Author's Note: This is very loosely based on the case in Season 8, Episode 18 Responsible. I am not using the teenagers from the episode.
Chapter One
Elliot looked away from the picture of the dead girl, who reminded him of his daughter. He took a moment to calm down before he said anything. "Kaley Hagan. Sixteen years old. Found by her father when he went out to get the morning paper. Someone left her on her doorstep."
Olivia looked at the lab report and her eyes widened. "Her blood alcohol was .24."
"That's three times the legal limit," Casey said.
"She only weighed 100 pounds," Olivia added.
"Cause of death was aspiration. She drank herself to death. Her parents thought she was at the movies," Elliot said, shaking his head. "Where does a sixteen year old get alcohol?"
"Not at the movies, that's for sure," Olivia said.
Munch stood up and walked over to the center of the squad room. "So she lied, told her parents she was going to the movies when she was really going to a party."
"Where was the party?" Olivia said, thinking out loud.
"Well, where did she go to school?" Cragen asked.
Olivia glanced down at her notes. "Hanover Day School."
"Hey, isn't that where your sister goes?" Elliot asked, squinting at Casey.
Casey nodded. "She's a sophomore."
"So was Kaley," Olivia said.
"Talk to the kids at Hanover Day," Cragen ordered.
"And how do you know Miss Brown?" The doorman in the Upper East Side high-rise her mom and half-sister were currently staying in sneered at Casey.
"I'm her daughter," Casey said.
"You don't look like Mackenzie," the doorman said in a condescending tone.
"That's because I'm not," Casey said, annoyance and impatience creeping into her voice. "I'm Casey Novak, Mackenzie's sister."
"Well, you're not on the list. I'll call Miss Brown now…"
"You do that," Casey told him.
After a hushed conversation with her mom, the doorman buzzed Casey in.
Her mom was staying in the penthouse, of course. Laura Brown didn't waste her time with anyone who wasn't a multimillionaire. No plain old millionaires for her.
"Casey! This is a surprise," Laura's make-up was perfect even though it was Saturday morning and she wasn't expecting anyone.
"Hi, Mom," Casey said.
"Don't you look…professional," Laura said, taking in Casey's off-the-rack discount suit with a quick eye flick.
"Thanks," Casey said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the mixture of disapproval and condescension in her mother's voice. "Is Mackenzie here?"
Laura pouted a little. "I thought you came to see me. I haven't seen you in ages."
"You've been busy," Casey said dryly. The last time she'd heard from Laura had been six months ago, when Laura wanted Casey to recommend a new divorce attorney.
Laura flitted in and out of her oldest daughter's life at her convenience, only making an appearance when she wanted something.
The sad thing was Casey preferred it that way. Laura would never understand her, and she would never understand Laura.
"I have so much to tell you." Laura wandered into the living room, her strappy heels clicking on the hard wood floors.
Resigned, Casey followed Laura into the living room, where a maid promptly offered her a drink. She murmured her thanks as she accepted a cup of coffee.
"I didn't get anything from Richard in the divorce. Can you believe it? I was with him for two years," Laura said, making it sound like she'd been married to him for a lifetime. Of course, for Laura, two years was an awfully long time. Laura frowned. "I used the divorce attorney you recommended. I won't be using him again."
Laura was always the victim. In her mind, she honestly believed she was entitled to half of everything Richard owned because she'd spent two years married to him.
Casey stared at Laura. "You signed a pre-nup. It was iron-clad. Houdini himself couldn't have gotten out of it."
Laura sniffed. "Thank God I met Tom."
Casey struggled to be patient as Laura told the story of how she met the owner of the penthouse.
"Mackenzie," Casey said, breathing a sigh of relief when the teenager finally came out of her room, and not a moment too soon. Casey knew more about Tom than she'd ever wanted to know.
Mackenzie was fifteen and looked exactly like their mother. Casey had inherited her red hair and green eyes from her father, where Mackenzie had their mother's honey blonde hair and blue eyes.
Surprise registered on Mackenzie's face. "Casey?"
"Mackenzie, come here, sit down." Laura patted the space next to her on the sofa and Casey couldn't help but notice the big diamond engagement ring on her finger. Laura worked fast. The ink hadn't even dried on the divorce papers yet and she was already engaged.
Mackenzie looked at Laura wearily. "Mom, I have to go. I have soccer."
"I'll give you a ride," Casey said, seeing it as an opportunity to talk to Mackenzie alone.
"Mackenzie, wait," Laura said before they could leave. "Tom heard you come in last night. It woke him up."
"Sorry," Mackenzie mumbled.
"Just don't let it happen again. I know Richard was very…indulgent with you, but you can't expect everyone to be that way, honey," Laura told her.
"Where were you last night?" Casey asked as they rode the elevator down to the lobby.
It was the way she would question a witness in court. Casey didn't mean for it to sound like she was questioning her sister. She didn't even realize how it sounded. It was just what Casey did.
Mackenzie tilted her head to the right and looked at Casey, wondering why the sudden interest in her social calendar. "Why?"
"Were you at a party?" Casey asked, giving Mackenzie a knowing look.
Mackenzie looked surprised and a little sheepish. "How'd you know?"
Casey took a deep breath. "Was Kaley Hagan at the party?"
"I don't know." Mackenzie thought for a moment. "I think I saw her with Luke…why?"
"This morning her parents found her…" Casey heaved out a sigh, deciding there was no easy way to say this. "Dead."
"What? How?"
"Her blood alcohol was three times the legal limit," Casey said as they got off the elevator. She paused, gave her sister a moment to process it. She turned to face Mackenzie when they were in front of the high-rise, her brow furrowed. "Was she a friend of yours?"
"She didn't really hang out with my group of friends," Mackenzie replied.
Casey nodded, started to her car. "Where was the party?"
Mackenzie stopped and glared at Casey, the unexpected visit making sense now. "That's why you're here."
Casey said nothing and her expression was carefully blank.
"You're here as the ADA." Mackenzie continued. "I should've known. It's not a holiday and Mom's not getting married today."
She thought she was talking to her sister, but Casey was in ADA mode. Casey was just using her to find out where the party was. It put Mackenzie in a bad position.
Mackenzie wasn't going to rat anyone out.
Casey pursed her lips. Mackenzie was right and there wasn't anything she could say to change that. She wouldn't be there right now if she didn't think her sister could help her case.
"I'm done playing twenty questions. I'm not going to tell you anything else," Mackenzie said.
"You don't have to talk. Just listen to me," Casey said, looking her half-sister in the eye. "On Monday morning the detectives are going to be at your school. They're going to talk to everyone and someone will tell them where the party was and who was there. I hope you weren't drinking."
It was true that Casey only saw Mackenzie on holidays and at their mother's weddings, but Mackenzie was still her sister. Casey didn't want the detectives to have any reason to bring Mackenzie in.
Mackenzie gave a short laugh. "This is New York. Don't the police have anything better to do than break up high school parties? Are they also cracking down on jaywalking?"
"This isn't just about underage drinking. This is about homicide," Casey told her.
Mackenzie frowned and looked at Casey like she'd lost her mind. "Homicide? What's the murder weapon? A red cup? This isn't Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the dining room. No one forced the alcohol down her throat."
"But someone provided the alcohol," Casey said.
"I'm not in second grade. I'm not going to tattle, and it's not cool of you to ask me to. I think I'll walk," Mackenzie said, walking off in the opposite direction.
Hanover Day lost the game.
Mackenzie was good, but she had an off day. Her mind just wasn't on the game.
Since Mackenzie and Paige were the only two sophomores on Varsity and were also, sadly enough, the best players on the team, they didn't just lose. They got shut out.
"What's wrong?" Paige asked as they walked off the field.
Mackenzie took a sip of water from her water bottle. "My sister came over this morning."
"Casey or Jennifer?" Paige wanted to know.
"Half. Not step. Ex-step?" Mackenzie's brow creased. "God, my family should be on Jerry Springer."
"So Casey?" Paige prompted.
"That's the one," Mackenzie said.
"And? Did she get in a fight with your mom?" Paige guessed.
"Shockingly no. Or, at least if they were fighting, there was no yelling and no crying," Mackenzie replied. "The crying would be on my mom's part," she added with a small smile. "Casey's not really a crier. I don't know that she's capable of human emotion."
"Uh-oh. What happened?" Paige asked.
"I don't know if I'm supposed to say anything," Mackenzie muttered.
Casey hadn't said whether she could say anything about Kaley's death and the looming presence of the detectives at school on Monday.
"You can tell me anything," Paige told her sincerely.
Mackenzie gave her a small smile and filled Paige in on her conversation with Casey.
Paige looked at her best friend with genuine empathy. "She told you Kaley died right before the game."
"It's not like we were good friends or anything, but I knew her and she was our age. I can't believe she's dead," Mackenzie tried to explain why it had upset her as much as it had.
"I know," Paige murmured sadly. She felt the same way.
"And then Casey tried to get me to tell her where the party was," Mackenzie added. The sadness and frustration in her voice were gone. Now there was pure anger in her voice.
"She doesn't know you very well then. That's her loss," Paige said. She knew Mackenzie would never betray her friends. Mackenzie was loyal, to a fault where her mother was concerned.
