TITLE: Law & Order: SVU – The Fill In
AUTHOR: D M Harper.
SUMMARY: Sometimes letting go only takes one step in the right direction.
PAIRING: Olivia Benson & Original Female Character
RATING: M for mature content.
DISCLAIMER: This story is the work of an over imaginative mind and the basic wish of many gay women who watch and enjoy certain television shows, to see a little v-vroom between two female characters. I like to dabble with the subtext and do so for fun and not for profit. There is no intent to infringe on the copyright of Wolf Studio or USA Television. This entertainment does feature consensual sexual interaction between two females, so if you are underage or unable to view due to restrictions in your part of the world, be gone with you and take my sympathy with you. If you find such material offensive, too bad, so sad, you chose to enter this web site of your own free will, hence you have no one to whine to expect yourself – now bugger off!
A/N: Much appreciation to those who have reviewed. If you haven't, please do so and feed the Muse!
Chapter 14
Olivia and Elliot met at the crime scene and found Medical Examiner Melinda Warner crouched down examining the body of a small girl.
The child was naked, bruised and bloodied.
A burly uniformed Officer approached the two Detectives from behind the cordoned off section, "Stabler, Benson," he pointed towards an elderly man holding the leash of a white terrier. "Mr Joyner was walking his dog when he noticed the girl's leg sticking out from under the bushes. The area has been canvassed and we've come up with no witnesses."
Olivia wrote down the information and went to talk to Mr Joyner.
"Hello sir, my name is Olivia Benson and I'm a Detective with the 16th Precinct. Can you tell me what happened?"
The slightly built, grey haired man in his late sixties took his time to recount his movements and discovery.
Olivia took more notes and was glad to avoid hearing all the details from Melinda.
The CSU arrived on the scene and began their arduous task of processing the area and dump site.
Olivia joined Elliot and Melinda and was sadden to be informed the child had been deceased since earlier that day.
"Can you hazard a guess at a time Doc?" asked Elliot.
"I'd say around eight, eight thirty. I'll know more once I get her back to the morgue."
"Thanks Doc."
Olivia inquired, "Any signs of sexual assault Melinda?"
"Yes and I'll cross reference her DNA to see if she matches the description of any missing children on the national database."
"Shit I hate these cases," Olivia muttered.
"I'll put a rush on this one for you Detectives."
"Appreciate that, talk to you later," said Elliot as he turned to Olivia, "I'll take some photos and we can make a start on checking the database."
"All right El." Olivia retrieved her cell phone and swore when she discovered the battery was flat, "Son of a bitch."
Elliot scowled at her, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, my phone's dead. I'll meet you back at the house."
"You better put the coffee on Liv."
Olivia walked to her car and set her cell up with the recharger. Her spirits lifted when she heard the missed call notification. Retrieving the message, her heart sank when she played it. She tried to call Nicole back, but her phone was turned off again, so she left a message: "Sweetie, please call me. It wasn't what you think. It was a goodbye kiss between friends, that's all. We made our peace and Alex was just leaving. I wouldn't betray you Nic, please talk to me. I'm on the way to the Station, see you there."
She was crying when she started the engine and continued to weep for the murdered child and for the pain she knew Nicole was going through.
-o-
The two SVU Detectives attended Warner's office at eleven to confirm details of the victim's identity. Olivia had located her photo on the computer as five year old Tracey Ann Moore. The girl had been abducted from her home in Tampa two weeks earlier and there had been no leads on her location from local authorities.
Olivia and Elliot returned to the one-six and Olivia was surprised to see Captain Malcolm Stevenson in the Squadroom instead of Nicole.
Elliot filled him in on the case and explained where they were at.
"Captain Bracken was unable to attend, so as the emergency, here I am," explained Stevenson.
He made the notification call to the Tampa Police and a Captain Smith called him back thirty minutes later to inform him arrangements had been made for the parents to arrive at La Guardia at eleven-thirty in the morning. Stevenson notified the Detectives that Tampa Police were faxing through the file A-SAP.
Olivia ran to the fax machine and collected the pages as they were printed.
Elliot handed her a folder and the duo took turns to read the data before handing it to Stevenson.
-o-
Doctor Warner called Elliot at ten past two in the morning, "Hey Elliot, if you can find me a suspect, I've got the bastard's DNA. He wasn't as careful as we thought. I lifted two flakes of dandruff from the vic's hair."
"Fantastic find and well done Doc. We will try to find you someone for comparison."
"When you do, kick his sorry ass for me, he was brutal. The poor girl was ripped to pieces internally."
"What was the cause of death Doc?"
"She bled out Elliot, the animal just left her there to die."
"Jesus, sounds like it is time to call George in to work up a profile on the sick son of a bitch."
"Well, you may as well wake him up too," replied Melinda.
"Thanks for the call Doc."
"Bye Elliot."
Elliot closed his phone then turned to his partner, "Hey, did the guys in Tampa have any suspects?"
Olivia picked up the last sheets of paper emerging from the fax and rifled through them, "No El, they had nothing to go on, no trace or physical evidence found at the abduction site. There were no witnesses as she was taken from her bed during the middle of the night."
"Liv, he just didn't randomly pick her house and take her."
"I agree, so he had to have either staked the place out after following her home at some stage or be known to the family. I'm just about to start reading the interviews."
"All right," announced Stevenson. "I'll call George. We need a profile on this guy as soon as possible and he may be able to pick up something from the interviews that was overlooked in Tampa."
"I'll call the lead Detective from Tampa and have him fax over any other material they may have."
"No worries Elliot," acknowledged Stevenson.
"Is everyone hungry?" asked Elliot.
"Yeah, I missed dinner," replied Olivia.
"I did too," answered Stevenson.
"In that case I'll order in from the all-night deli."
"Thanks," came the collective reply.
-o-
Nicole had consumed six bottles of water and was in the living room by the time she heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel drive. She stood up and went to the front door. Opening it, she smiled widely as her friend closed the driver's door of the silver E-Class Mercedes Saloon and carried a travel bag up the stairs.
"You didn't have to do this," said Nicole before hugging her five foot ten, dark haired chevalière in shining armour.
"I know, but it is time you and I got together. I've missed you."
"I hope you are staying the night?"
"That's what the bag is for Nicole. You have plenty of time to tell me all about what is going on."
"God you look good," commented Nicole as her friend walked into the house.
"Considering you are plastered, you don't look so bad yourself and you better not hog the covers in bed."
"Bed?" queried Nicole with a raised left eyebrow.
"Hey, I didn't drive up all this way not to sleep with you."
"Say what?"
"For payment as your Psychiatrist, I expect some kind of bonus."
Nicole burst out laughing, "Okay then, I'll see what I can muster up."
The two friends talked until three in the morning before going to bed in the guest room.
-o-
Olivia and Elliot took a much needed break at four o'clock after listening to George's assessment of the perp. The FBI Agent had discounted all males interviewed by Tampa Police and all had strong alibis as well as not fitting the profile.
Sipping on a mug of green tea, Olivia reached for one of Nicole's cookies on the desk.
Detective Geoffrey Stone from Tampa Police Department was chaperoning the Moores and would make the formal identification when they arrived later that day.
Elliot had volunteered to pick them up from the airport and as he looked across his desk to his partner, suggested, "Go home Liv and grab a shower and some fresh clothes. We are going to be at this one for a while. Once you get back, I'll go check on Kathy and the kids."
Standing up, Olivia agreed, "That sounds really good to me."
"Have you spoken to Nicole yet?"
"No, she turned off her phone."
"Ahh, obviously she doesn't want to talk yet."
"I guess so. I'll be back as soon as I can."
-o-
Olivia was sitting at her desk eating a sandwich when Elliot, Detective Stone and the Moores walked into the Squadroom. Getting out of her chair, she introduced herself to the barrel-chested Detective in his mid-forties with greying black hair then turned to the noticeably grief stricken parents, "Mr and Mrs Moore, I am truly sorry for your loss."
"Thank you Detective," replied a medium height, slim built sandy haired man in his early thirties.
Elliot offered them coffee and cookies before taking them into the Interview Room adjacent to the Captain's Office.
Captain Stevenson joined them and Casey came rushing through the doorway dressed in a softball uniform.
"Sorry I wasn't here earlier Liv, but the game went into a tenth innings before I checked my phone for messages," explained the ADA.
"Don't sweat it; the Moores and Detective Stone just arrived."
"All right, have you patched matters up with Nicole?"
"No."
"Serena said Nicole is fairly pig headed when upset and it usually takes her a couple of days to resurface."
"I know all about her habit, I called Alex Eames."
"Well, we can talk about it later."
"You can provide dinner. I think we are stuck here for some time."
Casey entered the room with Olivia behind her. She took a moment to introduce herself before sitting down. Olivia perched herself on the edge of a filing cabinet and listened as Casey and Elliot asked a series of questions.
Waiting for an opportunity to speak, Olivia enquired, "Mr and Mrs Moore, can you think of anyone, either a male relative or friend who was not interviewed by the Police at the time of the initial investigation?"
Dark haired Bianca Moore looked at her husband with probing eyes, "Dylan, what does she mean?"
Casey answered, "Mrs Moore, we believe someone who knows your family and the layout of your house took Tracey."
Horrified, Dylan Moore glared at Detective Stone, "Didn't you already investigate that theory Geoff?"
"Yes Dylan, but we may have discounted someone without realising it."
Bianca twisted her handkerchief in her trembling hands and blurted out, "Oh good god, your cousin Flynn."
Geoffrey Stone went through his notebook, "He lives here in Brooklyn. We didn't look at him because his girlfriend was his alibi. She said they were at home watching the basketball on television."
"When was the last time you saw your cousin Mr Moore?" asked Elliot.
"About two weeks before Tracey was taken."
Bianca Moore glowered at her husband with an expression of utter repulsion, "You didn't tell me that. I told you I didn't want him in our house again, not after the last time."
"He didn't come to the house. I told him to stay away when he called."
The four Detectives and ADA stood by as the Moores continued to quarrel back and forth.
"Then where the hell did you see him?" demanded Bianca angrily.
"Over at Terry's. Flynn went there to beg for money."
Stone turned to the others and explained, "The younger brother."
"Why didn't you want your husband's cousin in the house Mrs Moore?" asked Casey, believing they were closer to the truth.
"He stole two pieces of my jewellery from the bedroom the last time he visited. Dylan caught him sneaking out the window. He is a useless filthy druggie, so is the girlfriend."
"Mr Moore, do you have an address for your cousin?" requested Olivia.
"Yes," he quoted the address and Elliot wrote it down.
"I'll go organise a search warrant," offered Casey, somewhat miffed by the simple oversight of the primary investigative team.
"I'll do a criminal history search," suggested Olivia as she exited the room behind the ADA. With a nod of understanding, she placed a comforting hand on her friend's left shoulder, "Take a deep breath and ignore your instinct to rip the Tampa Police Department a new one. Your dismay at their lack of skill will not bring Tracey back, nothing will."
Wiping away the solitary teardrop from the corner of her right eye, Casey scowled, "She could have been saved if someone had bothered to make a trip here to confirm the bastard's alibi. I actually blame the father for not disclosing his cousin's last visit to the family home."
"It's hard to look past family imperfections Casey."
"Unfortunately that is very true and in this case; it has cost a little girl her life."
There were no words that Olivia could offer to make any sense of yet another premature death of an innocent victim. She had given up attempting that a long time ago and only found solace in bringing those responsible to justice.
-o-
Olivia, Elliot, Stone and two uniformed Officers made their way up the stairs of the building then towards Flynn Moore's apartment.
When the knock on the door went unanswered, Elliot kicked it in and the Officers stormed inside.
They located Linda Fletcher, Moore's girlfriend lying in a pool of blood in the main bedroom. Her throat had been slashed and by the colour of her skin and smell, had been deceased for some time.
Flynn Moore was not in the apartment and Olivia called for the CSU as well as the ME to attend the scene.
After a thorough and lengthy search, Elliot discovered two shopping bags containing children's clothing secreted in the back of the cupboard in the bedroom.
Geoffrey examined the items carefully and stated, "These are the pyjamas Tracey was wearing the night she disappeared and the other clothes were taken from the dresser drawer."
Reaching for her portable radio, Olivia called for a BOLO on the suspect before commencing a search for clues to Moore's whereabouts. She located a notepad by the telephone seconds later, "Hey El, the bastard's headed back to Tampa. Here are his flight details, he flew out at nine."
"Looks like we are all headed for Tampa," quipped Elliot.
Geoffrey withdrew his phone and called his Stationhouse to relay the information to his Captain and have an APB issued straight away.
Finishing with the apartment, the Detectives returned to the one-six and were handed the appropriate paperwork necessary to extradite Moore back to New York to face charges.
Elliot and Olivia both grabbed their emergency overnight bags from the locker room before leaving for the airport.
-o-
Nicole phoned Captain Malcolm Stevenson at 17:30 and received an update on the Moore case.
"There is still no word from Tampa Nicole," he said. "Benson and Stabler have Terry Moore's house under surveillance. They expect Flynn to turn up and beg for money like the last time he visited."
"Does this guy have history?" asked Nicole as she turned on the bath faucets.
"A couple of minor drug possession busts, but Novak had his Juvenile record pulled. He committed two counts of sexual assault on children when he was thirteen and fourteen."
"Crap, another one that fell through the cracks," lamented Nicole.
"Yep and the ME's preliminary report on the girlfriend puts her time of death at 0830 hours yesterday morning."
"So he killed the niece, then the girlfriend. It's possible she walked in on him."
"It looks like it," agreed Stevenson.
"Thanks Malcolm, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Bye Nicole."
Flipping her phone shut, Nicole undressed and climbed into the bath tub. Picking up her phone, she deleted the voice mail from Olivia then called her parents. She chatted until the water grew cold and her skin wrinkled.
After a quick dinner, she climbed into bed and went straight to sleep.
-o-