone structure in their facial features and even their skin tone and hairline was identical. To Amanda's left was a brown haired woman, freckles, glasses but very beautiful. Nothing about her resembled Amanda so she doubted that it was her biological mother. All three of them looked happy. They were smiling, arms around each other and they all seemed content with life around them.

Olivia picked up the picture, gently ran her fingertips over Amanda's face, smiling to herself and wished that she could see that smile in real life. Whatever could've happened? Whatever could've gone so horribly wrong that Amanda had ended up in the hospital with injuries consistent with rape, abuse, malnutrition and torture. Judging by Amanda, the picture couldn't be more than a few years old, maybe three of four at the most.

"Anything?" Carisi called out, wrinkling his nose at the smell.

"Nothing except a smell that matches your morning breath." Fin stated seriously, causing the youngest and newest member of the squad to roll his eyes.

"Let's check the church." Liv said and hurried ouside with her colleagues hot in her heels.

The church stood tall and intimidating, like a giant looking down at you, pointing his finger, laughing. Liv did not believe in God and never spent that much time in church because she simply didn't believe in any of what the bible said or any of what the priests so strongly preached about. She did not mind other people's beliefs and religion as long as no one got hurt or misinterpreted the bible, or any other holy scrips, so it would suit their needs and wants. She always kept religion at a distance.

This big building, this church, also known as the house of God, seemed to get taller as they quickly approached it from the front. They had no idea what to expect when they stepped inside so they kept their guns ready in hand. It was quiet, almost eerie. The air seemed heavy and dense all of a sudden and a shiver ran down Olivia's spine as Fin opened the main door, a steady squeaky noise reached their ears and Carisi grimaced.

As they stepped inside, they became aware of how quiet it actually was. So quiet they could almost hear their breaths, their heartbeat and their thoughts travelling through the giant building. The sound of their footsteps appeared magnified, echoing through the tall, wide and bare manifestation as they made their way down the isle towards the altar.

Fin turned his head towards Carisi, frowned and snorted. "I never thought I'd walk down the isle with you next to me."

"Guys, split up, search the area and we'll meet back here in five. Go!" she kept her voice low but firm and headed towards the sacresty and the vestry but found nothing there. Carisi did a sweep along the isle and the crossing and Fin checked the baptist chapel. They all came out empty handed and disappointed.

"There's always a downstairs in these old churches." Carisi said and searched their surroundings. "There should be a door leading down to the lower level, it's usually located in the vestry."

"I searched the vestry and I didn't see any door. You think it's hidden?" Liv asked, already making her way back to the small room on the right hand side, determined to find something, anything, that could prove that Amanda had been here and held against her will while being sodomized and abused.

All three searched the room thoroughly until Carisi announced that he had found something. Behind a drape, hanging by the far end corner, Carisi found a disturbance in the wall and as he pressed his ear against it and knocked three times, there was a hollow sound that only explained one thing; a hidden door. On a closer inspection, the young detective noticed that the wallpaper behind the drape looked slightly different from the rest of the room. It was of the same colour, just brighter, which indicated that it was relatively new and that it was being used to hide something.

"It's a door or a latch of some kind. Stand back!" Fin stated and, with one powerful kick, the small door flung open and revealed a cemented staircase leading down into the dark unknown. "Somebody got a flashlight?" Fin snorted sarcastically, knowing that neither one of them carried one.

"Use the light on your phone, Sherlock." Carisi snarled at the senior detective, letting the light from his screen to shine straight into Fin's eyes and gave him a smart grin.

Olivia was first to enter the small doorway, not paying attention to her bickering coworkers behind and carefully, step by step with gun in hand, she made her way down the dark narrow stairs, heart beating hard and fast, not knowing what to expect at the bottom. It was dark, cold and damp. As they reached the bottom of the stair they let the light from their phones to shine over the deserted tomb-like area and notices a lightswitch on the wall, close to where Carisi was standing.

The light from the single bulb hanging from the ceiling was faint but strong enough for them to see without the need of their screens. As they took a few steps closer to the middle of the area, a strong smell hit their nostrils full force and Carisi had to place a hand over his nose and mouth. It was a smell of dirt, blood, human feces, burnt flesh and fear but worst of all, Death.

Liv swallowed thickly and slowly took a few tentatively steps forward and frowned slightly as a corridor came into view. "Guys!" she stated and gestured with her hand that she was going down to investigate. "Watch your six." The two male detectives nodded and followed Liv down the narrow cemented path, not knowing what was waiting for them further ahead.

The smell was getting stronger the closer they got to the source and Carisi had a hard time keeping his gagging reflexes under control, even Fin was finding it hard to breath normally as the stench assaulted his senses. Water was dripping from the ceiling somewhere, the drops creating an echo as they dripped down, one by one, and landed on the wet patch it had created. Olivia felt trapped, like she was inside a concrete block, walls closing in and no way out. She quickly shook off the feeling and scanned the walls, ceiling and floor.

The brunette suddenly came to a halt and shined the light onto a door that was secured with a huge padlock and a chain. She yanked at it but found it locked, as expected. "Step back." she instructed as she held her gun out with both hands, aimed and fired. There was a sharp and loud bang as the bullet hit the metal of the lock. It worked, the chain fell and the lock dangled from the door handle a couple of times before it landed on the cold hard floor with a thud.

They swiftly moved in, searching the room with the light from Carisi's and Fin's phones, Olivia ready to fire at any type of theat to protect her colleagues and herself. They had found the source of the smell and even Olivia had to suppress a strong need to gag as the overwhelming aroma surrounded her. That's when she saw it!

A mattress had been placed in the far corner of the room and as they got closer, Liv's heart picked up speed as she spotted a figure laying there, tangled in chains that had been used to tie her down. It was a woman, half naked, beaten, bruised, skin and bones, laying in her own feces. It was impossible to guess the age of the woman since they had no proper lightning but Olivia guessed that she was around mid twenties.

Immediately, she dropped to her knees next to the unconscious form, placed two fingers on her neck and checked for a pulse. Nothing. She was cold and stiff to the touch and Liv knew that there was nothing more she could do for this girl. Looking at the two other detective's, she shook her head sadly and stood up.

Then, a soft and faint whimper caught their attention. At first they all thought they were just imagining it, staring at each other, trying to figure out which one had made the noise but after a few seconds, it reappeared, a bit stronger this time. They turned their attention towards the other far corner, that they still had yet to investigate, and followed the soft whimpers and murmurs.

There, another woman was sprawled out on a dirty spring mattress, completely naked, bloodied and injured. Olivia reached down and checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one, feeling it thump against her fingertips, faint but present. "Call a bus, she's still alive." she shouted and gently turned the naked woman onto her back, brushed the blonde matted hair away from a swollen and bruised face, trying desperately to wake her.

"Hello, can you hear me? My name is Olivia, I'm a police officer. You're safe now, help is on the way, just hold on sweetie. Can you tell me who did this to you? Was it Father Anthony?" the woman whimpered intensely at the name and Olivia took that as a yes. "Where is he now? Do you know where he is?" the detective firmly asked, needing to know the answer so she could make things right by arresting him and make sure he had a long time ahead of him in prison.

Just as Fin disconnected his call with the emergency response, a loud, deep and haunting voice came from behind them. A man's voice, loudly present with a daunting and eerie feel. "Do not question the power of God, thy He is, and always will be, the greatness and goodness of everything. Sinners, is what you are and sinners is what you'll be. You have disrupted the Lord's work and, for that, he shall punish you. I speak for the prophet, as a prophet and will gain His full glory and love and therefore I will be greater than anything. Greater than human kind, greater than any power and greater than God himself."

Father Anthony was dressed in a purple robe, a *** around his neck, rosary beads in one hand and the bible in the other. His face was red and angry, spitting with every word that came out of his mouth, his voice hissed with venom as he preached the way of the Lord and how to mercifully enter His Kingdome.

Carisi had taken a couple of steps back in shock and was almost pressed completely to the wall behind. Fin just stood there with a frown on his face, shining the light from his phone at the robe clad figure and Olivia had risen from her crunched down position and was now standing tall over the semi conscious woman as to protect her from further abuse.

"Father Anthony Rollins, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can, and will, be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I read them to you?"

While Liv preached his Miranda rights, Carisi had snapped out of his trance and easily cuffed the man, who didn't fight back or put put up a struggle. "God, and only God, will punish me. He is the only one who can forgive, the only one to judge and the only one to grant me access to the Kingdom of heaven."

"The only place you're getting access to is prison." Fin snorted as he stepped closer to the priest, yanked at his arm and began to lead him outside.

Ten minues later the whole church was a crime scene. Police, ambulances, paramedics, CSU, the ME, IAB and a large crowd had formed of local people, standing outside the perimeter, looking on with curious faces of what was going on. Father Anthony was being taken into holding and Fin had gone with, trying to squeeze out any info he could from the disturbed man. Where were the Garcia brothers? Did he have more girls locked up somewhere? Why he did what he did?

Olivia and Carisi headed back to the station with pictures of the vics, planning to run them through a facial recognition program to see if anything popped. It did! Both had been reported missing a few months back by their families.

Liv tried to see a connection between the girls and Amanda. They all looked similar, blonde, blue eyes, fair skin and petite and it was clear to everybody that there was a pattern playing out, right in front of them. Carisi checked their social media accounts, facebook and twitter and found out that both women were openly gay and had girlfriends.

Was that it? Was that the connection? Amanda was gay and her father didn't like it so he tied her up, beat her, raped her and tortured her, trying to get rid of the sinful lusts by praying and using his fists? And then, it wasn't enough with just Amanda so he had to resort to this? To kidnap women that were gay and resembled his daughter, to sodomize them, break them and make them feel like they were nothing? To Olivia it was a crystal clear pattern that was so disturbing it made her stomach turn at the thought of it.

Fin walked through the doorway, hands in his pockets and a defeated look played across his features. "That son of a bitch wouldn't tell me anything. What a waste of time. Did you find anything?" he asked and sat down by his desk with a huff.

Liv quickly updated him on all the info they had so far and he was also disgusted by what he heard. "At times like these I wish there were no laws so I could smash this mother fucker's face in, leave him naked, cold and starving in a dungeon somewhere where no one will find him."

Liv nodded and patted his shoulder sadly. "I know, Fin. I know."

Carisi approached the two with a grim looking face, biting his lip in frustration. "The hospital just called. The woman didn't make it."

Fin hung his head, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out of the bullpen, needing some time to himself. Olivia watched him go, swallowed and nodded. "Okay." sighing, she turned around to face the younger detective. "You're Catholic, right? Why don't you go down to holding, try to get Father Anthony to open up to you. Use the bible, the amendments or whatever you need to. Throw all the 'Godly' stuff in his face and get him to talk. Find out if his holding anyone else and where we can find the Garcia brothers."

Carisi scurried away, on a mission and determined to accomplish it. Liv wanted to head back to Amanda to see how she was doing and tell her that they caught her father but she didn't feel ready. She needed a minute to calm herself, to compartmentalize all her thoughts and emotions before she could face the blonde woman again.