Benson Residence – Monday Night, June 30 – 10:15 p.m.
Somewhat embarrassed by his state of undress, as well as Olivia's eyes trailing up and down his body, Elliot stood and motioned toward the living room. "Excuse me…I'll…uh…be right back," he trailed off as he brushed past her.
Rummaging through his duffle bag he found a pair of red track shorts and a wife beater and quickly put them on. Olivia watched his every move, smiling to herself at his obvious discomfort at her seeing him in only his boxers. It wasn't much less than swim trunks, and she had seen him in those before. Her grin spread across her face and she finally looked down in an attempt to hide it.
Walking back toward the utility closet, Elliot noticed her watching his every move and that she was still leaning against the wall. He could not believe she stared at him like that…like a man would a woman. Even more he could not believe that it bothered him so much. Brushing by her once again, he realized just how narrow the hallway was, as well as how little there really was to that black dress. Determined not to make a fool of himself, he forced his eyes to look at the open closet.
"I'll just put all this back together…think it might be the switch," he told her as he knelt down again, tucked some loose wiring inside, replaced the metal casing and turned a couple of screws securing it in place.
"I'll call the super again in the morning," he told her.
She watched the muscles flex in his arms as he turned the last screw. It felt odd having a man taking care of something she always had to see to in the past. Odd, but good.
He stood, closed the closet door and wiped his sweaty hands on his shorts. Looking at Olivia, he saw her eyes sparkling in the light from the overhead fixture. She smiled as she turned so that her back was flush against the wall. She pushed her bangs behind her right ear, looking at him as though she were a shy young girl. He wanted so badly to pull her up to him and kiss her again. But as he took in her face and demeanor, he knew there was no way he would do that now. Not tonight. She wanted him to kiss her.
Returning her smile, he asked, "So…how was your date with Eckerson?"
Rolling her rich, brown eyes before letting them drill into his ocean blue ones, she replied, "It wasn't a date."
Elliot's response was merely a disbelieving grunt. Olivia rolled her eyes again and he took a step closer to her. She flattened herself against the wall, intimidated by his sudden nearness. He placed his left hand flat against its surface, just to the right side of her head, his muscles tense and rippling, glistening with sweat. She could smell the mixture of his deodorant, cologne and sweat. He was so close she could see each drop of perspiration on his upper lip and forehead, and count the individual blades of stubble along his jaw and chin. A light patch of hair on his chest peeked over the wife beater. She wanted to bury her face in his chest and feel his strong arms wrap around her. It was all she could do not to reach out and run her hand down his muscled arm and feel the tension in them beneath her touch.
"You sure dressed like it was a date," his eyes slowly skimmed her body and then met hers once again as his right hand cupped her left cheek and his thumb gently brushed over her lips and cheeks.
Upon his intimate inspection, she felt the additional heat of the blush that rapidly flooded her face. Involuntarily, she turned her face up to him, thinking he was going to kiss her again. Hoping he was going to kiss her again. He bit at his lips, and she could not help but watch as his tongue followed the trail his teeth had just made. An arrogant smirk started at one corner of his lips and slowly spread across his face as he noted her increasing interest, his eyes crinkling in response. His thumb, rough against her skin, continued to caress her cheeks, her lips. The stubble of his beard shadowed his face, making him look eerily dangerous. She loved the scruffy look on her men, and it made Elliot especially attractive, she thought. The blue of his gorgeous eyes were a shade she was not sure she had seen on him, and she prided herself on knowing every emotion each shade of blue represented. This puzzled her.
Olivia could barely think, let alone speak. "I…I…just wanted to…to look nice," she swallowed hard, stumbling over each word, her breathing nearly non-existent, wondering why she was bothering to defend her choice of attire to Elliot.
"Nice?" His laugh was a low rumble as he leaned over, whispering in her right ear, "Hot is more like it, Olivia."
The apartment was stifling and she was hot, but his voice, his words, his proximity just sent chills ricocheting down her spine and throughout her body. "It was…for you…I was dressing for…for you, El…not him…it was for you," her words were soft, barely audible.
"Oh, yea?" He threw his head back in laughter but there was no humor, only sarcasm. "He kiss you goodnight?" He managed to grind out, his eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring.
She realized he was angry and this caused a shift in her mood. This was none of his business but she was not going to be angry that he asked, so she decided to play off of it teasingly. Slowly shaking her head and her right index finger at him, she chuckled, "Mmm…mmm…mmm…a true lady never kisses and tells."
The muscle in his jaw began jumping, twitching, an indication that he was extremely upset, angry, nervous or all of the above. He grabbed her index finger, drew it into his mouth, sucking on it and kissing it before quickly releasing it as he placed his hand back on the wall by her head. His right hand was still cupping her face. Her heart seemed to stop beating before it resumed with a rapid, erratic pounding.
"Is that right?" His eyes, half closed, bored into hers, his breath hot on her face.
He leaned even closer and she just knew this was it. Anticipating his next move, she drew in a deep breath and wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. When his lips were just millimeters from hers, his thumb wiped at the corner of her lips and then just above them.
Once again, he leaned close to her ear, "What's left of your lip gloss, Olivia…is smeared," he growled, releasing her so suddenly, it took a moment for everything to register in her desire fogged brain. His smile did not reach his eyes and before she could react, he had turned away and was walking back to the living room.
It was though she was glued to the wall. She watched as he sauntered to the edge of the pulled out sleeper sofa, picked up the remote and sat down. The television came to life and he piled the two pillows behind him and stretched out. She could tell he was done with her for the night and she did not know what else to say, so she quietly made her way to the kitchen, got a bottle of water from the frig and headed to her bedroom.
She stopped just shy of the bedroom door and watched him. She knew he knew she was standing there, but he never looked her way.
"Good night, El," she whispered.
She stood there for a minute, before he finally glanced at her, just barely. "Night, Liv." He turned back to the television.
Upon hearing the bedroom door softly close, Elliot let out the deep breath of air he had not realized he was holding. It had taken every bit of strength he could muster not to kiss her, not touch her, not to hold her. She was beautiful. Now that he knew what it was to kiss her, he knew he would never be the same. The look in her eyes told him she wanted him to kiss her at least as much as he wanted to, but there was no way he could comply. No way was he kissing her when another man had just kissed her. He sensed it. He knew it.
There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Andy Eckerson had just kissed her or that she had kissed him back. Enthusiastically. He knew she would not have been a passive participant. He knew from the way she responded and kissed him back that morning. He knew from the nearly absent ever-present lip-gloss, from the remains that were smeared on her face that she had been kissed. And it nearly drove him insane, nearly tore his heart in two. He slammed his fist into the pillow behind him wishing it were Eckerson's face. One day all of her boyfriends would be relegated to the past and there would be only the two of them. Olivia was his future. He prayed he would be hers.
Olivia leaned against the closed door of her bedroom, shut her eyes and sighed heavily. She was so sure he was going to kiss her again and when he said that about her lip-gloss instead, she nearly died. She desperately wanted him to kiss her. And she did not want him to know Andy had. Yet, somehow he intuitively knew. He knew. By her lip-gloss. She almost laughed out loud. Could there possibly be another person in the world that could just look at her and know, know that she had just been kissed or kissed someone simply by the state of her lip-gloss? How absurd! How…how Elliot!
She went to the bathroom and changed into an oversized t-shirt, letting her dress fall into a heap on the floor. She cleansed her face of the heavier than normal makeup, applied moisturizer and brushed her teeth. Looking at her reflection, she sighed. What a fool, she thought. What a fool to believe that Elliot Stabler would really want anything to do with her romantically. He knew her too well. He was too smart to get caught up in the mess that was her life. Her. She had too many skeletons to deal with herself. Why would he possibly want to make them his, too? He had enough issues of his own. She must have misread him this morning. No way was he interested in her. She made her way to her bed, set the alarm and crawled under the covers.
Benson Residence – Tuesday Morning, July 1 – 6:07 a.m.
The sound of running water woke her. She lay there a moment trying to place the sound finally realizing it was the shower in her bathroom. Puzzling over it just a moment, she remembered Elliot was there. The water shut off. Several minutes later she heard the door slowly creak open and almost immediately the fragrant combination of toothpaste, soap, shampoo and his cologne was in the air. Pretending to still be asleep, she could see Elliot through her partially closed eyes look over at her as he quietly crept from the room. He was completely dressed and she wondered if he was trying to beat her out of the apartment or was just trying to be a good guest and not get in the middle of her morning routine.
As soon as he softly closed the door, she reached over and turned off her alarm that was set to go off at 6:15. She headed for the shower, hoping he had left some hot water. He had and twenty minutes later she emerged freshly showered, makeup in place and hair styled. She quickly dressed. Taking a deep breath she opened the door to her bedroom and a new set of aromas hit her. Breakfast. She cautiously stepped out and looked around. The couch was back in place and there was no sign of Elliot other than his duffle bag on the recliner. Heading into the kitchen she saw the plate of food in the lighted oven and a note on top of the stove secured in place by a teacup. The kettle of hot water sat on the still warm eye.
Picking up the note, she read Elliot's tight, sloppy writing: 'Liv, didn't want to be in your way. Breakfast in the oven. See you at the house. El.' In her way? He could never be in her way. Sighing, she opened the oven and pulled out the plate. Scrambled eggs and toast. She made it into a sandwich, wrapped it in a napkin, fixed her tea and headed for the precinct.
SVU Squad Room – Tuesday Morning, July 1 – 6:57 a.m.
Elliot had to get out of there before Olivia woke up. He was still thinking too hard about the night before and was certain that if he saw her this morning, he would end up saying or doing something he would regret. He had been at his desk thirty minutes when she finally arrived. Thirty minutes that he could have used going over some things, but instead used to antagonize himself with thoughts of her and Eckerson. He heard someone say 'good morning, Benson,' so he quickly picked up the Whittington financial file and pretended to be going over it.
She stopped halfway between the entrance of the squad room and their desks and took a deep breath. As she neared him, she spoke to him, upbeat and cheery. "Morning, El. Appreciate the breakfast," she smiled, putting her keys in the top drawer of her desk.
Sitting down, she put her cell phone on the desk and reached for the mouse, watching as the computer screen came to life.
He looked up and smiled back, "You're welcome. Get much sleep?" He wondered if she tossed and turned like he did. From the heat. The unbearable heat. The heat from several sources.
"Enough," she nodded.
"I saw the super on the way out, he already had a repairman on the way…said your whole floor is out," he turned his eyes back to the report in his hands.
"Thanks," she said with a hint of amusement, attempting to stifle a grin.
He could feel her still staring at him and wondered what she found so amusing. But, before he could look up or say anything, she reached across their desks, pulled the report out of his hand, turned it upright and said, "It makes much more sense when everything is not upside down." She smirked, sat down and began working.
He felt the heat spread from his chest, up his neck and into his face. Choosing to ignore her remark, he buried his face in the now upright report, silently cursing himself for looking and acting like an awkward, inexperienced schoolboy. She was right about one thing though…his whole life was upside down and nothing made much sense.
For the next hour and a half they worked quietly, exchanging few words. Just before eight a.m. Munch arrived with Andy right behind him, but instead of heading toward Olivia, Andy simply smiled when she looked up and went to Cragen's office. Their ADA was already in Cragen's office. She could feel Elliot's eyes boring into her and she turned to him and slightly smiled. Instead of returning her smile, he grunted and looked away.
"So early in the day and you two are at it already? Tell me…what have I missed?" Munch waggled his eyebrows at Olivia and Elliot.
In unison, they both turned and said, "Shut up, Munch!"
"And I thought you were at odds. Good to see you are still in sync," he sat down and turned to his computer.
Fin came in and took some papers to Munch. They began going over them and Fin turned to Elliot as asked, "You still got those financials?"
"Yea…right here," Elliot held up the folder.
"Seems the Senator has a pile of money that leaves his account every month on the 15th," Fin was looking at the bank history he had taken home to look over.
"How big a pile?" Elliot leaned back and chewed on his pen.
"Five grand," Munch told them.
"Where's it going?" Olivia asked, walking toward Fin and Munch.
She sat on the edge of Munch's desk,and Fin handed the papers to her.
She looked over the pages, flipping through a few of them. "An account in the Bahamas…Nassau," she frowned, wondering what this could mean.
The door to Cragen's office opened and he, Casey and Andy came up to the group. "Okay, people. Let's everyone get caught up on where we are and what we need to be concentrating on with this case," Cragen looked over his crew as he spoke.
Forty-five minutes later everyone was up to date on the case and everything involved. Cragen turned to Munch and Fin, "The two of you find out everything you can from the bank…Casey?"
Casey pulled a warrant from her brief case and handed it Fin, "This covers any kind of financial transaction, banking, savings, CDs, money market, any thing connected with Lenora Whittington, the Senator or his wife."
"What if we find someone else is involved? This cover them?" Fin, slapped the paper against his palm, before he slipped it into his jacket.
"No. But if you need anything else, give me a call," she told him, nodded at everyone and headed out.
"Andy and I have a meeting with the Commissioner, so Elliot will be with you today, Olivia. Go back to the Whittingtons and question them about Lenora knowing the other victims and see if you can come up with another link between them that might lead us to our perp," Cragen nodded at the detectives then he went back to his office.
"Hey, Case…hold up a sec," Liv called out, running to catch up with her. As she did, Andy stopped her.
"Want to grab dinner later?" Andy smiled, holding her by her shoulders.
"Uh…actually, I was going to see if Casey wanted to go somewhere tonight," she looked over her shoulder and saw Casey was waiting on her, with a smirk on her face.
"Oh…well, how about drinks before or after…someone told me about a new coffee shop a couple of blocks over," he was looking into her eyes, almost pleading with her.
"Not tonight, Andy. I really want to see Casey…haven't really talked to her in a couple of weeks," she smiled, pulled away from him and went to Casey. "Call me."
He nodded and let her go. When he turned to go back to Cragen's office, he met the steely glare of Elliot. He just smiled and went on his way. Elliot wanted to jump him and beat the crap out of him. He knew he had to calm down before he and Liv got in the car. Taking several deep breaths through his nose and exhaling loudly caused Fin to look over at him.
Shaking his head, Fin mumbled more to himself, though Elliot heard him, "Gonna take more than that to get that girl out your system."
"What?" Elliot snapped, shooting Fin the icy glare now.
"Nothin', man, nothin'," Fin gathered some papers and files from his desk, and he and Munch left the precinct.
Elliot stood, hands on hips, waiting for Olivia to finish talking to Casey. When she did, she came back to her desk, grabbed the keys to the cruiser and tossed them to him. She looked at Elliot, "You ready?"
"Yea," he said as he caught the keys.
Her cell phone rang and she flipped it open without checking the caller I.D. "Benson." A short pause ensued as her face lit up with a smile. "Hey, Ryan." Pause. "Well, I think today may be iffy…how about I call you around eleven?" Pause. "Okay. Sure." Pause. "Bye."
Cruiser – Tuesday Morning, July 1 – 9:20 a.m.
The ride to the Whittington's started off quiet. Elliot was still upset about last night and then this morning with Andy and now Ryan was added into the mix. He could not trust himself to say anything without her knowing he was mad, jealous, so he opted to remain silent. She did not seem to notice. Probably thinking about how to juggle all the men in her life.
Just as that thought turned and tumbled in his mind her cell phone rang again. She unclipped it from her waist and glanced at the called I.D. It was Kurt. She hit ignore and held the phone in her hand. It rang again. She ignored it again. The third time it happened Elliot could not keep quiet.
"Someone you don't want to talk to?" He kept his eyes on the road, hoping he seemed uninterested.
She looked at him for a second. "Something like that," she turned her gaze out her window and sighed.
"Why don't you just tell him you don't want to talk?" He ventured a glance at her, and the look on her face told him she did not want to talk to him either.
"What makes you think it's a 'him'?" she asked, her eyebrow cocked.
"Is it a 'her'?"
"No," her tone sarcastic as she smirked.
"Okay…then it's gotta be a 'him'. Besides, I can't think of any 'hers' you wouldn't want to talk to." The minute he thought it, three names jumped out at him.
Olivia snorted as she said under her breath, "Yea…just Kathy, Dani and Rebecca."
"What?" He knew she spoke but could not make out the words.
She shook her head and looked back out the window. "Drop it, Elliot."
"Okay, okay," he gripped the steering wheel tighter and looked straight ahead.
Leaning her head back, she turned slightly toward him. "It was Kurt, okay. He's been calling me since Sunday afternoon," she sighed again, and looked down at the phone in her hand ringing once again.
Elliot took it from her and before she could react, he flipped it open and answered, "Stabler."
"Elliot!" She reached for the phone he held in his left hand as he shrugged his right shoulder up as a defense.
There was a long pause. "Can't you take a hint, Moss? She doesn't want to talk to you."
"Elliot! Give me the phone!" She hissed. "Elliot!"
"I think she made that clear the other day, pal. Leave her alone." He flipped the phone closed and extended it toward her. She was gorgeous even when she was furious.
Ripping it from his hand, she stared at him, mouth agape; eyes filled with fury; shaking her head, "I can't believe you did that! You had no right, Elliot!"
"I bet he'll think twice before calling you again," he grinned. "Look, I was just helping out a friend, okay?"
"I don't need your help!" Her eyes bored into his, and she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
"Who said I was talking about you?" The smirk became bigger as he turned his eyes back to the road.
Olivia rolled her eyes, fell back into the seat and let out an angry snort of air as she stuffed her phone deep in her pocket and crossed her arms across her chest.
Whittington Residence - Tuesday Morning, July 1 - 9:55 a.m.
James Peterson answered the door to the Whittingtons. "Good morning, detectives. I'm afraid I was not informed that you were coming."
Olivia noticed he seemed puzzled and slightly taken aback by their presence. She wondered did Elliot notice it as well.
"They didn't know we were coming. If this is not convenient…" Olivia explained.
"Oh, no. Just let me speak with Senator Whittington," he smiled as he stepped back to allow them to enter. "Please have a seat." He disappeared from the room.
"Guess we should have called," Elliot had his hands behind his back as he looked around the apartment.
"Did he seem nervous to you?" Olivia looked toward where Peterson had gone.
"Nervous? Nah…maybe out of sorts 'cause we weren't on the schedule. Seems like a control freak to me," Elliot picked up a picture of the Whittingtons and a young man he assumed to be their son, Michael. "No one has ever talked with the kid. Think he could know something that might help the investigation?"
"I don't know…keep him in mind. He said he would speak to Senator Whittington. Lydia must not be home." She turned her attention toward the hallway from which she head footsteps.
"Good morning, detectives. Has there been a break in the case?" Senator Whittington greeted them.
"Not exactly. We'd like to ask you and Mrs. Whittington a few questions, if you have time." Olivia smiled at him.
His eyes scanned her from head to toe and then back, as a smile broke across his face, "For you, Ms. Benson, I will make time. However, Lydia is not here. She and her sister have gone to our home on the lake to prepare for our family gathering this week. Congress is off for the week."
Olivia didn't quite know what to think about his roving eyes and statement, but she was clearly uncomfortable and a quick glance at Elliot told her he was clearly steaming. "That's 'Detective Benson'," she reminded him.
What the heck did that mean, Elliot wondered? 'For you, Ms. Benson, I will make time.' He was just as flirty as his wife. Maybe they had a mutual agreement or something. Whatever. He did not like the way the Senator looked at Olivia. Like she was a piece of dessert…or maybe even the main course. He found himself wondering just what would happen to him if he decked a New York State Senator. No doubt he would be at the IAB's mercy and they would show him none.
"Yes, of course, Detective Benson," he motioned for them to sit down.
Olivia sat on the couch, and Elliot was making his way to sit beside her when the Senator pointed to a big overstuff chair, "That is the most comfortable seat ever." He nodded toward it as he looked at Elliot.
Elliot continued toward the couch, "Glad you told me. I'll leave it for you." He sat down beside Olivia as he fixed the Senator with a hard stare as he took the overstuffed chair he had offered.
Clearing her throat, Olivia got down to business, "Senator Whittington, we need to question you about two main things. This first will be difficult to talk about, but we have reason to believe your mother was being physically abused."
The Senator jumped out of his chair and came to stand in front of Olivia, his fists balled up. "What! How dare you make such unsubstantiated accusations?" he stormed, glaring down at her.
Elliot was on his feet seconds after the Senator, coming between he and Olivia, before she could react to defend herself. He put his hands on the Senator's shoulders and spoke quietly, but with clear warning.
"How about you back off and calm down. We have substantiated proof of a series of suspicious injuries to your mother. Now, Detective Benson is going to show you the medical documentation, and you are going to sit and hear her out. Are we clear, Senator?" Elliot worked to keep his breathing even.
The Senator visibly calmed. He looked down at the floor, shaking his head, "I apologize for my outburst, Ms…uh…Detective Benson. I just…I…who would hurt Mother? Who could or would hurt any elderly person?"
Olivia's face registered shock at the Senator and relief at Elliot. Taking a deep breath she began again. "The same kind of people who abuse children, Senator. I'm sure you have heard the term 'elder abuse'. That is what came to mind when we interviewed the nurse your mother befriended at Bellevue."
"I have her medical records from Bellevue. There were six visits...two resulted in her being admitted. Do you recall these incidents, Senator?"
"Yes…uh…once was because she fell getting out of the tub. Broke some ribs. The other time they kept her, she had hit her head on a table," he recounted the incidents.
"None of this seemed out of the ordinary?" Elliot asked, now sitting once again, though this time closer to Olivia.
"Well, no…I mean older folks have balance problems and well, no…I didn't think anything of it," he took a deep breath and shook his head. "Surely you don't think that I…I loved my mother…I would never…" Olivia cut him off.
"What about your wife? She was the one who brought her to the hospital each time," she watched his face for his reaction.
"Lydia? No, never. She and Mother got along wonderfully," he stared at her his eyes huge.
"Senator, are there other people who had regular access to your mother, maids, servants?" Elliot prodded him, not quite sure what he thought about the Senator.
"Just James and Rosa," he looked down at his mother's medical records. "I see now why one could be suspicious. Again, my apologies, detective."
Olivia smile, "Accepted."
"Who is Rosa?" Elliot asked, quickly writing on his note pad.
"Our cook. She also cooked for Mother, and James took care of running her errands. She lived on the first floor, you know." His eyes welled with tears that he quickly brushed aside.
"We'll need to talk with her, too," Elliot looked up at him.
"She speaks very little English…she's Hispanic," he explained.
"I speak enough Spanish to get by…should be no problem," Olivia told him and shifted slightly.
"I'll call you with her number and address," he ran his hands through his hair and she saw the glint from the diamonds on his wedding band. It looked very expensive.
"Okay. The other matter is that we have been able to determine that four of the rape victims knew one another. If you can fill us in on details, it may help our investigation." She just now took note of his casual attire. Tan shorts, a lime green Polo and docksiders with no socks. He had very muscular, though lean, legs. He was a good-looking man.
"Really? Who are the others?" The Senator's eyes locked on Olivia's as though he realized where her mind had just been. He leaned closer to her, sitting on the edge of the chair. He had calmed down considerably and was back to the charming Senator.
"Esther Duvale, Marcy Walker, and Selma Peters," Elliot told him.
A frown wrinkled his brow, as he looked at Elliot and then into space, staring as though in a trance. He whispered, "Miss Esther? She and Mother went for early morning walks nearly every day…they have been friends since they were little girls. Is she okay? She was…she…was…r-raped, too?"
"Yes, she was. Physically, she's fine. Emotionally, it will take some time," Olivia watched him closely.
He leaned back into the chair and raked his hands over his face, "I saw Miss Esther at Mother's funeral…she never said a word about this…"
"Victims of rape are sometimes ashamed of what happened to them, thinking that in some way it must be their fault," Olivia shifted in her seat.
He closed his eyes and rubbed them with the heel of his hands, "But why didn't Pat say something? Why didn't she tell me? I can't believe this…"
Olivia and Elliot traded looks. "You know Pat Rabun?" Elliot's curiosity was up now.
The Senator laughed lightly, "Yes. We grew up together…same schools, same social circle.
"So, did you know Marcy Walker and Selma Peters, too," Elliot flipped pages in his pad as he took notes.
Davis Whittington was still in shock about Miss Esther. "Senator?" Olivia called softly.
He snapped back to the present, "I'm sorry…"
"Marcy Walker, you know her?" Elliot repeated.
"Yes. Marcy was also a friend of Mother's and Miss Esther," he was shaking his head back and forth.
"Did you know her family?"
"Uh…her husband, was an attorney, I think…she didn't have any children of her own. He had a daughter, but she was a good bit older than me and she lived with her mother most of the time, so I didn't really know her. Is Miss Marcy okay?"
"She was murdered, shot…last Thursday morning," Elliot kept his voice low, but there was never a good way to deliver the news of a death.
"What? Oh, no! Why? Where?" His voice broke and tears tumbled from his eyes. He wiped them away with his hands and then wiped his hands on his slacks.
"Found her under a bridge off Canal Street. She'd been homeless for several years," Olivia spoke softly realizing he was being emotionally battered.
"Oh, no…she was the homeless woman I saw on the news? Homeless? I don't understand…they were wealthy…" he trailed off, hand over his mouth.
"Senator, there is one more known victim of this rapist…Selma Peters?" Elliot tapped his pen against his note pad and waited.
"The name does not ring a bell…" he seemed deep in thought.
"You would have known her as Selma Steinbaum," Olivia explained. "She remarried after her husband divorced her."
His head snapped up and he met her eyes, "Yes! Miss Selma…I …I saw Drew at Adam's funeral last year…Miss Selma was not there…Drew said they had no idea where she was…but I didn't know she was homeless."
"She lost every thing when her second husband made some bad financial decisions, and then his medical bills dragged them under. She was too proud to accept help from her sons, so she lived on the streets. He said he had not seen her in a year," Olivia added as she glanced over at Elliot.
"I'm sorry…I just don't understand. How did these women who were once so wealthy lose every thing? Become homeless? I mean we are talking millions and millions of dollars. Old money." He looked back and forth between the two detectives.
"That's what we are trying to figure out, Senator," Elliot stood and stretched. "Can you think of anything that would tie these ladies to our rapist? Did your families have enemies?"
The Senator threw his head back and laughed, though it was mirthless. "Are you kidding me? We were rich. The elite of New York City. Everyone hated us. Hates us," he stood also.
Olivia watched the two men. The Senator was a very handsome man. Dark hair, silver at the temples. He was tall, confident, wealthy. Any woman would find him irresistible, but not Olivia. The only man she wanted was standing in front of the Senator. His blue eyes reading the other man's every gesture, chewing the inside of his cheek, weighing each word for truth. He glanced at Olivia, and she found herself smiling at him. He smiled slightly and turned his attention back to the Senator.
"Is there anything you can think of that would link them financially?" Elliot pressed him.
The Senator thought for a moment. "About four years ago, Mother lost some money in an investment scheme. When she had lost nearly a quarter of a million, she came to me about it. I was able to get her remaining funds out of I, and though I thought the scheme was questionable, I never pursued investigating it. Perhaps I should have," he rolled his head on his shoulders trying to release some tension.''
"What was the name of the company?" Olivia's interested was newly piqued.
"I don't recall…but I am certain I can find the papers on it," he looked at Olivia and smiled. "If you will give me your card, I will call when I do." His smile was warm and soft and she felt herself blushing.
Handing him a card, she then extended her hand, "Thank you for your time, Senator. We'll be in touch."
The smile he gave her now was more of a smirk, and Elliot did not miss it. "Tell me, Detective Benson, what does your husband think of your line of work?" He held her hand in his much longer than necessary for a handshake.
"He doesn't mind at all," she smiled sweetly, pulling her hand from his. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Elliot raise his eyebrow. "I don't have one."
"Oh, then surely your boyfriend must…" he continued, still smiling.
"Don't have one of those either." She smiled again.
"Surely you jest. Surely such an exquisitely beautiful woman must have a special man in her life." His eyes never left her face, even though he was sure Elliot was staring him down.
"You are too kind, Senator. Thank you…but my private life is really none of your concern," still smiling she looked at Elliot. "You ready?"
"Yea." He gave the Senator one last glare. "I'm ready." IAB or no IAB, it would not take much more for him to deck this jerk.
Cruiser – Tuesday Morning, July 1 – 11:15 a.m.
They had spent over an hour with Senator Davis Whittington. Elliot wanted to interview the nurse supervisor at Bellevue, Sabrina Ferrell, and Olivia agreed so they headed that way. Pulling her cell phone from her front pocket, she saw that Kurt had called two more times. She frowned and continued scrolling down the list. Then Cragen called. He wanted everyone back at the house by noon. The Commissioner had assigned two more detectives from other precincts to the case and he wanted everyone to be on the same page before continuing the investigation. Olivia decided that was fine because they needed to fill Cragen and Andy in on what they found out from Whittington. Maybe Munch and Fin could find a link between the others and the company that Lenora Whittington had invested in.
Disconnecting from Cragen, she continued checking her missed calls. Andy had called once and left one text message and Ryan had called. Oh, no! She had forgotten about lunch. She needed to call him, but really did not want to with Elliot there. But looking at the time, she realized she really needed to let Ryan know. She dialed his number and leaned closer to her side of the car. Elliot pretended not to notice she was making a call, but he could not help but wonder who she was calling. She talked softly, but there was no privacy in such close quarters.
"Hey. Listen, I'm not going to be able to do lunch at noon. Cragen's called a meeting." Pause. "I'm not sure…but if you want to wait, I'll call when it's over." Pause. She could feel Elliot's eyes as he repeatedly glanced at her. "Okay. Bye."
Putting the phone back in her front pocket, she turned to Elliot. "Think you could at least act like you are not eavesdropping on my conversations?"
"Kind of hard when you are sitting two and half feet from me in a closed vehicle, don't you think?" He smirked and shot back. "What, Olivia? Kurt call again and get you riled up?"
"I told you I don't need your help!" she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest again.
"Well, sure looked like you needed it with the Senator… 'Surely such an exquisitely beautiful woman must have a special man'," he mocked the Senator.
"Elliot," her warning was clear, but he did not heed it.
"Olivia, he was ready to jump your bones! Or would that have mattered? Just another man to add to your list, huh?" He knew he sounded jealous, but he sounded that way because he was jealous.
"Yea, well you should know. You were the one making eyes with his wife hanging all over you on your 'date'," she hollered, throwing air quotes with her fingers.
His face was red, eyes narrowed, as he bellowed, "You know what, Olivia? You can be a real pain in the…" How did their exchanges always manage to deteriorate so rapidly?
"You think I'm a pain? You should try putting up with yourself for a while! Find another partner! I'm sick and tired of putting up with your crap!" She hollered even louder. She was beginning to shake and that made her even madder.
She was furious and she really was not sure why, except that she had all these men interested in her except for the one that she was interested in. The one that she loved that just happened to be the pain in the butt sitting two and a half feet from her. Her pain in the butt.
"Me find another partner? That's your department, Benson!" He was gripping the steering wheel so hard he was surprised it did not come off in his hand, when he came to a stop in front of the precinct.
"My department? You're the one that was all over your new partner, Stabler! You're the one who wasted no time replacing me!" She jumped out of the car, slammed the door and ran up the steps of the precinct.
When they resorted to calling each other by their surnames, it meant one of two things. They were getting along famously and were teasing each other or all hell had broken loose and they were tearing each other apart with their scathing verbal weapons of mass destruction.
The 16th Precinct – Tuesday Morning, July 1 – 11:40 a.m.
He was right behind her, nearly knocking people down trying to keep up with her. It was lunchtime and the elevator was at capacity so he could not talk to her. But, he sure could feel her anger. It assaulted him like a brick wall. Replace her? There was no replacing Olivia Benson in his life! As soon as the elevator opened on their floor she shot out like a bullet from a gun, leaving him in her wake of fury. He knew she was running. Just like she always did when things got too intense, too personal between them.
"Olivia! Wait! Come on, Liv! Wait up! Please!" He called as he sprinted to catch up to her.
Halfway from the entrance and their desks, she stopped suddenly without warning and his momentum was such that he barreled into her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from falling. He looked ahead at what had stopped her and felt the blood rush from his head; his heart stop and his lungs cease to breathe. He thought he would throw up right there. In front of everyone. Gathered around their desks were Andy Eckerson, sitting on the edge of Olivia's desk, Fin was at his own desk, Cragen stood beside him talking to a tall curly, blond headed woman and Munch was laughing with a tall, dark haired man as they leaned against Munch's desk.
Olivia felt much the same as Elliot and she could not move. She was sure if she did, her breakfast would make a repeat performance. Neither could she talk, for there before them stood two people from their pasts. Two people Olivia, and Elliot as well, wanted desperately to keep in their pasts, not crashing into their future. They had enough trouble between them without dealing with the past. But there in the midst of their colleagues stood two entities from the past. Dani Beck and Brian Cassidy.
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