SVU Season 16: Episode 1
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as The Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
"Detective?" An officer came up to me at my desk.
I looked up from my computer "Yes?"
"There's a lady here saying she needs to see you. I'll send her up if that's ok?" He asks me.
I nod as he walks away, I continue working on my report from my most recent case.
I jump when I see a plastic filled bag with to-go containers be dropped on my desk, I look up and see the smiling face of my sister-in-law, Linda.
"I thought maybe I could bring you lunch." She said sitting down on my desk.
"Thanks." I said peeking in the bag "So what is the real reason you are here? Not that I don't enjoy seeing you."
She sighed "Please come to family dinner, we are celebrating Jamie."
I haven't seen my family other than Linda, Grandpa, and my nephews in almost 2 years. The last time did not go well, and I have no plans to see any of them any time soon.
"Linda. You know that will not end well." I said setting my food to the side as I look down at my fingers.
Linda got up coming closer to me "You are a part of this family too."
"I know I am. Doesn't change anything about how they treat me." I say scoffing.
She frowns at me "Me, the boys and Grandpa would love to see you. We love you. Please come to dinner at 7pm." She kisses my forehead and walks away.
"Where's the shooter?" I hear Liv say as she walks in.
Amanda gets up "At the hospital with Fin. The girl, Luna, is in interview. She is shaken up."
"How'd they know you were picking her up?" Liv asks as she walks into her office, Amanda and I follow her.
"Amaro thinks that they were followed to the precinct." I say to her.
"Amaro?" She asks me with a confused look on her face.
"Yeah. He was the arresting officer." Amanda says looking at me with a smirk.
A guy pops up out of nowhere making me freeze in place, he is incredibly handsome. Now I know why Amanda smirked at me.
"They shot at cops right outside the station. So, they want us to know they're crazy." He said staring at me.
Liv looks shocked but changes her expression quickly "You must be my new detective."
He smiles "Dominick Carisi, Jr. Call me Sonny. I brought zeppoli." He says shaking all our hands lingering on mine, making blush.
"I asked for an experienced, empathic detective and they sent you?" Liv questions.
"I'm way experienced. Sensitive and moody, too. And I can do that whole empathy thing." Sonny says trying to act strong.
"Where are you from?" I ask breaking up the tension in the room.
He smiles at me "Staten island SVU for two months, and Brooklyn for almost a month, and then Queens last week."
I chuckle as Liv responds, "So they love you wherever you go, Carisi?"
"Call me Sonny. I was supposed to start tomorrow, but I heard about the shooting over my scanner, so I came in. What's our read?" He says as Liv sets her stuff down.
She looks at me before responding "The 116 had a witness of an open case. They took a shot at her."
"The girl giving the smoothie to the mook in a minivan? What's she a witness to?" He asks looking around at us.
I clear my throat "A few months ago, a trafficked girl was gang-raped and set on fire."
He cuts me off "The Ellie Porter case. Yeah. I remember hearing about it. It was horrible. Her pimp green-lit her, right?"
Liv nods "Little Tino. He took the rap, but we don't think he ordered the hit."
He looks at Liv "So this girl's hooking for the same crew, and you think that she's gonna give up Mr. Big. Want me to take a run at her, sergeant?"
Liv looks to me with a smirk "I can certainly see why you're so popular. Rollins, how about you talk to the John. Emma listens in on Rollins and the john, and Carisi, come with me. I need you to follow my lead or you'll be oh for four, and then your all-borough tour of SVU will continue in the Bronx."
I laugh as I follow Rollins so I can listen to the interrogations.
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"Okay, guys, so where are we at? Did you get anything from our John?" Liv asks as she posts something to the board.
"Looks like the same setup as Little Tino's operation. Burner cell phones, craigslist ads." I say as I sit down on the table near Fin.
"But Little Tino's in jail. This is another franchise." Fin says as he wraps his arm around me kissing my forehead.
Fin is like the protective older brother I never had, he's a good partner and friend.
Liv sighs "Okay. So, what about the shooter?"
"Diego Ramirez. He somehow managed to lawyer up while still in surgery. No record." I say looking to Liv.
"But his prints match ones on the gas can found at Ellie's murder. So, he was there." Amanda says.
Liv looks at me "So he was there? Did he rape her?"
"We're waiting on that." Amanda says as Carisi walks up.
"I know why Luna doesn't need a lawyer. She's got a mouth on her." He says as I notice Fin staring him up and down.
"Did you get anything?" Liv asks.
"I got the address of the house she's working out of." He says taking a drink of his coffee.
Liv scoffs "But did you get her pimp?"
He looks at her funny "It's too soon to ask."
I smirk "So you got nothing."
He smirks back "I'm trying to build a rapport. Just stake out the house, you'll find him."
Finally Fin speaks up glaring at Sonny "Who're you?"
Liv tries to smile as she looks at Fin, "Detective Tutuola, meet Sonny Carisi. Remember that sensitive, experienced detective that I put in for?"
"So, who do we call for a warrant?" He asks causing me to chuckle catching his attention.
"Easy there, cowboy. We've already taken down one house, and all we got was house. There's something bigger going on here." Liv responds.
I finally speak up "Maybe we do stake it out, put a U.C. inside?"
Sonny speaks up next "Cool. They don't know me. How about I do it?"
Liv puts her hand up "Hold that thought. How about we go with somebody that they do know, and somebody that they also know has a grudge against NYPD."
After setting Amaro up and him being successful, we raid the house that night. Sonny and I question one of the girls. The whole time I keep glancing to him, there's something about him. We get some leads, causing Fin and I to head to Quickride to interview the owner. We get a name of Little Tino. Liv and Barba ask me to accompany them to Attica.
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ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
ATTICA, NEW YORK
"So why would Little Tino talk?" Barba asks us as we stand waiting for Little Tino.
"An ADA coming all the way to Attica? That might make him think he can get a deal." Liv says as the guards bring Little Tino in.
Liv sits down with him as he questions her "What do you want from me?"
"Your girls used Quickride. We just busted another house that used Quickride. It's the same question, Little Tino. Who's in charge here?" Liv asks him.
He looks at me then back to Liv as Barba moves closer to me "I'm already in jail for rape and murder. You can get me off from that?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" Barba says with no emotion in his voice.
"You cooperate, Witness Protection is one phone call away." I say finally speaking up.
"If I talk, everybody's gonna know it's coming from me." He says as I stand behind Liv.
I shake my head "No, they won't. You have cover now. We have the other house; we have the car service. We have a shooter in custody right now for trying to take out one of the working girls. Somebody's gonna give up your boss. You're the last person that they're thinking about."
He looks up to me then back to Liv "But none of those witnesses talked yet? Doesn't that tell you something?"
"Who ordered Ellie killed?" Liv asks him point blank.
He smirked "Why are you so worried about that dead whore? It worked out pretty good for you."
My heart drops into my stomach as I think about Noah "Excuse me?" Liv asks.
Still smirking "I heard you got a baby out of it."
"Where did you hear that?" I say speaking up, putting my hand on Liv's shoulder.
"You love that little baby?" He says ignoring my question completely.
Liv sits there in shock; I can feel the tension in her shoulder.
Barba leans down over the table to him "Are you stupid enough to threaten a sergeant's family in front of a DA when he's offering you a deal?"
He looks at me, then to Barba and back to Liv "All I'm saying is, if I was you, I'd leave this alone. Some of your own guys are working against you."
He calls for the guards to take him back.
"Come on Liv, I'll have Amaro meet with Joaquin." I say helping her stand up as she nods to me.
We get back to the district, I am catching up on paperwork when Liv comes running out of her office.
"Little Tino just got shanked in prison. Do we still have eyes on Joaquin?"
"I'll call Amaro." Fin says picking up his phone.
"That was Bellevue Prison Ward. Diego, the guy that shot at us, he just got hit in his hospital room. He's gone." Amanda says hanging up her phone.
Sonny hangs up his phone "When it rains, it bleeds. Missy, that kid, shot dead in a car with a John."
"Somebody's cleaning house." I say walking up to Liv.
"All right. Go, go, go. Rollins Bellevue, Finn Attica, Sonny the shooting. Alyssa with me, I'm going home to check on Noah." Liv says running back to her office to grab her stuff, as everyone leaves, and I grab my stuff. Liv runs out of her office and I follow her. She told me Noah was at the park with Lucy, and she heard gun shots. We get to the park and both Noah and Lucy are okay.
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ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
ATTICA, NEW YORK
After setting up Amaro to get arrested with Joaquin, Liv and Sonny go to talk to Quickride. I tell Liv when I get word about Little Tino being conscious. She takes me with her to see him.
Security door buzzes as Liv and I walk in.
"Oh, hell, no. You not going in to see my son." Ms. Aguilar says to us.
"This is police business, Ms. Aguilar. Okay? Step aside." Liv says making her way to his room.
She scoffs "Like hell. You set up my baby. He talks to you again, he's dead."
I get in her face "He didn't talk, and they already tried to kill him. You want to keep him alive, tell us who his boss is."
She doesn't say anything "I guess there's nothing else to talk about." Liv says as we keep walking.
"Wait." She said before we got to the door.
"What, you got something to talk about?" Liv asks.
"Yeah. I don't deal with the boss. But I have dealt with his bottom. Selena." She says quietly.
I scoff "How do we get in touch with her?"
"Selena's the one that breaks in the new girls. I heard there's a new one up, 16 maybe, from Ciudad Juarez. Goes by Carmen on craigslist. You book a date with her; Selena will be close by." She says before walking away.
We set Sonny up to meet with a girl, we wait until Selena shows up.
We get Selena back to interrogation; I stand and listen in on the questioning.
"What's the deal with you and Benson?" Sonny asks me.
I glance over at him "What do you mean?"
He shrugs "I mean she either lets you go with Fin or her when you guys do anything. Mainly with her."
I sigh "It's a long story for another time. But she is like my older sister. She protects me."
Before he can respond Liv comes in and has Sonny go interview Luna about Selena. We find out about Selena and whys she is doing this, because of her son. We find out that Angel Perez is one of the traffickers. We convince Selena to help us by promising to get her reunited with her son. We have sign statements from Selena, Little Tino and some of the trafficked girls. Now we can go after Angel Perez.
We get to his mansion when I yell out "Police! Don't move."
Fin and Amanda walk up with their guns up "You! Hey! Put your hands up! Put 'em on that car!"
"Secure the house! Go around back!" Liv says to the other officers.
Angel puts his arms up "What is this? I told you, I'm not talking to you."
"We have a warrant. Keep your hands up where we can see 'em." Liv says.
"You can't do this. He's done nothing wrong!" Angel's wife screams out at us.
"Don't make this hard. It's over, Angel. We arrested your mother in Tenancingo for kidnapping." Liv says holding a gun up to him.
I pat him down "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you."
"Mira, call the lawyers." Angel yells at his wife.
Angel looks to Liv "You know this is stupid, right? I know where you live. I know about that baby. From one parent to another, you don't want to do this."
Having enough "You threatening my sergeant's kid?" I ask him as he stares Olivia down.
His wife starts screaming giving Angel a chance to elbow me causing me to fall back and I pull my gun out and before he can shoot at Liv, I shoot him first killing him instantly.
Back at the district, I'm at my desk about to leave when Liv comes up.
"You did good today." She says sitting at my desk "Noah and I are having a special dinner tonight, your more than welcomes to come over."
I smile "Linda convinced me to come to family dinner. So, I'm going to try and go."
She hugs me suddenly "I'm so proud of you. Even if it doesn't work, the fact you are going is a huge step for you."
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I pull up to the Reagan family house, I text Linda that I'm outside. I wait till she comes out; I notice her and Grandpa. I get out of the car and walk up.
"My long-lost granddaughter." Grandpa said with a smile pulling me into a hug.
"Hi grandpa." I say hugging back.
"I'm glad you came." Linda says hugging me.
"Come on, lets go inside." Grandpa says leading us inside.
We walk to the dinning room and Grandpa speaks up "Look who I found outside."
Everyone's eyes are on me, the boys come running up hugging me.
"Aunt Lyssa! I've missed you!" They both say as I hug them back "I missed you guys too."
Linda sits down next to Danny who just glares in my direction, Jamie looks at me shocked that I showed up and Erin just stares at her plate. Even my own father doesn't say anything.
"Francis, isn't great to have all your children here for family dinner!" Grandpa says as Linda agrees.
"What is she doing here?" Danny spats out.
Linda sighs "Stop it Danny."
Before dad can respond Danny, speaks "No. She hasn't been around for what 2 years and now suddenly she's around? Nobody wants her here."
I can feel the tears threatening to come out, I try and blink them away.
"Come on Danny stop." Linda tries to say.
I turn around and walk to the door before I can walk out Grandpa grabs my arm.
"Come on sweetheart, don't go." He says.
I shake my head as the tears stream down my face "Sorry Grandpa, it was good to see you."
I practically ran to my car, and drove off immediately. I am walking to my apartment when I see Sonny at the door.
"Sonny?" I call out, as I notice he has bags in his hand.
He whips his head around looking at me nervously.
"What are you doing here?" I ask as I get to the door.
"Benson told me that you were having family dinner tonight, but she was worried and going to bring you food because your family is difficult. But Lucy canceled on her, so I offered to bring you food." He said with a small meaningful smile.
I blush and look down smiling as I unlock the door opening it for him, "Come on it then."