Finding Olivia
Chapter 3: Answers
Elliot reached out and took the papers from George's wildly flailing hands. He looked over the information once, twice, a third time. What he saw troubled him. He looked back up at George "Where did you get these?"
"I know someone," George answered, still talking at lightning speed and gesturing all about the room. He knew his explanation had been short but it would have to do. George knew that he was putting his own career on the line for this and he didn't want to drag Joe Lockwood down with him. He had promised Lockwood that he wouldn't mention his name to anyone.
Elliot shook his head at George's pithy explanation and pulled his coat on once again "Let's see if we can get some answers out of her this time."
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Olivia felt herself being forced against the wall of the first landing of the staircase. In her mind she was already thinking of how she would get to the gun once they were inside her apartment. It was a risky plan but it was the only one she had. Blowing her cover was now the furthest thing from her mind as Derek pressed her hard against the wall and turned her to face him. She glared at him as he kissed her again, running a hand through her hair as he attempted to part her lips with his tongue. She wanted him to stop, so she did the only thing she could do and bit his lower lip "Take that," she mumbled as the pain caused him to involuntarily take a step backwards which gave her an opportunity to escape.
Derek grabbed her again and threw her to the floor, pinning her there with his full weight "I don't think I can wait until we get to your apartment," he told her as his hands found the button of her jeans.
"Stop it," Olivia commanded in a shaky voice as she rolled from side to side, trying to get out from underneath him.
Derek chuckled as he moved her jeans past the curves of her hips. He was certainly going to enjoy this one. He liked it better when they fought back. Natalie had stopped fighting after a while which had driven him to seek other methods of release. Of course when he was done, he would always come back to Natalie and whether she fought or not, he would enjoy her.
Olivia only fought back harder, unaware of the fact that it only pleased Derek all the more that she was doing so. She had to get away from him. She put everything she had into a punch that landed somewhere near his ribs. The stairway was dark however and she couldn't be sure. The blow had little effect and Derek started to remove her panties.
"Persephone?" a voice from the top of the stairs called.
Derek stopped instantly and got off of Olivia, hauling her to her feet and holding her so that anyone looking from the top of the stairs wouldn't be able to tell that she was being forced to stand in that spot. His hands were around her waist but Olivia's hands were free and she quickly pulled her pants back up. She looked up the stairs to see who it was who had momentarily saved her. At first she saw no one "Yeah?" she answered, trying to hide the fear in her voice.
A man in his mid twenties came into view "Oh there you are," he smiled at seeing her. The look on his face grew more serious when he saw Derek and how the woman he knew as Persephone, looked incredibly uneasy "Is something wrong?" he asked as he walked down to the landing.
"Tell him anything and I'll snap his neck," Derek whispered into Olivia's ear before the other man had reached them. Derek was completely ready to do what he said but he also didn't want to commit murder if he didn't have to. If he could ensure this woman's silence, he could always come back for her later.
Olivia nodded, knowing that Derek would indeed kill her young neighbor and friend Fletcher Kline if he needed to. The younger man finally reached the place where the two other people stood and extended his hand to the visibly shaken woman in front of him. Olivia took his hand and allowed herself to be drawn away from Derek and to the stairs "Nothing's wrong Fletcher," she lied as she watched Derek the entire time "This is my boss Derek Moonshower. He was just walking me home."
Fletcher seemed to accept her explanation although he made sure to keep himself between her and Derek "Goodnight Mr. Moonshower," he said with an edge of distrust in his voice. Derek nodded and retreated down the stairs.
Olivia waited until she heard the door of the building open and close before she spoke "Thanks Fletch," she sighed, climbing the stairs, more than eager to get inside her apartment and lock the door. She was sleeping with her gun under her pillow that night.
"No problem," Fletcher said reassuringly as he followed her "So, that guy's your boss?"
Olivia nodded "Yeah, he owns the store where I work."
"I'd hate to be you," Fletcher said half to himself.
Olivia almost agreed with him out loud. She hated being Persephone, she hated her boss and she hated not being able to talk to Elliot whenever she wanted like she used to be able to do. What came out of her mouth however was "So what are you still doing up at this hour?" she was eternally grateful that he was awake but still she was curious as to why. She reached her apartment and turned the key in the door as she listened to Fletcher's answer.
"Well," he began a bit nervously "I came looking for you at around 10:00 and you weren't home so I figured you were still working and I decided to wait for you," he pointed to a patch of floor beside her apartment door "I guess I…" he trailed off and chuckled slightly in the way that one does when one is calling one's self an idiot in one's own mind "I must have dozed off," he admitted "When I woke up, I thought I heard what sounded like a struggle and you telling someone to 'Stop it,'. I guess I was wrong," he took a cautious step inside the apartment, aware that he hadn't been invited "Please tell me I was wrong."
Olivia looked at the skinny twenty four year old who looked like he was more comfortable around computers than people and in fact Olivia knew this to be true. He looked so concerned that it almost made her laugh and cry at the same time. She'd seen that expression on Elliot hundreds of times before. She wondered for a moment whether she should tell Fletcher the truth but she couldn't stand the thought of Derek hurting this innocent kid and he was really still a kid. Fletcher was so scrawny that Olivia found it hard not to wonder why Derek hadn't just continued what he was doing and ignored Fletcher completely. If Olivia hadn't been able to fight Derek off then there was no way that Fletcher stood a ghost of a chance. She turned to her pictureless walls, refusing to meet his gaze "I guess you were," she said softly. She reached for the door without turning around "Goodnight."
Fletcher had managed to move back into the hallway before his friend closed the door. He stared at the door for a long time, listening to the slight rustlings of her moving around in the safety of her own territory. He wanted to believe her but the way she had acted, the look on that Derek guy's face, something wasn't right. He was worried about her.
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"What the hell are you doing here?" Star opened the door of her apartment to see one very pissed off detective and one very frazzled looking psychiatrist/FBI agent.
Elliot attempted to push past Star "I'm here for the truth," he told her.
Star shoved him back out the door "Leave me alone," she spat at him "I don't remember inviting you in."
"Either you invite us in," George spoke evenly, having regained his professional demeanor on the drive over "Or we start a scene in your hallway."
Star looked at one man and then the other, sizing them up. After a few seconds, she stepped away from the door and in the most forced sounding polite voice she smiled and said "Won't you please come in."
"Thank you," Elliot mumbled unceremoniously.
"Now," said Star as she closed the door behind the two unwelcome visitors "What can I do for you so early in the morning?"
Elliot thrust the damning papers into Star's hands "Who's buying you off?" he asked without beating around the bush.
Star looked at the papers in her hands. She turned a ghostly color before regaining her composure "I have know idea what you're talking about," she ripped the papers in half and let them fall to the floor.
"Too bad for you that those were just copies," George told her "The police already have this information. You're days as a free woman are numbered."
"What do you want?" Star asked.
"Where, is, Olivia," Elliot's tone was low and dangerous. He was going to get an answer out of her this time.
"She infiltrated EDG," Star explained "I can't tell you anything more than that. If her identity is compromised then we'll never get the information we need to arrest the higher ups."
George stepped forward, withdrawing a newspaper clipping from his jacket pocket "You mean these higher ups?" he asked, showing Star the article. The headline read 'FBI Busts Eco Terrorist Group Wide Open' there was a full color picture of several men being led away in handcuffs.
"You got your higher ups three days after Olivia went undercover," Elliot said angrily "There isn't any mention of a woman in this article so I can only assume that she wasn't there. So where is she?"
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Olivia checked the deadbolt on her apartment door for the twelfth time before moving to check the locks on the two windows. When she was satisfied that they were secure, she returned to sit on her bed. She looked at her alarm clock; it was 3:30am. She considered calling Star. It was after all 6:30 in New York. She had to let Star know that her that she was in trouble. What she wouldn't give to have Elliot with her at that moment. She reached for the phone and dialed.
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"I have to get that," Star told the two men who were interrogating her when she heard the phone start to ring.
Elliot grabbed the cell phone from her hands and looked at the caller ID. Lucky for him, Star had programmed it so that the name Olivia Benson flashed across the screen "Its her," he whispered.
"Hey," Star protested "Give that back," she reached for the phone but Elliot kept it out of her grasp.
"Let's give them some privacy, shall we," George said as he pulled Star into her home office.
Elliot flipped the phone open and in an eager tone that was absolutely brimming with relief he spoke one simple word "Liv."
Olivia paused before speaking. She was certain that she had dialed Star's number. Still it was just so good to hear his voice that she didn't care "Elliot?" she asked timidly "Is that really you?"
"I think so," Elliot answered. Truthfully, things had moved so fast in the past few seconds that he couldn't be certain "Is it you?"
Olivia smiled softly "Yeah, it's me."
"Thank God," Elliot whispered. The relief washed over him but soon he remembered that it was far from over "Olivia, listen to me. Star lied to you."
"What?" Olivia asked confused.
"I'm not exactly sure but she got ten thousand dollars transferred to her bank account the day that I was in that explosion and another ten thousand the day that you left to go undercover."
Olivia tried to process the new information "I'm supposed to be infiltrating EDG," she told him.
"They arrested the higher ups in EDG four days ago Liv," Elliot explained "She's been playing us for suckers."
"Does this mean I can come home?" she asked hopefully. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to see Elliot again.
"I think so," Elliot answered even though he wasn't completely positive.
"Oh thank God," Olivia sighed "It'll be so good to get away from that…" she trailed off.
"Liv," Elliot caught the change in her attitude "Are you all right?"
Olivia's defenses had been completely worn away with all that she had found out in the last few minutes and she had no choice but to answer honestly "No," she whispered "This guy… my boss at the store where I work... he… tonight he… he tried to…"
"Oh, Liv," Elliot wished that he was beside her at that moment to wrap her in his arms. He wanted to find this boss of hers and kick his ass as well "Do you want me to come out there and get you?" he asked "I can help you pack."
"I don't have much I want to bring back with me," she told him. She would love it if he came to get her but she was a big girl and didn't need him to hold her hand or maybe she did.
"Liv, its no trouble," he wanted to go to her, to protect her from this guy. Who ever he was, if he had tried once, he probably wasn't gonna give up "I can be there tomorrow night. What's your address?"
She gave it to him and also managed to give him a rehashing of the night's events. Although she tried to sound tough on the outside, like she didn't need him, the truth was that she really was glad that he had offered.
"Okay," Elliot told her when she had finished "I'll be there as soon as I can… and Liv?" he was having a hard time containing the anger that he felt to this man who had tried to hurt her.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Please don't leave the apartment until I get there," he almost begged.
"Elliot," she began but she had to admit she almost agreed with him.
"Olivia," he countered "I want to know that you're safe. This guy sounds like trouble."
"Yeah," Olivia agreed "But if I don't show up for work tomorrow."
"Work," Elliot took a deep breath "Olivia that's where this guy is."
"I know but I'll make sure I'm never alone with him," she promised "If I don't show up, he'll get suspicious. Plus, I think he was drunk tonight," she wondered why she was making excuses for Derek.
"All right," Elliot reluctantly conceded "But don't stay any later than you need to. Get home while it's still light out and I should be there by then."
"I promise," Olivia smiled.
Elliot didn't want to hang up from Olivia but he had other things to worry about before he left for Oregon "I'll be there as fast as I possibly can," he promised her.
"I know," she reassured him "And thanks."
"I have to go," Elliot excused himself reluctantly.
"Okay," Olivia nodded "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Elliot flipped the phone closed before whispering "I love you."
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Olivia listened until she heard the click on the other end of the line before she whispered "I love you."
She stood up from the bed, opening the top drawer of her nightstand and pulling out her gun. She held it at the ready as she sat cross legged on her bed, her back to the wall and her gaze encompassing the door and both windows. She was on edge and had every right to be. Elliot would be there tomorrow but that didn't mean she was safe tonight. Hell, it didn't even mean that she was safe when he got there.
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Elliot turned to the door of the room that George had taken Star into. He hadn't heard any noise from there in some time, not that he had really been paying attention. He pushed the door open and let out an audible gasp.
George was lying unconscious on the floor and the window was open. Elliot ran to the window and looked down the fire escape. There was no sign of anyone. He turned back to see George picking himself off the floor.
"She caught me off guard," George said as way of apology.
Elliot dropped Star's phone on the nearby desk and whipped out his own "We'll get her," he whispered. This new development only made him more worried. How much of his conversation with Olivia had Star managed to hear before she'd left? For all Elliot knew, Star could be on her way to warn her anonymous benefactor. His hands shook as he informed Cragen of their problem. He knew now that he had to get to Olivia. He had no doubt that she was in even more danger than either of them had previously thought.
TBC