CHAPTER 1
The phone above his head rang violently. He tried desperately to tune it out. It had been a long day with no vindication in sight. He just wanted to shut out the world for a few hours to escape the grotesque images he faced every day, but his luck seemed to be fading. He rolled on to his opposite side and without making an effort to switch on the light he snatched the phone from its cradle. “Stabler,” he stated as if the mere mention of his name were too exhausting to get out. “I’ll be right there.”
Rubbing the sand from his eyes, he leapt on to the floor, again avoiding the introduction of light to the room; he proceeded to change with only the moonlight to guide him. He slipped into the suit he had worn no more than one hour before. He added the final touch of his spit shinned black leather shoes to his gray suit ensemble and headed out the door.
The busy sounds of the street did nothing to alleviate the headache that was now pushed its way into his temples. The steady stream of street lights just added to the pounding. Four obnoxious lights later he reached his final destination. The cascade of blue and white police cars gave away the obvious environment in which he was about to enter. As he pulled his car to a stop as he is greeted by the semi-smiling face of his partner, Olivia. “You awake?” she asked as he stumbled from the driver side. He nodded as if to answer ‘no’ to which she let out a low laugh, “What can I say? Justice never sleeps.”
Elliot followed close behind his partner as they made their way into the rundown brownstone that was now the central focus of their current expedition. “What are we looking at?” he finally let those five little words escape his mouth. “The woman in the apartment above heard some whimpering and thought maybe a dog had been abandoned. You can imagine how shocked the SPCA was to find a young woman bond, gagged, and badly beaten tied to the wall. They called us.”
“How old?” he inquired. “Twenty-two, twenty-three. Ambulance already took her downtown. She wasn’t very coherent when I tried to talk to her.” The twosome entered making their way through the graffiti ridden hallway up two flights of steps to Apartment 321. The door was already wide open with various uniforms making their way in and out. Elliot, still close behind, followed Olivia into the tiny one bedroom apartment. The smell of rotting garbage and mildew abruptly found his nasal passages and he was forced to cover his nose.
The room was riddled with empty beer bottles and the remnants of various fast food paraphernalia. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the flash of the CSI camera in use beside him. They were snapping photos of the ridged leather restraints bolted to the wall. Upon closer examination he could make out spatters of blood on the wall as well as the restraints. He was sure its presence only added the horrible aroma spreading through the room. “Who knows how long she was trapped in this filth.” He glanced at Olivia as she shook her head in acknowledgement of her own statement.
He did his best to get the possible images of a young hopeful girl entering the big city to end up the sex slave attached to some maniac’s wall. All the hopes and dreams quickly beaten out of her. The more he pushed the images from his mind the stronger his headache became. The more he tried to relax his mind the more he felt nauseous. He began to debate whether or not it was the possible migraine that was leading to the nausea or the pictures he so desperately tried to push from his brain. It was no use either way, they were there to stay.
The two finished their usual sweep of the room and questioned the upstairs neighbor as well as those who shared the hall, but to no avail. No one could give an ID of the man who had used and abused the poor girl now undergoing even more horrendous punishment downtown. They wrapped up the area and walked out of the building. The partners went their separate ways. Olivia headed to the hospital to see what the victim could add to the investigation while Elliot headed to the office to grab a change of clothes before he too headed to the hospital.
As he entered the swinging doors to the open office, he was met with the sluggish gaze of fellow detectives Munch and Finn. “Long morning?” Munch through up at Elliot. “It’s been a long month.” Elliot walked over to the unit’s new coffee maker and poured himself a cup. “Oh, I almost forgot. You have a visitor,” Munch added as Elliot lifted his head from the piping hot goodness in this hand. “At 4 o’clock in the morning?” Munch just lifted his shoulders in the normal grunting response of morning grogginess and pointed off to the holding bench in the corner. Elliot turned his gaze in the direction of the extended finger where he could barely make out the small figure of a woman adorned in a long sleeve green shirt and black jeans in the corner. Still unsure who it might be he inched his way toward the bench.
As the female felt the movement beside her she raised her eyes to meet his. He froze in his place and they both seemed to be locked in an awkward stare. Elliot was now wide awake as he approached the eyes of someone he hadn’t seen in a long time. The innocent eyes that he hadn’t looked into since she stormed out of his house two long years ago. She stood from the bench obviously unsure of the reception she would be facing. He came within hugging distance and stopped. They continued to stare.
“What are you doing here?” he questioned. Her long brown air swooped into her eyes as she lower her head to him. “Christina? What are you doing here?” he repeated his question this time making his aggravation blatantly obvious. She finally lifted her eyes to his, eyes that mirrored his own and with a similar feeling of aggravation stated, “Nice to see you too, big brother. Glad to know I was missed.”
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