A/N- Sorry for the wait, school has been keeping me pretty busy lately...and thanks for all of the reviews!
"Is she dead?" Elliot panted.
"No, but we need a bus now." He nodded, pulling out his cell phone.
"She just jumped right out in front of me, I swear!" The driver said, coming over. "Oh man, I am so sorry..."
"I know." Olivia said, as she took Cadence's hand.
"Bus is on it's way." Suddenly she began to convulse.
"Shit!" Olivia exclaimed, trying to hold her down. A woman came and knelt next to her.
"I'm a doctor, I can help. Turn her on her side, she could very easily choke." Olivia rolled her onto her side. The sound of sirens was getting closer. "I'll hold her head."
"Hold on, Cadence." Olivia said. "They're almost here, just hold on." An ambulence pulled up, and two EMTs came out with a stretcher.
"She's having a seizure!" The doctor said. "Get her some adavan." One EMT rummaged through the bag for a syringe.
"Did she hit her head?" The other one asked.
"I think so." Olivia said. The syringe was inserted into her arm, which was being held still by the doctor, and in a few seconds the shakes stopped. Cautiously, Olivia let go, afraid that any second it would start again. The EMTs pushed Olivia away as they began to work on Cadence. Elliot helped her up. "How could they do something like this?"
"I don't know, Liv. It's just one of those sick things that happens. But now she'll be safe. There's probably enough physical evidence to prove that they're hitting her, and to get her out of there for good."
"I sure hope so."
Two hours later, Olivia was sitting in the waiting room at Bellevue. Elliot had gone off in search of something to eat. There was still no word on Cadence's condition, but the doctors said it was most likely that she suffered a skull fracture, among other injuries. Every time she pictured her scared face, her fists balled up in rage.
"Here." She looked up. Elliot was holding a bag of chips, and a can of Sprite. "You need to eat something." She took them from him,and placed them on the table in front of them. "Olivia..." He said in a warning tone.
"I'm not hungry, Elliot." He sighed. She could get like this when she was too wrapped up in a case.
"Detective Benson?" Someone asked. She looked up. "I'm Dr.Petersen, I'm in charge of Cadence."
"How is she?"
"She has a skull fracture, and broke her wrist. The rest are just cuts and bruises. But when we did the x-rays, we found previous breaks in both of her wrists, arms, legs...Even a rib fracture. Did you guys find anything that suggested abuse?"
"It was a theory, before we came. She came to talk to us, and her wrist was swollen, and she wouldn't let us see it." Elliot said.
"Can we see her yet?" Olivia asked.
"For a few minutes. She's pretty shaken up, so try not to agitate her."
"We won't."
"Right this way." They followed her through the maze of stretchers and machinery until they got to Cadence.
"Hey Cadence," Olivia said, going over to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Shitty." She stared away from Olivia, at a blank spot on the wall. Elliot's cell phone rang. He ran outside to answer it. "Did you find my sister?"
"Not yet, but we'll get something soon. I have a feeling that that call Elliot just got has something to do with her."
"I hope so." A silent tear rolled down her face. Olivia simply stroked her hand to reassure her. Elliot came back in.
"We've got a lead. A woman said that she saw a silver Chrysler pull up at a building across her street. Two girls were inside."
"Cadence, we have to go, sweetie. I'll be back later, I promise."
"Please find her!" She pleaded.
"I will." She squeezed Cadence's hand one more time before leaving
Fin knocked on the first door they saw. An old man wearing a robe answered.
"Yeah?" He and Munch flashed their badges. "Hey, I didn't do nothing!"
"Relax, we're just here to ask you some questions. I'm Detective Tutuola and this is Detective Munch. We're from the special victims unit. Do you know this man?" He pulled out the sketch that had been made the day before.
"Never seen him before. Why?"
"He's the main suspect in the kidnapping of these two girls." Munch showed him the pictures of Tonya and Michelle. "Are you sure you don't know him?"
"Like I said, never seen him before. Or those kids."
"Thank you for your time." Munch said. He closed the door with a bang. "One down, 23 to go."
"We can't get a warrant on a hunch that those two girls are there. We don't even know if that was his car! Do you know how many silver Chryslers there are in Manhattan?" Casey said.
"If they're in there, and we don't do something, he's gonna hurt them! Come on Casey!" Olivia practically screamed. Elliot gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.
"Get me some evidence first, Olivia. I don't want to see them get hurt either, but the law is the law."
"Casey's right, Liv. We could just be on a wild goose chase. Let's just wait for Munch and Fin to get back." Olivia sighed. Those were not words she wanted to hear. Her cellphone rang.
"Benson."
"Liv, it's Fin. The lead was a fake. Me and Munch interviewed the whole building. No one has a silver Chrysler, or knows anyone with one. There aren't even any children in the building."
"Who called it in?"
"No idea."
"Thanks." She hung up, biting her lip. "The lead was a fake." Neither Casey nor Elliot said anything, fearing that she would see it as them rubbing it in. "What am I going to tell Cadence?"
"The truth." Casey said. "She might not like it, but she sure won't like it if you lie to her either." Olivia nodded, trying to think of the right words to say.
The floor was as cold as a block of ice. The only thing separating Tonya from it was a sheet of newspaper. She was scared, and alone. Michelle was in a different room because she "wasn't part of the original plan" as the man had put it. All she wanted right now was Cadence. She looked up at the high window, wondering if there was any way out. She may have only been nine years old, and scared out of her wits, but it didn't stop her from believing that she could get out. The door opened.
"Here's your lunch." the man threw a bag of potato chips at her. "Eat up, it might be the last time you do." He laughed creepily, closing the door behind him. Her hands shook. Frantically she looked around, for something to give her a boost up towards the window. There were a few boxes, but were they enough? She got up and dragged a few towards the window and climbed on them. Not enough. She jumped down, feeling defeated.
"Dammit" She whispered. Her mother's favorite word aside from stupid, bitch, moron, loser, pathetic...She sniffled, wondering what her mother was doing to Cadence right now. She climbed up onto the boxes again. Maybe if I jump, I'll reach it, she thought. She jumped, and managed to grab the sill. There wasn't too much for her to grab. She let go with one hand, trying to feel how it opened with another. She soon discovered that it was sealed shut. She would have to break it. She grabbed the sill with her other hand, and and slowly let herself back down on the boxes. Now to find something to break it with...
Olivia was back at her desk after her visit with Cadence. Even after all of her years at SVU, for some reason, this case broke her heart more than anything.
"Liv...Coffee." Elliot said, handing her a cup of Starbucks coffee. She took a sip, and placed it on her desk, wrapping her hands around it. "Want to talk about it?" She shook her head, but started to speak anyway.
"I've never felt this way about a case. I mean, I've gotten pretty into it before but...I dunno...Reminds me of me, kinda." She tried to smile, but her teary eyes showed her true emotions.
"Cadence, you mean?" She nodded again. He rubbed her back. "We have enough evidence to take her out of there. I'm sure she has family she can stay with." Olivia nodded tearfully. "Come here." He enveloped her in a hug. "It's all going to be okay."
"But what about Tonya...I mean they're closer than anything, if she loses her..." She trailed off.
"We'll find her." Just then, Olivia's cell phone rang.
"Benson."
"Hello Olivia." A male voice said. "I have something for you."
"Who is this?"
"Don't you want to know what I have first?" There was some background noise.
"Cadence?" A scared girl's voice said. "Cadence, I wanna go home!"
"Tonya?" Elliot's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Where's Cadence?"
"I'm Detective Benson, I'm gonna get you out of there, I promise."
"I want Cadence!" There was some more background noise.
"You've spoken enough, give me the phone!" The man was back. "Just wanted to let you know that I have her and I'm gonna be generous and give you one week to find her and the other little brat." He hung up.
"Son of a bitch!" She yelled, throwing her phone across the room.
"What did he say?"
"We have one week to find them."