Chapter Ten: S.O.S.
Manhattan's SVU Squad Room
Thursday August 20th, 13:06
Morales, Alex and Elliot walked through the squad room on the way to Cragen's office. Stabler motioned for Munch and Fin to follow them. Everyone filed into the Captain's office. He looked up at them. "A call saying the site was down would have sufficed people."
Stabler shook his head. "It's not down."
Cragen leaned back in his chair. "Okay…why?"
Morales addressed the Captain. "I tried to take it down but someone stopped me. They blocked me every time I tried to worm my way in and then…"
"And then what?" Cragen asked.
The tech looked at Stabler and the detective sighed. "A message came up just before Morales was locked out for good. It said 'I was born at night but not last night'."
Fin shook his head. "Jess is keeping Pharaoh's site up and running."
"What would make her do that?" Munch asked.
"Olivia." Fin looked around at everyone in the room. "Jess knows Pharaoh has her. It's the only reason the Kid would ever do something like this."
Cragen looked around at everyone standing in his office. "Conference room, now. There are too many people in here and we need to work out possible scenarios."
Stabler looked around before everyone left. "One more thing. Someone was running a trace on Morales while Jess was keeping him out of the website. Someone who knows an awful lot about computers."
"Ken. You think both our sons are with her?" Fin asked Stabler.
He nodded, "Yeah, I do. Did any in-coming calls match on Dick and Ken's cell phone records?"
Munch shook his head. "No, not a single number. Although they each received a call within three minutes of each other around 9:30 on Wednesday morning.
Cragen stood up and started ushering everyone out of his office. "Once we are done in the conference room I want both those numbers called. I want to know who was talking to those boys."
Payphone in Lower Manhattan
Thursday August 20th, 12:45
"New York Times, Metro division"
"Casey Novak, please," Jess said into the phone. She was put on hold for a few seconds.
"Novak"
"Hey Casey, it's Shorty. Listen, I need your help."
The strawberry blonde sat up straighter in her chair. "What's wrong?"
Jess played with the metal cord attaching receiver to the phone. "I'll explain everything if you'll just meet me. Please…Casey, you're the only one I can trust."
Casey grabbed a pen and her notepad. "Where are you?"
The teenager told her where she was and Casey promised to be there in thirty minutes. Jess hung up and called the buster. Dick answered it.
"You and Ken need to be out of there in 45 minutes."
Dick shook his head. "We're not leaving. You are not doing this on your own."
"Stabler listen to me. I'm going to bring Casey by to make sure we have enough evidence on Pharaoh. She used to be an A.D.A., so she would know. If she says we do, then I'll call it in."
The teenager narrowed his eyes, "And if she says we don't have enough evidence?"
Jess sighed. "I'll ask her what it will take."
"Jess, I don't like this. Ken and I will leave the warehouse in 45 minutes, but we'll be around the corner. Once Casey leaves we are coming back in."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine. Shut the cell off now and don't forget to leave in 45 minutes. Oh and tell Ken to take his laptop with him. We don't need it."
Dick looked at Ken and nodded his head. "We'll be gone, don't worry. I'll let him know."
They disconnected. Jess threw the garbage bag away and waited for Casey.
146 Banker Street
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Thursday August 20th, 13:00
Evan Winthrop was marched through a series of hallways and into the room that Olivia was working in. He cried all the way there. When he came into the brunette's sights she went to hug him but her arms snapped back against her shackles. Markus Pharaoh walked in behind Evan. "Ah, ah, ah…Detective," he said waving his left index finger at her. His right hand held a gun to Evan's back. "Don't touch him. He is only here to deliver his new video to you."
He looked down at the boy. "Give Olivia the DVD," Pharaoh said in a sickly sweet voice. Evan held the DVD out to Olivia but he couldn't look at her. She saw his tears and her heart broke. She took the DVD from the child and couldn't help herself. The detective wiped a few tears from his right cheek and said, "It's not your fault."
Markus raised his right hand and hit Olivia on the back of her head with the butt of the gun. "What did I tell you about touching him, Olivia?" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Tears stung at her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She looked down at Evan but spoke to Pharaoh. "Sorry. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't. Put that video up on the website. I'll be back later to deal with you." Markus took Evan's hand in his and led him away. Evan looked back, just before the doorway of the room, at Olivia and met her eyes. She mouthed, "It's not your fault," to him but only more tears ran down his cheeks.
Once Pharaoh and Evan were gone Olivia sobbed. She couldn't stop herself as she put the DVD into the computer and started to up-load its contents onto the website.
Manhattan's SVU Squad Room
Thursday August 20th, 13:30
Kathy walked into the squad room with Eli on her right hip and Lizzie holding her left hand. The room itself was empty, something she had never seen before. She heard the detectives in the conference room and walked directly through the doorway. The blonde looked at her husband. "I need to talk to you…now."
Stabler got up and walked over to his family. Just before Kathy was ushered out of the room she saw Olivia's picture up on the media board with the word "Abducted" written underneath it.
"What are you guys doing here?" Elliot asked his wife as they stood by his desk.
"Where is Dickie?" Kathy asked; an edge of panic in her tone.
Elliot looked to Elizabeth and then back to his wife. "He's fine."
Lizzie looked up at her father. "No…no he's not. He's scared or hurt…"
Stabler narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "How do you know that? Did he call you?"
Tears formed in the teens eyes. "I can feel it. Dick and I are twins. We had our own language when we were little. Sometimes we know when something is happening to the other one. Where is he?"
The detective shook his head. "I don't know."
145 Banker Street
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Thursday August 20th, 13:32
Casey and Jess stood in front of the two laptops and video camera that were on the desks. There was a note on her laptop. "Check timecode 13:00:00" The teen pocketed the note, walked over to the surveillance laptop and entered in that timecode in the playback window. As they waited for the time to load, Jess looked at Casey and pointed to the current playout of the surveillance video. "I have a camera on Livie, but only when she is in that room maintaining Markus Pharaoh's website. I have saved all the java script on this external hard drive," she pointed to the hard drive she had bought in Times Square. "I also have Markus Pharaoh on video with a gun to Livie's head."
The reporter eyed Olivia in the playout window on the laptop. "Do you have any idea how outrageous this is? Why haven't you called Elliot or Cragen?"
Jess narrowed her eyes at Casey. "If I wanted a lecture I would have called Alex. I called you. Cass, please…help me. Is it enough?"
The laptop beeped and the video was ready to be viewed from earlier. Jess hit the spacebar and the video began. The two women watched in horror as the events from across the street unfolded in front of them. Tears came to Jess's eyes at the sight of Olivia being hit, but she pushed them back. Once Pharaoh and Evan left the room Casey turned to Jess. "You said there is no evidence on the actual videos up-loaded to the website that Markus Pharaoh is the one molesting the boys. That means the A.D.A. will have to get each of them to testify that it was him. It happens all the time, but it can be very difficult to get any victim to confront their attacker. These boys might not be able too, they might be too traumatized. The java script you have on the hard drive you and Olivia created, not Pharaoh. Although the video you have of him interacting with Liv and handing her the DVD's should be enough to charge him with distribution. What we just saw here is enough to establish Markus Pharaoh has Evan Winthrop. That is enough to charge him with kidnapping and with the gun present, forcible confinement. Jess, call this in or I will."
The teen nodded. "I will. But you have to leave. I don't want you involved."
Casey raised her right eyebrow, "Who has been helping you?"
Jess shook her head, "No one. I'll drive you back to Manhattan."
The strawberry blonde shook her head. "Call it in, now."
"I told you I would…but Cass you can't be here."
Casey took the right side of Jess's face in her hand. "I'm not leaving you alone. I owe it to Liv to make sure you're safe."
The teen smiled slightly and sighed. Casey moved her hand away and Jess picked up the buster and the SIM cards. She took the third card and put it in the back of the phone. She dialed the phone number for Olivia's desk in the squad room. It rang three times before Elliot picked up. "Stabler, Special Victims Unit."
"Donald Cragen, please," Jess said in a tone lower than her normal pitch. She was put on hold for a minute until the Captain picked up.
"Cragen."
"Captain Cragen, it's Jess."
The Captain looked at Stabler. "Hello, Jess, what's going on?" Elliot looked up at the Cragen.
Jess looked at the live playout of the surveillance video. "I know where Olivia is. You need to come on my terms, her life depends on it."
"Jess, whatever you tell me to do you have my word we will play it your way. Just tell me where Olivia is." Cragen held up his right hand to Stabler, motioning for a pen and paper. The detective grabbed them off his desk and handed them to the Captain.
"The address Olivia, Pharaoh and the victims are at is 146 Banker Street, in Greenpoint Brooklyn. I'm in a warehouse across the street at 145. There is a parking lot to the side of the building I'm in leading to loading docks inside the warehouse. Pharaoh has surveillance video cameras on 146 that shoot out onto the street. You'll need to bring one vehicle into the loading docks at 145. No lights, no sirens, no SWAT. I just want you, Munch and Fin. The three of you can come in and decide how to proceed." Jess looked from the video playout to Casey. She nodded and Jess nodded back.
Cragen finished writing down the instructions and looked at Stabler. "Okay Jess, we'll be there as soon as possible. Are you hurt?"
Jess narrowed her eyes. "No, I'm fine. Olivia's been pistol wiped in the back of the head though."
The Captain looked at Kathy Stabler. "Is there anyone else with you?"
The blonde's eyes and tone went cold. "No…I'm alone."
Cragen shook his head to Kathy. "Okay, we'll be right there."
Jess turned the cell phone off and took the SIM card out of the back. "Stay here for a sec," she said to Casey. The strawberry blonde nodded. The teen walked down the stairs and out of the building through the loading docks. She made a high pitched whistle noise and Dick stuck his head around the corner of the building. Jess went to him. She found Ken was also there. "I thought I told you both to leave?"
Dick hugged his girlfriend. "We told you to call this in."
The blonde shrugged. "I just did." She handed Dick the phone. "Get rid of this. I mean break the SIM cards, drive over the phone and then throw it all in the ocean." She took the keys to Olivia's Mustang out of her pocket. "Take's Livie's car and ride back to the One-six. Dump the car there and then you both need to go home. Turn on your cell phones and make something up about where you've been."
The guys looked at each other and then back to Jess. She rolled her eyes. "I swear to you Cragen, Fin and Munch are on their way. Casey is going to be around for a little while longer but I am kicking her out too. None of you can be near here when the cavalry rolls in."
"The trace came back from the hacker," Ken said.
The blonde snickered. "Let me guess, it was from an IP address in the network of One Police Plaza?"
Ken furrowed his brow. "Yeah, how did you know that?"
Jess sighed. "Cragen's bosses are probably riding him pretty hard. I'll bet you anything they ordered the website shut down."
The guys exchanged looks and then Ken spoke. "All I could get was the building's address. All the computers are on the same network so it's almost impossible to know the exact origin of the hacker."
"It was Morales. It had to be. He was working the case with me. When Livie pulled me off he would have taken over."
Dick looked at his girlfriend. "Do you think he knew it was you keeping him out?"
Jess nodded. "Yes. I made sure of it. I want my finger prints all over this mess. It will make it easier to convince everyone I was working alone."
Ken took the keys to the car. "Okay, we'll go. Call us later."
Jess hugged Ken, hugged and kissed Dick and they all went inside to the loading docks. The guys got into the Mustang and drove out of the building and the parking lot. Jess went up to the windows.
Dick looked at Ken, "We're not really leaving are we?"
Ken shook his head and pulled a U-turn. "Hell, no. We're waiting for the cavalry. We can't get caught though."
The guys ditched the car two blocks away and walked back to the warehouse to hide out.
Once Jess was with Casey she gave the woman a half smile. "If you called your desk now they could send a photographer. You could have art of the perp walk for the morning edition."
Casey raised her right eyebrow. "Nice call, Shorty."
14:15
In the twenty minutes Casey left Jess with before the SVU squad rolled in, she wiped down the two remaining laptops, video camera, desks, chairs and anything else her and her accomplices could have touched. With their garbage gone, cell phone and SIM cards destroyed, the Mustang back at the squad and finger prints wiped clean Jess was confident it would be very difficult to tie Dick or Ken to any of this. She heard a vehicle drive into the load dock below and behind her. Pharaoh was nowhere to be found so she figured Olivia would be safe. The blonde went down to meet the squad.
They had come in a van and it shocked Jess to see Elliot, Morales and Alex exit the van along with the individuals she had requested. The teen only made eye contact with the Captain. She nodded. "Couldn't play it my way, could you?"
Cragen shook his head slightly as he walked up to her. "You know I had to bring everyone. I'm sorry; it has to be this way. What's the situation?"
"Follow me. I'll show you."
The crew walked behind Jess up to the windows. She explained what each laptop did and what she had so far. The blonde cued up the surveillance play-back to where Evan Winthrop was with Pharaoh and Olivia was pistol whipped. In the end, Jess looked at Cragen. "It's up to you how you want to proceed."
The Captain looked around at everyone. No one said anything. What was there to say? The kid had made their entire case for them. Cragen's eyes fell on Alex. "What can you charge Markus Pharaoh with based on this?"
It took a few seconds but Alex realized Cragen was addressing her. She had been watching the current play-out of the surveillance video. Seeing Olivia, even the back of her, for the first time in days brought a sense of relief to the A.D.A. "With him on tape giving Olivia the DVD's that contain the videos we have him on distribution. That video of him with Evan Winthrop and pistol whipping Olivia proves child endangerment and forcible confinement. Once we get inside that warehouse I'll be able to tell you more then. We will have to interview all of the victims and go from there. There is no guarantee any of them will be strong enough to testify."
Cragen looked at Jess. "You said Pharaoh has surveillance cameras pointing out onto the street?"
Jess nodded and pointed out the window towards the left side of the warehouse in front of them. "Yeah, there and on the other side…" She pointed to the right, "right there. I would imagine he has the place wired. I think he's pretty paranoid."
The Captain looked around the room, "Any ideas?"
Fin looked at Jess. "Does Pharaoh come to get Liv at some point?"
"Yes, sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 in the afternoon. She doesn't come back to that room until around 9:00 in the morning," Jess answered.
The detective looked at his Captain. "When Pharaoh comes to get Liv at the end of the day we could shoot him from the roof of this warehouse. Have a bus wait around the corner and we'll call 'em in once the shot is fired."
Stabler spoke for the first time. "The shot would have to be painful enough to keep him down until we got to them but not fatal. Plus it has to be precise. We don't want to hit Olivia or another victim if he brings one with him."
Fin looked from the Captain to Stabler. "We brought an M14 sniper rifle with us. With the sight I can make the shot."
Munch looked at his partner. "You sure you want to do this?"
Fin nodded. "Absolutely."
Morales looked at Jess. "Do you think Pharaoh knows you have been communicating with Olivia?"
Jess shook her head, "No. If he suspected anything it would have been when you were trying to take down the website earlier today. He bought that Livie was actually keeping you out of the site. She's been carful to close down the notepad we've been communicating on before he comes to see her."
The tech nodded. "You could type to Olivia what we plan on doing. That way she stays as far away from Pharaoh as possible."
Cragen shook his head. "It's too risky. If Markus Pharaoh gets wind of anything we are doing, the end result could be fatal for the victims. Leave Olivia out of the loop. Fin, go get the rifle and we'll find a way up to the roof."
The next two hours were spent with Cragen arranging for Brooklyn SWAT to assemble a block away from the warehouses and around the corner. He also assembled eight ambulances behind the SWAT team. Jess gave her formal statement to Munch and Cragen, in front of her laptop, about what she had been up to for the last day and a half. Morales and Alex listened but said nothing. Stabler and Fin got onto the roof and found an ideal place for the detective to take his shot.
As they finished up with Jess's statement Cragen asked her one last time, "Who helped you with all this?"
Jess looked at the Captain and lied to him. She had to. "No one."
Munch looked over his glasses at the teen. "Dick Stabler and Ken Randle were never here? They never helped you?"
"Nope." She made eye contact with Munch as well. She didn't especially like lying to these men but it was in everyone's best interest.
Morales stepped forward and cut in on the conversation. "How did you know it was me trying to take down the website earlier today?"
The blonde looked from Munch to Morales. "I ran a trace on the hacker. It came back to One P.P. Because all of the computers in that building are on the same network I couldn't pinpoint it to you specifically…I just assumed."
The tech looked harder at Jess. "How did you run the trace and keep me out?"
She shrugged. "I used two separate laptops. Once the trace was setup it ran itself, letting me concentrate on keeping you out of the website." Jess looked away for a moment then looked back at Morales with a soft look; something that had been lacking in the kid's eyes since they had arrived. "I'm sorry I had to burn you. I put my signature up so that you would stop. If you had penetrated the site Pharaoh would have killed Livie. I'll help you get your laptop back up and running…I swear."
Jess was definitely hiding information. He also knew it would have been impossible for her to have simultaneously kept him at bay from the website and run the trace, even using two laptops. Morales had seen the shift in the teen's emotions; he knew that Jess's last few statements were true. The tech decided to let the discrepancy go. It was obvious she had help, but without evidence whoever had helped her would never be known. "I know you did what you had to do. I'm not angry with you, but you will be helping me with my laptop."
Morales had smirked at her as he spoke. Jess took that to mean he wasn't going to ask her any further questions about the trace. They both knew she couldn't have performed the trace at the same time she was keeping him from shutting down the website. She respected him even more for dropping the subject. The teen gave him a sideways look. "Yes, sir." Jess turned and typed on the notepad to Olivia. "I luv u. I'm sorry."
Across the street Olivia noticed Jess typing. She read what the blonde had written. The detective didn't understand the last part, so she typed back. "I luv u 2. Sorry about what?" The teen typed back. "Everything that has happened. Everything that will happen." Olivia was confused. She wrote back, "What's going on?" Before Jess could respond the detective heard footsteps, she quickly typed back, "Pharaoh's coming. Nite baby girl."
Jess typed feverishly as she spoke to Cragan without looking up from the laptop. "Pharaoh is on his way; tell Fin to get ready." Cragen relayed the message via walkie-talkie to the roof.
Olivia saw the message just before she closed the notepad. "DON'T CLOSE NOTEPAD!!!" The detective hesitated and moved it to the right hand corner of the screen as Markus Pharaoh walked into the room.
Jess looked at Cragen. "Give me the walkie-talkie."
Cragen looked at her. "Jess, you have to trust us, I can't."
"Give it to me. If you want Olivia to live, give it to me. I know what Pharaoh will do in the room."
The Captain reluctantly relinquished the walkie-talkie to the teen. She clicked in. "Fin, Pharaoh will talk to Olivia, unlink her shackles from in front of her and then she will stand up. Once she does she will move sideways. Take your shot then."
Fin clicked in. "You got it."
Jess gave the walkie-talkie back to the Captain.
Everyone in the warehouse watched on the surveillance play-out as Markus Pharaoh bent down in front of Olivia and un-linked her shackles. As he did Jess typed on the laptop.
Olivia watched the screen of the computer in front of her. Something was wrong. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. A message flashed in the notepad from Jess, "MOVE SIDEWAYS NOW!!!!!!!" As Pharaoh stood up Olivia dove left, away from him.
Fin watched in the sight of the rifle as Olivia dove. He aimed at Markus Pharaoh and pulled the trigger.
Cragen clicked into the walkie-talkie. "Pharaoh is down! SWAT move in! Get the buses around here, now!"
Munch and Cragen ran from the warehouse across the street to where Pharaoh had been hiding out. SWAT charged in and the ambulances rolled up and followed them inside. Fin and Stabler scrambled off the roof and ran inside the warehouse across the street.
Olivia had kicked Markus's gun away as he reeled in pain on the floor. She knelt beside him, went through his pockets and found the keys to her shackles. The detective had rid herself of the restraints by the time Cragen and Munch entered the room. Both men went over to her and asked if she was okay.
"I'm fine. I'll take you to the victims," she said running out of the room with her co-workers, some SWAT members and several paramedics following her. Two medics stayed behind and worked on Pharaoh, while three SWAT team members aimed their guns at him. Fin and Stabler entered the room and looked down at the medics. "Where is everyone?"
One of the paramedics looked up. "They took off down the hall."
Fin looked at Stabler. "Go find her. I'll stay here."
Stabler flew out of the room and down the hall. He found everyone in one room. More paramedics where looking at the six boys Markus had kidnapped. His eyes fell on his partner and she looked over at him. The look conveyed so much. Cragen looked at Olivia, "Liv, is there anyone else here with Pharaoh?"
She shook her head. "I never saw anyone else, but I could be wrong."
Munch looked at his Captain. "We should search the building."
Cragen nodded. "We'll go together and take the SWAT team with us."
"I'm going with you," Olivia said.
Stabler looked at her. "You can't come. Get looked at by a medic, Liv."
"I know my way around this place. I'm coming with you."
Cragen sighed. "Fine, but you will stay behind us. Just direct us were to go."
They searched the rest of the building and found two men in the kitchen. They apprehended them without any problems.
Across the street Morales looked at the screen of Jess's laptop. He looked at the young woman. "You told Olivia to move away from Pharaoh."
Jess looked at him sheepishly. "Yup. I trust Fin, I really do, but Olivia is my life." She shook her head. "I was never going to let her stay in the line of fire."
Alex looked at Jess. "Thank-you."
The younger blonde leveled a disgusted look at the A.D.A. "I did it for me and Livie, not for you. Stay the hell away from us. I mean it." Jess got up and walked away.
The paramedics filed out of the warehouse two at a time with victims. The first was Markus Pharaoh. Casey Novak and a photographer were waiting for them as they came out. "Is this the man responsible for the child pornography website that Evan Winthrop was seen on?"
Fin put his hand up, but not enough that the photographer couldn't snap a few good shots of Pharaoh on the stretcher.
"Detective, what's this man's name?" Casey asked.
Fin climbed in the ambulance with one of the medics after Pharaoh's stretcher had been rolled in. He looked back at Casey. "His name is Markus Pharaoh, but we believe it's an alias." The second medic closed the doors and they took off for the hospital.
As the medics brought out more victims and the detectives came out with two men in handcuffs. Casey asked more questions and the photographer snapped more shots. The article would be great; the reporter knew she owed her shortstop...big time.
Olivia came out of the building and Jess saw her immediately. "Livie!" She ran across the street but Elliot scooped her up from behind in his arms before the teen could get to the detective. "Let go of me! I want to see Livie!"
Stabler held her, "You can't. Not yet. There is a bench warrant out for your arrest. I need to take you to court first."
The brunette watched as her partner grabbed the kid that had saved her life. She didn't understand. Olivia narrowed her eyes at Elliot. "Let her go!"
Cragen grabbed the detective's arm. "Olivia, there is bench warrant out on Jess. When she didn't appear before Petrovsky the Judge issued the warrant for her arrest. Elliot's got to take her to the Judge before anything else."
"NO!" Jess struggled to break free of Stabler's arms. She held out her arms towards Olivia. "NO!! I want to see her. Let me go, Elliot!!"
Elliot tightened his grip and Jess stopped struggling. Her body went rigid as fear took over. Her eyes went wild as a small whine escaped from her mouth.
Olivia saw the look in the young woman's eyes. Jess was flashing back to being held by Brian Nudds. Elliot was holding her too tight, from behind. The detective's eyes went wild as she screamed at her partner. "Elliot, let her go! You're scaring her! Let her go!"
Dick and Ken had watched the whole scene play-out before their eyes. When Dick saw what his father was doing to his girlfriend he lost control. "What is he doing!?" He took off around the corner but Ken caught up to him and yanked on the back of his t-shirt.
"You have to leave them alone. Your Dad won't hurt Jess."
Dick wheeled around to face Ken. "He is hurting her and he won't let her see Olivia!"
Ken let go of Dick's shirt. "He must have a good reason. I don't know if you have figured this out yet man, but Jess is in a lot of trouble. All that shit we pulled over the last day and a half is fallin' on her right now."
Dick sighed and looked back at his girlfriend twisting in his father's arms and arguing with him. Dick knew Ken was right, but it gave him little comfort as he watched Jess struggle and beg. "Let's get Olivia's car back to the station before everyone gets back there."
Ken nodded as Dick turned to him. The guys walked back to the Mustang and drove it back to the One-six.
Elliot let go of Jess slowly. "I'm sorry, Jess. I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you. You have to stay here though. You can't see Olivia yet. I have to take you to the courthouse. The Judge needs to see you first."
Olivia called to Jess through the chaos of the medics and SWAT personnel. "It's okay. Go with Elliot and Alex to the courthouse. I'll meet you there soon. I'll be right behind you."
Tears rolled down Jess's cheeks as she nodded to Olivia. Elliot tried to take the teen's hand to lead her to the car but she pulled away from him. She shot him a sideways glance and spoke through gritted teeth. "Keep your hands off me."
Alex and Morales watched, and heard everything that happened. Elliot and the A.D.A. walked to the van they had all driven to the warehouse in. Jess followed them and got in the back. They drove back to Manhattan and over to 60 Center Street. Alex would have to speak to the Judge's assistant but she knew Petrovsky would meet with them.
Cragen had called in two CSU teams to process the warehouses. Morales ordered all of the computer and surveillance equipment back to Computer Crimes at One Police Plaza. Olivia caught sight of Evan Winthrop and Trey Kingston. They were on stretchers that were side-by-side just outside of separate ambulances. She walked over to them and stood between the stretchers. "Everything is going to be okay now."
Trey looked up at the detective. "Did you kill 'Daddy'?"
Olivia narrowed her eyes slightly. "Who is 'Daddy'?"
"That's what the man told us to call him…when he…when he…", Evan looked down.
The brunette could tell this case was far from over. It would take months of therapy to even begin to help these little boys. None of them may ever be able to face Markus Pharaoh in a courtroom. She shook her head at Evan and Trey. "No, we didn't kill him. We hurt him really badly though. He will never hurt you again. We arrested him and he will be going to jail."
Trey's eyes were dull and almost glazed over. His ordeal was catching up with him. "Where are my parents?"
Olivia smiled slightly. It was the first piece of really good news she could give the victims. "Your parents have been called and they are going to meet you at the hospital."
Evan's face was withdrawn and his eyes mirrored Trey's. He looked up at Olivia. "Thank you for saving us."
The detective looked between the two boys. "You saved yourselves. You survived what that man did to you."
Medics rolled the stretchers the boys were on into the ambulances and closed the doors. Cragen came up behind her. "I want someone to look at that cut on the back of your head."
Olivia turned to him. "I have to get to the courthouse."
Cragen looked back at her. "Not until I have taken your formal statement. This needs to be played by the books, Olivia. Jess pulled a lot of crap out here and I need some straight answers out of you."
The detective nodded. As she was looked over by a paramedic she gave her statement. Munch went to the hospital and Fin joined him there once Pharaoh was secured with guards in his hospital room. The detectives took all six of the boys' statements.
60 Centre Street
Supreme Court
Chambers of Judge Lena PetrovskyThursday August 20th, 17:45
Alex, Elliot and Jess waited outside the Judge's chambers for her to call them in. Once she did Alex started off the discussion. "Your Honour, this is Jessica O'Malley."
The Judge stood, still in her robe, behind her desk. She looked from Alex to Jess. "This is your computer tech? How old are you?"
Jess looked at the Judge, "16 years old, your Honour."
Petrovsky looked back at Alex. "Computer Crimes hired a 16 year old as a tech and okayed her involvement in a case involving minors in a sex crime?" The Judge scoffed. "Really Alexandra, this is beyond anything I could have ever imagined."
The teen looked from Alex, who was about to speak, to the Judge. Jess got her words out first. "Your Honour, can I please speak to you, alone?"
This time Alex did find her words and they were directed at the shorter blonde standing before her. "I can't let you do that, Jess. Olivia would want me to protect you. She wouldn't want you to say anything…"
Jess cut her off. "Olivia doesn't know what you did. You have no legal rights to me, Alexandra. I want to speak to the Judge." The teen turned to Petrovsky. "May I please speak to you in private?"
The Judge couldn't figure out the dynamic between the A.D.A. and the young woman on the other side of the desk. But she did want to hear what Jessica O'Malley had to say. "Yes, you may. Alexandra and Detective Stabler can wait outside.
Elliot looked at Jess. "Don't do this."
The blonde leveled a nasty look at Stabler. "Don't you have paperwork to file with Cragen?"
Stabler and Alex turned and left Jess and the Judge alone; although neither wanted to.
Petrovsky looked across her desk at the teenager. "Miss O'Malley, you look as if you have been through quite an ordeal. You do know that I ordered a bench warrant for your arrest?"
The teenager nodded but said nothing.
"Why don't you have a seat?" The Judge pointed to the two chairs in front of Jess.
Jess nodded and sunk into one of the chairs. With the six victims out of Markus Pharaoh's hands and Olivia safe, it was the first chance the blonde had to actually breathe a sigh of relief. Petrovsky watched the teen's body language. "Would you like something to drink?" She pointed to a mini fridge.
The blonde gave a half-smile. "Sure. Do you have a Coke?"
Petrovsky smiled and opened the fridge. She fished out two cans of Coke and slid one across her desk to Jess. The Judge set the other can down on her desk and took off her robe. She hung it on a coat rack beside her and turned back to Jess. "Am I going to need something stronger than a soda to hear what you have to say, Miss O'Malley?"
The teen's smile grew wider across her face. "Definitely. But please your Honour, call me Jess."
The Judge opened the third drawer of her desk and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass. She poured a small amount of liquor into the glass and filled the rest with Coke. She sat down in her chair and looked at Jess. "For the purposes of this meeting you should probably call me Lena. Now Jess…start from the beginning."
Jess opened the can, took a swig and set it back on the Judge's desk. She settled back into the chair, her feet no longer touched the floor. "Your Honour…I mean Lena…" The Judge smiled at her and nodded her head. "The problem with starting at the beginning is that I have to go back three months in time."
Lena Petrovsky took at long drink from the glass that was now in her hand. After she swallowed she looked at the young woman seated before her. "You were right about needing a stiff drink for this. So Jess, what happened three months ago?"
The blonde looked back at the Judge. "I met Detective Olivia Benson."
Jess told Petrovsky everything. She had to. It was the only way to save the case against Ronald Blaze and keep the one that would be levied against Markus Pharaoh clean. She knew if even one thing she did was deemed illegal, everything she had gathered after that against Blaze or Pharaoh would be thrown out. Alex had taught her the term 'fruit of the poison tree' and what it meant. Even as she spoke Jess knew what she was saying, the lengths she had gone too, sounded absurd. The Judge listened, intently, to the whole story. She saved her questions until the end…and she did have questions. She also had some advice that Jess took to heart. As they wrapped up a light knock came from the door to the Judge's chambers. Petrovsky looked at Jess and she nodded back. The Judge spoke. "Come in."
The door opened and Olivia walked through the doorway. Jess's eyes lit up. She turned to the Judge. "Your Honour, may I please hug Olivia?"
Petrovsky gave a half-smile. It was back to business as usual and the teen had caught on. The Judge nodded. "Yes."
The blonde vaulted over the chair, landed on her feet in front of Olivia and threw her arms around her as tears formed in her eyes. The detective wrapped her arms around her little woman. "Thank you for saving me."
Jess smiled through her tears. "I was never going to let you go."
Elliot and Alex walked into the Judge's chambers. The A.D.A. looked at Petrovsky. "Your Honour, I'm not sure what Jessica O'Malley has told you but the people are ready to proceed with their case against Ronald Blaze."
The Judge held up her hands as she stood. "Alexandra, calm down. I am dismissing the 180.80 in that case. We will be in recess until Monday morning. I am giving Miss O'Malley and detective Benson that long to recuperate from what they have been through." Petrovsky looked from Alex to Olivia. "You have an amazing foster daughter, Detective Benson. Take good care of her."
Olivia nodded. "I will, your Honour."
"Good. Now if there is nothing else, please get out of my chambers."
Everyone filed out of Petrovsky's chambers. Jess was the last to leave. She looked back at the Judge and winked. "Thanks", she mouthed.
The Judge smiled and mouthed. "You're welcome."
Jess closed the door behind everyone and stood beside Olivia, gripping her right hand. Elliot looked at her. "Was Dickie with you this last day-and-a-half?"
The young blonde narrowed her eyes at him and spoke with anger. "No! I haven't seen him. I worked alone in the warehouse."
Alex kept her distance as she spoke to Jess. "Are you sure you are going to be able to testify on Monday? We could go over your testimony?"
Jess rolled her eyes and practically spit nails at the older blonde. "I'll be fine on Monday. I don't need you to prep me, Alexandra."
Olivia watched in disbelief. Why was Jess so angry? "What's going on here? Why are you so angry with Alex and Elliot?"
The teen looked at the brunette but nodded to the other adults. "Why don't you ask them?"
Elliot and Alex looked from Olivia to the floor. The brunette narrowed her eyes. "Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on here?"
Jess shook her head as she looked at Alex and Elliot. "Fuckin' punks." She turned her gaze to Olivia. "They lied to me about where you were…about what happened to you. I texted your phone everyday that you were gone because Alexandra and Elliot told me you were on a detail. On Monday night I received a text from your phone."
Olivia's jaw had dropped slightly as Jess filled her in. "But I didn't have my phone."
The shorter blonde raised her right eyebrow. "I know that now, but I didn't then. I thought you were working. You always text me when you work, no matter what. I was getting really upset that you hadn't texted me back so Alex used your cell phone and sent me a message pretending to be you. When I texted you back I heard your cell vibrate in the drawer beside Alex's bed. I opened the drawer and found your phone. I left Alex's place, went to the squad room and found out, from the media board, that you had been abducted."
The detective looked to her partner and her ex-girlfriend, "Is this true?"
They nodded back to her. "We never meant for Jess to find out that way. I mean…" Elliot closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them again and looked at Olivia. "We never meant for her to find out you were gone at all. We wanted to spare her that ugliness."
"Well you failed, miserably! You weren't even close to finding Livie!" Jess screamed. Her voice echoed in hall of the courthouse. She lowered her voice. "You were supposed to protect her, Elliot. You were supposed to keep her safe. Where the fuck were you in the park?"
Stabler lowered his head. "I know…the park was my fault. I know."
Olivia was about to speak but Jess beat her to it. "You're damn right it was your fault. If you had been doing your job you could have spared Olivia the ugliness of Markus Pharaoh!"
"That is enough!" Olivia grabbed Jess's wrist and jerked it.
Jess tried to pull it away, out of the detective's grip. "Awww, stop it! Let go of me."
"Listen to me. Stop struggling," the detective said in a calm tone.
The teen looked up at Olivia and stopped moving. "Jess, what happened in the park wasn't Elliot's fault."
Jess pulled her wrist again, trying to get it out of Olivia's hand. "Yes it was!"
The brunette's eyes narrowed as her voice got louder. "Jessie, stop!"
The blonde pulled harder out of anger. "No! It was Elliot's fault. He was your handler!"
Olivia knew it wouldn't take much more. Jess's voice had broken as she spoke her last sentence. She softened her tone. "Stop it. You know it wasn't his fault."
"It was…it was…he was supposed to protect you…he…he…" The last sentence had come out as a sob.
Jess collapsed into Olivia and the detective supported her. She stroked the blonde curls on the teen's head. "Shhhhh. It's okay."
Tears stung in Alex's eyes as her heart ached. She looked at Olivia and her detective looked back at her. Their daughter was broken…and the three adults closest to her were responsible. Olivia mouthed to Alex's "It's okay". The A.D.A. shook her head. It was so far from okay.
Olivia looked between Elliot and Alex. "I'm taking Jess home. We will hash this out in the morning."
They nodded to her and Jess and Olivia walked out of the courthouse. The pair grabbed a cab at the bottom of the stairs of 60 Center Street and went back to Olivia's apartment. Both women took a shower and curled up in the brunette's bed. Jess and Olivia laid facing each other. The brunette was the first to speak. "How did you find me?"
Jess took Olivia's left hand in hers and slipped the ring off her ring finger. She flipped it over and pointed out the tiny round silver disk. "GPS tracking device."
Olivia's eyes widened as she took the ring from Jess. "When did you put that on there?"
The blonde yawned and then answered. "On the boat the other day."
The detective put her arms around the young woman and the blonde had her left arm draped over Olivia side. "Thank you," were the last words said between the pair. Under the covers, with the shadows growing long in the room, in the arms of the person she felt safest with, Jess finally closed her eyes and fell asleep. Olivia, too, found solace in the closeness of the child she loved so much. It didn't take long for the detective to fall asleep as well.
488 Amsterdam Ave
Residence of Detective Olivia Benson
Friday August 21st, 08:35
Jess woke first. She crawled out of Olivia's arms and, out of pure habit, padded out in her bare feet first to get the paper and then to the kitchen. The teen looked at the front of the paper. Casey's name made the byline on the front page of The New York Times. Jess grinned. She made breakfast and brought it back to the detective's bedroom. The brunette was awake when the food was brought in. They ate in silence. When they were done Olivia took the dishes to the kitchen and went back to her room. While she was out of the room the tiny blonde retrieved the detective's shield and placed it on the bedside table.
Jess was lying down under the covers with her head on a pillow; Olivia's pillow. The brunette sighed quietly. It broke her heart to see her little girl grasp at something as irrelevant as a pillow to create normality and stability. She had seen Jess do this early on in their relationship but she had gotten past it. Now she was right back where she started and she had missed her therapy appointment the day before.
The detective looked at the nightstand beside the bed. Her Detective's shield was sitting on it. She shook her head as she made a mental note to ask Jess about it later. Olivia crawled into bed and under the covers. She pulled the other pillow over and put it under her head. As she laid on her back Jess turned toward her and nestled beside her. The young woman put her arm over the detective and gripped her shirt with the fist of her left arm. Olivia wanted to work out what happened while she was in the warehouse, but she was exhausted and Jess clearly wasn't ready. It took less than two minutes for both women to fall asleep again.
Olivia woke next in the late afternoon. Jess hadn't moved, although she was no longer gripping her shirt. She reached for the phone on the bedside table and quietly made two phone calls. She would get the entire story out of Jess tonight and they would speak to Elliot and Alex on Saturday, in the squad room.
The blonde moved her head slightly at the light touches to her head. She nuzzled Olivia's side as she came out of sleep. She knew it was the brunette stroking her hair, she could smell the faint scent of her perfume on the shirt she was wearing. Jess opened her eyes slowly and held Olivia's side with her left hand, hugging her. The detective smiled. "I love you too, Jessie."
Jess smiled and looked up at the brunette, she smiled back. "You know we need to talk about this."
The smile faded from the teen's face as she propped herself up on her elbows. "I know."
"Okay, I understand that you are angry with Elliot and Alex for lying to you. That's valid. Blaming Elliot for Markus Pharaoh abducting me in the park isn't. It's not his fault and you know it. He was right there, behind me. Pharaoh knew who I was. He called me by name just before he knocked me out. He knew it was a set-up. Elliot did everything he could…the sting went south. You know that happens sometimes."
The teen narrowed her eyes. "Not when you are in the middle of it." She rolled over on her back. Olivia rolled onto her side and looked down at the blonde. "Stop this. I am not immune to bad things. I am a detective in New York City. Shit is going to happen, Jessie, whether I am chasing down a perp or interrogating a suspect. No matter who is handling me in a sting. It's the nature of my job."
"It isn't fair," Jess sounded like a spoiled child. She wouldn't even make eye contact with Olivia
"Jessie, you sound infantile. You know what I do for a living. Do you want me to quit?"
"No," the teen pouted.
"What is really going on here? I know you are mad at Alex and Elliot but they were only trying to protect you. They love you Jess, they never meant to lie to you."
Jess's eyes shot up and looked into Olivia's deep brown eye. "What about you?"
Olivia's eyes widened. "What about me?"
"Did you mean to lie to me? You promised me you wouldn't leave me; that you would always be here for me," Jess hissed.
The brunette's jaw dropped the same time her heart did. "Jess…"
The blonde started to cry. "You lied to me. You broke your promise. I know you didn't mean to, but you did."
"I know…I know I did. Jessie, here is nothing I can do, nothing I can say to fix this. I wish I could, but I can't." Olivia fought back tears. "I can't even promise it won't happen again. Having you in my life is the most incredible thing to ever happen to me. But you have paid such a high price for that. I hate it, Jess, I really do."
Jess watched as Olivia's eyes grew darker with pain. "I want to be in your life. I don't want to be anywhere else. I need you. It's just…when I saw your face on the monitor and the word abducted underneath I couldn't…I just couldn't…"
"Deal with it?" The detective finished her sentence. The teen nodded. Olivia sighed. "I'll quit."
"No," Jess whined.
"I can file for a transfer. I'll sit at desk or go back to computer crimes."
"No," The teen whined again.
"Jessie, what do you want me to do?"
The blonde swallowed hard. She hadn't meant to ask like this. Jess had wanted to say the right things in the right way. Instead she blurted it out. "I want you to adopt me."
Olivia's eyes widened. "What?"
Jess sighed. "I want you to adopt me. I don't want DCFS to be able to take me away from you. I want to be your family…really be your family."
The detective smiled slightly. "I want that too. Jess, I really want that too."
The young woman hugged Olivia and she held the teen. When they let go of each other Olivia looked down at Jess. "I don't understand. How does me adopting you fix what is really going on?"
Jess shook her head. "It doesn't. Nothing will. You are a detective with the Special Victims Unit. I've known this since we met. I understand what you do and why you do it; but that doesn't make it any easier or less scary for me. Having you in danger isn't something I will ever get used to, Livie. But you leaving SVU isn't something I can live with."
Olivia looked harder at Jess. "You sure about this? About all of it?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to you leave SVU."
"One more thing, how did my detective's shield end up here in my room?"
Jess looked away from Olivia. "I took it out of your desk the morning I found out you were missing." The blonde looked at the detective. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I took it. I just…I don't know. I guess I felt like it was a piece of you. Like, if I had it with me…"
She trailed off but Olivia finished her sentence. "It would be like having me close to you?"
The teen nodded.
The detective smiled. "It's okay, I understand. You hungry?"
"Hell yeah. Pizza?" the blonde grinned.
"Totally. Phone in the order and we'll pick it up in 20 minutes from around the corner." Jess grabbed her iPhone off the bedside table and dialed the number. She placed the order and 15 minutes later the women left the apartment for the first time in almost a day.