A/N- thanks for all of the reviews! You rock!

SEPTEMBER 15TH 2005

APARTMENT OF JENNY AND MICHAEL SMITH

200E 16TH STREET, 3RD AVENUE

10:16 AM

Elliot knocked on the door to Cadence's apartment. No response. "Mr and Mrs.Smith? It's detectives Benson and Stabler. We're working on Tonya's case, can we please talk to you?" He said. There was a thump, followed by the sound of a door closing. Then he heard the front door being unlocked, and unchained.

"Sorry about that, I knocked over a couple of books." That explained the thump. "Please, come in. Michael's at work."

"Thank you." Elliot entered the apartment followed by Olivia. They followed Mrs.Smith into the living room.

"Please, sit down." They sat on the couch. Mrs. Smith sat in a chair facing them. "Did you find anything new about Tonya?"

"No, not yet. We're still waiting for a list of missing offenders from the shelter." Olivia said. "Do you or your husband have any enemies, or anyone who would want to hurt you or your daughters?"

"No, not that we know of. Well, Michael and his brother don't always get along, but he would never dream of hurting Tonya. Or Cadence." Elliot scanned the living room. On a table there was one picture of a much younger Cadence, holding baby Tonya while her mother watched. No more pictures of the children. No artwork, no crafts, nothing that a parent would proudly display, boasting about their childs talent. Something was off about this family. And Elliot did not like it one bit.

"What does your husband do for a living?" Elliot asked.

"He's a doctor at Bellevue. Psychiatrist actually. He works in the department with the criminals." Elliot and Olivia exchanged a look. "You don't think that it could have been one of his patients, do you?"

"There is a very big possibility." Olivia said

"Oh God..." Mrs.Smith buried her face in her arms and began sobbing. Olivia reached over and patted her arm.

"Mrs.Smith, we will find them." Elliot stood up to leave.

"Thank you for your time. I'm sure once we get that list, we'll get them back." Mrs.Smith stood up and walked with them to the door. She didn't speak another word as they left. Once they were in the elevator, Elliot spoke.

"There's something wrong about that family. No pictures, no crafts. No nothing."

"I noticed that." Olivia crossed her arms. "You think maybe they're abusing them?"

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but that's what my instincts are telling me." They got off of the elevator. "I mean, why wouldn't a parent display anything their children made for them?"

Back up in the apartment, Cadence lay on her bed, facing the wall. She had heard almost every word of the conversation. She gripped her wrist and winced. It hurt a lot. Probably broken again, she thought, wondering when her mother was going to be passed out so she could get some ice for it. Tylenol was out of the question. Those were counted. Someone would definitely notice if two were gone. She would have to make due with an ice pack. Suddenly the door opened.

"Get up." She stood up immediately. He mother walked around inspecting her room. Before the detectives had gotten there, her mother had been doing her daily inspection of her and Tonya's room, and had found a stray sock under Tonya's bed. Without warning, she had been slammed into the wall. That's why her wrist hurt so bad. "What's this?" She was holding up a necklace from her gradmother. It must have snapped when her mother grabbed her. It would explain the cut on the back of her neck. It had all happened so fast, she didn't know that it had happened at all, until it hurt.

"T-that's my necklace..." She said in a small voice. "It must have snapped."

"Is this the way you should be treating something that grandma spent her money on? Huh?" Cadence stood there, praying that she would go away. "Answer me, you little freak!" She pinned her up against the wall, one hand on her throat.

"No." it came out as a squeak. Her eyes filled up with tears. Please, just let her go away, she prayed.

"Then don't treat it like that. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good." She slammed her on the bed. Her mother may have been small, but she was much stronger than she looked. She curled into a ball, trying to keep herself from crying. Her mother just stood there staring at her. Then she threw the necklace at her and left.

Hours later, Cadence heard the sound of glass breaking. She must be passed out by now, she thought.She cautiously opened her door, and looked out. Drunk as a skunk. Her mother was passed out on the couch. Now she could get that ice. Her wrist was hurting worse than ever. She looked at it. It was swollen. As she pulled it out of the freezer, the phone rang. She picked it up on the second ring.

"Hello?" She said in a low voice.

"Mrs.Smith?" A voice came.

"No, this is Cadence."

"Cadence, it's Detective Benson. You're just the person I want to talk to. Can you come meet me in your lobby?" She looked at the passed out woman on the couch. Definitely out.

"Yeah. I'll be right down."

"See you soon." She hung up, and threw the ice pack back in the freezer. Her mother moaned. She froze, fearing that she would wake up and discover that she was leaving. She simply shifted a few inches. Cadence breathed a sigh of relief, as she went to get a sweatshirt and her shoes. On her way out of the apartment her mother moaned again. This time she simply ignored it as she went out the front door. While she was in the elevator, she pulled her hood up to hide the cut on her neck. Olivia didn't need to know about this. The door opened at the first floor.

"Hey Cadence." Olivia said as Cadence got off of the elevator. She was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the elevators. Elliot was sitting in the one next to her.

"Hey."

"Do you wanna go somewhere else to talk?" Elliot asked.

"No, here's fine." She sat in the chair across from them, looking at the floor.

"Sweetie, it's eighty degrees outside. Why are you wearing a sweatshirt?" Olivia asked.

"I'm cold." She lied, keeping her bad wrist covered by the sleeve. In fact she was pretty hot.

"You're sweating." Olivia said. "When you sweat, your body is trying to keep itself cool. You're not cold."

"Why does it matter? Aren't you supposed to be helping my sister?"

"We are, but we want to help you too." Olivia reached over to take hold of her hand. By accident she grabbed her bad wrist.

"Ow!" Cadence exclaimed, pulling away.

"What's wrong?" Elliot asked. Cadence stared at the floor.

"N-nothing.." She mumbled. Olivia gently pulled the sleeve back.

"That's not nothing." She said. "I think you broke it, sweetie."

"Whoa, how'd that happen?" Elliot asked.

"I...I fell. I didn't tell my mom because I didn't want her to worry."

"You need to see a doctor about this." Olivia said. She looked up, eyes frightened. The x-ray would reveal every previous fracture or break in her wrist. It happened all the time to those kids in the cop shows. If they found out that her mother was hitting her, the next hit would leave more than a bruise. It would leave a dead fifteen year old girl on the floor. "Come on, we'll take you over to Bellevue." Cadence shook her head. "Cadence, you need to come with us. No one will hurt you there, I promise. I'll stay with you, if you want." She stared at the ground, ideas running through her head. One stood out. Run, She thought, looking up. The door was open. As if a firecracker had gone off underneath her, she jumped up and ran, out the door and up the block to third avenue.

"Cadence!" Elliot yelled, running after her. Shit, the light was red. And he was gaining on her. she paused at the street corner, looking at the passing cars.In that moment she made the stupidest decision of her life. She ran across the street.

"Cadence, stop!" Olivia yelled. She ran into the street after her. As she got close, she narrowly missed getting slammed by a silver SUV. Cadence, however, wasn't as lucky. "Cadence!" She screamed, running to the fallen girl's side.

keep reviewing!