Here is Take Care part 2 :)
"You don't think Carisi knows about us do you? Or Liv?" Nick asked Amanda.
"I don't think so. Liv would have said something; Carisi too for that matter. Don't worry about it."
"I'm not." He lied.
"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Last night was great." She smiled, changing the subject.
"Yeah it was." He nodded. "If London figured it out…"
"You are what my mama would call 'nervous as a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs'." She teased him.
He blushed.
"London could figure anything out. It's just how she is." She kissed his cheek. "Don't worry."
"Morning you two." Fin greeted his coworkers when they walked in the squad room.
"Morning." They both nodded.
Carisi grumbled and hung up his phone. "Well Barba's in a mood."
"When is he not?" Nick scoffed.
"Nick." Liv shook her head. "The deal went south."
"How did that happen?" Amanda asked.
"Perp got a new lawyer. New lawyer didn't like the deal." Fin shrugged.
"Aren't they going to be in court this afternoon?" Nick shook his head.
"They were supposed to be." Liv said.
"Amanda, when is London coming back? Maybe she can help." Nick looked at his partner.
"Um, she was supposed to get in late last night, but the flight was delayed a few times and then cancelled. I haven't actually spoken to her." Her phone had been on silent and she had been with Nick.
"Hello?" London mumbled. She had gone back to sleep after Rafael left. She wondered if it was him calling.
"Hey! I'm just checking on you. I wanted to make sure you made it back okay." Amanda said.
"Hey! Yeah I did. Finally. What time is it?" She rolled over, but didn't see an alarm clock.
"Almost 10. Are you at Rachel's?"
"Yeah." She lied. "I'm exhausted."
"I bet. What time did you get in?"
"Six." That was when the original flight was supposed to be. They swapped her to an earlier flight. She was glad she had stayed with Rafael.
"Oh wow. No wonder you're exhausted."
"Yeah." She yawned. "Do you have lunch plans?"
"No I don't. Want to meet around noon?" She hoped they didn't have to go to court early.
London glanced at her phone. She had an incoming call from her sister in law. "That sounds good. I've got another call coming in. See you at noon."
"See you." Amanda hung up.
London switched calls. "Hey Rachel."
"Hey! Did you make it back last night?"
"I did." She smiled.
"Good. I just wanted to check on you."
"Thanks Rachel."
"Anytime. We'll talk later." She ended the call.
London sat up and stretched.
"Is London going to help with Barba?" Nick asked Amanda.
"Nick. You aren't helping." She fussed.
"Sorry." He held his hands up in defense.
"Something isn't right."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I don't know. I'm not entirely convinced she is back in New York."
The court schedule changed. Amanda texted London to get a rain check for lunch. 'Court got moved up. I'm so sorry! Can we reschedule?'
London walked out of the bathroom when she heard her phone ding. She read the message. 'Yeah. That's fine. I can bring lunch by there for y'all? Chinese or something?'
'That would be great.' Amanda smiled.
'Let me know what everyone wants.'
"Excuse me?" A man in a dark suit walked in to the squad room. He glanced down at the paper clipped to the folder in his hand. "I need to speak to Sergeant Olivia Benson."
"And you are?" Fin stared him down.
"Agent Pierce Thomas, FBI." He matched Fin's hostility.
"Ah. Agent Thomas." Olivia had walked out of her office with Barba. "I heard you were coming." She held out her hand. "Olivia Benson."
"Nice to meet you." He shook her hand.
"Likewise. These are my detectives; Nick Amaro, Amanda Rollins, Sonny Carisi, and you've already met Fin." She gave Fin a look. "This is A.D.A. Rafael Barba."
Agent Thomas nodded. He knew who Barba was.
"What can we help you with? Your office wasn't clear." Olivia began.
"The suspect you have in custody for attempted rape."
"It wasn't an attempt." Nick interrupted.
"I'm sorry Detective. I didn't realize there are different interpretations of 'innocent until proven guilty'."
"You think he's innocent?" Nick was being defensive.
His dark eyes narrowed. "I never said that. He's a French national whose government has nothing to do with him. He's been calling the shots for several cartels. Sexual based crimes are not his M.O."
"He just got a new lawyer." Fin added.
"Does he maintain his innocence?" He flipped through the folder.
"Don't they all?" Fin asked.
He nodded before grabbing his phone. "Thomas." He answered.
Olivia could tell by the look on his face that the news wasn't good.
"When did it happen?" He asked. 'This morning.' His coworker answered. "Damn it." He muttered. 'Do you want me to call Vern?' "No. I'll call her." He dreaded that phone conversation. He ended the call and immediately dialed a familiar number. It went straight to voicemail. 'You've reached London. Leave a message.' His stomach turned a few more times. "Give me a call when you get this. It's urgent." He hung up and holstered his phone.
"Not great news?" Olivia asked.
"No." He shook his head. "Has the suspect said anything? Why he is in New York? Where he has been? Anything like that?"
Nick flipped through his notes. "He said he was here to see an old friend; wouldn't give a name. Or say if the friend was male or female." He kept reading. "And he did say that there was problem that was going to be solved for him soon."
"That's what I was afraid of. I have a good idea who the 'friend' is. If it's who I am thinking they are most definitely not friends." He shook his head.
"Any clue on the problem that was going to be solved?" Carisi asked.
"Yeah." He nodded; his stomach in knots. "The body of the Atlanta District Attorney was found this morning."
"Oh my gosh!" Amanda covered her mouth. She wondered if London knew.
Barba shuddered.
London stepped off the elevator and saw Rafael. "Hey." She smiled.
"Welcome back to New York." He smirked.
"Thank you." She set the food down and hugged him. "I missed you." She kissed him.
"I missed you too." He wasn't normally one for public displays of affection, but he wanted to kiss her and he wanted to sell her story of just getting back. He returned the kiss.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Rafael opened the door for London and she walked in the squad room with the food. She didn't notice FBI Agent Pierce Thomas. Had she known he was in New York she would have cancelled on the food. She wouldn't have wanted to explain his existence. "Hey y'all; sorry it took so long." She set the food on Carisi's desk.
"Hey! Welcome back!" Amanda hugged her.
"What the Hell are you doing here?" Pierce spun around. He had been worried sick about her and then she just shows up? He took a few steps so he was standing in front of her. The others just stared at him.
"Hey Pierce. What is up with you?" She gave him a look. He usually wasn't like that.
"You didn't answer your phone; I was worried."
She could tell he was concerned, but it was annoying. "Pierce. I saw you two days ago."
Rafael was very interested to hear that.
"That's irrelevant. Why didn't you answer your phone?" He demanded.
"I didn't realize that I should always have my phone on me; awaiting your every call." She rolled her eyes. "Really Veronica? Do not start with me."
"Chill out Pierce. I'm not dead." She scoffed.
"Well that's a relief." He crossed his arms. "I never would have heard the end of that one."
"I'm sorry. My phone buzzed and I thought it was Mandy wondering where I was." She shrugged.
"I do have reason to worry." He said seriously.
She nodded. "Where's the fire this time?" She leaned against Fin's desk.
He cleared his throat. "They found Anders this morning." He wondered how she would react.
She opened her mouth to say something, but she nodded her head instead.
"What? You don't seem surprised."
"I got a call about it." Her husband's former partner had called. She felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't know why she was feeling so emotional. "I can't say I was surprised when I heard. I've been so afraid that would happen." She wiped her eyes on her sweatshirt sleeve. "Sure he was an ass, but he didn't deserve that."
"How does Anders play a part in our rape investigation?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know. He was taking kickbacks from the cartel. They had their hooks in him." She shook her head. "He didn't deserve to go out like that."
"I'm surprised that you have sympathy for him." Amanda spoke up.
"We mended fences; about a year and half ago I guess. I warned him then that he should get out of bed with the cartels." She wondered if he actually listened to her.
Pierce's phone rang but he silenced it. "The other thing you need to know?" He glanced at the text on his phone. "Milosh has been arrested here in New York." He gauged her reaction.
She shuddered. "Where is he?"
"He's been in holding at Rikers, but he's in an interrogation room here. We're waiting on his lawyer." Olivia spoke up.
London nodded. "I want to talk to him."
"Absolutely not!" Pierce was firm.
"Oh come on!"
"No. It's a bad idea and you know it." His phone rang again. "Thomas." He listened for a minute. "Sure thing." He walked out of the squad room.
"How do you know him?" Amanda asked.
"You don't remember him?" London watched Pierce walk out. "He handled everything with Eddie's case; including the protective custody afterward."
"Are you alright?" Rafael spoke up.
"I think so." She gave him a small smile.
"So what is your interest in this Milosh character?" He asked her.
"Are you the 'friend' he referred to?" Nick asked.
"What?" She was confused.
"He said he was in New York to see a friend. He wouldn't say who. Are you the friend?"
She shot a dark look at him. "I never said we were friends."
Nick held up his hands in defense.
"I worked on a story with him."
"It couldn't hurt to let her talk to him." Carisi piped up.
"How do you figure?" Olivia asked.
"If he knows her and trusts her; maybe he'll open up more."
"I'm not hearing any of this." Rafael threw his hands up.
"Okay. I'll knock on the glass when it's time to come out." Olivia said.
London nodded.
Jean-Pierre Milosh looked surprised when London walked in the interrogation room. "You aren't my lawyer."
"No I'm not." She gave him a smile.
"At any rate, it is nice to see you."
"You too. What are you doing here? In New York?"
"I came to see a friend. A friend who, sadly, was unavailable."
"Hm. So how did you end up in here?" She gestured to the room they were in. "Knowing you, there has to be a story to it."
The man chuckled before getting serious again. "A woman said I raped her. I didn't touch her. I wouldn't do that. You know I wouldn't."
"I know you wouldn't." She nodded.
"You'll tell them that? That I didn't do it?"
"Of course I will." She patted his handcuffed hands.
"The sooner I can get this cleared up the better."
"Of course." She nodded. "I'll do what I can; you know that." She started to stand.
"Have you heard the news?"
"Hm?" She stopped halfway out of her seat. "What news?"
"That the city of Atlanta needs a new District Attorney? It's a shame really. It's so hard to find good help these days."
"Yes it is." She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"What the Hell did you think you were doing?" Pierce fussed when she walked out of the interrogation room.
"Talking." She was trembling on the inside.
"After I explicitly told you not to?"
She shrugged.
"Tell me you at least found something useful." He rolled his eyes. He knew she wasn't going to listen to him.
"He didn't do it." She said simply.
"He isn't innocent!" Nick yelled.
"I didn't say he was innocent Detective!" London snapped at him. She was surprised that she sounded more calm than she felt. "I said that he didn't do this. If he says he didn't rape someone; he didn't do it. But. He is by no means 'innocent'. He has a rap sheet longer than my arm. Not only did the man sitting in that room orchestrate the murder of the Atlanta D.A…" Her voice trailed off. The lump in her throat wouldn't let her say it.
"What?" Nick asked.
"Never mind." She shook her head.
"No, I want to know." He persisted.
"Nick." Amanda started. She saw her best friend's eyes mist.
"I really want to know."
Pierce put his hand on London's shoulder. "You should go."
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Make the call or I will."
"I thought I could do it." She took a deep breath. "Thought I could face him again." She ignored his statement.
"Damn it." Amanda muttered; the pieces were starting to come together.
"I would kill him if I knew it would help me feel better." London said sadly. She knew nothing could bring Eddie back.
"And no one would blame you." Pierce gave her a sad smile. "Make the call or I will."
London nodded and walked out with a hand over her mouth.
Rafael wanted to follow her.
When he was sure that London was gone; Pierce turned to Barba. "You cannot take this to trial."
"He would have been arraigned this afternoon if his lawyer had been there." Rafael said.
"Good. Then this can still be dropped." Pierce glanced at his phone.
"There is no dropping this." Olivia said.
"I'd rather get him on what I know he did, not just…" He began.
"Not just on the word of a rape victim?" Olivia finished.
"That's not what I was going to say Sergeant." He shook his head. "This guy is slick. Your case has to be air tight." He turned to Barba. "If you take this to trial and the case falls apart, which it will, she will never forgive you. I don't care how much you think she loves you." He pulled his folder off the desk.
Barba bristled.
"It's him isn't it?" Amanda spoke with tears in her eyes. "She found him?"
"Yes." Pierce nodded. "In her defense she didn't know it was him when she wrote the article. She didn't speak to me for six months after I told her."
"I should have seen this coming." Amanda shook her head.
"There's no way you could have; he's a ghost."
"Who is he?" Carisi asked; his curiosity getting the best of him.
Pierce looked up at him. "He is the man who murdered Eddie Winters."
"But the Atlanta PD caught the guy who shot him. Right?" Carisi didn't understand.
"Yes, the guy who shot him. We are talking about two different people. It wasn't a random crime. He was targeted."
"Why?" Nick asked avoiding Amanda's glare.
"I don't know. Only Eddie could have answered that."
"So why the Atlanta D.A.?" Olivia asked.
"Truthfully?" He glanced behind him to make sure London hadn't come back in. "He's cleaning shop."
"But he's been in custody…" Olivia began.
"His plan has been in place for years Sergeant. He doesn't do anything random. He had a purpose in being arrested."
"Does he know who London is?" Amanda was almost scared to ask.
"I don't know."
Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought and if you have any suggestions! :)
