Infamous
Disclaimer: You know this part already.
Olivia felt like she wanted to throw up. Her hands shook so violently that she dropped the phone "Where ever he is," she whispered "He saw us."
Elliot picked up the phone from the floor, it was still on.
"Hello Elliot," White said almost instantly when Elliot held the phone to his ear.
"What do you want?" Elliot asked, he hadn't heard the answer that White had given Olivia.
"I already told your partner what I want from her," White sneered "As for what I want from you… I want you to watch her die."
"You won't get near her," Elliot whispered harshly, wrapping an arm protectively around Olivia.
"I'm already closer than you think," White told him. The line went dead.
Elliot found himself holding on to Olivia for dear life. He stroked her back as she continued to shake "I won't let him get near you," he told her softly.
"He knows you're here," she whispered "He knows. How does he know?"
"I'll call the Captain," Elliot said, pulling out his cell phone "He's got to be somewhere close by."
Olivia was silent for a long time as Elliot explained the situation to Cragen. She remained silent even after he had hung up and pulled her back into his tight embrace. They just lay in silence for some time. Suddenly the silence was broken by a piercing scream.
Olivia pulled away and looked at Elliot "The kids," she said before running for her bedroom. Elliot quickly followed.
Byron was sitting bolt upright in Olivia's bed. He was completely fine as Olivia noticed gratefully. Karen thrashed violently in her sleep, crying loudly.
Olivia rushed to the side of the little girl "Karen," she whispered, gently shaking the child awake.
"No!" Karen cried desperately.
"Shhhhhh, honey its okay," Olivia soothed as she pulled the still flailing child close to her "Its okay sweetie, its okay."
Karen slowly became aware of where she was. Her screams of terror turned to soft crying as she clung desperately to Olivia. Olivia stroked the little girl's back, continuing to reassure her that it was safe.
Elliot put a hand on Byron's shoulder "Let's go out into the living room, okay?" Byron nodded and the two left the bedroom.
Olivia gently lay the little girl back on the bed and crawled in next to her "Did you have a bad dream sweetie?" she asked.
Karen still clung to Olivia tightly. Tears streamed down her small, angelic face. She didn't say anything for a long time. Olivia just lay there holding the little girl in her arms, waiting for her to talk "mmhmm," Karen finally managed tearfully.
"What happened?" Olivia asked, quietly.
"The bad man came back," Karen said softly.
Olivia wondered what she meant. Was it a nightmare about her grandfather? "Your grandfather?" Olivia asked in a voice that spoke the compassion that she felt towards the child.
"No," Karen shook her head "The one from the woods."
Olivia's heart broke for the little girl as she felt her own fear rise up within her "What happened in your dream?" she asked.
"The bad man came back," Karen began "He hurt Elliot and then he hurt you."
Olivia felt her eyes mist over and a tear escape as the lump formed in her throat "The bad man won't come back," she told Karen "He won't hurt you."
"You're not listening," Karen said fearfully "He won't hurt me," she clutched Olivia and began to sob furiously "He'll hurt you."
"Nothing's gonna happen to me," Olivia told the child "I'm here and I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. Try and get some sleep, okay?" she made as if to leave.
Karen tightened her grip which considering how hard she had already been clinging to Olivia, was a remarkable feat "Stay with me?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"Sure," Olivia said, nestling into the covers next to the child.
Elliot knocked on the door frame "Can we come in?" he whispered.
Olivia looked at Karen who nodded "Yeah," Olivia said.
Byron came in and climbed into the bed on the opposite side of Karen from Olivia "Can Elliot stay too?" he asked.
"Why not," Olivia said "We'll have a slumber party."
"Are you sure?" Elliot asked Olivia.
"Yeah," she smiled at him "climb in."
Elliot climbed in on the other side of Byron and all four of them snuggled together. Olivia felt an overwhelmingly good feeling as they all lay together. In spite of the earlier phone call from White, she was able to relax and to fall back asleep.
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Olivia woke up a few hours later. She smiled when she saw the three peaceful sleeping faces beside her. She carefully got out of the bed and headed for the living room. She sat on the couch and thought about what her next move should be.
If White knew about Karen and Byron then the safest place for them to be was in foster care, somewhere far away from her. Her heart gave a painful twinge as she thought of having to say good bye to the two children. It was safer for them she decided.
She got up from the couch and went to the door to go get the morning paper. When she opened the door she saw something that chilled her two the core. Roses, two dozen red roses with a note attached. The roses weren't the worst part because she knew who they were from but lying next to the roses was a dead rat.
She ran back into the apartment and into her bedroom. She shook Elliot awake frantically.
"What is it Liv?" he asked groggily but when he opened his eyes and saw the look on her face and the flowers in her hand, he knew the answer "Where did you find those?" he asked, following her into the living room so that the children could continue to sleep in peace.
"I opened the door to get the paper," she began, trying to keep her shaking frame from toppling to the ground "I found these next to… next to a… dead rat."
Elliot pulled her as close as physically possible "We'll get through this," he told her as he dialed the captain again.
"He's in the building Elliot," she told him "I don't know how he got in."
Elliot hung up his phone "We'll get him," he told her "Cap says he'll have this place swarming with uniforms before we know it."
"Elliot," Olivia said, pulling away and looking him in the eye "Take the kids to ACS. Try and get them placed today. I don't want them to be around here when things heat up."
"I can't just leave you here," he said in protest.
"I'll stay in the apartment," she said and that was when Elliot knew that she was serious. Olivia would never make that type of promise usually, she made the promise to protect the kids.
"I'll take them," he said, knowing that it was a huge sacrifice she was making by saying that she wouldn't be the one to do it.
"Thank you," she said and turned and headed into the kitchen. Elliot headed into the bedroom to wake up Karen and Byron.
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"I can't believe this," Crawford said angrily as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car he had recently hotwired "You had to taunt her with those flowers Rich. We had the prime location and now its gonna be buzzing with cops 'cause of you."
"Trust me," White said from the back seat "I know what I'm doing."
"I don't trust either of you," Daniels said, pressing an ice pack to his swollen jaw.
"Calm down everyone," Sullivan was the voice of reason "Now what exactly is the plan here?"
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"I don't want to go," Karen said as she hugged Olivia good bye.
"I know honey," Olivia said as she hugged back "but you'll be safer."
Karen pulled away from Olivia and looked her in the eye "Because of the bad man?" she asked.
Olivia was momentarily thrown by how perceptive this little girl was "Yes," she answered.
"He's coming back," Karen said somberly "He's going to hurt you." She hugged Olivia again and then turned to join Elliot and Byron.
The three of them walked out the door and Olivia quickly locked it behind them. She crossed the room to her couch and sat down. Sighing heavily she caught a glimpse of the roses that she had discarded on the coffee table. She noticed the note and it was then that she remembered that she hadn't read it. She had been so preoccupied with making sure that the children were safe she had completely forgotten about it. She wondered whether or not she should read it as she felt her stomach churning. She reached for the slip of paper and reluctantly unfolded it. She began reading silently to herself.
Dear Olivia,
You will be mine whether you want to or not. I can't wait until that moment comes. Remember you wouldn't want anything to happen to those two beautiful children, would you? Of course you wouldn't. And what about your partner, have you told him that you love him yet because I know you do. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him either.
Waiting to screw you
Richard
Olivia ran to the bathroom and through up. She was almost glad that Elliot hadn't been there when she read the letter. It was true that she loved Elliot but how the hell did White even guess? She pushed that thought from her mind and returned to the more pressing issue. White had threatened Karen, Byron and Elliot. It was a good thing that they were well on their way to ACS by now and she didn't have to worry.
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"I wish we could stay with you," Byron said as he walked hand in hand with Elliot and his little sister to the ACS offices.
"I know buddy," Elliot said, trying to hide the regret in his tone "but it isn't safe right now."
Karen whispered something in Byron's ear. Byron turned to Elliot "Because the bad man might hurt us?"
Elliot nodded.
"When the bad man is gone," Karen began "can we come live with you and Olivia?"
"Um," Elliot began "Olivia and I don't live together, usually."
"Why not?" Karen asked.
"Because," Elliot began "people live together when they are married or dating and Olivia and I aren't either."
"But you love her," Karen stated "So why don't you ask her to live with you."
Elliot found himself thrown for a loop. He did love Olivia, he hadn't been able to explain it to himself until Karen had said it for him. As he thought about it, walking down the street with the two children, he realized that he had loved her for a long time and that his actions had been trying to speak the words that his mouth hadn't been able to express.
Elliot felt a sharp blow to the back of his head. He fell forward and started to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard before blacking out was Karen's screams. 'I couldn't protect them, sorry Liv,' he thought before he slipped into darkness.
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Olivia sat on her couch watching the clock. The cops had been and gone. They had searched the building from top to bottom. They had found signs that at least one person had been living in the basement for at least a day or two but who ever it was, was long gone. Olivia felt nauseas that White had managed to get so close to her but the window that he had used to gain access to the building had been fixed, insuring that no one else would be able to sneak into the building.
It was taking Elliot a long time to get back from ACS. Olivia had called his cell phone at least ten times in the last hour but it had just gone straight to voicemail. She assumed that he had turned it off to avoid multiple paranoid calls from her and this made her a little annoyed with him but she was getting worried.
The buzzer sounded, hoping that it was Elliot she got off the couch and headed toward the intercom "Yes," she said holding down the switch.
"Olivia," came a voice that she was very surprised to hear.
"Byron, is that you sweetie?" she asked in total shock. Had Elliot brought them back for some reason?
"Yeah," he said sounding really afraid "Please let us in."
Olivia buzzed him up and waited patiently for Elliot's explanation. She heard the knock on her door and opened it.
She was shocked when she saw no sign of Elliot. What she did see was Byron holding tightly to Karen's hand. Both children had tears streaming down their faces and both were shaking violently.
Olivia pulled them both into a tight embrace and brought them into the apartment with her, locking the door behind them. She went to the couch and pulled both children up on either side of her.
"What happened?" she asked. Something traumatic had obviously happened to the two children and where was Elliot? 'Oh God' she thought, had something happened to Elliot?
Karen was the first to speak "Bad men," she said as she buried her face in her hands.
Olivia's heart jumped into her throat "What bad men, sweetie?" she managed to choke out.
Byron silently handed her a folded slip of paper and she felt sick. Her hands shook violently as she tried to unfold it. She recognized the handwriting and tears began to form in her eyes. She could taste the bile in the back of her throat as she began to read.
Dear Olivia,
If you are reading this, it means that the little brats managed to make it back to your apartment. You should thank me that I didn't touch them. It wasn't easy, I really wanted to hit that little boy when he tried to stop me.
I have Elliot and I will kill him if you don't surrender yourself to me. I will call you with the details later but if I see any cop other than you, I will kill him.
Can't wait to have you at last
Richard
Olivia dropped the paper and wrapped her arms tighter around Byron and Karen. She knew what she would have to do.
TBC
A/N: How was this for a twist? Please review.
