Title: Ghosts, Chapter 4

Author: Sorsha711
Pairing: Munch/OFC, others implied
Rating: M, for language and references to violence; some adult situations
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Dick Wolf. A quick check of my bank account should prove I'm not making anything off of writing my stories. Sigh!
Summary: A woman with a tragic past holds the keys to solving a series of brutal killings. Munch/OFC; Fin/OFC; pre-O/E

Ghosts, Chapter 4

"Senõr Jesus Reyes will be joining us tomorrow. Apparently, the Panadoron government would prefer to have one of their own identify the bodies and decide what we need to know after that."

Cragen looked up as Munch and Tutuola entered his office. "So, I can take it you had no luck getting any information out of them?"

Shaking his head in frustration, Munch dropped into a chair across the desk from his captain. "I have no doubt he got a lot more out of me than I did out of him. Emily was not exaggerating when she said they wouldn't tell us much. He avoided answering all of my questions by saying we would talk further once he gets here."

"His reaction is at least partial conformation of Emily's story… still I wish he had been more forthcoming. We need to find out more about our victim and see where that leads us," Cragen ordered.

"While John was on the phone with Reyes, I began to pull together what I could find on Fonseca," Fin reported. "Fair amount out there. As Emily said, he worked for the Panadoron government from 1986 to 1999, when he left to become a priest. He's credited with snagging quite a few high profile members of the Zapatero regime… including the former head of the State Police, Juan Molina. Molina was executed in '96 for crimes against the state. His younger brother was Esteban Molina, Emily's husband."

"Her husband? If his brother held that kind of position, then she married into one of the families that ran Panador before the revolution," Cragen observed. "Why didn't she mention that?"

"I have a bigger question," Fin inserted. "How did she become friends with one of her own jailers? Fonseca worked as a prison guard from '79 to '82 at the main facility in Santa Isabel. Both Esteban and Emily Molina was held there during that time."

"Let me get this straight… he went from prison guard to revolutionary to cop to priest?" Cragen demanded. "Am I getting this right?"

"From what I could find, yeah… that's the timeline," Fin confirmed. "Quite a history."

"So, Ms. Morgan has potentially two reasons to want him dead. He is responsible for her brother-in-law's capture and she was once his prisoner," Stabler observed from the doorway. "If he spent the last twenty years playing the hero revolutionary, the news he was once a guard may have made her snap and kill him and his buddies."

"Not likely," Munch insisted. "You saw the last two crime scenes. She couldn't have staged them."

"You saying a woman couldn't do something like that? I would have thought you had been doing this long enough to know there are some women capable of being just as sick and twisted as some men," Stabler retorted. "I always wondered if you would be one to become distracted by a pretty face and start thinking with your dick, not your brain."

"A beautiful face… but I was using the head on my shoulders to make that assessment. You might want to give that a try yourself," Munch bit out, irritated by Stabler's condescending attitude.

"I'm not the one ready to dismiss her as a suspect. You are," Stabler growled.

Giving his fellow detective his patented sneer, Munch began to lecture in a tone he knew would crawl under Stabler's skin. "One, we know the perps are male given the rapes. Two, the way the vics were trussed took strength she doesn't have given permanent damage to her back that resulted from injures she received during her imprisonment. You had to notice the stiff way she moves. They broke her back and it set badly. She didn't get treatment until she got to the US months later and then it was too late to repair some of the damage. Three, she came to us. We would still be floundering around without any clues if she hadn't come forward."

"How do you know about her back?" Cragen demanded. "I'm not sparing with you, John. None of us have missed the way you're looking at this lady. Can you be objective about what she has to say or do I need to pull you out and let Olivia handle her interview?"

"She's talking to John, Cap. He obviously already knows a lot about her and that has got to help," Fin interjected, equally irritated with Elliot's attitude and with the reaction it had produced in his captain.

"Yeah, Fin… but I want to hear it from John. Can you maintain sufficient detachment to handle her interview?" Cragen insisted, his eyes fixed on his detective.

"Yeah, I can. It seems Fin is the only one that has any confidence in that though," he replied, his irritation evident.

Turning his glare in Stabler's direction he added, "As for the fact that her brother-in-law was executed, I should point out that he was the head of the State Police… I believe Fin said that. Juan Molina was the one that gave the order to arrest his own brother, oversaw his 'interrogation', and was there when he died during one of those sessions."

Shifting his glare back to Cragen, he continued. "He is also the one that had Emily taken. She was five months pregnant. He apparently didn't approve of his brother's choice in brides… didn't want her having a Molina heir, so he gave her an 'abortion' with a baseball bat while she was tied to a chair in his office. He hit her so hard he broke her back… the injury I mentioned."

Frowning, he concluded, "It was only due to a standing order from Zapatero himself not to let her die that doctors were called and she received even the minimal medical care she did. She nearly hemorrhaged to death on the floor while they performed a crude c-section to remove her dead baby girl from her womb. Luckily, she was unconscious from the beating and missed the fun of surgery without anesthesia. I somehow doubt she has been living to avenge Juan Molina's death."

"How do you know all of this?" Fin asked, clearly aware of the simmering anger lighting his partner's eyes. Stabler had been pushing both their buttons ever since this case fell into their laps. He had made it clear he thought he should be lead, even though that wasn't how things worked in their unit. The pair that responded first was lead. "I know you said you were in Panador the day she was released, but…"

Glancing over at his partner, his glare relented. "Her step-daughter wrote a book about her father and Emily's imprisonment. Gritty stuff. You might want to read it. You'll understand why I hold that lady in such high regard, but I'm not blind to the fact that she has a lot to tell us, starting with this issue of Fonseca being a guard while she was in prison."

"Then, get in there and get us something that might help us find these killers before they strike again," Cragen instructed, still uncomfortable with the situation.

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"How did you meet Father Fonseca?"

Turning from her study of the street running in front of the stationhouse, Emily sighed. "I take it I was right… Jesus wouldn't tell you anything."

Moving back into the room, Munch admitted, "Not much. Can I get you a cup of coffee or a soft drink?"

"Translation, I will be here a while and might get thirsty once we start the interrogation," she replied, watching him with weary curiosity. "A cup of coffee would be great."

Dropping his head to look at her over the top of his glasses, he countered, "No interrogation is in the offing, Emily, but I do have more questions. Det. Reyes won't arrive until tomorrow and anything you can tell us that might get us ahead of the game would be welcome. How do you take your coffee?"

"My preference is for a tall Brevé, but I'll settle for extra cream… or creamer." Moving slowly in his direction, she asked, "If you show me the way…"

Holding the door for her, he smiled. "Fin has a weakness for half-and-half. If you ask nicely, he may be willing to share his stash. Since I saw him hitting a box of Krispy Kremes while I was on the phone, you might have some luck. He's a much easier mark when he's on a sugar high."

"Aren't we all? Krispy Kremes have been a weakness of mine since my childhood," she confessed. "They had a regional bakery in Greenville, a small city near where I grew up. Whenever we went there, we would stop and buy two dozen to take home… one glazed and one jelly. They were still warm from the oven and Momma would let us each have one for the ride home. She would have to hide the boxes to keep us out of them until breakfast the next morning. I can still smell the bakery and see my younger brother with jelly all over his face."

"Then you, Fin, and the Captain should get along great. They share your addiction. I'm made of stronger stuff. Please ignore any rumors to the contrary." His teasing earned him a small smile.

Pulling open the door to the refrigerator, Munch reached in to grab the creamer. "You're in luck. He just bought a new carton. Was it just the two children in your family?"

Her smile grew a little stronger, easing some of the tension around her eyes and mouth. "I'm a classic middle child, John… one of four. I have an older brother and sister in addition to my younger brother."

"You sound like you had a happy childhood," he observed, touched by the small signs of happiness the memories brought to her.

Pouring her coffee, she looked up to see if he wanted a refill. Seeing his nod, she accepted his mug and filled it almost to the top, noting he also used creamer. "I did. In retrospect, it seems almost like something out of Hollywood… too good to be true. It wasn't perfect… or maybe it was as perfect as families get. My parents loved each other and are still happily married after fifty plus years. They loved their children and took care of us… nurtured and encouraged us. We lived in a comfortable house in an average town and had our extended family nearby. The older I get, the more I realize how good those years were. I had it a lot easier than most and I do appreciate that time more than I can say. I sometimes think…"

Handing her the half-and-half after stealing a splash for his own cup, he prodded, "Think what?"

Staring into her mug as the creamer blended to mellow the dark brew, Emily shook her head. "Not the time or place for me to indulge in self-pity, John. Life happens and you adapt."

Sighing, he took a sip, grimacing at the bitter taste. "Sadly, I have to agree. Would you like a donut before we get started?"

"Thanks, but no. I think I'll keep my Krispy Kreme memories as they are and not co-mingle them with memories of my murdered friend." Frowning as she took a sip of her own coffee, she poured a more generous amount of the half-and-half into the cup. "God, that's awful!"

Grinning, Munch teased, "How do you think we get people to talk?"

Grimacing to find the creamer had done little to help the taste, she muttered, "Torture by any other name…"

At that, Munch laughed outright. Motioning for her to precede him back to the interrogation room, he admitted, "I think it's the pot. I've tired different types of coffee and even bottled water. Nothing seems to help."

"So you're responsible for this!"

"Not today. I think this nasty stuff can be blamed on Olivia, though it tastes about the same regardless of which of us makes it." Pushing open the door, he concluded, "It has to be the pot."

"Maybe detectives just make lousy coffee."

"Hummm… another possibility. Fin, you joining us?"

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"You sure about this, Captain? I've never seen John react like this before."

Frowning at the brawny detective, Cragen pointed out, "Fin's in there too and he's right. John knows more about this lady than the rest of us. They have obviously established some connection and that might help us get the information we need. I'll keep an eye on whatever this is between them and make sure that it doesn't get too personal… for now anyway, but John and Fin are lead on this case. See what you can find out about Emily Morgan Molina in the meantime."

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