Chapter Five – Objects In Motion

Olivia stepped into the observation room, stopping short when she saw Alex and Cragen standing in front of the two way mirror. The blonde was still dressed in the same peach colored silk blouse and charcoal skirt she had been wearing earlier at the club, which meant the Captain had caught her on her way home.

Oh goody.

She noticed that the ADA's color was high, her cheeks flushed, causing the blue of her eyes to stand out even more clearly. For a moment, she simply stared, transfixed as thoughts of Alex flushed and sweaty, whimpering softly as she moved beneath her flooded her mind.

Then she realized that the Captain was flushed too, and that the body language between the two of them was, at best, adversarial.

"What's up?" She asked cautiously.

Both of them turned to face her and for just a moment, she saw a flash of heat beneath the anger in the blondes gaze. Then it was gone.

"'What's up' is that I'm leaving." Alex announced as she gathered her briefcase and jacket.

"What?" Olivia met her halfway across the room, blocking her exit. "What are you talking about? You're not going to stay for the interrogation?"

"There isn't going to be an interrogation."

"Alex," The captain said evenly. "If you would just listen to us for a minute…"

"Listen to what?" The ADA turned on him quickly. "That you gave the go ahead for an unauthorized operation during which your detectives used subterfuge as the means to remove a private citizen from a private establishment for the purpose of unlawful detainment?"

Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Alex, the fluids on those sheets came from two women. According to Samantha's father, this woman is not only her girlfriend, but sole heir in a will that was changed one week before the victim died."

"Circumstantial." Alex straightened her back and looked down at Olivia, remembering how much it used to frustrate the detective when they first met. Seems like old times. "You have no proof and no trace of Tate in the victim's apartment. If they had been lovers, don't you think there would have been some sign of her there? All you have is the word of a grieving father who couldn't see past his daughter's lesbianism when she was alive and is now trying to blame her death on the woman he believes to have been her lover."

"And the fact that she's been avoiding our attempts to question her for the last two days?"

Alex chewed her bottom lip as she studied the woman in front of her. Olivia was still in the little black dress that had taken her breath away. Somehow that seemed unfair. "We can't compel DNA." She said flatly.

"But we can ask right?"

The ADA sighed. "Fine, you can ask." She pointed at the brunette in frustration. "But the first inclination she shows that she wants to walk, you open the door. Otherwise you're going to tank any action we may want to take against her in the future."

"Deal!" She draped a lazy smile across her lips as she watched the other woman walk away, only calling out to her once she was almost through the door. "Alex?"

The blonde turned, looking at her impatiently.

Olivia allowed her emotions to show as much as she dared as she locked her gaze with the angry ADA. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Be careful, detective." Alex's voice was low and dangerous. "Those eyes will only get you so much."