Sealed
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Dick Wolf owns everything
Rating: T
Summary: I hate writing anything not cannon, but I just couldn't pass this up. A/U, Elliot never reconciled with Kathy. They have an amicable relationship, but his eye is on Olivia. Post Undercover, circa PTSD. Olivia finally comes clean about what happened in the basement, but she's having trouble with romantic relationships.
Elliot heard the phone chime on the nightstand next to him. Groping in the dark, he tried to grab it before it woke Olivia.
"Stabler."
"Elliot, we just got a call. Rape murder in an alley on 123th St. between Lenox and 7th Ave. It's Olivia's turn to catch, so can you relay the message?" came Cragen's voice through the phone.
"Uh, sure, but why didn't you just call her?" Elliot replied.
"This is Olivia's phone, Elliot." Oops. They'd have to come up with some excuse to cover this one up. Elliot turned to Olivia after hanging up the phone. She was laying on her back with one arm stretched above her head. Her face looked so calm, and she was sleeping soundly. He gave her arm a gentle shake.
"Liv…Liv…" Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright, pulling an arm back to take a swing. Elliot caught her. "Whoa, it's just me…you're ok."
"Sorry…it was instinct. What's wrong?" she said.
"Cragen just called. We have a rape murder to check out. It's your case."
"Wait…did you answer my phone?"
"Yeah…I thought it was mine. Look, we don't have to explain anything. At least, not yet."
XxXxX
"What have you got?" Olivia shouted out, lifting the yellow crime scene tape.
"Your victim appears to be in her late 30s, early 40s. Caucasian, brunette. No ID. No fluids, spermicide present. Throat slashed from ear to ear." Melinda Warner reported.
"Ok, so this looks like your garden variety blitz rape." Olivia said.
"It's more than that. After he was finished with her, he raped her again with this." Warner held up and evidence bag containing a six inch hunting blade, covered in blood. Olivia made a slightly disgusted face, mixed with pity.
"You're sure the knife came second?" Olivia asked.
"Pretty sure. I won't know for sure until I run some more tests at the lab, but the pattern of bruising and lacerations point toward that scenario." Warner stood back, and that was when Olivia got her first full view of the body. The girl was lying naked in the alley with the number 4 carved in her chest, along with several other bruises and lacerations.
"Any idea where the number 4 came from?" Olivia asked.
"That's your area of expertise, Detective. All I can tell you is that the same knife she was raped with was used to carve that into her."
"Pre or post-mortem?"
"Pre. The amount of blood coming from that wound indicated that her heart was still pumping when the incisions were made."
XxXxX
Back at the precinct, the squad had all assembled in the bullpen. Olivia walked them through the case.
"Jane Doe. Found in Harlem, raped and murdered. Evidence indicated that she was raped and mutilated with a six inch hunting knife before having her throat slashed. We have the serial number on the knife, so hopefully the manufacturer can help us track down where it was sold. With any luck, this guy was dumb enough to pay with a credit card." Olivia reported.
"Ok, Munch, Fin, you two take the photo and canvass the area. Stabler, track down that knife. Benson, run this guy's MO. See if we can figure out what that 4 is doing on her chest." The squad fanned out to attend to their various tasks.
XxXxX
"Ah, how I love the smell of fresh garbage in the morning." Munch said to Fin as he was standing the dumpster in the alley where Jane Doe was found. He had just tossed a forth bag of garbage to his partner.
"Why do we always get stuck doing this stuff?" Fin complained.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the Jew, you're the black guy. Nobody else wants to get their hands dirty." Fin gave Munch a disgusted look as he returned to digging though the garbage.
"Yo, I think I got something." he said, pulling what appeared to be a pink Kate Spade purse out of the bag. Opening it, he found a wallet containing $300, several credit cards, and a New York drivers license.
"Looks like our victim's name is Ophelia Barrington. Lives over on Central Park West. What the hell was she doing in Harlem?"
XxXxX
Olivia had dug her way through open cases in Manhattan and come up empty. She ran the information through VICAP, and registered 3 hits. Opal Blackwood, Oksana Bozek, and Orla Brennan, all brunette females, ages 38-43, found with numbers 1-3 carved into their chests. All that was known about the perp was that he was around 6' tall and Caucasian.
"We got an ID on your vic, Liv." Fin said as he strolled into the squad room. "Name's Ophelia Barrington, 40 years old. Lives on Central Park West. We checked all of the businesses around the alley. No one heard or saw anything." Olivia took the photos from his hand and taped them up to the board containing the information they had so far. She ran their names through a database and came back with another piece of the puzzle.
"Liv, we got a hit on your knife. It was sold at a sporting goods store in Midtown."
"Good. Ok, we have 4 victims now." She place photos of the victims in a row according to the numbers found carved on them. Underneath, she wrote their names and cities.
"Orla Brennan, Boston. Opal Blackwood, Albany. Oksana Bozek, Philadelphia, and now Ophelia Barrington, New York. Warner's checking the M.E.s to see if their wounds match those of our vic. Although, my gut tells me they do."
"Olivia Benson." said Stabler, out of nowhere.
"What?" Olivia said.
"Look at the board. Olivia Benson. Look, all four of these women are right around your age, all brunette. Even more than that, they all have shoulder length hair parted to the right. And, all of their initials are O.B." Olivia looked at the board again. He was right. Her face could be up on that board, and the pattern fit. She grabbed her jacket, and she and Elliot headed down to the sporting good store to check on the knife.
XxXxX
The search at the sporting goods store proved to be productive. While they had no credit card evidence, they did manage to get ahold of the security footage showing the perp buying the knife. Morales ran the image through facial recognition software and found his name was Nathan Blackwell. They pulled his address from the New York DMV, and left the instant Kim Greylek handed them their search warrant.
Olivia pounded on the door of the shabby apartment in the Village.
"Police! Open up!" She pounded again. Getting no response, she and Elliot drew their guns, and Elliot kicked down the door. They checked each room, guns drawn. Olivia missed the closet behind the bathroom door. Nathan flew out and grabbed her from behind, holding a gun to her head.
"Drop the gun. Drop it!" he yelled, pulling her close to him. She unclipped the magazine and set the gun on the bathroom sink.
"Let her go." Elliot said, aiming his gun at Olivia and Nathan.
"Hmm, let's see. Option 1, let her go, and you arrest me. See, I don't really have time to answer all of your questions today. Option 2, she comes with me. You won't shoot her, and we walk right out of here. I think I like Option 2 better." Nathan said mockingly.
"Shoot him, El." Olivia said, her eyes pleading. Elliot cocked his gun.
Nathan started moving towards the door, using Olivia as a shield. Elliot took a step forward.
"Whoa, there, cowboy. Not so fast. We're walking out of here, or your little friend won't have such a pretty face anymore."
"I can't let you leave with her. You know that. Now, what can I get you?" Elliot said, never lowering his own gun. Nathan laughed.
"Get me?" He turned to Olivia. "Your little partner over there thinks I want something. All I want is to leave, and I'll take you as a bonus." A single tear slid down Olivia's face.
"So what, you'll carve a number 5 into my chest? Is that it? And dump me into another alley?"
"Perhaps. If I'm not forced to kill you before then. You'd like to be number 5, wouldn't you?" She caught Elliot's eye. Do it. she mouthed. Elliot's mouth went dry. He knew he had to do something, or they would be scraping Olivia off the pavement. On 3. she mouthed. He watched her left hand closely. One finger, two fingers, three fingers. She threw herself to the side and he fired, hitting Nathan directly in the shoulder. Olivia reached out and took the gun from his hand before he registered what had happened. Elliot arrested him, while Olivia took the radio from her belt and called for a bus. He would need surgery, which meant they wouldn't be able to talk to him until tomorrow at the earliest.
XxXxX
"I thought I was going to lose you today." Elliot said, as he held Olivia in his lap.
"I know. I wasn't sure I was walking away either." Elliot pulled her closer to him.
"Don't leave me, Liv. Don't ever leave me." he said, as he nuzzled her neck.
"I can't promise that, El, but I can promise you that I'll stay for as long as I can." With that, she kissed him on the forehead, took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom. They climbed into bed, and she curled herself into his body, noticing he was holding a little more tightly than usual.
Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks to all of you who reviewed the first 3 chapters. More is coming, and the case isn't over yet!