UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

BRIGHTON BEACH

BROOKLYN


Bella Carisi was confused and freaked out.

She'd been walking to her parents' place on Staten Island with Aria, but then all at once, a van had pulled up, blocking their way. Bella had tried to escape, but couldn't. The next thing she knew, they were being whisked away somewhere. It happened so fast, Bella wasn't sure if anyone on the street had noticed anything.

After a bit of a drive, they had arrived at a warehouse of some kind. She wasn't even sure where they were because she was blindfolded. Three things she knew for sure, though—she had stumbled across (or was it into?) some kind of trafficking ring, and she was going to be one of the prisoners; the people who spearheaded it were prison guards from Rikers Island, and one of them even recognized her because he had gotten into trouble with her fiancé, Tommy, just before Aria was born; and last, but not least, they weren't keen on having babies around, unless they were going to be sold.

Bella found this last one out the hard way when Bishop, the man she knew because of Tommy, ripped Aria from her arms and took her away. She had been inconsolable ever since.

Bella also didn't take too kindly to being contained in a small room, like an animal, when she could hear the other prisoners crying—sometimes weeping. She was also pretty sure that the woman in the next room had been hurt in some way, and when she spoke up about it, she was beaten very badly.

That was already twenty minutes ago.


Bella became jarred from her thoughts when the door opened, and a woman entered, carrying a box. She immediately moved back, watching her. The door behind the woman closed, and they both heard a key scraping in a lock before they heard fading footsteps.

Bella was alone with a stranger.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The lighting in the room was dim, but the other woman stepped forward. She was taller than Bella, and had red hair. Or was it brown? She was also dressed in old clothes, and had a few bruises on her face. Above all, though, Bella noticed that though this other woman had been through a lot, she still had a kind look on her face.

Kind… but sad.

"My name is Dana." she said. "I'm not with Bishop and his goons."

"How do you know him?"

Dana sighed. "He was the first one to greet me when I was put away by a Lieutenant Benson—"

This caught Bella's attention. "You know Olivia?"

"I do. I've known her for years and years, and I've had a few adventures with her." she paused. "If you want to call them that. How do you know her? And what's your name?"

"It's Bella Carisi, and Olivia is my baby brother's boss."

She pointed to the box that Dana was carrying.

"What's in there?"

"Medical supplies. They sent me in here to patch you up."

"You wouldn't hurt me?"

Dana shook her head. "No. I'm a prisoner, too. I've been here awhile."

She sounded so sincere that Bella believed her and made room for her on the bed. Taking this as a good sign, Dana sat with Bella, and began rifling through the box.

"Here we go." Dana found a cloth and began wiping down Bella's face. It was bloody, and she had a serious black eye. "I'm a mom, and even though I haven't seen my oldest two in awhile, I've still been in the job of motherhood long enough to have a lot of practice in cleaning wounds."

"What are your kids' names?"

"Jennifer and Eugene are my eldest, and they're both in their late twenties. My youngest is named Serena Diamond."

"How old is she?"

"Do you know what the date is?"

"November first."

Dana smiled sadly. "Serena is three months old today."

Bella didn't know what Dana had done to wind up where they were—or if she even wanted to know—but she decided to show her some compassion.

"Where is your girl?"

Dana began disinfecting the wounds.

"They took her away from me. Said I can't have her anymore because they need me here." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Clearly, she was clearly trying not to cry. "One of the ladies Bishop keeps around took Serena somewhere, but I stashed a letter to Olivia on her. I pray that a miracle happens and she gets to Olivia, or that she was brought to a place where she could be safely surrendered."

Dana moved on to bandaging Bella's cuts. There were a lot.

But Bella spoke.

"A woman took my baby, too. My Aria just turned two, and she's the light of my life."

Dana put two butterfly bandages over the last wound, a cut over Bella's right eye, and said, "That's really sweet."

"Aria has always been my light and my joy. It's just a shame that her daddy left me for someone else… huh…"

Bella's words trailed off, so Dana fixed her with an imploring look.

"The wheels in your brain just started turning double time, didn't they? Did you have an epiphany, or something?"

Bella nodded. "I heard the guards, or whoever that is out there, speaking Russian. Are we in Brighton Beach?"

"Yes."

Bella gave a laugh of disbelief, and Dana responded by becoming bewildered.

"What?"

"Aria's dad, Tommy, he cheated on me when I was pregnant. It was right after a tango he had with my brother and the SVU." Bella began. "We were even engaged at the time, but he turned around and slept with some Russian broad out of Brighton Beach—one of the most heavily Russian-populated neighborhoods in all of New York City. Her name was Nikita Rogov, or something like that. Last month, I found out that she and Tommy had both died in a car crash."

"I'm sorry." Dana said politely.

Bella was the one to look sad now. "I don't know how to feel because he cheated, and that's a sin, but he gave me Aria. Maybe I'll light a candle for him at church…"

"Keep your head up." Dana gave her a back rub. "You keep thinking about getting out."

"I will because I want to see Aria, and my parents, and my brother and sisters again. All I can do now is pray that Aria and Serena are safe, and together. But can't you keep your head up, too, Dana?"

The older woman shook her head and pointed to her left ankle. There was what looked like an electronic monitoring device wrapped around it.

"It's a shock device, and it hurts like getting tazed when I get too near a main door. I can't even take it off." Dana sounded more dejected than ever. "They also take turns on me every night, and sometimes threaten to shoot me. They played Gun Roulette with me this morning. My husband, and Jennifer and Eugene all turned their backs on me after I went to jail, and now I've lost Serena. I don't have anything to live for."

"I'm really sorry, Dana." Bella said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"You said you were put in this room to fix up my wounds, but why did they take you?"

"Because Bishop has been abusing me for years, and the warden at Rikers is corrupt." Dana threw up her hands towards the walls, in indication. "These people here are also from Rikers, and there a handful of scared women here, all kidnapped and pregnant. My job is to look after everyone."

Bella stumbled along as she tried connecting the dots. "How many women are we talking?"

"I made six, and you make seven, so there there are five others. Frankie and Charlie are on the left, we're in the middle, and then down the row on the right, are Harper, Dallas, and Juliet. They all have their own rooms. I sleep somewhere else."

"Why do Frankie and Charlie share?"

"Because they're a young couple, and they're fit to pop. Shoot—I wouldn't be surprised if they start having contractions at some point soon. Dallas is a married kindergarten teacher, and she already has another child. Juliet is also married, and the baby she's carrying is her first. Harper is the one I worry about."

"Why?"

"She's a street kid, but she's trying to get her act together because she loves her baby. The problem is, she's least six months along, and is hatching escape plans daily. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get out of here, but I'm just worried that she'll do something rash."

Bella sighed. "Just make sure Harper doesn't hurt herself, okay?"

"I'll do my best."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Bella blurted a question that was burning in her brain.

"When you were talking about the traffickers, you said 'from experience.' Were you a fed in another life, or something?"

"Yes."

"Wait, really?" Bella said in surprise. "I was kidding."

"Well, I wasn't. I was FBI—that's how I met Olivia in the first place."

"Wow." Bella ran her fingers through her hair. "I have one last thing I'm curious about."

"Fire away."

"It sounds like you've gotten to know Frankie, Charlie, Harper, Dallas, and Juliet. They're all in the family way?"

Dana bobbed her head. "Correct."

"But I'm not pregnant, and they took Aria away. What are they going to do with me?"

Dana was quiet as she thought of how best to phrase the answer to Bella's question.

Finally, she said, "Serena came to be because I was raped…"

Her words hung in the air, and Bella began to quake at the realization of what Dana was insinuating. Seeing this, Dana hugged her and rubbed her arms.

"I won't let it come to that, Bella." she said. "I won't."

Bella wiped her tears. "You sure?"

Dana nodded. "Yes."

"Okay…"

"If I know Olivia Benson and her squad, then they'll have realized something is up by now."

"My parents, too. We're from Staten Island, and that's where Aria and I were taken from." Bella found herself saying. "We were supposed to meet my parents for breakfast, but we didn't even get that far, and now it must look like we vanished into thin air. I'm sure they're thoroughly freaked out, but they would've called my brother by now, or his girlfriend. She's on the squad, too, and they have a family together."

Bella exhaled shakily as she really started feeling the gravity of the situation.

"So help will come. I just wish I knew when."