"What the hell is going on?" Logan ground out as he took a turn so fast the force actually moved Bobby across the seat and towards the passenger side door. Bobby steadied himself by placing his hands on the dash, he pushed himself back against the seat and closed his eyes. Neither Benson nor anyone on his home phone line was answering. Bobby's heart felt like it had stopped beating in his chest. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, and then rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead. He then placed his hands on the dash, trying to get some air into his lungs, if at all possible his ribs were hurting worse. He needed to get some air into his brain, clear his thoughts, slow them down. He needed to figure out exactly what was going on.
"Fernandez is after Lucy." Bobby started thinking aloud. "He wanted her to bargain with me. But why her?" Bobby mumbled to himself, but Logan was listening.
"Something you love for something he loves." Logan stated the obvious in that eye-for-an-eye kind of way. Bobby opened his eyes and looked at Logan, realizing that he was so unaccustomed to having someone he loved in his life that the most basic motivation had never even entered his mind. "What do you have that he loves?" Logan asked, taking another turn so fast that Bobby almost slid back across the seat.
"A few days ago we raided a place, scooped up three girls. All different ages maybe 12, 7, and 5. None of them are talking, we couldn't establish their identity. There were no adults on premises. They are with child protective services." Bobby said, realizing that was the starting point. Bobby was taking out his phone to call Eames. He needed her to chase down the whereabouts of those kids. Eames was always his go-to, injured shoulder or not, she would get this done.
For the second time in a single hour, they pulled down a street swarming with NYPD and EMTs. This time, Bobby felt like he was going to be ill. Eames had called it in, and Bobby was grateful the response had been so quick, but the amount of activity suggested that he had been right, that someone had tried to make a move on Lucy. He could hear NYPD calling "CLEAR" as he and Logan got out of the vehicle. They approached with a bit of caution, not wanting to alarm the officers on scene. It took every fiber of Bobby's being not to simply run for the front door, but the fact that they were calling "CLEAR" kept him together.
"Holy shit." Logan mumbled, moving to step exactly in front of Bobby to slow him down. The EMTs were wheeling Stabler out on a stretcher. Bobby almost knocked Logan over, not able to hold back any more, he rushed toward the stretcher, toward his house. Bobby pulled out his shield as he moved, adrenaline again flooding his system, pushing the pain from his ribs aside. He was barking out information, identifying himself, asking questions in rapid fire succession, trying to establish where Lucy was, where Addie was.
"She's with Olivia." Stabler pushed to sitting, glaring at the EMT who was trying to push him back down. "Look God damnit," Stabler growled and squinted at the badge on the lanyard around the EMTs neck. "Joyce," He called her by name for emphasis, "I am fine." It was evident that he hadn't been shot, but he did have a nasty laceration across his forehead, that would likely need stitches. "I don't need to be on this damned thing." Stabler referred to the stretcher. But, Bobby's mind was still stuck on the she's with Olivia. Who was the she and where was Olivia, and why wasn't it they are with Olivia.
Bobby looked past Stabler to see Olivia coming out the front door, Addie in her arms. Relief flooded over his senses, and he managed to catch half of a breath. But as he stood there watching, waiting for Lucy to walk out, he realized that was not going to happen. Stabler had used the singular - she, Lucy was not with Olivia.
Without saying anything, Bobby walked over to Olivia and took a sleepy Addie from her shoulder. He ignored the pain in his chest and cuddled his sleeping daughter close to him. He closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet, warm smell of Addie's wildly curly hair. His brain found it almost impossible to believe that everything that had happened had practically occurred during the span of Addie's morning nap. Bobby could tell that Olivia wanted to provide details of what had gone down, but Bobby stepped away for a moment. He just needed a second, a second to hold his daughter. He knew with absolutely certainty that Fernandez would not harm Lucy until Fernandez got what he wanted. So, at this point it didn't actually matter knowing what exactly had happened, all that mattered was that Fernandez had Lucy and Bobby needed to figure out how grabbing up those kids related to Fernandez. Bobby needed to talk with Eames.
Bobby's cell phone was ringing, with Addie balanced securely on his shoulder, he fished it out of his pocket. He expected to see that it was Eames, and was a little suprised when he didn't recognize the caller's number.
"Goren." Bobby answered.
"Lovely day, Detective." The caller said as a greeting. Bobby instantly recognized the voice. "How is that baby girl of yours? Still sleeping?" Theo Fernandez asked, and Bobby automatically looked around, as if Fernandez was standing nearby. Bobby moved to go inside the house. He knew the house was clear. "Your wife, she is lovely." Fernandez continued in a normal conversational tone. "But wait, she is not your wife. You would think, being a civilized man, that when she got pregnant you would've insisted on a shotgun wedding. But you are lapse in your religion, so maybe the small detail of marriage did not interfere too terribly with your morals." Fernandez offered, further baiting Bobby by revealing that he had access to a lot of Bobby's personal information.
"Put Lucy on the phone." Bobby finally replied. He needed to hear her voice. He needed to know that his absolute certainty that Fernandez would not harm Lucy was indeed absolute.
"Do you have Addie?" Lucy came onto the phone, thinking first of Addie's well-being.
"Yes. She is fine." Bobby replied, and was met with silence.
"She must be a fine mother, to think of her child first." Fernandez was back on the line. "She practically threw herself into my arms to keep me from coming inside." Fernandez added. "She feels nice, in my arms, your Lucy." Fernandez practically purred the words, again finding the perfect way to keep Bobby from rationale thought. "So, Detective, you have something that I want..."
"I have your daughters." Bobby replied, an educated guess, and he couldn't help but look at his daughter in his arms, who was starting to look decidedly unhappy. Bobby could tell she was hungry. He realized that he had walked through the house into the kitchen, so he deftly placed her in her high chair, practically gasping for air over the pain in his side. With his phone to his ear he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle.
"I find I cannot exactly leave the country, I need them back." Fernandez replied, his tone of voice changing to deadly serious, revealing that Bobby's guess was indeed the case that the children were related to Fernandez.
"What the hell?" It was Logan in the doorway, looking at Bobby standing in what appeared to be a rather domestic scene, in his kitchen, Addie in her high chair, casually carrying on a conversation on the phone. Bobby shot Logan a ZIP-IT look, not wanting Fernandez to prematurely end the call. Bobby silently handed Logan a bottle and pointed to the sink, wanting Logan to warm it with hot water, praying that Addie wouldn't start crying.
"I would like them returned to me and I will return what is yours to you." Fernandez's voice was quiet. Bobby watched Eames walk into the kitchen and automatically take the bottle from Logan's hand and start to warm it under the hot tap water. Bobby was still giving them both a deadly serious be-quiet type stare. Eames could always read him, she practically always knew her part. So, Bobby wasn't surprised that she should saunter into his kitchen and start warming Addie's bottle with her good arm. "I will call you with how we should go about this." Fernandez's voice turned back to a politely civilized tone, and with those words he ended the call.
"That was Theo Fernandez, he has Lucy, we apparently have his daughters. He was planning on leaving the country, but he couldn't leave without them. He wants to exchange Lucy for his daughters." Bobby took the bottle from Eames, tipped it gently to and fro a few times to make the temperature uniform, and walked over and held it for Addie, who took it greedily. Addie was attempting to hold it with her own little chubby hands. To Mike Logan, the scene could not have been any more surreal.
"Those girls, they have been reunited with their mother. She is a U.S. citizen." Eames offered, and Bobby found himself looking for a chair. He needed to sit down before he fell over. Eames started providing more details, but Bobby's head was spinning. He was looking at Addie, still helping her hold the bottle. Bobby looked at Addie's dark molasses curls, so much like Lucy's, then at Addie's eyes, which Lucy insisted were turning brown like his. Fernandez had Lucy, and Bobby needed to get his head clear and get Lucy back.
"We'll work through this." Eames said, her intelligent voice, smooth and calm. And, Bobby realized that he was going to have to give himself to Eames on this one. There was no way he was going to be able to do this on his own.
A/N: Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing. Now lets see if Eames can get Bobby through this and help get Lucy back...