2


Olivia cradled her cell phone against her ear and her neck as the connection rang, this being her fourth time to try and connect to her wife. She slipped her lap top into her bag and then stopped, listening as Alex's voice picked up, yet again.

"You have reached the voice mail of Alexandra Benson-Cabot. I'm not available at present. Please leave a brief message and I'll get back to you shortly."

And then a beep. She hardly ever had to leave a message with her wife.

"Hey, Babe…I don't know if you fell asleep…maybe you're napping?" Olivia smiled. "I'm about to head home and…just…" Olivia hoisted her bag onto her right shoulder, "…call me if you need anything. I'm on my way." Olivia took the phone from her ear and looked at it before depressing the red "X" and then slipping it into her back pocket.

She furrowed her brow as she grabbed her car keys from the top of her desk and then pushed her desk chair in and headed to her office door.

Ikie, the custodian for Haven House was headed her way, cleaning supplies in a bucket in hand, and she smiled.

"You have a good evening, Ms. Olivia," she offered with her Haitian accent.

"Thanks, Ikie. I will. You, too." Olivia walked past her and headed down the hallway, thinking about her inability to connect with her wife. "Oh, and…" she stopped briefly and turned, "…I spilled a little coffee on the floor, but I wiped it up." She smiled. "I think I cleaned it all."

"No problem, Miss. I'll take care of it." Ikie smiled.

"Thanks. See you on Monday." Olivia continued down the hallway, past the front desk, waving to the reception nurse, Heidi, and then headed out the door.

It was unusual. Alex always had her cell phone on or, at least, near her, and not being able to reach her was almost an anomaly.

Olivia pushed the front door open and walked to the parking lot, spotting her Datsun, and then unlocked the doors with her key fob. She moved toward it and opened the driver's side door before moving to the back and opening it. She tossed her bag and purse inside and then shut it, just as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket.

She removed it, got in, and shut the door, looking at the screen. Unknown Name popped up and she hit "decline" before setting her phone on her right thigh, looking ahead at the car in front of her—a black Mercedes—which she knew was owned by Doctor Klein.

She lifted her iPhone once more and decided to call Alex again, punching in the buttons and then lifting it to her ear and waiting.

But this time, something strange happened. The line picked up and then disconnected. Olivia took it from her ear and looked at the screen, reading that the call ended within six seconds.

What's going on? she asked herself before starting the car and shifting into reverse, pulling out of her space to head home and be with her family for the rest of the weekend.


She peeled her eyes open to blackness, quickly shutting them. All was opaque around her and she felt something on her face—fabric? Cotton? Wool? Whatever it was, it had no give, no breathing room, and she quickly felt suffocated and panicked. She tried to move her hands to remove the inhibition from her nose and mouth, but her hands, her wrists were bound, stuck to her sides. She attempted to move her feet, as well, and was met with the same encumbrances.

Her breathing quickened then as she opened her eyes and attempted to lift her head, a shooting, throbbing pain pronounced at the back of her cranium.

The place she had been struck just before everything disappeared.

She felt her eyes water as she lowered her head back onto, what felt like, a softness. Perhaps a pillow?

"She's awake," a male voice said then.

And she heard movement, rustling around, someone advancing toward her.

"Should we take the bag off?" a different male voice questioned.

"No. Leave it on."

She knew that particular voice. It was Raul. The one who had started this whole nightmare that she was currently experiencing, from the park.

Alex closed her eyes again, feeling the tears form in her eyes, feeling her mouth open in anguish, not believing that this was happening to her.

And she breathed, in slowly and out slowly, trying to complete inhales and exhales as the trepidation moved throughout her body, trying to find a normal rhythm once she realized what was actually happening to her.

"I wanna see her face," a foreign, deeper, male voice claimed.

"You'll see her soon, bruh. calm down!" Raul said impatiently.

And then, she felt warmth, a closeness next to her, over her, pressed against her left side.

"Alexandra Cabot." Raul asked. "You awake?"

Alex only gasped then, feeling her heart begin to race once more, a weight on her right hip.

She stuttered then, not quite knowing what to say. "I'm…I'm awake."

Then she felt something on the mask that was around her face, a lifting, a removing of the fabric that was surrounding her.

Then there was a light—not bright, but something. A dimness, as whatever it was that was on her head was removed. And she saw his face again.

She gasped as her facial covering was removed and then she looked at him, trying to accept the air that wanted to travel into her lungs.

She watched him, watching him grin back at her.

"Glad you're awake," he smiled.

Alex swallowed and then closed her eyes, feeling the shooting pain along her lower back and her lower head. She clenched her fists and tried to move her feet once more.

"Nah. You can't move," he added. "We tied you up."

Alex opened her eyes then and looked at him, studying his still-smiling face before moving her gaze to the right, around the room, noticing another male figure, and then further to the right and noticing a female, dressed in a black tank top and dark jeans, long, black hair, pronounced goth make-up, most likely someone who was a girlfriend or accomplice with them, in some fashion.

Alex moved to try and release her hands again, being met with the same hold. "Please…can you?"

Chuckling then. "Untie your hands? Nah…that would make it too easy for you."

Alex thought about her children. Thought about what she had told them to do. Wondering if they had followed her directions and had made it to Mrs. Ethan's.

She felt the tears form in her eyes once more thinking about this fact and then she closed them, swallowing and bracing herself, her face lifting to the ceiling once more.

"You're a fighter," Raul claimed. "and a bleeder…" he offered. "If you feel something on your nose, we had to hit you. Dumb bitch."

Alex moved her lips around then, bringing her mouth down, lowering it and bringing her lips together and feeling a certain sensitivity above it, smelling iron, feeling crusted blood just above her upper lip. "How long…how long have I been here?" she asked.

No answer.

She waited, listening for anything as her eyes remained closed. The pain in the back of her head was unbearable and now she felt the tenderness in her nose, felt the dried crust of blood just below it.

"Two hours?" Raul answered.

"Did my…did my kids…?" she felt her face contort then, not able to finish her sentence.

"Hell, lady. I don't know. That's something I don't give a shit about," Raul informed her.

Alex lifted her face towards the ceiling and she clenched her jaw, feeling the tears fill her eyes, a stray one rolling down past her right cheek.

Theo and Grace and Isabel. She never wanted any of them to ever deal with any of her past cases. Never wanted them to feel the angst or drama, or repercussions of what she had once dealt with. But it seemed that this time, it had been unavoidable.

She decided to stay quiet, especially after hearing his callous remark. He didn't give a damn about their children, about what had become of them.

"Open your fucking eyes!" he bellowed.

"Yeah, she's a hottie," the other voice claimed. "For an old lady."

"Fuck you, Pedro! We're not here for this!" Raul yelled.

"Is she OK?" a female voice questioned.

Alex gasped and then tried to open her eyes and look toward the feminine voice, not seeing anything in the darkness.

She closed her eyes again, feeling the tears form, feeling the warm saltiness stream down her cheeks.

Alex clenched her hands then, trying to lift them from their hold once more.

"I don't give a shit what we're here for. She's definitely fuckable," the lower male voice claimed.

Alex clenched her jaw then and then lifted her chin, her thoughts, her worst nightmares playing out in her mind.

She smelled food then, something savory, and she thought of her children once more, hoping and praying that they had made it to Mrs. Ethan's safely and had relayed some sort, any sort of information, to the elderly woman to get her out of here. Out of this situation, out of this circumstance, something that would get her rescued and returned back to her family and back to the life that she wished to be a part of so badly.


Olivia pulled into the garage at 1:13 p.m. and then closed the door behind her. She placed her car in park and then removed the key from the ignition, lifting her cell phone again. No calls.

She exited the car and then moved to the back seat and retrieved her bag and purse and shut the door, her mind still running.

Moving to the door that would lead her to the kitchen, the entryway, of their home, as she opened it and then closed it behind her, listening.

"Alex?" she called.

No sound.

Not one iota of noise in their townhouse as she moved to the island and listened.

She set her bag and purse on the island and stopped, removing her blazer and placing it on top of everything before listening once more.

"Al?" she asked.

Nothing.

The townhouse was quieter than she had ever heard it. Even the refrigerator was silent, the appliance normally making a humming, any sound to let them know that it was still working.

Her phone vibrated in her back pocket then and she removed it, looking at the screen.

Catherine Ethan.

Their neighbor two doors down. The woman who was widowed, three grown children of her own, in her late seventies. A woman they had befriended and knew to call on in emergency situations.

Olivia slid the screen and put it to her ear. "Hello? Catherine?"

"Olivia?" her meek voice questioned.

"Yes? Is everything OK?"

"Theo is here. Your twins, too. They've been with me for a little while, but I don't understand what they're saying. Can you come over?"

Olivia's heart rate began to sky rocket then. "Yeah, I'm on my way. Is everything OK?"

"Just…just come here, dear. Your children are here and I think you need to hear what they're telling me."

Olivia's heart froze then and she paused then. "Of course, Mrs. Ethan. I'm on my way."