Olivia's happiness evaporated into thin air along with her security. She scrutinized every house looking for any human movement. Stabler came up behind her.
"We'll find him, don't worry," Stabler said trying to convince himself also.
"How can you say that?" Olivia exclaimed frantically. "He's disappeared once again. Who knows where he is. He could be anywhere. Do you know how big this city is?" She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. "He's free again. My mother will never be safe now."
Stabler took her by the arm and led her towards the car. "Let's try to find out what happened from the officers."
Munch and Tutuola were interrogating the wounded cops.
"I don't know what happened. One minute I was driving down the road and the next, I'm here with you all," he said rubbing his head. "He was begging for a cigarette and my partner gave him one..."
"You let him out of the cuffs?" Olivia inquired irately.
"Well, yeah, there were two of us so I thought, why not? He seemed nice enough," the officer said innocently.
Olivia shook her head in amazement. "If he was such a nice guy, he wouldn't be going to Riker's in handcuffs now, would he?"
The police officers didn't offer any more excuses. Olivia continued, "That 'nice guy' is a known rapist and killer. Do you know what you've done? How could you all fall for something lame like that? That's the oldest trick in the book! What's wrong with you all?"
Stabler stepped in between to get Olivia out of their faces. "Okay, that's enough."
"What's her problem? We just made a mistake," one of the policemen yelled heatedly.
"We'll see how you feel about that mistake if he rapes and kills your wife or mother!" Olivia shouted back at him as Stabler was leading her away. "Their blood is on your hands!"
"Yelling at them isn't helping. The more time we spend here, the more time he has to strike again. You don't want that to happen, do you?" Stabler told her in a low voice.
Olivia slumped down in her seat. "How could they be so stupid? They are supposed to serve and protect the people, not the felons."
"Let's get back to the station and see if Cragen has heard anything," Stabler replied, changing the subject.
Munch hopped in behind the wheel as Stabler was getting in on his side of the car. "We're heading for the station, right?"
Stabler nodded his head. Everyone was quiet. Each person was busy with their own dreary beliefs.
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Cragen stomped out of his office as they entered the station. "What is going on? My phone has been ringing constantly for the past twenty minutes."
Stabler gave him an incensed look and shrugged his shoulders, "He seems to have overtaken the two policemen while smoking a cigarette and got away."
Cragen looked befuddled. "A cigarette? How did he acquire a cigarette?" He held up his hands before Stabler could answer him. "Never mind, I don't want to know." Cragen turned his back and muttered so nobody could hear him. "Honestly, I don't know why the city wastes its money on some of these cops."
The phone rang and Cragen grabbed it, almost knocking it off of the table. "Cragen... yes, I heard... how nice of them to offer him a cigarette! They deserve more than a bump on the head... by all means, please send them to the hospital to check out a lump on the head while a killer is on the loose!" Cragen slammed down the phone. Everyone held their breath. They sensed he was in one of his surly moods. Cragen returned to the edge of the table and sat down. "Now where would this guy go? Any ideas?"
"He might go back to Lily's house. She would be the most likely person he would go after," Tutuola offered.
Olivia was still. She was the only one who could delve into his mind. She had an idea, but kept it to herself. She didn't want anyone to know yet. She felt it was up to her to find him. Her mind was brought back by the ringing of the phone.
Cragen answered, nodded his head and put the phone down slowly. He had a grim look on his face. "I can give you an idea on where to start. Try the city dump. They found the body of a girl," he said, feeling crushed.
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They arrived at the site and peered into the hole. A girl was being covered in a body bag. Stabler flashed his badge and everyone backed away from him and let him through. The others, including Olivia, crowded around him. It didn't take long to figure out who had done this.
"It's him," Olivia lamented. Stabler let out a long sigh and put his hands on his temple. He glanced around the crime scene.
"We have no idea where to start looking," Tutuola remarked baffled.
Munch cursed under his breath and glimpsed over at Olivia. She was unusually serene for seeing this happen again. She had a far away look on her face.
Suddenly, she snapped out of her trance. "Hey, can one of you guys drop me off at my house? I need to take a short breather before I go on with on this case."
"Sure, I'll drop you off on my way to the Coroner's office." Stabler surveyed her apprehensively. "When do you want me to pick you up?"
"I'll call you," Olivia responded quickly.
Everyone told her good-bye and she got into Stabler's car. Tutuola and Munch decided to give his girlfriend, Lily, another visit. Stabler eyed Olivia cautiously as she fastened her seatbelt. He noticed that her hands were trembling.
"Are you okay?" he inquired.
"Yes, just a bit flustered about this whole thing, that's all," she replied, giving a faint smile. He let it go against his better judgment and started the car. A few minutes later, he pulled up to her house and put the car in neutral.
"Do you want me to stay with you a while?" he queried curiously.
"No, thanks, I'll call you when I'm ready. I just need some time to settle some things," she replied nervously.
She gave him a fleeting look as she hurried out of the car. He felt he should say something, but didn't know what to say. He watched her unlock her door and step inside. He pulled slowly out into the road after a few seconds. He gave a backwards glance at her house as he drove away.
99
"Your suspicions were right," Melinda Warner speculated shaking her head. "These are the exact wounds as the other girl."
Stabler looked saddened. He was hoping it wasn't true. His chest heaved a heavy, long sigh. "Thanks, Melinda."
"No problem," she replied taking off her gloves.
He left the building and a thought occurred to him. He decided to check in on Olivia. She hadn't called yet, but he wanted to make sure that she was alright. His nagging doubts were growing larger by the minute. Something didn't seem right to him.
The house was the same as when he left it. He trudged up to the door and rang the doorbell. There was no reply. He rang it again and waited—still no reply. A slow panic began to form in his stomach. He ran over to the garage and peeked inside one of the small windows. Everything was in order except for one thing—her car was missing.
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