Chapter 7 – Undercover Operation
Over the next few days, Amanda played the role of a Chicago PD Street cop. We had set up several calls that involved animals during the shifts that Ben Miller was working so he could meet Amanda. We wanted to see if he would make Amanda his next target and had split into teams to watch his every move. He was fixated on her after meeting her a few times and kept asking her questions about when she worked and what she liked to do outside of work. Amanda played along perfectly flirting with him and trying to get him to take the bait. We planned to have her wired one night when she left her "shift" from the precinct. Lindsay, Dawson, El, and I were all in a van with surveillance video down the street from the precinct and Fin, Amaro, and Olinsky were in a sedan ready to follow Amanda as she walked home.
Around 8:00 pm we could hear her say that she was walking out of the precinct and headed back to her apartment. Fin confirmed over the radio that he had a visual of her. She walked about two blocks when Fin said over the radio that a white van pulled up out of nowhere. Fin and his team jumped out of the car, but then a man jumped out of the van, grabbed Amanda from behind and threw her in before they could reach it. They got back into their car and as they were following the van, they saw her surveillance gear being thrown out the window. I couldn't believe Amanda had been taken and she was no longer wired. My chest was tight with anxiety, and I yelled into the radio, "Fin, make sure you stay with the van. We can't lose her!"
Fin responded, "I know Liv, I got this. I'm having Olinsky run the van plates now." Our surveillance van headed in the direction that Fin's car was, but we were several blocks back. We were starting to close the gap between us and Fin when suddenly a semi-truck pulled out right in front of Fin's car and he had to slam the breaks allowing the van holding Amanda to continue driving. I slammed my hand on the dashboard, "Dammit!" Elliot was driving and he took a sharp right down a side street for one block and then a sharp left to see if we could catch up to the van. We went several blocks and saw no sign of the van. I yelled, "Now what? Amanda is with that psychopath and God knows what he is going to do to her. I knew she never should have gone undercover." Elliot pulled over and looked at me. "Liv, we will find her. Just let me take a minute to think about where he might go. He knows we were on to him with the wire so I don't think he would go back to the animal shelter."
My anxiety was through the roof, and I was rubbing my hands back and forth frantically on my thighs. I kept thinking about the terror Amanda was going through and flashbacks of Lewis were flooding my head. My chest started to feel tight, and I was starting to breathe fast. I felt Elliot's warm hand on my arm and heard him say, "Liv, please take a deep breath. I am right here, and everything will be ok. I won't let anything happen to Amanda." My breathing slowed some and I nodded my head at him since I really couldn't speak. Elliot radioed to Fin and asked if someone was able to run plates on the van. Fin replied, "Yes, Olinsky said the van is a Cook County van that the animal shelter was using. It has a tracker on it so he should be getting the location of the van sent to his phone any minute now."
I took a deep breath and said, "Oh, thank god." Two minutes later Fin's voice came over the radio and told us the van is five blocks away and gave us an address. We arrived at the address almost at the same time as Fin. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse and we saw the van that Miller grabbed her in sitting outside of it. We all put vests on and split up to surround the warehouse and try to find Amanda. Elliot and I were creeping along the east side of the building when I noticed movement in the window. I waved to Elliot to stop and placed my finger over my mouth to let him know to stay quiet and then pointed toward the window. I peered in and could see Amanda lying on a table with her hands tied with rope above her head. Her clothes had been ripped off and she was only in her bra and underwear. She was completely passed out and unaware of her current state. I then looked and saw Ben Miller holding a blow torch and a wire hanger. Suddenly the scars on my chest and belly were burning. The pain was so bad, I dropped my gun and wrapped my arms around my body. I put my head down and was almost in a fetal position. I started to hyperventilate and all I could see was Lewis's face and him smiling as he burned me. My throat was burning now too, and nausea overcame me. I was having a full-blown panic attack. Elliot reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder, but I flinched and yelled for him to get away from me and not to touch me. He radioed to everyone else that we had eyes on Amanda and Ben, but that Fin needed to get over to the east side of the building right away.
Fin came around the corner and Elliot explained that Olivia was having a panic attack and needed help. Their voices sounded so far away to me, but I did hear El say something about going in to get Amanda and then I felt Fin helping me stand up and walk me back to the van. Several minutes went by that felt like hours and then I heard gunshots. I felt sick and grabbed the nearest trash can in the van and retched into it. Amanda and my team needed my help, and I couldn't do anything. Lewis is still messing with my life even in the grave. I then heard sirens in the distance and was able to force myself to open the back of the van to see what was going on. I saw Elliot carrying Amanda out of the warehouse as an ambulance was pulling up. My legs felt like rubber, but I managed to walk over to them and asked, "Is Amanda, ok? What did he do to her?" Elliot replied, "She is still knocked out, but I got in there before he was able to physically harm her. I shot him dead Liv. He was about to burn her as I was walking in, and I shot him right in the chest."
They loaded Amanda into the ambulance and Fin rode with her to the hospital. The rest of the team gathered around to make sure everyone was good. Lindsay looked at me and I could see the concern in her eyes. I must have looked like a complete mess. She walked over to me and put her arm around me, "Olivia, are you ok? What happened to you?" I smiled meekly back at her, "Um, yes, I'm ok. I had a panic attack. I would rather not discuss why but I'm ok." She smiled back, "Oh ok, well I am here to listen if you ever need to talk." I told her thanks and that I really needed to just go get some rest. I asked her if she could keep me updated on Amanda and let me know when she is awake.
Elliot came over and put his arm around me. He asked if I needed to go to the hospital. I told him I just need some rest. The panic attacks always wipe me out and I asked if he could take me back to my hotel. He told me that he was going to have me stay at his apartment again so he could keep an eye on me and take care of me. I rolled my eyes at him and told him that wasn't necessary even though deep down that is exactly what I wanted.