BACK AGAIN. I SEE THAT MANY OF YOU WERE VERY HAPPY TO SEE NOAH INCLUDED IN THE STORY; I THOUGHT HE'D BE A GOOD FIT TO THE LANGAN DYNAMIC AND I'M SO GLAD YOU ALL AGREED WITH MY DECISION. SO, JUST WANT TO SAY THAT THE STORY BEGINS TO DARKEN IN THIS CHAPTER AND AS FUTURE CHAPTERS POST, IT ONLY GETS DARKER SO IF THAT'S NOT FOR YOU, PLEASE EXCUSE YOURSELF FROM READING. THANKS YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO TAKE THE TIME TO LEAVE REVIEWS AND TELL ME HOW I'M DOING, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK AND AM GRATEFUL TO EVERYONE WHO'S READING. THAT BEING SAID, DICK WOLF OWNS THE SVU CHARACTERS, I OWN MINE, ENJOY!
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One week later…
"Okay, we're off to the park" Trevor announced upon entering the living room where Olivia was lying on the sofa while Noah sat happily in his playpen, concentrating on chewing the life out of the teething ring in his mouth while drool poured down his chin. Even with Trevor's mother here taking the kids off their hands for the past week, just like with the twins, her morning sickness lasted through the day and she was too tired for anything more than lying down when she wasn't working and even that required great effort lately. This bothered her because she had just made Lieutenant six months ago and didn't want it to appear that the job was too much for her and she knew that she'd have to disclose her pregnancy sooner than she'd planned so that the brass would know that her fatigue wasn't fueled from being overwhelmed by her new position.
"You sure you can handle all three?" Olivia asked
"Honey, I'm super dad, I got this. And don't worry about lunch, I'll feed them and have them back in time for their nap" he said as he bent down and kissed her before going to pick up Noah. "I love you"
"I love you too; you might wanna get back to the car before they free themselves and drive away."
"Probably a good idea. Noah, say bye bye"
"byebye mama" he said , waving his hand in an open-close motion then stuck his teething ring back in his mouth
"Get some rest" Trevor said to Olivia before kissing her again then turning to leave. He got to the open front door and paused, turning around to look at Olivia. "You think maybe we could...I mean if you're up to it" he asked. She suddenly got up and ran from the room with her hand to her stomach.
"So is that a no?' he yelled
"No no no no no" Noah babbled, shaking his head. Trevor laughed at his son, kissing his head as they walked out the door.
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Over at the sixteenth, Fin was just finishing a phone call at his desk when Rollins entered the squad room carrying coffee and a redbull.
""Fin, you alright?" Nick asked while Amanda sat the energy drink in front of him, thanking her as she then proceeded to put one of the coffees down on her partner's desk.
"Yeah, you look upset" Amanda noted
"We gotta head out" Fin informed the two younger detectives
"Okay… that still doesn't explain…" Amanda said as she took a seat at her own desk across from Fin.
"I'm familiar with the address; I better call Liv."
"She's off today" Nick reminded
"Trust me, she'll wanna know about this!"
...
"Sweetie, do you feel like eating a little something?" Tricia asked Olivia who was now sitting out by the pool dangling her feet in the cool water while one of their two-year-old Bullmastiffs, Semper, lay beside her, her head in Olivia's lap and the other, Jax, lay under an oak tree happily playing with a ball.
"Not yet" Olivia answered, sickened by just the thought. She hadn't thrown up since Trevor had left over an hour ago and didn't want to do anything that might induce it.
"How about I get you some ginger ale?"
"Thank you please."
"I'll be right back with it; Sergeant Tutuola's on the phone, he says he needs to talk with you" she said as she handed Olivia the phone
"Thanks Tricia. Semper, Jax inside" Olivia called to the dogs as she took the receiver and Tricia made her way back inside, both dogs having gotten up and followed her. "Fin, it's my day off, this had better be important" she said upon answering.
"You remember Jessica Morgan?"
"Of course, husband's doing 15 for attempt 2"
"Yeah well, we just got a call to her address and it doesn't sound good, me and Rollins are headin over."
"When you say not good…?" Olivia asked, hoping that it wouldn't be what she already knew it was.
"187" Fin listened as Olivia released a pained sigh. Ten years ago, Jessica was 20 and had been put through hell by her ex husband. He'd used her as a punching bag and a sex toy since she'd gotten involved with him at the age of 17, but it wasn't until he'd almost killed her that she finally saw the light and decided to prosecute and rid herself of him as soon as he was put away. Olivia and Fin had both kept in touch with her over the years and she'd done a great job at rebuilding her life. Now, to hear that she'd possibly…
"I need to get changed, I'll meet you at the scene"
"Liv, you don't have to-"
"Yeah Fin, I do.' She said sorrowfully, her stomach suddenly feeling even sicker "I'll see you soon" she said before hanging up the phone then gathered her dress before pulling her legs from the pool, getting up from where she sat and went inside.
...
It was less than an hour before Olivia arrived at the crime scene where Fin and Amanda were already gathered with CSU and the team from the ME's office.
"What do we got?" she asked as she made her way into the bedroom of the small apartment, the walls of which were spattered with blood along with the furniture, curtains and floor a scene that sent shivers through her.
"Liv, you don't wanna-" Fin tried, wanting to spare her from seeing what he'd witnessed, knowing that it would affect her deeply.
"Fin please, this is my job" she said quickly as she squatted beside the blood-soaked sheet that concealed the body and lifted it to reveal a beaten, broken face, sickened to see Jessica's lifeless green eyes staring back at her; tears immediately springing to her eyes
"Neighbors say they heard screams last night" Amanda said
"and nobody bothered to call 911" Olivia said angrily, never taking her eyes away from Jessica.
"Didn't wanna get involved." The young blonde said with disgust "wasn't until her mother got here this morning that the body was found. She was so distraught she had to be taken to the hospital, Nick's there with her."
"She's been dead at least 10 hours. There are fluids in and on her as well as tearing to the vaginal and anal canals" Melinda began
"She was raped?" Olivia asked, more a statement than a question, not even understanding why she'd bothered with it.
"Raped and severely beaten all before her throat was slit and she was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, back and stomach – I can count at least 37 stab wounds; bastard damn near eviscerated her." she continued as Olivia took a deep breath "She fought hard, look at her hands"
"Cuts to her palms, fingernails torn off…" Olivia said as she inspected Jessica's right hand, holding it gently in her own as she felt bile rising.
"She was alive when he slit her throat"
"Liv…you okay?" Fin asked, noticing the look on his lieutenant's face
"Yeah, I'm…" she started, feeling the nausea churning; on top of the morning sickness, she was literally being made ill by seeing this young woman that she'd fought so hard for lying here, slaughtered like an animal. "I want this bastard found yesterday!" she said to her officers as she stood, hurt and anger evident in her voice. She put her hand to her stomach and excused herself, leaving the apartment. Amanda looked on, her own emotion welling up; she had never seen Olivia come apart like this before and looked to Fin for some reassurance.
"I got it." he said and went after Olivia.
...
By the time he'd gotten outside, he found Olivia hunched over the back of one of the squad cars and throwing up; he didn't hesitate to go to her.
"Easy" he said softly, putting a hand to her back while passing her a handkerchief with the other.
"Thank you" she said graciously as she took the cloth and wiped her mouth. Fin lead her away from the back of the squad car and around to the passenger side, opening the door and Olivia sitting down as soon as he did, her legs out of the car. She leant forward and dropped her head between her knees, trying to steady her breathing while Fin kneeled beside her then reached over her to grab the bottle of unopened water from the cup holder and twisted the cap off before handing it to her. She swished some in her mouth and spit it out and again put her head down.
"Maybe you should sit this one out." He suggested
"No." she said, raising her head to look at him "I can't…"
"Liv…"
'Fin, you know the hell she's been through and you know what it took for us to get her out of it and help her recover after it."
"I know. You, me, El, Munch – we all busted our asses to help this girl"
"All for her to end up like this - killed by the very things she'd run away from? Fin, we have to make this right, we have to-"
"Baby girl, we'll get him." he promised "How's your stomach?"
"Better" she said and took a small sip from the water bottle.
"Good. Did you eat anything? You gotta keep up your strength for the baby" a look of shock registered on her face; since finding out a week ago, aside from Tricia, they hadn't told anyone.
"The… what?"
"Come on Liv, I watched you go through this three times, I know the drill" he grinned as she gave a telling smirk "How far along?"
"Six weeks"
"Not telling yet?" she shook her head
"Not for a few more weeks – though I'll probably have to disclose sooner to the brass. We should get back inside" she said, sighing as she stood.
"No, I'll get back inside"
"Fin, I can do my job"
"Of course you can, I just think you're too emotional right now."
"And I appreciate the concern but I'm fine. My emotions will not get in the way of catching this guy." She said just as her phone rang. "Benson" she answered "Yeah, I'm at the scene…okay, I'm on my way."
"Nick?" Fin asked
"Yeah, Jessica's mother is asking for me, I gotta get to the hospital. Go over this place with a fine tooth comb, make sure nothing is missed!"
"Don't worry."
"Call me the minute you have anything"
"Lieutenant. I got it."
.
Olivia arrived at the hospital to find Nick waiting for her in the emergency room. The look on his face told her that the situation was worse than she thought.
"Nick, I'm sorry there was traffic, I got here as fast as I could." She apologized
"Liv"
"Was she able to tell you much?"
"Only asked for you but Liv…she didn't make it"
"Didn't make it?"
"Doctor said it was a massive heart attack; the shock of seeing her daughter… she died 20 minutes ago."
Olivia was numb as she sank into a chair, dropping her head into her hands as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"This day cannot get any worse!"
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Early that evening back at the precinct, Olivia and the crew were going over evidence in the squad room when Melinda arrived.
"Tell us you got a hit" Olivia begged as she turned to greet her.
"We got a hit. The semen, the saliva found in the bite marks to her face and breasts and the blood and skin under her remaining fingernails are all from Paul Faust" Melinda told a shocked Olivia
"The husband?" Fin asked, not believing his own ears
"How is that even possible? He's still doing a 15 upstate for trying to kill her!" Olivia added
"Then you might wanna talk to the DOC, because unless that man can be in 2 places at once, he just finished what he started 10 years ago and the thing that worries me, he definitely wants us to know that it was him!"
Fin and Olivia looked at each other both unsure of how this could have happened and if Faust had been paroled, why hadn't anyone been notified?
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Sorry if anyone had the impression that the identity of the killer would turn out to be some major character. Pretty much have all of the men in use for the purpose of the story so there would be no way to make that work. Plus, I think it works better to have an OC with where I plan to take this story; it gets worserer, lol! Anyway, I'd love to know what you think so please hit that beautiful review button. See y'all next chapter!
