Law and Order: SVU

Duty Calls

Chapter Seven: Familiar

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Elliot looked furious at the interruption, but Olivia looked at the screaming phone with alarm.

She hit the speakerphone button on the side of her phone, then answered the call. Elliot yanked out a tape recorder and began recording.

"Benson."

"I must say I underestimated you, Olivia. I certainly didn't think you'd be any kind of threat to me last night. I wasn't going to hurt you. Not then. I was just going to take you for a little ride."

Elliot's eyes burned into hers, his face livid.

"But you proved me wrong. You can certainly defend yourself properly. But I'm not sure breaking my nose in three places was necessary. That made me angry, Olivia. I think I might have to take it out on an unsuspecting lady cop."

Olivia sucked in a breath. "Why are you doing this! Who are you!" she demanded shrilly.

A deep, chilling laugh crept into her ears from the other end of the phone. "Nice try, Detective Benson. But I'm afraid I'm not going to hand you the information you need." He paused, as if gaining inspiration. "You know, maybe I'll tell the next Officer who has the pleasure of my company. She can relay the message to the 1-6. If she survives."

Click.

Olivia cursed loudly. "This is insane. Elliot, he didn't give us a single clue. I hate this! I hate relying on him, I hate being his mouthpiece! If he hurts another woman, I'll never forgive myself!"

Elliot looked extremely angry, but he reigned in his temper when she let out that outburst. "Fine. If he hurts you, I'll never forgive myself."

Olivia sighed. "Well, I'm sure Munch and Fin are tired of doing all the work. Let's go."

Elliot counted to ten slowly as he put on his coat. If he lost it, it wouldn't do anything for Olivia. She needed him to be calm. And that was getting harder and harder.

The pair left for the precinct ten minutes later. Two plainclothesmen followed them. Olivia grimly recognized her protective detail, but she didn't acknowledge the men for anonymity's sake.

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Cragen's face was grim when Elliot and Olivia entered. Munch and Fin looked up quickly when the doors opened.

"Let me guess. You got called in."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Funny, Munch."

Olivia ignored the banter, and snagged the tape recorder from Elliot's pocket. Fin's eyebrows shot up, and a rare grin tugged at the corner of his lips. Olivia ignored that too.

"Here you go, Captain. But he gave us absolutely nothing."

Cragen replayed the tape, listening somberly to the phone call. Luckily, Elliot had stopped the device from recording Olivia's guilty outburst and Elliot's intimate reassuring.

"So, basically, we have nothing this time? That's great," Munch said sarcastically.

Cragen sighed. "At least we gave out the warning."

Fin rolled his eyes. "Sure, but all the tips coming in are bogus." Then, for Olivia and Elliot's benefit, he added, "Munch and I traced your cell phone. He called from one of the non-traceable cell phones."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, but he just called me a few minutes ago. We should trace that one just in case he slipped up and used a payphone."

Fin's cell phone rang just then. He stepped away to answer it. "Tutuola."

Cragen looked around. "I'll take care of it. We have nothing else to go on! Was there a security camera in that hardware store?"

"Novak's getting the subpoena for it now," Munch supplied. "Then it's on its way for review at the tech lab."

Cragen nodded. "Munch, I want you and Fin to be there when it comes in." He paused. "No, scratch that. Elliot, you and Olivia should be there. Liv, last time you were right about this guy's impulses. Maybe seeing the tape could give you some kind of insight on him. Anything to predict what he might do next."

Olivia nodded obediently, absently listing to Fin's responses to the caller. "Anything else we can do?"

Fin hung up. "I'd say so. CSU is all over the hardware store and the area outside of it. They couldn't find any of his blood, and we all know his nose was spouting it. But I guess the ski mask helped him out there."

Elliot crossed his arms. "No blood. What about footprints, tire treads? Where the hell is this guy? How in god's name did he outrun the SLED guys after Liv beat the crap out of him?"

"Beats the crap of me," Olivia said cynically, pointing to her black eye with the hand that didn't rest in a sling. Munch chuckled.

Fin crossed his arms. "No footprints or tire treads. It rained."

Olivia threw up her good hand. "Great. Did they find anything that we can use?"

Fin nodded. "Oh, yeah. Bastard dropped his phone. It's already at the tech lab."

Cragen rubbed his hands together. "Finally, he slips up. You guys go check it out."

Munch and Fin prepared to leave, but Olivia stopped them. "Here," she said, pulling out her phone. "Take this. See if our guy had to use a payphone this time."

Munch looked at her with concern. "What if he tries to call you?"

Olivia shook her head. "He won't anytime soon. His MO says it. Since Elliot and I are coming there right behind you, you can leave it for me there. Maybe we'll get lucky and the bastard will call me when the phone is hooked up to nice tracing equipment."

"Yeah, luck isn't too much to ask for is it?" Munch called to the sky as he walked towards his car.

Fin rolled his eyes, and grabbed his coat. He stopped, and put his hand on Olivia's uninjured shoulder. "We're going to get this guy, Liv." He rarely called her 'Liv.' "Don't worry."

Olivia smiled, genuinely touched. "Thanks, Fin."

With a nod, Fin put on his coat, and followed his partner to the car. Olivia turned back towards Cragen and Elliot.

"What else do you need us to do, Captain?" Olivia asked, almost desperately.

Don looked at her. She was pale, had a wicked black eye, her arm was in a sling because of a GSW, and she moved gingerly because of bruising to her ribs and abdomen muscles. But her eyes were on fire with her determination.

Elliot wasn't much better. He jumped at every little noise, his fists clenching every time. Deep black circles underscored his eyes, and he was becoming increasingly tense from holding back his anger for so long. He wouldn't take his eyes off Olivia for a second, but his fuse was getting short.

And to top it all off, the two of them were hopelessly in love with each other.

Cragen sighed haggardly. "I want you to take that tape to Huang and talk with him about the guy. He's already here."

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"Olivia, this is frightening. I can't find a single hint in his call—I don't think he was lying about that. And I don't think he's lying about the next woman. There's nothing we can do to stop him using this call."

Olivia sighed haggardly, leaning into Elliot. "What do you make of him, George?"

The Asian's eyes were wide, his face worried. "He's focused on you, Olivia. I sense some kind of vengeance in him, some sense of entitlement. His anger is growing—this next attack… it's going to be bad. He hasn't succeeded in killing his victims so far, but this time, that's what his focus is going to be. And after that, Liv, he'll probably come after you."

"I dare him," Elliot growled under his breath. Huang shot him a warning look.

"Listen, Olivia, this is the strangest case I've ever worked. The strangest MO I can see. The only thing I can latch onto is his fixation on cops and his need to antagonize, to frighten. But your guy, however insane he is, is not stupid. At all. And that's what scares me. You really need to lay low for a while, Liv."

Just then, Elliot's cell phone rang. Unconsciously, Olivia jumped in her seat. When Elliot mouthed "Munch" she muttered an embarrassed curse.

Elliot stood to leave and began to walk off. "We gotta go. Munch and Fin have the alias of the perp. They're checking out the alias where the phone was purchased. Your call was from a payphone outside Central Park. So we know he couldn't have gotten far from there, so there are units all over the park. They have that tape ready in the lab, waiting on us. Let's go."

Olivia hesitated. "Give me thirty seconds, El. Be right out."

Elliot nodded understandingly, and closed the door behind him.

Olivia opened her mouth, but no words came out.

George Huang smiled kindly. "It's okay, Olivia. Really."

She smiled, exhaustion and strain written all over her face. "Um… Doc. You think you can pencil in a few visits from me when this is all over?"

Huang smiled. "Definitely. Take care of yourself, Olivia."

"I'll do my best," Olivia mumbled with a dry laugh. "See you soon."

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"All right, let's see that tape," Elliot demanded as he blew into the Crime Lab, Olivia a step behind him.

The crime lab tech officer was sitting in front of the TV, remote in hand. "Good time, Stabler," he said with a sardonic grin. "I've been waiting on you two. You're going to flip out."

He pressed play. "Ok, here's Officer Jackson at her post." The African-American woman was sitting at the desk, reading a book, looking up around the room and at the cameras every time she turned a page.

"Enter psycho."

The perp fired a shot through the window of the hardware shop, then dove through the empty space before Latisha could drop her book. He pulled out his gun, jammed it against her temple.

"Enter cavalry."

At that moment, a megaphone sounded on the tape with Cragen's voice bellowing for him to surrender. SLED officers burst through the door, screaming at him to drop the gun. The perp put Latisha in front of him, and backed up, throwing the two of them into the inventory room, and slamming the door shut.

"Ok, here's where it gets interesting. I'm switching to the security camera in the inventory closet, and I enhanced the audio feed so we can catch what he's saying to her."

Latisha: "Who the hell are you and what do you want!"

Perp: "I came to rape you, Officer Jackson, and I haven't totally given up on that, so I'd shut up if I were you!"

Latisha clamped her mouth shut, turning sickly pale.

A muffled shout came from the other side of the door. The perp jerked nervously, eliciting a sudden gasp of fear from Latisha Jackson.

"I don't care about your negotiators!" he bellowed. "Get me Detective Olivia Benson!"

Olivia sucked in a breath. Elliot glanced at her and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Who the hell is Olivia Benson!" Latisha shrieked. Suddenly, she blanched again. "Wait a minute. You're that freak they alerted us about! What's your problem, bastard!"

The perp twisted Latisha's arm behind her back, and jammed the pistol into the temple, twisting it. She let out a cry of pain.

"Olivia Benson is a Detective with the Special Victims Unit, Latisha. She cares whether you live or die. I don't. It's to your advantage that she gets here, because I won't kill you if I can get her. And she knows that."

"What'd she do to you?" Latisha ventured softly.

Olivia leaned forward, holding her breath.

"What'd she do to me?" His voice was cold, cruel, calculating. His lips curved into a sick smile under the ski mask. "What makes you ask that? Do you think I want revenge, Latisha?"

Wide-eyed, she didn't answer.

"No, Olivia never did anything to me. Not on purpose. But while she's alive, I'm not safe. She's… a witness, you could say. But she doesn't even know it."

Just then, Olivia's voice sounded from behind the door. "It's me, Olivia! I'm coming in alone!"

The tech shut off the TV. "And the rest is history."

Olivia crossed her arms, her face knit in an expression of frustration. "What the hell is he talking about? I don't even know who he is!"

"Liv, it's okay," Elliot soothed, drawing her close, fighting to hold back his own anger. "We're going to figure this all out. I promise. It'll all be over soon."

Suddenly, shots came from outside. Olivia and Elliot locked eyes. The tech picked up his radio and began to bark out the code for shots fired and their location. Guns drawn, Olivia and Elliot quickly made their way to the door.

"You know, I'm almost grateful. A normal call, a normal shooting. Almost a relief." Olivia panted as they ran through the building and stopped at the door.

"Yeah," Elliot said, chuckling darkly. He surveyed the scene briefly, and saw one man injured. One of Oliva's detail officers was attending the injured, and one of them was running off in the direction of the suspect. "Me too. Let's go."

They burst out of the building, guns drawn. Elliot moved to chase after the suspect, but Olivia was out of breath. "I can't run," she gasped, grabbing her sore ribs. "You go. I'll be fine, I've got him!" she said, motioning to her other detail officer, a dark-haired man with dark sunglasses and a hat that cast darkness over his face. Just like in the movies. "Just be careful!"

"I'll be fine, Liv. Look!" The crime lab was being emptied of officers, running after the suspect. "Call a bus!" Elliot called over his shoulder, with a last lingering look at her.

"Detective Benson, are you ok?" her bodyguard asked. His voice was familiar, almost comforting on her ragged nerves.

"Fine. How's this guy doing?"

"GSW to the thigh. Here, you put pressure on it for me, so I can keep an eye out."

"Sure." The man stood up and took his place behind her, gun drawn. Olivia shifted, and moved to the injured guy's leg, putting pressure on his wound, worry for Elliot racing through her mind.

Suddenly, Olivia felt the end of a gun jammed up against her temple. Her blood ran cold as she realized why his voice was familiar.

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Sorry about the long delay! I've been out of town, and just dying to update this story! Don't worry about this cliffie, because I'm getting really into this story, so the update will be very soon, much sooner than this last one! Stay with me, folks!

-rosa