Author's Note: So I almost lost my ability to access my stories after updating my computer, which totally sucks, because I had to get another program to read the old files on my updated Mac, so this writer was not a happy camper.
It's put me in that kind of mood that's solved only with Christmas cookies, Rolivia smut, and/or a houseful of puppies and kittens.
We're getting close to the end of this story. My plan afterwards is to clean up some of the errors and glitches in my stories and maybe post a few chapters of Need while I finish working on my outline. There'll probably be a break between the stories. I've been writing non-stop ever since I posted Relapse. Plus I want to make sure any stories I write are of the same quality and high standards I've been trying to maintain.
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Chapter 21
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When they get back to the hotel, Olivia stumbles over to Frannie's travel crate, releasing the rambunctious puppy, who immediately began trying to jump into Olivia's arms.
"Down, Frannie," Olivia points a finger to the ground, rolling her eyes when the puppy immediately begins licking and nipping at her finger, not at all concerned with such uninteresting things like sitting and staying.
"Well trained dog you got there Liv," Fin teases, laughing, reaching down and scratching Frannie behind the ears. The puppy seems immediately entranced by Fin and begins to wag her tail even harder, trying to bite the corner of his black boot with barely-erupted canines.
"She's just a baby," Olivia rolls her eyes, reaching down and scooping up the Pitbull. "Come on, Frannie let's go for a walk."
"Mind if I make myself comfortable here?" Fin flings himself onto the low-lying hotel couch, leaning back and propping his boots on the coffee table.
"Sure, make yourself at home," Olivia mumbles under her breath sarcastically, clipping Frannie's red leash to her collar, grabbing her black leather jacket from the closet and wiggling into it awkwardly. It wasn't easy with Frannie's leash in one hand. "Be back in a few."
She carries Frannie into the elevators, partly because she can and partly because she doesn't want a hefty fine if the puppy has an accident. Once outside, she lowers her to the grass, waiting for the puppy to do her business.
How is she supposed to tell Amanda that there just isn't any evidence to exonerate her? That their only possible chance in court is to prove someone else killed him. They don't even know who the players are down here, and if it is about blackmail there could be an endless supply of possible suspects. An investigation into them all could take weeks, of not months.
She is standing there so long that Frannie starts whining around her feet, and Olivia starts walking back to their hotel room. Amanda is there when she returns, chatting with Fin. Olivia's eyes widen when she takes in the blonde's disheveled appearance, the cuts, the scratches, the bruises. Her jeans are torn and her shirt is ripped, and her hair is half-pulled out of her ponytail.
Amanda and Fin are standing in the middle of the living room, arguing back and forth, none too quietly at that, oblivious to the fact that Olivia is standing in the doorway with Frannie's leash loosely dangling from her right hand. Both of her detectives are startled when Olivia's voice cuts through the air with whip-like efficiency. "Fin! Amanda! What the hell happened? What's going on here?"
Amanda tenses, her eyelids fluttering closed before turning to address Olivia. "It's not a big deal. Some guy was taking pictures of me and the girls and I gave chase. I tripped. I fell."
This is absolutely unbelievable. "You tripped and fell and this happened." Amanda's lying. Olivia can just tell – she's been a cop too long to buy into a load of bullshit that's handed to her.
"You know what?" Olivia reaches down abruptly and unclips Frannie, kicking the door shut behind her. She rips her jacket off, tossing it onto the couch. "We're trying to help you stave off a fucking murder conviction," Olivia starts stalking towards Amanda, jaw clenching until she's right in the younger woman's face. Fin takes a cautious step back, glancing between the two women. "And you want to play games and get even more charges added, so go right the fuck ahead."
She doesn't bother waiting for a response. She already sees the way Amanda's eyes are filling with tears. Sees Fin reaching for her arm, even as she turns away to hide her own tears that are already starting to well up. Olivia shakes off his grasp and makes her way through the bedroom into the bathroom, sinking onto the toilet and wrapping her arms around her midsection.
She almost killed a man today. And not in self-defense, not in the defense of another person or to stop a crime from happening. All her life she feared that there was a violent monster inside of her and today that monster reared its ugly head. Olivia focuses on the white subway tile on the bathtub wall, blinking hard as a tear slips down her cheek, not bothering to swipe it away.
What is she even doing here? This is not her jurisdiction and even if it was, this isn't a case she should be working. Amanda seems to solidly have Matt in her corner and they've got the best attorney for Amanda that money can buy. At this point...
"Hey."
Olivia closes her eyes, ignoring the way another tear rolls down her cheek, rocking back and forth as she struggles to regain some of that precious control she lost today. "Hey," she whispers back to Amanda.
The blonde slowly makes her way into the room, kneeling down beside Olivia, resting a hand on the brunette's knee as she looks away, angry for herself for crying in the first place.
"You were right, you know," Amanda says softly, reaching up and dragging her fingertips through Olivia's brown tresses, cupping the older woman's cheek in a tender caress, her thumb swiping away the remnants of Olivia's distress. "I made a mistake chasing him by myself. I should have called you or Fin or Matt." Olivia clenches her jaw, Amanda's confession seeming like too little, too late. "I guess I'm was as frustrated as you were when you pulled the gun on Sal earlier."
Olivia's head whips around, laser-like focus coming to bear on the blonde.
"He told you about that?" Of course, he told Amanda about that. Fin was so worried about her state of mind that he stayed with Liv until Amanda came home. Olivia shakes her head, dropping her chin, "Of course he did."
Amanda peeks her head underneath Olivia's until she's forced to meet her gaze. "Liv, making mistakes is part of being human. Now I'm sorry I ran after a perp without backup and I'm sorry I tried to lie about it." Olivia blinks, clenching her jaw as Amanda reaches up and captures her chin between her thumb and forefinger.
"The truth is I chased him into an alley and he clocked me across the back, sent me flying. Then he disappeared when Matt chased him off." Olivia's head snaps up, lips parting at the admission. "He's been tailing me during his off hours, I guess, trying to see if someone is watching me and who might have it in for me." A pause. "And before you ask, yes, he already read me the riot act about my actions." Amanda's lips quirk upwards. "You can go ahead and do yours at any time."
Olivia stares into those crystal blue eyes that seem to bore straight into her, filled with compassion and fear and love, and any lecture that has been hovering in the back of her head dissipates. Instead she leans down, drawing Amanda into her arms and pressing a kiss against her forehead.
Amanda's arms slide around Olivia's waist, the younger woman burrowing her face into the side of her neck and clinging to Olivia. They stay like that for a long moment, each woman drinking the other in, when Amanda speaks. "Did you really shove a gun under Sal's chin and threaten to kill him in front of that gorilla of a bodyguard?"
Olivia's lips curve upwards ever-so-slightly, tugging Amanda even closer. "Yeah. I did."
A pause, and then a kiss presses itself against her neck. "So, does this mean we'll get to be cell mates?"
Olivia snorts. "God, I hope not. Last thing I want is to be stuck in an eight foot by ten-foot cell with you for the rest of my life, Rollins." Amanda pinches her side, causing Olivia to squirm underneath her.
"As long as I'm by your side, I can think of worse places to be."
"So, the only thing you found at the crime scene was this list of names and amounts?" Amanda frowns as she scrolls through the list on Olivia's laptop, trying to match up the names to any faces she recognizes from the porn ring. The blonde is dressed in a NYPD T-shirt, flannel pajama pants, and fuzzy red socks. A large, gauzy bandage is taped across her arm, and Olivia knows from experience another one is on her side, her back, her ribs, and her knee. A pair of small butterfly bandages cross the gash on her forehead.
After they made up after their fight, Olivia had insisted on dressing Amanda's wounds, and surveying the extent of the damage. Aside from a nasty bruise across her back when the stalker hit her with what Olivia guesses is a length of plywood, Amanda is dinged up pretty well along her left side, which is the side she slid with along the ground. They showered together, Olivia carefully attending to Amanda's wounds before dressing them. Ideally, Olivia would like to have her checked out in the emergency room, but Amanda insists it's just scratches and bruises.
"Given what TARU found on his hard drive, I'm betting we can match up this list to the faces in those pictures," Olivia forks another mouthful of her Pad Thai, savoring the spicy sweet burst of flavor on her tongue, the brunette's eyes scrolling the computer screen. She's wearing a purple tank top and matching flannel print pajama bottoms. Her bare feet are propped on the coffee table, with Frannie sleeping underneath, the young puppy snoring and occasionally growling in sleep.
After their showers, the ladies decided that tonight they would order in and spend the evening trying to figure out who on Charles' hard drive might harbor a grudge against him and Rollins.
"The problem as I see it is it's been five years since I've been here," Amanda frowns, eating her own Pad See Ew. "Patton's an obvious choice. And Sam. But I can't see either of them doing this," Amanda waves to the screen in obvious disgust at the photograph that's being displayed. "I don't recognize a lot of the faces on these screens."
Amanda's right, in a way. While Olivia wouldn't put it past Patton or Sam do try and get revenge, neither of them fit the profile of a pedophile. "So why the rush to judgement?" Taking another bite of her noodles. Blue eyes meet brown. "I mean someone went through a lot of trouble making the footage that would alibi you disappear."
"Are they trying to hide the fact they're in on this ring?" Amanda rests her cheek against her closed fists, pondering. "It'd make sense — I mean we did stumble across the child porn ring by accident."
Olivia wishes she had never taken Charles' computer from his house in the first place. Nothing but trouble and heartbreak had followed in its wake. "That would explain why they followed you and why they convinced the homicide chief to toss our room and arrest you — they were trying to find out what you knew without clueing us in." Olivia frowns, taking another bite of her noodles. "But what I don't get is stealing the casino footage and stalking you. Why?"
Amanda shrugs, taking another bite as she chews thoughtfully. "To discredit me? If I'm in prison people will be less likely to listen to me, right?"
"Unless they want you to trade them names in exchange for a reduced sentence," Olivia points out, frowning as she realizes how impossibly long the list of perpetrators is.
"So, we're looking for a person who could be anyone in the DA's office or police department who has a grudge against me and who is involved in some capacity in a child porn ring that my uncle was also involved in?" Amanda sets her fork down, rubbing her temples in frustration.
Olivia can empathize. Put like that, it seems an impossibly large task, akin to finding a needle in an entire field of haystacks. Yet here they are, needing to do just that. And the clock was ticking. The brunette scoots closer to Amanda, wrapping an arm around her and setting her noodles aside. "Listen, if this is too much for you..."
Those big blue eyes are blinking back tears, Amanda setting her own food down as she meets Olivia's gaze. "It's just that ... how are we supposed to do this, Liv?" She rubs at her eyes with one finger. "There's just a few of us and..." she gestures helplessly to the laptop. "We don't even know the rules of the game."
Olivia kisses Amanda's forehead, laying back against the back of the couch and pulling the blonde with her. "We break it down into manageable chunks until we see how the pieces fit together. Now," Olivia says, pulling the laptop onto their laps as they continue scrolling through pictures. "We have two angles to explore — Charles' murder and the child pornography ring."
"I think you're in a better position to investigate the murder," Amanda says, halting her progress as her eyes finally fall on one familiar face that finally appears on Charles' hard drive. "Is that...?"
"It is," Olivia smiles as she leans forward, engaged in the picture on the screen. "And that might explain why you have no alibi."
"Then we need to..."
"Tomorrow," Olivia rests a hand on the forearm of the younger woman. "Tomorrow I'll take Fin and we can go speak with him. Didn't you tell me Matt is coming over tomorrow to see if we can match some names to faces here?"
Amanda nods, letting Olivia take over the computer for a moment so she can mail herself the related batch of pictures. When she gets the computer back she says, "So far I've only recognized him and that judge from awhile back." Amanda sighs, leaning back in her chair.
"We've got a little way to go," Olivia reaches up and cups Amanda's cheek with her left hand, brushing her lips against Amanda's, resting her forehead against the younger woman's. "Are you good for this?"
"Yeah," Amanda threads her fingers through Olivia's hair. "I love you, Olivia." Her eyes open, peering into the fathomless pools of dark chocolate brown.
"I love you, Amanda."