Day 2 ½ : My Little Alibi

Part IV

Rated R

Author's note: Someone mentioned the clothing that Olivia has to wear, she is going into the sex slave trade, well for the ten days she has. Everyone else who is a slave in the trade has to wear the same thing, it makes them seem more like property and not people. That will be mentioned in the story, I just wanted to clarify! Also I know nothing about police procedure so um….NO NITPICKING! Anyway keep reading! R&R!

Olivia was sitting downstairs in the lounge trying not to fall asleep as she watched Mariann brush Parnminder's long hair. Parminder knelt on the floor in front of Mariann's chair, she didn't move, even when the brush got snagged in her hair. The demoral was causing Olivia to be drowsy but she knew that she couldn't go to sleep. She looked at her watch for the third time in a half hour, it was two o'clock in the afternoon, she had to start talking to Mariann, no matter how much it bothered her to speak. It was even getting hard to put a complete thought together.

"What did you do to Evelyn Oakley?" She finally asked, it was the first thing she had said since getting down there. Mariann didn't look up from brushing Mindy's hair.

"Evelyn messed with the wrong person, namely me, so I got rid of her." Mariann said in a way that showed no regret whatsoever. Olivia leaned forward slightly, Mariann was actually admitting to doing something, it didn't even dawn on her that she was probably admitting to it because she was one hundred percent sure that Olivia was going to die in nine days.

"What did she do to you that was so bad that you had to kill her?" Olivia asked through clenched teeth, she felt herself getting angry, well as angry as she could get while sedated. Mariann parted Mindy's hair and started to pull it into a French braid.

"Well, she stalked me, emotionally blackmailed me, oh and she told my mother to go to hell." Mariann said like she was in the right. Olivia nodded, everything about that statement was stupid, why would you kill someone for doing that? Unless you were completely insane. The stalking might be a reason to off someone, if it was in a threatening manner, even so murder was never right.

"Stalking you?"

"Yeah online," Mariann replied as she worked Mindy's hair, "I mean I changed my screen name like 100 times and she always found me, hunted me down like a fox. She also called me a few times and hung up before saying anything." Olivia looked at Mariann is disbelief, did she even need to launch into an explanation on how easy it was to find someone online when they knew their name? And calling someone a few times and hanging up was not stalking. It was a little weird, but unless she was doing it every day or even every week, it wasn't stalking.

"How many times is a "few" phone calls?" Olivia asked, her investigative side was kicking in. Mariann stopped braiding for a moment and thought about it.

"Like 5 times in maybe six months."

"In what kind of crazy, fucked up, backwards…" Olivia was beginning to start a tirade and Mariann started to glare at her. Olivia looked at Mindy who was looking back at her with wide eyes and a look that was telling her to shut the hell up, "I'm sorry, I lost my temper, won't happen again."

"Better not." Mariann replied and then tied off the braid and stood up, "I'm going to find Laura, I need someone who isn't already bought to slap around. You know the rules Mindy, tell them to Olivia, and nothing else." She walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, locking it at least three times. Mindy looked at Olivia and crawled over to her. She pulled her to the floor and told her to kneel. Olivia's motions were slow and deliberate because of the demoral but she got to a kneeling position.

"What's wrong with you?" Mindy snapped at her in a harsh whisper, "She has a little remote and all she has to do is push a little button and a shock like you won't believe will hit you. If you want to get anywhere with mistress then convince her that you are falling in love with her…she can't get enough of that." Olivia looked at Mindy like she was insane.

"What kind of fucked up world is she living in? 5 phone calls equals stalking? What the HELL?"

"Keep your voice down! Look I know she's in her own little world but she has been for years and no one has stopped her, no one has tried to hunt her down, and any trouble she gets in she can buy her way out of, so I suggest that you either pretend to love her or keep your damn mouth shut, you understand what I'm saying?" Mindy insisted, looking Olivia deep in the eye. Olivia had to think about it for a moment, the drug made her thought process go haywire, but she nodded. She did want to pry more information out of Mariann but it seemed that the wrong way to do that was to be a detective. If she only had 9 days left she could pretend to like Mariann, maybe even love her. Since Mariann was living in her own little version of reality then it probably wouldn't be that hard to convince her. She sighed and smiled just slightly, it was a plan, a lousy one at best, but at least it was something.

Elliot was standing outside of M. Lovett's condo building with Munch smoking a cigarette. He was waiting for confirmation of a search warrant. They didn't really have much to say to each other due to the fact that both of them already knew that who ever this M. Lovett person was, she wasn't going to be in the condo waiting for them. It was just the two of them there, Elliot was sure the place would be empty. It was just an address that M used for whatever sick games she liked to play…and Olivia would have found a way to be heard if she was locked in a closet or a room. He snuffed out his cigarette after dropping it to the ground, and his phone rang. He picked it up, it was Casey and she told him that they had the warrant. Elliot looked at Munch and they both headed up to the penthouse at the top of the building.

When they got to the door Elliot wanted nothing more then to kick it down but he had to consider the fact that someone might be in there who would be willing to help, so he knocked on the door. He had a warrant in any case, so it wouldn't really matter if someone was home. After another moment the door opened and a girl with long red hair and bright green eyes opened the door. She was petite, thin, and very pretty.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She asked in a voice that was laced with a southern accent. As she opened the door more Elliot noticed that she was in scrubs and white coat, she was a doctor. She looked like she could be related to Liz, with the red hair and the body size, but Elliot was trying his best not to jump to conclusions.

"Hi I'm detective Stabler and this is detective Munch, we have a warrant to search the premises." Elliot said as he and Munch both held up their shields for the woman to see. She looked surprised but she stepped back to let them in, "What's your name?"

"Dixie Dunsbi," She said with a smile, "Can I get you something to drink? I just got back from work at St. Mary's hospital and I'm a little tired so bare with me." Elliot took a look around, everything was immaculately clean. If there was any evidence in here it would be hard to find. Both of the detectives followed her into the kitchen, where she got out two mugs and started to pour coffee into them. "It's decaf, sorry."

"You're a doctor? You don't work for a catering service?" Munch asked then picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip. Dixie looked at him like he was insane and shook her head as she let out a little laugh.

"I'm an intern at the hospital detective, I hardly have time to be dabbling in the art of food preparation." Dixie said and then picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. "Where would you get an idea like that?"

"A Dixie Dunsbi didn't show up for work on a movie set this morning and her address is this one." Elliot said and then held up the paper with the phone number and address. Dixie looked at it for a moment and then handed it back to him.

"That's not my phone number, but I rent this place from a woman, M. Lovett, she never told me her first name and at 200 dollars a month, I don't question." Dixie replied and then took another sip from her cup, "Although there is a room that is locked with like three deadbolts that I'm not allowed to go into. Once again, this place for 200? She could be storing dead cats in there for all I care." Elliot looked at Munch and then back to Dixie.

"Can you take us to the room?" Elliot asked, Dixie nodded slightly and walked out of the kitchen. The penthouse was huge, and Elliot thought she was right, if someone was only charging him 200 dollars a month to stay there he probably wouldn't question anything about a locked room. Well he might question it but he probably wouldn't investigate. Dixie lead him to the very back where there was a door with three locks on it.

"You mind if I get some sleep? I have to be back at work in like 8 hours." Dixie said and then yawned slightly.

"We have to kick down the door." Elliot replied.

"I don't care what you do, I'll sleep through anything." Dixie turned and headed back towards the front of the condo, "Wake me if you need anything else." Elliot watched her leave and then looked at Munch. He was ready to kick in anything because he was angry and Munch wasn't about to stop him from doing it. Elliot took a step back, lifted his leg, and slammed his foot into the door. He did it again, and then again and finally the door snapped off of it's hinges and fell into the room. What they saw next was absolutely amazing.

It was a bedroom, but it was almost like a child's bedroom. The tops of the walls were lined with shelves, and on those shelves sat maybe a hundred My Little Pony dolls. The bed had a purple bed spread on it but that could barely be seen under the myriad of All American Girl Dolls that sat on top. Everything was perfect and everything was in mint condition. Elliot looked at Munch with an arched eyebrow, he side stepped the door and entered the room fully. Off to the right there was a top of the line computer and about 15, 8 by 10 black and white photos of women above it. Under each photo there was a name written, just a first name. Elliot looked at the computer and noticed the phone next to it. The message machine on it was flashing a number 1 in red. He reached over and pressed play, the message was of him yelling "Sonuva Bitch" into the phone.

A few hours later it was time to make lunch and Parminder took Olivia into the huge kitchen and started to prepare an Indian dish that Olivia couldn't pronounce. It was a curry dish and it smelled delicious. Parminder was plating the food silently and Olivia was watching her. She wondered why she was in there in the first place. After she plated the food she turned to Olivia and looked at her.

"She's going to want you to cook when I'm gone." Mindy informed her and then picked up the two dishes, "Pick up one of the plates and follow me." She said and then started towards the servant's route to the dining room. Olivia picked up a plate and followed, leaving two plates behind on the counter. They entered the dining room and Mindy indicated where the plate would go and Olivia set it down at the table.

"Why are there three people now? I know about Mariann and Laura but who's the third?" Olivia asked as she followed Mindy back into the kitchen. Mindy turned and looked at her.

"Mistress's mother, Judy, joins them for lunch and dinner. She's worse then mistress, she makes us eat in the kitchen, which I guess is fine now that I have someone here to talk to." Mindy explained and then picked up the two remaining plates and brought them over to the small wooden table that was in the back corner of the kitchen. Olivia sat down at the table across from her and picked up the fork and started to eat. She began wondering why Mindy thought she was leaving before her, what she was going to cook, and how she was going to keep herself in check without someone looking out for her.

"I have a few questions for you," Olivia said and then picked up a piece of chicken and popped it into her mouth, "First of all, the most I can ever throw together in the kitchen is pasta or sandwiches, how am I supposed to compare with your food? Secondly, why do you think you are leaving before they plan on getting rid of me?"

"Training time is almost over and she mentioned me being sold or something, I wasn't really paying attention cause frankly I don't care anymore. Secondly, mistress doesn't really like my cooking but Laura is dumber then paste and probably couldn't microwave a hotdog. I'm sure that what ever you make will be fine. She'll only have to put up with it for a few days anyway, I'm supposed to be here for five more days, it was nice knowing you." Olivia frowned, if Parminder left or was "sold" to someone then she would have no way of helping her, she had to find a way to keep that from happening.

Around nine o'clock that night the computer had been analyzed and the technician was explaining to Elliot what had been found on the computer. He had a few printouts and Elliot was looking through them as he talked, as it turned out M stood for Mariann. The first few things about her seemed to make sense of the room they saw earlier. Mariann was an avid trader, seller, and collector of My Little Ponies and American Girl dolls. Although there was something else she liked to buy and sell that was very illegal.

It seemed that she was in the slave trade, although her website didn't come right out and say that. Basically she had pictures of women and prices under them, the website was disguised as some sort of home stripper service, but no one in their group was naive enough to believe that load of crap. With the website and pictures they had gathered, it was clear even to the dumbest person what was going on. There still weren't any last names of the girls on the site, but from the descriptions Elliot was guessing he would find that they were all from different countries.

Munch had found out from Dixie that she paid her rent every month in cash and sent it to a P.O Box in the city. There were no checks and no forwarding address, but Munch was convinced that either she or someone who was connected to her would come pick up the money eventually. Dixie had just sent the money to the address two days earlier and according to one of the post office workers the box hadn't been opened yet that month. The next plan of action was to sit outside of the post office and wait for someone to come and open that box. Him and Munch would do that when the post office opened the following morning, but right now it was time for him to go home to his kids.

The next morning Munch sat in the car outside of the post office while Elliot stayed inside waiting for their perp. He was hoping he would get lucky and it would be Mariann herself, but she was obviously smart enough to know that she had to stay hidden. Not fifteen minutes later did a guy walk over to the box and open it up. Elliot was quick to apprehend the guy, who didn't put up much of a fight to get away from him. The guy remained cool and maintained his innocence, even when they got him back to the station and into the interrogation room.

"I own that P.O Box detective." The man they knew as Henry Lee tried to explain, "last time I checked that wasn't a crime."

"If that's your box then why are you getting mail from an M. Lovett? Where is she Henry? Where is she?" Elliot asked, he felt his cool demeanor starting to slip again, good thing Munch was in there with him.

"How the hell should I know? I don't even know the woman's first name. She borrowed a substantial amount of money from me last year and this is how she pays me back." Henry said, he was obviously lying and that was just making Elliot madder and madder.

"The Lovett family is worth close to 2.5 BILLION dollars, you expect us to believe that she needed to borrow money from you?" Munch asked and then looked over to Elliot. Henry laughed slightly and folded his hands on the table.

"I want a lawyer."

"Fine, you'll get your lawyer but if my wife DIES because you know where Mariann Lovett is, I'll charge you as an accessory, so if you have anything to say, do it now…" Elliot threatened, but Henry didn't seem to be intimidated at all. He was in an expensive suit and reeked of money, any lawyer he had could probably wipe the floor with Elliot.

"Can I call my lawyer now?" Henry asked, Elliot clenched his hands into fists and looked over to Munch.

"Get the lying bastard a phone." He said and then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

End Part IV