Chapter One
Author's Note: This starts during Ghost and is AU after that. The first chapter incorporates some of the dialogue from the show with a twist. Alex is the main character. Olivia, Elliot, and Casey will all be featured heavily.
The cold fear was constant and unshakeable.
Anyone who looked at her funny could be him. She didn't know who he was or what he looked like, only that he wanted her dead.
She had lost so much because of him.
Her family and her friends were all in New York. It was home. She missed the penthouse apartment her mother had helped her decorate when she got the job with the District Attorney's office, but it was the people she missed most. She'd missed the weddings of friends that had been part of her life since childhood, her mother's funeral. She knew now, even if she could ever go back, she would never see her mother again.
Alex looked at the picture for a moment in silence. "So this is what he looks like. Every time a stranger glanced at me, I thought, has he found me? Is he going to kill me? And now I know." Alex let out a breath. "I would like nothing more than to see Liam Connors pay for what he did to me, but it goes against every principle I had as a layer to try a man for a crime he didn't commit."
"You understand I didn't have a choice," Cragen said.
"I know you can't commit perjury," Alex said at once. "You're going to have to tell the court that I'm still alive."
"I'm only sorry the bastard won't have to answer for what he did to you," Cragen said sincerely.
"Oh, he will," Alex said with conviction. "I want him charged with my attempted murder."
"You'd have to go back to testify. That's stepping right back into he crosshairs," Agent Hammond said.
"For years I convinced victims to face their attackers. Now it's time for me to step up," Alex insisted.
"Your testimony won't help the case. You can't ID Connors as your shooter," Cragen pointed out.
"If I don't go back, the defense will issue a missing witness charge and then you will lose your case," Alex said.
"But we've still got Connors on six counts of murder," Agent Hammond reminded her.
Determination hardened Alex's face. "Because an eight year old boy and a fourteen year old girl have the guts to testify."
"Alex, if you go back, they will try and kill you again," Cragen warned her.
"I have lost my home, my job, my friends. My mother died and I couldn't go to the funeral." There was just a touch of emotion in Alex's voice. "Liam Connors is not going to take my conscience, too."
The grief came in crushing waves, dragging her down into the darkness. She was drowning in it. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
She'd seen the face of the cold-blooded killer who had shot her dad from where she was hiding under the bed. She heard the sound of the gunshot. There was so much blood everywhere, dark red and wet.
At fourteen, her dad had been the center of Elissa's world. He was all she had. She was an only child, and he spoiled her. She loved him so much. She was lost without him.
She didn't sleep at all last night. Every time she closed her eyes, the memories assaulted her. And apparently she wasn't the only one…
Elissa's blue eyes shimmered with sympathy as the sweet little boy who had been shot by the same man who killed her dad told the ADA that he had a bad dream. Now he didn't want to testify.
He didn't want to testify.
Elissa would testify and he wouldn't have to. She was always going to testify.
"I'll testify so he doesn't have to," Elissa interjected.
"Actually, it would be better if both of you testified," Olivia told her.
"Are you scared?" Antonio asked, his big brown eyes on Elissa.
The man had already taken away the only person who had ever mattered to Elissa. She had no one else. There was nothing left to lose. There was an uneasy anger swirling inside her, mixing with sorrow, but there was no fear.
"No," Elissa said after a moment.
No one believed that, but they focused on Antonio for now. They all knew from years of experience working with kids that younger children were easier than moody teenagers. The eight year old was eager to please, where the fourteen year old was at the age where she didn't really care what the adults thought.
Alex leaned forward in her chair, toward Antonio. Sympathy warmed her eyes, her voice. "I have to go to court, too. I get scared that the ghost might try to hurt me again, but then I remember that I have friends to protect me just like you do."
"I wish my mom was here." Antonio's voice trembled.
And I wish my dad were here, Elissa thought, but didn't say anything. She wasn't eight years old.
"I'll keep working on him." Mike left with Antonio in tow.
The attention shifted to Elissa then. If Antonio didn't testify, the fourteen year old might be their one and only chance to put Liam Connors behind bars, where they strongly believed he belonged.
"We should work on your testimony," Casey said.
"Good idea. While you do that, I'll order dinner. Chinese or pizza?" Olivia asked, directing the question to the teenager.
"I'm not hungry," Elissa said.
"Elissa, you haven't eaten anything since breakfast." And she'd only picked at the bagel then, Olivia remembered. "You'll get sick if you don't eat." There was concern in her voice.
"I'm not hungry," Elissa repeated stubbornly.
"Chinese then. I'll order extra in case you change your mind." Olivia smiled at Elissa.
Casey went over all of her questions for Elissa, and then gave Elissa a chance to ask her any questions she had about what would happen in the courtroom. The question the teenager asked surprised Casey and impressed Alex, who was hard to impress.
"Can I say something before the judge sentences him?" Elissa asked.
Anyone else in her shoes would ask if they would have to see the murderer, but not Elissa. No, Elissa wanted to say something before the judge sentenced Liam Connors.
"Well, the judge won't sentence him tomorrow. If I get a conviction, the judge will set another date for sentencing," Casey explained.
"If?" Elissa repeated.
Casey met Elissa's gaze. "If you and Antonio testify, we have a good chance at getting a conviction."
"What if Antonio doesn't testify?" Elissa wondered.
Casey sighed. "If Antonio doesn't testify, we're really going to need your testimony."
Elissa frowned slightly. "I told you I'll testify."
Casey cocked her head. "You also told us you weren't scared."
The teenager hadn't talked to anyone about how she felt. When asked, Elissa just said she was fine. She wasn't fine, Casey knew.
The fourteen year old saw Liam Connors shoot her dad, and he would be in the courtroom. Casey had seen witnesses who'd been through less crumble under the pressure of a trial.
Elissa should be scared. And the only way Casey could help her work through her fear was if the teenager talked to her.
Elissa looked up, met the ADA's gaze. "I'm not."
"Elissa," Casey said. "Liam Connors will be there. You saw him shoot your dad. It's ok if you're scared."
"I'm not scared," Elissa insisted, but the ADA didn't look convinced. "My dad's already dead. He was all I had." Elissa closed her eyes, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. Then her eyes hardened in startling contrast to her sweet baby-face. "I want Liam Connors to pay for what he did."
That was a feeling Alex understood, all too well.
"He will," Alex said confidently.
Elissa glanced at Alex, met her eyes. An understanding passed between them. Liam Connors didn't shoot and kill Alex's father, but he shot her. Alex was a victim and a witness. And she was in the witness protection program. She understood the anger exactly.
"How's it going?" Olivia asked as she came back into the office.
"Good. I think she's ready." Casey flashed a smile at Elissa.
Olivia set the brown paper bag down on Casey's desk and started taking out take-out containers. "Ok, I got everything on the menu. We can all share. Elissa?"
"You don't give up, do you?" Elissa said.
Olivia grinned. "Nope."
Alex Cabot was good at a lot of things, but backgammon was not one of them. Elliot beat her every single time. Even Elissa, who had never played before, beat her.
"Are you sure you've never played before?" Alex narrowed her eyes at the teenager.
For the first time since her dad died, Elissa smiled, showing off her dimples.
"Beginner's luck," Elliot said as he traded places with Alex.
Elissa was more comfortable with men than woman. She'd grown up with a single father who'd been more of a playmate than a parent most of the time. It might have been simply because he was male, or maybe it was because he had kids her age, but, whatever the reason, Elliot had built a rapport with Elissa quickly. From almost the moment the detective had arrived on the scene of her dad's murder, she'd felt like she could talk to him. Now, the teenager talked to him like she talked to her dad, with the same easy warmth and confidence.
"Luck? It's talent, Detective," Elissa corrected.
Elliot's eyes lit with challenge as he picked up the dice. "Only one way to find out."
Elissa raised her eyebrows. "Bring it on."
"You asked for it." Smirking, Elliot rolled the dice.
"Is that the best you can do?" Elissa said when he rolled a one and a three.
Elliot smiled, moved his pieces. "I'm just getting warmed up."
"Take your time," Elissa told him, picking the dice up. She rolled a five and a six, moved her pieces.
Elliot rolled the dice again, this time getting two sixes. "No, I'm good." His voice was confident, cocky even.
Elissa didn't have a comeback when she rolled a two and a four.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Elliot asked, his blue eyes flicking up from the board to the teenager.
"I'm just answering questions. It's not that hard," Elissa said.
"I was nervous the first time I testified," Elliot confessed.
"You'll do fine," Alex chimed in. "Look directly at the defense attorney when he's asking the questions, and look at Casey when she's asking the questions."
Elissa shifted her gaze to Alex, listening carefully. "Is there anything else I should do?"
"The defense attorney will try to confuse you. Just answer his questions briefly and honestly. Do you understand?" Alex studied the teenager with cool blue eyes, and Elissa nodded thoughtfully.
This was, Alex thought, an easy, effortless witness. No one had to convince her to testify. Elissa would do whatever she had to do to get justice for her father.
"Something's wrong with the dice," Elliot muttered after his third low roll in a row.
"Sure, blame the dice," Elissa scoffed at that.
"No, I'm serious," Elliot insisted.
"Seriously bad," Elissa said mockingly.
Elliot rolled doubles, two fours this time. "Oh yeah? Watch this," Elliot said as he won the game. He was undefeated.
"I think you must play this game with all of your witnesses. I'd be really good, too, if I sat around playing backgammon all day," Elissa said lightly.
"You're a sore loser, aren't you?" Elliot said. "I could let you win next time."
"If you're going to let anyone win, let Alex win. She's embarrassing herself." Elissa said, looking over her shoulder at Alex, a tentative smile on her face, uncertain if she'd crossed a line with the woman.
"I'm going to kick his ass this time," Alex retorted. She remembered she was talking to a fourteen year old a second too late and winced. "Sorry. Language."
"I've heard worse. My dad-" Elissa broke off, her grin fading fast.
She used to play video games with her dad. He would curse like a sailor when he lost. That's what she was going to say. Since it hurt to talk about him, hurt to think about him, she didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she wandered over to the bed that was furthest away from Elliot and Alex and lay down facing the wall. She didn't move, not even when Olivia got there to take over for Elliot.
The detectives were taking turns staying with Alex and Elissa in the crib. Antonio was staying with Mike at a military base, but they all thought Elissa should stay at the precinct. One teenage girl with a bunch of young marines was just not a good idea.
"She asleep?" Olivia asked, looking at the teenager, who was curled up on a bed.
Alex nodded. "She's been out for awhile."
Elissa wasn't asleep, but she pretended she was. She didn't feel like talking and Olivia would make her talk. She didn't feel like sleeping either. When she slept, she dreamed.
"I'm not surprised," Olivia said. "She had a nightmare last night."
A nightmare? More like a memory, Elissa thought. Liam Connors, his eyes dark, his mouth a grim line. The gunshot. The blood. It was all real, too real.
"Her and Antonio," Alex murmured.
Olivia let out a breath. "I talked to Mike. Antonio's still scared."
"We don't need his testimony. It would help, but we don't need it. Elissa is going to sit in that courtroom tomorrow looking like the girl next door and she is going to ID Connors as the man who shot her father." Alex let out a short laugh, shook her head. "I can't stop thinking like a prosecutor." Frustration colored her voice and movements.
"You are a prosecutor," Olivia said.
She was a prosecutor, Alex thought, but not anymore. No, now she worked for an insurance agency.
She'd worked her ass off at Harvard Law School and she worked for an insurance agency.
All that education, all that work felt like such a waste.
Up until the Zapata case, Alex's life had been going according to a long-term, carefully thought out plan. She'd always wanted to be a lawyer and then go into politics.
Alex had studied with that goal in mind. She'd been student council president and a member of the debate team in high school, all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was accepted into every college she applied to. She graduated from college cum laude with a coveted summer internship for the Senator. After college, she went straight to Harvard Law. She was proud of her accomplishments.
She graduated from Harvard Law with a job offer from the top law firm in New York, but Alex had accepted a position with the DA's office. It would be more work and less pay, but it would help her on her way to office and that was her goal.
In her time as an ADA, Alex earned a reputation as a clearheaded and unrelenting prosecutor. She loved her job. She strongly believed in justice and she knew how to work within the system to get justice for victims. She liked to win and she loved the feeling of satisfaction when the jury read the guilty verdict. And then, she prosecuted Zapata and lost the career she'd worked so hard to build.
Alex put a hand to her chest. "I should be trying the bastard who shot that little boy." She took a deep breath. "When I was a prosecutor, I never went to court without a plan. How do I come up with a plan when I don't even know what makes Connors tick?"
Olivia handed Alex the file on Connors. "Alex. You didn't see this file."
Alex looked at Olivia in surprise. She opened the file, pored over it.
Some of the information she already knew. Connors shot an eight year old boy. He'd killed so many innocent people – Antonio's parents, Elissa's father. Some of the information was new to her though. He raped a woman to make her talk and then he killed her.
And then there was the basic information. Connors had a family in Ireland. Now some prosecutors wouldn't think that was important, but Alex was not one of them. It was more ammunition for her arsenal.
With the grace of experience and a confidence that couldn't be faked, Alex used every piece of information she could get her hands on in the courtroom to show the jury who the defendant really was. She used cold, hard facts to paint a picture.
When she'd memorized the file, Alex closed the manila folder and crossed over to the window. "I wish these windows opened. I want to smell the city."
Olivia joined her at the window. "You mean the rotting garbage and the diesel exhaust?"
"Wisconsin is so quiet at night. Sometimes when I get homesick, I hum the Mr. Softy song." Alex smiled sadly.
Olivia laughed at that, then turned serious. "You making any friends?"
"There's a claims adjuster in the insurance agency where I work and we've been seeing each other. He's a good man. He thinks I'm from Tulsa and when we're in bed together at night he whispers my name, Emily." Her smile was wry.
How could her relationship be real when he didn't even know who she really was? He didn't know her. He didn't know her history, and her past had made her who she was today. He had no idea what she'd been through. He would never be able to understand her. It was like there was a wall between them.
There was a wall between Alex and everyone she met while she was in witness protection. It was lonely, so very lonely.
Olivia studied Alex. "It's hard to be someone that you're not."
Despite her best efforts to stay awake, Elissa fell into a restless asleep.
It was that night, the night the world had dropped right out from under her.
She was in her dad's room, telling him all about her field trip to the State Capitol with her honors history class. They heard a noise that sounded like it was coming from the living room, the lock tumbling, the door opening and closing, heavy footsteps. Her dad's face went white with terror.
Get under the bed. Now! Be quiet!
Something in her dad's voice made Elissa comply without question.
And then the door swung open and a man she'd never seen before was in her dad's room. His face was cold and hard. There was no hesitation there, only murder. He pointed the gun at her dad. She heard the gunshot. It happened so quickly.
She wanted to scream or cry, but she couldn't. She put her hand over her mouth, swallowed. She couldn't move. She knew, without knowing who he was or why he was there, that if he saw her, he would kill her. So, she stayed there, frozen in place under the bed, afraid to move, afraid to breathe, until she was sure he was gone.
There was so much blood. It had soaked through her dad's shirt, dripping onto the bedspread.
"Elissa," Alex said in a calm, steady voice.
The teenager had been crying in her sleep. She woke up from the uneasy sleep at the sound of her name, her heart pounding, the large Knicks t-shirt she slept in soaked with sweat. Her blue eyes looked around the unfamiliar surroundings frantically.
Elissa saw Alex first and then Olivia...she was in the crib. Olivia was still asleep in the bed closest to the door, her gun well within reach, but Alex was awake and staring down at her with light sympathy on her face.
Earlier, in Casey's office, Elissa had looked like a teenager, but now…now with her strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and tired, tearful eyes, Elissa looked about ten years old.
"Did I wake you?" Elissa asked, looking up at Alex apologetically.
Alex shook her head. "No. I couldn't sleep."
Because she didn't want to go back to sleep, Elissa sat up in the bed. She leaned her head back against the wall and took a deep, steadying breath.
"Elissa? Are you ok?" Alex asked.
Elissa let out a breath. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Alex gave her a long look as if deciding for herself.
"Don't worry, Alex. I'll testify. I'll look like – what was it, again? The girl next door?" There was a teasing lilt to the teenager's voice and her lips curved into a brief half-smile. "And I'll ID Liam Connors." Elissa's voice was serious now, all traces of humor gone.
Alex widened her eyes in realization. "You were awake."
"I wasn't eavesdropping. I just didn't want to talk and I didn't want to sleep," Elissa said quickly, avoiding Alex's gaze.
Alex smiled at her. "It's ok."
Elissa really hadn't been eavesdropping. She had tuned most of their conversation out, only listening when she heard her name.
"You're a lawyer?" Elissa mused, something obviously on her mind.
Alex nodded. "Yes, I am."
"Do you know what you have to do to get emancipated?" Elissa blurted out, meeting Alex's gaze.
Alex was expecting a question about the trial. She wasn't expecting the fourteen year old to ask her about legal emancipation, but it did nothing to ruffle her cool.
"Elissa, you cannot be legally emancipated. No judge would approve that," Alex told her.
Obviously insulted, Elissa lifted her chin. "Why not? Judges approve it for child stars that party hard. I'm more responsible than they are."
"At the very least, you have to be sixteen before a judge will even consider it," Alex told her. "And even then it's not likely."
"That sucks," Elissa muttered.
Alex considered the teenager. "Why?"
"They're moving me – where, I don't know. But I'll be living with complete and total strangers. And aren't most of the people in witness protection like retired mobsters?" Elissa made a face.
Because she would be in the witness protection program, they would place Elissa with a family who was in the witness protection program. Casey had explained this to her.
The teenager wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of living with a virtual stranger – any stranger, let alone a criminal in the witness protection program. She could be living with someone like Liam Connors, someone who had killed.
Alex smiled. "Not all of them. I'm not."
"No one asked me if I wanted to be in the witness protection program. No one asked me if I wanted to move. No one asked me about any of this." Elissa's voice rose a little, not quite yelling, but not quiet either.
Alex glanced over her shoulder at Olivia, who, miraculously, was still sleeping, and then turned back to the obviously upset teenager. "It's the only way they can keep you safe."
Elissa knit her brow. "But you said Liam Connors would go to jail."
"He will." Alex inclined her head. "But the man he was working for is still out there."
"The man he was working for? Someone hired him to kill my dad?" Elissa said, frowning.
Alex nodded. "Yes."
"Why don't they arrest him then?" Elissa asked.
Alex smiled wryly. "It's not that easy."
When Olivia woke up, Alex and Elissa had their heads nestled together, and Olivia wondered what they were talking about. Olivia rose, stretched, and sauntered over to them. "Hey. How long have you two been up?"
Elissa shot Alex an uneasy look. She didn't know if Alex would tell Olivia that she had a nightmare. She didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to think about the night her dad died. It was enough that she would have to relive it in court.
"Well, I didn't sleep," Alex said, and Elissa let out the breath she'd been holding.
"Do you want coffee?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, but not from here and we can't leave." Alex remembered the stale coffee in the station from her time as ADA.
No, thank you, Alex thought. She wanted coffee from her favorite coffee shop in New York. She hadn't found a coffee shop in Wisconsin that she liked as well. New York had the best restaurants, the best shopping. God, she missed it.
Olivia smiled. "I'll call Elliot. Elissa, what do you want for breakfast?"
"I'll have a coffee," Elissa said, and Alex and Olivia exchanged a look.
Olivia studied the fourteen year old. "Did your dad let you drink coffee?"
"Yes." Elissa shot Olivia a look as if to say what's the big deal?
"How about orange juice instead?" Olivia suggested.
Elissa rolled her eyes. "That's ok. I don't want anything."
Olivia sighed. "Ok. One cup of coffee if you eat something."
"I'll have a bagel," Elissa told her.
Olivia called her partner and told him what they wanted. "Ok, he's on his way."
When Elliot knocked on the door, Olivia drew her weapon.
"Liv, it's me. Let me in," Elliot's voice came through the closed door. Olivia put her gun back in its holster and opened the door for him.
Elliot set the tray of drinks and bag of bagels down. He handed a cup of coffee to Alex, who accepted it gratefully. She took a sip of coffee and let out a satiated breath.
Olivia got her cup and Elissa's cup. She held a coffee out to the teenager, but held onto it for a second. "Where's your bagel?" Olivia reminded her, raising an eyebrow.
Elissa grabbed a bagel out of the bag, and Olivia relinquished her hold on her cup.
Elliot lifted his eyebrows. "You want some cream with that?" Elliot said, his lips curving into a smirk.
Elissa cocked her head, wondered if he was just being a smart ass or if he actually had cream. "Do you actually have cream?"
"Yeah, there's cream in the break room." Elliot started for the door, looked back over his shoulder. "Sugar?"
"Yes, please. Thank you!" Elissa called.
Alex took a deep breath and walked into the familiar courtroom, flanked by Agent Hammond. Casey was already there, at the prosecutor's table, where Alex should have been. It felt wrong to sit at the witness stand.
When she was a prosecutor, Alex had always been in control in the courtroom. Now, it was out of her hands. Alex hated that feeling.
Alex answered all of Casey's questions just like they'd practiced in Casey's office, but she wasn't cooperating for the cross-examination.
"Did you see my client shoot you?" Kressler asked.
"I saw his gun aimed at my heart," Alex said deliberately.
"Please, Ms. Cabot, just answer the question. On the night that you were shot, did you see Liam Connors anywhere in the vicinity?" Kressler tried again.
"No. But he's a coward. He likes to run away. Did you leave a family behind in Ireland Mr. Connors?" Alex said, getting personal.
"Your honor…"
"Ms. Cabot, please," the judge said.
Frowning, Casey narrowed her green eyes at her predecessor. Alex wasn't answering his questions. She was asking questions, prosecutor questions. And it was pretty obvious she'd seen the file on Liam Connors.
"You have absolutely no idea who shot you, do you?" Kressler stated.
There was a mixture of fire and ice in Alex's blue eyes. "Oh, I have an idea. It's the kind of man who likes to rape a woman to make her talk."
Tired of the game, the defense attorney turned to face her wearily. "Let me rephrase the question – did you see Liam Connors shoot you?"
Alex set her teeth. "No," Alex admitted grudgingly, "but I know it was him," she added with conviction.
"Objection, your honor."
She was so close. And then, as she'd done a hundred times before as a prosecutor, Alex crushed Liam Connors.
"It takes a lot of balls to shoot an unarmed woman and a sleeping child. It's too bad your aim wasn't a little better," Alex said, baiting Connors.
Liam Connors jumped to his feet in anger. "You think you're safe? They know where you are. You should've stayed dead."
A corner of Alex's mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk. It was, she thought, exactly the reaction she had wanted. His choir boy image was shattered. His true colors were coming out now, and they weren't pretty.
Elissa was up next. Alex gave the teenager an encouraging smile as they crossed paths in the hallway.
"Hey, Alex. How do I look? Girl-next-door enough for you?" Elissa said.
The teenager looked every bit the part of the girl next door with her strawberry blonde hair half-up, off her baby-face, and big blue eyes. She was wearing a white button down shirt, grey vest and black skirt. She'd wanted to look nice and maybe a little more mature, but she just looked adorable. The jury would love her.
Alex smiled down at her. "You look nice."
After the teenager disappeared into the courtroom, Agent Hammond pulled Alex aside.
"We're moving you, Elissa, and Antonio to new identities as soon as the trial is over," Agent Hammond informed her.
Resigned, Alex let out a breath. "I know."
"Elissa and Antonio are going into the program by themselves," Agent Hammond began.
Alex nodded. "I know."
"Foster care isn't an option. The only option we have is to place them with families in the program, people who understand the risks and restrictions," Agent Hammond told her.
Alex narrowed her eyes. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking?" Her voice was incredulous.
What he was suggesting was ridiculous.
Alex wanted to help the teenager and the little boy. She wanted to be the one in that courtroom prosecuting the man who killed Antonio's parents and Elissa's father. She wanted to get justice for them. That was how she could help them. That was her job…or at least it had been. And she was good at it. It wasn't her job to parent two traumatized kids. It was too much. She didn't know if she could do it. She couldn't do it.
She couldn't parent a teenager and an eight year old. She wasn't married. She wasn't even dating anyone. Well, she was, but she would never see him again. They were relocating her to a new city where she would know no one. She would have no one to help her.
Alex wanted to have a family at some point, but not now. She always thought she would marry a nice man and have kids, in that order.
"Marshals were able to place Antonio with a family that has a son about his age. We're working on placing Elissa permanently. It would only be temporary," Agent Hammond said, his eyes pleading with her.
Alex wasn't good with teenagers.
How many teenage victims had lied to her when she was the ADA with the Special Victims Unit? Too many. Teenagers did stupid things that hurt her case when all Alex was trying to do was get justice for them. She didn't understand them.
Alex thought she understood Elissa a little better than most though. They both wanted the same thing – for Liam Connors to pay for what he did. They both lost everything because of him.
Alex sighed. "Define temporary."
"It would just be until we can place her permanently," Agent Hammond said.
Alex thought for a moment, let out a small sigh. "Let me see her file."
While Alex read Elissa's file, Casey was in the courtroom, asking very specific questions to build credibility for the teenager.
"What happened on Monday night?" Casey began.
"I got home around nine," Elissa said at once.
"Where were you before that?" Casey already knew the answer, but she wanted the jury to hear it. Elissa had been studying for a science test. The ADA was trying to establish that this was a good student, a good kid.
"I was at my friend, Taylor's house. We were studying for our science test and her mom invited me to stay for dinner. After dinner, I took the subway home," Elissa said.
God, it felt like so long ago that she'd been studying with her best friend. They'd quizzed each other, talked about boys and laughed. Elissa missed her test. She couldn't go back to school, not while she was a star witness in the case against Liam Connors, not ever.
Casey moved so she was right in front of the witness stand. "What happened when you got home?"
Elissa took a deep breath. "I went into my dad's room. He was already in bed reading. I was telling him about my field trip when we heard a noise. It sounded like it was coming from the living room."
"What kind of noise?" Casey interjected.
"We heard a door shut and someone walking around," Elissa replied.
"What did your dad do?" Casey prompted.
"He told me to get under the bed and be quiet." Elissa's voice cracked.
"And did you?" Casey asked.
Elissa nodded. "Yes."
Casey clasped her hands in front of her. "What happened next?"
Telling the judge what happened was like losing her dad all over again. A fresh wave of grief hit Elissa.
Elissa looked up, making eye contact with Connors. His eyes were so dark. She swallowed. "Liam Connors came into my dad's room." Her eyes and voice hardened. "He shot my dad."
Casey took a few steps away from the witness stand, speaking to the jury more than Elissa now. "He shot your dad with the same gun used to shoot seven other people. No further questions." Casey started back to her seat.
Kressler rose. "Now, Ms. Cook, you said you were under the bed when my client shot your dad. Did he see you?"
Elissa frowned. "No. If he saw me, I would be dead."
"Objection," Kressler said loudly.
"Sustained," the judge stated.
"If my client didn't see you, how did you see him?" Kressler mused, trying to catch the teenager off guard.
Elissa lifted her chin. "I was under the bed. I saw him when he walked in. I saw his face. I saw him raise the gun. I heard the gunshot. Liam Connors shot my dad."
Kressler frowned. "What did you do when your dad was shot?"
Elissa shook her head, her eyes filling. "Nothing."
"Your dad was shot and you didn't do anything? You didn't say anything? You didn't cry? Scream? You didn't try to help him?" There was incredulity in his voice.
"No, because I knew Liam Connors would shoot me," Elissa said.
Guilt and sorrow clutched her chest, but Elissa held her own. The jury only saw a confident and poised young woman.
Olivia stood when Elissa stepped down from the witness stand and they walked out of the courtroom together.
Alex, Agent Hammond, Mike and Antonio were waiting in the hallway. The eight year old hadn't decided if he would testify yet. If he didn't testify, it was all going to come down to Elissa's testimony. With that in mind, Alex cut her eyes to Olivia, and Olivia nodded. "She did great." Olivia glanced down at the teenager, but Elissa avoided her gaze.
"Elissa!" Antonio ran over to her excitedly.
Elissa managed a smile. "Hey, Antonio."
"Did you see the ghost?" Antonio asked anxiously.
Elissa remembered Connors' face, tight with anger, and nodded. "Yeah."
"Were you scared?" Antonio wondered.
"No. There's nothing to be scared of. There are a lot of people in there and some of them are cops. They won't let him hurt you." Elissa's voice was confident, and Antonio believed her.
Alex knelt down next to Antonio. "Antonio, what do you want to do?" She struggled to come across as neutral when she wanted him to testify.
Antonio looked up at Elissa. "Did you tell the judge what the ghost did to your dad?"
Antonio was at the age where he wanted to be like the older kids. If Elissa had testified against the ghost, he wanted to do it, too.
Elissa nodded. She was going over her answers in her mind. She didn't know what the jury had thought. Did they think she was a terrible person? She'd done nothing, absolutely nothing, when her dad was shot. She could have tried to stop the blood or called an ambulance…but no, she'd stayed hidden under the bed. She was a coward.
Antonio thought for a moment. "I want to tell the judge what he did to my parents."
The eight year old grabbed Mike's hand and they walked into the courtroom. Elissa stayed with Olivia and Alex, but stood away from them. The teenager was there, but she wasn't really there. Her mind was somewhere else, on what she could have done differently, should have done.
"I hope Kressler goes easier on him than he did on Elissa," Olivia muttered to Alex.
Alex stiffened, glanced at the teenager. "What did he do?"
"Well, first, he questioned how she saw Connors when he didn't see her, and then when that didn't work, he tried to make her feel guilty because she didn't do anything when her dad was shot," Olivia told her.
"Ass," Alex said, and she wanted to be the one in that courtroom, kicking Kressler's ass.
Worried about Elissa, Olivia tried to get her attention. "Elissa? Hey. Why don't you come over here with us?"
Elissa moved closer to Olivia and Alex, but left a little bit of space between them.
Olivia tried to make eye contact, but Elissa looked down at the floor. "Hey, you know nothing the defense attorney said in there was true, right? You did the only thing you could. You survived."
"I could have helped him. I could have tried to stop the blood, or called an ambulance," Elissa said in a hollow voice.
Olivia shook her head. "No. He would have killed you." Her voice was firm and sure.
"He didn't kill Antonio," Elissa pointed out.
"He tried," Olivia told her.
Elissa shifted her gaze to Alex. "How long does it take the jury to decide?"
"It depends," Alex replied. She studied the teenager for a moment. "Elissa, they will convict him."