Once more, I'd like to thank those of you who have placed this story on your alert/fave lists.

Law & Order: SVU: Haunted

Chapter Four

"What is it?' Olivia asked the ghost. "What's wrong?"

The ghost woman continued to hover there before them, furiously ranting and raving—until a shaft of white light cut through her body, and within that instant, she was abruptly gone.

Yet the shaft of white light remained. It stabbed through the dimness as a male voice shouted, "Police!"

"In here!" she called. "We're in here!"

Elliot entered the room with Earl Langhorn. Both men had their guns drawn. "Good Lord," Langhorn muttered under his breath.

"I had to shoot Roberson," Olivia told them as Lisa continued to hug her tightly. "He tried to pull a gun on me. He's got a slug in his shoulder. He needs a bus."

"An ambulance is already on the way," Langhorn told her.

"Why have you forsaken me, Master?" Roberson cried as he lay on the floor. "Why have you forsaken me? Uggghh….."

Roberson began convulsing violently, his eyes rolling up until they were completely white, as Elliot bent down to try and help him. But Roberson's body abruptly seized up before it slumped back against the floor--where it lay very still.

Elliot felt Roberson's neck for a pulse, then he shook his head. "He's dead."

"Good riddance," Langhorn muttered.

"But I shot him in the shoulder," Olivia said, puzzled, as she continued to hold a sobbing Lisa. "How could he be dead?"

Langhorn glanced at Olivia and said, "You deserve a medal for putting that son of a bitch down, detective."
"Couldn't agree more, Liv," Elliot added. "Don't feel bad."

"I don't feel bad," she assured him. But as she gazed at the body of Henry Lee Roberson, Olivia still couldn't figure out what could have killed him. Then a frightening thought occurred to her.

'Was it the ghost?' she wondered. 'Did she finally get her revenge on Roberson?'

Since the shooting, along with the rescue of the women, took place just outside of Whitehope's city limits, on an access road by the highway, the PSP took over the investigation. That meant that Olivia found herself under the scrutiny of Ben Kendall once more. But the Lieutenant made it clear to her up front that he thought this was a clean shooting; Olivia had shot only to wound Roberson, and the paramedics who collected Roberson's body said it looked as if he suffered a fatal heart attack--and although their estimate wasn't yet the official report, that suited Kendall, who gave Olivia and Elliot clearance to leave, if they wished.

Kendall had handed Olivia his card, which she noted also had his private number written on it in ballpoint pen.

"In case you ever need to talk," Kendall told her. "Completely off the record--not as cops, but simply as a man and woman."

Olivia stared at him, dumbfounded at his forwardness. If she had wondered if Kendall had flirted with her before, there was no doubt about it now. "Uh, thanks--but, you should know that I'm spoken for."

"So am I," Kendall replied with a smile. "But I'd be willing to break it off for you!"

Olivia was so shocked, she didn't know what to say to that, and so she said nothing. She was grateful--in more ways than one--to finally have left with Elliot. On the drive home, Elliot had praised Olivia's actions--along with her eagle eye at spotting the girl. And Olivia realized that Elliot had assumed Olivia had initially spotted Rae in the field. She uneasily accepted his praise. It actually had been her sighting of a ghost which first caught Olivia's attention of the dire situation. But she left that little detail out of her report to the PSP, and now Olivia wrestled with the idea of even telling Elliot.

'But what difference does it make now?' Olivia realized. 'It's all over.'

Olivia was still stunned at the whole affair. Just the fact that she had even seen a ghost was shocking enough for her, but the fact that she'd helped the ghost to seek some kind of resolution simply blew Olivia's mind. Yet, judging from the enraged reaction that the ghost had, the dead woman certainly didn't look as if Roberson's death had been a resolution.

'Oh, Christ,' Olivia thought, as she wearily rubbed her face. 'I can't even believe I'm thinking about this!'

"You all right?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. Olivia still wasn't going to tell him--until something within her broke down. This was Elliot, after all; a man who was not only her partner, but the closest thing to a brother she'd ever had. And with a heavy sigh, she told Elliot the entire crazy story.

Elliot just listened with intense concern until she was finished. "So, you didn't actually see Rae at first in the field, but the ghost?" he asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, um, she--the ghost--even pointed out the direction for me to take so that I could find Lisa and Roberson. I know it sounds crazy, Elliot, but I swear I saw her all along!"

"I believe you," he told her.

Olivia felt a wave of relief wash over her. "You do?"

"Oh, yeah. Look, Liv, every cop has at least one really weird story in his career," Elliot said. "Did I ever tell you mine?"

"You mean the one about the guy who thought he was possessed by demons?" Olivia said with a nod. "You told me that one already. It turned out he was just crazy."

"No, not that one," Elliot replied. "This happened back when I was walking the beat. One day, I look up and see a young woman standing on the ledge of a tenement building. She's wearing nothing but a slip, and it looks like she's about to jump off. So I call it in, while I run up there to try and stop her."

Elliot shook his head. "Only thing is, once I get up to the roof, she's nowhere to be seen. The only way back down was the stairs, and I didn't pass her there. The unit that responds helps me to look around, but there's no sign of her at all. An old man who lives in the building told me of a young woman who died of a drug overdose on the roof about twenty years ago. She tells me that what I saw walking around up there was her ghost! I don't believe him--at least until a few days later, when I walk by the building while on my rounds, and there she is, standing on the ledge, dressed exactly the same. The people in the neighborhood called her the Rooftop Angel."

"Good Christ," Olivia said quietly. "How come you never told me this story?"

"Because you're so practical and down to earth, Liv--and I mean in the best way possible. I was always afraid you'd think I was nuts."

"I've always thought the same of you, El." Olivia laughed. "And here I thought you'd think I would be nuts."

"Oh, I think you're flat-out nuts, all right," Elliot said with a smile. "But I still believe your ghost story."

"Thanks so much for the support," Olivia said sarcastically. Still, she was grateful that she told him, for it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. When she saw Elliot smile broadly, she asked, "What?"

"Nothing," he replied. "It's just that Casey is a nut for this ghost stuff. She loves those ghost hunter shows they've got on TV. You've seen them?"

"You mean the one with the plumbers who do ghost hunting on the side?" Olivia said with a roll of her eyes. "Like who'd believe these two would still be working as plumbers when they're the stars of their own TV show!"

Elliot laughed uproariously at that. "I know! I try telling Casey that, but she still loves that show! I know she'll love hearing this story--if that's all right with you."

"Feel free to tell her, if you want to," Olivia told him. "I trust Casey to keep it to herself."

With Elliot driving like the maniac that he usually was, and thanks to light traffic for most of the trip on 80, they were back in the city within an hour and a half after leaving. Olivia was annoyed when, as she and Elliot entered the SVU bullpen, Munch stood up and yelled, "Here she is!"

Olivia's cheeks blushed in embarrassment as the entire bullpen rose up and applauded her joyously. A smiling Elliot leaned over and said, "Enjoy it, Liv. You've more than earned it."

She shook her head. "But I told you, it wasn't really--"

"Ghost or no ghost," he whispered in her ear, "in the end, you still took down Roberson on your own. And nobody--dead, or alive--can take that away from you."

Cragen emerged from his office and congratulated her with a hand shake. George Huang was also there, and although he also offered his congratulations, the psychiatrist appeared to be studying Olivia intently.

"Another lowlife scumbag takes a well-deserved dirt nap," Fin told her. "Thanks to you. Good going, Liv!"

"I just shot him in the shoulder," Olivia replied, as she uneasily settled in at her desk. "It looked like he croaked of a heart attack."

"Yeah, but you still stopped him and saved the lives of two women in the process," Munch chimed in. "Great job!"

Then Olivia realized why she felt so uneasy--everybody was giving her credit for being a hero, when in actuality it was the result of the ghost of a dead woman who saved the lives of Rae and Lisa. Despite what Elliot whispered to her before, Olivia still felt less than honest taking all the credit for this.

And the sight of Huang staring thoughtfully at Olivia really wasn't helping matters much. 'He senses my discomfort,' she realized. 'It won't be long before he comes over and asks--'

"Are you ok?" Huang asked her, his face tight with concern. "Excuse me for saying, Liv, but you appear a little uneasy."

As much as Olivia liked and respected George Huang, a psychiatrist was the very last person whom she wanted to speak with right now--not if she wanted to keep her job. And talking about ghosts to a shrink may well put Olivia on a desk assignment for the rest of her career.

"Yeah, uh, I'm good," Olivia replied, as she placed her stuff on the desk. "It's been a long day, as you can imagine."

"It couldn't have been easy," Huang said, nodding his head sympathetically. "If you should need to talk…."

"I know who to go to," Olivia said with a smile.

That appeared to satisfy Huang, if only for the moment. He had left her alone so that Olivia could finally look through her files on Roberson. Included were photos of his dead victims, and Olivia was annoyed to see that none of Roberson's victims looked anything like the ghost woman who had haunted her for the past two days.

'Unless she was an unknown victim,' Olivia thought. 'One who was killed by Roberson but is still officially listed as being missing. Maybe she's a Jane Doe in a morgue somewhere--or, much worse, she could still be buried in a shallow grave where Roberson left her. Maybe that was why she appeared so agitated, even after Roberson was caught.'

Elliot abruptly appeared by her side. "What you looking at?"

"Roberson's victims," she told him in a whisper. "None of them match what the ghost looked like."

"The Roberson case is now closed," Elliot said.

Olivia shook her head. "It may not be for this ghost."

"But it is for you," Elliot gently told her, as he reached out and shut off Olivia's computer. "Huang's been hovering around you, and now he's just walked into Cragen's office."

"Oh, shit," Olivia muttered.

Just as Olivia had feared, Cragen walked into the bullpen and said, "Olivia, could I see you for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Cap," Olivia said with a smile plastered on her face. At the back of her mind, a little voice muttered, '…shit, shit, shit…' over and over again.

Once she got inside Cragen's office, the Captain asked if Olivia could go over what happened with him. Olivia did, reciting everything that happened, but leaving out the parts that concerned the ghost--this was the same basic story that she gave Ben Kendall.

When she was done, both Cragen and Huang appeared satisfied. "Are you ok, Olivia?" Cragen asked.

Although she knew full well that Cragen was concerned for her safety, Olivia couldn't help but wonder if that question from the Captain was spoken more for Huang's benefit. She could feel the psychiatrist's intense gaze as he studied her face.

"I'm fine, sir," she told Cragen in her best calm tone. "But, truth be told, I am a little tired…."

"Take the rest of the day off," Cragen told her. "And, since it's Friday, you might as well make it the entire weekend, Liv. You've earned it."

That actually sounded like a great idea to Olivia, who could use some time away from the job. "Thank you, sir!"

"Remember, Olivia," Huang chimed in, "if you should need to talk…."

"I've got you on speed dial," Olivia said, as she quickly left the office.

Cragen walked out with her and called to Elliot, "I'm giving your partner the rest of the week off. It's pretty slow today, Elliot, so why don't you also take off and see that Olivia gets home all right?"

"Sure, Captain," Elliot replied as he grabbed his coat.

Olivia turned to Cragen and said, "But I'm fine, Captain. Really."

"I know," Cragen said with a nod. He continued sotto voce: "But our esteemed shrink seems to think you might have some leftover issues from the shooting. You seem fine to me, but I'm not leaving anything to chance, especially when it concerns the health of one of my best detectives. So just humor me, Olivia."

Olivia gave him a weary nod. "Yes, sir."

"You guys stopping off at Mulligan's?" Munch asked.

Olivia thought about it for a moment. She had been planning to go straight home--until she realized that Alex wouldn't be home for a while, yet. And so when Elliot gave her a questioning look, she nodded in approval.

"Sure," Olivia replied. "We'll meet you guys there?"

"To hell with that," Fin said, as he got up from his desk. "I'm done right now!"

After Munch and Fin cleared their early leave with Cragen, Olivia found herself riding down in the elevator with Elliot, Munch and Fin. There were times when these men whom she worked with on a daily basis had become very overprotective of her, and Olivia got that notion right now.

When they arrived at Mulligan's, Elliot and the others went to get a table while Olivia took a moment to call Alex. She wasn't answering, so Olivia left her a message that stated she was back in the city--at Mulligan's--and to give her a call back.

When Olivia ended her call, she arrived at the table to see Elliot, Munch and Fin all stare at her with sympathy.

"You finally got your own creepy cop story, huh?" Fin asked her.

Olivia glared at Elliot. "Thanks for keeping my private life private, El! I said you could tell Casey; not the whole precinct."

"They saw you were upset about something, and they were concerned," Elliot replied, with his hands held up. "I figured it would be best to tell them."

"Don't worry, Liv," Munch assured her. "This is just between us."

"It don't leave this table," Fin added.

"Besides," Elliot said, as he gestured at Munch and Fin, "I thought you might like to hear some more cop ghost stories."

"You guys, too?!" Olivia said in amazement as she took a seat at the table. They had already ordered a beer for her and she took a sip.

"Oh, yeah!" Fin replied. He glanced at Munch. "You wanna go first?"

Munch nodded. "Back when I was a cop in Baltimore, we were searching this house for a suspect. It was an abandoned old place, and we got a tip that the suspect was squatting there. Well, once we entered, we started hearing footsteps from the attic upstairs. Thinking that was the suspect, we went up there in force--only to find the attic was completely empty. With the exception of a rocking chair in the corner that kept rocking all by itself."

After drinking some of his beer, Munch added, "There was no other way out of the attic, except where we came up through--the windows were even boarded up. And, as if that wasn't enough, the rocking chair then stopped rocking, and we heard the footsteps walking around the attic--but there was nobody there! We still made a sweep for the perp, but my partner and I couldn't get out of that place fast enough."

"You eventually caught the guy, right, John?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, we got him, and when we did, he confirmed to us that he did stay there--but he didn't last the night. He said that once he saw a ghostly apparition--a big, dark shape that floated above the floor--coming at him in the attic, he couldn't get out of there fast enough!"

"Oh, God," Olivia muttered, as she rubbed the goosebumps on her arm. "Did you ever find out the story about that place?"

Munch just shook his head. "No, the city tore it down soon after, and many people--including myself--were glad to see it go!"

Olivia glanced over at Fin. "And you, too? You saw a ghost, as well?"

Fin took a sip of his beer. "It happened back when I was still working Narcotics. A sting op went south--our informant got made and we had to move in. It was pure pandemonium, Liv. People running everywhere, that sort of thing. I go down to the basement and see a dude standing there with blood all over his chest. He's staring down at this big gaping wound in his chest like he can't believe it, y'know?"

Fin shook his head at the memory. "Anyways, I start telling him to sit down and take it easy--that an ambulance is on the way. But then he just urgently points at something behind me. I turn, and I see this crazy motherfucker coming at me with a machete! So I shoot him. Once he's down, I turn to the wounded guy and see that he's gone! I find him in another room, laying on the floor, dead. I thought he ran away and died on me, y'know? But I find out later from the M.E. that the wounded dude had been dead for several hours at that point!"

Olivia's eyes went wide. "Wait, if he was already dead in another room, then--?"

"--then how could he be standing there, with me being able to see him as plain as day? How could he have warned me about Mr. Machete?" Fin asked. "All I know now is that a dead man--a ghost--saved my life that day, Liv."

"Wow," Olivia said, awed. "You guys have some amazing stories!"

"Naw, Liv, you've got the amazing story," Fin told her.

"Yeah," Elliot said. "Welcome to the weird cop story club."

"Took you long enough!" Munch said jokingly.

Olivia smiled at them in gratitude. "Thanks, guys. You don't know how much this means to me. It's always great to know that you're not alone, no matter what you're facing." She raised her beer bottle in a toast. "To weird cop stories!"

"To weird cop stories!" Elliot, Fin and Munch all said in unison, as they raised their beers and toasted along with Olivia.

###

To Olivia's delight--and eternal appreciation--Alex was also more than understanding when Olivia told her the whole story later that night in their apartment. After Olivia expressed her surprise at how well Alex accepted the strange tale, Alex thoughtfully said, "'And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

When Olivia frowned at her in puzzlement, Alex leaned over on the sofa they were on and gently caressed the side of Olivia's face. "That's Hamlet, silly. Didn't you study Shakespeare in school?"

"Not to the point where I can throw quotes like that around," Olivia admitted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's the point in the play where Horatio expresses disbelief at the fact that Hamlet is conversing with a ghost, and that's what Hamlet tells him."

"'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy,'" Olivia recited, with a nod. "Yeah. That's right. But don't tell me that you've got a ghost story to share, as well, Alex."

"No, I've never seen a ghost--at least, not yet," Alex said. "But I worked on a case where the police used a psychic to find a dead body. Since the body was discovered through unnatural means, there was some fancy legal wrangling on my part just to get it entered in the court case as evidence."

Olivia nodded as a realization struck her. "Although I've never used one, cops have used psychics in their cases for years. They've even made a TV show out of it, didn't they?"

"Medium," Alex said with a nod. "And how much of a stretch is that from seeing a ghost? You should count yourself as being very lucky to have had this experience, Liv."

"I suppose I should," Olivia replied. "But I'm just as happy that it's over."

They went to bed, then. And, after making passionate love, fell asleep in a loving embrace.

When Olivia awoke in the middle of the night, she gazed smiling at a slumbering Alex next to her. Then she glanced over at the foot of the bed, and promptly let out a yelp in terror.

The ghost woman stood there, at the foot of their bed, impatiently yelling something at Olivia--yet, as always, her voice was muted. Her mouth spoke at a rapid pace, but Olivia heard no words.

Alex, startled out of her sleep by Olivia's reaction to their ghostly intruder, let out a scream as she clutched Olivia tightly. "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!"

"It's her, Alex," Olivia said, as they both sat up hugging each other tightly in bed. "It's the ghost whom I've been seeing these past few days."

Alex stared fearfully as the ghost paced back and forth in front of them, ranting and raving in silence. "Why is she haunting our apartment?!"

"That's a good question," Olivia said, as she slowly reached over to the nightstand and turned on the light.

As soon as the room was illuminated by the lamp, the ghost vanished.

"Wha--?" Alex said, confused. "Where'd she go?"

Just to be on the safe side, Olivia did a sweep of their apartment with her gun drawn--and a nervous Alex accompanied her, anxiously clutching Olivia's free hand as they both cleared each room of their abode.

When the search was done, and their apartment turned out to be secure, Olivia and Alex each wearily took a seat at the counter in the kitchen. Olivia glanced at her lover, who was clad only in an over-size t-shirt with the words "kiss me, I'm a lawyer!" written on the front. Smiling, Olivia grabbed Alex's hand, kissed it, and said, "Congratulations, sweetie, now you've got your own ghost story to tell."

"But why is she here?" Alex asked, still frightened. "Is she haunting us, now? And if so, why?"

Olivia's smile faded as she considered the reasons why the ghost appeared in her own home. "I think I may have brought her back with me. I think she's still haunting me because she's restless over the fact that something is still left undone. Whatever's going on out in Whitehope, Alex, it's still far from over."

Alex gazed at her with wide eyes behind her glasses. "What are you going to do?"

"I've got the weekend off," Olivia said grimly. "So I'm gonna spend it finding out just what's got this ghost so pissed off. I'm going back to Whitehope tomorrow."

"No," Alex said firmly. "We're going to Whitehope tomorrow--together."

"Alex, are you sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yes. Because, whatever the hell is going on, I'll be damned if I let you face it alone, Liv."

"Thank you, babe." Olivia was so overwhelmed with emotion that she hugged Alex tightly. The fact of the matter was she was extremely pleased to have Alex by her side.

Olivia only hoped, as they set out to face the unknown, that she and Alex would be able to handle whatever ghastly secret they uncovered.

To Be Continued....