"I am informing you that a captain at IAB may be involved in a sex trafficking ring, and you weren't going to mention to me that the two of you are sleeping together."
"Bring him down here, ask him yourself."
"You and I are done talking."
The ping of the elevator doors brought ADA Barba back to the present. He stepped off the elevator and walked briskly toward her office. This would be a difficult conversation but putting it off would only cause it to fester. Crossing through the bullpen he noted how empty it was, none of the detectives were anywhere to be seen, but he didn't think twice about what that might mean. He had more important things to worry about.
Taking a deep breath he opened the door without knocking, thinking she might not welcome him in if he knocked first, "I'm sorry to interrupt but-" he stopped short when he saw who occupied the office.
Sargent Dodds, Detective Rollins, Detective Tutuolla, and Detective Carisi were all eyeing him suspiciously and Lieutenant Benson was absent. His eyes swept over her empty desk, noting that her name placard was missing. She wasn't absent, she was gone.
"What's going on? Where's the Lieutenant?" he directed the question to no one in particular.
None of the detectives were making eye contact with him, and the sergeant wasn't maintaining it for long either. He knew this body language, this was the 'we just got caught discussing a case we were supposed to drop but kept looking into without permission' body language with a little bit of 'we're not sure where you stand in all this'. But there was something else there too, the way they all went rigid when he entered suggested more, were they suspicious of him for some reason?
"Why don't you tell us, Counselor? What did you two talk about after I left your office yesterday?" Dodds asked.
Barba didn't answer right away, he studied the faces of each of the detectives in front of him. They thought he had something to do with this, whatever this was. He gently closed the office door and when he spoke again he kept his voice low so as to ensure they wouldn't be overheard.
"There have been allegations made against Captain Tucker, that he's involved in a cover up of this underage sex trafficking ring. That is what we discussed yesterday. Now would someone care to tell me where she is?" he said, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.
"You really don't know?" said Dodds.
The look of disbelief on his face must have been clear enough because the sergeant continued, "She's been transferred. She came in last night, a few hours after we left your office, and packed up all her things. Hardly said a word, just left."
Barba felt his stomach drop, "oh no, this is not good. She must have gone to bat for him, damn it, Liv."
"Him who? Tucker? I thought she hated the guy?" Rollins asked.
"Current evidence to the contrary, when I told her about the allegations last night she defended him, said he's a straight shooter and would never do something like this. But.." Barba trailed off suggesting he wasn't convinced.
"But what?" Carisi asked.
"Hasn't he tried multiple times to bring down this unit? Her old partner, Amaro, Rollins, even Cragen. It almost looks like he might have something against SVU, as in it's easier to hide the cover up of a sex trafficking ring with SVU out of commission."
"I think Liv's right, it might look suspicious but it's never been SVU that he's after, it's dirty cops. You know how we feel about pedophiles and rapists, that's how he feels about dirty cops. All dirty cops, not just SVU," said Fin.
"Still it seems… suspicious," said Barba.
"He did seem sincerely apologetic after he found out I was framed, and it seems like he's given me the benefit of the doubt ever since," said Rollins.
Barba tapped his fingers unconsciously, still not convinced, "We've gone after countless perps who had everyone in their lives fooled, Hank Abraham..."
"But if this ring goes as deep as we think it does, they could be using him as a scapegoat, trying to cover their own tracks with a close match. Who made the allegations?" Dodds asked.
"The Monsignor. When I told Lieutenant Benson that he'd come in and made allegations she assumed they were against Tucker's cousin," said Barba.
"What if you're both wrong?" Rollins asked, Barba made to say something but she kept going. "Just hear me out. Liv thinks the Monsignor is accusing Tucker to cover for Father Eugene, and you think Tucker accused Father Eugene to cover for himself. But what if the Monsignor accused Tucker to cover for himself."
"And Farther Eugene is what, blissfully unaware?" asked Barba.
"You think the Monsignor is involved in the prostitution ring? Are you crazy?" said Carisi.
"Why is that any crazier than a regular priest, he had just as much access if not more. Even if Father Eugene isn't involved it would have been easy for the Monsignor to find out about Cara. He could have arranged for Father Akantola to sub in for Father Riley that day and kill her. You can't tell me that doesn't sound just as possible as your theory," Rollins said.
Barba considered her and the others for a moment, they were fiercely loyal to the Lieutenant and it was a huge conflict of interest for them to investigate this but not quite as huge as the corrupt bureaucrats trying to cover their own asses. These detectives were her best shot, and if she was right about Tucker then they were his best shot too.
"Just because it's possible doesn't mean anyone else will believe it," Rollins opened her mouth to protest but Barba held up a hand to silence her. "Find me evidence, connect the dots. Figure out just how deep this goes before they figure out how to cover it up. I'm sure this goes without saying but be discreet. And keep me in the loop, even if you find something incriminating I need to know about it."