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Chapter 10
Munch nodded to the officer on guard, who shut the door behind them as they left Tracey Rudnick's room.
"Fuck, man." Fin was vibrating with anger. When they first arrived, Tracey had remembered that she was going to give them a name, but had strangely forgotten the actual name. Fin had stood there, silent, with his hands making tight fists. Munch wasn't sure if he had been going to hit the woman or collapse into tears. Fortunately she came up with the name again soon enough, and they could leave without seeing which option he would choose. Fin continued, "The woman's fried out of her fricken mind!"
Munch for the most part ignored his partner's outburst. "At least we have a name." Joe. Joe, you son-of-a-bitch--you're going down.
"Much good that'll do us! No judge or lawyer with half a brain would let testimony in from someone half as stoned as she appears to be! Seriously, man ---"
"Would you stop treating this like a normal case?" Munch spun around, shouting in Fin's shocked face. "It's not! If you hadn't noticed, that was Liv on that tape! I don't care what those shysters let in and what they don't! I didn't see one of their own tied up in that fuckhead's basement, and I don't see them out here trying to bring her back alive!" He swiveled on his heel, continuing on his way.
Fin was speechless. "Damn." He's right! What the hell am I thinking? He hurried after Munch. He caught up with him at the second floor nurses' station.
Munch was having difficulty in catching someone's attention. "I know we're in the midst of a nursing shortage, but it shouldn't be this god-damn hard to get help, " he said quietly so only Fin could hear. Finally a red-headed nurse looked up and asked what they needed. Munch smiled casually and held up his badge, "Room 203 needs to have her morphine supply cut back."
The nurse thanked him, and went to check on the patient. Munch and Fin made their way back to the elevators. As the doors slid shut, and they began their descent, Munch turned to Fin. "Besides, this is now a federal case."
Fin didn't catch on immediately. "What are you talkin' 'bout?"
Munch smiled. "They don't play by the book. I don't think they even have a book. If they did, they probably banned it and set it on fire."
x x x x x x x x x x x
Olivia awoke with a start. Emmy was still asleep on her shoulder. She gently lifted the girl's head and laid it softly on the floor. Her shoulder was killing her. Blinking into the darkness, she wondered what time it was. Or for that matter--what day it was.
She hoped someone had got her clues. Elliot was a long shot, but she knew it was likely that Munch would suspect something.
A loud thump echoed off the walls. She looked down at Emmy, but the soft, rhythmic breathing told her she was still asleep. Curious, Liv crawled forward on her hands and knees towards hopefully the direction of the door, suppressing groans as she went.
Disoriented by the complete darkness, she was unable to determine distance and subsequently bumped her head against the door, setting off another loud echo.
"Fuck!" Liv sat back rubbing her head before leaning forward again to try and hear. She was completely unaware of the fact that Joe, deciding to check out what had made the noise, was about to throw open the door right into her face.
"Aww, fuck!" Liv cried as she was flung backwards by the force.
Joe stepped forward into the dark room. "Well, now: up so soon? You must be ready for round two." He grabbed her by the ankle and drug her through the door. Liv flung her arms out and braced herself against the walls, stopping herself.
He tried to yank her across the threshold, but she held firm. He smirked evilly, "If you don't let go, I will make you, Detective Benson."
Seeing that she still refused to budge, he placed one foot on her abdomen nudging a bruised rib. Gasping in pain, Olivia released her grip and pretended to pass out.
"Thank you."
Hearing the incident unfold, Joe's accomplice came crashing down the stairs.
"Joe! What the hell are you doing?"
Joe dropped Liv's leg and grabbed the chair. "Get the video camera. We're going on ahead of schedule."
"But, Joe! Jesus...give her a break! Haven't we put her through enough yet?"
"Lennie--NOW!" Joe picked up Olivia's gun from the table.
Lennie hesitantly followed instructions. "Chuck wasn't worth all of this, you know," he murmured quietly.
Joe held up the gun, pointing it at Lennie. "Don't make me shoot you! He was a great friend to you, even when you didn't fuckin' deserve it and he was closer to me than my own fuckin' brother. I used to wish he had been and that my fucktard of a brother had only been my cousin. But if you don't fuckin' understand that, then you're of no use to me!"
Lennie held up his hands. "I'm sorry, Joe. I understand. Don't worry. I'll set it up."
As Lennie scurried about getting it ready, Joe lowered the gun.
Olivia laid motionless on the floor, smiling to herself on the inside. She was more than ready.
x x x x x x x x x x x
Munch and Fin stepped into a mad house. All of the case files they had printed off were now strewn about their desks with FBI agents pouring over them, quickly flipping from one sheet to the next.
Elliot stood at the side of either Agent Collins or Meyer, Munch couldn't remember which one it was. His hand was placed on the back of his chair and he was watching as the man did something on his computer.
Cragen was standing in the center of the room, watching over the proceedings with a glazed look to his eyes.
"East Orange in Jersey!" Elliot shouted out.
The two newcomers turned to see Agent Peterson write it down on the board.
"No, wait! Scratch that one. Not close enough to the train tracks."
Peterson drew a line through her writing. Fin didn't move an inch, but Munch glanced at Elliot, then Peterson, and back to Elliot. He opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head as he thought better of it. Instead he addressed Cragen, "We miss something here?"
Cragen looked a bit lost, but knew enough to answer him. "Elliot and Agent Peterson discovered that Benson secretly told us her location. So, we're coming up with possible cities within the two states."
"Secret message, huh?" Munch turned to Fin, with an 'I-told-you-so' smirk on his face. That's my girl!
Fin shrugged in response. "What are these goons doin', then?" he said as he pointed to the agents shifting through the files.
"They're narrowing the list."
Fin looked at Cragen. "How?"
Peterson answered his question without looking away from the board. "They're getting rid of the ones who are neither married nor have kids. We're only keeping those with lighter-colored skin. Oh, and they're also checking to see if any of them were from any of the areas listed up here."
Munch narrowed his eyes, remembering what he had told Fin before their little jaunt to the hospital. "Aren't you assuming an awful lot? The guy could have been speaking metaphorically! Or, or ---" He stumbled, trying to remember his earlier points.
"I know what you're getting at, Detective Munch, and I agree with you whole-heartedly. But honestly, its time to stop pussy-footing around and start making assumptions. We've run out of options. So far, all we have to go on is Detective Benson herself." Peterson glanced back at Elliot who had shouted out another city, and turned to write it down. "What did the vic have for you?"
Fin grunted, smacking his hand on the table. "Too much drugs."
Munch rolled his eyes. "My partner is referring to the fact that, in a not-so-rare moment of negligence, the hospital staff provided our witness with more pain meds than she possibly needed. But she, after much struggle, remembered someone calling the guy Joe."
Peterson's eyes lit up with hope. "Joe, huh?"
Fin watched in disbelief. "You're not...you're not..."
"Not what?" Peterson stopped her writing and turned to him.
Fin shifted his weight, squirming under the stares from the entire team, including Munch. "Well, you're not worried about her reliability as a, uh, witness---that her, uh, testimony or, err, memory is, uh, corrupted?"
"Well, how affected was she?" Peterson asked, a weird grin on her face.
"Just a little dazed and confused. Little fuzzy, perhaps." Munch answered for him.
"So she was buzzed?" Seeing Fin nod, Peterson laughed a little. "Don't worry, Detective. I'd still take it even if she were passed out on the floor and sleep-talking." She turned back to the board.
Munch turned to Fin. "See? Like I said: No book."
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