"I ain't got nothing to say to you pigs," Eugene Foreman growled from his hospital bed.
Fin broke into a smile. "Oh ho! Get this dude, John," he said to Munch as they strode into the hospital room. "No sooner do we walk through the door then he's already putting on a tough guy act!"
"And we haven't even identified ourselves yet," Munch said, as he pulled out his badge. "Let's make it official, shall we? I'm Detective Munch, and this is Detective Tutuola, NYPD."
"Piss off," Foreman snarled. "I knew you were cops because I can smell a stinking pig from a mile away."
"Looks like somebody's been watching too many Jimmy Cagney movies," Munch said. "Are you a fan of Cagney, Mr. Foreman?"
When Foreman abruptly appeared startled, Fin gave him a knowing smile. "Yeah, that's right, tough guy," he said. "We know who you are, now."
"Eugene Foreman," Munch read aloud from a file he held in his hands. "Did time in Attica for armed robbery and kidnapping. Eugene must really enjoy kidnapping, Fin, because he just went ahead and did it again earlier today."
"I ain't saying nothing!" Foreman insisted.
"You don't have to," Fin told him. "'cause we got witnesses, plus footage from the school surveillance cameras showing you in an attempted abduction of Linda Beauchamp."
"You should have worn a ski mask like your little friend with the Uzi, Eugene," Munch said. "What's his name, by the way?"
"Eat me!"
"'Eat me'?" Munch said thoughtfully. "Hmmm, that's an unusual name. It must have been hell for him in school."
"Parents probably hated him," Fin said dryly.
"We've got nothing further to say here," Foreman told them.
"Wrong!" Fin angrily shot back. "You've got plenty to say, if you know what's best for you. Your friends abducted a little girl by the name of Lily Beauchamp. We want to know where she is right now."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Foreman said, as he laid back and stared up at the ceiling.
Fin leaned close and said, "Maybe Marcus Sewell knew what we're talking about…or, I should say, the late Marcus Sewell. Maybe he knew too much. Was that why he was killed?"
"Get lost!"
"It would really behoove you to help us, Mr. Foreman," Munch warned. "Because the gun you had in your possession is now being tested to see if it matched the bullet that killed Sewell. So if you wish to tell us anything now, such as the location of Lily Beauchamp, we will consider leniency. But if anything happens to Lily, and it turns out that you could have helped--"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Foreman said with a slight smile. "Tell it to my lawyer."
"If that's how you want it to go, tough guy, fine," Fin said. "But you're looking at a lot of hard time here. Any help we get in finding this girl will make things go easy for you on the inside. Maybe even reduce your time, y'know what I mean?"
"I ain't no stranger to hard time, boys." Foreman actually broke into a chuckle. "Man, that bitch really knew what she was doing, didn't she?"
Both Munch and Fin exchanged a wide-eyed glance.
"What?" Fin asked. "What bitch?"
"To whom are you referring to, Mr. Foreman?" Munch asked.
"I have nothing further to say to you pigs," Foreman firmly replied. "Not without my lawyer present."
'You nearly gave it all away just now,' Fin thought, 'didn't you? You son of a bitch!' He shook his head in disgust at the realization that they would not be getting anymore information from Foreman. He was a hard core lifer who was willing to do the time no matter what.
When he glanced at his partner, Munch made a subtle gesture for the both of them to leave. Once they were in the hospital hallway, Fin went over what Foreman said in his mind. "Who the hell you think he meant?"
"I can't help but wonder this 'bitch' is the mastermind behind all of this," Munch said.
"I thought Beauchamp was behind this--or at least that guy who he's meeting at Rikers," Fin said. "What's his name? Childs."
"The layers of deception are slowly being peeled away, my friend," Munch said melodramatically. "Sort of like an onion."
"Uh, yeah, right," Fin said with a shake of his head. Fin was about to ask what did onions have to do with deception, but thought the better of it.
Special Victim's Unit
Interrogation Room
16 Precinct
The man whom Olivia and Elliot had brought in for questioning turned out to be Gregory Dayton. He claimed that everything was just a big mistake, that he was merely performing a job that he was being well-paid for.
"Paying the rent and collecting the mail for an apartment that nobody uses?" Olivia asked. "That's a pretty strange job, Mr. Dayton."
"It pays the bills," Dayton said with a shrug.
While Olivia and Dayton sat facing each other at the table, Elliot had been pacing back and forth in the room like a panther. He had decided to play the 'bad cop' and Olivia gladly followed his lead. To that end, Elliot abruptly slammed his hands on the table in front of Dayton and asked, "Who hired you?"
"The Friends Of Justice," Dayton said without batting an eye.
Olivia frowned at Dayton. "Is that some sort of organization?"
"They're an advocacy group that's fighting for the rights of convicts," Dayton said. "You know, making sure they're being treated decently, getting them lawyers, that kind of stuff."
"In our line of work we come across plenty of advocacy groups," Elliot said. "How come we've never heard of yours?"
Dayton shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe because they only take extra special cases."
"Like Charles Beauchamp?" Elliot asked. "Is Beauchamp one of their special cases?"
Dayton shook his head. "Beats me. They don't tell me that kind of stuff. Look, I'm basically just an outside contractor, ok? I don't ask questions, I just do whatever it is they tell me to do."
"Like pretend to be Samuel Childs?" Olivia asked.
"No, I told you, I never said I was Childs. I just paid the rent and picked up the mail every now and then. It's not my fault if the superintendent mistakes me for the guy. "
"You handed the super a check from Childs every month," Olivia said. "He thought you were Childs."
"He was wrong," Dayton quickly interjected. "And as I've said before, that's not my check. I just deliver it."
"Fine," Olivia said. "So who gives you the check each month?"
"Is it the dragon lady?" Elliot wanted to know.
Dayton looked mortified. "Please don't tell her I called her that."
Growing tired of this timid little bastard, Olivia folded her arms, leaned forward in her seat and said, "Don't tell who, Mr. Dayton?"
"Claire Stephenson," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "She's in charge of the Friends Of Justice. She founded it and runs it."
"And is she really a dragon lady?" Olivia asked.
Before Dayton could reply, the door flew open and high powered attorney Trevor Langan entered the room with a scowl on his face. "Don't say anything further, Greg!"
Cragen entered right after the lawyer, holding his hands up in a 'what are you going to do' gesture. Olivia didn't recall Dayton calling for a lawyer, much less a big gun like Langan, and yet here he was.
'I wonder if Langan's here courtesy of Claire Stephenson,' Olivia thought, feeling her cop radar go to full alert. 'And if this is how she reacts to us questioning one of her lowly minions, then how deep is she in this little scheme?'
"Why is my client is here?" Langan said, looking annoyed.
"We're investigating the kidnapping of Lily Beauchamp, and we're just asking him some questions," Elliot replied with a casual air. He turned to Dayton and added, "You must be getting paid pretty well to be able to afford Mr. Langan's services."
Cragen glanced at Olivia and said, "Linda Beauchamp is waiting for you at your desk."
'Oh God no,' Olivia thought, stunned. Olivia had hoped that when she finally saw Linda, she would have good news for her. But she didn't want to face Linda now, not while she was still trying to find Lilly. Olivia had nothing to offer her.
When she glanced up to see Cragen staring at her expectantly, Olivia realized that she had been sitting hesitantly at the table all the time. Giving Cragen a sheepish smile, she got up and left the interrogation room, wondering what in God's name was she going to say to Linda.
'I let her and Lilly down in such a major way,' Olivia thought with a shake of her head. She had gone over the events in the schoolyard over and over in her mind all day, trying to figure out what she could have done differently, how she could have prevented Lilly from being abducted. Yet the one thing that Olivia knew for sure was that Lilly's abduction was entirely her fault. She was strictly to blame and had accepted that fact willingly.
When Olivia stepped into the squad room, she saw Linda was seated at her desk; George Huang was with her, leaning against the desk, deep in conversation with her.
Olivia was almost tempted to duck out of the room before they could see her. But that was the coward's route, and if nothing else, Olivia Benson was no coward.
Linda quickly stood up and faced her as Olivia strode up to them. Olivia braced herself for the heated accusations--which, from Linda, would be completely justified.
But Linda merely stood there, staring sadly at her.
"Linda, I-I'm so sorry," Olivia finally said, her voice breaking. "I-I should never have--"
Before she could continue, Linda Beauchamp stunned Olivia by doing something that was totally unexpected.
She reached out and gave Olivia a tight hug.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Olivia," Linda whispered as they embraced. "We both lost her, you and I. But hopefully--through the grace of God--we will get Lilly back safe and sound again."
'Oh Christ!' Olivia thought, as the tears welled up in her eyes. The last thing she had expected to do was cry, but Linda's sincerity had warmed Olivia down to her very soul. She had wanted to protest, to say that Linda was wrong, that it had all been her fault--yet Olivia could not find her voice at this moment.
When they parted from their embrace, and after Olivia took a deep breath, she solemnly said, "I will do whatever I can to find her, Linda. I swear I'll move heaven and earth, if need be."
"I know," Linda replied, as she gave Olivia a sad smile. "And I couldn't ask for a better person to be looking for Lilly. Would you please keep me in the loop?"
"Of course," Olivia said. "But for now, you should go home, get some rest. I'll call you as soon as we get any news."
"All right," Linda said. Then her face grew hard. "My bastard ex-husband is behind this, isn't he?"
"He's the obvious suspect," Olivia admitted. "But right now, we're focusing all of our attention on finding Lilly. And we're not gonna stop until she's safe and sound."
Linda nodded in understanding. Then she squeezed Olivia's hand and said, "Thank you, Liv, for everything."
Olivia had wanted to say 'Don't thank me until I've brought Lilly back safe', but kept that thought to herself.
"I'll walk you out," George Huang told Linda.
Olivia sat and watched them both leave the squad room until something on her desk caught her eye. It was a framed drawing, made by Lilly, of herself and Olivia. It was no more than a pair of stick figures, the larger one signifying Olivia, with a little stick figure Lilly standing happily next to her. The larger Olivia stick figure wore a gun and a badge on her stick waist, and written under the figures, in Lilly's perfect penmanship, were the words: Liv and Lilly, friends forever!
'Where are you, Lilly?' Olivia wondered, as she stared at the drawing. 'Are you all right? Are you feeling very scared right now? Please, just stay safe, honey. Stay safe until I can find you.'
'Assuming she's not already dead,' a dark voice whispered from the back of Olivia's mind. 'They kidnapped her to get rid of any witnesses in the Beauchamp case, so why would they still keep Lilly alive? She's probably dead right now, rotting in a shallow--'
"No, stop it!" Olivia said aloud with a shake of her head.
Munch and Fin, who had just entered the squad room just then, both haltedand gave her strange looks.
"Stop what?" Fin asked. "We just got here."
"Um, nothing," Olivia said with a wave of her hand. "Just talking to myself."
Langan emerged from the interrogation room with his arm around Dayton's shoulders, as if he were a heroic rescuer leading a traumatized hostage to safety. When Elliot and Cragen sauntered out after them, Langan turned and said, "Remember what I told you, Captain. Ms. Stephenson is off limits!"
"And I'll remind you once more counselor," Cragen said, "we'll go wherever the investigation takes us."
"Then be prepared to find yourselves in court very soon," Langan warned, "being sued for harassment!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cragen derisively muttered as Langan and Dayton left the squad room. When he saw Munch and Fin, he asked, "How did it go with Foreman?"
"He clammed up," Munch said with a sigh. "But not before saying something rather interesting."
"Which is?" Cragen prodded.
"We made the usual threats about him spending a very long stretch in prison," Fin said. "To which he replied, 'I ain't no stranger to hard time, boys.' Then he sort of paused and added, 'Man, that bitch really knew what she was doing, didn't she?'"
When she heard that, Olivia locked eyes with Elliot at the same moment.
"Who was he talking about?" Cragen asked.
Munch shook his head. "That was when he clammed up again…wouldn't talk any further without a lawyer present."
"You think Foreman's talking about the dragon lady?" Olivia asked Elliot.
Elliot nodded his head. "I'd be willing to bet on it."
Fin looked back and forth between Olivia and Elliot in confusion. "Whoa, whoa! Who's the dragon lady?"
Elliot filled them in on their encounter with Dayton, and how he referred to his boss, Claire Stephenson, as the Dragon Lady. "It turns out that Stephenson runs a convict advocacy group called The Friends Of Justice."
"There now, see?" Munch said to Fin. "Just like I told you before, the mystery is slowly being peeled away, layer by layer, just like an onion."
"You're just making me very hungry," Fin muttered. "What do you mean?"
"I'm saying that this Stephenson, whom Foreman referred to as 'the bitch', is looking more and more like our mastermind," Munch said.
"Foreman was an ex-con," Olivia said thoughtfully. "So was Marcus Sewell. What if the other guys who abducted Lilly were also ex-cons? What better place to meet and hire experienced criminals for illegal jobs than a convict advocacy group?"
"Oh man," Fin said, his eyes wide. "This is turning into a conspiracy worthy of that group Edward Lister was with…that Specter-whatever."
"You mean Spec-Op-For. The Special Operations Force," Munch corrected. "While I concur that this is turning out to be a conspiracy, it's not the work of Sec-Op-For."
Fin shot Munch an amazed look. "Everybody hear this? Munch is actually saying that something isn't a government conspiracy!"
"You feeling all right, John?" Elliot jokingly asked.
"What would Spec-Op-For have to gain by getting Beauchamp off the hook?" Munch bluntly asked. "This case is small potatoes to an organization like them."
"A better question would be what does Claire Stephenson have to gain by getting Beauchamp off the hook," Olivia said.
"Let's find out," Cragen told them. "John, Fin: you two check into the background of The Friends Of Justice. Start with getting an address for Claire Stephenson. Elliot, Olivia: once we get that address, why don't you pay a visit to Ms. Stephenson?"
"But don't you remember the really scary threat Langan just made?" Elliot lightly asked. "It was one of his better threats, in my humble opinion."
"Fuck him," Cragen calmly replied.
"Can't argue with that logic," Elliot said with a shrug.
Olivia glanced once more at the drawing Lilly made, and suddenly felt more optimistic. She didn't know how or why, but something deep down within Olivia told her that Lilly was still alive. And while Lilly still lived, there was always hope that they would find her.
"Got it!" Munch called from his computer. He wrote down something on a sheet of paper and handed it to Elliot. "Ms. Stephenson's home address, courtesy of the DMV. It's a Park Avenue address, so be sure to wear your Sunday best."
"I'll bring my Tiffany handcuffs," Elliot said, as he frowned at the sheet of paper. "Is this an 'I'?"
"That's a 'one'," Munch replied, sounding wounded. "My handwriting's not the best, ok? So shoot me!"
"Don't tempt me," Elliot muttered, as he grabbed his coat.
Olivia grabbed the picture that Lilly drew and very lightly rubbed her finger over the little stick figure that was Lilly. 'Wherever you are, Lilly, just hold on,' she solemnly thought. 'I'm coming, baby. I'm coming for you.'
Elliot came over to her. "You ready, Liv?"
"Yeah," she said with a nod. Olivia was really looking forward to this upcoming confrontation. "Let's go meet this frigging dragon lady…."
To Be Continued...