Deluge

by BenslerXOC

Chapter Three ~ The Whittingtons

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway - Glick Park - Wednesday, June 25 - 9:17 a.m.

She'd remembered asking him that very same question before . Six years ago during the Manning case, she followed him out of the squad room to the elevator and confronted him about his attitude. She knew that something was wrong then, and she was right. She'd asked— is there somebody else? He'd immediately responded, "No, it's nothing like that." He'd denied it then and she hoped like hell he would deny it again. She needed to hear those words. She needed to hear him say, "No, it's nothing like that." But this, this emotional reaction from Elliot was not one she was used to. She was accustomed to the rage, the anger, the prickling defenses he often threw up. The tears where unbearable and it made her heart ache for whatever it was that was causing him this pain.

He was still holding her hand and she couldn't quite place the feeling that simple contact was eliciting from her, but it was a familiar awkwardness. She was reliving that hug, that embrace in the hospital all over again. She was as unsure today about her body's reaction to him as she was that day. The day she knew that everything would be forever different between them. They didn't do this, they didn't. The heat they were sharing felt so nice and yet, at the same time, there was a certain panic that started to bubble within her. He was still holding her hand and she had no intention of pulling away.

"Elliot?" She tried again, "Please, talk to me. If there's someone else…"

Elliot clutched her hand even more firmly and the sharp twinge of pain his tight grip was causing was superseded by the flood of warmth this rare physical contact provided. He didn't speak, he just pulled her hand to his heart and leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes again.

He used the index finger and thumb of his free hand to swipe across his eyelids and pinch the bridge of his nose. Without looking at her or answering her question he simply breathed out so that she would know it wasn't she with whom he was angry, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

Olivia let the tears that were gathering in her eyes fall as she blinked, scared that his lack of answer to her inquiry was all the answer she really needed. There was someone else. She quickly brushed the drops away before he could see her and after dragging her hand over her jeans to soak up the excess moisture, she wrapped it around Elliot's hand, gently prying it off of hers.

She wouldn't ask him again. She was sure she wouldn't survive hearing it from his lips. "Elliot, look at me."

He opened his eyes and let her guide his hand to rest between them on the console. He could never lie to her. The truth was, yes, there was another woman. His heart belonged to Olivia. His life was so screwed up right now and the last thing he needed was to alienate this woman beside him but because he could not lie, he fell back into an old, familiar pattern and simply shut down. Turning his head against his seatback so he could look at her, he was met with such a sincere look of sympathy radiating from her gorgeous brown eyes, it took everything he had not to pull her into a hug, run his fingers through her hair and tell her that if there ever were another woman in his life, it was her. She owned him and he was slowly dying without her. It was pure agony to be this close to the woman he wanted to possess mind, body, and soul and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

"I'm here for you, Elliot. Anytime you need to talk. Anytime you need a friend. You know that right?" Her voice was calm but reflected hints of the pain that he was feeling. He would never understand what he'd done right in life to deserve her- to deserve her friendship and compassion.

He nodded once and took in a deep breath. "I know that, Liv. Thank you."

She offered him a small smile, even though, on the inside, she was breaking apart. In a raspy voice, she changed the subject. "You better get us to the Whittington's before Cragen rips us both a new one."

She released Elliot's hand and they both felt the emptiness from the lost connection. He started the car and pulled back out onto the road. Olivia kept her face buried in her notes and avoided looking at Elliot for the duration of the drive as he kept his focus on the road ahead.

Whittington Residence, 655 6th Avenue - Wednesday, June 25 - 10:30 a.m.

Elliot wound his way through the Flatiron District to the O'Neill Building. The impressive white, five-story building, which was once home to the O'Neill Department Store, stood even more magnificently with its restored gold domed turrets. He wasn't sure he'd passed this building since those turrets were reconstructed a couple of years ago. The building spanned the block and Elliot pulled up near the side and placed his NYPD parking placard in the dash.

Olivia looked up from her notes when the car stopped and she proceeded to scan the building. In an effort to lighten the mood she said, "Now this is where I would like to live."

Elliot smiled and even allowed a little bit of a chuckle to escape, "I can't see you in a place like this, Liv."

She turned slightly in her seat, her hand on the door, "And why not?"

Elliot shrugged, "Dunno. Seems a little fancy is all."

Olivia sighed, "Yeah, well…it's not like it would ever happen anyway."

As they both hit the sidewalk, they fell into step and flashed their badges at the doorman who immediately radioed the concierge and let them into the building and pointed them in the direction of the concierge.

The gentleman who met them was tall, sleek looking in a black suit and green tie and perfectly groomed.

Elliot flashed his badge and introduced them. "Hi, Detectives Stabler and Benson. You are?"

"Evan Daniels. Building concierge. Detectives, how may I assist you?"

Olivia stepped forward and in a hushed tone, so as not to draw attention from the small group of residents exiting the elevator, she said, "We're here to see Senator Whittington. Do you know if he is in?"

Evan nodded, "Yes, should be. Senate is not in session again until July 6th. I believe he said he would be in residence until then. May I ring him for you?"

Olivia nodded, "Yes, that would be great. Thanks."

Evan walked back toward the small counter in the corner of the lobby and Olivia turned back toward Elliot. "Ok, El. You got me. The lobby is maybe a bit much." She let her eyes float around glancing first at the marble floor. It was a conglomeration of black, white and gray tiles all set in a geometric pattern. There was a large spray of beautiful, fresh-cut flowers in the curve of a post-modern, gray paneled partition. The far wall was adorned with a bright orange and red Rothko painting and when her eyes met the ceiling she was greeted with the only piece in the room she really liked, a classically simple, lithe, crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling by a single silver rod and scrolled upward into six luminous, elongated bulbs.

Elliot watched from the corner of his eye as she took in the lobby around them. He watched her expression change from one of indifference to that of delight when she focused on the chandelier. In that moment, he saw her in a different light. No matter how long he'd known her, no matter how much time he spent with her, there were still so many things about her he didn't know. He would have never thought a simple chandelier would capture her attention but then it was just like her- strong, straightforward, elegant, beautiful and it radiated a light that in turn lit up those around it.

"Detectives," Evan made his way back over. "Mr. Peterson, Senator Whittington's personal assistant will be meeting you here in the lobby to escort you up. If you'll just wait a moment." He smiled at Olivia and then at Elliot.

"That's fine," Elliot grunted, dismissing the man, wishing to focus instead on his partner who was still glancing back at the chandelier.

"You like it?"

"Huh?" Olivia's attention turned back to Elliot.

Elliot smiled and nodded up to the fixture. "The chandelier. You like it?"

"Oh," Olivia's smile grew bright. "I do. There's just…something so…I don't know…elegant about its simplicity. You wouldn't expect that in such a grandiose building like this."

Elliot quickly diverted his gaze from Olivia to the elevator doors. It wasn't the first time they'd looked at each other just a little too long and they needed to focus on the task at hand. It was never easy to break the news to someone that loved one had been brutally attacked and murdered, whether the vic is seven or seventy. They only had to wait a moment more before the elevator doors sprung open and a middle-aged man of average height, dressed in a starched, white button up and khaki pants.

He walked toward the detectives with purpose and once in their immediate perimeter, stretched out his hand to shake.

"Olivia Benson, this is my partner, Elliot Stabler."

"James Peterson, I'm glad they finally sent someone out."

Elliot glanced at Olivia and then turned back to James. "I'm sorry, you already know?"

"Of course. I practically live at the Whittington residence when we're in town. Mrs. Whittington…I'm sorry, do you mind if we?" James tossed his head back in the direction of the elevators and the three made their way into one that was waiting. Once the doors closed, he continued, "Mrs. Whittington called me early this morning to say that her mother-in-law was missing. The Whittingtons, of course, have a penthouse in this building. The senator wanted his mother nearby and so purchased one of the condos on the floor below so that he could keep an eye on her. She has the early signs of dementia but she's never wandered off like this before."

"I'm sorry," Olivia interrupted, "so you called her in as a missing person?"

James nodded, "Yes, isn't that why you are here? They told me that we would need to wait forty-eight hours but when I explained that she was the elderly mother of a state senator, I was passed off to a supervisor."

"And, when did you make this call?" Elliot stepped aside as they reached the floor so that Olivia could exit the elevator first.

"About 8:30 this morning. Mrs. Whittington always calls Lenora at eight a.m. to check on her. When she didn't answer, Lydia, I'm sorry, that's Mrs. Whittington, Lydia went down and searched her apartment. She then called down to the concierge and neither he nor the doorman had seen her. We believe she must have left through the service entrance to the parking garage. There are security cameras everywhere so, if you need those. I don't know, to see what she was wearing, her state of mind, etcetera."

Elliot nodded, "Yes, thank you."

James led them into the foyer of the penthouse. It was decorated floor to ceiling in patrician style dark woods and Tiffany lamps. The floor to ceiling windows were draped with deep red linen curtains and the walls held several pieces of pricy art word, among them a Magritte, a Duchamp and two Matisse. Olivia couldn't help but notice the lack of family photos in the room.

"Excuse me. Please have a seat and I'll get Mrs. Whittington."

"Um, Mr. Peterson," Olivia stopped him. "We really need to speak with both Senator and Mrs. Whittington."

"Oh," James stopped in his tracks. "Will that really be necessary? Senator Whittington is getting ready to head to a meeting with a very prominent constituent. I assure you that Mrs. Whittington will be able to provide you with whatever information you need."

Olivia opened her mouth to speak but Elliot saved her the difficult task. "It is absolutely imperative we speak with Senator Whittington…" His tone was firm and James nodded and cleared his throat.

"Ok, I will get him." He headed off down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

"Well, this should be interesting. We need to find out who he talked to in Missing Persons." Olivia scanned the room once again as Elliot looked at her. He hoped that their conversation in the car wouldn't resurface but he had a gut feeling that eventually, she would ask that unanswered question again.

They both turned toward the corridor when they heard the clacking of heels on the Brazilian cherry floors.

A petite blonde woman, the picture of the dutiful politician's wife, emerged from the hall looking harried. "Hi." She thrust out her hand, taking Olivia's first and then Elliot's, allowing her eyes to linger on Elliot a while as her lips curled into the faint twist of a smile. "Lydia O'Neill Whittington and you are?" She directed her question toward Elliot and Olivia internally rolled her eyes. Must they really go through this with every female who crossed his path?

"Detective Elliot Stabler," Elliot returned her smirk with one of his own and Olivia thought she may just very well excuse herself to the powder room to throw up. "This is my partner Olivia Benson. You are related to Hugh O'Neill?"

Lydia flashed him a dazzling smile. It was almost too white. "He was my great-great grandfather." She turned her attention to Olivia and scanned the detective from head to toe before showing them to the seating area. Olivia took a seat on the red silk loveseat and Elliot sat beside her. She was not expecting this. The loveseat was antique and small and therefore left very little room for them not to be thrust up against one another. Lydia took the chair across from them.

"I apologize; my husband was on a phone call. He'll be out in a minute. Is there anything I can help you with now before he gets here?" Lydia's eyes were on Elliot, only flitting to Olivia out of politeness before she settled her gaze back on Elliot.

Olivia answered this time wondering if Lydia would even bother to look her way when she spoke. "Yes, we need to know the exact time you last saw Mrs. Whittington and we'll need to know who you or Mr. Peterson spoke with when you called her in as a missing person."

Lydia looked confused, "Oh, you…you aren't with missing persons?"

Olivia shot Elliot a look. "Um, we are with Special Victims. Given…" Just as Olivia was going to bend the truth until Senator Whittington arrives, the man himself appeared behind his wife looking disgruntled. He was much taller than his wife with dark black hair accented with a shock of silver at his temples. He was dressed casually in what looked life golf clothes and Olivia wondered what type of man would keep a golf date when his elderly mother was missing.

"Detectives, my wife tells me you need me to be here for this as well?"

Elliot and Olivia both rose as the senator made his way around his wife's chair and toward them. They exchanged introductions once again and before the senator could take a seat Lydia grabbed her husband's arm.

"Davis, these detectives are from Special Victims."

Senator Whittington took his wife's hand and sat down in the chair next to hers. "I see. I'm sorry. I don't quite understand. Wouldn't this be handled by missing persons? My mother is…well, she is elderly but this is the first time something like this has happened."

"Sir," Elliot started. This was never easy and he always felt an enormous weight pressing into his chest when he had to inform someone of a death. "Your mother was found this morning at Glick Park."

The senator shook his head. "No, she wouldn't have wandered off that far. That's more than a mile and half from here." Lydia visibly tensed and Olivia took note of this. Seems as though she didn't think it was so impossible.

"Elliot continued, "Sir, ma'am. We are very sorry to inform you that your mother was not alive when she was found." He paused to give them time to let the shocking news sink in.

Olivia watched Lydia carefully as she saw the shock wash over her face. She certainly hadn't expected this news but something was still very unsettling and Olivia would be sure to mention this to Elliot when they departed.

"I don't…I can't…are you sure it's my mother? I just can't imagine why she would…" Senator Whittington couldn't seem to get his thoughts together. Everyone watched as his face contorted with grief and his wife, rising from her chair, rushed to his side to comfort him.

"Sir, you need to know that she was attacked before she was murdered. We believe…"

He cut Olivia off, "What do you mean attacked ?"

Olivia didn't much care for Lydia but she could tell that her husband was genuine in his pain for his mother. "She was raped. We don't know the exact cause of death yet but she was stabbed twice and strangled."

The senator's hand flew to his mouth and tears began to stream down his face.

"Honey," Lydia looked desperate, "please. Pull yourself together."

Senator Whittington shirked out of her embrace and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and ran his hands over his closely cropped hair. "I can't believe this. She was here. Just last night. She was here. I saw her at dinner. We chatted about Mikey."

"Mikey?" Olivia interrupted.

Lydia cut in before her husband could clarify, "Michael. He's our son. He's at Princeton. We'll need to call him."

Olivia nodded.

"I just can't believe." Then, as if hit by the realization, Senator Whittington looked up and gazed straight into Olivia's eyes. "The Waterfront Rapist? You think…she was…"

Olivia nodded, her eyes full of sympathy for this man breaking down in front of her.

"Sir," Elliot glanced at Olivia and then back to the Whittington's. Lydia was now standing behind her husband, her fingers wrapped tightly around the back of his chair. "We need to know if you can think of any reason, any reason at all that your mother may have been in or near Glick Park."

The senator took in a deep breath and shook his head before stopping and glancing up at his wife. "Actually…well, it's been several months but she did spend a day in Bellevue back in March. That's very near the park. I can't imagine why she would go back. She hated it there."

Olivia was confused. With all of the senator's money, she couldn't imagine why his mother would spend an hour in Bellevue, let alone a day. "Why was she admitted to Bellevue?"

Lydia immediately spoke up. "We were walking along the Greenway. You know, that Saturday in March when the weather seemed to be perfect right in the middle of the coldest few days we had? I took her for a walk and she fell while we were out. Bellevue was the closest hospital and it wasn't a serious injury. We were only there for a few hours."

The senator nodded, "I do remember she mentioned befriending a nurse there. Um," he rubbed his forehead, trying to think of her name, "I'm sorry. I just can't seem to recall her name but I do remember she said that the young lady was very friendly. Maybe you could ask around. Maybe she knows something. I know that doesn't make sense but…"

"Senator, at this point, anything you can give us is helpful. I'm sure we can find out who this nurse is and see if she remained in contact with your mother."

Olivia was speaking to the senator but looking at Lydia the entire time. There was just something about her. She couldn't put her finger on it but her gut told her that Lydia was hiding something and she was going to find out what.

"Sir, we'll keep in contact throughout our investigation. Is there someone you would like us to keep in direct contact with?"

"You can call me, let me get you my card," Lydia interjected.

The senator reached back and grabbed her hand, "No, no. Please," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet where he took out two business cards, "my direct line here at my New York office and my Albany office is on here along with my cell phone. Please, deal directly with me. I may have my assistant, James, call in once in a while but if there is anything you need, or any leads, please call me directly. I want to be involved and help in any way that I can. This woman," he started to tear up again, "this woman put me here. All of this," he looked around at his lavish apartment, "this is her doing. She's my mother…please…just find out who did this to her."

Olivia nodded and the pair stood. "We'll call you when our medical examiner is ready for you to positively id her body. Again, our deepest sympathies."

Police Cruiser - Wednesday, June 25 - 11:47 a.m.

Olivia closed the door behind her as she settled into her seat. "What a morning." She rested her elbow on the door and leaned her head into her hand, gently pushing her bangs back from her forehead.

"It doesn't get easier, does it?"

Olivia shook her head and turned toward Elliot, "No."

As Elliot pulled into the street, Olivia shifted in her seat to face him. "El? Did you get a weird vibe from Lydia?"

Elliot shrugged, "Nah, not really. She seemed a little flirty," he smirked and Olivia wanted to slap it right off his face.

"She seemed pretty edgy when her husband mentioned Bellevue. She said Mrs. Whittington fell but then seemed to brush it off as if it were no big deal. I think we may need to look into that. It's possible that there was some elder abuse going on in that house."

Elliot looked over at Olivia, "I don't know, Liv. You can't just go making assumptions like that." Then he added, "Especially when you're dealing with a family like theirs. Two prominent families."

"Elliot, we need to check out everything and I'm telling you, my gut says she's hiding something."

Elliot just shrugged, "Ok."

16th Precinct, SVU - Wednesday, June 25 - 1:22 p.m.

"Ok, people, listen up. We need to get this case back up and running at full-force. This is our fourth victim and because of her VIP status, we're going to have not only the brass breathing down our necks, but you can also be assured that people from Senator Whittington's camp will be so far up our…and don't get me started on the press. The Ledger…" All eyes flew to Olivia and then quickly back to Cragen, "is already out there printing stories about our so-called Waterfront Rapist. Olivia, why don't you go ahead and brief everyone?"

Cragen stepped aside and made room for Olivia in front of the white board.

"Ok. We believe the Waterfront Rapist has claimed four victims now. The first, a homeless woman by the name of Selma Peters. Age 68. She was found raped and half-conscious at North Cove. The second, a homeless woman by the name of Marcy Walker, age 74, was found at Chelsea Waterside Park, raped. Our third vic is slightly out of his normal type, Cassie Johnson. She's our youngest vic so far at age 56. She was jogging along the waterfront at Chelsea Waterside and was raped and beaten. And finally, Lenora Whittington, age 71. She was found raped, stabbed and strangled at Glick Park which is on the East side as opposed to our other vics who were all found on the West side."

Olivia was about to continue when a familiar blonde woman entered the precinct and headed straight for Elliot, who was sitting on the edge of his desk. Olivia caught her eye and immediately looked away. Kathy did not look happy. The tension filled the air as all eyes were directed to Elliot.

"Elliot, I need to speak with you."

Please let me know what you think! " ) Bensler