I'm trying so hard to get back on a weekly schedule, but it looks like for now biweekly is more realistic. I'm moving TWICE this week (yay for being a nomad) and then I'm out of town next weekend, so it will probably be two weeks again before another chapter. After that I'll have a permanent place to live and should be able to write more regularly. I have big plans for the next couple of chapters. :) Thank you so much for all of your patience!
"Noah and the girls get off okay?" Rollins asked when Olivia and Barba walked into the squad room.
"Yeah, they're good. Thanks." Olivia answered eyeing all of her detectives who were tapping away at their computers. "TARU said we're good?"
Rollins nodded. "They claim after the last time they bumped up our security protocols. Plus once I told them Willard may be involved they said they'd have someone monitoring our network 24/7."
"What about our phones?"
"Phones should be okay when we're on the precinct network, but once we're outside they're vulnerable and they can be tracked no matter where we are."
"Okay." Olivia nodded as she processed the information. "It's probably best to stick to the radios or burners outside of the station. Use your phones if you absolutely have to, but be careful what you say."
She took a breath, shifting gears. "So, we got a hit on the prints?"
"Yeah, we've gotten a few actually, but were able to rule them out as students who were guests at Julian's party last week." Fin explained. "But this guy wasn't on the invite list." He turned his computer monitor so that Olivia could see the screen.
"Santiago Castillo." Olivia read out loud.
"Low level BX9er." Carisi said from behind his desk. "Been popped a few times for misdemeanors, drug possession, menacing. Doesn't seem like he's been a part of anything major, but his brother Miguel was one of the guys we arrested for the Avery Capshaw assault."
"Makes sense. BX9 has had it out for you for awhile." Amanda directed at Rafael. "Add in the fact that this kid's pissed that you locked up his brother and wants a way to prove he can run with the big boys…"
"But wait," Olivia held up a hand. "Why kill Swain? Plus Carlos Hernandez and Miguel are both in Rikers. Willard is at Green Haven."
"Maybe Swain pissed Willard off? And he has to have someone on the outside doing his bidding." Rafael added.
"All the stuff he knew, it probably wasn't hard to find out we arrested Heredio for threatening Barba." Fin leaned back in his chair. "Willard just has to tell his errand boy, and then he makes the contact."
"I buy that." Olivia said. "Fin and Carisi, track down Santiago and bring him in. Rollins, get all of Willard's visitor logs. Maybe someone from Attention Inc has paid him a visit. Any of his former employees would probably have the skills to do the hacking that he needed." She turned to Rafael. "Think we have enough to charge Santiago with killing Swain?"
"Where'd they find the prints?" Rafael asked Fin.
"On the kitchen island, faucet knob, the front door knob."
"Not on the knife?" Rafael knew that was asking for too much.
"No, it was too smudged, all that blood smeared on the handle."
Rafael shook his head. "Puts him at the scene, but it's flimsy. It'd probably be better if…" He stopped himself. "Well, you should ask Danielle, I guess. I know what I would do, but that doesn't really matter, does it?"
Olivia nodded. She'd actually completely forgotten that he wasn't on the case anymore, she was so used to bouncing things off of him. She would keep him looped in, ask for his input, because he was a part of this no matter what, but going with his strategy and not even consulting ADA DiCarlo would be stepping on toes. She hated it, but playing the political game was a part of her job just as much as solving cases.
She turned to Carisi and Fin. "Go pick him up. I'll call DiCarlo."
She turned toward her office to do just that while Carisi and Fin headed out to Santiago's last known address, leaving Rafael standing there awkwardly while Rollins began the process of requesting Willard's visitor logs.
"Let me know when you get the records." Rafael finally said after an awkward moment. "I'll help you go through them."
"And when you find the name of the person helping with this in the log and then it gets tossed because you weren't supposed to be on the case, then what?" Rollins asked not unkindly. "You know I can't let you do that."
Rafael nodded, resigned. He picked his briefcase from where he'd sat it on the corner of Carisi's desk and made his way upstairs.
He still had the Wexler Tech motions hearing on Monday, but it would be hard to get much work done without his laptop or access to his law books, which were in his office.
He sat on the uncomfortable metal chair anyway, not sure what else to do. The small space was too quiet without Carmen tapping away at her keyboard. Even the phone was silent this late on a Friday afternoon.
Sighing, he pulled the case file from his briefcase, deciding it couldn't hurt to read through it yet one more time. He was almost through it for the second time when he heard the sound of Olivia's boots on the stairs. He leaned into her touch when she placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging the tense muscles that she found there.
"Carisi and Fin haven't had any luck tracking down Santiago. We have a BOLO out on him, but there's not much we can do until we find him. And of course since it's Friday night Green Haven is taking their sweet time with the visitor logs, so I sent Amanda home." She slid her hands down over his chest, wrapping her arms around him and placing a soft kiss near his ear. "How about that hotel?"
"God, yes." The thought of getting out of this godforsaken precinct and crawling into bed, shutting out everything they were up against and having a quiet night just the two of them sounded heavenly.
Dreams of plush pillows and room service went out the window when they arrived at the hotel the NYPD had booked for them. The lobby was drab and dated, and pastries that had been put out that morning sat drying next to a dilapidated coffee machine on a counter off to the side of the room. Their complimentary breakfast, he assumed.
The young man at the desk wore an ill-fitting suit, but was trying his best to provide top notch customer service despite his lackluster surroundings. "And here you are," he was saying once Rafael finished his assessment and returned to paying attention. "Enjoy your stay with us Mr. and Mrs. Garcia."
"Thank you." Olivia took the keys from his outstretched hand and turned toward the elevator.
"Garcia?" Rafael asked, adjusting his bag on his shoulder as they waited for the elevator to arrive. If it was in the same condition as the rest of the place, they'd probably be waiting awhile. "So, not only does your department book us in this ramshackle hotel, but they're also kind of racist."
"It's not ramshackle." Olivia chose the easier of the two points to argue as the elevator finally arrived. Rafael was pretty sure it groaned as it came to a stop. "It's just not been updated in awhile."
"Ooh, penthouse." He said sarcastically when she hit the button for the twelfth floor. "All I'm saying is that you'd think one of their most esteemed Lieutenants would warrant a nicer hotel than the one they use for honey traps."
She wanted to argue that they'd never used this hotel for a honey trap, but couldn't say so with certainty so she didn't. "It's the weekend in New York and the weather is nice. Options were limited."
The elevator finally stopped on their floor and Olivia was happy to make it to their room without anymore commentary on the state of the hotel. She was relieved to find that the room was clean and had actually been updated within the last decade. "This isn't so bad."
Rafael didn't say anything, just pulled back the covers on both double beds, squinting at the fabric.
"What are you doing?"
"Bed bug check." His tone matter of fact. She rolled her eyes, but was also kind of glad he was checking. When he was finished with his inspection he looked up at her. "Seems to be fine."
"Good." She put her hands on his shoulders. "Now, I'll agree with you that this isn't the Plaza, but it is a perfectly acceptable hotel and I will say it has some great perks."
"Like what?" Rafael smirked. "The stale danish buffet downstairs?"
"No, like that your girlfriend is here, our phones are off, and no one knows where we are, especially the gang member who is trying to kill you on behalf of a convicted murderer."
"Well, when you put it like that." He placed a kiss on her lips. "I suppose I can forego room service."
"I appreciate your sacrifice." Her tone was serious, but there was a glint in her eye.
"You think you're so funny." Rafael tickled her side, wrapping his arms around her when she tried to pull away.
"Actually, I know I'm funny." She laughed, but it was cut off by his lips on hers, his fingers threading through her hair. She pulled the knot loose from his tie, tossing the smooth material to the side as she parted her lips to let their tongues intertwine. She'd just slid his suspenders from his shoulders when a ringing sound came from her bag on the floor. It was a digital version of a Mozart song that Rafael hadn't heard in years. Her burner phone.
He tried not to panic as she dug through her bag, but his mother, Carmen, and Lucy had been given strict instructions not to call unless it was an emergency.
"Benson." She answered. "Agent Foraker. No, it's fine. Okay. Okay. Thanks. You too." She let out a sigh as she flipped the phone closed. "Just the evening check in. They made it to the safe house and everything is good so far."
Rafael breathed a sigh of relief. "I've developed a Pavlovian response to just feel dread anytime your phone rings."
She gave a wry laugh. "I developed that years ago."
He shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the door. "I really don't know how you've done it for this long, you and Fin."
Olivia shrugged. "I can't speak for Fin, but I can't imagine doing anything else." She took a deep breath. "I'm starving, how about you?"
"Famished."
They ordered Chinese food -which Rafael presented to her with a flourish, "Your dinner, Mrs. Garcia,"- using their fake name and cash, and they ate it while watching bad reality television.
"So wait, she's the one with the make-up line?" Rafael asked, waving his chopsticks in the air.
"No, she designs the jeans." Olivia explained before biting into an egg roll.
"I don't get why everyone hates on them so much." He said around a mouthful of chicken. "They seem like smart business women. I mean, it's not their fault that America made them famous, but they're brilliant for capitalizing on it."
He never ceased to amaze her. If you would have told her years ago that the cocky, buttoned up lawyer in the three piece suit that she'd met that first day would be sitting here with her, crossed legged on a 3 star hotel bed eating Chinese food and defending the Kardashians, she never would have believed it.
"What?" He asked when he noticed her staring.
"Just thinking about how we got here."
"Hiding out from a mad man? My guess is Willard's mother didn't love him enough."
Olivia let out a short laugh. "Not exactly what I meant., but you're not wrong."
Later that night, curled up against one another, Rafael thought about how perfectly she fit up against him, how no matter what evil lurked in their lives that he was happy and grateful to have her here with him. She was the one thing he could count on even when everything else was being ripped apart.
"Move in with me." He whispered into her hair.
"What?" She leaned her head back so she could look at him, eyes searching his to see if he was serious.
Rafael smiled. "Move in with me. When this is all over."
Olivia sat up. "Are you sure we're ready for that?"
"I stay at your place almost every night anyway. Why not make it official?"
"You only have one bedroom. And there's no way we're fitting your full wardrobe into my closet."
He shrugged. "So, we'll find a new place. My apartment has gone way up in value since I bought it. We should be able to find something that will be good for the three of us."
She loved him more than anything, wanted nothing more than to wake up next to him every morning and come home to him each night, but she had more than just herself to think about. "I don't know. If we move in together and it doesn't work out, I don't know what that would do to Noah."
"You don't think it will work out?" He'd been pessimistic about love and relationships for most of his life, never really having seen a good example of one that worked out, but that had begun to change. He couldn't imagine his life without Olivia and Noah. When he looked to the future, it didn't freak him out like it had in past relationships. Instead, he pictured it plain as day, raising Noah, dropping him off at college, dancing at his wedding. Growing old with Olivia Benson was the only future that seemed worth having.
"I believe in us, I do, but there are no guarantees." Olivia wanted more than anything to believe that this was it, the real deal, but she'd thought that before and look what had happened.
"Exactly. And if this entire fucked up mess we're in has taught me one thing, it's that we never know what's going to happen, especially in our line of work. Why wait?"
Before she could answer, her burner phone started buzzing on the nightstand. A glance at the clock told him that it was too late for it to be anything routine.
Olivia took a deep breath before answering. "Benson."
"You're a tough woman to get a hold of, Lieutenant." A gruff voice, thick with a Brooklyn accent, said in her ear. "Sergeant Marotta outta the 78th here in Park Slope. My guys picked up Santiago Castillo on drug and weapons charges, saw your BOLO."
"And you still have him in custody?" Olivia asked, throwing back the blanket and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Rafael propped himself up on an elbow, looking at her curiously.
"Yeah, got 'im in our holding cell waiting to be processed."
She held the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she put on her pants. "Can you have him transported to the 16th? I'll meet your officers there."
"Now, hold on-"
"Look, murder trumps drugs. Let the DA's have their pissing match over who gets him and when later, but I need him in my squad room tonight." She slammed the phone closed, realizing that she'd missed being able to do that. "Another precinct picked up Castillo." She told Rafael.
"Give me two minutes." He jumped up, reaching for his bag.
"You should just stay here. You can't be in on the interrogation anyway."
He gave her a look that said she was nuts if she thought he wasn't coming with her, continuing to pull clothes out of his bag. "This bastard killed Ashtonja. I'm going to be there when he's questioned."
"Fine, but observation only. You know if you interfere in any way it will hurt the case." She opened the phone again, scrolling to find the number of her detective's burner. "Carisi? Yeah, I need you to meet me at the precinct. Castillo is on his way in. No, we'll call her in if we need her. No reason to wake up Jesse if we don't have to. Thanks."
By the time she hung up, Rafael was dressed in dark jeans, a navy polo, and a black blazer. He finished slipping on his shoes. "Let's go."
Rafael stood in front of the window in Olivia's office, arms crossed, jaw clenched, green eyes filled with contempt as he focused on the scene in the interrogation room. It killed him that he couldn't be involved in any way. He hated having no control over the situation, no say in what direction the case took.
Olivia and Carisi were both in the room, but his eyes stayed on Santiago Castillo. He sat slouched in the metal chair, arms crossed, bored look on his face. He couldn't be more than 20 years old.
It was hard to look at this kid and imagine him capable of slicing the throats of two people. Was this the last person Ashtonja had seen before she died? He'd done his best to put her out of his mind the last couple of days, not because he didn't care, but purely for self preservation.
He knew the detectives had spoken with her grandmother, but he hadn't had the courage to. Not yet. Maybe when this was over, when the people responsible were punished, he'd be able to face her. Or maybe he shouldn't bother her. He'd taken her daughter from her and now her granddaughter. It was more likely than not that she'd slam the door in his face and rightfully so.
He shook his head, shoving the thoughts back to the corner of his mind where they'd been.
"We know you were in Julian Malone's apartment, Santiago." Carisi was saying. "We found your prints. What were you doing there?"
Santiago shrugged, keeping his mouth shut.
"Look," Olivia tried a different tactic. "We know that this is bigger than you. Tell us who gave you the order and we can probably work out a deal for you."
"Don't know what you're talkin' about, lady. Nobody ordered me to do nothin'."
"This our guy?" ADA DiCarlo asked, stepping into Olivia's office and joining Rafael at the window. He liked and respected Danielle, but he hated that she needed to be here.
"Seems like it." He didn't take his eyes from the window.
"If you don't talk you're going down alone for this. Two murders all on you. But if that's the way you want this to go down, fine." Carisi kept his tone carefree. "Case is closed for us either way, so it's really no skin off our backs."
Santiago seemed to be considering his options when the door leading to the hallway flung open. "My client is done talking."
"Dammit." Barba mumbled as a defense attorney he'd never seen before strode into the room. BX9 must have obtained new counsel since the last time they'd dealt with them. This one looked sleazier than most, tall and thin with his hair slicked back.
"I would have been here sooner, but with you moving my client from borough to borough without informing me, makes it kind of hard."
"He never asked for a lawyer." Olivia stood. "So we didn't know to inform you."
"Well, he has one now and I'd like to speak to him alone."
"We almost had him." Carisi said coming through the door into Olivia's office, the Lieutenant behind him. "He'll never talk once the greaseball in there reminds him of the company line."
Olivia looked over at Rafael and Danielle. "Can we hold him on the homicides?"
"The fingerprints aren't eno-" Rafael stopped himself. "Oh, sorry, you were asking her."
Olivia sent him an apologetic look as Danielle started to speak. "As Mr. Barba was saying, the fingerprints in the apartment aren't enough, especially since Mr. Malone had a party and can't verify with certainty all of the guests who attended. If the prints were on the knife or body, it'd be another story, but…" She shrugged.
"So we just let him go?" Carisi shook his head.
"Give him back to Brooklyn for now. He'll get booked on the drug and weapons charges and then he'll be off the street."
"Until he makes bail and is in the wind." Rafael added.
"I'll speak to the Brooklyn ADA on the case, make sure they tell the judge about the murders, fight for remand." Danielle offered.
Carisi scoffed. "Which the judge won't give since we aren't charging him, our case is in no way related to the other charges, his criminal history is relatively minor…"
The beginnings of a headache started to throb behind Olivia's eyes. Maybe the one thing worse than dealing with an uncooperative suspect was being in a room with three lawyers who couldn't agree.
"Unless they're willing to deal." Danielle gestured toward the interrogation room where Santiago was listening intently to whatever his lawyer was spouting. "It's our only option. At least it's Friday. That gives you the weekend to find something to make the charges stick."
A moment later the lawyer tapped on the glass and Olivia and Carisi rejoined them, neither bothering to sit. They knew where this was going.
"Unless you're going to charge my client, we're done here."
"We aren't charging him with the murders. Yet. But your client isn't just walking out of here. He's getting a ride back to Brooklyn." Olivia informed him.
"You're kidding me with this. You can't just ship him back and forth between jurisdictions when you don't get your way."
"He was arrested selling oxy and he had a gun on him. Brooklyn wants their shot at him." Carisi gave his best, "what can you do" shrug.
The lawyer seethed. "Fine, I'll take him myself."
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Olivia stepped forward. "We'll have some uniforms take him. You can meet him there if you want, but he's not getting arraigned until Monday morning."
Given all of the setbacks they'd had during this case, it gave Olivia a little bit of satisfaction to piss the lawyer off. It was petty, but she'd take a win where she could get it.
She sent Carisi to arrange Castillo's transport and told him to go home when he was done, there wasn't anything more to be done tonight, then joined Rafael and Danielle in her office. It seemed like the two of them hadn't said a word since she'd walked out.
"I'll find out who's assigned to the case first thing tomorrow and give them a call." Danielle stood from her perch in one of Olivia's visitor's chairs. "I'm available all weekend, call if you need anything."
"Thank you." Olivia said, bidding the ADA a good night. "Comfy?" She turned to Rafael who sat in her chair, looking quite at home there.
"Just needed her to know that this is still my turf." He said petulantly.
She rolled her eyes, but still chuckled. "I think she knows. Weren't you the one singing her praises back during the Martin case? I know it's not ideal, but at least she's competent. You should be nicer to her."
Rafael knew she was right. It wasn't Danielle's fault that they were in this position, but he still didn't like it. "Now what?" He asked, not willing to admit to any wrongdoing.
"I'm going to call the warden at home tomorrow if I have to. After that debacle with Yates and Rudnick, she owes us. The least she can do is get us those visitor logs. But there's nothing more we can do tonight."
"So, back to the Ritz?" He stood, offering her a half grin.
"It's really not that bad." She laughed.
"The next trip we go on I'll book the hotel and you'll see just how wrong you are about that."
"I look forward to it."
"After you, Mrs. Garcia." He gestured chivalrously at the open door.
"Thank you, Mr. Garcia." Olivia gave him a quick kiss on her way past him. He followed her through the door, closing it behind them and sending a quick plea into the universe that they'd make it through the night without another body showing up.