[Chapter 10: One down, One To Go]

As soon as Olivia walked into the bullpen she knew that something had happened. They energy in the room was different.

'I smell food.' Munch walked towards Olivia's desk.

'I had breakfast at Ruby's and Mike's. They missed all of you so they sent you all some stuff.' She said as she handed Munch his coffee and roll.

'Thanks. We found Sarah.'

'What? Where?'

'In a shed on the school grounds. The unis had searched there before but it seemed that he kept moving them as we were searching the grounds. Its only when we kept him here that he couldn't stay ahead of us anymore.'

'And Kathy?'

'Nothing yet.'

'How is Sarah?'

'Scared. Shocked. Tired. She won't talk to us. Her parents are with her and Fin and Amanda are trying but not having much luck.'

'They in the kids room?'

'Yeah. Nick, is back at the school helping with the search.'

Olivia walked towards the room where they interviewed children. It was a special room which was setup to make kids feel that they are in a safe environment.

'Hey Captain. I heard. How is she doing?'

'Hey Liv. Not too well. She's shutting down. Even Amanda can't get her to open up. All we know thus far is he kept moving her around to avoid us finding her.'

Olivia just stood there and watched as Amanda and Fin talked to the young girl.

'Has she eaten yet?'

'No. We didn't think she would eat right now.'

Olivia took one last look at the scene around her and then walked out to her desk without saying a word.

Olivia sat down at her desk for a few moments. Her head swirling a bit. She had an idea but she didn't know if she could follow through. She wasn't sure if it would work and if she was ready. As she sat there she hadn't noticed that she had been rubbing her hands up and down her thighs. Finally she stood up and walked towards where she had just left her captain.

'Captain, may I have a word?'

Captain Cragen followed his detective into his office. He had been concerned that this case would get to her but he had hoped that she could work through it and come out the other side. He watched her pace up and down his office working through something in her head.

'Captain, I have an idea…' Olivia told him her idea all the while never standing still.

'Olivia, are you sure you want to do this?' Already sensing her play.

'No, I'm not. But Captain, she's not responding to Amanda or Fin. And we still have a missing girl out there that we need to find.'

The captain just nodded. He was concerned but what Olivia said was true.

'I have one request. Nobody except you and maybe her parents listens in.'

'Ok, Olivia. I'll brief the others while you prepare.'

'Thanks, Capt.'

Olivia walked back into the squadroom with more self-assurance than she was feeling. She had just spent a few minutes on the roof gathering her thoughts. As she walked past Cragen's office she gave him a nod, signalling that she was ready to get going. Cragen went to the room where Fin and Amanda were still trying to get Sarah to talk to them, and pulled them out.

Olivia went to her desk and picked up some paperwork, one of the breakfast rolls, and two cans of cooldrink before heading towards the room where Sarah was. As she stood in front of the door she took a deep breath before quietly knocking and then opening the door before closing it behind her.

'Good morning Sarah. My name is Olivia. May I please come sit here with you for awhile? I'd like somewhere quiet to sit for a bit.'

Sarah nodded. Olivia saw this as a positive start and sat down at the table across from the couch where Sarah was fiddling with to take a doll. Olivia put all her stuff down on the table.

'Sarah, I have just come back from breakfast and they people there gave me some extra food to bring back with me for the other detectives but my partner is out and I don't think the roll will be so nice after a few hours. So I thought maybe you'd like to eat it.'

Olivia put the roll and the cooldrink within range of Sarah but still a distance from her as to give her the option to take it or not. In the meantime Olivia started to get busy with the paperwork she had brought with. She knew for her plan work Sarah had to initiate the conversation. After a few minutes of silence Olivia saw Sarah come to join her at table and slide her hand across the table to retrieve the food. Without looking up from the work she was doing, Olivia opened the first can and put it in front of Sarah and opened the second can and started drinking from it. Silence continue to fill the room as Sarah continued to eat. Finally, the moment that Olivia hoped would come came.

'What are you working on?'

'Ag, my captain has put me on desk duty so I have to do all the paperwork for all the cases that we are currently working on.' Replied Olivia, still not looking up from her work and in a tone that came across as she was only half interested in continuing the conversation.

'Are you a detective?'

'Yeah I am.'

'You don't like being on desk duty?'

Olivia took a chance by looking up briefly and looked more interested in the conversation. 'No detective likes to work on the desk. We all like being in the field working cases not sitting doing paperwork.'

'So is he punishing you for something?'

Olivia took a deep breath. She still wasn't sure if she was strong enough to do this. 'No. I had to take some time off work so he is trying to easy me back into the job.'

'Oh. How long were you off work?'

'2 months.'

'Was it a holiday?'

'No, not really. It was more like sick leave.' Olivia knew she had to start turning the conversation towards the current situation. She'd given enough time for the girl to get comfortable.' She decided to give it a shot. 'Sarah, I'm working on the forms for your case. I was wondering if you could try and help me?'

Sarah didn't say anything but also didn't attempt to retreat from the detective sitting across from her. Olivia decided to start with some easy questions first to try to keep the girl from shutting down.

'Sarah, can you tell me did you see Miss Kerry when you were with Mr. Martins?'

'No.'

'Okay. Can you tell me when last you did see Miss Kerry?'

'In class.'

'Okay Sarah. Thank you. That helps me a lot.'

Sarah sat fiddling with the empty can in front of her. Olivia could sense the girl's nervousness.

'Sarah, you know you are safe here? No one will hurt you here. I'm tired of doing this paperwork. What do you say we pick out a game instead?'

The girl just nodded her head. Olivia got up and went over to the side of the room where they kept the games. 'Why don't you come help me choose something. Sarah slowly came towards Olivia and selected a puzzle of two ponies. Once both of them were sitting back at the table and Sarah started to pack out the pieces, Olivia tried again.

'When last did you see Kathy?' Olivia said as she was turning over the pieces for Sarah.

The little girl just shrugged her shoulders.

'Do you know that we are still looking for Kathy?' Sarah stopped what she was doing and looked at Olivia who in turn just kept push the puzzle pieces around in order to encourage the girl to keep playing while they spoke. 'It would help us to know when you saw her last.'

A few moments past and as eager as Olivia was for answers, she knew that she couldn't rush Sarah. 'He took her first.' The young girl replied very softly.

'Okay Sarah. Where were you when he took Kathy?'

'In his house. In the spare room.'

'Sarah now I want to ask you a question, but no matter what you say to me you won't be in trouble, ok?' Once again the youngster only nodded. 'Why did you go with Mr. Phillips to his house?'

'He said that Miss Kerry asked him to ask us to go with him to fetch something from his house for our class project that we were doing. But he lied.'

'I'm sorry Sarah.' The way in which the younger girl had said the last sentence tore at Olivia's heart strings and told her that it would be a long time before she would trust someone again. The girl continued out of her own accord.

'When he took Kathy, he told me he would hurt Kathy if I screamed or tried to get away. So I just sat on the bed waiting for him to bring her back. He never did. I should of tried to get away. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' She cried. Suddenly she pushed the half-built puzzle on the floor and ran to the couch at the back of the room.

Olivia got up and followed her. 'Sarah,' Olivia said in the gentlest tone she could as she knelt in front of the girl. 'I want you to listen to me. What happened was not your fault, ok?'

'But I should of tried to escape or call for help. Something.' By now Sarah was crying so hard all Olivia could do was hold her.