'She's still alive,' Olivia thought, as she sat in the passenger seat of the car. She was so lost in her thoughts that Olivia barely noticed as Elliot wildly swerved the car in and out of traffic on their way to Linda Beauchamp's home. 'If the kidnappers are calling with a ransom, then that means that Lilly is still alive. She may not be safe…yet, but she's still alive!'

When they arrived at Linda's modest apartment, there were several police cars already parked out front. Having previously been the target of a kidnapping attempt, Linda was already under police protection, but Olivia suspected that the extra squad cars belonged to her fellow cops from the One Six, whom she contacted right after receiving Linda's frantic call.

Cragen was just getting out of a squad car as Olivia and Elliot parked theirs. They met on the sidewalk.

"Did she say what kind of ransom they demanded?" Cragen asked her.

"No," Olivia replied, as she, Cragen and Elliot all walked into the foyer. A uniformed officer held the door open for them. "I didn't want any particulars being stated on an open line."

"Good move," the Captain said. "I gave Munch and Fin the job of tracking down whether or not Stephenson ever took one of Beauchamp's classes."

When they entered Linda's apartment, Olivia saw that Linda sat on the couch, wringing her hands nervously. When she saw Olivia, Linda promptly burst into tears as she got up and ran into her arms.

"Hey, easy, easy," Olivia soothed her. "It's ok, Linda. It's ok."

"She's alive, Liv," Linda breathlessly told her. "They let me speak to Lilly on the phone. She sounded so scared!" She began to cry again. "Oh, God, I can't bear this!"

"But she is alive, Linda," Olivia assured her. "Ok? As long as she's alive, there's hope, right?"

"Was this call traced?" Cragen asked Morales, a TARU technician.

"No," Morales said flatly. "Apparently, they made the call with a cell phone."

"You can still trace the area from where it was made from the cell phone towers, can't you?" Cragen asked.

Morales shook his head. "They called Ms. Beauchamp on her private cell phone and didn't speak for very long. We didn't even get a recording. These guys knew what they were doing."

"Yeah, that's been the damn problem all along," Elliot said with a shake of his head. "These bastards always know what they're doing."

Olivia held Linda out at arm's length and said, "What did they say to you? You need to remember their exact words."

"The man just said, 'Here's your daughter,' and he put Lilly on the phone," Linda recalled. "Lilly told me that she was all right, but she was very scared, and she couldn't wait to see me." Her voice broke with emotion, yet Linda pressed on. "The man took Lilly off the phone and told me that they wanted to meet with me tomorrow morning. Just me, by myself, with no police. He would call back tomorrow morning at eight with the specific place and time. He also said that If I didn't show up, or if I showed up with the police, Lilly would die."

"He never mentioned any money?" Elliot asked. "No ransom of any kind?"

"No," Linda said. "They just wanted to see me, that's all."

"That's damn strange," Elliot said thoughtfully.

"Would you please excuse us for a moment, Ms. Beauchamp?" Cragen asked, as he led Olivia and Elliot to another room. Once they had privacy, he said, "I don't like this."

"The kidnappers knew enough to call Linda on her private cell, thus avoiding any police interference," Elliot said.

"Or so they hoped," Cragen said.

"Am I the only one who's noticing the timing here?" Olivia asked. "No sooner do Elliot and I pay a visit to Stephenson than this happens."

Elliot nodded. "Yeah, it looks like she may be feeling the heat, so she lit a fire under the troops."

"But to do what? Abduct Linda?" Olivia shook her head. "I doubt they'd want a face to face meeting just to talk to her."

"The sole purpose all along of this team that Stephenson hired was to get rid of the incriminating evidence against Charles Beauchamp," Cragen said. "And that also includes getting rid of the witnesses. They had planned on abducting both Linda and Lilly, but you then fouled that up for them, Olivia. So, yeah, I think getting to Linda is exactly what they're after here."

"I'll go in Linda's place," Olivia offered. When both Cragen and Elliot looked uncertain, she quickly added, "I can wear a wig! It'll be enough for me to get close enough to them."

"Why? So they can blow your head off?" Cragen said.

When Olivia stared at him, stunned, Elliot said, "He has a point, Liv. If they just want to kill Linda all along, then why make a big production out of kidnapping her? Why not hide a sniper with a rifle at the meeting place tomorrow, and as soon as she shows her face: bang!"

'Jesus!' Olivia thought with horror. That plan sounded so cold, and yet she had to admit that it made sense.

"That would mean Lilly would probably already be dead right now," Cragen said. "They only needed her to be alive long enough just to get Linda to the meeting."

"No, I refuse to believe that!" Olivia snapped. "Lilly's alive! And as long as she's alive, then I'm not giving up on her!"

When she saw the solemn reaction of Cragen, Olivia instantly regretted her harsh words. Even Elliot gave her a slight shake of his head, as if to say that he thought Olivia had pushed it too far.

"Your request to take Linda's place at the meeting tomorrow is denied," Cragen said firmly. "From this point on, I'll be dealing with the tactical squad about this situation."

"Captain," Olivia started to say, "wait, I--"

"By rights, you shouldn't even be on this case," Cragen angrily told her. "I let you stay on against my better judgment because you're a damn good cop. But you're too close, Olivia. You're letting your affection for Lilly get in the way of your instincts! As of right now, you're off the case. Go home, get some sleep."

But Olivia was not ready to give up. "Captain, just let me--"

"You want me to suspend you, Olivia?" Cragen asked. "Because that's what this is coming to."

Olivia knew when to back down. "No sir."

"Elliot, take her home," Cragen told curtly him.

"C'mon, Liv," Elliot said to her, looking uneasy. "Let's go."

"Liv?" Linda called, as she watched in puzzlement as Olivia and Elliot left the apartment.

Olivia didn't know what to say, other than to give her a helpless shrug.

Once they were outside, Olivia shook her head in disgust. "This is bullshit, Elliot. He can't take me off the case! Not now!"

"He just did," Elliot said with a weary sigh.

When they got into the car, Olivia shot him an angry look. "You agree with him, don't you?"

"I think you're too close to the case," he admitted. "You proved that when you just volunteered to be a target just now."

"We don't know for sure that Linda would have been shot--"

"Oh come on, Liv, will you listen to yourself!" Elliot said, annoyed. "You're ignoring what's really going on because you don't want to admit that Lilly may very well be dead right now."

"You don't know that for sure, either," Olivia said harshly. "And until I see a body, I'm not assuming that Lilly's dead!"

"Fine, but in the meantime, nobody's willing to let you needlessly risk your life!" Elliot replied. After a moment's hesitation, he stared at her and asked, "How close was she?"

Olivia stared at him. "What?"

"Lilly. How close were you to getting her today at the school before she was snatched away by those bastards?"

Olivia felt a twinge of pain surge within her as she recalled seeing Lilly walking towards her in the hallway of the school--and then Lilly had just slipped away from her. So close, and yet so far. She'd replayed that moment over and over in her mind all day…so much so now that it was agonizing for her to even think about it.

"It's not your fault, Olivia," Elliot said softly. "There's no need to punish yourself for it by putting yourself in the line of fire."

"I just wasn't fast enough," Olivia said, as she stifled back a sob. "I should have went and gotten her myself, I should never have--"

Elliot grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly in his own. "It wasn't your fault," he repeated. "We did everything humanly possible to prevent Lilly from being kidnapped. And you still did far more than I did, you stopped them from grabbing Linda."

Crying openly now, Olivia wiped the tears from her face with a tissue that Elliot handed her. "It still wasn't good enough."

"The hell it wasn't!" Elliot said. "If they had succeeded in grabbing Linda, along with Lilly, then the both of them would have been dead right now. But you stopped that from happening, Olivia. And by doing that, you gave Lilly a fighting chance. And let me promise youthis: nobody's giving up on her, least of all me. You understand?"

"Thanks," Olivia said, deeply touched by what he told her.

He gave Olivia's shoulder a gentle, affectionate squeeze, which felt great. "You look exhausted," he said. "C'mon, let's get you home."

Olivia couldn't really argue with that. As much as she felt guilty about leaving the investigation, the fact of the matter was that she was worn out and bone-tired. Whether she liked it or not, Olivia needed a rest.

When Elliot drove Olivia back to her place, he put the car in park and asked, "Want me to come up?"

She shook her head. "Thanks. But I'll be fine."

He nodded. "Give Eric a call if you want. Y'know, just in case you can't sleep."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for the advice, Dr. Phil," she said with a smile. "Seriously, El, thanks…just for being there."

She hugged him just then, and for a brief moment, Olivia didn't want to let go of Elliot. She just wanted to remain within his warm embrace for the rest of the night.

'Jeez, what am I thinking?' Olivia thought, as she quickly broke their embrace. 'I must be more tired than I thought!'

"I'll call you tomorrow," he called, as she got out.

"First thing tomorrow," she said, shutting the car door.

The very first thing Olivia did when she got to her apartment was to take a hot shower. She merely stood under the water and let it wash all over her, inhaling the steam, and enjoying the feeling of her muscles loosening up under the water massage.

After the shower, Olivia got dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. 'I should give Eric a call,' she thought, as she sat down on the sofa. She took a moment to sit back and relax against the cushions. She needed to collect her thoughts for a second.

And that was where Olivia had fallen fast asleep.

New York University

Records Department

"Damn," Fin muttered, as he stared bleary-eyed at the computer screen. He leaned back in the chair and let out an irritated sigh. Charles Beauchamp had worked at this college for nearly twenty years, and Fin had just searched through Beauchamp's computer course records for the first ten for any sign that Claire Stephenson was a student. But so far, nothing. "I got Zippo here, John. What about you?"

Munch, who was across from Fin in the computer records room, also leaned back in his seat. But he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah…uh, nothing here…as well."

Fin knew his partner well enough to know when something got stuck in his craw. "What is it?"

"Hmm?" Munch said absently. He still glared at the computer screen, as if it committed an inexcusable offense against him.

"Whenever you get all contemplative like this on me, it means you got something," Fin said. "So spill it, man. What is it?"

"It's this name," Munch said, pointing at the screen. "Coral Stevens."

Fin leaned over Munch and stared at the name on the screen. "Same initials as our girl Claire. Your spider sense is tingling about this one, huh?"

"She attended Beauchamp's class over seven years ago, and the address given for her is on the West Side," Munch said. "But I've got a hunch it might be Stephenson. That she gave a phony name."

"But Claire Stephenson has lived at her present Park Avenue address for the last fifteen years," Fin reminded him. "Coral here is from the West Side."

"But Stephenson could have given the school a different address, in addition to a different name," Munch insisted. "I mean, Samuel Childs' home address is nothing more than a mail drop for him. So why wouldn't Stephenson do the same thing for herself?"

"But how can we prove that this was Stephenson?" Fin asked. "If she covers her tracks completely, then her financial records will be a smoke screen, as well."

"All students at this college must have a ID card," Munch told him. "A photo ID card. Right?"

"Oh man," Fin said, as a smile spread across his lips. "Where's Gina?"

Yet when they went back to the security desk and told Gina of their request to see the photo Id of Coral Stevens, she began to shake her head slowly. The security guard was a young brunette woman in her late twenties--a single mother, judging from the pictures of kids on her desk.

"Oh, you guys are in for a world of hurt," she said.

"Why?" Munch asked.

Instead of telling them, Gina showed them. It was a vast room in the basement filled with filing cabinets as far as the eye could see.

"Oy," Munch muttered under his breath.

"The computer system underwent a major upgrade a few months ago," Gina explained. "So a lot of information--like the old photo Ids from years gone by--were filed on disk and stored away. The problem was that these 'geniuses' never bother to properly label the boxes. They were simply dumped down here with the rest of the stuff."

"Oh crud," Fin said.

"Yeah," Gina said with a sympathetic smile. "You guys sure you want to go digging through this mess? It'll probably take you all night."

After an exchanging a weary look with Munch, Fin said, "Do either of us look like we've got something better to do tonight?"

Gina shrugged. "Alrighty, then! I'll help you guys look, right after I put on another pot of coffee for us. We're gonna need it!"

After Gina left, Fin looked over at Munch and asked, "You sure about this hunch of yours?"

"Yeah," he replied with a heavy sigh. "I'm sure."

"Damn," Fin said, as he gazed at the vast storage space. "You remember that big-ass warehouse they stored the ark in at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark?"

"Yes."

"This place is even bigger," Fin said grimly.

"Well, if you should find the lost ark of the covenant, give a holler," Munch told him.

Olivia Benson's Apartment

Olivia was awakened by a steady ringing. She was stunned to find that it was now daylight, and that she had been sleeping on the sofa. She wondered how she could hear the alarm clock in her bedroom all the way out here. Then she realized that the ringing was from her phone.

"Hello?" she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Get dressed and meet me outside your building right now," Elliot told her in a frantic tone of voice.

"What happened?" Olivia said, as she instantly sprung up from the sofa.

"They found Lilly," he said. "I'll give you the details in person. I'm only five minutes away from you right now. Just be outside waiting for me!"

"Got it!" Olivia hung up and ran into her bedroom. She quickly exchanged her sweatpants for a pair of jeans and slipped on her cop gear, including her gun holster and badge. Grabbing a pair of black running shoes with her right hand, Olivia grabbed her house keys and cell phone with her left and stuffed them into her pocket as she ran barefoot into the hallway, slamming the door to her apartment shut behind her. She punched the button for the elevator as she stuffed her feet into the shoes.

"Fuck it," Olivia muttered, when the elevator was taking too long. She took the stairs.

Olivia burst into the lobby, where she broke into a mad dash for the front door. Her sudden appearance scared a young woman who was a dog walker. Several of the dogs in her charge--including an impossibly small Yorkie--all started barking indigantly at Olivia as she ran by.

Ralph, her doorman--God bless him--held the door open for her. "Have a good day, Detective Benson!"

"From your lips to God's ears, Ralph," she said, as she flew past him. "Thanks!"

Olivia ran out onto the sidewalk just as Elliot was pulling up in the car. She ran around to the passenger side, got in, and Elliot took off before she could even shut the door all the way.

"Tell me what happened," Olivia asked, as she slipped on her seat belt.

"Lilly called 911," Elliot said. "She told the operator who she was and then she abruptly stopped talking. But the phone was left off the hook, and the call was made from a landline phone, so we were able to trace it almost instantly. She called from North Tommersing, that's a town up in Westchester County. Cragen and the SWAT team are already on their way up there."

'Always fighting, never giving up. That's my girl!' Olivia thought, as she swelled inwardly with pride. 'That's my Lilly!'

She frowned at Elliot when something occurred to her. "I guess Cragen changed his mind about having me on the case, huh?"

"He never said a word about calling you," Elliot told her. "I did that on my own."

When Olivia gave him a stunned look, Elliot nodded knowingly at her. "I know, Cragen will be pissed at me," he said. "To hell with it. It'll be a big help for Lilly to see you. But no matter what happens, you still deserve to be there, Olivia."

Olivia never loved Elliot more than she did at that moment. But this was not the time to get all maudlin; for they were now racing northwards, towards what could well be the end of this very case. And judging from the cold, clammy feeling that Olivia had in the pit of her stomach right now, she had a very good hunch that this would be the end of it; that she would be seeing Lilly again very soon.

'If there's anything I can do to help her--anything at all--then I'll do whatever it takes to make sure Lilly gets out of this alive,' Olivia solemnly swore. 'Even if I have to kill every last one of the scumbags who kidnapped her to do it!'

To Be Continued...