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Frank Reagan was in his office, after a long morning of meetings, reviewing incident files when the door opened and his closest team members entered, their faces unusually serious.
"What's going on?" he asked his chief of staff and press liaison, Garret Moore, closing the file he was holding.
"You’d better see it," replied Garret, turning on the screen in his office. Frank straightened up before standing. That gesture from Garret usually meant bad news.
And indeed, there before him was a clear image of his future step sister-in-law with a headline that read, "Detective Olivia Benson Missing: Believed to have been kidnapped."
Without taking his eyes off the screen, he addressed his assistant, "Baker, put me through to Sergeant Ayanna Bell of Organized Crime."
Meanwhile, in the Queens apartment where Kathy Stabler lived with her children, little Eli was playing in the living room when something caught his attention.
"Look, Dickie, it's Mama!" he exclaimed, seeing the woman he considered his second mother.
His older brother looked up from his homework to see what had the little boy so excited. What he saw left him momentarily stunned. After recovering, all he could do was call his mother in anguish. "MOM, COME HERE!"
Seconds later, Kathy appeared in the living room from the kitchen to see her son, whose face had turned pale, pointing at the television.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth. "Dickie, take Eli to his room and stay with him."
"But, Mom..." the teenager began to say.
"Now, Dickie. And don't tell anything to your sisters until I know more about what happened.", she told her son leaving no room for argument..
The Police Commissioner sighed. This call wasn't going to be easy, and it was only the first of a series of calls he would have to make to prevent the situation from escalating, not only in the media but also within his family. His interlocutor's voice came through clearly on the other end of the line.
"Commissioner, what can I do for you?"
"I need you to get Stabler out," he replied with a composure he didn't feel.
"With all due respect, sir, I can't do it. Detective Stabler has managed to infiltrate the gang and..."
Frank didn't let her finish. "Do me a favor and turn on Channel 4." Ayanna Bell gestured to a member of her team and murmured, "Channel 4." Jet came into her office shortly after, holding a tablet and looking distraught.
"Now tell me, Sergeant, are you going to pull Stabler off his mission so we can brief him in a controlled environment, or do we risk him finding out on his own and going rogue?"
"I'll send him a message right now, Sir.", she responded
"Thank you. Let me know when you make contact. And send him directly to my house." He hung up and took a breath. First call made; now came the rest, and they weren't going to be any easier.
Next on his list was Captain Cragen from Manhattan SVU. And after that… he didn’t want to think about it. But he has to, because he needed to tell his father and Bernie, and also his children. It was going to be a long day. Abigail Baker walked into the office carrying a coffee.
"Do you need anything else, sir?"
"Thank you, Baker," the Commissioner said. "Send a car to pick up Detective Stabler's kids and their mother. Have them taken to my house." Baker took notes as her boss spoke. "Call Detectives Reagan and Baez, Officer Reagan, and my daughter. I want them at my house when Elliot arrives."
"Right away, sir," she replied, turning to leave the office.
"Before you go..." Frank began his mind full with thoughts in a situation where losing control of events would be all too easy. "Sir?"
"Make sure Garrett ensures the press doesn't get near anyone in the family! And get me Captain Cragen on the 16th.", He paused before continuing. “And for heaven's sake, someone finds out how the hell the press found out what happened to Detective Benson before her family did.”
“On it, Sir”, she answered before returning to her post to carry out the assigned tasks.
The phone had barely started ringing when he heard his old friend on the other end of the line.
"I assume you already know, Frank." Don Cragen said, his voice sounding entirely stripped of its usual captain’s authority. Frank nodded out of habit, a heavy sigh caught in his throat, before he realized that Don couldn't see him.
"What the hell happened, Don?"
“We were dealing with a very complicated case that was taking a heavy toll on Olivia.” Cragen explained, his words tumbling out with a rare, frantic edge.” The guy is an absolute monster. But we had to let him go. You can’t imagine how it was, Frank. I had to make her go home for a couple of days.”
Frank’s posture went entirely rigid, a cold knot tightening in his stomach. “When was that?”
“Four days ago”, Cragen replied, and his confession sank into a heavy silence. The old captain sounded utterly dejected; his voice was heavy with deep shame.
“Four days and nobody noticed anything?” Frank’s wasn't loud, but he showed an unequivocally firm tone.
“I wanted her to cool off.” Cragen pleaded softly, the sound of a man drowning in his own second-guesses. “I told the squad to give her space. If I had thought for one second that he…”
“Too late for regrets, Don.” He interrupted forcing his mind back to the tactical reality of the ticking clock. “What do we know about her whereabouts.”
“Not much. But it’s bad, Frank. Real bad. The apartment is completely trashed.”
Frank closed his eyes and covered his face with his free hand in a rare moment of sheer desperation. Ninety-six hours. Ninety-six hours before someone noticed something was not right. He drew a long breath as the image of Elliot flashed through his mind. Preventing his stepbrother from exploding and tearing Manhattan down brick by brick was going to be an impossible task.
“Keep me informed of every step.” Frank commanded his old friend.
“Elliot…” Cragen started, hesitating over the name of his former detective.
“I'll handle Elliot.” Frank said firmly, leaving no room for argument. “You find Olivia before it's too late.”
With a decisive click, Frank slammed the phone back onto its cradle. He stood over his desk for a bit before he reached out and pressed the brass intercom button to request his escort. He announced to his detail that he was heading straight home to Bay Ridge. The easy part of this day was done. Now came the time for miracles.