Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. I know I left you on a cliffhanger, but we are running towards the end of the story and things are starting to get explosive.

Warning: This chapter is one of the reasons why this story is rated M. It contains nonconsensual/dubious consent sexual content, violence, and the endangerment of minors. Nothing too graphic but this is going to be a dark chapter.

Also, pseudo Law and Order SVU crossover because I can.

Chapter 40: For the Sake of My child

Faye Somers-Suarez always knew that one of these days, her many sins would catch up with her but she didn't think it would happen on black Friday 2006. Yet, she found herself in a tiny interrogation room being accused of murdering Bradford. The situation was almost laughable.

She was more annoyed than worried. The evidence was circumstantial at best and mostly based on Carlos' lies. A 10 minute interview with her husband, Marisol, or her wedding planner would definitively prove that she was nowhere near Bradford's house the day he was killed.

She told the two detectives interviewing her, without even bothering to ask for one of her many lawyers. Actually she told the two how this entire thing was reprisal for firing Carlo the day before. They left her alone after that, but she wasn't sure if they actually believed her.

They left her alone in an ugly interrogation room for hours, not even bothering to take her back toa holding cell. She wondered if this was part of their strategy to get her to talk. Faye hated ugly places.

Just as the place was becoming unbearable a different detective walked into the room, dressed in a well-tailored pantsuit carrying a bottle of Faye's favorite water. She wondered if she was there to play good cop.

"Let's get this over with." Faye sighed, not even bothering to take the bottle water. "I did not kill Bradford Meade to take over the company or to get vengeance on him for stringing me along for more than two decades. There's nothing unusual about him calling me right before he was killed considering he was my boss. Despite the end of our affair Bradford and I still maintained a professional relationship, a very successful one at that. By that point business was the only thing we had left between each other. I was too busy planning my wedding to Ignacio to be angry enough about his upcoming nuptials to Wilhelmina to actually kill him. Call my wedding planner, she knows the truth."

"That's not what I'm here to ask you about." The woman said as she took the seat in front of Faye

"So you actually did talk to the wedding planner?" Or any number of the other people who can confirm her whereabouts.

"Yes, actually. Which raises a lot of brand-new questions."

"And, what would those questions be detective…" Faye trailed off not knowing the women's name.

"Olivia. I'm Detective Olivia Benson. I want to ask you some more questions about Carlo Medea."

"You mean the liar who set this up because he was pissed off about being fired yesterday." He was pissed off about Wilhelmina using him like she used everyone else, but Faye Somers-Suarez knew better than to say that out loud to the detective.

"Why was he fired?" For being an incompetent bastard and spy for Wilhelmina. He also made her skin crawl every time he looked at Nico.

"In addition to insubordination, just yesterday Carlo sabotaged one of the most important fashion shoots of the year by flooding the Mode buildings with raw sewage. He then followed up by doing the same to my apartment building." And destroying all my husband's mementos of his first wife, who died of cancer just a little over two years ago.

"Yet he was only fired. Why didn't you press charges?"

"Wilhelmina asked to take care of it herself and I trust her judgment. She was the one who brought Carlo to the magazine in the first place." After they rescued Marc from her clutches.

"Are you sure it's more than that? Did he have something on you?" Does this detective think that she was born yesterday?

"You mean like the supposed evidence that I killed my ex-boyfriend?" Faye scoffed. "That would be difficult for him to actually have since I didn't kill Bradford. Most of your colleagues didn't even believe that Bradford was murdered despite both his ex-wife and son questioning the circumstances of his death. What did he say to convince you that it actually a homicide?"

"That doesn't answer my question, Ms. Somers."

"It's actually Mrs. Somers-Suarez." She corrected just for the sake of being obstinate.

"Your family is important to you?" The detective asked as a non sequitur. Where was this interview go in?

"Yes." There was no point in line.

"How far would you go to protect them?"

"Farther than you could ever imagine." She gave Amanda up so she could be raised by two stable parents because she was too messed up to do so. It was the hardest thing in the world to do, but she did it anyway because in the long run it was for the best, even if it meant watching Amanda from a distance.

"Would you cover a murder?" Shit! She wondered if they were still talking about Bradford. Did they know something about why Ignacio fled to the states in the first place and what Faye had to do to cover it up? She doubts it. Carlo is too much of an idiot to figure out what happened there.

"I'm not covering up Bradford's murder. I contacted your bosses personally to get them to look closer at what happened. I actually hired a private investigator to investigate the incident, when I realized your bosses were not motivated enough to look into it. Ruth Rodriguez, she's a former detective. I suggest you speak with her."

"She's also your niece."

"That doesn't mean she's not a good detective. She was the one who discovered that Carlo delivered the payment to the courier used to hire the hitman who tried to kill Jordan Dune two years ago. That was another lead that your bosses didn't even bother to look into once the delivery person was conveniently deported."

"She was actually able to connect Medea to the attempted murder of Jordan…" The detective stopped speaking as the door opened to reveal one of Faye's many lawyers. Thankfully it was Catalina, Marisol's legal pit bull of a sister.

"Really Faye, you should have ask for me hours ago." Catalina said walking right into the room, not even bothering to make eye contact with the detective in charge.

"I'm representing Ms. Somers-Suarez."

"She did not ask for a lawyer."

"I'm here to inform Mrs. Somers-Suarez that while you were interrogating her and her entire family, the person who fed you false evidence managed to kidnap her grandson and goddaughter, along with her goddaughter's mother." Faye went pale at those words. Alex and Nico were missing.

"But you already knew that, considering that unlike your colleagues, you are from the special victims unit, and there's nothing more special than a 14-month-old baby that's been kidnapped."

"We just want to make sure Somers-Suarez had nothing to do with the disappearance of her grandson before she was informed of what happened." The implication alone made Faye furious.

"I would never hurt my grandchild in any way. Catalina sit down and tell me what the hell is going on?" That's when she was told about her new MYW EIC being in a coma after viciously trying to keep her grandson and goddaughter from being kidnapped.

"The reason why we only fire Carlo after what happened yesterday was because he knows the identity of Alex's father." Faye finally confessed because she knew the more knew about Carlo, the more likely they were to outsmart the bastard and find her baby.

"You did not want this information to go public?" She nodded her head in affirmation. "Why? Because it was potentially humiliating? There must be a reason why Alex Suarez was in Bradford Meade's will. A young woman falling for her boss is not unheard of." Faye just laughed at that.

"No, it's not unheard of the thankfully the age difference was only 10 years. Alex Suarez was Bradford Meade's grandson." She snickered.

"So he's Daniel Meade's son?"

"Yes."

"Is it possible that Carlo could have taken Alex on Daniel's behalf?" The detective asked.

"I sincerely doubt that considering Daniel is the other person who just fired Carlo yesterday, being, his boss and everything. Actually, Daniel wanted to press charges. I talked him out of it because I knew Carlo would go public with anything he knew." Not that it did any good considering he pulled this stunt. She was going to kill him and she doesn't mean that literally. They will need a DNA test to identify him when she is done with the bastard.

"Why would it be such a bad thing if that became public?" The detective asked confused.

"Do you understand the media circus that follows the Meade family around?"

"I've seen it." The detective admitted.

"It would be 1000 times worse for a 14-month-old baby."

"A 14-month-old baby that is now in the hands of this person who distracted everyone by setting you up for murder."

"What do you need from me?"

"Anything you have on Carlos Medea. Tell me where he likes to eat breakfast, if you think that will help us figure out where he took your grandson and goddaughter."

"I'm not sure if he actually eats breakfast but he's been engaged in an on and off again sexual relationship with Nico's mother for the last two years, that may or may not have been off the entire time she was engaged to Bradford. Yesterday's unfortunate incident with the flooding was caused by Carlos' boss Marc St. James pointing out that Wilhelmina no longer wanted anything to do with him." Faye then went on to tell the detective every single thing she had on Carlo Medea, including his role in blackmailing Betty to keep Alex's paternity a secret.

They would find her grandson and when they did, she would be right behind them, ready to strangle the man with her bare hands.

After nearly an hour, they finally let her go. Catalina let her out of the back of the police station, dressed in a ridiculous multicolored trench coat, that Faye would not be caught dead wearing. However, she did it because she wasn't ready to be accosted with questions about Bradford or Alex by the paparazzi. There was a 99% chance that she may punch out the first reporter that gets anywhere near her and that would be less than advantageous right now.

She just wanted to get to her hotel room and figure out a way to find her grandson and Nico. She wanted to hug Betty and tell her that everything would be all right, that they would find Alex and Nico. She knew both were alive because Faye was certain she would know otherwise.

Faye was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she did not realize somebody besides her lawyer was sitting in the town car with her until she found herself wrapped in Amanda's arms. They recognized her by the scent of her perfume alone.

"I'm so sorry. If I just came back home Alex would've been with me and not…" Tears are running down Amanda's face as she became too overwhelmed to continue talking.

"No it's not. This is Carlo's fault." And Wilhelmina's for bringing him to mode in the first place. "We have no idea who the target was." Faye was sure she was the target and taking two people that she cares about immensely was her punishment for not letting Carlo have everything he wanted. If Alex was with Amanda, her daughter would be gone too right now and Faye is not sure she could take that.

"It was Wilhelmina. They were taken because they were with Wilhelmina. He's obsessed with her." A part of Faye wonders if that was a possibility.

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes, I do. He was waiting for Wilhelmina in the parking garage of her apartment. That's where he ambushed Monique."

"Have you spoken to the police about your suspicions?" Catalina asked. Amanda nodded her head as she buried her face into her chest.

"I'm why they know Carlo has Alex in the first place." Faye was confused, but Catalina didn't miss a beat."

"Why did you know that Amanda?"

"I was text messaging Monique, or rather she was text messaging me because I was so mad about the Spencer thing I was barely replying to anybody. Her last message was 'SOS Carlo is here'. The NYPD found Monique unresponsive in the parking garage, 10 minutes later."

"What did you do?" Catalina asked.

"I called for help. At first they didn't believe me until they received another phone call about shots being fired at the same location. It doesn't matter because Monique is still in a coma and Alex is gone."

"It matters a lot. If the ambulance got there just a little bit later Monique could be dead." They try to reassure her daughter.

"And the police have a suspect. I'm planning to have your niece turn over everything she's discovered regarding Carlo. The entire team is going to work with Detective Olivia to find him and we are going to bring your grandson home."

Faye hoped with all her heart that Catalina was right, especially when she arrived at Jamie's house and was greeted by the site of the near catatonic Betty and Daniel. She quickly wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter as the young woman broke down in sobs. When she found Carlo, he was dead. No one hurts her family like this.

It was dark when Nico woke up to the sounds of Alex screaming and Wilhelmina trying to sing Alex back to sleep. Her mom had a beautiful voice, but bedtime lullaby stopped about the time her dad started bringing his assistant around all the time. It's only now that she was almost an adult that she realized that her sperm donor was probably sleeping with said assistant.

Nico doesn't understand why her mom is singing because this is anything but a happy occasion. Both are currently chained to a reinforced steel bed, the only furniture in the room, and she has no idea where they are.

"I think he needs his diaper changed." Nico said looking down at her own blood covered outfit. Carlo never shot at her, only Monique when he tried to rip Alex out of her arms. Nico remembered running over to check on her and then being promptly knocked out with whatever the bastard had in the syringe he was carrying around.

"Probably, but I doubt Carlo would be kind enough to bring us diapers or food for that matter." Her mother's voice was bitter and angry.

"Probably not. Where are we?" Maybe if they knew where they were, they could get out of here. This wouldn't be the first time she managed to get her way out of a pair of handcuffs. Boarding school was a cruel place when half of your classmates resented you for having a rich American senator as a grandfather.

"My safe house in upstate New York. I recognize the custom carpets and bed. There are no other houses around for miles." She would ask how something could be that isolated in upstate New York, but she knew that was possible in some places.

Unfortunately, she did not have a chance to ask about the locations isolated nature because their captor walked into the room. He was still armed and just as crazy as when he shot Monique; when he probably killed Monique. Just the thought made Nico want to throw up.

"If you thought this would make me want you Carlo, you are out of your fucking mind." Wilhelmina pulls on her chains, but they would not give.

"I'm well aware nothing will make you want me, because you're a selfish, self-absorbed bitch who only cares about increasing her own power base. You will use anybody to get ahead." Carlo spat as he pushed Wilhelmina back down on the bed. "I killed Bradford for you but you still don't care." For just a second Nico saw a flash of pain in her mother's eyes. But her normal impasses mask was back in place before Carlo could even pick up on it.

"It's not like I asked you to do that. You killed Bradford because you were threatened by my relationship with him. Because I loved him and I could never, ever love a monster like you." Wilhelmina punctuated her words by spitting in the man's face. She was slapped for her defiance, which just led to Alex screaming harder than before. If they get out of this, Nico hoped the toddler remembers nothing.

"You didn't love him. Wilhelmina Slater, only cares about herself. I don't even think you love your daughter. I was the one who bought her last birthday present. Did you enjoyed the cashmere sweater I sent you?" Carlo said turning to her, weapon in hand.

"It was hideous and I exchanged it for store credit. Seriously how did you end up working at a fashion magazine?" He smacked her for that. It hurt like hell but she doesn't show how much pain she is in. Nico knows this man wants to kill her. She's well aware of that and knows her only option is to try to stay alive long enough to escape.

"Don't you lay a fucking finger on her!" Wilhelmina screams.

"Maybe I miscalculated." Nico fills the cold metal of the gun pointed at her head.

"Maybe you to care about one thing. Would you spread your legs again if I promise not to kill her? Would you get down on your knees for me?"

"That is a little difficult to do chained to a bed with a toddler clinging on to me for dear life. Especially one that seriously needs a new diaper." Wilhelmina made a disgusted face, pointing to the soiled diaper. "Could you have at least grab the diaper bag when you kidnapped us? It was only about 5 feet from Monique's corpse. You know you're going to get the death penalty for killing a Windom-West alone."

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are really that selfish. Maybe I should just find out if the mother surpasses the daughter. She hears the sound of the zipper going down, and she sure this fucking bastard is going to rape her, before he kills her.

He pushes her down to the ground, despite the fact that she still chained to the bed. It took all of her concentration not to scream in pain as her arm is jerked back. He is now in front of her with his half hard Dick in her face. Right now she wants to bite the thing off.

"Do you really want a 16-year-old who hasn't even figured out how to Deep Throat properly yet?" Wilhelmina asked. What is she doing?

"It's your choice. You or her." Surprisingly Wilhelmina chooses herself and before Nico could say anything, she's back on the bed with Alex in her arms and no longer had a gun aimed at her head.

However, letting her leave the room was too much for the psychopath. Nico closes her eyes knowing what is happening to her mother. She can't watch. The sounds of Carlo coming as he forces himself down her mother's throat is disgusting enough. She just pulls Alex closer to her hoping that they'll get out somehow.

Wilhelmina spat the contents of her mouth in the sink in front of her, thankful for the mouthwash that her captor gave her. Apparently he didn't want to taste his own cum when he kissed her. She wanted to bite his balls off when he forced himself down her throat, but she knew better. Her main goal was staying alive by whatever means necessary.

No, that wasn't right. Her main goal was keeping Nico and by extension Alex alive, until they could get out of here by whatever means necessary. She may have felt that Daniel was a spoiled rich kid who had everything handed to him on a silver platter but she liked Betty and Bradford and therefore would keep the child safe until she could get out of here.

She would get out of here. Wilhelmina was 1000 times smarter than Carlo Medea. The only reason why she got into this mess in the first place was because he shoved the syringe into her neck, knocking her unconscious. Okay the reason why she ended up in this situation, was she hired the idiot in the first place, unaware that he was a sadistic bastard who apparently could not take no as an answer. She wouldn't underestimate him again.

But she knew he would screw up, eventually. Actually, he already did by bringing her to this place. This is her house. She knew these mountains. She hunted in these mountains. She knew all the pathways and all the neighbors. She just needed to unchain Nico first.

That meant her major concern was taking out Carlo. She would have just knocked him out when he was busy fucking her mouth, but she didn't want to risk Nico or Alex. She needed a weapon or at the very least something to pick the lock on Nico's handcuffs. Wilhelmina considered breaking the mirror, but that would cause too much attention.

It wasn't necessary because underneath the bathroom rug she found a disregarded metal nail file and a few bobby pins, because Carlo was too stupid to clean out the bathroom completely. Maybe Carlo's second mistake was letting her come into this bathroom alone. She concealed both items as best she could before walking out into the room where they were being kept.

However, Carlo was not in the room. Good. This meant that he wasn't planning to chain her up again. Like she said earlier he was an idiot. Nico was currently trying to get a fresh diaper on Alex, which was difficult, considering she was still chained to the bed.

"He brought doughnuts and diapers. Along with something that may or may not be generic Ensure. However, no wet wipes or new clothing. I would really like to not be covered in blood right now." Nico said barely looking at her. Wilhelmina goes back into the bathroom to grab one of the washcloths she saw and handed it to Nico.

"I hate carbohydrates." She said looking at the donuts dubiously, but also realizing that this may be the only food Carlo was going to give her anytime soon.

"I think that's what the chocolate like drink is for. Just eat the damn doughnuts." Nico says as she uses the cloth to wash up her hands, now that Alex was in a fresh diaper.

"I'm used to starving myself. You eat them." Nico needed the food more than her.

"Our captor was gracious enough to give us two packs." Nico said pointing to the second pack of doughnuts, this time chocolate.

"How gracious of him." Wilhelmina said as she sat next to Nico.

"And all you had to do was suck his cock. Why did you do that?"

"So you wouldn't have to." Wilhelmina answered honestly. Because this wasn't the first time Wilhelmina was forced to do something like that and she would do everything in her power to make sure Nico would never experience something similar.

"I haven't been the best mom. I've made a lot of mistakes. But never question how far I will go to protect you. Carlo shoving his dick down my throat is the least I can and will do for you."

To be continued

I know we did not see the situation from Betty or Daniel's perspective, but the two characters are in a very dark place at the moment and I wasn't ready to write that until I can give the couple a moment of hope. Don't worry, that moment of hope will be in the next chapter.