A/N: All right, I have posted before the holiday. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 10
"This is confusing. How do you deal with this on a day to day basis?" Casey asked her friend, Matthew Green.
"By remembering that at the end of the day, the kids are the most important part of my job," he smiled as he set the Chinese food down he'd ordered for them.
"Won Ton soup?" She asked.
"Perfect for the sick one," he chuckled as he handed her the quart sized container.
"Thanks," Casey smiled.
"Welcome. Now run through what you have and what you dealt with the first time there was a custody hearing," Matt said. She nodded and quickly explained the circumstances of Calvin's adoption and what had happened when there was paperwork delivered to Olivia's door.
"Now there are very few reasons that the petition would remain anonymous. One would be that the petitioner is currently in Witness Protection but then the claim would have been filed by the Federal government. Even then, they typically don't want to get involved because of the danger presented to the person they are protecting. It would only be done under extreme circumstances. Another reason could be that there is fear of police reprisals. I mean Olivia and Elliot are two of your best friends. Would they go off the reservation and use their influence to make the case disappear?" Matt wanted to know.
"No. As much as they love Calvin, they would never do anything to jeopardize the possibility of ever seeing him again. It would hurt like hell but they wouldn't do that. I have to admit though; I want to know how Social Services found out about Olivia and her condition and the family's finances. It seemed like whoever is making the claim knew things that they couldn't possibly know unless they had someone investigating them," Casey said.
"Well it's not uncommon for family members to hire PI's to find out things that could damage the case of the other family members. Obviously they aren't dealing with the same Social Worker as before either," he said.
"No, they aren't. The social worker that originally Ok'd Calvin's release to Olivia has left the department. She couldn't handle the stress," she told him.
"Well then maybe there isn't a person who is filing. Maybe the new Social Worker reviewed his case and decided to open an investigation," Matt pondered.
"Since when does Child Services have time for that?" Casey asked him.
"Never but it is not unusual if some has filed a complaint," he said, grabbing his chop sticks.
"Complaint for what? Calvin is well taken care of," she said.
"I don't doubt it but you don't see the day to day operations, do you?" He asked.
"No but that means we have a rat and I think I know just the person I need to talk to," Casey said.
"Good. In the meantime, I will take their case, pro bono," Matt nodded.
"Seriously? You aren't going to get in trouble for that?" She gave him a look.
"When I tell them that I'm doing it for the NYPD, they will back off," he winked. She laughed which turned into a coughing fit.
"You need to see a doctor," he told her. Casey rolled her eyes and they got back to the task at hand of eating their food.
Meanwhile the bomb squad was trying to figure out the device that was being used in the car. The hood of the car had been lifted after it was determined that it was not actually part of the trigger mechanism. After that the bomb tech had not wanted Fin anywhere around but until it could be confirmed that Rollins wasn't in the trunk, he wasn't going anywhere.
"The timer is running out. You need to leave," he said. Fin ignored him and tried talking to the trunk again.
"Don't worry, everything is going to be all right," he said to the car. He felt stupid but if Rollins was in there, she needed to know that he wasn't going anywhere. The detective heard the bomb tech cursing under his breath and then he heard the sound of snippers.
"The timer is off. Don't touch the trunk, it could be rigged," the bomb tech said as he walked over and quickly took a peak around. The wire from the bomb placed neatly next to the engine had had a little explosive putty on it which would have triggered the gas currently in the system to ignite but the larger explosives must have been in the trunk, to make sure the gasoline in the gas tank ignited.
"All right, there seems to be some sort of wire holding the trunk in place. It isn't latched," the bomb tech told him.
"What does that mean?" Fin asked.
"Means the explosive in the engine was a distraction," he said. Quickly assessing the situation the tech realized that under normal circumstances they would have sent the robot in. It blows up, it blows up but at least everyone was out. He swallowed hard and kept working. The only way to tell if someone was in there was to cut the wires keeping the trunk in place. Praying to his chosen deity, the bomb tech snipped the wires.
To Be Continued…