A/N: Wishing everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas! :)
Chapter 21
Later that day, Fin, Barba, Rollins, Carisi, and Briscoe, knocked on the door to the Sergeant's hospital room. Elliot had barely left her side except for taking care of Noah and snagging the two of them lunch. The nurses still had Olivia eating a clear foods diet to make sure nothing upset her system more than it already had been. Three more days of broth, toast, gelatin, and ginger ale seemed like a really long time for that, never mind waiting on the results of her biopsy.
"Well the gangs almost all here. Everything ok? I mean other than the fact that the charges against me magically disappeared," Olivia eyeballed them. The nurses brought in some more chairs when they saw the group enter the room. Quickly everyone began taking their seats near the bed so that Olivia could hear what happened.
"We came to discuss everything. Casey promised to be along as soon as she could," Barba explained.
"But maybe you should start first?" Rollins gave the Sergeant a look right back, having noticed the grin that would not seem to wipe off of Elliot's face. That and the Sergeant seemed to be hiding her hands in her lap beneath her tray which was covered in Cheerios for Noah. The little tot was sitting next to his adoptive mother happily munching away on the little snack.
"I think it should definitely be superior officers first. Carisi, shouldn't you be with Michelle Simmons?" Olivia deflected.
"She doesn't need to testify anymore but I'll let Barba get into that," he smiled.
"So I think the first thing we need to do is commend Detective Briscoe," the ADA started.
"Agreed. I spoke to Tucker earlier and he promised to get paperwork started on a commendation from the department. Without his hard work, I'm guessing I'd still be in very big trouble," Olivia announced.
"Ma'am, that really isn't…" Briscoe started.
"How long have we known each other Kenny? You did everyone in this unit a huge solid and we won't forget it," She gave him a wink.
"Yes, ma'am, uh Liv," he corrected himself.
"Now onto the juicy details. Ken and I went to Rikers to see the two thugs who attempted to kidnap Noah. They are Jack Stapleton and Harry Jameson, did you know them?" Barba asked.
"They don't sound familiar," she shrugged slightly.
"Well that doesn't surprise me. They didn't know you either but when we told them that Officer Michaels was dead, they both told us what we wanted to hear. I cut them a deal since they agreed to talk," the ADA continued.
"What kind of a deal?" Olivia wanted to know.
"They won't be serving any jail time for the attempted kidnapping. Instead I promised to have them serve the rest of their respective sentences, for the crimes they were on parole for. It seems Michaels got them to do his dirty work by telling them that he'd call their parole officers and make sure they got sent back to jail," he explained.
"How much time did they have left?" Elliot gave him a look.
"Stapleton had two years and Jameson had a year. They were petty criminals but they didn't want to go back to jail. Michaels promised to keep them out of jail for the kidnapping, which was something he couldn't promise, but they didn't know that," Barba told them.
"So what did they know about the Herd brothers and Winters?" Olivia asked.
"Turns out that the Herd Brothers hired Winters to set you up. That's why Tony and Max were shanked during the fight. Our perp, Thomas Lacroix, saw them hanging out in the cafeteria and figured that if he stabbed them both, that the real intended victim wouldn't be found out so easily. Too bad for him that he forgot about the security cameras. Then again Johnny D. didn't pay his thugs for their brains. Anyway, Stapleton knew Winters and the lawyer, Dennis Pettine," Rollins filled in, giving the ADA a break.
"Ok so, originally this was just about kidnapping Noah? I mean why else would he need Winters or the Herd brothers?" Olivia was getting confused.
"It does get a little twisted. Stapleton said that Michaels originally just wanted to kidnap Noah. Apparently, taking Noah and keeping him would somehow make up for losing his daughter. Michaels said he wanted you to feel the pain that he was feeling. Problem was, there was never a time when Noah was easy to kidnap. He was at the precinct or he was with you and Elliot or he was with Lucy. Basically, he was never unattended, and to make his plan work, he couldn't have anyone who could ID the kidnappers. So Michaels again threatened Stapleton and Jameson and told them that they needed to get Noah back in foster care. It would be much easier to snag him when the foster parents are juggling multiple kids at the playground than it would be to snag him with only one or two watchful eyes. That's when Stapleton suggested that they just set you up. He had no idea that Winters was actually going to kill Johnny D. We believe that's where Dennis Pettine comes in," Fin continued.
"So the lawyer hears that Stapleton wants Winters to lie about a death threat against Johnny D. He tells the Herd boys that if Winters actually kills Johnny D. that not only will Noah be taken away but the case against them will be in question. Of course, they assumed that Johnny D.'s gang would seek revenge and off Winters," Carisi added.
"It was a brilliant plan really because if Winters had died when he got shanked then all the evidence of the plot basically would have died with him. However, I cut Winters a deal, twenty-five to life, his assault and burglary charges I tossed in, so he would testify against the lawyer and the Herd brothers. All three have refused to deal and we're set to go to trial next week. In the meantime, IAB and the DA's office have dropped the charges against you," Barba finished.
"Good grief," Olivia shook her head. It had been a long convoluted scheme but it would have worked perfectly had everything actually gone according to plan.
"That's what I was thinking. Enough to make your head spin," Rollins agreed.
"How long do you think the Herd brothers and Pettine will be in jail, if they're convicted?" Elliot wanted to know.
"Well that's part of why Casey isn't here right now. She's contacting the disciplinary committee against Pettine, so at minimum, he'll be disbarred. I charged all three of them with conspiracy to commit murder. Then the Herd brothers will still have the original charges that were set against them and Pettine will have attempted kidnapping added to his conspiracy charge since he knew that that was the original intent and just furthered the cause," Barba said.
"Sounds like a very long time," Olivia nodded.
"Oh yes. I intend to make sure of it," the ADA said firmly.
"Ok your turn," Rollins brought the conversation back to Olivia and Elliot. Olivia wished Casey was here but she couldn't wait for the redhead any longer. She was just about to open her mouth when the door opened. There was Casey and she was all smiles.
"So did the disciplinary committee follow your advice?" Carisi asked.
"The one member chuckled at me before he read my report," she frowned slightly. Her run-ins with the committee had never been good ones but Barba knew that she was the perfect one for the job, considering on how she'd turned her career around.
"As long as they are taking it seriously," Barba said.
"Oh they are," Casey assured them.
"You're just in time," Olivia smiled.
"Time for what?" The redhead was confused. The Sergeant pulled her hands out of her lap to show off the diamond ring that now adorned her finger.
"Who's the lucky guy?" Fin teased.
"Elliot asked me this morning and I said yes," she replied before giving Fin a look.
"We're having a party the minute you get out of here," Rollins said and the others agreed. They passed around congratulations before heading out. Noah snuggled into Olivia's side and began to doze off after their friends left. She kissed his head and made sure he was comfortable.
"It's all over," Elliot said, taking her hand in his.
"Not quite," she reminded him.
To Be Continued…