4

Alex turned her head to the right and looked past Armando and Pedro who were playing dominoes at the kitchen table, and peered at the digital clock on the microwave in the kitchen, squinting just right, her eyes narrowing into slits, as she tried to see the glowing, yellow digits without her specs.

6:47 p.m.

Her glasses had been gone, off of her face, since she first opened her eyes and she had no idea where they were. She had them in the park, but after that it was a mystery. So seeing anything past three of her own arm spans was almost impossible—blurry and fuzzy.

Raul was in the bedroom just beyond the tiny kitchen and Rosa was in there with him. And they had been in there for a couple of hours.

The cot-like metal bed—no more than two-feet by six-feet in size—had her feet just barely hanging off with where her head was positioned, her wrists held against her sides around her hip circumference and then adhered to the metal of the head railings. Her ankles were bound together and that rope was tied to the foot railing. After having been on what must have been a child's cot, or perhaps an old army surplus cot, for over seven hours, she was feeling the effects of being immobile, being unable to stretch, being unable to move, and this combination was slowly beginning to have an ill-effect on her body. And so now, along with the throbbing pain in the back of her head, she was also experiencing the creeping stabbing that was traveling upward from her lower back and toward the middle.

And now her stomach was beginning to growl. She had been hungry earlier and then that had passed and now she was having that recurring sensation once more—twisting, burning, nagging discomfort.

She hadn't been offered food. Wasn't expecting it. And she hadn't been offered water and she was beginning to think that, perhaps, Rosa's estimation of letting her starve and dehydrate to death might not be far off from what they had planned for her.

She swallowed and looked back up at the ceiling, the images of her three children standing below her in the park, their expressions so uncertain, popped into her head.

No. She shut her eyes quickly.

She didn't want to think about them. Didn't want to become emotional from what they had experienced. Didn't want to allow her mind to travel to the what if they forgot the way?, what if they didn't make it to Mrs. Ethan's?, and the what if this happened?, and so the minute her beautiful babies entered her mind she quickly wished them away.

A gentle knocking at the door then and Alex looked at Pedro and Armando at the table and they froze.

"Es abuelita, Raul! Armando?"

"Abuelita," Armando whispered. "Un momento!" he called.

Within seconds, the two men were standing, Armando clearing the beer bottles and tossing the pot butts in the trash.

"¡Tengo comida, mi amor! ¡Abre la puerta!" she called through the door.

Alex's heart began to jump then at the prospect of, perhaps, being seen, rescued.

"¡Apurarse! Pedro! ¡Ir!" Armando motioned in a sweeping movement with his arm into the living room.

She watched as Pedro grabbed a thick, dark brown blanket and moved toward her, his eyes focused.

"Don't say shit!" he ordered. "And don't fucking move!"

His weight on top of her then, cumbersome, rendering her immobile. His hips pressing into her own, knees digging into her mid-thighs, his massive belly a separate weight in and of itself, his left hand clamping over her mouth. Her breathing came out in heavy bursts now, her lungs trying to catch some air, his extra pounds and forceful, sudden motions coming out of nowhere. He was easily two-fifty to three-hundred pounds compared to her one-thirty as his crushing weight landed on top of her.

He reached down behind him and pulled the blanket up to cover both of them, lifting the pillow quickly and placing his head on the left side and covering her face with the other half, his palm still a vice on her mouth.

"Shut the fuck up! he grunted.

Alex heard the door open and pleasantries were exchanged and Alex could hear kissing and hugging and happiness.

She struggled to turn her head to the left, Pedro trying to keep it facing upward, but she finally managed, his rough skin pressing firmly along her mouth, her neck muscles screaming from exertion, trying to find a modicum of air from the small lifting of the pillow that the height of her head was creating, and she inhaled through her nose.

"Where is Raul, mi amor?"

"Here I am, Abuelita!" his chipper voice beamed.

Alex heard more greetings and kissing.

"I brought you arroz con pollo y empanadas," her sweet, broken-accented voice offered.

"Thank you, Abuelita!" Raul claimed enthusiastically.

Pedro's weight was stifling, the heat from the blanket adding to her discomfort, and now she could feel another protrusion, becoming more firm, pressing against her lower belly. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, trying to shift a little, ease the pain she was now feeling even more intensely at the back of her head and along her spine.

"Who is sleeping?" her voice asked. "Is Pedro?"

"Yeah, Abuela. That's Pedro!" Armando chirped. "Él está muy cansado. ¿Demasiada cerveza?" he questioned.

"Pedro always has too much beer. Right Pedro?" Raul called.

Alex felt his hand leave from beneath the blanket to her left, and then felt a small entry of cooler air as he must have waved to her.

"¿Do I smell drogas, tambien?" Abuelita asked.

"No, no!" Raul offered. "No drugs, Grandma!"

"Porque, si there are drogas aqui…"

A gasp from Abuelita then. "¿Qué pasó, Rosa?"

"Rosa just…" Raul's voice then, as Rosa must have just entered, "…she fell coming out of Felipe's on the corner. Fell on the steps."

Silence then for a few seconds before Abuelita's voice. "¿Estás bien, Rosa? You are OK?"

"Si, Senora Morena. Estoy bien. I'm OK."

"Pues…" Abuelita began, "…I have to go a la Iglesia. How long you have been?"

"Uh, Abuelita. Por favor…" Armando tried.

"¿Este domingo? Sunday come to church?" she asked.

"Si, Abuelita," Raul agreed. "Este domingo."

Alex heard kisses again and goodbyes and then felt the overwhelming desire to move, to jerk, to try and make herself known.

After all, they wouldn't hurt their grandmother, would they?

Alex jolted her knees and arms simultaneously and heard a grunting on top of her, his hand clamping down harder on her mouth, and she fought the urge to moan from pain.

Alex heard the door close and the two brothers released a sigh of relief.

"Jesus. That was close," Raul declared. "Hey, Pedro. Get off her now! Let's go!" A couple of snaps.

Alex continued to lay there, the massive heaviness on top of her not budging. Then, the air again, the blanket being lifted up and off. Then a hand on her left breast, a shifting of weight to her right side, the pillow coming off of her face, his left hand being removed from her mouth. She gasped and opened her eyes, blinking several times.

And she looked up at him. He was so close she could see the blackhead-filled pores on his nose, the dark black follicles of a five-o' clock shadow, his two, sweaty chins just inches from her.

He squeezed her flesh through her sweatshirt in his hand and smiled, pressing his erection into her right, upper thigh then before letting his hand move to her right breast and doing the same thing.

She clenched her jaw and stared, unwaveringly, at him. "Don't touch me," she hissed calmly.

He only smiled at her and then moved his mouth closer, his lips almost touching her own, before Raul yelled.

"Get the fuck off, Pedro!"

Pedro turned his face toward the kitchen as a drop of sweat rolled down and off of his chin and fell onto her neck. "Well, she's not yours either, Raul. Someone has to have her." He looked at her again. "Can't let this go to waste." He smiled back down at her. "I'll bet you would feel real good…"

Then, thudding footsteps, Pedro's body lifting off of her, a coolness floating over the expanse of her front half, and she gasped again as she let the air enter her lungs fully once more.

The front door opened and Alex looked in that direction.

"Go cool off, Pedro!" Raul advised. "I told you, that's not what we're here for." Raul looked at his friend's crotch and then back into his face. "Go. Get out of here. Go get some more beer!"

"And I'm getting some condoms, too. Because if you're not gonna do her, I am!"

Raul looked at her then. "Nah. Knowing how these rich white bitches are, she might enjoy it too much. Especially from a fat fuck like you."

Pedro smirked and then hiked up the waistband of his jeans before he headed out the door and Raul slammed it behind him.

Alex swallowed hard again and watched Raul and Armando begin to remove containers from a brown paper bag on the kitchen table.

She turned her head back, eyes going to the ceiling again and, even though she didn't want it, her family's faces flashed into her mind once more, all of them—her wife smiling that amazingly gorgeous smile, her twins' toothless, cheerful grins, Theo's sweet face and eyes that were filled with such love—and she closed her eyes and cried, letting her fear, her despair, and her hopelessness spill out of her once more.


Olivia leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at the screen as she looked over the shoulder of Ruben Morales, the TARU tech.

Olivia swallowed as she watched Alex, being held up by each underarm, being carried, feet dragging, and then being literally thrown into the very back of a silver, Toyota 4runner. "Freeze it right there."

Olivia, Fin, and Morales studied the frozen image on the screen.

"And there had to have been a third person—the driver," Olivia said softly, nodding, her eyes remaining fixed on the frozen image of the rear of the car, back door raised, but the license plate still visible. "Blow that up and print it. We need to get an APB out for that SUV."

"I'll get that out right away," Morales offered, lifting his desk phone and beginning to speak.

Olivia stood erect and placed her hands into her front pockets and shook her head as she and Fin just looked at each other. The brunette looked back at the screen, squinting, just as Morales hung up the phone.

"All done," he claimed.

Olivia pointed to the screen. "OK. Press play…"

The three watched as the two men then quickly hopped in the back with her, slammed the back door, and then drove off—not too quickly, not too slowly—and out of sight.

"They turned onto 77th Street before they disappeared," Fin offered.

"Let's get on that and…have you heard back about the blood?" Olivia and Fin turned to leave. The brunette detective turned back slightly and raised her hand to Morales. "Thanks, Morales. I owe you one."

They continued walking down the hallway of the first floor and toward the doors.

"Nothing on the blood, yet...hey, Liv…" Fin began.

"What?" Olivia answered, distracted.

He pushed the door open for her and they kept walking, their navy Caprice parallel parked right in front of them.

The clicking of the doors unlocking was heard and Olivia pulled up on the handle, opened it, and slipped inside. She closed the door and tugged at her seat belt before she locked it and then put her sunglasses on, Fin doing the same next to her.

"Liv…" Fin started again.

Olivia laughed and looked at her partner, almost incredulously. "What, Fin?"

"I just want you to know something. Two things..." He smiled that warm, charming smile.

Olivia softened and managed a smile back. She took a deep breath and relaxed slightly.

"One…we're gonna find her. I can feel it."

Olivia swallowed, focusing on her partner's eyes. "And two?"

"Two…you're not gonna like who's gonna talk to you when we get back to the 1-6. I have nothing to do with it, but I want you to be prepared."

Olivia furrowed her brow and turned to look through the front window. She shook her head. "No, Fin." She continued shaking her head as she moved her gaze to the right, through the passenger window. "I have to stay on this one. I have to be a part of it." She felt her eyes fill with tears then. "I have to do everything I can to be involved in this and find her…" Olivia gasped then, "…as soon as possible…"

A hand on her forearm then. "I get it, Baby Girl…but those kids of yours? They need you, too. But they gotta have one solid at home with them."

Olivia felt her lower lip tremble then, her brow knitted in conflict as she looked back at her mocha detective friend.

"And we have three completely capable cops working on this around the clock, Liv. Including Dodds. And as much of an asshole as he is…"

Olivia wiped below her nose with the back of her hand and sniffed.

"…we know he's the best, too."

Olivia closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

"Right?"

Olivia nodded and then opened her eyes again, looking at Fin. "You're right, Fin. But you gotta let me know everything you find. Anything that comes in. And tell Dodds I'll be back tomorrow morning. No questions asked."

Fin crossed his heart with his left forefinger. "You have my word, Liv. Always for you."

Olivia felt her tears come on again. "Thanks, Fin…"

His hand went to the back of her neck then, squeezing gently. "You got it…"

The brunette unhooked her belt and then leaned over. They hugged and Olivia could feel the comfort of her long-time partner and knew that he only wanted what was best for she and Alex and their children.

That was something about Fin that never faltered.


"Car was found, abandoned, in East Harlem. They canvassed the area within a mile—knocking on doors, checking apartments and houses—and found nothing. No sign. So they must have gotten another car somehow to make a transfer or had someone else pick them up."

"Or dropped Alex off first...any cameras where the car was dropped? Anyone see anything?" Olivia questioned, putting her chin on top of her fisted hand on the kitchen table as she watched Theo work on a drawing of the ocean on her right and the twins working on their own crayon pictures on her left—Grace drawing a cat and Isabel drawing a vase of flowers.

Melinda had picked them up at the park and she had watched them for the rest of the afternoon, the three being off for a student holiday, hence Alex being with them at the park that morning.

"Nah, Liv. Not one real camera there. Landlords are too cheap to have real ones. No one who saw the car or anyone who saw two Hispanic guys and a tall blonde woman. Tight-lipped. Could have been threatened, though."

"OK, Fin. Oh, and did you tell Dodds I'd be there tomorrow?" Olivia looked down at her ensemble of a loose, white t-shirt and gray jogging pants, her feet bare, before she reached for her glass of ice water then and took a sip.

"I told him and he just gave me that look. That, 'I'm gonna talk to her' look."

Olivia set her glass down, nodding. "Well, I don't care what he says, Fin, I'm coming in tomorrow."

"But, Liv, you're usually home on Saturdays, with the kids, as a family."

Olivia's eyes glazed over as she watched Isabel, their little blue-eyed girl resembling her wife so much.

"Liv?"

"Without Alex here, I just…" She didn't know what she wanted to say after that and so she didn't finish her sentence.

"I know, Liv."

"Call me with anything else?" Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"Sure thing. Talk to you later."

"Later, Fin." Olivia ended the call and placed her iPhone face up on the kitchen table.

She watched her children, all busy, now beginning to talk about a TV show and something funny that happened on it today.

She smiled as she thought of her wife, the looks they would have been exchanging at a time like this as the children spoke so randomly, the smirk on her face and she felt her mouth begin to quaver with the thought.

Theo looked up at her then and set his blue crayon down and hopped off of his kitchen chair and moved around and toward her. He leaned against her right side and wrapped his arms around her and the brunette began to release, finally letting out the emotions she had been holding inside.

The twins joined their brother in the group hug and they held each other tightly.

The kids didn't know the details, but they could definitely sense something. From their brunette mother's demeanor and the conversations she had already had with her partner, they knew that Alex was not there and they knew Olivia was upset. And that was all they needed to know at present.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Theo questioned against her.

"Wh…?" Olivia began before stopping herself. She began to stroke their hair, their backs, kissing their hair with love and gentleness. "You can all stay in our bed tonight, OK?"

Theo pulled away, eyebrows raised. "Really?"

Olivia smiled and then brought her lips inward, nodding, feeling her eyes fill with more tears.

They hugged her again, holding on tightly. She knew she needed them there with her that night, feeling their warmth. And she also knew they needed it too—especially her comfort and security.

They all needed anything to help them get through this one minute at a time, one hour at a time. Until they found her wife alive, well, and safely at home once more.