Author's Note: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'M SORRY!!! My absence has been due to an old fashioned case of Writer's Block and Distraction. Things may be hectic for a while. I am moving to Boston over Labor Day weekend. I am likely spending the last week of August in Manhattan (Clearly my mother really wants to spend time with me to be reduced to this form of bribery). And I am going to an adult session of Nature Camp on the 17th and will be gone all weekend through the following Tuesday. I will be posting during this hectic month, I'm just not sure when.
This chapter is dedicated to Susie, who did in fact hunt me down and tell me to write.
Disclaimer: Law & Order: Criminal Intent belongs to Dick Wolf, NBC, and Wolf Films, et al. The characters and setting are borrowed without permission. This is a work of fan fiction. The plot belongs to me. I am making no money from this. I humbly request not to be sued.
Title: An Ordinary Family
By: Marion the Geek
Chapter: 20
Alex rolled over in her sleep, cuddling against the big warm body beside her. Bobby was sitting up slightly, watching her sleep. She didn't look happy or peaceful or any of those other pleasant descriptions of slumber. In fact she looked rather small and distressed. For all of his exhaustion, Bobby had found sleep elusive. And so he watched the subtle changes in his partner's expression as she huddled against his side.
He felt lost at sea, adrift on his conflicting feelings. He wanted to seek absolution for Eli Henderson's death in his partner's arms. Alex pursed her lips in her sleep and then frowned. Bobby had a sudden impulse to kiss her awake. To lose himself in her embrace and give in to urges long denied. He wished that together they might through their passion erase all of the horrible things that had happened in the past few years. He settled for tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
He looked down at his partner, hating himself for thinking of her sexually after what she'd been through. He felt like a selfish, miserable letch. She unconsciously pressed herself more firmly against him. This was such a bad idea. When he felt himself becoming aroused he hauled himself to his feet and trooped wretchedly to the living room.
Alex awoke at the sudden draft of cool air hitting her bare leg. She felt around groggily for the warm bulk of her bedmate. She sat up and looked around before realizing sadly that she was alone.
xxx
"Whoa, hey," said Chase, catching the side of the aquarium and steadying it. "Careful. Let me help you with that."
Ivy blinked over the top of her precarious armload. "Thank you," she said. They began to move in tandem toward Ms. Kerry's classroom.
"So, what's going to live in this monstrosity?" asked Chase. He pulled most of the weight on to himself to allow Ivy to open the door.
"Two rats," said Ivy. "Staley and Hopper needed a new cage. Ms. Kerry accidentally broke their old one. This one is temporary until she can get them a multilevel wire one."
"You like the animals, don't you?" he asked, hoisting the heavy tank up to the counter.
"Yes," said Ivy, digging under the cabinet for bedding material. "I like helping out."
Chase smiled at her, sending tingly sensations down to her toes. She tried not to blush as she set about fixing up the cage for the rats. They were looking at her from the tiny travel cage where they had been placed for the moment. She focused her attention pointedly on them. "I'm hurrying, girls," she said softly. "Just a few more minutes."
Thunder crashed outside and all of the mammals stirred. Chase went over and patted Wilver the guinea pig soothingly. "Beautiful weather this afternoon," he said.
"I like thunderstorms," said Ivy. "I just hope it's not raining to hard when I leave."
"You walk?" he asked.
"To my grandparents' in the afternoon," she said. She put a little wooden house in the rat cage and fluffed the bedding one more time. "Alright, ladies." She opened the travel cage and scooped both of the rats into their new home. "There you go," she said, adjusting their water bottle. She turned back to Chase. "What are you doing here so late?"
"Forensics practice," said Chase. "I'm working on a speech about Science Fiction as a vehicle for social commentary."
"Awesome topic," said Ivy. "Good luck."
"Thank you," he said. Thunder cracked again and rain pounded on the roof. "I walk, too. I don't think I want to leave just yet. Need any help?"
"I'm sure Wilver would like a piece of that apple," said Ivy, indicating the fruit and knife on the counter.
xxx
"You can't take him," cried Audra Harris. "He's my son!"
"We've heard that before," said Logan. "Do you have the paperwork on Cory's adoption?"
"My son was not adopted," said Audra. "That crazy woman was lying. You can't possibly think we're going to allow you to take our child away after the ordeal we've been through in the past few days."
"Lady, we had his DNA tested. He's Eli Henderson's son," said Wheeler. "Unless you have the proper documentation, Cory has to come with us until this is all sorted out."
"Our lawyer will be here in just a moment," growled Gloria Bainbridge, storming in to her daughter's living room. "You'll have to wait and speak with him."
"Where is Cory?" asked Logan. "You need to tell us right now. Or I will arrest all of you."
Clay Harris made to come at Logan angrily but Gloria put her hand out to ward him off. "You wouldn't dare," she said to Logan.
"To be honest, Mrs. Bainbridge, I'd rather not," he said. "I'm on the last Harry Potter book. I'd like to go home and read. Booking you three would mean a lot of extra paperwork for me. But I will do it if you don't tell us where Cory is right now!"
Gloria Bainbridge took a step back from Mike Logan's angry scowl.
"I'm going to ask you one more time," said Wheeler. "Where is Cory?"
"He's not here," said Clay Harris. "And I won't tell you where he is." Logan looked at Wheeler.
She turned to Mrs. Bainbridge. "Gloria Bainbridge, you are under arrest for obstruction," she said, taking out a pair of handcuffs.
Gloria Bainbridge didn't struggle as Wheeler put the cuffs on her wrists. Audra Harris was looking more miserable by the minute. She wrung her hands as Wheeler slowly led her mother toward the door. "Wait," she cried out at the last second. "You can't do this. You can't."
"Mrs. Harris," said Logan. "This is the last time I'm going to ask. Where is Cory?"
Audra Harris looked from her mother to her husband and back, her movements more frantic by the second. She looked at her feet. "He's with his nanny at our house in the Berkshires," she said at last. "Please, let my mother go."
Wheeler looked at Logan. He gave a slight nod. She released Mrs. Bainbridge. Logan got on his cell phone to the Berkshire police. With in minutes there were cops on the way to pick up Cory Harris.
Audra collapsed sobbing into her husbands arms on their overstuffed couch. Gloria Bainbridge looked disdainfully from one detective to the other. "You will regret this day," she said.
"Maybe," said Logan. "But somehow I doubt it."
xxx
"Ivy," called Howie when he saw her emerge from her school. He was standing at the base of the steps of the Garden School in a rain slicker holding an umbrella. He frowned when he realized there was a tall brown haired boy holding the door for her.
"Hi, Howie," she called. She turned back to Chase. "Thanks again for your help this afternoon. See you tomorrow in Biology."
Chase smiled warmly. "Have a good night, Ivy."
She skipped down the stairs to Howie who held out the umbrella to her. "Miss Annie said she didn't think you had an umbrella," he said. It wasn't raining very hard, but the drizzle was steady. The pair began to walk in the direction of their grandparents' houses. "Who was that guy?" Howie asked after a long moment of silence.
"That was Chase," said Ivy, absently. "He's in my biology class and he helped me with the animals this afternoon."
"Oh," said Howie. "He must be nice then."
"He is," said Ivy.
Howie was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the topic. He scuffed his feet against the sidewalk a little and changed the subject. "Do you want to play Stratego when we get home?" he asked. "Or do you have too much homework?"
"I don't have any homework tonight," said Ivy. "I finished it all in class. I would like to play Stratego. It sounds like fun."
Howie smiled brightly under the hood of his rain slicker. The postman was depositing the day's load into his grandmother's mailbox. He pushed the umbrella into Ivy's hand and ran ahead to get the mail.
When Ivy caught up to him at the mailbox he wasn't smiling. "Still no letter?" she asked gently. Howie shook his head. "It's only been a week," she said. "I'm sure your dad will write soon."
Howie nodded, heading up to the porch where his grandmother stood waiting for them. He handed her the mail. "Is it okay if I go play board games with Ivy?"
"Did you finish your homework?" she asked.
"I need to practice writing my Hiragana (A Japanese alphabet) but that won't take long. I could do it after dinner," he said.
"All right," said Miss Ruth. "I want you home by six o'clock. Have fun."
Howie and Ivy headed to the Eames' house for a snack and board games.
xxx
"Thank you Ms. Phillips," said Wheeler. "That should be all we need to get a warrant to test Dr. Dean's DNA."
"Is there anything else I can do to help you?" asked Nurse Phillips.
"Actually, could you take a look at this photograph and tell me if you recognize anyone?" asked Mike. He handed her a portrait of the Harris/Bainbridge family. Cory stood with his parents and his grandmother, two uncles, their wives and three younger cousins.
"Well, I recognize Cory Harris," said Patricia Phillips. "His face has been all over the news…oh my god. That's her. That's the woman who gave me the money." She pointed to the picture of Gloria Bainbridge. "She was younger, then. But that's definitely her."
Logan and Wheeler looked at each other. "You said you kept all of that money," said Logan, fishing a large evidence bag out of his pocket. "Could you give it to me?"
"I certainly don't want it," she said. She opened a drawer in her china cabinet. "It's all right here."
Logan slid his hand into a latex glove and loaded the money one stack at a time into the evidence bag. "Thank you Ms. Phillips, you've been very helpful."
xxx
"Captain Ross, a word please," said Ronald Carver. He stepped into Ross's office just before Ross was about to leave for the evening.
Ross had been putting on his suit jacket. He sat back down. "Please have a seat," he said.
Carver closed the door behind himself and came to sit in the chair across from Ross's desk. "We have a mutual friend who may find herself running afoul of the District Attorney's office," said Carver.
Ross straightened up in his chair attentively.
"The District Attorney's office has received hundreds of calls from devout Faith Yancy viewers out for blood," said Carver. "And just to be clear, I was never here and this conversation never occurred."
"Understood," said Ross.
"Eames is going to need a good defense attorney," said Carver. "Hopefully none of this comes to pass, or at least never makes it past the grand jury. But I can tell you that it is likely that the D.A.'s office will bring charges against her for the death of Mark Jackson."
Ross swallowed. "Son of a bitch," he said. "Jack McCoy used to be a friend to cops. Now that he's been elected D.A. he's using one of my detectives as a political platform!"
"McCoy doesn't want to prosecute this case," said Carver. "His constituents, however…"
"If I ever come face to face with that Yancy woman…" growled Ross.
Carver slipped a business card across the desk to Ross. "Danielle Melnick is the best defense attorney in the state," he said. "Not to mention a personal friend of the D.A. Please give Eames my regards."
"I will," said Ross. He watched Carver leave. Things were really going to hell in a hand basket and he felt powerless to stop it. Captain Ross did not like feeling powerless. Not at all.
Author's Note: Well, what do you think? And am I the only one who totally loves Danielle Melnick?