"Olivia…?" Lilly called.

Olivia stared at the wall right next to her. There was no doubt in her mind that Lilly was on the other side of it.

"HERE!" Olivia cried. "SHE'S IN HERE!"

Cragen came over and carefully scanned the wall. "How do we get on the other side? Could it be some sort of hidden passageway?"

"If that's the case, then there's got to be a latch, or a switch of some kind around here that opens it," Elliot said.

"There's definitely a hidden room in here," one of the SWAT team members said from within the bedroom.

When Olivia joined him in the bedroom, he pointed at the wall with a black-gloved hand. "This part of the wall's further out than normal, see? There's another room back here."

There was a floor to ceiling length mirror on the wall. 'That might be a way in,' she thought hopefully. Olivia walked up to the mirror and called Lilly's name once more. "Lilly, if you're behind here, call out right now!"

"Yes, I'm here!" she cried, her voice sounding louder now.

Elliot came over and began to feel around the edges of the mirror. When Olivia realized he was searching for a switch or latch of some kind, she joined in, feeling along the edges of the mirror on the other side, until her fingers found a latch.

She pulled on it, and the mirror opened at one end like a door.

Olivia was the first one inside the stuffy, narrow room, which looked like a walk-in closet. She hesitated when she saw Lilly. The girl lay on the floor on her side, with her back facing Olivia.

And she lay so still.

'Oh, no, please, let her be all right,' Olivia thought, as she ran over to Lilly and bent down beside the girl.

Still clad in the clothes she wore yesterday, Lilly's wrists and ankles were bound together with duct tape.

"Hey, you…." Olivia said, hoping Lilly would respond.

Lilly raised her head with some effort and smiled weakly at Olivia. "Hey, you, too!"

Olivia was stunned at the sight of the massive, swollen bruise that Lilly had on her head, just above her left eye. 'They hit her,' Olivia thought, as she quickly became filled with a seething rage. 'These rat-fuck-scumbag-bastards hit Lilly!'

She carefully picked Lilly up in her arms and carried her out of the cramped, stifling room. Olivia kneeled down in the empty bedroom, still cradling Lilly in her arms, where she allowed the SWAT commander to cut Lilly's bonds with a knife while Cragen called into the hallway for paramedics.

With her hands free, Lilly wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck in a warm hug. "I knew you'd come," Lilly whispered in Olivia's ear. "Mr. Childs got angry at me for saying so, but I knew you'd come for me, Liv."

"Did Mr. Childs hit you?" Olivia asked in a whisper.

"Yes, he hit me," Lilly said with a groan. "It still hurts, Liv!"

When the paramedics arrived with a stretcher, Olivia was extremely reluctant to let go of Lilly--she never wanted to let the little girl out of her embrace again--but the practical side of her realized that Lilly needed medical attention and so she released the girl to them.

While Lilly got checked out by the paramedics, Olivia remained kneeling on the floor, feeling elated, drained, and enraged all at the same time. Elliot came over and affectionately squeezed her shoulders. "You ok?" he said in her ear.

Olivia got to her feet and very calmly said, "I'm fine. But Samuel Childs won't be."

"Liv," Elliot called after her, but Olivia ignored him as she left the bedroom and went down the stairs. When she emerged in the living room, Olivia headed over to where the kidnappers had been rounded up. They all sat on the floor with their hands cuffed behind their backs. As Olivia approached them, she flicked off the strap that held her gun in its holster.

Olivia was just about to pull her gun from its holster when a pair of muscular arms grabbed her from behind and hauled her into the next room.

"Elliot, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Olivia said angrily, as she struggled to get out of his grip.

"What am I doing?" Elliot said, with a bitter laugh. "The fuck you think you're doing, Liv?"

"I was just going to talk to Samuel Childs," Olivia replied. "Now let go of me."

"He's not here," Elliot said, as he released her.

"What?"

"Samuel Childs isn't among the kidnappers we captured today," Elliot said with a grim shake of his head. "Why were you un-holstering your gun?"

Olivia let out a deep exhale. With Samuel Childs' absence, the blood-crazed fury that she felt towards him had now subsided within her, and Olivia actually felt a little awkward at having flown off the handle like that. All she could say was: "He hit her, Elliot. The bastard hit Lilly."

"I know he did," Elliot said. "And I want that scumbag just as much as you do. But we'll get him, Liv. It's just a matter of time, now. He's running out of places to hide."

Olivia glanced over and saw the paramedics carrying Lilly down the stairs in the stretcher, aided by several SWAT team members.

"They're taking Lilly to the hospital," Elliot said. "Go with her, Olivia. She needs a friendly face with her right now."

Olivia started to walk over to Lilly when she stopped, glanced back at Elliot, and said, "Hey…thanks."

He nodded. "I'll talk to you later."

"Liv!" Lilly cried out from her stretcher.

"I'm coming, honey!" Olivia called, as she caught up with the paramedics. She walked alongside Lilly, and added, "I'm coming with you to the hospital, ok? I'll be with you all the way."

"Sorry, you can't ride along," one of the paramedics told Olivia. "There won't be enough room for you in the ambulance."

"That's too damn bad," Olivia told him, in a dangerous tone of voice. She glanced at the ambulance, which was parked right outside; the damned thing was practically a house on wheels with room enough in back for more than a half dozen people. "Because I'm coming with her, whether you like it or not!"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," the paramedic muttered, red-faced. Olivia didn't know if he was embarrassed or angry at having to back down. And she didn't really care.

Lilly's stretcher was placed on board the ambulance, and Olivia sat down on the bench across from her. Lilly reached out and grabbed Olivia's hand, holding it tightly in her own.

"As soon as we find out what hospital we're going to, I'll call your mom," Olivia promised the girl.

They rode on to the hospital for the new few minutes holding each other's hand, both completely content, as they listened to the wailing of the ambulance's siren.

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"This is in regard to the Lilly Beauchamp kidnapping?" Judge Turhune asked, as he looked up from the paperwork that had been spread out on his desk.

"Yes, sir, it is," Casey replied. "Claire Stephenson swore to two of my detectives that she never met Charles Beauchamp. However, as you can see there, Ms. Stephenson took a class that Mr. Beauchamp taught, using an alias."

"So she did meet Beauchamp after all," Turhune said.

"Yes, Your Honor. We caught her in a lie--which, we believe, merits further investigation of Claire Stephenson's background and finances."

Casey was on pins and needles as she watched Turhune examine with a critical eye the paperwork that she had presented him. 'Did I get everything right?' she nervously wondered. 'I didn't miss anything, did I? Oh, please, please, please…just sign the damn warrants!'

"Very well, Ms. Novak," Turhune finally said, as he signed the papers. "A little girl's life is at stake here, and if these warrants can help you find her faster, then I'm all for it."

'Oh, thank Christ!' Casey thought, as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"It's nothing," he said with a wave of his hand. "Good luck in finding that little girl."

"This'll be a big help, Judge," Casey replied, as she collected the papers from his desk and put them into her briefcase. "Thanks again!"

Before she left his office, Turhune called, "Oh, Casey! One more thing."

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"I just wanted to say how sorry I am about the situation with Ms. Borgia," Turhune said. "My prayers are with her, her family, and with all of you in the D.A.'s office for her safe return."

That hit Casey like a sledgehammer. "Thank you, sir," she replied, deeply touched. "I appreciate it."

The fact of the matter was she had been so wrapped up in getting the warrants for the Beauchamp case that Casey didn't have much time to give any thought to poor Alex Borgia. In a way she was grateful to be keeping so busy, or else she would have gone nuts just thinking about what Alex might be going through right now. As it was, it took everything Casey had just to keep from worrying about poor Lilly twenty four-seven.

As she descended the steps outside the courthouse, Casey paused to pull out her cell phone, which had begun ringing. Her eyes grew wide when she saw on the screen that it was Elliot who was calling her.

She answered the call. "Yeah, El, what's up?"

"We got her," he said simply. "We just raided the kidnappers' house, and we got Lilly. She's safe; Liv's riding with her to the hospital right now. Casey? Case, you there?"

But Casey was too busy at that moment to respond right away. She stood on the courthouse steps pumping her fist in the air and shouting "YES!" at the top of her lungs. Casey's joyful actions caused those around her on the steps to give this obviously insane woman a wide berth as they exited and entered the courthouse.

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Olivia paced back and forth in the waiting room until her legs got too tired, so she sat down in one of the plush chairs. But then she began to fidget anxiously, until her nervous energy caused her to get back up again and pace around the empty waiting room once more. She had been with Lilly all the while since they first arrived at the hospital. But now they were taking her to get some scans done of her head, and the doctor had asked Olivia to wait outside like an expectant parent. She was so busy pacing around the waiting room that she barely noticed the doctor standing there until he cleared his throat.

"How is she?" Olivia asked, as she ran to over him.

"She's fine," the doctor assured her. "She doesn't have a concussion, like we'd originally feared. We'd still like to keep her here overnight, just to be on the safe side. We're putting her in a room right now. Once she's settled in, we let you know where she is."

Olivia let out a sigh of relief. "That's great news."

"She's a tough little kid," the doctor said with genuine admiration.

"Oh, God, you've no idea," Olivia told him. "The things that poor girl's been through would have been enough to break any adult--myself included--but she's come through it all with flying colors."

The doctor gazed at Olivia with the same level of appreciation. "If I'm out of bounds, just say so, but I get the feeling that Lilly means more to you than just another case, Detective Benson."

Olivia felt her cheeks blush. "Uh, yeah," she admitted, with a slight smile. "Lilly and I have become very close. It's not very professional of me, but--"

"On the contrary, you're a credit to the police department," the doctor said, as he left the waiting room. "Just stay here; somebody will be by to let you know where Lilly's room is."

Just as Olivia was still reeling from the doctor's kind remark, she was further stunned when an old woman abruptly came up and hugged her tightly. The elderly woman was at least a foot shorter than Olivia, who could only see the top of her silver-haired head when she glanced down with a shocked look.

"Bless you, bless you," the old woman muttered, over and over, like a chant, as she continued to tightly hug Olivia. "Bless you...bless you...bless you."

"Um, excuse me," Olivia said, with as much dignity as she could muster with this woman's arms wrapped around her body. "Uh, ma'am? Ma'am, excuse me? Do I know you?"

Linda Beauchamp came around the corner with her parents and her police escort. "Grandma!" she called to the old woman. "There you are!"

"Come on, Ma," Linda's mother said, as she and Linda's father gently pulled the old woman away, "let Detective Benson catch her breath!"

'That's Lilly's great-grandmother!' Olivia realized with awe. She'd heard Lilly and Linda speak lovingly of her, and how although she was well into her nineties, she still had the vitality of a young woman. Even though she was now being dragged away from Olivia, she kept saying, "Bless you, dear! Bless you!"

Linda came over to Olivia and they hugged briefly. "How's Lilly? Is she all right?"

Olivia filled them in on what the doctor had told her. "They're keeping her overnight, but that's just a precaution. I'm just waiting to hear what room they've got her in."

Now it was Linda's mother's turn to give Olivia a hug. "Thank you so much, Detective Benson!"

"We appreciate all that you've done for us," Linda's father added.

"Yes," Linda's grandmother chimed in. "Bless you! Bless you!"

Olivia shook her head. "Thank you. But it was really Lilly who saved herself. She called 911, which enabled us to trace the call and find her. She's such a brave little girl."

A nurse entered the waiting room and told them where Lilly's room was. It was in another wing on the same floor. When Olivia walked into the room, she found Lilly sitting up in bed with her head bandaged. She was clad in a hospital gown, her legs covered with the bed sheet, and happily eating a bowl of Jell-O that had been set on a table before her along with a carton of fruit juice.

Linda let out a shriek of joy upon seeing her daughter alive and well once again. Lilly quickly forgot the Jell-O as she gave her mother a hug, and then hugged her grandparents and great-grandmother.

Olivia, standing by the doorway, held back from joining in the reunion. This was a special occasion for Lilly, and she deserved to celebrate it with just her family.

A hand gently touched her shoulder, and Olivia was pleased to see Elliot standing in the doorway. He gestured for her to join him in the hallway. Once they were well outside of earshot of everyone in the room, Elliot asked, "How is she?"

"It looks very good," Olivia replied. "There's no sign of a concussion, or anything other major problem. There's also no sexual abuse, thank God."

Elliot nodded. "That's great. I've got some news for you. We did a search of the immediate neighborhood, but couldn't find Samuel Childs. So we've got roadblocks set up all over--the county and state police are working with us to cordon off the entire area within a fifty mile radius. If Childs tries to jump on the Interstate, or any other highway, we'll know about it."

"That's assuming he's not already out of the country by now," Olivia said grimly.

"I doubt it," Elliot said. "We caught them with their pants down, Liv. Childs was probably out running an errand when we hit the place. He may still be in the area, trying to lay low. But that's going to be hard for him to do, now that every cop out there has his picture."

Olivia's stomach growled loudly just then, reminding her that she'd not had anything to eat since she woke up several hours ago.

Elliot smiled at her. "I take it you haven't eaten in a while?"

"Yeah, that would be a good guess," she sardonically replied. Olivia's eyes went wide when she reached down for her money--only to realize that, in her haste to leave her apartment earlier today, she had completely forgotten it. "And I don't have any way to pay for it! Damn! Hey, you think you could lend me some cash for the cafeteria?"

"Fuck that," Elliot said with a wave of his hand. "There's an IHOP right up the street. C'mon, I'll buy you breakfast."

Olivia's stomach rumbled loudly in response; apparently it really liked that idea. "Thanks," she said. "Let's tell Linda where we'll be."

When they went back in Lilly's room to inform them that they were going out to eat, Olivia was treated to a humorous moment when she introduced Elliot to Linda's grandmother. Elliot had a startled look on his face as the old woman embraced him tightly and said, "Bless you, bless you!"

Once again, it took Linda's parents to pull the old woman off of Elliot. When he was finally free, and they were on their way down the hallway, Olivia said, "Looks like you've got a new friend, El."

"That old lady's got a killer grip," Elliot commented with a smile. "They could use her in the lock up at the one six. She could wrestle surly perps to the floor with no problem!"

Olivia couldn't help but be in a good mood as she and Elliot drove over to the International House Of Pancakes restaurant. The fact that Samuel Childs had escaped them still stuck in her craw. But the important thing to focus on was that fact that Lilly was finally safe and sound. Childs may still be on the loose, but he was now a desperate fugitive on the run who no longer had a hostage to hide behind. 'The walls are closing in on him,' Olivia realized as she and Elliot got out of the car in the IHOP parking lot. 'And I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now!'

Once they entered the restaurant, Olivia and Elliot were greeted with a long line of people who were waiting to be seated. "Well, we've got no place else to be right now," Olivia said to Elliot with a shrug, as they took their place as the last two in line.

Elliot flashed her a broad grin. "I've just got to say, Liv, that that shirt you've got on is really appropriate for the events of this day."

Olivia glanced down and saw that she still wore the t-shirt with "GOAL!" written across the chest. She rolled her eyes in mock disgust and was about to respond with a snippy remark, when something caught her attention.

It was the sound of a man's voice. There were a bank of pay phones off to the side of where they stood waiting for a table, and Olivia heard a man deep in conversation on one of the phones.

"I need to know now," he said with some urgency. "No, I need to know right now! Look, I'm in deep shit here…."

Olivia's eyes grew very wide as she felt her heart begin to pound, and the adrenaline flowed through her body, preparing her for battle. It wasn't what the man said that alarmed her. It was his voice; she recognized it. The day before, in the schoolyard, when Olivia was fighting desperately to keep Lilly from being kidnapped, she had raised her gun and yelled "Freeze!"

Then a ski mask-clad man raised an Uzi in response and replied, "Freeze this, bitch!"

Olivia would never forget that bastard's voice for as long as she lived, and she heard it once more right now. It was the exact same voice speaking on the phone right behind her.

Elliot, sensing something was wrong, gently grabbed her arm. "What is it?" he whispered.

"This guy on the phone behind us," she whispered into his ear, "he sounds exactly like the scumbag who shot at me in the schoolyard yesterday."

Elliot glanced over her shoulder at the man. "You sure?"

"Positive," she said firmly. "I'd stake my life on this, El."

"Oh, yeah?" the man said behind her on the phone. "Yeah, well, fuck you. Fuck you very much!"

When she heard him hang up the phone, Olivia glanced over her shoulder--and when she did, she received a further shock.

Olivia found herself staring right into the face of Samuel Childs.

To be continued...