25 Acts of Happiness | Law and Order SVU

Chapter Two

I hear a loud and quick knock on my office door and look up to see a worried face.

"Fin!" I say. "Come in. And close the door for a sec."

"Sarg, you won't like this." He says, holding up a note. "It's about Amanda."

Nick starts to panic. "What are we doing here still? I should go check on her. She still could be at her house." He takes his jacket from the chair he was sitting and heads to the door.

"I'll come with." Fin says, before putting the note on my desk. "Take a look at this. It's sick." He whispers and rushes to catch up on Nick.

I unfold the note, just as the door closes behind Fin.

My eyes gaze up and down the note.

Sam Sdlonyer

That's all that says at the bottom of the letter. The letter to the squad. Everyone. I have a feeling I should be knowing this name, I just don't remember it from anywhere.

I sigh and start to read the first paragraph.

Hi, to all of you who are Amanda's friends. When you get this from me, it will be too late for her. You won't be able to find her and never will.

I gaze at the last sentence and just let the thoughts surround me.

That was actually what Lewis said to me when he had me captured. That was what I thought, as I was held hostage by him. I had thought nothing could save me from the beast's hands and I would die there. But I fought. I still had that hope in me, that my squad did not leave me behind.

I woke up from my trance, as I heard a soft knock on my door. I actually hoped it was Amanda, that Fin and Nick found her in bruises, went trough hell and back, crying but alive. She would probably say she was okay, but deep down she would be in pieces. She would say this case was in vain and she didn't need to do a rape kit.

I was disappointed, as I recognize the person standing in the doorway wasn't Amanda, Nick or Fin.

It was Carisi. "Hey, everything alright? Amanda is still not here and Nick looked like a wreck as Fin walked him out of the building."

I sigh. "Close the door for a sec?" I order, more than a question.

He looked nervous. "Is this about Amanda?" I can tell he was cautious, as he walks towards my desk.

"Amanda got attacked." I say cautiously, knowing what his reaction would be. She had worked here far too long and knew how it was to hear a news that happened to a close one.

Carisi looked up from the ground. "Is this a joke?" He asks.

My phone rings. Fin. It could be Nick. I say to myself, then remember Amanda could be long gone. Nick probably broke down and since Nick wasn't capable of calling me, Fin did that for him.

I shakily slide my finger across the screen and leave a muffled 'Hello?'

''Liv...There is no trace of Amanda in her apartment. This place is a wreck. Seriously, it looks like someone ran a bulldozer over it.'' He whispers. I smile a little. Fin was the only one in the squad that had a sassy comment about everything. "CSU and an ambulance is on it's way here."

"How did Nick take it in?" I ask.

"Oh, that is actually why I called and ambulance. He looks traumatized. I don't know he's just sitting in a corner in the hall and staring at her door- Nick wait! Liv, gotta call you later." He hangs up the phone, before I can even even say a quick 'goodbye'. I put my phone on my desk face-down and look at Carisi.

"Does it look like one?" I close my eyes in horror, as I remember the phone call. Help.... That could bossibly be her last hope, before she completely shut down, thinking there was no other way of getting out there alive.

I bury my face in my hands as I feel someone's hands on my shoulder. "Liv, you okay?" He sounded worried. "Look, we will find her. Alive. She probably won't stop fighting." Yeah, right, I think to myself. She most probably thinks we gave up on her, since she got kidnapped.

"Thanks." I say, smiling a little bit. Carisi leaves and closes the door silently behind him.

I hope you're right, I think. I really hope you are right.