Chapter 3: Late Nights

Fin walked into the office. It was after midnight, but he saw Lace was at her desk, laptop rested on her knees, and her feet on her desk. She looked up at him. "I thought you had a date tonight," he muttered.

"I canceled."

"And why's that?"

Lace set down her laptop with a sigh. "I guess you think I'm getting a little obsessed, huh?" She raised an eyebrow when Fin was silent. "Okay, fine. Listen. I was looking through men who fit the description of our guy. The DNA didn't have a match. Neither did the fingerprints. But what person doesn't use the internet once in a while? In New York at least? Right?"

Fin shrugged, nodding. "Yeah."

"Myspace and Facebook are two of the most popular sites. I was looking for guys that fit the description. Unfortunately, another popular thing on the internet is lying. But so far, I haven't gotten that far. The guys who actually have pictures, I have them bookmarked and maybe we'll eventually come up with something. One guy though, on the very first page, really got my attention, which is why I kept going all these hours. On the days of the rapes, he said he had his fun. Might be coincidence, might not be. Just the same, i thought I'd be careful."

"Coincidence. You know how many people have fun everyday?"

Lace smiled. "Specifically on the dates though? That's the only time he's ever said it." She shrugged, glaring at Fin when he gave her a look of disbelief. "Also, there's another victim I found from six years ago. It was a little different, but same guy. She said he has a scar on his face, and that's all she said. But it's something we didn't have. Bad teeth too. I added that to the others and we narrowed it down. However, bad teeth isn't a very good description. Missing tooth, rotting tooth, all that. The first victim was on the first date, and I think there are others that didn't report it. Or he murdered them. The other girls all talked about escaping."

"I say he planned to let 'em go. dropping the key doesn't sound like something a guy like that would do."

"Maybe not, but we can't assume stuff like that until we actually find a murdered victim."

"So..."

Lace grinned, leaping to her feet. "So... I ran by a friend at Homocide. He said there are another eleven cases matching. But the bodies of three were never claimed. They all are Latinas, young, around the same age, and their DNA matched. The bastard raped and murdered his own kids."

"Anything else?"

"Nope. that's it. The murders didn't get anywhere. No leads. It's like the guy just disappears between them. But I guess we'll figure out where he disappears to, right?"

"Or you will. Seems like you're running this case as far as I can tell."

Lace sat back down. "So why are you here? Nowhere to go?"

Fin shrugged. "And nothing to do when I get there really."

Lace nodded thoughtfully. "There's quite a few good bars here in New York. When I'm done here, which shouldn't be too much longer, I'm gonna go get a beer. Care to join me?"

"It's only your first day and you already need a drink?"

Lace glanced up at him. "Something like that, I guess. Or maybe life's just too much of a hell for me now that I just try to drown it out at night with a couple beers before I go home."

"Family problems?"

"No. Nothing like that. Family's great. Home's great. Just sleeping isn't the easiest thing in the world for me. It never has been. I'd rather not be able to think nights when I can't sleep." She let out a sigh, glancing around the unit office. "How did you last this long? It's my first day, and I don't know if I can stand it. but all these years..."

"Maybe because every once in a while, I can put somebody like that guy you're so obsessed with away, save one girl like Abby from being raped."

"But we never win here. We always lose. The damage is already done. We can't help them or anything. They'll be different for the rest of their lives. How can you stand that? To know you're working so hard, so diligently for nothing? I don't think I can do this much longer. I never wanted to be a cop anyway."

"Then why did you become one?"

"My dad was a cop. A damn good cop too. I saw how proud he was. I wanted him to be proud of me like that. But I'm not like that. I can't stand this. Not SVU. Maybe Homocide or Narcotics or something... somewhere I can make a difference, no matter how small it is."

"You can make a difference here. Abby left a message for you. She wants to go to lunch tomorrow."

Lace raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. But this isn't the worst case. She's in counseling, nobody knows who she doesn't want to know, her parents are being supportive." Lace laughed coldly. "You know how many things could go wrong and for her, it seems to be so much better. She's a lucky girl, if that's possible. But then again, what rape victim is lucky? We're--they're all... changed, different, ruined even. And the victims aren't just the kid in the hospital bed. I guess we are in some way too. I don't think I could ever go home to my kids after talking to Abby today. Or lay next to my husband again. People weren't meant to have that kind of pain, or face that kind of evil. And we can't make a difference in them. I hate that!"

"You should transfer then."

"No. Not yet. I have something I have to do first. And it won't be done until this son of a bitch is in jail."