Sealed
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Dick Wolf owns everything
Rating: M
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.
The phone on Haggerty's desk rang.
"Special Victims. Detective Haggerty." She paused. "It's for you." she said, puzzled, handing the phone to Elliot.
"Stabler."
"Riddle me this, Elliot. Where would you find steady blue, clear view; flashing blue, clouds due; steady red, rain ahead; flashing red, snow instead? Find it, and you may find Olivia. Oh, and tell Haggerty to check her phone. Tick tock, Detective!" The line went dead.
"Elliot? What happened?"
"A riddle. Uh, something about flashing blue, rain due…I don't know, she said it so fast."
"Steady blue, clear view; flashing blue, clouds due, steady red, rain ahead; flashing red, snow instead?" Haggerty said, rising from her perch on her desk.
"Yeah…that's it. She also said to check your phone." Elliot said.
"That's the rhyme for the Old Hancock Tower. Let's go." The three of them tore out of the building and sped towards the Old Hancock Tower. En route, Haggerty checked her phone.
"Oh, my God." she whispered. "Elliot…" He took the phone from her. He saw Olivia sitting in what looked like an old factory, but nothing that would distinguish the location. She was tied with duct tape, and she looked absolutely terrified, but otherwise unharmed.
"Hey, Marissa? There's a text message coming through." he said, handing the phone back to her. She read it out loud.
"Wanna catch all the fun? Check out .com."
They raced around the Old Hancock Tower. Taped to a wall was an envelope. Marissa took it an opened it.
"Time begins now. Find the lights of Paul Revere, or in 24 hours Olivia dies here." she read.
"The Old North Church. One if by land, two if by sea…" Chris said.
"And I on the opposite shore will be. Let's go!" Haggerty finished. All three of them ran back to the car and sped to the Old North Church.
"SVU portable to Central, we need a search team at the Old North Church." Marissa radioed in.
"Acknowledged, SVU Portable. ETA 5 minutes." came a crackled voice.
"Copy."
20 officers and the 3 detectives tore the Old North Church apart looking for some sort of clue to Olivia's whereabouts.
"It's not here." Chris said.
"Where else could it be?" Marissa answered.
"I don't know." Chris said grimly.
XxXxX
"Well, well, well, Olivia. You're friends just found my first clue. That means we start the clock. She flicked the switch on an old analog clock sitting across from Olivia.
"We countdown from 24 hours. But for the next day, we get to have a little fun. Are you ready? I thought we might take in a little movie." She turned on a projector behind Olivia. She saw a home video of the first victim, Orla Brennan, chasing after a toddler. "You remember Orla, don't you? She was quite a success. She had a Ph.D. in chemistry. Head of her department, happily married, and mother to that adorable little girl on the screen."
"Why are you showing me this?" Olivia asked as she stared at the screen in disbelief.
"I found her for Adam. Just keep watching." There was a break in the video. It switched over to Orla being attacked. Olivia watched as Adam mutilated, raped and killed the poor girl.
"Her death is on you, Olivia. You caused that little girl to lose her mommy."
"I didn't kill her." she said calmly.
"Oh, but you did. You sent my brother away. Payback's a bitch sweetie. Now admit it, you caused her death."
"No." Olivia said. Lily reached out and hit Olivia's arm with a taser. Olivia screamed it pain.
XxXxX
Back at Boston SVU, Ike, Ronald, and Captain Florres were glued to the computer, watching the website that had been sent to Marissa.
"Captain, we have a clock moving on the screen. It's been holding steady at 24 hours, and it just started to tick backwards."
"Haggerty and Maloney must have done something to trigger that switch. Based on what they relayed to us, Olivia has 24 hours to live. They think the next clue is leading to the Old North Church, but we have reports saying they found nothing there."
"What was the clue, Captain?" Ronald asked. He checked the memo he had in his hand.
"'Find the lights of Paul Revere, or in 24 hours Olivia dies here.'"
"The obvious answer is the Old North Church, but there's a painting of Paul Revere's midnight ride at the Gardner Museum." He said. Ike and Capt. Florres looked at him like he was crazy. "Hey, I grew up here, and this town turned me into a history buff. I'm telling you, send them to the Gardner Museum." Capt. Florres picked up the radio and relayed the message.
XxXxX
Marissa, Chris, and Elliot tore through the museum at high speed. The found the painting of Paul Revere's ride after 20 minutes of searching.
"Another damn note." Chris said. "'Gaze into the Olivia's future at the place where the doors are always open.' What the hell?" Marissa furrowed her brow.
"'Gaze into the future…'" she said. "Like a psychic?"
"You think she'd send us to Salem?" Chris suggested.
"That makes sense to me. The Salem Witch Trials? I bet there are plenty of places that do psychic readings up there." Elliot said.
"No. Hang on…'where the doors are always open…'" Marissa said. "Open Doors."
"Huh?" Both men said.
"It's a metaphysical store in Braintree. They sell incense, candles, books on the occult, and that's their logo. 'Where the doors are always open.'"
"How do you know this stuff?" Elliot asked.
"I know a lot of Wiccans." He looked at her like she was crazy. "They're not so bad. Mother loving, earthy, crunchy, granola types. And they know where to find the best yoga classes in town." They jumped back in the car and sped down 93 to Braintree.
"Hey, Elena! It's good to see you." Marissa said the woman behind the counter.
"Marissa! What brings you out here today? If you're here for a reading, Diane won't be in until tomorrow." The two guys both looked at Marissa.
"Umm, no. I'm actually here on official business. Did anyone leave any kind of message for me here?" Marissa said.
"Yeah, actually. This was left at the counter two days ago, with instructions to give it to the police when they stopped by." Elena said, handing her an envelope.
"Elena, what did this person look like?" she asked.
"Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I was off two days ago, but I can call the manager. He was the one who took the message." Elena replied.
"Never mind. And, thanks." Marissa left the store, followed by the two guys.
"Mariss, please tell me you don't go for that psychic crap." Chris said.
"Shut up, Chris. I detox in my way and you detox in yours." she snapped.
"You think you know somebody…" Chris said.
"If you two are done, I'd like to know what that message says. And why you didn't want to talk to the manager. We could have gotten a description." Elliot said.
"Nick's a flake. You can't trust a word he says." she said, opening the envelope. "'Stop for a quick ride, but don't take too long to decide. If your detective work is shoddy, here's where you'll find the body.'"
XxXxX
"Lily, did you start without me?" a male voice came from behind Olivia.
"Elliot called a little earlier than we expected, so Olivia and I were just watching a few home movies." she replied.
"Ah, yes. Orla. She was a fighter. I was a little quick with her; I never made that mistake again. Hello, Olivia."
"Adam Harris." she said softly.
"Each one of those women was such a thrill, but I think I'm going to enjoy you the most." He reached out to stroke her face. She jerked her head away. "Don't touch me." she hissed.
"Don't worry. I'm not ready to fuck you yet. We still have more movies to watch. Lily? I believe Opal is up next?"
"Absolutely. She was kind of pathetic. Single, married to her job…oh, wait a minute. That sounds like you, Olivia." Olivia watched the video of a classroom. Opal was at the front.
"She was a math professor. Her students all loved her. Pity you had to cause her death."
"I didn't kill her." Olivia repeated.
"You did!" Lily screamed, and hit her with the taser in the stomach this time. Olivia's scream rang throughout the building.
Reviews are greatly appreciated! I hope you are all enjoying the Boston counterparts. Hopefully, they're just as good as our favorite NYPD squad!