Chapter Text
She walks through the front door of the house, stopping in the entrance hall before turning to her companion with an annoyed look on her face. “You said this was just a drive and a chat,” she tells him, her irritation clear in both her tone and her expression. “Why have you brought me all the way out to Hewlett Harbor?” She shakes her head. “You know what? I don’t even care,” she says, searching her pockets for her cell phone. “I’m going to get a cab back to the city,” she tells him. “I’ve got things to do, a job, remember? I haven’t got time for whatever this is.” Trying a different pocket, she frowns. “Where is my phone?” She mutters to herself.
“Come into here,” he tells her. “Let me show you something. Please?” He gives her a look, blue eyes almost pleading with her and she sighs, giving up the hunt for her phone for a moment to indulge him.
He leads her into the large kitchen, to the island in the centre where there are photos laid out across the work surface. As she gets closer, she sees who the photos feature and her eyes widen.
Noah.
Dozens of photos of her son. Out playing in the park, on his way to school with Lucy, with herself. Photos of him eating ice cream with her on one side of him, Elliot on the other. Photos of him playing in her living room, clearly taken through her apartment window…
“What the hell is this?” She whirls around, facing him. “Why do you have photos of my son, surveillance photos of my son?”
“They’re your incentive,” he tells her with a smile.
“My what?” She asks, confused, angry, threatened… every emotion is rolling through her and she doesn’t know which one to settle on. Instead, her hand goes for her gun.
“Ah ah Olivia,” he tells her, stopping her hand in it’s tracks. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I have someone watching Noah right now,” he tells her. “He’s at the park with his nanny, Lucy, right?”
She nods mutely, watching him intently.
He smiles sweetly, approaches her. “I’m supposed to check in,” he tells her. “Soon. You won’t find the number anywhere but up here,” he taps his head with one finger. “If I’m not heard from, then… do I really have to spell it out to you?”
She closes her eyes, shakes her head. “What do you want?” She asks him.
“Now that is the right way to go,” he grins. “Your gun, if you will.”
Left with no other option, she takes her weapon from it’s holster, holding it between two fingers as she hands it over. He takes it, tucking it in the waistband of his pants, at the small of his back. “Thank you,” he says brightly. “See how easy this is when you submit?”
She grits her teeth. “Now what?” She asks.
“Your badge,” he nods at the gold, glinting at her hip. “You won’t be needing that anymore.”
She doesn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean by that?” She asks, even as she unclips it from her belt, handing it over.
“I don’t need to ask for your cell phone,” he continues, ignoring her question. “It was in your coat pocket and I took it as you got out of my car. You didn’t even notice.” He tuts. “You’d think being a cop and all you would, but I guess not.” He tucks her badge into his coat pocket. “Now we’ve got that out of the way, I can show you around your new home.”
He says it so innocently, so nonchalantly it makes her gape. “I’m not staying here,” she blurts, mouth voicing the refusal before her brain fully considers it.
“Oh Olivia,” he tuts. “You misunderstand.” He tilts his head, considering her. “You live here now,” he tells her. “There is security everywhere on this house. You can have the run of the place, I’m not going to confine you to a room, not going to lock you up like some of the men you hunt down would. But… if you try and go outside… I’ll know, and you’ll regret it.” His voice hardens, and she knows he means Noah. “As you saw when we drove up here, there’s a long driveway and a gate. Private, so there’s no point banging on windows to try and get someone’s attention, it won’t help you. It’ll only make me angry, and neither of us wants that, do we?” He smiles sweetly.
Tears prick her eyes, and she blinks rapidly. She won’t cry in front of him. No. “You know,” she says. “I’ve thought a lot about you… but I never thought you’d be capable of this.”
He shrugs. “Guess you never really know someone as much as you think you do.” He looks at her, a soft smile on his face. “There are books in the library,” he tells her. “A TV in the living room, but there is no landline, and no internet. I expect you to keep the house clean, I will not be hiring a maid, that’s your job, and have my meals ready for me in the morning, and when I come home like a good wife should.”
Horror is all she feels, panic and claustrophobic terror in every cell of her body as she stares at him. “Why are you doing this?” She asks. She opens her mouth again, about to call him by his name, to appeal to the better nature that she hopes, prays is hiding in there somewhere, but he prevents her with a finger to her lips.
“Call me…” He considers. “Tony,” he chooses. “Olivia and Tony, yes, I like that.” He removes his finger, but keeps his hand hovering close to her face. “Just for me, just for this… for us.”
She swallows. Play along, Olivia, she tells herself. For Noah. For his safety. For his life. “Sure,” she gives in. “Tony.” She nods. “Why are you doing this… Tony?” The name he’s making her use feels odd, but she forces it out.
He smiles at her, strokes her cheek with the back of his hand. She flinches, unconsciously and his expression hardens, anger leaking into those blue eyes. “Because… a beautiful woman like yourself shouldn’t be out there on the streets,” he tells her. “Mixing with the riff-raff, risking your life every single day… no.” He shakes his head. “You’re far too beautiful for that.”
“I have a career,” she snaps, fear overriding the need to tread carefully. “A son. A partner,” she tells him, Elliot and Noah’s faces in her mind’s eye. “You can’t just take me out of my life like this!”
He rolls his eyes, ignores her outburst. “There’s no need to be difficult,” he tells her. “Let me show you our bedroom,” he tells her instead. “I have clothes for you. Everything you could possibly need. You’ll never want for anything again, Olivia.”
“Apart from my son,” she spits. “Apart from Elliot.”
“They’ll be fine,” he waves his hand. “As long as you’re a good girl, nothing will happen to either of them.” He extends his hand, linking their fingers together. His palm brushes against hers and she resists the urge to yank her hand away, letting him lead her up the stairs, to a large door. “Here we are,” he announces, opening the door and making a sweeping motion with his arm. “Our bedroom. Your closet is the one on the left,” he tells her, leading her to stand in front of it. “Why don’t you see the clothes I bought for you?”
Steeling herself, she extricates her hand from his, opening both closet doors at the same time, her lips thinning at the view inside.
Dresses. So many dresses. She thumbs through them, the flared skirts, short sleeves, pastel colours with dots, tiny flowers… some are checked, some have high necklines, some lower, sweetheart necklines.
It looks like he’s plucked them all straight from the fifties, and she lets out a breath. It’s shaky, but she can’t help that. “What is this, the fifties?” She can’t help but ask, the words once again exiting her mouth before her brain fully kicks in. “How do you even know my size?”
He touches her back, his fingers tracing down her spine through her coat as she holds herself still, muscles frozen, unsure what he’s about to do. “I’m very good at working it out,” he tells her. “Over there,” he turns, pointing at a set of drawers. “Lingerie. Sexy things for you to wear for me in bed.” He smirks, undressing her with his eyes.
She stares at him dumbfounded. How am I going to get out of this?
***
Fin raises his head, suppressing a groan when he sees McGrath round the corner into the squad room. “Afternoon Chief,” he greets the man, his best fake smile on his face.
“Is she in?” McGrath asks, bypassing the pleasantries as usual. “I need to talk over the Winters case with her.”
“No, sorry,” Fin tells him, trying his best to look apologetic, but secretly happy that Liv is missing McGrath’s third visit to Manhattan SVU today. “She’s out for lunch.”
McGrath huffs, checks his watch. “How long ago did she leave?” He asks.
“Over two hours ago,” Velasco pipes up, earning himself a glare from both Fin and Amanda.
Suck up, Fin silently directs at the young detective. I’ll be telling Liv about that one, that’s for sure.
McGrath raises his eyebrows, tuts. “Does she do this often?” He asks, with barely veiled accusation.
“No,” Fin is quick to answer, catching Velasco’s eye and daring him to argue. It’s partly true; Liv usually doesn’t do this but lately… since both her and Stabler got their heads out of their asses and started seeing each other as ‘more than friends’, even going so far as to disclose to One-PP about the change in relationship… she’s been taking long lunches whenever both her and Elliot’s schedules allow.
He’s not going to rat on his Captain, his long time friend; and certainly not to McGrath of all people. “I’ll call her,” he says, trying to appease the man. Holding his cell to his ear, he frowns as it cuts straight to voicemail. “Huh,” he takes the phone from his ear, squints at the screen. “Maybe her battery died,” he says. “She spent half the morning in her office on the phone.” Making a decision, he changes tactics. “I’ll try Stabler,” he tells McGrath. “She was meeting him for lunch.”
Luckily for everyone, especially McGrath’s increasingly red face, Elliot is quick to answer. “Fin?” He answers, a touch of caution in his tone. “Everything okay?”
“Hey Stabler,” Fin replies, the use of his last name despite their history telling Elliot in not so many words that this is not a social call. “Cap still with you? Our Chief is here looking for her and her phone’s going to voicemail.”
“No…” Elliot replies, concern immediately in his voice. “I met her, but we barely had a half hour, she said she’s snowed under, it’s all she had time for today.” A pause. “I’m comin’ over there.”
The line goes dead before Fin can argue, and he lets the phone drop to his desk with a sigh. “He’s on his way over,” he reports. “Liv isn’t with him.”
***
It doesn’t take Elliot long to travel between the OCCB Headquarters and the Manhattan SVU squadroom, but every minute only heightens the feeling of dread in his gut. Something’s wrong, his brain keeps repeating, and he can’t quiet it.
“You heard anything?” Is the first thing he asks as he rounds the corner, seeing McGrath, the man who he’s had little to do with but from what Liv has told him, is not the type of boss she likes working under, standing in the corner on his cell, red faced and angry, and the anxious face of Rollins, standing by her desk. Fin is still sat beside his own, tapping away at his computer.
“No,” Amanda answers. “Her phone is still going to voicemail, we tried tracking it but we can’t. Fin’s checking traffic cams, you did go to the diner a few blocks down from here, where you usually go, right?”
Elliot nods. “Yeah.” He approaches Fin, noting that the newest detective, Velasco or something like that, is missing. “You get anything off the cameras?” He asks Fin, rounding the man’s desk and peering at his laptop screen.
“Nah,” Fin shakes his head. “I catch the pair of you leaving the diner, a hug, a kiss,” He gives Elliot a look. “Then the two of you part ways. I see you heading back to your SUV, and Liv goes to cross the road, but the cameras on that block were down for maintenance today, so I lose her. She doesn’t appear on the next ones, I don’t think… no. No, she doesn’t.” He confirms, peering closely at the screen. “She heads onto that block, but doesn’t come away from it.”
Elliot nods, the churning in his gut continuing. McGrath approaches him then, tucking his phone into his pocket. “Anything?” He demands.
“Cameras were down for maintenance,” Fin repeats. “We lost her, but we know roughly where so I’m gonna go down there with Rollins and some unis, Velasco too-” He glances up, at what Elliot assumes is Velasco’s desk. “Wherever he is… and have a look around. It’s all office buildings, not residential on that block so hopefully someone saw something.”
“It’s New York,” McGrath points out. “Whatever happened it’ll have been seen, especially there but it all depends if anyone paid attention.” He rounds on Elliot. “Did you not walk or drive her back up here?” He asks.
Elliot shakes his head, regretting not doing just that. “No,” he tells the Chief. “Sometimes I do, but my Sergeant needed me and, frankly Chief… Liv isn’t one to be coddled. She’s more than capable of looking after herself, she’s armed for a start and she’s never liked me trying to look out for her too much, back when we were partners she hated it. If I’d insisted on escorting her back here?” He scoffs. “You’d have heard her reaction in this room.”
McGrath purses his lips. “True,” he agrees. “She is very independent,” he adds. “An admirable trait, but right now… not very helpful to us.” He sighs. “So no-one has seen or heard from her in-” He checks his watch. “Two hours?” He pulls a face. “I’m going to have to call this in.” He gets his phone back out.
“She left me a voicemail,” Elliot remembers. “Hang on.” He taps at his phone, pulling it up and hitting play as Rollins moves closer to listen with them.
Liv’s voice fills the space. “Elliot, I just remembered,” she says, traffic noise the backing track to her call. “I meant to tell you over lunch but Noah has a dance recital the weekend after next and he, well, both of us… we were wondering if you wanted to come watch? You could bring Bernie, she’ll probably cheer louder than me.” She chuckles. “Uh… the rest of the kids too if they want?” She pauses, the noise of a car horn sounding loudly on the call. “Oh crap,” she sighs. “I gotta deal with this… I’ll call you tonight. Love you.”
The message ends, and Elliot darkens the phone screen. “That was about five minutes after we left the diner,” he tells them.
“She met someone,” Amanda notes. “Someone she knows, maybe?”
Fin nods. “Sure as hell sounded like that,” he agrees. “Someone she wasn’t pleased to see… but who?” He taps his fingers on his desk. “And where the hell is she now?”