--
Olivia didn't have to feign her anger when she entered the interrogation room to confront Janine. She recounted the kinds of charges Janine faced for using the stolen credit card, surely not the only one, either. Janine's tender reaction satisfied Olivia.
"I was just using a card somebody gave me. They said it was theirs, and that I could use it. I was buying the stuff for someone else."
"No, you knew what you were doing. But honestly, I really don't care about the credit card. I know you're connected with those missing college boys, and unless you tell me right now where and how to find them, a little credit card fraud is going to be the least of your problems."
Janine shrunk away from Olivia.
"I don't know what…"
"Save it. You were in that store when my partner and I were talking to the clerk, and you took his card and tricked him into going out that night, and now he's missing. The clerk has already identified you, and it's just a matter of time before we connect the phone call from you to my partner that night. Do you have any idea what the punishment is for kidnapping a cop?"
Olivia steeled herself for more denials, but Janine broke down more easily than Olivia expected.
"It wasn't me! I told them what I heard in the store, and they made me call him. They made me! Please, I know I'm in a lot of trouble, but I can't tell you anything else."
"Lady, this is what it comes down to: unless you like prison, you better tell us what you know about these missing men right now."
Janine glanced nervously at the mirror in front of her and then to Olivia.
"I don't know much. I've been running in these circles for a while, so I'd heard about them, but I didn't think this group actually existed until they contacted me recently. And even now, I'm just a procurer. I get stuff they want for them. I'm low level, okay? I just… I can't go to prison. But if I talk, they'll make me pay for it." Janine's face flushed and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Almost too easy.
"If you don't talk, you're going to jail for the stolen credit cards and conspiracy for my partner's disappearance, and you'll never see the light of day again."
"I don't want to be locked up."
Olivia resented being taken around in these conversational circles, and decided to end it.
"Then tell me what you know, or I walk out of this room and you're good as buried behind bars. Where are they?!"
Olivia's raised voice seemed to trigger something in Janine. She pulled herself together and glared back at Olivia with sudden, surprising defiance and a hard voice that didn't sound like the frightened young woman from a moment ago.
"I want full immunity for everything. I want it in writing, and I want it signed by the DA."
Olivia stalked the room, trying to get a handle on this girl. Doubts and inner-voice warnings echoed Casey's fears about making any such deals with this person, and these concerns pulled on her brain, but all those voices were drowned out by the screeching in her head that said she just needed to find Elliot. Now.
Within a couple of hours, Casey handed the signed immunity agreement to Olivia.
"I hope you know what you're doing," was all Olivia had time to listen to before she grabbed Munch, Fin and Cragen and stuck her head back in the interrogation room on the way out. Janine had written out directions and instructions for finding Elliot and the others while waiting for the immunity agreement to be delivered.
"Anything else you can think of we need to know before we go?" Olivia asked.
"Um, no. Oh, wait. There is one other thing; he is I."
"What the hell does that mean?" Fin asked over Olivia's shoulder.
Olivia grabbed his arm and dragged him onwards.
"I don't know- who cares- let's go."
--
There. Olivia pointed to a barely visible trip wire that Janine had warned her about. One by one, with guns drawn they slowly, silently stepped over the wire and continued down the dank corridor. The smell and filth oppressed them more the further they continued. Was this where Elliot had been all this time? Finally they reached the door, outside of which was a keypad. Out of place in this environment. Silently swearing to kill Janine if her code was wrong, Olivia tapped in the number. The mechanism rewarded her with a green light and, signaling to the others, she turned the door handle and cautiously stepped inside. This was not the holding room, she knew. Janine had been correct about this fact, too. The team entered the unremarkable room, making their way to the next door on the other side. This was the one. With everyone gathered close, Olivia quietly counted down, then abruptly shoved her way in with the yell, "Police!"
Their concerns with securing the room were almost instantly allayed. Standing over to the side, obviously surprised by his visitors, was a young man dressed in clothes as plain as himself. He held no weapon, nor was there any implement within lunging grasp of him that would have been any threat to the intruders. So it was not this man that made the team collectively gasp and squint against what they were seeing. It was the sight of nine men lined up against the opposite wall, each encased in his own box made out of soundproof glass on all sides except the underside. The boxes were suspended about a foot off the floor, and each one was not much larger than an oversized terrarium. Spotlights, one for each box, bore down directly over the men, all of them forced to crunch themselves into fetal positions. The shorter ones could straighten their necks somewhat; the taller ones could not.
Through the blood rushing into her ears, Olivia heard Fin mutter an obscenity then, within a few strides, grab the frumpy man standing, stunned, to the side of the room and roughly force his hands behind his back to be handcuffed while being told his rights. Olivia numbly continued her forward motion, and with increasing urgency began studying the men one by one. They looked odd, and it took a moment for her to realize that they were all hairless from the neck down. They all looked so similar to each other, and many of them had their faces turned away, towards the wall. The fourth one from the left was sobbing into his arms. They were all clenched in the uncomfortable positions except for the one just to the left of the crier; he slumped loosely against the wall.
"Which one is he?"
Cragen was talking to Olivia, but it took her a moment to respond.
"I don't know. Let me look."
She walked down the row, quickly studying one man, then the next, as she became aware of Munch and Fin pulling out the bolt cutters Janine told them they would need. They began working on cutting open the padlocks on the first box just as Olivia reached the ninth box. That's when she saw the alphabetical letters posted above the boxes; this one read, "I". She peered in more closely. His head was turned away and the angry blue and orange bruises on his side and back were new, but the tattoos on his arms were unmistakable.
"It's him!" She gestured to Fin, and with boltcutter in hand, he strode to where Olivia was standing.
Inside the box, the shouts and rustle of activity were inaudible. In the sideways reflection on the glass walls, Elliot could discern movement, but whether the motion was one of his keepers, or one of the hallucinations that continued to haunt him, the images were inconsequential to him. Turning to look might only invite unwanted attention. It was not until someone's palms smacked against the wall with silent but insistent thuds that, with great effort, he turned to look. What he saw was another trick of the mind, it had to be. So he faced the wall again, resting his head against his arms, which were draped over his knees, one of the only positions he and others could maintain in these boxes.
Olivia blinked. Elliot had looked right at her. Why wasn't he responding to her? She kept pounding at the thick glass wall until she heard the snap of the bolt cutter slicing through the padlock. She quickly forced the remains of the padlock onto the floor with a thunk, and splintered her fingernails clawing at the small gap between the top and side of the box that had appeared when the padlock fell away. Impulsively, she grabbed his arm. He instantly tensed and recoiled, and Olivia sunk. For the first time since this ordeal began, tears threatened.
"My God. What have they done to you?"
The voice was strange and familiar at one time. He craned around once again to look at this figure standing in front of him.
His eyes, usually a bright blue appeared inky and alien, dilated to the point of erasing the iris. He was afraid to say her name; what if he was just imagining again? Though it was hard to focus, he saw her chin crumple slightly, and he ventured to hope.
"Olivia?"
Gently, she helped him unfold himself from the confinement. Next to her, Cragen, Fin and Munch were doing the same for the other prisoners as they were given blankets to pull around themselves. Their backs, legs and arms were stiff and sore from the extended stay in the boxes, but one by one, they began stepping out and unsteadily supporting their own weight. Upon seeing Elliot, Munch pulled off his overcoat, offering it to him. It took both Munch and Olivia to pull Elliot's arms through the sleeves, then they watched him expectantly. Elliot looked down at his hands.
"I… they shot me up with something. My… I can't move my hands."
For the second time in as many minutes, Olivia had to force down her emotions so that Elliot wouldn't see the water trying to push into her eyes. She had to continue to be strong; she couldn't break down now. She would cry, but later.
"That's okay. Here, I got it."
She pulled the coat belt taut, and Olivia supported much of Elliot's weight as he slowly limped out of the dungeon, past the backup officers and paramedics rushing in, and past the male captor, now himself confined in cuffs.
--
Olivia's foot bounced with nervous energy as she sat outside the private room, watching Elliot's mouth move and then stop when it became Dr. Huang's turn to talk. She itched to know what was being said, but they spoke in hushed volume. Every once in a while, she could read lips and make out the words, "fine" and "better" coming from Elliot. Her frustration grew even more when a passing nurse noticed the partially open door and closed it the rest of the way. The hospital doctor had already examined Elliot, but Dr. Huang insisted that he talk to him before anyone else. Olivia had been pacing for a while when Dr. Huang opened the door and almost couldn't get all the way out of room for her pressing in.
"Well? How is he?"
"He's calm. He's resting. It's going to take time, Olivia."
Dr. Huang tried to move past her and make his way down the hall, but Olivia stopped him before he could take three steps.
"I need to talk to the others. They're in a lot worse shape than Elliot is." He said.
"I need to know." Finally Olivia felt the tears come. "Was he?" She couldn't bring herself to ask the question she had so professionally asked so many victims over the years, but Dr. Huang understood.
"He says no. Whether or not he's lying or in denial, it's hard for me to say. Usually, I can pick up on telltale signs, but Elliot knows as much as I do about how people react to being raped, so he may be covering. I will say this, I don't think that he is. The first six boys, definitely raped. No question. The others who were taken after them appear not. The kidnappers escalated the violence against their victims within the bounds of a certain chronology to heighten the horror of anticipation. So I think Elliot is telling the truth."
Upon seeing Olivia's obvious relief, Dr. Huang added, "But that doesn't mean he got out of this ordeal unscathed. I'm recommending a month of desk duty, and during that time I'll continue talking to him. After a month, I may lift my recommendation. We'll see."
"Can I go talk to him?"
"Yes, just keep it brief, and don't press him about details right now. Get what you need to move the investigation along and leave the rest of it alone for now. Don't get him upset. This is the first real rest he's had in a week."
I know the feeling, Olivia thought; she then immediately felt ashamed of herself. Whatever hell she'd been through over the past week was nothing compared to what Elliot had been through. A doctor Olivia had seen from down the hall intercepted Dr. Huang and started talking to him. Olivia took this opportunity to gracefully depart into Elliot's room.
Jamming the palms of her hands in her eyes to clear away any residue of crying, Olivia put on her smiley face and entered Elliot's private room.
He smiled back at her in a vacant, serene greeting. Happy to see her, filled to the brim with painkillers, and clearly sedated.
"My hero."
Olivia scuffed her step guiltily.
"Hardly."
She came around the far side of his bed and sat in one of the hard plastic chairs set out for visitors. Unsure of what to say, Olivia gestured Elliot's formerly hirsute chest, partly visible from under his covers and pajamas.
"So. What's that about?" she asked playfully.
Elliot reached up and ran his hand through the opening of loose-fitting shirt.
"Oh yeah, that. Well, it'll grow back. Could've been worse. I don't need to be losing any more of this." Elliot rubbed the top of his head, still covered in his short-cropped hair. "It did give me a new appreciation for what women go through. That wax was hot. It took a really long time, and it was… very painful." Elliot dropped his voice with the last few words, sensing a palpable downturn in what had been the light mood in the room.
Impulsively, Olivia took his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.
"I am so, so sorry I didn't find you sooner."
"You found me just in time. Nobody else could find those kids for months. You found us in a week."
"I got lucky."
"False modesty isn't attractive."
"No, I'm serious. I was so afraid we'd never find you, and it was my fault. I…"
Elliot tried to wave her self blame away, but Olivia continued.
"I should've had my phone on me that night where I could hear it. I should've checked it for messages before the next day. I was so selfish."
Elliot paused as though trying to recall something that happened years ago, and then said, "Hey, you went on a date, right? How'd that go?"
Olivia had to laugh at the mundane question, which was precisely the question he would have asked the week before.
"It was horrible."
"Of course it was."
They both chuckled until the moment passed and then Elliot held out his hands expectantly.
"So? I'm guessing you have some perps for me to identify?"
"Yes." Olivia reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a half a dozen photos. Four photos were of the men and women Janine had identified as the core of the conspiracy; the other two photos were of Janine and the man arrested on the scene, since identified as Fred Mauchly. Fred's picture was on top.
"Yep, I know this one all right. He almost kicked me to death." Elliot said this with a strange cheeriness that made Olivia uneasy. Elliot set the picture aside, satisfied.
The next picture made him frown.
"No, I don't know this one. Never saw him."
Elliot flipped to the next picture.
"Don't know her, either."
Elliot's frown deepened at the next photo, also unknown to him, and he flung the picture after that one across the sheets with irritation.
"Olivia, I don't know any of these people. What is this? Who did you get your intel from?"
Elliot looked at the last picture and nearly jumped off the mattress.
"That's her! She's the one. She called all the shots. I mean, it was just her and this other guy. I never saw anyone else."
Olivia didn't want to say anything. She would have preferred for the world to end rather than speak again, but she didn't have that option.
"Elliot, she's the one who told us where you were and how to get you out."
"Why would she do that?"
Olivia realized that he must be under heavy sedation, otherwise he wouldn't have to ask that question.
"Because we gave her full immunity. We had too! She said she was the only one- and now we know she wasn't lying about this- the only one who could tell us where you were and how to find you. She told me she was new to all this."
Olivia's attempt to keep Elliot calm in spite of this information proved unsuccessful. On the other side of the room, a young nurse came in for her rounds.
"You made that deal with this woman? Do you know what she did, Olivia? Kidnapping, rape, torture- a kid is dead because of her. And now she's going to walk? How could you do that?"
The nurse scribbled on her clipboard uncomfortably and inspected Elliot's IV before turning her back to the pair.
"Looks like it's time for another dose. The doctor doesn't want you getting all worked up." The nurse's audience did not appreciate her vaguely condescending tone. She turned from a rolling cart to face Elliot and Olivia again, this time with a syringe in hand, ready to inject through the IV.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Elliot demanded.
"Just a little something to help you relax, Mr. Stabler."
With one fluid motion, Elliot swung his arm around and managed to pull the IV out of his arm while knocking the syringe out of the nurse's hand, sending it tripping across the floor. The nurse gasped and rocked back on her heels before regaining her footing with a determined stance. Olivia was now on her feet as well, telling the nurse to back off, but her warning went unheard under the nurse's commanding voice.
"Mr. Stabler, if you don't calm down right now, we're going to have to restrain you."
This threat pushed Elliot over what little edge he had been holding on to, and he caught the nurse's arm in his adrenaline-fueled clutches.
"Nobody's controlling me with any needles, and nobody's tying me down. I'll kill you first."
"Elliot, stop it. Let her go!" Olivia joined in the human tug of war going on between Elliot and the nurse, trying to pry Elliot's fingers off the young woman's rapidly reddening arm.
"Don't touch him. Everyone take your hands off him!" Dr. Huang could be loud when he chose to be, and his sudden presence made everyone stop. Olivia backed away and the nurse removed her free hand from the struggle, but Elliot maintained his hold on the nurse. Dr. Huang stepped closer with respectful deliberation.
"Elliot, your arm is bleeding. Would it be okay if the nurse patched up that wound for you?"
Elliot finally loosened his grip and turned his attention from Dr. Huang to the nurse, confused, as though waking up from a dream.
"Oh. Yeah. Sure, that'd be fine."
The nurse regained her equilibrium and she mechanically went about the task of finding some gauze and tape. Elliot's confusion switched to embarrassment, and he was still apologizing to the nurse when Olivia left the room wordlessly. This investigation was not over yet- not until she found a way to put Janine behind bars for the rest of her life.
--
With fingers laced behind her head, Casey allowed Olivia to make her case; they had to be able to charge Janine for the things she had done. They could not allow her to hide behind the agreement granting her immunity from prosecution, and they could not, under any circumstances, allow that woman back on the streets. Casey enjoyed the moment and considered drawing it out, but she knew Olivia had been through enough strain lately and didn't need to be toyed with.
"You know, I get the feeling sometimes that even now, you guys don't think very much of me. Do you really think I would have signed off on that deal if I didn't have an ace in the hole?"
Casey was gloating, and this intrigued Olivia; it was a side of the prosecutor she had not really seen before.
"I suggest you read the immunity agreement carefully. I think you'll notice something very interesting."
Casey slid a file folder holding the mutually signed immunity agreement across her desk to Olivia. Olivia snapped up the paper and read hungrily.
"Oh, I see." She glanced up at Casey with the first genuine smile Olivia had known for a long time.
--
The next morning Casey greeted Janine and her attorney, arriving for a pre-arranged meeting during which Casey would obtain a full statement in preparation for the trial of Janine's accomplice, in case he went to trial. The immunity deal required Janine to describe the crimes that were committed, even if it meant implicating herself. As long as Janine held up her end of the deal, Casey would not prosecute her, no matter what horrors she had participated in or even personally inflicted.
Janine's attorney stumbled to a stop when they entered Casey's office. There was another person present when there shouldn't have been. The defense attorney recognized the extraneous presence and knew something was wrong.
"Excuse me, but what is this? What is he doing here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you would already know Mr. Harris." Casey directed the next sentence to Janine. "He's a Federal prosecutor."
Casey shut the door behind Janine and her attorney, and gestured for them to sit down.
"Since your statement is going to become a matter of public record anyway, I figured you wouldn't mind Mr. Harris sitting in."
"I really don't know much. I can tell you some of what went on, but I was still sort of an outsider in this group." Janine said.
"Yeah, you can drop that act. We know you and Mr. Mauchly were the only two people who actively conspired, kidnapped and tortured the victims. And that of the two of you, you were the dominant one."
Janine's demeanor drastically changed, and now she appeared almost flattered.
"Who told you that? Fred? He was the one in charge, not me."
Casey couldn't help but pause at this extraordinary statement; she almost wondered out loud if Janine could be insane, and then thought better of it.
"Are you really so consumed by your own pathetic megalomania that you haven't considered that there are eight human beings who can testify first hand about you and what you did?"
"So what? What difference does it make? I read that agreement top to bottom. Even if I didn't tell the whole story about the extent of my involvement, you still can't do anything to me as long as I continue to cooperate fully with you."
The defense attorney put a hand on his client's shoulder. He remained anxious about where this conversation was leading, and knew that his client would be well served to keep her words to a minimum now.
"Janine, I think you ought to be quiet for a min-"
"You be quiet." Janine straightened her jacket and continued, "Don't worry. I plan to testify in full to keep my deal in place. So I did it. I picked those boys like fruit from a vine and I ate them alive. And I especially can't wait to tell a courtroom full of people what I did to your boy."
"Fine. Then you can start now; after all, that's what you're here for. Here, I'll start you off with the last person you took- the official medical report on Elliot Stabler: concussion, dehydration, cracked ribs, cracked tibia, and multiple contusions, not to mention the drugs and their as yet unknown long-term effects. You want to pick up from the second to the last man you took? It only gets worse as we go back in time to the earlier abductions."
"Wait a minute. You never answered my question- why is he here? Is there some reason for a Federal prosecutor to get involved in this?" At her attorney's words, Janine became visibly concerned for the first time.
"No way. I didn't break any Federal laws."
Now it was Casey's turn to explain the facts of life to Janine.
"That's where you're wrong. Before I would agree to this kind of deal, I had a good talk with some of the other investigators in the state and then I had a talk with my friend, Mr. Harris here. On at least one other occasion, aside from your latest excursion, you transported some of your victims to some sort of party. We know you liked to use your victims sometimes as public entertainment. I'm willing to bet there were other incidents like that, too, and now that Fred is talking to us, it's just a matter of time before we find out about those."
"And?" Janine, still defiant.
"And, given the facts of your crimes, my friend the Federal prosecutor here, is willing to prosecute you under Federal kidnapping charges."
"All right, that's it." The defense attorney held up his hand. "My client isn't saying another word. You can't force her to incriminate herself."
"She doesn't have to say another word. But then, that would violate the immunity deal she agreed to, leaving the state free to prosecute her with impunity."
The defense attorney scanned his client's copy of the agreement.
"She didn't have an attorney to look this over for her. She didn't understand what she was signing."
"Your client had her rights read to her when she was picked up, and she waived her right to counsel; I have that that signature right here." Casey held up her paper for emphasis. "Also, she was the one who insisted on getting an immunity deal and she dictated the terms of that deal. She can't back out of it now just because it isn't turning out the way she wanted it to. See, I am starting to believe that she wanted to get caught first, on her own timetable, so that she could get the best shot at making the best deal. Well, that's what she got, so I really don't think a judge is going to look favorably on a connived set-up gone wrong. You spread those rumors about a mass conspiracy, didn't you? And that's why you took a cop, isn't it? You planned this exit strategy from the beginning."
"What's going on?" Janine directed the question at her attorney, but Casey answered.
"Kidnapping is a state crime, but only so long as the Federal government decides not to take over the case, which they can do at any time. Given the egregious circumstances, the Federal government has decided to make this matter their business. Their authority supersedes mine. Unfortunately, you made a deal with me, not with the Federal government; I have no authority to make any deals on their behalf, even if I had wanted to."
Janine started to say something but faltered, so Casey continued.
"Basically you have two choices at this point. One: you can choose to live up to the terms of the immunity agreement and give me your full statement. And by the way, if you try to lie about that, we'll find out and the immunity deal is void. Then, once you're done giving your statement to the state, you will be arrested on Federal kidnapping charges.
"Or, two: with respect to the Federal charges that would be brought against you once you describe your role in the kidnapping and torture of nine men, one of whom is now dead, you can choose to advance your Fifth Amendment rights. If you do so, however, your deal with the state is void, and instead of Mr. Harris having you arrested, I will. So, still eager to brag about what you did to 'my boy?'"
The defense attorney turned up his palms.
"What kind of new deal can we cut here? After all, my client did identify other participants in this conspiracy."
"Yes, and our detectives have talked to those people. It seems that, at best, they had only incidental contact with and/or knowledge of the existence of the boys, and there is no evidence so far that they had any actual knowledge that your client's victims were the missing college boys. If your client still wants to testify against them, that's fine, but then I guess that would mean she's taken option number one, in which case, Mr. Harris can start drawing up his indictment papers this afternoon."
Janine's attorney turned to the Federal prosecutor.
"What kind of deal are we looking for here?"
"I don't make deals with kidnappers. With us, she's looking, at the minimum, at three counts of kidnapping. Add in the aggravating circumstance of sexual exploitation, we pretty much have enough to put her away for life. And unless you can think of something I haven't, I don't see any reason not to do just that."
The defense attorney rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"You know, Janine, you're probably better off taking your chances with the Federal charges. There will be fewer of them, and we might be able to get the sentences to run concurrently."
"No! No way. I had a deal. I'm not supposed to go to jail. Whatever you want from me, testimony, evidence, I'll do it. Just, please, don't send me to prison." Her pleading was sincere now.
Casey advanced two forms towards Janine.
"You have two options. I'd appreciate it if you would go ahead and make your decision now. I have more important things to do today than sit in the same room with you."
--
Within a couple of days, Casey found herself leaning against a cabinet, relating the story of her encounter with Janine to an office full of interested detectives. Elliot was one of the few sitting down for the story, with his crutches propped against the Captain's desk.
"So what did she do then?" Olivia asked.
"She took her attorney's advice and chose the prize behind door number two. They'll probably plead her out to avoid a trial, but it'll be a lifetime before she's even up for parole."
"And when they do have that parole hearing, I'll be there to remind the board why she's behind bars." Elliot said, absently scratching his chest.
"I'm sure you won't be the only one."
Casey turned to leave the office when Olivia caught her.
"I really want to thank you. You were thinking when I wasn't, and you really saved a lot of people a lot of anguish. I just- thanks."
"You did your job, I did mine. And, you're welcome."