Intruder

Ch. 2

*Flashback*

Elliot and Olivia rounded the entrance with Fin and Munch on the other side of the house for extra backup. Dean porter sat with Cragen outside in the unmarked truck watching everyone’s body cams. Don didn’t know what to expect at this point, but he knew one thing, this wasn’t going to end well. 

The swat surrounded the building quietly, and Elliot and Olivia drew their guns and waited for the signal. 

They had been working on this case for almost a solid year now. Human trafficking is a $32 billion a year industry. 4.5 million of those that are trafficked are used for sexual exploitation, up to (that we know of) 300,000 Americans under the age of 18 are lured into the commercial sex trade every single year. That’s what brought svu into this particular case. 

A man by the name of Angel Delgado had been smuggling women across the Mexican border for years, with the promise of freedom to those that paid, however he didn’t mention a fee when he would offer help. It was only after they were in the states that he would tell them, and those that couldn’t pay, were forced to ‘work’ their debt to him off. 

Only, they never could. 

Within hours of coming to America they would be cataloged strategically and sold to the highest bidder. The only problem was, in recent years, Delgado got sloppy. Whomever he employed accidentally let a few go, some ended up dead, some went to police, and some ended up on the front page of the New York Times, but all of them had one thing in common. The markings on the back of their neck. The symbol of a skull with arrows through its head instead of bones, surrounded by a rosary circle, Delgado’s calling card. 

That’s how they were able to link all the women, once they heard the stories, they put a team together and infiltrated. This plan specifically involved Olivia. They set her up as bait, and let him come to her. 

She met them outside of mexico city, they offered to take her across the border. “What do you ask in return?” she had asked them and one of them smirked but kept quiet. The lead man answered instead “Nothing, mami” he said taking her hand and kissing it. “We’re just trying to help those who need it most, we have a car, it leaves at 3am tomorrow morning, at this location.” he said giving her a map. “We have other passengers as well, but it is very dangerous, and you will need to bring water.” They had told her. She had done as she was told, she had been wired the whole time, but when detectives went over the tapes, they realized that none of the men Olivia had been around were Delgado. They had also realized that the only thing they could convict these men of right now would be smuggling, and they would have to wait to witness that. 

The day had passed and Olivia dressed lightly knowing that whatever was about to happen was going to be hot. She wore a wire in her hair which was complexly braided so it wouldn’t be shown. She carried the “fee” in her bag just to make sure that when she got there she couldn’t be traded. 

Boarding the semi truck, all the women got in the back. 

The truck was meant to carry livestock, but clearly that wasn’t what it was being used for. She sat next to a mother and her teenage daughter and looked around sadly thinking about what would happen if things didn’t go as planned. She tried not to think about it too much. Sitting back she sipped her water bottle and realized that some people hadn’t brought any, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that they might not have access to clean water where they lived so she passed around extra water bottles that she had brought just in case. 

When they finally came to a stop it was still dark, but they came to a small hole in the fence. She knew this wouldn't be their only fence to cross. They got out and everyone went through the hole and kept walking. This wasn’t their only obstacle throughout the night. Set up along the neutral desert area were many traps set up by border control in an attempt to stop illegal immagration, many of which looked dangerous and potentially life threatening. Olivia shook her head in disgust.