Pretty Poison

(Chapter Ten: Too Close To Home)

It was Olivia's first week back to work since Noah had been born and it was a tough one. Not only was she dealing with the usual struggle that every new mother faces when she returns to work and her baby starts staying with a baby sitter, but it had been a crazy week at work as well. In their case Kathy was keeping Noah for the time being to keep him from having to go into daycare and allow Olivia a little peace of mind. It also allowed the other children time to spend with their new brother when they weren't in school. It seemed to be working out really well.

But today they were about to catch a lead on a case that hit pretty close to home. The call came in around two thirty in the afternoon. A woman crying on the other end of the line said that she thought she had been raped, but she wasn't exactly sure. Dispatch transferred the call to Olivia's desk. When she answered the woman was crying so hard Olivia could barely understand her. She scribbled down the woman's address and hung up the phone.

"We should go talk to her," she said looking up at Elliot.

"What did she say?"

"I'm not completely sure. She was crying a lot and it was hard to understand most of it. But she thinks she was raped."

"Thinks?"

"The only things I could make out for sure were the words rape and Biltmore Hotel."

Elliot sat his coffee mug down on his desk as his eyes shot up to meet hers.

"I thought that would catch your attention," she replied.

"It's our guy?"

"Sounds like him. Fits his M.O."

She tore the page with the woman's address from her notepad.

"Why didn't you have her meet us at the hospital?"

"I tried. She freaked out. She isn't ready yet, Elliot. We need to talk to her first. I will see if I can talk her into allowing a rape kit. But if it happened last night and it took her this long to report it she may have already showered and washed away any evidence we may have found."

"That's true. Let's go talk to her and see if maybe she can at least give us enough to know if this is the same guy. They could be completely unrelated cases."

They got into the car and headed across town to the address the woman on the phone gave Olivia.

After the third knock on the door the frail form of a woman appeared in front of them peering through the chain.

"Erin Davis? I am Detective Olivia Benson from the Special Victims Unit. We spoke on the phone a few minutes ago."

The woman looked Olivia over from head to toe, then stared into her eyes.

"I think I made a mistake. I shouldn't have called you. You shouldn't be here." She tried to close the door, but Olivia spoke first causing a pause as Erin reconsidered.

"I just want to talk to you. Make sure you are okay. You have been through a lot and it looks like you could use someone to talk to."

Erin shifted her eyes from Olivia to Elliot.

"This is my partner, Detective Stabler. But he can wait out here if that would be more comfortable for you."

Olivia felt Elliot's hand on the small of her back in protest. Not only was it against protocol for her to enter the residence on this call alone, but Elliot honestly didn't feel that she needed to speak to this woman alone due to her own personal involvement in this case. Everything this woman did or didn't say was going to bring back memories of their own assault. Assuming this was the same attacker. He wasn't about to let her move forward on this one without him there beside her.

"Can I see your badges?" Erin asked through the chain.

Smart girl, Elliot thought as he passed his ID and badge to Olivia to show to the woman.

"I'm sorry. Its just that I am here alone and after….." she trailed off for a moment in silence. "This is New York. I don't let strangers into my home. But I guess you aren't really strangers at all, are you detectives?"

"If it would be more comfortable for you, you could come down to the station with us and give a statement there," Olivia suggested.

Erin took a deep breath. "No, it's okay. I have already made you come all of the way down here. Come on in." She closed the door and unlocked the chain, then opened the door again allowing them entrance.

Elliot and Olivia followed Erin into a small parlor area off the main living room. She sat in a chair across the room as they took each took a seat on the couch across from her.

"Where do I start?"

Elliot let Olivia take the lead on this one. She being the female officer most victims would offer up information to her that they wouldn't give to him. Olivia was sweet and understanding and polite when dealing with their rape victims. She formed a bond with them and did her best to make them feel safe and secure again. She was damn good at this part of the job. She was damn good at all of her job. Elliot dealt with victims, he had a way and could handle it. But most women after being assaulted would much rather speak to a female detective than a male detective.

"Why don you begin by telling us what exactly happened last night? You said you weren't sure if you were raped?"

"I know it sounds so stupid. I mean I either was or I wasn't, right?"

"Erin, sometimes things are more complicated than that. Can you tell me what happened?"

"My husband Seth and I have only been married a few weeks. We had our reception at the Biltmore. We go there sometimes with friends and have drinks. Last night we met up with some friends from Seth's work. He is in business law and their firm had just signed a new client. We had a few drinks, not too many. Then I started to get a headache. I started feeling dizzy and Seth got pretty tipsy. We decided just to get a room for the night instead of driving home. The strange part is that after I got a headache I switched to drinking soda. Somehow we both ended up completely wasted. I remember talking to a guy at the bar. Seth was talking to him and I thought they knew each other. The guy followed us back to our room. I don't even remember why. The man was talking to him. Instructing him. He gave Seth directions….how to have sex with me. What positions and where to touch and kiss me. And he watched. He sat across the room and watched, the entire time."

"Then he fixed Seth another drink and Seth passed out in a chair across the room. The next thing I know we were having sex in the bed." Erin paused for a moment. "You have to understand detectives, I would never cheat on my husband," she sobbed.

"Of course not," Olivia replied not sure what to say.

"Especially not with him there in the room. I love Seth. I don't even know how it happened. But I asked him to stop. He whispered into my ear that I was beautiful and he kissed me. He raised my hands over my head and whispered in my ear. He made me do things with him that I don't even do with my husband. Dirty things."

Erin was crying now and Elliot could see the tears welling in Olivia's eyes as well. He wasn't sure how she was holding herself together. Elliot stared at Olivia and wondered if this was making her remember any more about their night in the Biltmore Hotel.

"Is there anything else you can remember? What he looked like? Or how he smelled? Did he speak with an accent? Any tattoos or anything we might be able to use to help identify him with?" Elliot asked.

"Umm. I'm trying to think. He had dark hair and eyes. And he was taller than my husband. Seth is six two, so I would say…..six four or six five maybe. He was an attractive man and very confident. He seemed so comfortable with what he was doing. Like he felt he had that right or wasn't doing anything wrong. When I woke up in the morning he was gone and Seth was asleep in the arm chair. My purse had been dumped on the dresser. Seth's Rolex and my jewelry and some cash was missing."

"Erin, have you showered since the attack?" Olivia asked with heavy eyes.

"What?"

"I know this is personal and you have a million thoughts running through your head at the moment. But I need to know. If we get a rape kit done and can get DNA or other evidence from that, it could be our best chance at catching this guy."

"I can't. I have not even told Seth."

"Your husband doesn't know?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know for sure. We both woke up really hung over. I tried to talk to him about last night, I could only remember little fragments of things that happened. He didn't act like he remembered anything. He was hung over, he took a shower and went to work. I sat here, but the more I thought about it the more I honestly felt that this really happened. It all kind of seems like a dream now, but it was real. I was there and so was that man. I know it was real because of the condoms."

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked her.

"I found condoms in the trash can back at the hotel room. I'm on the pill, Seth and I don't use condoms."

Elliot looked at Olivia as his eyes widened.

"I have got to get CSI down to that room. Do you remember the room number, Erin?"

"Room number 210."

"Will you excuse me for a moment?"

Erin nodded her head as Elliot moved quickly to the foyer and called Cragen.

"Erin, this did happen. Everything you remember was real. You felt bad this morning because you were probably drugged last night. I would really like to take you in and get a rape kit and some blood samples. We will know more after that."

"I don't know," she shook her head.

"Erin, I know this is all a little much right now. But after today, after you shower it will be too late." Olivia paused for a moment. She almost couldn't believe she was trying to pressure Erin into this, but she was desperate to find the truth. "It is up to you. But I can go with you if you want and sit with you through the entire examine. We can even contact Seth and help you find a way to tell him. Erin, you were raped last night."

"Seth needs to know," she whispered softly. "I have no idea what to even say to him."

Olivia placed her hand on top of Erin's.

"We can take this one step at a time, together. I am not going to make you face this alone. But you should both be tested to see if there are drugs in your system. And I am sure if you were both drugged, Seth is probably a little confused about the events that took place last night as well."

Erin nodded her head as Elliot stepped back into the room. Erin stepped into the other room to get her keys.

"Cragen is sending a team over to clean the room. Lucky for us the regular maid called in to work this morning and they are running behind. The room has not even been opened since they left this morning."

"I told her I would sit with her through the examine at the hospital. I don't think she should go through this alone. From what she says I think this is our guy."

"Do you remember anything else?"

"No, but everything she described Elliot, it is exactly detail for detail the way it happened to us."

Elliot raised his hand and brushed his thumb across her face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just really want to help her. She needs to know and so do I. I was thinking while I am at the hospital with her maybe you could go talk to the husband. Sit him down for a little man to man. Explain this to him."

"Man, he's going to flip out. I have to tell this man that someone raped his wife while he was ten feet away from her asleep in a chair."

Elliot stared into her eyes for a moment. There was more he wanted to ask her about the night their son was conceived, but they were interrupted when Erin walked back into the room. This was neither the time or the place for them to discuss that night.

Elliot dropped Erin and Olivia off at the hospital then headed across town to speak with Erin's husband Seth. He walked along the sidewalk in front of Seth's office building as they spoke. Seth had a few blurry memories of the night before, but none of them included his wife having sex with another man.

Elliot told him what happened, all of what happened. Seth choked for a moment. He couldn't believe that he had been right there in the room and didn't protect Erin. Worst of all, he was the one who let the man into their room. Elliot gave him a few moments to gather his thoughts and regain control over his emotions then he drove Seth across town to meet up with Erin and Olivia at the hospital. When the examine was finished and blood samples had been taken from Seth and Erin Davis, Elliot and Olivia drove them home. Olivia handed Erin her business card and told her to call her if she ever needed someone to talk to. They sat in the car and watched until Seth and Erin were safely inside, then headed back to the precinct.

In the locker room that evening before going home Elliot caught Olivia alone for a moment. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, holding her for a moment. He kissed her tenderly then stared into her eyes.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"I just know how hard this case must be on you. Bringing up old memories. Not knowing the answers to so many questions about that night."

"Elliot, the only thing that I do know about that night was that we had sex. And at some point during that sex, our son was conceived. And that is all I need to know," she said softly with tired eyes as she pulled her purse strap over her shoulder.

"It's hard not knowing. As much as you don't want to, you still need to. Liv, there is nothing wrong with that."

"It is just so hard. I look at her and I see me. All of those months ago, lost with no answers. And I think how we got lucky. I got lucky. I was so close…."

Elliot brushed his thumb over her lips as a tear fell from her eyes.

"Olivia, look at me."

She shifted her eyes to meet his.

"Baby, are you sure that was everything that happened that night?"

She just stared into him, spilling her tears down both cheeks.

"Liv, did he rape you?"

"No," she said softly as she shook her head.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

Elliot moved closer and held her tight in his arms, just breathing her in and letting her surround him. He wasn't sure what had stopped this monster from raping Olivia, like he had done Erin Davis, but he thanked God it did.