Chapter 29



"One, two…" Fin nodded over to Munch on three just before he kicked the door in. He didn't even hear the protests from the door as it splintered open.

There was a flourish of activity as everyone moved in. With one final glance over at his partner, Fin took the lead, pushing off to the right, his eyes focused straight ahead. He pushed open the first door he came to and stopped, his blood running cold.

"You have a friend too?" A young girl jerked her head toward him. "I'll show both of you a good time."

Before she could move, Fin was whipping the man standing next to her around and pinning him against the wall. "Police," he snarled. He slapped the cuffs now in his hands over the man's wrists. "What's your name?" he demanded.

"Go to hell," the man shot back.

"You first," Fin returned. "Whatever the hell your name is, you're under arrest for patronizing a prostitute and attempted rape. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do or say can be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."

"I don't need an attorney. I didn't do anything," the man protested testily.

"Yeah, Fin scoffed. "Well, in case you haven't heard, it's illegal to solicit sex from a minor." He hesitated at the sound of a door opening behind him. Fin turned his head briefly and watched a couple of uniformed officers bust through the door. 'Here," he managed, shoving the still protesting man toward them. "Take him into custody and lock him up somewhere tight."

As soon as the door slid shut, Fin turned toward the young girl now beside him. Her eyes had widened as she carefully eyed the door. He tossed her a robe lying out on a chaise. "Here, put this on," he offered gently.

She was trembling as she pulled the fabric over her slender frame. "I'm not a prostitute," she managed quietly. "I'm a…I'm a virgin."

Fin nodded quietly. "It's okay. I'm a police officer, and I'm here to help you. What's your name?"

"I'm a virgin," she repeated quietly. She turned toward him in panic. "Please," she pleaded. Just…whatever you do—don't take me away."



"John."

Munch snapped back to attention and glanced up quickly to see Cragen walking toward him. He noted his captain's sharp gaze sweeping over him and nudged his glasses up ever so slightly. I'm fine," he responded quickly.

Cragen nodded quietly. "Well, at least that makes one of us."

Munch's head shot up at the unexpected answer. "What are you talking about?"

Cragen reached for his arm and pulled him out of the way as another group came through with two more suspects in tow."You know this isn't an easy time for anyone to be working, John, but this case was…"

"She was ten," Munch interrupted him. His eyes fell to the floor as silence enveloped them. "She was ten years old and being rented out as a virgin to fourteen guys a day." He swallowed hard.

"I know." Cragen drew in a deep breath. "John," he began gently, "it's okay to feel something on cases like this."

Munch looked up and rolled his eyes. "Feel something…don't feel something. What difference does it make? It's not going to change anything."

Cragen leaned back against the wall. "No, you're right." He nodded over to a young teen crying in the corner. "But there are a lot more girls like that who could use your help. And you can't do anything for them if you don't help yourself first."

Munch stared back at him in silence. Finally he spoke. "Sometimes it feels like the only way to help them is to not let yourself feel anything because when you start to let it affect you, you start to wonder why…why do it at all?"

Cragen drew his gaze up to study Munch carefully before continuing. "You know there will always be cases like this," he responded quietly. "Cases that make you question whether we make a difference with everything we do. And no matter what you do, there will always be another one out there, but you can't hold onto that. You can only be there for those who need you right now."

Munch averted his eyes away. "Olivia's niece would have been his next victim," he added. "No matter how many people we try to protect, it's those closest to us that are still at risk. And it doesn't matter if we try to hold them close or push them away, we're still going to be the last to know it."

"John," Cragen began gently.

"You know I thought it would be easier being single," John interrupted. "You know not having a family who needs you. We try so hard to protect those we love, and I thought…I thought that maybe if we didn't have anyone to love, it would be easier."

Cragen nodded silently. "Come on, John."

Munch straightened slightly. His eyes followed Cragen's back to the young teen still all alone in the corner. "No, I've got her," he answered quietly. Leaving his captain behind, he approached the girl cautiously and knelt down beside her. "Hi, my name is John. Is it okay if I'm here?"

The girl nodded hesitantly in response.

"I'd like to take you someplace safe," he continued quietly. "But it might help if you would tell me your name."

Her eyes grew wide with fear as she studied him carefully.

"It's okay. You're not in trouble. I just want to help you," Munch assured her quietly.

She nodded again and tentatively took the hand he offered her. "Kayla," she responded quietly, pulling herself to her feet. "My name is Kayla.

Munch nodded in recognition at the name. "Hi Kayla. We'd like to take you to a hospital to make sure that you're okay. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Her voice was suddenly wavering as she clung to his side. "Will you go with me?"

Munch hesitated and looked into her big brown eyes. His voice was gruff when he finally spoke. "Sure. Come on, let's take you outside to the ambulance."



"Where is he?"

Fin glanced over at his partner who was leading a young teen over to where EMS had set up camp and sighed. Munch nodded back helplessly, and Fin took Olivia's arm and pulled her aside gently. "He's not here. We're still looking for him."

Olivia swallowed hard. "What do you mean Dale's not here? He has to be here. I promised her…I promised her that I would arrest him. Fin, we have to find him."

"We will," he assured her quietly. He glanced over in Elliot's direction hesitantly. "Liv…maybe you shouldn't be here."

It was Fin.

Fin telling her to step back. Fin telling her she needed a break. Fin saying the only thing that all of them thought, but none of them had the guts to tell her. Olivia's head shot up, and she took a tentative step backward. "What are you saying?" she demanded, her voice suddenly unsteady.

"Look, we can take the heat for continuing with the investigation, but you…that's another story entirely."

Olivia took another step backward and drew in a shaky breath. "Are you saying you don't think I can handle this?"

Fin sighed. "No," he answered simply. He looked around as if somebody else might somehow come out to offer her an answer. Finally his gaze settled back on her. His voice was suddenly firm. "I'm saying you're still on trial for murder and shouldn't be around this crime scene."

"I'm the one who uncovered this whole thing," Olivia retorted incredulously. "I deserve to see it through."

Fin nodded and glanced helplessly back in Elliot's direction. "Yeah, you do," he agreed quietly. "But what you and I think and what the brass thinks are two entirely different things. Do you know how much trouble you could be in? You're not even supposed to be carrying your weapon."

Olivia's eyes darted down to the holster strapped to her belt. It was empty. She swallowed hard. "I'm not."

Fin sighed. "That's my point exactly. It's not safe for you to be here."

Olivia drew herself up to her full height and glared back at him. "I am not a civilian. I know how to protect myself."

"Yeah, but things happen. I mean look what happened at…" As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized there was no taking them back. He froze. Her face was instantly pale, and she took a shaky step backward as if he had slapped her. He reached for her arm. "Liv, that's not what I meant."

Her lower lip was trembling, and she shrugged away from him as she fought for control. "Stop it," she managed quietly.

"Is everything all right?" Elliot suddenly appeared and took a cautious step forward, the look on his face puzzled as his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.

"Everything's fine," Fin answered without moving away. His eyes never left her.

"Liv," Elliot ventured softly. Tentatively, he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

His touch burned into her, and she pushed back away from him violently. "Don't touch me!" she hissed. Her eyes stung with tears she refused to allow come forward. She lifted her chin, fighting to steady her voice. "Do you have the sedan keys?"

Elliot studied her carefully as he reached inside his jacket pocket. "Yeah," he answered quietly. He tentatively held up the keys. "Are you…"

Before he could say another word, she snatched the keys out of his hand. "I'm fine," she insisted, fighting back the tremble in her voice.

And then she did the one thing that crushed every bit of the progress he thought they had begun to make in the past twenty-four hours. She began to walk away.

Elliot shot a helpless look back at Fin before turning to follow her. He jogged after her, determined to catch up with her. "Olivia," he called out. He held his breath and reached out for her one more time. As soon as his hand settled over her arm, she was frozen in place. Then as he finally drew in a shaky breath, she turned around slowly. His eyes searched hers, but he felt lost at the scorching glare she shot back at him. He swallowed hard. "Liv, what just happened?"

His eyes never left hers. And slowly, he watched them change. Watched as the anger dissipated and the emptiness left behind tore a hole right through his heart. "Nothing. Just…just leave me alone, El."

And without another word, she was gone.



"Elliot!"

Elliot blinked for a long moment and stared at her retreating back. He turned toward his captain, and his hand shot up before he could say another word. He whipped back around and headed toward where Fin was standing. "What the hell just happened?" he demanded.

Fin sighed. "What were you thinking bringing her here?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean 'what was I thinking'? She's my partner, and she's a part of this squad," Elliot shot back. "Why the hell wouldn't I bring her here?"

"Because she's on trial for murder! Do you know what Petrovsky would say if she knew that Olivia was on scene while this whole thing goes down? Do you know what kind of story Tracy Kibre could spin off of this?" Fin glared back at him and struggled to calm his voice. "Didn't Darius Parker teach you anything?"

There was a stunned silence. "So that's what this is about?" Elliot demanded. "What—you feel guilty that your nephew got off so now you want to turn this around on Olivia." His voice was rising to a dangerous level, but he didn't care. "Where the hell have you been the whole time she's been in court? Where have any of you been?"

"Right here," Fin shouted back. "Here—trying to solve this case which you seem to have completely forgotten about. As much as you or I want to believe the law is all about justice, both of us know it's not. If it were, Olivia wouldn't even be on trial." Fin hesitated at the lost look on Elliot's face. He lowered his voice. "Now Alex is one hell of a prosecutor, and I have no doubt she makes a great defense attorney, but she's not the one who's going to get Olivia out of this?"

Elliot stared back at him wordlessly.

Fin looked around helplessly and sighed. "Elliot, other people saw her here. And Margaret's confession isn't going to mean a damn thing if the jury never gets to hear it because they think that she's somehow involved. Now somebody had to tell her to go home. Captain's still trying to sort this whole thing out. I thought you'd rather it be me."

Fin's words slammed into him hard. Elliot staggered backward until suddenly he felt his back pressing up against the edge of the building. He turned away from Fin and attempted to draw in a breath against the crushing weight pressing into his lungs.

"Elliot," Fin attempted softly.

There was no response. Elliot flattened his palms against the edge of the building. He had no idea when he finally lost all sense of control, but when he finally turned his head back toward Fin, there were tears in his eyes. "You don't understand," he began quietly.

Elliot's eyes slid closed as he fought back the emotion in his voice. "Every time I think there's a turn in the case…every time I think we just might be winning, I look at the jury." He swallowed hard and turned his back toward the wall, leaning back against it. "I look at the jury, and they're looking at her like she did something wrong." He drew in a shaky breath. "Fin, so much has happened. I feel like I don't even know who the hell she is anymore."

"Elliot," Cragen began gently, coming up beside him.

Elliot shook his head and ignored his captain. His voice was hoarse with emotion as he struggled to hold it together again. "That used to scare me," he continued, his voice broken. "But now, what I'm really afraid of is that I'm not going to get the chance to figure it out because she's going to be locked away behind bars someplace where she's never going to be the same ever again."

"Elliot," Cragen repeated softly. He glanced around helplessly. "There's nothing you can do to change any of that right now. But I have a dozen officers trying to take these johns into custody and a couple dozen girls inside that need your help now. They need somebody to tell them it's going to be okay."

Elliot's eyes flew over to his captain's. He swallowed the knot in his throat. "And what if it's not?" he managed.

Cragen drew in a deep breath. "Then God help us all."



"How's she doing?"

A doctor glanced up at the concern on Munch's face and drew a curtain. She waited until they were a few steps away before she finally spoke. "About the same as the others," she managed quietly. "She has multiple healed fractures, severe scarring of the vaginal lining, pelvic inflammatory disease…"

Much nodded quietly and followed along beside her. "But it's all treatable, right?"

The doctor nodded silently. She stopped at the nursing center in the middle of the hospital and leaned up against the countertop as she jotted down a couple of notes. "For the most part—there's a slight chance she might not be able to have any children ever again, but…"

"Dr. Kauffman!"

A young nurse came up behind them and slid a lab report over in front of her. Munch glanced over her shoulder curiously as she reached for her reading glasses. Slipping them on, she scanned the paper before sliding it back into the file. She sighed. "Not that it makes a difference," she added quietly.

Munch's voice was cautious. "What does that mean?"

Dr. Kauffman turned back toward him. "We'll have to do a serum test to confirm it, but the preliminary lab report is showing signs that Kayla is HIV positive." She turned back toward the nursing station and gripped the edge of the desk, her voice suddenly emotional. "Just when you thought the bastard that did this to her couldn't hurt her any worse."

Munch felt his heart sink. He took a step closer and put a reassuring hand on her arm. She glanced back up at him and swallowed hard. "Don't ask yourself why," he told her quietly. "It will only make it worse."

"Yeah, well, tell that to her, Sergeant," Dr. Kauffman added bitterly. As Munch's phone vibrated, she turned away and picked up the file.

"Sergeant Munch."

Dr. Kauffman watched as another nurse opened the curtain again to check on Kayla. She was sitting on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting lightly on her hands. She swallowed hard.

Munch was still on the phone when she finally turned away. "Excuse me," she interrupted quietly. "I have to go talk to my patient."



"Please tell me it's not true."

Three sets of eyes automatically turned toward Alex's voice. Elliot was the first to speak. He leaned back in the chair across from Cragen's desk and sighed. "What's not true?"

Alex turned an accusing glare at Elliot. "You didn't tell me you were planning on using Olivia to get a confession out of Margaret."

Fin was quick to speak up for him. "What difference does it make? We got a confession out of her, Alex. We have more than a couple dozen girls who are finally getting the help they need and a dozen men safely behind bars."

"And not one of your victims will admit who hurt them," Alex protested. "They're too traumatized. All they can say is a woman brought them there—a woman whose description I might add sounds a hell of a lot like Olivia."

Cragen shot to his feet. "Whoa, wait a minute, Alex. There's no way you're telling me that anyone can put this on Olivia."

Alex glared back at him. "Sure they can," she shot back. "Margaret Stilton was nowhere near that crime scene, but now everyone wants to know what we're trying to cover up because Olivia sure as hell was."

"Olivia came there with me. I was there with her almost the whole time," Elliot argued tersely.

"But you weren't there with her the whole time," Alex countered. "I was just called to Petrovsky's chambers. Olivia's bail has officially been revoked."

"Wait a minute," Cragen interrupted. "Why the hell would she do that? Doesn't the fact that we uncovered this whole thing prove that Olivia is innocent?"

"Not when a judge throws out Margaret's confession because she was questioned by the person on trial for her husband's murder," Alex shot back. "Somehow she managed to get Matthew Brady as her attorney who spun a nice little tale of police persecution out of the whole thing and got the indictment thrown out."

"Whoa, how could you let that happen?" Elliot interrupted. "Margaret offered that confession up to Olivia with almost no prompting."

"That's great, Elliot," Alex retorted sarcastically. "Then you can be the one to explain that to Judge Petrovsky." She struggled to gain control over the emotion in her voice. "But while you're there, she's also going to ask for a damn good explanation on why Olivia disappeared after she was called down to talk to IAB."

Alex drew in a shaky breath and lowered her voice, turning an accusing glare over at Cragen. "And if someone would have given me one, it might have helped my case."

There was complete silence.

Cragen was the first to finally speak. "What do you mean Olivia disappeared?"

Alex's eyes surveyed the shocked looks in front of her. "You don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Fin swallowed hard. "No, we haven't seen her since I told her to leave the scene."

All eyes flew over to Elliot. He pushed himself up to his feet, his jaw clenching noticeably and walked across Cragen's office until he was eye to eye with Fin. "What happened?" he demanded.

"All I did was tell her to leave," Fin countered helplessly.

Elliot's eyes glared back at him accusingly. "Damn it, Fin. I know there's more to it than that. What the hell did you say to her?"

"Nothing," he returned. He sighed, his voice suddenly quiet. "I told her it wasn't safe for her to be on the scene unarmed. I mentioned something about the last time…" He trailed off.

"Damn it," Elliot swore lightly under his breath. Slowly he turned around and in the silence that followed, he met his captain's eyes. "That day when Olivia came into your office," he demanded quietly. He swallowed hard. "What did you do with Olivia's Glock when she turned it into you?"

All eyes immediately turned toward Cragen. He lowered his eyes and pushed his chair back. As soon as his eyes settled on the drawer in front of him, he saw the busted lock. The drawer slid open without hesitation, and he didn't even have to glance down to know it wasn't there.

"It's missing."