Disclaimer: "Law and Order: SVU" is the property of Dick Wolf
Promising not to disturb any potential evidence, the on-call trauma physician, Dr. Montgomery, took the syringe down to the medical lab to try and see what substance Elliot had been injected with. Olivia was only able to marginally relax when he told them that the fact that her partner was awake, aware, and breathing was a very good sign that it probably was not lethal and assured them that being hooked up to the monitors would alert the staff immediately of any problems.
A nurse started an IV of saline to flush his system and then left them alone. Olivia remained where she stood next to his side, looking him over anxiously.
"Stand down, soldier," he said groggily, trying to lighten the mood. "Pretty sure I'm alive. Feels like it, at least. "
He was hoping she would at least crack a smile. But she just continued looking at him like she was scared and thought he couldn't tell.
She swallowed. "You would be more convincing if you could actually lift up your head."
He exhaled and grimaced. "Yeah, sorry to disappoint you," he said. He had to abruptly take a minute when a blink became a power struggle to force his eyes back open. "I feel like I was hit by a brick."
Olivia tersely looked at the monitors again to reassure herself. Elliot cleared his throat and shifted, grunting when he inadvertently tugged the IV.
After a minute of awkward silence between them, he lobbed out the question they were both avoiding.
"So...what the hell just happened?" he asked incredulously.
She looked at him like she was affronted. "You tell me!" she replied. "There was a security alert, I came back to see what was going on, and then I found you in here unconscious on the floor. "
He looked perplexed. "Liv, I swear to God..." His voice became strained, like he didn't want to believe what he was saying. "I remember walking back here with a nurse and that's it. I have no idea what happened after that."
Just hearing the words from his own mouth made the reality of what had happened slam into him. The realization that he had been completely unaware of what was going on around him for an unknown amount of time creeped the hell out of him. She could see it on his face.
"Then there's this," she went on, pulling out the note that she had also placed in a plastic bag for evidence and holding it out to him. She raised her eyebrows as he took it.
She had left it unfolded so that it could be read without being touched. He looked at it, trying not to react visibly. He swallowed.
"It's nothing," he said, wishing he sounded more confident. "Someone is screwing with us."
He could only meet her eyes for a second. She was looking at him like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Screwing with us?" she said. "Someone just tried to kill you, Elliot."
Before she could say anything else, Captain Cragen came charging through the door like a bull elephant. Elliot and Olivia both looked over at him in surprise when he burst in without acknowledgment.
"What the hell is going on?" he demanded, coming right up to the end of the bed. He stared daggers at Elliot hard enough to make the detective squirm uncomfortably. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for days and now a friend from the 105 precinct calls to tell me he responded to a 'code grey' at Elmhurst Hospital involving you two!"
Elliot 's face burned as Cragen switched his hard stare to Olivia. "Start talking," he warned. "What happened?
Olivia glanced at Elliot. He was staring resolutely at the mattress, his jaw clenched. He didn't say anything.
Haltingly, she explained to their boss what had taken place. She knew he was justifiably upset about having been given the run around by Elliot while he was out of work the past two days. She also knew by the look on the captain's face once she finished that concern on behalf of his detective was all he would express.
The captain looked from Elliot to Olivia and back again.
"How long until the doctor can tell us what was in the syringe?" he asked.
"Two hours or so," Olivia replied . "Hopefully sooner. He said it depends on the capability of the lab equipment to recognize it. "
"And Elliot?" he hurried on. He stared hard at the detective again, eyebrows knitted with worry. "You're feeling ok?"
Elliot was about to go nuts with the way the both of them were looking at him. It was like they were expecting him to keel over at any minute.
"Think so," he said. He gestured at the monitors above him and attempted to break the tension. "Either of you been counting my heartbeats? I lost track."
Olivia shot him a dark glare. "Not funny."
The captain pursed his lips. "Let me see the note."
The detective handed it over to him with an almost abashed expression.
Captain Cragen's face hardened as he read it. He narrowed his eyes and looked back at the partners again. His voice took on the steely tone of a man used to controlling entire departments.
Deep down, though he'd sooner shoot himself than say it, it made Elliot feel more reassured than he had in days.
Olivia recognized the "take charge" voice of their captain immediately.
"Here's our next move," he said authoritatively. He looked at them seriously. "We're getting a list of names for every doctor, every nurse, every janitor in this hospital. Olivia-" He nodded toward her. "You check the ID of every person who tries to step foot in this room against that list. Anyone gives you any trouble about it, arrest them."
Elliot broke in incredulously. "On what grounds? You think IAB won't nail her in a flat second for illegally restraining a civilian?" His mouth ran a bit too fast for his common sense to catch up and he blurted, "Bad idea, Captain."
Olivia couldn't stop from gaping at him. Her eyes burned into his and he felt her chiding are you trying to get your ass in a sling, idiot? without having to hear it.
Still. He couldn't be silent as the captain told her to essentially risk her job on his account.
Captain Cragen leveled a stare at him. Knowing Elliot was only acting out of reflex to look out for his partner, and that he had God-knew-what currently in his system that was most likely relaxing his inhibitions out of his control, the captain chose to ignore the disrespect. This time.
"Interfering with a police investigation," he replied. He still couldn't keep the annoyance from his voice. "Hell, we could even claim obstructing a crime scene...technically you are the crime scene. Intimidating a witness. Want to pick one, Detective?"
Elliot still had his facilities together enough to nod contritely. He kept his mouth shut. He addressed Olivia again.
"I don't care what justification you use, quite frankly. Your job as of this moment is to keep any and all threats against Elliot out of this room and not let him out of your sight until told otherwise," he ordered. "If you have to use force to make sure that happens, I will personally take on IAB myself on your behalf, should it come to that."
Olivia readily agreed, as he'd known she would. He also knew that she didn't have to be "officially" told to stay with her partner right now, but wanted to give her peace of mind. No matter what job he gave her, Olivia would no doubt be too focused on keeping tabs on Elliot to focus on it. He'd figured that out about her almost instantly after he had first partnered them together. The protective streak that they both had with each other was something he never could quite understand and would often complicate issues if he didn't find a way to work with it. Usually, he could.
He pulled out his phone. "I'll get Munch and Fin down here to start questioning the staff, see if anyone might stick out in their mind as having done this."
"This is pointless," Elliot mumbled.
Olivia rolled her eyes. She knew he would balk at the idea of needing to be watched out for. "You'd rather wait to be drugged even worse? Smart idea."
He looked at her in exasperation. "It's pointless to consider that someone here had anything to do with any threat," he said. "Trust me. It's not coming from this hospital."
She gave him a quizzical look.
Cragen paused as he was about to dial. "How do you know that?" the captain asked.
Olivia watched her partner sigh uncomfortably. He looked like he was resigning himself to say something he knew wasn't going to be received very well.
He hated to tell them. He hated it. It went against every fiber of his being as a self-confident male to admit to anyone, let alone his partner and his boss, for God's sake, that something was going on that he couldn't stop himself.
But he knew then he had no choice. It was obvious that the line between harmless mind games and an actual attempt at malice was now being crossed.
He didn't like that thought.
He begrudgingly described the incident with the window at his apartment the night before along with the accompanying message. The horrified look that came over Olivia's face made him feel even more like a heel. She looked alarmingly at the captain.
"See, this is exactly why I didn't mention it," he said unhappily. "I knew it would make you get all hot and bothered and worry too much. I don't need anyone to hold my hand."
He mentally kicked himself. There he went with his stupid mouth again. She looked at him like he had betrayed her.
"Just like you don't need anyone to drive you the hospital or get your heat turned back on or make sure you don't go into a drug-induced coma, either, right?" she said angrily. "Good to know. I'll be sure to remember that next time someone tries to shoot your ass."
"Oh, please, " he snapped defensively. "That's not anywhere close to the same thing. I trust you as my partner. "
Cragan tried to step in. Elliot was uneasy, Olivia was emotional, and both of them were nervous. He could smell the fight spoiling in front of him.
"Guys-" he began.
Olivia spoke over him. The initial terror at finding Elliot the way she had made it easy to lash out. She almost welcomed it.
"But not as your friend, is that it?" she replied angrily. "You have no problem with me risking my life for you on the street but you won't bother to tell me when someone is making you so paranoid that you're jumping at shadows." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "That's too personal."
His head was swimming. Part of it, he knew, was attributed to the drug working through his system (he tried not to think too much about that). But also, Olivia had a way of making his head hurt. She was always trying to get him to talk to her when he wanted to ignore issues, but then when he did get honest with her, she took it the wrong way.
"It's not like that," he said, trying to keep from sounding as tired as he felt. "When have I ever said anything like that to you, Olivia? Never."
He wouldn't look at her. Something dawned on her just then.
"That's why you looked like you hadn't slept all night." It wasn't a question. She knew by the look that came over his face. "And why you haven't taken the pain medication like you're supposed to," she went on. "And fell asleep practically the second I said that I would stay this morning."
Captain Cragen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He looked at her uncomfortably.
"I wasn't going to take any chances and let my guard down," he finally said. "And I knew you would watch my back if you were there when I was asleep. "
That made her go silent. She realized he was admitting to her that he had wanted her there with him because he felt unsafe, even though he never would actually come out and say it.
Rather than keep pressing, Olivia squeezed his arm for a minute to let him know she understood. He met her gaze steadily for a few moments and then laid his head down tiredly. He really did feel like he had been through the wrong end of a blender.
"Ok," Cragen said after a minute of uncomfortable silence. He looked to be thinking. "I'd rather be safe than sorry. I still want to see if anyone here noticed anything out of the ordinary."
He nodded toward Elliot.
"While we are doing that, I want you to go over the events of the last few days with Olivia and think about if anything sticks out to you that might suggest someone following or watching you," he instructed. "Don't leave anything out, no matter how insignificant it might be."He paused. "When you're up to it, of course."
Surprised by the words, Olivia looked at her partner. He appeared to be struggling to remain alert. He noticed her worried gaze.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Check the monitors. I'm just tired."
She bit her lip. The captain looked at her sympathetically.
"We'll get to the bottom of this," he said. "Right now, you just get some rest. I'll keep you updated." He looked at Olivia. "I'll be back with that list. Keep your eyes open. No one gets in here."
"Over my dead body," she replied right away, as if it should have been obvious.
Elliot was still embarrassed as hell over the fuss they were making. But he didn't have the energy to engage them at the moment. He allowed his eyes to close, promising to open them in a minute.
Olivia watched as Elliot closed his eyes and didn't open them again. She didn't try to keep him awake. His breathing was deep and even as he went deeper into sleep but she knew if there was a problem, the monitors would alert. They didn't
The captain left the room. She followed, closing the door and taking up position right in front of it.
Over my dead body, she thought once more.
Munch and Fin arrived a half-hour after Cragen called and told them to come to the hospital. He didn't explain anything. They looked perplexed when they met Olivia and the captain outside the room Elliot was in.
Olivia motioned for them to talk quietly since she wasn't moving from in front of the door.
"What's going on, Captain?" Fin asked.
As he let them know what was happening, she saw a man approaching from behind the other two detectives. It was the doctor who had seen Elliot. She placed her hand on her gun to alert the others but made no move to unholster it. They turned toward him.
"Doctor Montgomery," she greeted him.
"Detective Benson," the doctor replied. " The test results are back. I had them expedited, given the situation."
He looked warily at the others with her, clearly hesitant to speak in front of them.
"This is our captain," she explained, "and two colleagues investigating what happened."
"I certainly want to help in any way I can," he said. "But since Detective Stabler only gave me permission to communicate with you, legally I can't discuss anything pertaining to his health with anyone else unless he consents first."
"That's fine, " Cragen cut in quickly. "We've got work to do here anyway." He motioned for the two detectives to follow him. "Keep your phone on, Olivia."
She nodded. They moved away and she followed the doctor inside. Elliot dozed on his back, arms crossed over his chest, and opened his eyes the moment he heard footsteps. She was happy to see that his reflexes were still intact.
"Well, doc?" he said huskily, sliding further upright awkwardly using his good leg. "What's the damage? "
Doctor Montgomery looked over the monitor numbers. "Your stats are still good," he said. "So that's a positive." He glanced between them both. "The lab test indicated that you were injected with secobarbital. It's a fairly strong sedative-hypnotic that is quick acting, which is why you lost consciousness so quickly."
"Is it dangerous?" Olivia asked.
" In normal doses, yes," he replied. "But it looks as if it was used by someone familiar with toxicology. They used enough to impair but not enough to cause serious harm."
"They wanted to send a message, " Elliot murmured gravely.
Next time he won't wake up.
"Yeah, but to who?" Olivia said.
It had scared her just as much as it had him. She wondered if that was the point.
The doctor informed them that he intended to have Elliot stay overnight for observation as a precaution. Predictably, Elliot wasn't happy about it.
"I'm not comfortable with letting you leave until I'm positive you've cleared the drug from your system," he said. " Sorry, Detective. You might as well get comfortable. You're officially a patient now. "
Elliot sighed.
"I'll be staying too," Olivia said. "So at least you won't be bored." At his suspicious look, she raised an eyebrow. "You heard Cragen. Not out of my sight until told otherwise."
He looked less than thrilled. She rolled her eyes and addressed the doctor.
"I'm going to need a list of names for every person who works in the building," she told him. "Make sure all of the staff is aware that no one gets in his room without ID check from me. Is that going to be a problem? "
The doctor shook his head. "Not at all," he replied. " I'll work on that right now. I'll make sure you have it before we move you to a room. "
"Thanks," Elliot begrudgingly said.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked Olivia.
"Could I get something to drink?" Elliot broke in.
She quickly cut in. "That's going to be a hard 'no'," she said.
He opened his mouth to protest. She spoke before he could.
"For God's sake, Elliot." She looked at him impatiently, hoping it was just the sedative making him so dense. "You really think it's a good idea to take food or drinks from an unknown source after someone just succeeded in drugging you?" Realizing how that sounded, she sheepishly added, "No offense, Doctor."
"None taken," Doctor Montgomery said. "Excuse me."
He left the room. Olivia looked at Elliot.
"Sorry," he said quietly. "I guess I'm having a hard time thinking straight." He grimaced. "This feels like the worst hangover I've ever had."
She nodded sympathetically. "Why don't you try to get some rest?" she said.
He shook his head. She'd had a feeling he wouldn't.
For Elliot, the night on the patient floor felt even longer than the previous night at his apartment had. The drug made him feel abysmal. Too add insult to injury, the secobarbital wreaked havoc on his nerves and he was embarrassed at how tense he was. The nurses assured him that was normal and would pass.
Olivia, bless her, tried to pretend she didn't notice. She started out outside of the room to make it easier to see who was coming in. But after witnessing him jump each time she opened the door to let a staff member through, she nonchalantly propped it open and came inside.
He was shifting back and forth against the raised bed restlessly, stabbing the TV remote buttons unhappily.
She had no idea how he was holding onto consciousness. He'd only managed a short nap that morning after being awake the night before and now he was also fighting a sedative injection.
She knew her partner. If he wanted to fight sleep to keep himself alert, he was going to do it until either he collapsed or someone forced him to stop.
Olivia walked over to the bed and raised an eyebrow silently. He shifted again. He raised his own eyebrows back at her.
"What?" he asked, uncomfortable with her gaze
God, his eyes were actually red from lack of sleep. He looked like a man who had just spent an hour swimming underwater in the ocean. Did he really think he was fooling anyone?
She lifted her chin toward him. "Shove over," she ordered.
He looked at her hesitantly. She nudged his good leg gently.
"Seriously," she insisted. "That chair is uncomfortable as hell. If I'm going to be here all night, I'm not going to have a numb ass for my trouble."
Elliot reluctantly pushed his leg over and scooted further toward the bed rail awkwardly. His cast didn't make for much room. Olivia acted like it was completely normal to position herself on the small patch of bed he left open and trail one leg across the end near his.
She leaned against the rail on the other side, one shoulder resting lightly against his just enough to be felt without intruding, so that she could still see out the open door.
He looked at her from the corner of his for a few seconds like he was waiting for her to say something. When she didn't, he turned his attention back to the TV.
It felt strange having her in his personal space. But at the same time...it didn't.
Feeling her next to him was exactly what he needed, even if he didn't know it. She felt his weight drooping in less than five minutes and then he was asleep, his head turned slightly toward her.
Smiling softly, she gingerly slid back off of the bed. He didn't move when she reached over by his head and turned out the light above the bed.
She quietly pulled the chair over closer the door to take over watching the hallway.
He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep, but the next thing he knew, morning sunshine was streaming in.
He could smell breakfast. His stomach perked up immediately, rumbling to remind him he hadn't eaten or drank anything in an entire day. He looked over next to the bed and saw his partner sitting in the chair, wolfing down a breakfast sandwich.
He cleared his throat exaggeratedly. She started, looking over and seeing him staring at her pointedly. She grimaced sheepishly.
"Shut up," she said in self-defense, not even needing him to say anything. She swallowed and reached by her foot for the McDonalds bag sitting there. "Breakfast here is a no-go, sorry. I had Munch grab this for you. "
"Like that makes it safe?" he retorted. He grabbed the bag from her so quickly that he nearly took off a finger and dug inside.
He didn't even ask what it was. He was so hungry that he didn't care. He inhaled two sausage biscuits and a double order of hash browns practically without chewing. She watched him with a fond roll of her eyes, handing over a cup as well. He took a long swallow after he'd eaten everything and then gave a deep, satisfactory belch.
He grinned at her look of disgust.
"Very nice," a teasing voice said from the doorway.
Olivia was on her feet in seconds, gripping the gun on her hip readily. Elliot looked over warily as well.
Doctor Montgomery had stuck his head in the open doorway, but made no move inside and obediently held out his ID for Olivia. They obviously knew him and it wasn't necessary, but he had done it each time he had come in throughout the night anyway. She appreciated how cooperative he had been.
She smiled. "Good morning," she said. Elliot echoed her.
"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked him.
Elliot nodded. "Better," he replied. "Not as fuzzy anymore."
"That's good news." He checked the monitors and the IV. "I'm going to give you one more bag of saline just to make sure everything is out of your system, get a quick x-ray of that leg, and then you should be good to go. I can probably have you out of here by lunch."
"Sounds good to me," Elliot said.
Olivia pulled out her phone. "While we're waiting for that, let's go ahead and go over the past couple of days. When was the first time you notice anything strange happening?"
He looked at her witheringly. "You mean other than breaking a leg?"
She glowered at him. He sighed and began racking his memory.
As promised, it was a bit past noon when the doctor came in and told them he was working on Elliot's discharge papers.
"My shift is almost over," he told them as Elliot signed them. "But don't hesitate to call the nurses line if you have any issues once you get home and someone will get you connected to a doctor." He smiled at them both. "Have a good day, Detectives. "
Elliot nodded. "Thanks, Doc."
Doctor Montgomery left. Elliot swung his legs over and stood up once the IV was removed, grateful to be out of the bed.
Someone knocked on the door and Olivia went to check. She opened it to admit two uniformed officers.
"Officers Duncan and Shepherd from the 104," she told him. "They're going to drive you back to your house and keep an eye on your building while I go get a few hours of shut-eye."
He looked at her incredulously.
"Seriously, Liv?" he asked. "Uniforms?" He sounded insulted.
She held up her hands as if fending him off.
"Captain's orders," she said. "Munch and Fin are at the precinct looking through our recent cases, Captain has brought in what sounds like half of this entire hospital for interviews, and I will be useless if I don't catch some sleep. "
He looked disdainfully at the officers. For their credit, they looked as thrilled about the assignment as Elliot did.
"I'll be back at your place to rescue you in a few hours," she said. " Until then, try not to be too much of an ass to these fine gentlemen. They have my full blessing to restrain you if needed. "
She winked at the younger of the two officers, making him blush. He looked like he was barely out of high school.
"Whatever," Elliot grumbled. "Don't expect me to invite you guys inside. Not gonna happen."
He pushed past the two officers on his crutches without acknowledging them. The younger officer hurried to walk in front of him, obviously taking his assignment very seriously.
Olivia could only imagine the hell Elliot was going to put them through when he realized they would be driving him in a squad car. She looked at the remaining officer regretfully.
"I'll make sure you guys get hazard pay," she promised. She was only half-kidding. "I won't be long-three hours, tops. You can call the 1-6 if you have any problems."
The officer nodded. She looked at him squarely.
"And remember what I told you," she said seriously. "Squad car around the back of his building watching the fire escape and someone outside his apartment door at all times. No one leaves either of those spots for even a minute without somebody covering them. Understand? "
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied.
They caught up with Elliot at the entrance to the patient wing. She headed in the opposite direction to the parking lot while the others went toward the front of the building where the squad car was parked.
"Detective Stabler!"
He turned his head after taking a few steps. The officers did, too. A man in a a white coat was waving at him to get his attention. He stopped to let the man catch up.
"Sorry," he said, holding out a bag. "Dr. Montgomery got you a refill on your pain medication, in case you need it."
"Oh," Elliot said. "Thanks."
The young officer moved as if to carry it for him. Elliot sneered at him until he withdrew his hand.
"Sure," the doctor said with a smile.
Elliot continued down the hall. The doctor caught Officer Shepherd's arm.
"Oh...and Officer? Please let Detective Benson know when you see her that she can contact me about what we discussed earlier whenever she's ready? She'll know what I mean. "
The officer nodded. "Sure," he said. "What's your name?"
The doctor smiled even wider.
"Me?" he asked. "I'm Doctor King."
Olivia arrived back at her apartment about 40 minutes later. She wanted to sleep, knew she needed to. But she couldn't relax.
She had a bad feeling. She didn't know why.
She considered calling Elliot to check on him but talked herself out of it. She had only just left him. She didn't want to cross the line into paranoia territory.
Besides, she thought guiltily, I seem to remember the last time he arranged protection for you, you practically handed him his ass and accused him of not trusting you.
She grimaced as she thought of the long-ago Eric Plummer fiasco. She wondered if he still remembered how horribly she had treated him. She was lucky he hadn't thrown it back in her face when he saw the uniformed cops.
Shaking her head, she forced herself to leave him alone for a few hours. She owed him that much.
Elliot rudely closed his apartment door after Officer Shepherd told him he would be right there if he needed anything. The thought of being babysat by a rookie cop who looked about the age of his oldest son was infuriating.
He stumped through the kitchen, fixing himself a snack. His phone rang and he saw his ex-wife's name on the screen when he reached for it. He groaned. Then he answered it without letting her hear a trace of his annoyance.
"Hey, Kath," he greeted her.
"Elliot. " She sounded...wooden, the way she sometimes did when she was displeased with him. "I'm outside your building. I need you to come down and sign a consent form for Eli to get a flu vaccine tomorrow."
"Can't you bring it up?"
He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but for God's sake. She knew he had a broken leg and lived in a walk-up.
She didn't reply for a minute.
"Eli is sleeping," she finally said. "I don't want to wake him. " Another pause. "Please, Elliot. Just come down."
He sighed. "Fine," he said shortly. "Give me a few minutes. "
He hung up. When he pulled open the apartment door, the young officer looked at him eagerly. He wasn't in the mood.
"I'm going to meet my wife outside," he said in annoyance. "Don't worry, I'm not making a break for it." When the officer looked hesitant, Elliot rolled his eyes. "I'll be gone five seconds. Watch from the window if you don't believe me, for Christ's sake. " He gestured to the large window in the corridor.
The officer reddened and didn't try to accompany him.
Kathy Stabler swallowed hard, trying to control her breathing, and handed the phone over with a shaking hand. The man sitting beside her in the backseat kept the gun he held against her temple.
"Good job," the man in the driver's seat said slyly. "I even believed that myself."
Tears made their way down her cheeks but she didn't speak.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," he went on condescendingly. "You'll get to go home soon. It's not you we care about."
The man man beside her cocked the trigger, making her face go pale. His face hardened and he gripped her arm firmly.
"Now get out of the car."
Olivia still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Finally, she threw caution to the wind. She took out the scrap of paper with Officer Shepherd's number on it that he has given her and dialed.
"Shepherd," he answered.
"It's Detective Benson, " she identified herself. "How are things going?"
"Fine," he replied. God, did he sound young. "Got here with no problems." A thought occurred to him. " Oh, before I forget...Doctor King said you could contact him whenever you're ready. " He sounded proud of himself for remembering.
Alarm bells rang in her head.
"Who?" she asked uneasily.
"Doctor King," he repeated. "From the hospital."
She gripped the phone hard. The memory from the day before flashed into her head.
"Where's the patient of Doctor King?"
"There is no Doctor King here."
"Let me talk to Elliot," she said.
"He went outside to meet his wife," he replied. "Should only take a few minutes."
Her heart went to her feet.
"You let him go downstairs?" she asked. She sounded furious. "Alone?"
The officer stuttered nervously but she interrupted. She was already pulling on her coat.
"What part of 'stay with him at all times' didn't you understand, you jackass?" she yelled at him. "Get your ass down there now!"
He swallowed hard and hung up, hurrying downstairs.
Heart pounding, Olivia rushed out of her apartment, dialing Elliot as she ran toward her car.
Elliot groaned tiredly as he made it down to the bottom floor and out the door. His leg ached fiercely as he looked around fof Kathy.
After a minute, he spotted her, standing next to a car he had never seen before. His brow furrowed as he approached.
"When did you get this car?" he asked.
She didn't reply. As he got closer, she realized she looked terrified.
He stopped short when a man suddenly appeared from the other side of the car. He held a gun, pointing it at her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Elliot. They made me."
Two more men came around the car. He didn't take his eyes off of the gun.
"Let my wife go," he said evenly, shifting weight on the crutches. "I'll do whatever you want, just let her go."
"Oh, we're counting on that," one of the men said.
He came forward and yanked the crutches from Elliot. Then he savagely kicked at his feet. The man holding onto Kathy pushed her roughly away. The others grabbed Elliot as he stumbled.
They opened the back door of the car and forced him inside before squealing away, leaving the crutches in a heap on the sidewalk.