Chapter 16:
"No... no... no..." Andrea said when she could finally breathe, she could feel herself trembling, her heart was racing, and her legs felt weak as she rushed over to Cassidy and held her, "Shh, we'll find her. We have to find her." She could hear a determination in her voice that she couldn't feel. She couldn't feel anything. Her body was on a foreign auto pilot.
"Andrea, the police are here. They need to talk to you and Cassidy." Aubrey said her voice sounding as though it was traveling over a vast space.
Nodding Andrea led Cassidy to her office and sat with her on the sofa, "Cassie, do you want me to stay with you or get your mother?" she asked.
"Stay... please. I haven't even talked to Mom. I'm so sorry Andy." Cassidy said through her tears. "I tried so hard to get to her. I ran and ran... I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me."
"Shh, look at me Cassidy." Andy said softly, "I don't hate you baby girl. I could never hate you. This is not your fault." she smiled slightly and kissed the girl's head.
They sat like that just holding one another until there was a knock at the door.
"Ms. DeMarzio?" a dark haired woman in a pantsuit asked from the doorway. Andy nodded and shifted Cassidy so that she could stand, "No need to stand Ms. DeMarzio."
"Andy, call me Andy. Please. This is Cassidy," she said wrapping her arm back around the redhead, "sh-" Andrea broke off into a sob and buried her face in Cassidy's hair. After a minute she took a deep breath and looked back to the door, "Come in, I'm sorry."
The woman smiled sadly and walked into the office, "I'm Det. Jo Polniaczek and this is my partner Det. Olivia Benson. We're going to be leading the investigation. Will it be ok if we ask you some questions here?"
Andrea glanced down at Cassidy and then nodded slightly, "Det. Polniaczek, Det. Benson before we get started I need to contact Cassidy's mother. She's just down the street and should be here shortly... until then I'll answer anything I can for you."
When both women nodded Andrea gave Cassidy a gentle squeeze and crossed the room to her desk. She dialed Miranda's office first and waited.
"Miranda Priestly's office." Brittany's voice came through after the second ring.
"Brit... its Andy. Is she in, it's an emergency."
"Andy, she's in but she's in a meeting with Irv and some others from the board. She said not to interrupt unless it's life or death." Brittany said quickly.
"Brit...," Andy said softly tears falling from her eyes again, "I really need Miranda. Please."
"I'm going to get her now. Where are you?" Brittany asked.
"My office. Brit please... hurry."
"Shh, hang on." Andrea could hear movement and voices on the other end of the line and glanced over to the detectives and Cassidy. She motioned Cassidy over and wrapped her in her arms while she waited for Brittany.
"Brittany you are to come with me. Andrea, what's happened?" Miranda's voice was soft and cool but Andrea could hear the concern underneath.
"Lexxi... was... and... Cassie... saw... the police..." She said vaguely aware that she wasn't making sense. She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes tight, "Mira... someone took Lexxi. The police are here... Cassie... she... saw it all. She needs you."
"I'm on my way. Is she alright? Andrea, how are you?"
"I... I don't... I'm terrified Mira." she slid down into her desk chair pulling Cassidy on her lap. "I want my baby back... what if she's cold, or hungry, or... or... oh god." Andrea dropped the phone, quickly moved Cassidy, and ran into the attached bathroom. She fell to her knees and leaned over the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach as images of her little girl broken, bloodied, and dying ran wildly through her mind.
Andrea wasn't sure how long she was in the bathroom vomiting and suffering from dry heaves before she felt a cool hand running over her back and shoulders. She looked up and found herself staring into teary blue eyes. "Miranda..." she stood on trembling legs and threw herself into the older woman and sobbed, "She's gone Mira. My baby... wh...what am I going to do?"
"Shh, I'm here love. I've got you..." the soothing cadence of Miranda's voice washed over Andrea calming her slightly. She breathed deeply letting herself relax into Miranda and shutting off her mind. She felt Miranda's breathing change and then heard her soft voice, "We're going to talk to the Detectives and get all the information we can from Cassidy. You are going to talk to Rory, Isabella is worried about her. Then we're going to look for Lexxi. We'll bring her home Andrea." Miranda told her kissing her forehead.
Andrea took a few more deep breaths, swallowed, and nodded, "Ok... ok. It's not time to fall apart. I can do this." she looked up into Miranda's warm blue eyes, "Will you help me? I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it together." she asked in a soft voice wrapping her arms around Miranda's waist. "Why would someone take my little girl?"
"I don't know darling, but we will find out." Miranda replied, "I'm here for you Andrea, for as long as you need me."
Andy smiled weakly and kissed Miranda lightly, "Thank you. Now... let's go find our little Lexxi." she said pulling away from the older woman and heading for the door.
4 days later...
The silence was deafening, everyone in the house moved silently as if afraid the slightest sound would break their fragile world apart. Andrea lifted her head and blinked against the pale light coming through the window. Stretching she looked over to her daughter's bed letting a small smile form on her lips. Standing, Andy quietly slipped out of Rory's room and made her way to her own. She felt the now familiar emptiness in her heart and her soul growing now that she was no longer in her child's presence. Staring at herself in the mirror Andrea sighed, "Where are you baby..." the warm tears pooling in her eyes fell and she groaned turning away.
Andy turned on the shower and peeled off her clothes before stepping in. She sighed and let her head fall back in the steady spray. Her body ached, her head was constantly hurting, her chest had a constant pain, and she found herself crying at the worst moments and slowly losing hope. The police had told her that the first 48 hours was crucial in missing child cases. According to her research and what the detectives told her after 48 hours it was less likely to find Lexxi alive and the knowledge ate away at her as the days passed.
Wiping her eyes Andrea finished washing, turned off the water, and climbed from the shower wrapping herself in a soft towel. It had been four horrible days since her baby was taken from the school. There were Amber Alerts, posters, rewards, searches, and still no one could figure out where Lexxi was. The video footage from one of the traffic cameras managed to get a picture of the car matching what Cassidy could remember, after further looking it came up a stolen car.
Andrea finished drying off before pulling on a pair of black sweat pants, a white tank top, and a pair of white socks. She stood staring out her bedroom window not really seeing the images before her eyes. Her mind was wandering and she was sucked into the memory of the day Lexxi was born. Sergei had been so excited and Rory couldn't wait to have a baby sister. The labor was fast for which Andrea found she was extremely grateful. Smiling as she remembered the look of pure amazement on Rory's face when she first saw her sister, Andrea shook her head and left her room.
3 days later...
"Olivia said they have some news. She and her partner, Jo, are on their way here." she heard Miranda say. She looked up at the older woman and nodded. She wrapped her arms tighter around Rory and closed her eyes. She heard the doorbell sound and then muffled voices. She was just about to tell Miranda to go ahead when a loud crash sounded from downstairs. Jumping from her bed Andrea raced down the hall and started for the stairs. Halfway down the stairs she saw Jo talking to someone still outside and Olivia down next to Irene who was prone on the floor.
Andy could feel Miranda just behind her and reached back for her lover's hand. She grasped it and slowly made her way over to the door, "D-d-detective..." Andy said her voice barely higher than a whisper, "what happened to Irene?"
Olivia looked up and gave her a gentle smile, "She's just fine, just had a bit of a fainting spell."
"What the bloody hell is with all the noise?" Emily's heavily accented voice sounded from behind them. Andy turned and looked at Emily before shaking her head and shrugging a shoulder. Emily and Aubrey had formed a dynamic team, filtering calls, handling the press, heading the search, and even putting up the reward for Lexxi's safe return. Andy knew if not for the two of them and Miranda she would never have made it through this week.
Andrea moved her body fully into Miranda and watched as Olivia helped a still woozy Irene sit up. The detective nodded to something Irene said and then made her way over to where she was standing with Miranda, "Miranda said you have news?" Andy said softly.
The detective nodded and looked back over her shoulder to where Jo was now standing leaning against the closed door, "We received a tip at the station about 3 hours ago involving your daughter."
"And you are just informing us of this?" Aubrey asked moving to stand in front of Andrea her hands resting on her slim hips.
Andy placed a gentle hand on Aubrey's shoulder and smiled a small smile when she turned to look at her, "I think we should let her tell us everything before we get upset. Would you have wanted to know if it were just another dead end? It's been a week since I last held my baby girl. A week since I last saw that beautiful smile or her beautiful bright, brown eyes. I can no longer look at myself in the mirror without sorrow and the pain of this emptiness overwhelming me... no one wants Lexxi home more than I do. I understand that you are upset Aubrey but what if they had come to tell us this news only to return 3 hours later because they were wrong? I can't deal with another false sighting. Please... don't make them feel worse. I think they did the right thing. Now let us find out what it is. Please."
Her assistant nodded and hugged her before she moved to stand next to Emily. Andrea turned back to Olivia and glanced between her and Jo, "What do you know?"
"The tip came from an anonymous caller, at first we thought it was another bust, until we found the car with the clothes you said Lexxi was wearing that morning. There were tags for new clothes and a bag that had men's clothes inside. We also found a recorded conversation that took place just minutes after the kidnapping took place. The car is at the crime lab, they are going over it with a fine tooth comb to find anything that will help." Olivia stated.
Andy nodded slightly, "Who was the conversation between?" she asked softly.
Jo stepped forward a small tape player in her hand, "We need you to listen to this Andy, I know that sounds crazy but we have reason to believe this person knows you." she turned to look at Miranda then, "As well as you Miranda. You were both mentioned in the conversation. I want to warn you before I play the recording that Lexxi can be heard, this is how we found out that there was a connection to you. She seems to know who the person was that was in the car with her."
Andy took a few deep breaths and then nodded her head slowly, "Alright, let's move away from the stairs. I don't want Rory to wake up and hear this and I need coffee." she said already heading in the direction of the kitchen.
Once they were seated around the table Jo pressed the play button on the player and laid it down on the table. There was rustling and the sound of traffic before Lexxi's voice filled the air.
"I want my Mommy... no... you can't... stop... please... I just... wanna... go home... why... mommy didn't... NO! YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Andrea's heart stuttered in her chest, her body went unnaturally still when her daughter's terror filled screams fill the air and she was nearly to the point of tears only to have them come to an abrupt halt. Her heart seemed to stop beating, the air stopped flowing to her lungs, her body trembled slightly, her thoughts stopped running in circles, and her eyes widen as the man's voice floated about the room.