Pure and Simple

Prologue

Sherona Anderson had long abandoned her other girlfriends, wanting to milk the entire weekend she had of every piece of freedom it offered. Monday, there was going to be no school due to repairs so she had time to sleep it off. She felt like partying and unwinding, and hopefully, finding a suitable man to share a few more drinks with.

The club wasn't exactly the nicest, but she didn't care at the moment. It had music, drinks, and dancing.

She adjusted her chic but modest jean skirt, fixed her blouse just right and slung her jacket over her shoulders.

Sherona applied a little more makeup to her dark chocolate skin and she fixed a few stray hairs before she walked confidently up to the bar. She ordered a shot of tequila with lime and drank that down quickly, feeling a little more brave. She didn't usually do this, but tonight, she just wanted to let loose. No kid, no school, no papers to grade…this was a weekend to celebrate.

"Hi," a deep voice greeted from beside her and she turned her attentions to him.

Their dark eyes met, and Sherona felt instant attraction. The man was an Adonis: beautiful dark skin like hers, built in all the right places, sexy eyes, and he looked like an intelligent man.

"Hi," she purred.

"I'm Jeff," the man introduced himself.

"Sherona," she said.

She felt so alive in this moment, and she never felt more attractive before. After a couple more shots and some nice conversation with Jeff, she was ready to dance.

She pulled the very attractive man to the dance floor and they danced sensually: chest to chest, hip to hip. Sherona felt the rhythm of the music flow through her already lucid veins. Jeff caressed over her body, and she felt like a puddle under his touch. There was definitely something.

As they danced, they accidentally bumped into another guy on the dance floor. They didn't know how much that pissed him off.

Sherona led Jeff toward one of the many sofas and she leaned in tentatively to place a soft kiss on his inviting lips. He obliged and both of them felt tingles in their bodies.

Just when things were getting good, Jeff's pager went off and he muttered curses under his breath.

"Listen, I've got to go," he whispered.

"No," Sherona pleaded. "Please don't."

Jeff leaned in and kissed her cheek. He pulled back and slipped his business card into the breast pocket of her jacket. He caressed her through the fabric, and it made her gasp and smile.

"Give me a call, and we'll meet somewhere," Jeff offered.

Sherona pulled him into a deep kiss, and Jeff didn't resist her.

A while later, Sherona emerged from the ladies' restroom and then she plopped down onto one of the sofas. She sighed, feeling relieved, and she looked around. Jeff had already left, not without leaving her a few parting gifts. She noticed someone watching her, and she didn't really care at first, she thought it might be another lusty suitor. But when the gaze never faltered, she began to worry. She panicked when he crossed the dance floor toward her.

Sherona got up and began to run.

He felt the sweat on his brow, and he felt his fists ball up even tighter as he walked to the back exit of the club. The back was filled with smoke that filtered from the many back rooms, but he kept breathing evenly, too focused to care about the thick air. He heard the moans and screams of pleasure too, but he didn't listen. The sounds of moaning and panting hookers was nothing new to him…he lived above one.

Right now, there was no sound, no club, only his unrelenting fury.

The scent of her perfume lead him along her fleeing path. He felt like a wolf heading for the kill in the cold, dark, dank night that had befallen the city. He became even more enraged at the clicking of her heels and the jangling of her various bangles. She would not escape this.

He pushed the door open with plenty of force as he followed her frantic tracks down the alley. The only light provided was the outdoor lamps that had been turned on and they only illuminated every ten feet in front of him.

Sherona ran as fast as she could in three inch heels. She debated whether or not to stop for a second and take them off and run like hell, but she knew that he would only get that much closer to her, and do something unspeakable to her. Sherona didn't think that the night would turn out like this…she had done nothing to provoke this man. It seemed as if one look from her to him set something off inside of him…she had said nothing. She didn't even know him.

She kept running, nearing the street. The alleyway seemed especially long.

He still gave chase, his fists balling painfully tight as he gained ground on her.

Before he even knew it, he heard her scream and his hands clamped around her neck. He felt the blood pulsing in his veins as he tightened his grip on her neck and shoved her into the wall.

Sherona knew that her life was over.

He threw her to the ground and now the fury was palpable as he blacked out and let his body take over.

O-O-O

1-6 Precinct

SVU Squad Room

2:00 AM Saturday

Olivia Benson nursed her third cup of coffee in less than two hours as she sat back down at her desk. She rubbed the back of her neck to try and get rid of some of the tension from lack of sleep at this late hour. She was pulling an all-nighter with her partner Elliot Stabler. She knew that he didn't want to go home and she decided that two heads were better than one when finishing up reports and examining evidence from another case.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling the fatigue, but resisting it. He felt guilty that he had Olivia here at the department this late with him. He tried to get her to go home, but she wouldn't hear of it, and she had stayed, stubbornly fighting sleep.

With one sip of coffee, she felt a little better.

"Liv, why don't you go home?" Elliot suggested again. "You look beat."

She sighed, sorting work that was completed neatly on her desk.

"Nope, I'm completely wired now," she quipped. "Too much caffeine."

Elliot picked up his cup and finished off the last sip before throwing it away in the trash bin.

"You know, Cragen will have my ass in the morning," he said. "It's bad enough that I stay 'til all hours of the night, but he draws the line at you staying all night."

Olivia simply waved him off.

"I'm a grown woman," she defended. "I don't need a curfew."

The scolding look in her eyes shut him up.

After a few minutes of working in silence, Elliot's cell phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the number.

"Cragen," he said as he answered. "Stabler…yes cap I'm still here…I know…."

Olivia continued to sift through paperwork and photos, waiting for the lecture that Elliot was going to deliver compliments of Cragen. She hated it when the guys went through a phase of being way too overprotective of her. If she felt she couldn't handle the job, she wouldn't do it.

Elliot hung up.

Here it comes, Olivia thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"The body of a black woman was found in an alley behind Vance's Club," Elliot explained.

Olivia looked up at him.

"And I thought we were the only ones still awake at this hour," she sighed bitterly as she got up and grabbed her coat.

"You wanna drive?" Elliot asked as he shrugged on his coat.

Olivia pushed her longer hair behind her ear. "Why?"

"You're the one that's wired," he grinned.

He tossed her the keys and they headed out.

The drive to the lower east side was quiet and uneventful. It began to rain as they headed to the club. Elliot could see the look of relief on Olivia's face the moment it began to pour. Of all things, Olivia liked the rain. Perhaps it was a sign for her of sorts; something left over from her childhood that gave her hope. He didn't know, as long as she was able to smile, if only for a second.

They made it to the sleazy looking club, which had been closed for the night. They saw the ambulance and two cruisers with a small crowd of people gathered around. Olivia pulled the hood on her jacket over her head before going out and Elliot pulled a cap out of the glove compartment.

Both detectives flashed their badges as they entered the crime scene.

"Jesus," Elliot hissed when he saw the body of the young woman.

Olivia was taken aback at the gruesome sight before her.

The woman's skirt and panties had been pulled down around her ankles, her blouse was still in tact, her face was badly disfigured, her hair bloodied, and from the looks of it, she had been raped.

Dr. Warner waved the detectives over and she pulled her hood further over her head.

"Victim's name was Sherona Anderson," she began. "Twenty three, grade school teacher at P.S. 163. The way things look right now, the killer got her with his bare hands. No stab wounds, no puncture wounds, no evidence of drugging. One single fatal blow killed her, and to make things worse, she was sodomized post mortem. I hope you guys catch this sick bastard."

"Poor woman," Olivia said as she crouched down near the body. "Hey, her ankle is kinda bruised."

"She probably tried to make a run for it in those heels," Elliot surmised. "She might have strained it before the perp caught up with her."

"Well, the rain washed away any trace for CSU," Olivia sighed. "And that just makes our job that much harder."

An officer approached them.

"Hey," he said. "I've got the bar tender and the owner waiting."

Olivia and Elliot approached the bar tender and the owner huddled under a huge umbrella.

"Detectives Benson and Stabler," Olivia introduced them. "We need to ask you a few questions."

"Yeah sure, I'm Damien Morton" the owner introduced himself. "But I don't know what I can tell you. I've been in my office for hours."

"Well, sometimes the littlest detail makes the biggest difference," Elliot said.

The owner sighed heavily.

"I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary," he said. "The music's playin' loud, people are screaming and carrying on having a good time…"

"Do you have security cameras?" Olivia asked.

"Listen doll, I'm on a tight budget," the pudgy man said. He rubbed his goatee. "I've got bill collectors on my ass, the health department chewing on my ass, code compliance papers. I can't help you."

With that, Damien walked off, leaving the bar tender.

"What's your name?" Olivia asked.

The guy looked no older than twenty years old, he was well toned, looked like a bad boy, he had spiked highlighted hair and he looked like he definitely saw something go down.

"Why don't you tell me yours and we'll work something out?" The guy directed at Olivia, making her roll her eyes.

"Why don't we bring you in as a suspect and we'll work something out with Rikers?" Elliot spat.

The guy took his attentions away from Olivia and looked at Elliot.

"The name's Rick," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, Rick," Elliot began. "Did you see Sherona leave with anybody?"

Rick looked up in thought.

"Nope," he sighed. "Tonight was very wild, very busy. I mean, I saw her come up to the bar and down a few shots before going out onto the dance floor, but after that, I didn't give her a second thought."

Both detectives nodded and Rick took off.

"Well, that wasn't very productive," Olivia huffed. "And I hate being called 'doll' and why was I propositioned?"

"Hey, you're a beautiful woman Liv," Elliot said matter-of-factly.

She glared at him as he began to grin.

"All that aside," he continued. "Not only was this unproductive, but the rain gave the killer a head start."

Olivia sighed as they got in the car.

"Let the games begin."