"Hello?" I answer my cell. I nod to what Sonny says over the phone to me "yea, we got it." I tell him and hang up. "We got a case, involving some big basketball star." I tell the two of them who eye each other with wonder. I can tell before they ask that they want to know who so I repeat the name "Shakir."
The entire ride back to the precinct is filled with Finn and Rollins talking about how much of a star he is in the game. We get to the station and Olivia comes out of her office and over to where we are "Maddison, I want you in on the interview with me. Finn, take Rollins with you to interview his manager. Let's tread lightly with them, don't need to get any lawyers involved yet."
We all leave the pen and I join Olivia in waiting for the girl to arrive for questioning. When she gets here, we escort her to the interview room and close the door behind us. "Do I have to talk about this?" She asks, clearly shaking by everything that happened.
I tell her "well, we have a video of you attacking Shakir, so if he presses charges, this might help"
The girl interrupts me "if he presses charges? He assaulted me!" Her voice is shaky.
I tilt my head a little "it didn't look that way on the tape."
Olivia adds on though "she's not talking about today. Are you, Carla?"
"No. I'm talking about Memorial Day" the girl says lowly in return.
"Three months ago?" I ask, moving over in front of her.
"Carla, why don't you have a seat?" Olivia suggests and she moves to the couch.
"A summer kick-off in the Hamptons." She takes a seat. "I drove Shakir back to the city and he invited me to his hotel for a nightcap."
I ask "at the bar, or did you go to his room?"
"The last thing I remember... Was having a drink with him at the hotel bar. One drink. I woke up in his room. In his bed, naked and sore."
Olivia asks her more questions "did you go to the hospital afterwards, or call a doctor?"
"No." She answers looking away. "What was I gonna do? I don't remember anything."
"What made you decide to confront him today, at a press event?" I ask.
"There was a problem with his car, and so I was told to get Shakir back to his hotel. It triggered me. Look, this is a mistake, okay?" She opens her hands, almost freaking out. "There's nothing that you guys can do about it, and I'm probably gonna lose my job as it is..."
Olivia stops her "hold on, hold on, one sec. What do you mean by that, "lose your job"?"
"Are you serious?" She asks in a husky voice. "Shakir Wilkins is the face of Orion Bay. It's like peeing on Mount Rushmore. I mean, Mr. Bauer said it back then: "No good can come from this."
I interrupt her from going on "you told Mr. Bauer about the rape?"
"Yes, he said that maybe I was confused, or that... my feelings were hurt because Shakir didn't send flowers. Mr. Bauer said that if I kept the conversation between us, he'd recommend a bonus every time that my name came up."
Olivia asks "and Carla, can you... Prove that?"
She nods "last week I got $5,000."
I look to Olivia who looks to me with a knowing glare. I take out my phone and text Finn and Rollins the information we were just given.
We meet up back at the precinct to go over everything we gathered so far. We re-watch the video of Carla attacking Shakir again, slowing it down for better view. "Look, something set Carla off." Olivia says out loud once we stop it.
"It happened three months ago. But she waits until all the hotel video's been erased and she's got a lobby full of press?" Sonny says out loud.
"Putting on a show for the security cameras." I add on his comments, agreeing with him "Shakir thinks it's a shakedown. He's going through a divorce."
Olivia shuts us down "come on, guys, I don't want to hear that women lie, and that Shakir is a hero and he never could have done such a thing. This is SVU, and we take disclosures seriously."
Sonny and I look at her then each other while nodding. Amanda says "copy that, sergeant, but... For what it's worth? Shakir's been a public figure for what, 20 years? There's never been a whisper about anything like this, this is just like coming out of nowhere." She keeps her eyes rotating between the three of us.
"And, this girl can't remember any details." Sonny says.
"Exactly." Finn adds on.
"Guys, we've had cases where athletes drug women." She catches Amanda looking down "Rollins, are you with us?"
She slowly responds "Uh... yeah... it's... My old captain in Atlanta." She now looks back up to us. "A girl down there claims that Shakir did the same thing to her after seeing him on the news."
"Ah. They're piling on now, huh?" Finn whistles out.
"Okay, so, go get on a plane and talk to the girl." He tells Amanda. Amanda agrees, they exchange a few words and she leaves the office.
Two days goes by and we have a third witness claiming rape. Only this time she has the panties she wore to prove it. Rollins and Barba met with him and his attorney, getting the news that he does finally admit to having sex with them. "Okay, now Shakir is saying he did have sex with all three of them?" I ask out loud, rolling my eyes at the change of story.
"Let me guess, it was consensual." Olivia adds on with a bit of sarcasm in her tone.
Sonny speaks up "it's possible. I had two girls claim their dad molested them, just to get him to pay their student loans off."
"No rape kits. No outcry at the time. Barba's really gonna go forward with this?" I ask, looking to Olivia. I know I should be on the side of the victims here but it just seems to convenient for them that this all comes out now.
Amanda stands up, clearly disagreeing "give it a rest, guys. I didn't want to believe it either. But we've got three consistent stories, and there's no evidence that the women compared notes."
"They may be just after money." Finn says "they already got it from Bauer."
"To keep quiet about being assaulted." Amanda adds on reminding him.
"You want an outcry witness? Bauer's your guy." Olivia says.
Sonny pipes on "good luck! You think Orion Bauer's gonna tank Shakir?" She shakes his head with a small smirk "Mm-mm. I'm predicting health problems, mini stroke, something."
Olivia steps closer to the board "we have him on witness bribery charges. That gives us leverage. In the meantime, let's vet the three complainants" She points out to the women pinned up there "money issues, personal histories, and any previous false accusations."
Sonny calls Mr. Bauer and asks him to come into the office. He lets us know he will call his daughter, whom is also his attorny and come in as soon as possible. Within 2 hours, Sonny and I are sitting across from them in the same room I took Clara's statement in. "Mr. Bauer, we're proceeding forward with this case." I start off explaining to him. "We will need you to testify at the trial-"
"No, no." He interrupts me from explaining further. "I won't testify against Shakir! It's not just the money, he's been loyal!" He looks to his daughter then back to us. "Have you read his autobiography? I don't even know if he's read it, but the point is: He's an inspiring story."
His daughter slows him down "hey, dad, listen, we're on their court now. All right? Let us listen to what they have to say."
"Mr. Bauer, we've got three credible vics with consistent stories. You're an outcry witness in all three cases." I explain to him as kindly and simply as I can.
"What the hell does that mean?" He asks.
His daughter explains "that means that they all came to you, dad."
"Because I'm like a father to everyone in this company." He argues.
Sonny builds off that "and like a father, when they came to you they said they'd been attacked, you gave them money, and you told them to keep quiet. You're on the hook here. Ask your daughter."
She loos to us "if my father testifies to what these women said, is that in exchange for charges not being filed against him?"
"Charges for what?" He asks shocked.
"You paid them, Mr. Bauer!" I say back in a loud firm voice.
"Those were bonuses." He denies our claim.
Sonny questions it "a week before Shakir's contract was to be renewed?"
He elaborates his side of things "we renewed his contract two months ago. The only reason we kept it secret is because we wanted to announce in the fall."
His daughter goes on "Dad, dad... Listen. As painful as this is, you have got to let Shakir go. No matter what happens, he cannot work for Orion Bay anymore. Do you hear me?"
He hesitates, not wanting to let her words sink in. "I just... I... I didn't see this coming."
I look to Sonny who looks to me, knowing we have him. "I know." His daughter replies. We stand up to leave, knowing Barba and Olivia will come in and finish the rest.
"You must think I'm an old fool." I hear him say to her as we close the door behind us.
"We have him, now what do we do?" I ask Sergeant.
"Call the girls, tell them we're moving forward with the trial." She tells us. We end up arresting Shakir the next day and prepare the girls for court.
