Sorry for the delay here - but you'll be pleased to know that the ending and significant portions of the next two chapters are now written, so hopefully I can continue updating a little more regularly. Three more chapters left to go.
Also - I am British, I have never been to NYC but I did once drive through Arizona many years ago, so I am hoping I've done okay with setting the scene here! The town mentioned here is a fictional one.
They were again seated in Olivia's car - having decided to stick it out for another day as arranging car hire would take too much time. With the windows rolled down, they headed out, hoping to cover a good distance and make their way into the centre of the area Munch had identified before the heat began to pick up.
Olivia sat in the passenger seat this time, and turned to watch Elliot as he looked at the road ahead. It was another long quiet stretch of road, with no signs of buildings or people on the horizon. There was something Olivia found soothing about that - driving forwards yet not seeing any visual cues to a change of direction or end of their journey. Nothing but a long, straight road - only the mountains in the distance. It gave her a sense of peace, in that she wasn't needing to be on her guard; just allowing herself to enjoy that peace with the man she trusted above anyone else.
She glanced at him, he was watching the road ahead but he somehow knew - he always knew when she had something on her mind.
"You ok?" he said as he glanced at her.
"Yes," she smiled, "I am, I like it out here...It never gets this quiet in the city - especially at night... I could get used to this scenery."
"Yeah, you know we should make this a regular thing...a vacation that is - out here, just us."
"You don't think Cragen would question us taking vacation time together?" she asked.
"Well," he said, processing her words, "can't say I've thought much about what anyone is gonna think Liv. He probably has an idea though…"
"Why?" Olivia asked, turning to face him more fully, "did you say something?"
"No, I wouldnt do that without talking to you first - but you were all I could think about while you were gone, I just couldn't get my head into anything else. He must know…"
He glanced at her, seeing the tension in her body.
"You ok with that?"
"I don't know - I mean...I'm suddenly wondering what Cragen is going to think...I wasn't even planning on coming back…"
"And now?" Elliot asked, as he swallowed.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss this - doing this with you, but if I go back and Cragen knows about us...what's going to happen?"
"How about we just take it a step at a time - let's work this case, then when we go back, you can talk to Cragen..our relationship..it doesn't have to come into it - not unless he comes out and asks you - nothing has to change, Liv. Cragen isn't going to try and pull the rug out from under you as soon as you walk back in the door, you know he wouldn't do that."
Olivia took a breath and sighed, "I hope you're right...I just feel like right now things are...good...but I'm scared to feel happy like this...with you...this just never works for me, relationships...I've never been able to do this, I don't wanna lose anything we have."
"Olivia, I wouldn't do anything to risk what we have together - any of it...our friendship, our relationship...if we can do what we are doing, work together just as well as we always have, then we can keep this to ourselves until we really want to share it. This isn't something to overthink Liv - you are doing this...we've been doing this for years...we've just never told each other how we feel. We already have a connection deeper than anything else...and we arent going to lose that - I promise you."
Olivia looked at him and smiled, "Okay, El."
"Just promise me something, OK?" he began, turning to watch her reaction, "nothing you share with me is ever going to change the way I see you. I love you, and I want to be there for you, and you just gotta let me. Promise me that you'll talk to me - let me help you - if you feel like you're falling, if something hits you hard, come to me. Don't walk out of my life again, because I swear Liv, I couldn't take it again."
Olivia's eyes filled with tears as she took a deep breath and battled to keep them at bay.
"I won't," she whispered, "I swear to you Elliot."
Olivia reached across and placed her hand over his, and then he turned his hand instinctively and grasped hers, before raising her hand to his lips and placing a kiss. Olivia smiled and her tears abated as she rested her head back against the soft cushion of the car seat.
Thirty minutes later they were out of their car having parked within the perimeter of the area marked off on the map. The sun was beating down on them and their timing had been perfect; stepping out just when the heat had begun to make the confinement of the car uncomfortable.
"We have plenty of daylight left - that should make it easier to get a real feel for the layout of the area," Olivia said as she glanced round.
"Not much out here at all - the only houses within the area and the few just outside are pretty spaced apart. Doubt there will be neighbours to talk to," Elliot observed as he stepped closer to Olivia and placed a hand warmly on her back.
Olivia smiled before returning her concentration to the map she now held.
"How are we doing this?" Elliot asked.
"Well...I think this guy is outside of society - he either feels like an outsider or he literally is. None of the people interviewed expressed concern over any of their neighbours so I'm guessing the person we are looking for may be the man with the dog that had been spotted by two witnesses, he could be our perp," Olivia said.
"So he is literally an outsider - won't be on the radar of the local police because he doesn't live in the town," Elliot agreed.
"He might literally live within this radius - Munch's potential locations for 'a secret base' might actually be where we find the perp," Olivia said.
"Okay, let's play this carefully, we don't wanna stumble into something here," Elliot said as he pulled out his phone, "no cell reception - same with yours?"
Olivia took her phone out of her pocket and cast a glance at the display before sliding it back in.
"No signal - not ideal, but I kept an eye on it as we were driving up here - it started getting patchy twenty miles out of town - then dropped completely in the last five miles. We checked in with the local police, so as long as we stay within the area we highlighted on the map then they know where we are," Olivia said.
"First sign of trouble and we head out of here, and get back on the road until we can reach them and call for backup," Elliot said.
"Absolutely, lets go see if there's anything to find up here."
Elliot walked alongside her as they made their way across the rocky plain, following the map in a spiral towards the central area. After only twenty minutes, the heat was bearing down on them and they stopped to rest, both taking out their bottles of water and drinking. Olivia sat next to Elliot, both leaning back against a large rock, providing some degree of shade.
"Looks like a lot of cattle comes this way - the ground seems really disturbed along here," Elliot said as he gestured to it.
Olivia eased herself up, stretching, "I need the bathroom, I'll just be a minute."
Elliot let a small amount of water drop from the bottle onto his hands and watched as it evaporated quickly. The changeable New York climate was something he was well accustomed to - but this constant heat was hard going when they were walking out in it.
He shook his head as he took in their current situation - he had not expected to be in Arizona under the intense midday heat, investigating cold cases with his partner when he had set out to find her. He had imagined that he would find her, they would probably hug, argue, and she would eventually just agree to come home with him. He hadn't really formulated any kind of plan beyond that, so when she said she wasn't going home with him he really didn't know how to handle it. Going with her was not what he set out to do, but he wanted nothing more than to be by her side.
With a slight smile his thoughts drifted to the past week - of how focused and involved she had been in the case. He wanted these moments with her - this precious time away from the city - it seemed almost an ideal - investigating with her, spending their nights together, being able to express their affection to each other without concern at who might notice.
Suddenly, his thoughts switched immediately to the downside of their situation - unarmed and with no cell phone reception and no actual jurisdiction, as Olivia approached. He paused and got to his feet as she walked back toward him. He didn't need to ask her if anything was wrong - their eyes locked for a brief moment and he knew that she had discovered something.
"Liv?" he asked.
"The cattle have disturbed more than the ground, there's something back here."
They both knelt on the ground, using sticks to move the earth - it was not easy, the ground was hard, but with some effort they uncovered enough to realise quickly that the body had been there for long enough that this was not the most recent woman abducted.
Olivia stood and flinched briefly at the sight of the decaying arm they had uncovered. Elliot gave up trying to dig any further, realising that there was little point.
"We don't want to draw attention to this - if the perp knows we've seen it, this could get bad fast," Elliot said.
"This is the outer part of the perimeter - if we kept following this around, I wouldn't be surprised if we found more bodies. The latest abduction El - she could still be alive."
"As soon as we catch sight of anything - people, buildings, anything to show us that someone else is out here then we stop," Elliot said, "even if she's alive out here, we don't know what we're up against."
"Okay," Olivia nodded.
They continued on, both walking a reasonable distance apart, but still able to hear each other speak. They both scanned the ground, looking for any more signs of disturbed earth, but not until they had walked for a further ten minutes did they have cause to stop.
"You see that, Liv?"
Olivia stopped and followed his gaze, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, wishing that she had thought to buy sunglasses when Elliot had taken her to the town to buy clothes and supplies.
"Looks like a small cabin - pretty run down," she said, turning to Elliot, "I think it's time to head back."
"Yeah...what I would do to be armed right now - I wanna know if anyones in there," Elliot said.
"I know Elliot, all we can do is go and alert the local police though. Believe me I want to go over there too," she said with a frustrated edge to her voice.
"Let's go, we need to call this in," Elliot said.
Elliot glanced around as they walked back in the direction they had come from, trying to take in visual cues to help recall the location when they reported it to the local police.
Olivia glanced at the cabin in the distance, trying to keep an eye out for any signs of movement.
They walked back for several minutes until a voice startled them both. Gasping Olivia spun around, staring into the rocky plain silently.
I will aim to finish the next chapter by the end of the week - it's half way there.