Ed Tucker had been up to his eyeballs in shit all week.
That's a lie. He'd been up to his eyeballs in shit since the day he caught his now ex-wife sleeping around on him over 20 years ago. She'd been his high school sweetheart. Told him they were going to get married and have a big family. They tried and tried for kids for what felt like years and he could never figure out why they weren't getting pregnant. They'd both had checkups and were given a clean bill of health. But she neglected to tell him she never went off birth control so she could continue to sleep around behind his back.
The ink wasn't even dry on the divorce papers when he marched himself over to 1PP and applied for a position with IAB. If he couldn't even trust his wife, how could he trust his fellow officers? In Ed's mind, he was doing the department a service, weeding out the bad cops so that nobody else would have to deal with an unfaithful, uncaring, ungrateful partner on or off the job.
He'd heard there was some kind of stir going on over at SVU. But when wasn't there a stir going on over there? And it was always the two of them Benson and Stabler. Never one without the other. He'd told them once where there's one dirty cop there's another, and he was convinced they both were.
In fact, he was certain Stabler was, and it was one of his greatest accomplishments to have finally chased the man from the department. Ed hadn't been around when Stabler's father was a cop, but after joining IAB, he heard the rumors. Joe Stabler got a Combat Cross for a sham operation where an innocent kid wound up dead and he let his partner shoot him in the leg to cover it up. The stupid bastard got the medal but lost his job and his pension for refusing to tell the truth and flip on his partner.
As he said, where there was one dirty cop there was always another. Especially if they shared the same DNA.
Benson, on the other hand, Ed felt a little sorry for her. She was so loyal to Stabler that it was almost painful. She stuck up for him at every turn, especially when he didn't deserve it. Of course, Ed heard that Stabler mortgaged his house to get Benson out of jail and secure Trevor Langen as her attorney that time he arrested her. He never really wanted to believe she did it but they had her blood. What was he supposed to think?
When you hear hoofbeats in Central Park, you're supposed to think horses, not Zebras. Of course, that was another incident Ed had to investigate, Benson, Stabler, and that deranged lab technician Dale Stuckey.
Christ, just thinking about those two gave him a headache.
At least whatever was going on over at SVU now wouldn't have to deal with the both of them. He'd had his hands full with that Nick Amaro recently. His explosive temper was almost as bad as Stabler's. What was it with Benson pulling in partners who spewed vitriol out into the world like hurricanes?
Ed preferred to engage in a smooth, icy sort of anger. When backed into a corner he didn't explode like Benson's partners. He didn't come out with fists flying and guns blazing. He calculated every move, sending every carefully worded dagger flying to outsmart and outwit his opponent.
That was one thing he'd always admired about Benson. She possessed those qualities too. Used them on him multiple times whenever they had an encounter. It'd do her some good to get away from the hotheads and cool down for a bit.
Ed was just about to open a file and start working on a new claim case when his phone rang. The screen flashed a blocked number and he almost didn't answer it, but his curiosity got the better of him.
"Tucker," he barked into the phone.
"Tucker," the voice on the line said. It was one he hadn't heard in a while. "It's Elliot Stabler."
"Stabler," Tucker said. "What the hell are you doing calling me?"
"Apparently nobody knows how to answer the damn phone anymore," Stabler said. "I called Fin, Cragen, hell, even Bryan Cassidy."
"And now you're calling me," Tucker said. "Why?"
"Has anybody at 1PP heard from Olivia today?" Stabler asked.
"How the hell should I know?" Tucker said. "I don't have to keep as close of tabs on her now that you're gone."
"Look Tucker, I know you hate me, and I know by the shit-eating grin on your face the day I put my papers in that you're ecstatic that I'm gone," Stabler said. "But I haven't heard from Olivia in 24 hours and I'm afraid something happened to her. On the job."
"You two finally sleeping together?" Tucker asked. It was crass, but he always had his suspicions. Everyone did. It was one of the hot topics at NYPD water coolers. Even some Jersey cops talked about them.
"No," Stabler said. "Not that it's any of your business anymore since I don't work for the NYPD."
"Can't you just go over to her place and check on her?" Ed asked.
"I'm in Rome working a private security job this week," Stabler said. "Look, it's just I promised her I'd text her while I'm away and she normally answers me back right away but it's been 24 hours and something just isn't sitting right with me. I tried to wait, tried to tell myself she was probably working a case or sleeping one off. But when I couldn't get a hold of anyone else I figured maybe you finally took down the entire unit and have them all stashed away in central booking on bogus charges or something."
Ed wanted to tell Stabler to screw off. Wanted to tell him to quit being such a worrywart. But truthfully, the fact that he couldn't get in touch with anyone on the SVU team made Tucker suspicious himself.
"Let me check the database, see if there were any calls with her shield number," Ed said, cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder while he made a few keystrokes.
He typed in Benson's badge number (knew it by heart at this point), but nothing popped.
"Doesn't look like anything," Ed said. "Seems like the last thing her team worked on was a flasher case. Nothing major. Maybe she just doesn't want to talk to you."
"Tucker, I know you don't like me," Stabler said. "But Olivia is a good cop and an even better person. Could you just… drop by the 1-6, and see if she's there? See if anyone's there and have one of them give me a call?"
Ed rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Fine," Ed said. "But only because I have to get another statement from her partner Amaro about the last stupid thing he did. He's almost as bad as you."
Stabler scoffed on the other end of the line.
"Thanks," he said before hanging up the phone.
Ed had no way of knowing that when he walked into the 1-6, everyone would be carrying on with their lives as normal.
"Cragen," Tucker called when he saw the Captain. "Is Benson in today?"
"No," Cragen said. "Sent her and Rollins home yesterday for a few days. Our last case was a rough one for both of them."
Ed felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Amaro, Tutola, either of you heard from Benson since then?" Ed asked.
Both men answered no.
That's when his stomach sank. How the hell could Stabler know something was wrong from halfway across the damn world?
"Do you think she could be home with the ringer off on her phone?" Tucker asked.
"You need her for something Lieutenant?" Cragen asked.
Ed cleared his throat.
"Elliot Stabler called me about an hour ago," he said. "Said he tried to get in contact with all of you but he didn't have any luck."
"We've been out in the field most of the morning," Tutuola said. "With our partners out we're pulling double duty."
"He hasn't been able to reach Benson for 24 hours and he was concerned," Ed said.
"Maybe she just turned her phone off and is finally getting the rest I told her to get," Cragen said.
"Well, if any of you hear from her, call me," Ed said. "I'm going to swing by her apartment and check on her."
"You going soft on us in your old age, Tucker?" Tutuola asked from his chair, a lopsided grin on his face.
"Absolutely not," Ed said, heading for the elevator.
What Ed nor Elliot knew was that across town, Olivia was tied to a chair. She'd already been beaten, burned, and force-fed drugs and alcohol.
And now William Lewis loomed over her, her gun in one hand and her cell phone in the other, playing a voicemail on speakerphone.
"Hey Liv," the message said. "It's El. I'm just checking in again. Maybe your phone died or the ringer's off. Just wanted to let you know I'm staying safe. Had some real authentic Italian pasta last night. You'd love it. Beau whatever the hell his face is has an autograph signing in an hour so I'll try you again when that's over. Who knows when that'll be. Talk to you soon."
When the message was over, Lewis tossed Olivia's phone to the ground and crushed it under his heel.
"Oh, so he's going to be the name you scream out at the end," Lewis said, getting in her face. "Who is he? Boyfriend? Nah, maybe he's your secret lusty crush. What a shame he'll never ever know it. Because you and I, we've got big plans, don't we sweetheart?"
Olivia was barely conscious and Lewis yanked down the neck of her shirt and pressed the white-hot cigarette butt to her breast. She tried not to, but a scream ripped from her throat behind the duct tape.
"Scream all you want sweetheart," Lewis said. "Your boy toy is halfway around the world and nobody else suspects a thing. It's just you and me, all alone, and we're going to have some fun.