"What do you think I should do?" Olivia asked. "At the moment, nothing. Let's see if we can catch Smith and bring down the Five Points, without having to give Smith what he truly wants". "The truth?" Olivia said. "No," said Elliot quietly, "Liv, he wants you."
"He's been obsessing with you since he first saw you." Elliot continued. Olivia looked at Elliot skeptically. Elliot got up and picked up MacBook that was sitting on Oliva's desk. He passed it to her for her finger to unlock it, "What am I looking for?" she asked.
Elliot responded, "The video of us undercover when we first met Smith". Olivia opened the video and passed the laptop back to Elliot. Elliot scrubbed forward to the part of the video where Smith asked them to kiss, his argument being that through kissing he could tell if they were a 'proper couple'. "Jet spotted this when she had to watch it earlier. Apparently, we have completely traumatized her."
"She's not the only one," Olivia said quickly adding "I think we traumatized the whole squad that day." Resigning herself to the fact she was going to have to watch the video "What am I looking at?" "Just watch Smith, you'll spot it" Elliot said as he played the video. Olivia watched the video, forcing herself not to focus on Elliot moving into kiss her. She remembered how it felt when his lips first brushed across hers, how when she opened her mouth to his and their tongues danced gently together. She had hoped that would have been the first of many kisses, but it was not meant to be. Looking at the video now, playing in front of her, she entirely focused on Smith and watched how, as she kissed Elliot, Smith was entirely focused on her. She saw how he became aroused as Elliot's and her kissed deepened. "How have we only just spotted this?" Olivia almost half shouted, as she fought the urge for the need to have a shower. "We weren't looking for it, our focus was just to convince Smith we were a couple to catch him trafficking, we did, it was job done." Elliot said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Olivia sat, as the realization of the magnitude of the lengths Smith had gone to in order to get her attention. "It's all my fault, what happened to Lauren and is happening to Amelia! I need to put it right El."
Elliot, on the sofa, turned and faced Olivia – "Liv, this is not your fault, this is entirely on Smith. He is the one who hurt Lauren, not you. He is the one who took Amelia, not you."
"Yes, but El, do you honestly think I hadn't noticed that he has targeted a 'Lauren' – as in Lauren Coles who Lewis raped? And taken an 'Amelia', as in Lauren's sister Amelia Coles? No one's said it, as everyone is walking on eggshells around me. But I know everyone has already worked it out. Let's find a way of contacting Smith and arrange to swap me for Amelia." Olivia said, turning away from Elliot looking straight in front of her, beginning to mentally prepare herself for what she could see as the only option in front of her.
Elliot was shocked at what Olivia was thinking and her single mindedness. He'd noticed, since getting to know Olivia again, that she no longer saw herself as dispensable and, if he had to guess, it was since she had become a mom – she now had someone she had to live for and return home to each night. But Elliot knew deep down in her DNA that dispensable thought was still there. Elliot walked up and picked up the photo of Noah that Olivia kept on her desk. He handed it to Olivia "Look at your son, Liv. What happens to him if you go and make a trade with for Amelia? What happens to Noah if this time you don't come out of the situation alive?"
Olivia took the photo of Noah and looked at it, she knew Elliot was right. "I know El, but I still need to fix this" she said. Elliot stood and pulled Olivia to her feet, taking the picture of Noah, and placing it back on the desk. "Olivia, you don't need to fix anything. It's not down to you. It is down to us as two squads - we need to catch Smith and find Amelia." Olivia nodded and then realized that Elliot had originally come into her office to tell her something "What did you want to tell me?" she asked.
Elliot thought for a second, he had been so distracted by Olivia's confession that he forgot that he come in to talk to her about his conversation with his old ATF boss, Rick Johnson. "Oh yeah - I was coming to tell you about my conversation with Johnson from ATF."
"how did that go?" Olivia asked.
Elliot thought for a moment, how to phrase his conversation with Johnson "It was…odd, you know how relaxed he was, taking everything in his stride, well he seemed on edge and cagey. We've agreed to meet for a coffee, it would be good if you could come, I would appreciate your perspective. Something seems off."
Olivia nodded and found out the time they were to meet, then Elliot turned to open the door. "El," Olivia called "Thank you for grounding me back in reality" she said this whilst looking back at the photo of Noah. "No, problem" Elliot said flashing her one of his infamous Stabler smiles and exiting the office.
Olivia sat down at her desk, reflecting on everything that share and Elliot had talked about. She was puzzled that, somehow, she felt lighter after their conversation. Whether it was finally saying out loud what had happened in the bathroom with Lewis. Or having Elliot reassure her. She knew despite everything that had happened between them since Elliot returned in her life, despite the pain she still felt for the way he left her, and how debilitating all possibilities were that laid in front of them, the one thing Olivia was sure about in moments like this - she glad that Elliot was by her side again.
Just as Olivia was about to get up and find out where the squads were, Bell knocked on the office door and opened it saying "Captain, we have another video from Smith, and you're not going to like it." Olivia got up and exited "Was I ever going to like a video from Smith?"
Olivia walked over to the screen, there they were joined by Muncy, Whelen, and Velasco. Bell, Finn, and Elliot had already seen the video. Elliot stood next to Olivia. From Elliot's face Olivia knew this was going to be bad and he was displaying as much support as he could, without showing any of the physical affection that she knew he wanted to.
Taking a deep breath, Olivia instructed Jet to play the video. A little girl, around 10, appeared, she had brown hair tied in a pony tail that was disheveled, her face showed she had clearly been crying. She was sitting on a chair in a room, holding up a newspaper that showed it was clearly from that morning. The room had white walls and no identifying features. Looking into the camera the girl spoke in a voice that tremored "My name is Amelia, I am not hurt and had McDonald's for dinner and cereal for breakfast. Mr Fleming says he will let me go so I can see Mom again, if Captain Benson takes my place. Please, please do as he says – I am so scared and want my mom." The screen then went black and a written message appeared: 'Olivia you have until 8am tomorrow to hand yourself over to me – or Amelia will never be seen again', followed by a cell phone number.
"Jet," Olivia shakily asked, trying to keep her own emotions under control, "have you tried to trace the cell number?"
Jet nodded, "Yes, it's a burner cell and is untraceable. I also have tried to find where the video was uploaded from, but I'm drawing a blank, as it was uploaded from the dark web and the IP trace was a dead end."
"What do you want to do Captain?" Bell asked, unsure what Olivia was thinking. Olivia looked at Elliot, who nodded, Olivia then addressed the squad "I think we need to find a way that we can finish this once and for all. Bring down the Five Points, rescue Amelia and put Smith back where he belongs. Without giving into to what he wants".
"Firstly, Finn do you still meet with Oki from ATF?" "Yeah, why?" Fin asked Olivia nodded then continued "Well, you're going to buy him a few drinks and find out how things are going with the ATF – especially Johnson. See if he's up for a liquid lunch."
"Secondly, I am going to put in a call to Amanda Rollins – see if she can come and go through everything we know about Smith and give us an insight to his mind now. Velesco and Jet – can you go through everything with her. She already has first-hand experience of Smith and Lewis, and her forensic psychological insight will be helpful".
Bell nodded and said "We have a lead on the second person in the picture – Mickey O'Sullivan. He trains a boxing club downtown called Yakey Yakes. Stabler and Whelen, do you fancy paying O'Sullivan a visit and see if he can be persuaded to come in for a chat." Elliot and Whelen nodded, Elliot looked at Olivia as he was grabbing his jacket, realized she knew who O'Sullivan was, and quietly apologized to her as he passed.
Olivia turned to Bell, "What can you tell me about Paul Kelly?" Bell, indicated Olivia should take a seat "Paul Kelly – real name is Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, he was born in New York but his parents are Italian and, by all accounts, he had quite a strict Catholic upbringing. From a young age he took up boxing and despite being short – only five feet six – he was known as one of the quickest and cleanest boxers around. Regularly knocked out people over six feet. He then got injured and turned to robbery and petty theft. This led to opening of Morello's night club – where he runs most of the Five Points operations. He recruits younger and fitter men, a bit like Bugsy and O'Sullivan, now to do most of the dirty work. Captain, I'll be honest with you, I can't see Kelly trafficking girls. Weapons and drugs – definitely. But children…it doesn't feel right".
Bell continued, "I am wondering if Smith targeted the Five Points, initially as a way of making a quick buck and getting to New York, but then stayed connected when he found out about Kelly's girlfriend and daughter. I mean a mighty coincidence Lauren and Amelia Coleman to Lauren and Amelia Coles that Lewis raped and kidnapped."
Olivia thought about everything, and eventually replied "If Smith was using the Five Points as a way of getting to New York and making money he must have contacted or be connected on the fringes to some of the other organized crime gangs in New York. Is there any way of finding out?"
Bell looked skeptical, "Trouble is he is a master of different identities, he probably used a new identity for each introduction." Olivia turned to Jet "can you find a way of cross referencing any British or Irish serial killers with any chatter on any of the OC gangs you're aware of in New York?".
Jet nodded, "It will take me a while, but yeah, possible." Jet got to work on her computer with Bell offering a hand, compiling a list of known OC operations they were aware of. Olivia went to her office to contact Amanda.
Just as she got off the call to Amanda, who agreed to pop in after her morning classes, Finn popped his head in. "I'm off out to meet with Oki. Turns out the guy was thinking of contacting me, he's said ATF has got weird and he wants to know how easy it is to switch from the alphabets to the police." Olivia nodded "You better go. Be sympathetic and see what you can find out. Elliot and I are off to meet with Johnson at lunch, so we can compare notes afterwards".
As Finn walked out, Olivia could hear a disturbance coming from the squad room. She popped out to see a man in gym kit being dragged into the squad room. From his language and struggle he clearly was not being persuaded easily. Olivia came to her door and told Elliot and Whelen to put him in interrogation. When they were done Elliot came to Olivia's office. "Sorry I did not tell you about Reyes, I didn't know how much it was on the down low." Olivia held her hand up, "Elliot it's fine, I just need to remember we're on different squads now and, as such, have different confidences to hold. Is he good?" Elliot nodded "One of the most impressive UC's I've met." Olivia nodded as Bell approached. "Shall we?" Olivia indicated to Bell, and they entered the interrogation room together. Before Reyes spoke, Olivia indicated he should remain silent, and she closed the blind and turned off the speaker.
"You ok, Detective?" Bell asked, Reyes nodded "Tell you one thing – Stabler needs to work on his communication skills, I thought he was going to break my bloody arm when he brought me in." Olivia shook her head "It's nice to see the hours of counselling are paying off." Reyes smiled "You sure he was SVU?" Olivia smiled "Yep, for over twelve years, and was one of the best people I knew at talking to victims." Reyes chuckled – "Wow Stabler and empathy, who would have known it. Captain, were you his old partner?". Olivia smiled, "I was".
Reyes smiled "I have heard about you, your legendry" Olivia smiled and said "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not". Bell was getting impatient with Reyes small talk and asked "Detective, what can you tell us about Amelia?". Reyes shook his head "Not much I'm afraid, my job was just to drive, but from what I can make out, Bugsy was told by the Irish guy Flemming…"
Olivia put a hand up to pause Reyes, "His name is John Smith and he's British."
Reyes whistled, "Well he fooled me, his Irish accent is impressive. Well, Flemming – John Smith, whatever his name – asked Bugsy to pick up Amelia because Lauren and Paul, as in Paul Kelly, were taking Amelia for a surprise day out to see a Broadway show. They both had clients in the morning, Lauren at her gym and Paul was auditioning, if you know what I mean, for Morello's, so we were sent to pick up Amelia. We brought her back to Morello's and Flemming took Amelia, telling her he had a surprise for her, and that was the last we saw of her. When Paul found out about what Flemming – or Smith – did, he was as mad as I had seen him. Then when he could not contact Lauren, he was out of his mind. He knows about Lauren and what happened to her. But is keeping his distance – says he's allergic to the Police."
Olivia nodded "Thank you Detective, you been most helpful. Is there anything we can do for you before you go back under?" "Yeah, tell Stabler to be gentler". Olivia smiled, "I think I can arrange that."
Bell then asked "Reyes, before you go, how easy is it for you to make trouble in the Five Points, like make it out that Smith was also dealing with the Five Points' rivals?" Reyes thought for a minute "Quite easy, Paul is already paranoid and is after Flemming's, sorry Smith's, blood. I reckon I can have them paranoid and all over the place pretty quickly – especially if you could slip me some evidence". Bell nodded, "Hold off for the moment, but be ready to cause havoc - and quickly if we need you to." Reyes nodded and Olivia opened the blind and turned back on the speaker opening the door she called "Stabler, could you 'gently' take Mr. O'Sullivan back to his work out please?" Elliot chuckled, the 'gently' was not lost on him "Certainly, Mr. O'Sullivan, this way please." As Reyes passed Olivia, he quietly said "Nice to meet you Captain" and Elliot, Whelen and Reyes headed back out.
Olivia walked into her office and began to catch up on some of the circulars that had landed on her desk in the last twenty-four hours. She had completely lost herself in her reading when she, suddenly just at hearing an eager voice run into the office "Mom, Mom" looking up she saw Noah suddenly flying at her for a hug. Smiling she stood up to hug her son "Hello, this is a surprise and thank you for the hug, I thought you were getting too old for them?" "Ahh, you looked like you need one!" Noah responded, matter of factly. Olivia looked towards the door and saw Amanda Rollins standing there. Going over to give her a hug Olivia whispered "Thank you." "While Aunty Amanda gets to work, how about we quickly run out and get everyone coffee?" "Can I have a Hot Chocolate?" Noah asked, Olivia smiled "I'm sure that can be arranged." Grabbing a pen and pad and handing it to Noah "How about while I get Amanda set up, you go and get everyone's coffee order?". Noah nodded and ran out the room to get everyone's order.
Olivia indicated to Amanda to take a seat. "Is it bad?" Amanda asked. "He's got the Lewis file and is replicating everything Lewis did". Amanda looked shocked. "Smith? Has he lost his mind?" "That's what I hope you can tell me Amanda, because he's gone out of his way to get my attention, maiming and raping and kidnapping a girl. His demand is to trade her for me and I'm guessing I will have to let him do anything he wants to me. Amanda, I can't go through that again. As Elliot reminded me, I'm a mom, I have to think about Noah". "You thought about doing the trade didn't you?" Amanda asked. Olivia simply nodded and Amanda lent in and gave her a hug. "We'll find another way Liv". Getting up Amanda said, "You better show me everything". Amanda and Olivia made their way out to the squad room and over to where Velasco was sitting. He jumped up and gave Amanda a hug when he saw her and then they sat down together. Jet was nearby still working on finding other gangs Smith might have contacted. "How you getting on Jet?" Olivia asked. "Nothing so far." Olivia then had a thought, "Try variations of William Lewis". Jet nodded and, as Noah returned with everyone's coffee order, Olivia and Noah headed out to get coffee.
When Noah and Olivia returned with everyone's coffee's Elliot was waiting for her, she handed him his coffee as Noah went and handed drinks around the squad room. Then, after logging into their personal streaming service so Noah could watch some movies on her computer, Elliot and Olivia left to meet Johnson.
As they entered the bar, Johnson spotted them and rose, extending his hand to Olivia, she shook it, "Nice to meet you again Captain, I hope you're well|, Olivia smiled and said, "I'm fine thank you". Turning his attention to Elliot "Stabler, good to see you again". "You too Johnson, thank you for meeting us so quickly". They sat down and immediately a waiter appeared to take their order. When they'd left to get their drinks, Elliot immediately launched into the reason they were there. "Johnson, do you remember the Connor Walsh/John Smith case?"
"How can I forget it," Johnson said, "Lost one of my best to that man". Elliot wanted to point out that Walsh was a corrupt agent and heavily involved with trafficking girls, drugs, and alcohol. But decided against it.
"Well Smith is out of prison, apparently an administrative error. Any idea what happened?" Elliot asked.
It was at that point smith glanced at Olivia "No ring" Johnson commented, looking at Olivia's left hand. "Stabler, you not popped the question yet? I was half expecting you both to be engaged before we even finished typing up the paperwork." Elliot spotted Johnson's deflection and immediately pulled him back on topic "Rick, we didn't date. Now, back to John Smith, what can you tell me about his release?"
Johnson deflected the question again by returning straight back to Elliot and Olivia's relationship "Shame, it never worked out, everyone could see the chemistry you two have."
"Literally" Olivia answered, acknowledging the now infamous kiss they'd shared. "But back to Smith's case, what can you tell us?" Olivia asked. Johnson sighed and said, "Not much, I heard a muck-up with the paperwork somewhere at our end. Smith had a good lawyer who got his confession and case thrown out, and that was it. Embarrassing really. Why do you want to know?"
Olivia paused as the waiter returned with their drinks – after thanking the waiter Olivia continued.
"Because Smith is back to his old ways, only this time he has rapped and maimed a lady and kidnapped her daughter." It did not escape either Olivia or Elliot that Johnson visibly paled. Olivia decided to keep on the pressure and produced the video from Smith with Amelia. Johnson watched the video in silence, shocked at what he was seeing.
He then looked at Olivia, urgently saying "Olivia, you need to do it, you need to make the swap." Elliot immediately got on the defensive "No, she does not. She does not have to put herself in danger, and allow a man who may well be delusional, do things I don't even want to think about, just because you're feeling guilty because you guys mucked up."
Olivia, sensing that Elliot's temper was beginning to get the better of him, calmly said "Rick, I have thought seriously about Smith's request. But the last time I switched places with a child – also called Amelia – I ended up playing Russian Roulette with a psychopath called William Lewis, who shot himself in a way that framed me for murder. So please excuse me if I am not too keen on going back into that situation. To make matters worse, Smith appears to have the file on William Lewis. You don't know anything on that do you? As we know it was not accessed from our end!"
At this point Rick Johnson jumped up "I don't need to listen to this, I thought this was going to be a nice catch up, not accusing me of helping a man who likes little girls". Johnson stormed out of the bar.
Taking a sip of her drink Olivia looked at Elliot as he said "Well either he's our guy, or he knows who our guy is". Olivia nodded "When we get back to the office do you think you could get a look at his financials?" Elliot nodded his head "Be interesting to hear what Finn's found out from Oki".
After finishing the rest of their drinks and paying, Elliot and Olivia headed back to the squad room.
However, back in the squad room a flurry of activity was happening around them. Bell walked towards Olivia and Elliot "Captain, Stabler, glad you're back – Jet worked on your idea of pseudonyms relating to William Lewis and found a Lewis Williams both contacted, and has had weapons and drug dealings, with three OC gangs in New York – the Lenox Avenue, the Five Points biggest rivals, the Eastman, and the Batavia Street. It appears Smith has no end of supply of weapons and drugs. Working from a tip from Sargent Tutuola's meeting with an Agent Oki from ATF, we have begun to delve into Agent Rick Johnson's financials."
Elliot spoke "We have just come from a meeting with him, and we suspect he is our guy." At this point Finn came forward "He is – his kid was diagnosed with Leukaemia twelve months ago and Johnson's insurance couldn't cover the cost of treatment. But he's been paying, on time, all the medical bills for his kid in a top cancer hospital. It's way above his take home pay. The only way he could afford that is if he's on the take and helping Smith".
Olivia nodded, "That will explain why he paled when we told him about Smith's antics, he's been playing with the Devil and he's in above his head. Is there any way we can find any evidence of Smith and Johnson working together? Johnson paying his kid's medical bills is not enough, we don't know if he is having financial help from a rich family member."
Jet then spoke up "If we could get access to his computer, I will probably be able to find something, but we will have to bait him, and I don't know how we can do that". Olivia nodded and turning to Amanda, "You got anything, that can help?".
"Smith is an Obsessive Compulsive with Sociopathic tendencies. He's become fixated on you; it appears since he first saw you and Stabler and kiss – this was a trigger point for his arousal which grew when you needed to allow him to act on it the last time you went undercover. Then when you failed to answer his questions, when you interviewed him, he's become obsessed. Since then, he has done his research, a quick Google of you would have led him to the name William Lewis. Since then, he has obsessed and fantasized over what Lewis did, or might have done. This has led to him wanting to emulate what Lewis did, and he probably intends to take it further, making him better than Lewis.
Using Lauren to re-enact what Lewis did to you was one way of releasing some of that fantasy build-up. But he desperately wants the real thing, and unless he gets a new obsession or is safely locked up, he will continue to come for you".
"So, you're saying, my best option is for me to hand myself over to Smith and try to end his obsession some way?". "No," Amanda quickly corrected, "I'm saying the best way to end his obsession is to take you out of the picture entirely".
Bell, understanding what Amanda was getting at, "You mean, metaphorically kill off Captain Benson?". "Yes, if you can find a way of making it clear that Olivia is no longer around, he will need to find a new obsession." Amanda said.
Olivia then grasped what was being said, and started thinking aloud "What if we faked my death and made it look like it was one of the Five Points sending a message to Smith? But, at the same time, find a way of riling up the Five Points so that they think Smith is setting them up by killing a cop, ready to take over their patch and bring in a rival gang – like the Lenox Avenue?"
Everyone thought about what Olivia said, and then Jet piped up "Do you think word of your untimely death would interest our dodgy agent enough to hack into the morgue?"
Everyone looked at Elliot, who was being unusually quiet with everything that was being said, "Yeah, I think he will be keeping tabs on everything we're doing now, and Johnson has very good computer skills, hacking into the morgue would be easy. Why?"
Jet continued "Because if we are to fake the captain's death, this Johnson seems the type who is going to check out for himself if she's really dead. If we can work with someone from the morgue and somehow put her death and autopsy report into the system, when he hacks in and tries to view or download a file, we can upload a little surprise to his machine and retrieve a full copy of his hard disk and possibly all his passwords".
Whelen then added his thoughts "If we're potentially trying to convince Smith the Captain's early demise was a message being sent to him by the Five Points, then wouldn't killing her in the same way the real Patrick Flemming died send that message?"
"Hang-on, do I not get a say any say in my own demise?" Olivia asked, slightly amused at how the conversation was progressing.
Ignoring Olivia, Bell nodded at Whelen's thoughts, "Probably. How did the real Patrick Flemming die?" Muncy was already Googling "Oh wow, he was tar and feathered, and then hung."
"That just sounds messy," Olivia said in an authoritative tone, that brought all eyes back to her.
Velesco then nervously added, "Captain, if you're serious about going down this fake death route, I think you should set the location as the beach house, where Lewis took you. The thrill of being there with you would be an overload of senses, and he might not be as careful as he normally would be."
Amanda, who had been listening to what was being said and almost planned spoke up "Liv, as horrible as this all sounds, I agree with Velesco, the beach house would be the location to put him on the back foot, and I think you being there dead in such a shocking way is your best chance of being able to stop Smith, rescue Amelia and take down the Five Points. But I'll be honest, you need to talk to Warner and see if any of this is even feasible".
Olivia was taking in all that was being said, aware that all eyes from both squads were on her. "Ok, let's contact Warner on the down-low and see what all this entails. But before you all get excited and start planning my funeral, it may not be practical – so can you please find a potential way, if I am having to hand myself over to Smith, that means you can extract me as soon after as possible".
Everyone nodded at what she was saying. Olivia observed Elliot walking away – she was guessing heading to the roof – for years it was their safe place, a place to think, talk, and on occasions argue. Sighing, she knew she would have to speak to him soon.
But first she turned to Amanda, who was beginning to gather her stuff, "Thank you so much for coming down, and also looking after Noah." Amanda smiled "No problem, he's a great kid Liv and it's no trouble – the girls love him like a big brother, he can stay as long as he needs to." Olivia smiled "Guess we are like one big family in some ways". Pausing Olivia then added, "Amanda, I really miss you." Amanda smiled and hugged Olivia "I miss you to Liv, but I'm loving teaching – I feel born to it." Olivia nodded "I know you do, and you're amazing at it". Olivia then turned and headed to her office and putting her head around the door "Noah, Amanda needs to head off and you need to go with, you're going back to hers for a while longer." Noah nodded and got his stuff together. Hugging his mum "Will you try and pop by and see me later?", "I'll try sweetie" Olivia said and gave Noah a kiss on his head. "Be a good boy and as soon as this case is over, we'll go out for the day and do anything you want ok?" Noah nodded, and it did not escape Olivia's notice that a mischievous smile formed across his face. But that was for another day.
Watching Amanda and Noah head to the elevators, Olivia felt a pang of sadness and again thought the job was getting just that little bit harder for her each year.
Heading over to her desk, Olivia picked up the phone and dialed Warner's number and asked if she could meet up ASAP on the quiet with Bell, Elliot, Finn and herself to see if she could help. Warner agreed and they arranged to meet in an hour's time.
Finally, leaving her office, she informed Bell and Finn, then headed to the roof to speak to Elliot.