I cant even begin to say how sorry I am for not updating sooner! Oh my god I felt bad :( But it's here now :D
Huang emerged from the children's interview room, stone faced. Lacey had described the night they ran and previous rapes and attacks on her mom from her father for nearly 30 minutes now. They all wanted that son of a bitch to suffer, a lot.
"I am seriously considering going down there and shooting the bastard myself." Elliott remarked, disgusted.
"Let me help." Fin said and the other's nodded in agreement. Cragen let a sigh escape.
"Olivia, Elliot take the girls back to one of your houses and get them cleansed and fed. Munch, Fin get the house address and go see what the hell happened." Cragen ordered. They all nodded.
A hour later, Lacey had just gotten out of the shower with help from Olivia, who was shocked at how skinny the girl was. Before they went home, they stopped and picked up some clothes and a toy each. Lacey was now snug in a pair of lady bug pajamas. Olivia had helped her brush through her hair and get ready. Amber was next for the shower, a fuzzy cream towel hanging on the rack and a matching washcloth resting on the counter.
Her body tense, she slowly stripped off her articles of clothing one by one. It felt weird to be showering in someone's house. She turned on the faucet, jumping a little when the cold water struck. Soon it adjusted to warm and she sighed, letting it engulf her beaten body.
Outside, Elliot was in the middle of cooking dinner while Olivia talked with Lacey.
"So Lacey, did you go to school?"
"Yup. But last Wednesday was my last day." The little girl smiled, "school was fun."
"What grade were you in?"
"Second."
"Already?"
"Yup. Amber was in fourth, the teacher said we got's to skip a grade cause we're smart and mama put us in early." Lacey smiled proudly.
"That's good." Olivia smiled "Who's your best friend?"
"Rachel Medina. She has pretty hair."
"Well so do you." Olivia grinned and Lacey giggled.
"Thanks Livia. Hey! So do you!"
"Thanks Lace. Now do you know who Amber's best friend is?"
"Rachel's older sister, Jasmine."
"Really? That's cool. Now can you tell me who your teacher was?"
"Ms. Martinez."
"And Ambers?"
"Mrs. Medina, Rachel and Jasmines mama."
"Okay, perfect Lace." The two smiled brightly at each other.
At the same time, Fin and Munch were on their way to the girls house, using the address they got from Amber. They pulled up and hopped out, both silent and nervous about what they where about to face. Guns drawn, the men slowly inched their way up. Fin pounded on the door.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cook! Police! Open up!" Fin's voice blared, but was only met with silence.
"Open the door or we'll open it for you!" Munch shouted and his partner sighed. This wasn't a good sign.
"Shit."
Suddenly the door was kicked open, only to reveal a broken, bloody, body thrown on the floor. Fin ran in.
"Show yourself`, now!" Hw shouted but no one came. Munch raced over to the body.
"She's got a pulse, barely. I'll get a bus." He radioed in their findings while Fin continued to search the house.
The living room had a tv resting on a tv stand which was cluttered with empty cigarette packs and beer bottle. The old worn couch smelled like dog pee and was covered with mattered pillows. A dirty, blood stained rug was displaced and beer bottles, trash and drops of blood flooded the floor.
The kitchen was filled with empty bottles which had once contained hard liquor. The sink was cluttered with moldy food and disgusting dishes. Fin opened the cabinets only to reveal stale chips, some cereal and cookies. Oh and bugs. The kitchen led to the backyard which had a dog running around, no wonder is smelled like dog pee everywhere. Feeling sick to him stomach, Fin walked back into the living room.
"This place must've been a living hell."
Back at Stabler's, it was dinner time. Lacey happily munched on a carrot stick, Olivia severed the girls the chicken, Elliot severed them pasta salad and Amber sat, not really doing anything.
"Amber, you okay?" Olivia asked.
"Fine."
"Okay, if you wanna talk just let me know. Promise?"
"I promise Livia."
"Okay thanks. What do you want to drink? We have strawberry lemonade." She smiled brightly and Amber wished she could match her enthusiasm.
"Sure, thanks."
"Livia?" Lacey asked.
"Yeah?"
"Can I have some lemonade too?" The tiny girl asked eagerly. Olivia gave a light laugh.
"Sure sweetie."
Suddenly her phone buzzed and a mixture of emotions filled her mind, she already knew it was either Fin or Munch calling with what happened. She almost ran away from the table, but instead gave Elliot a nod as he imeadetly distracted the girls with a question.
"Benson."
"She's alive barely. He's gone."
"Son of a bitch!" She cursed and mentally kicked herself as she remembered the two little girls in the next room, "what's wrong with her?" She asked in a quieter tone .
"Rape kit was positive for fluids, multiple bruises, cuts and hell the bastard bit her, hair was ripped out of her damn scalp and not even a hour later and she would've been dead." Fin said, disgusted as he relived the doctors voice going on and on with everything wrong.
"What about the house?"
"Disgusting. Worst thing I've ever smelled, almost puked. Drugs and booze bottle everywhere, ranging from a simple beer to hard stuff I cant even pronounce. A total mess, stale food, and a shitty place all over."
"Any word on Robert Cook?"
"Bastard disappeared into thin air. Car's gone, the bedroom ransacked and clothes missing from drawers thrown on the floor. He could be in Florida now, we're screwed."
"You got a search warrant?"
"Nah, just walked through, Novak's getting the warrant now."
"Good. I'm in the middle of dinner, call me when something happens. Bye."
"Bye."
Nausea overtook Olivia and the last thing she wanted to do was smile like everything was fine and dandy and eat. But she forced on a smile anyway as she made her way back into the kitchen. She shot Elliot a pained look and he let a silent sigh loose.
"Please tell me she's alive." He mouthed eagerly, Olivia merely shook her head yes and he knew there was more, "where's Robert?"
"Missing, she's in the hospital. It's bad El." She mouthed back and through out dinner, both tired not to let their frustration consume them.
Both girls ate quickly and a lot. After a good meal Lacey met Olivia's eyes and let a small, toothy grin break through.
"There's dessert right Livia?"
While the girls helped themselves to a big bowl of ice cream, Olivia and Elliot excused themselves to talk privately. Olivia explained the situation to her partner and he felt anger boil throughout. This guy was going down, he thought bitterly.
"I guess we should go tell them about their mother." Olivia sighed staring to depart back to the kitchen. But Elliot caught her by the wrist and pulled her in for a deep kiss. The kiss however was interrupted by the "ba-rinngg!" of Olivia's cell phone. With a sigh she pulled it out, flipped it open and barked out, "Benson."
Suddenly the color drained from her face and mixture of a frown and scowl appeared.
"Oh. Okay, uh thanks Fin." She pushed down on the keypad and the phone call ended. Elliot shot her a curious look and she sighed once more.
"She's dying El. She's lost too much blood and…she's just not gonna make it."
"How long?" His voice was strained and tiered.
"A little less then two hours."
The group of four raced over to the hospital, Elliot driving like a mad man, Amber facing the window with silent tears, Lacey in a fetal position sobbing and Olivia pondering the name of the girls mother. Ashley Smith Cook. Her mind darted back to her younger years, from 2nd grade to 8th.
Her mother had another professor she worked with, who just so happened to have a daughter Olivia's age. It just so also happened her little girls name was Ashley Smith and her mother was a alcoholic as well. They eventually moved after Ashley's mom was fired, leaving Olivia to deal with high school alone. Olivia still had the old Best Friends Forever they had splurged on in 4th grade. It had taken Olivia and Ashley endless hours of babysitting and little jobs to afford it, but they finally did it.
The entire time, Olivia kept telling herself that Ashley Smith was a fairly common name. But the fact Amber and Lacey had the same piercing, grass green eyes and fair brown hair as Olivia's old friend didn't help. Neither did the fact Lacey's laugh sounded just like Ashley's and Amber had the exact same smile.
But once the girls burst through the hospital room with the detectives close behind, there was no mistaking Olivia's former friend lay broken in a hospital bed. With merely a hour to live. Olivia felt her throat close and she breathed a shaky breath.
"Hey stranger. It's b-been awhile" She managed out, with a small smile. Ashley's face showed that she obviously knew Olivia but she turned around and a snooty look drew upon her face.
"Leave Olivia. Now."
Someone needs to pull the stick out...like the police officer at my school today. We had a lock down and my grade was outside so we walked to a softball field near by. We were sitting in a group and he drives up and yells at us for talking! I understand the importance of not talking, INSIDE the school! But we were far away and the teachers didn't care! He kept using the metaphor "slap in the face" too. I was like "shut the hell up, and get a tampon!" Gawd that drill was crazy...review!