[Chapter 3: A New Case]

Olivia was so caught up in the paperwork that she was surprised when she looked up to see that it was one thirty already. So took her mug and got up to stretch her legs and refill her cup. She was proud that her morning had gone so well. She had managed to focus on her work and put everything else in her life out of her mind.

Just as she got comfortable back at her desk and started to delve in the next stack of paperwork she heard her name being called. She looked up at saw her captain standing at the door of his office looking worried.

'Liv, could you step into my office for a moment please'.

'What's up Capt?' She said as she walked into his office.

'Liv, I've just got a call from Lifestyle Academy. Two of their learners did not go back to class after 10 o'clock recess. They've done a sweep of the grounds and found the one girl's backpack in the bushes. The school has also phoned both sets of parents and it doesn't look like the girls have returned to either house.'

'How old are they?'

'Both girls are ten years old. Now there's a chance that they are hiding away somewhere or that they decided to bunk school… but there's a chance that this could be foul play. I don't feel good just ignoring this. I've redirected Fin and Amanda to go check out things at the school and they also don't have a good feeling about the situation. I've asked Amaro to go over to the house of the one girl and …'

'You need me to go over to the house of the other girl?' she interrupted him midway through his sentence.

'No I've phoned Munch to go over to the other house.'

'But he's at court waiting to testify in the Ronald case.'

Cragen put up his hand in an effort to stop Olivia speaking. Because they had worked so long in the same squad he didn't mind so much that she was interrupting him but he wanted to finish what he was saying.

'I've spoken to Casey. Her assistant will call us when they need him. Until then he's back with us. Olivia, I know we spoke about easing you back into things with paperwork…'

'Where you need me Captain?' He looked up to this woman. After all she had been through he knew he didn't want to drop her in the middle of such a case on her first day back but that was exactly what he was going to ask of her.

'Well, with the other four all out in the field, I need someone to coordinate things here.'

'Get the extra phones set up, get the whiteboard up and going so we can start a timeline.' Olivia jumped in.

'Yes, Liv.'

'On it Captain.' She said as she walked out his office.

Olivia marched back into the squad room with more purpose and urgency she had all day. Her mind started to complain. Today. Really?! Couldn't she just have one easy day? But she quickly curved those thoughts. If these girls had indeed been kidnapped there was no time for her own issues to get in the way. If this was a kidnapping, the person responsible had already had almost a four hour head start and they were playing catchup.

As she reached her desk she picked up the phone to call downstairs so they could start organising some extra phones and personnel to man them. At the same time she texted Amaro and Munch to let them know she was coordinating things and that they should send her a picture of the girls as soon as possible.

Two hours later, and more than five hours since the two girls, Kathy Simmons and Sarah Bell had been seen, the bullpen was a hive of activity. Extra officers had been sent up to man the phones that had been set up and Olivia was sifting through the information that the officers forwarded to her. As soon as the photos of the two girls had been received Captain Cragen held a press conference and since then the phones had not stopped. The only negative consequence about having a press conference was that all sorts of people came out of the woodwork and that included the crazies. The job was now to sort out which leads to follow and which to ignore.

'Hey Liv' Amaro said as he and Rollins walked in. 'do we have any strong leads yet?'

'Hey' Olivia said as she looked up from her desk. 'Not much definite yet. A few sightings but Munch and Fin are checking them out and well for the rest I think we can discredit them because I really doubt they've had time to get so far away.'

'Ah, is every Tom, Dick and Harry wasting our time again' Amanda chipped in.

'I just wish at a time like this people would use common sense and allow us to do our jobs.'

'Should we get back to the school grounds and help there?' asked Amaro

'Um, ok that might be good. Go see if the unis have any more information for us. Maybe the crime scene guys also have some forensics for us?'

'Right. We'll get there and then phone you.'

'Thanks Nick.'

Nick Amaro and Amanda Rollins had been at the school for about an hour before he decided it was time to phone the office. They had spoken to the guys who had been in charge of the uniformed officers searching the grounds as well as the crime scene people but no one had any information for them. It just seemed as if the girls had walked off the school grounds, not to be seen again. The officers would keep searching for clues until the light faded.

'I'm getting really worried' Amanda said as she walked up to Nick after another unsuccessful chat with an officer, 'we have absolutely nothing to go on. No leads. No evidence. No suspicious people hanging about at the time of their disappearance.'

'I know.' Nick replied with a certain hopelessness in his voice, 'we desperately need a lead to go on.' All Nick could think of was his own child. If his daughter were to disappear like this without a trace he would go nuts.

'Thinking of your daughter?' Amanda questioned

'Yeah. Can't help putting myself in their parents' shoes.'

Just then Nick's phone rang. 'Amaro. that's a good idea. We'll be there in twenty.'

'That was Olivia. Cap wants us all home to regroup.'

Fin and Munch walked in to see Olivia unpacking various packets of take away food onto table.

'NYPD finally buying me dinner' Munch said as he took his coat off and placed it on his chair.

'Consider it a working dinner' replied Cragen as he walked out to the area where his five detectives where standing. 'I thought we might think better when our stomachs were growling at us. Liv, would you run us through what we have so far.'

The other four detectives sat round the table and ate their supper as Olivia summarised the day so far. Kathy Simmons and Sarah Bell went out to recess at ten o'clock and did not return to class. It was almost ten thirty when the teacher noticed that the girls had not return from break. A search of the school ensued and when nothing was found the girls' parents were called at around twelve. The call came into SVU at one thirty and the investigation had started. At present only Kathy's backpack had been found in some bushes on the school grounds. Detectives and officers had interviewed Kathy's and Sarah's closest friends, their classmates and teachers as well as some other staff members but no leads had come of it.

Amaro and Munch took over the story line as they each filled the team in on the respective families. Basically both families were the normal run of the mill; both sets of parents had white collar jobs and nothing that made them an obvious target for kidnappings. Neither family had received a ransom call. With all the information of the day shared the team sat in silence as they ate their meal. There was no need to state the obvious, almost nine hours since the girls were last seen the team had no real leads.

It was Cragen who spoke next. He knew he had to keep his team motivated else they would have no hope in finding the missing girls.

'Fin and Much after dinner you continue search for leads from the tip line. Olivia and Nick you two run background checks on staff at the school. Rollins, you see if there's any people of interest we need to know about in the area. Meet back here in say um… four hours?'

All five nodded and finished their supper before returning to their respective desks.