25

Suspicions

October 21

Elliot woke feeling chilly. The covers had slipped down and the temperature seemed to have dropped suddenly over night. He saw Olivia was still asleep beside him. He pulled up the bed covers, gently placing them over her shoulders to keep her warm. She didn't stir. He rolled onto his back, crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling. It was raining heavily outside. He doubted they'd be able to go for their usual run today. Even if it did stop raining the jogging track would be waterlogged.

It was Monday morning and almost 9:00am. Yesterday had been a good day. Olivia had surprised him by remembering his birthday and had insisted on making him breakfast. She had been in a positive mood all day, determined that he should enjoy the day. They'd gone for a run in the morning and in the afternoon they'd gone for a drive heading west towards Lake Placid, where they had strolled hand in hand enjoying the breeze, the scenery and each other's company. Afterwards she had insisted they eat out. They had found a small steak restaurant with private tables and it had been perfect. Once they'd arrived back in the cabin, they had curled up together on the sofa, shared a bottle of wine and talked about some of the things they wanted to do and places they wanted to go while they were staying up here. All in all it had been a great day and he appreciated the effort she had made for him immensely. He still felt tremendously guilty about what had happened the morning before but she hadn't mentioned it, so he didn't either.

He looked at her sleeping face. She really was beautiful, he thought. Her dark lashes rested against her cheeks, highlighting her delicate olive coloured skin. Her lips were slightly parted and she barely made a sound as she slept. He was still amazed that she was here beside him in bed. It still didn't seem real. He wanted her so much. He couldn't help but acknowledge that. He wanted to be touching her constantly. He reached towards her and brushed a strand of hair away from where it had fallen partly over her left eye. She moved slightly, but she settled back into sleep. Relieved he hadn't woken her, he decided to get out of bed and ring Cragen and see if there was any news on the case.

Cragen answered almost straight away, immediately enquiring after Olivia.

"She's doing OK, I think," Elliot told him. "It's very up and down still, but we went to therapy on Friday and she's got an appointment later on today too."

"That's great," said the Captain encouraged. Elliot didn't mention the conversation he had had with Olivia over the weekend about leaving the SVU. That wasn't his place. If that was to be her final decision, she would have to tell Cragen herself. Elliot knew Cragen would be sad to see her leave, but he also knew he would understand. She had been through so much and no one could be expected to go back to that job after that.

"So have there been any developments?" Elliot asked hoping that there would be some good news to report to Olivia when she awoke.

"Well Fin and Munch took a photo of Joe McLachlan to Myfanwy Evans and she made a positive ID. She insists he was the man with Pat Miller when she first met him that night a few months before she was assaulted. So we pulled both Mclachlans in for informal interviews over the weekend. Both brothers denied any knowledge of any rape and neither let on that they know anything about Pat Miller's disappearance."

"So they know you know it wasn't Miller in the car then?"

"Yes, they feigned great surprise of course. In fact I'm not entirely convinced Daniel McLachlan knew anything about it, but I'm fairly certain Joe did. He looked extremely uncomfortable when we brought it up."

"So they're both sticking to their stories?"

"Yes, for now. I am more than certain that Joe McLachlan is covering for Pat Miller. However, he got extremely upset when we accused Miller of rape. He looked genuinely disgusted and accused us of being obsessed with depravity. It was the only point of the interview where I actually believed him actually."

"Really? So if he genuinely didn't know anything about the rapes, maybe Miller spun him a yarn to get an alibi?"

"It's very likely. We're going to look more thoroughly into both the McLachlan brothers. During the course of the interview there were a few other things that came up that raised a couple of red flags. Joe McLachlan seems a lot flusher with cash than you'd think he would be, especially given the size and nature of the garage he owns. Munch is going through his financials with a fine tooth comb today."

"You suspect the garage is a front for something bigger?"

"Yes. And we've been talking to Pat Miller's neighbours and it appears that off-duty he has been consorting with some very unsavoury characters. We now strongly suspect corruption. If he was on the take and knew about any illegal activities Joe McLachlan might be involved with, then it would explain a lot. It is perfectly possible that he demanded the alibi without explaining exactly what it was for and the McLachlans went ahead and supplied him with one, no questions asked. If we can gather more evidence in Myfanwy Evans' rape case, we believe that we will be able to lean on them hard to provide information about Pat Miller. These guys seem like your regular run-of-the-mill small-time criminals and I don't think either of them is keen to be associated with any accusations of rape."

"It sounds like this Pat Miller was up to his eyeballs in it!" exclaimed Elliot, shocked. This case was turning out to be a lot more complicated than any of them had thought.

"It's staggering that we had this guy in our unit for three months and yet had no idea of any of this. It's not like he came to us with a glowing recommendation either. His last captain distinctly gave the impression that he was glad to see the back of him, but he said it was for personal reasons. Miller was arrogant and a bit full of himself, but there was no mention of any suspicions of something on this scale. He had always done his job well and seemingly by the book."

"I guess you can never really know someone!" said Elliot.

"I sometimes think I might be getting too old for this," said Cragen attempting to lighten the mood as the call was drawing to an end.

"Nah Captain," said Elliot, grinning. "You've got a few more years in you yet." Cragen smiled to himself. He missed Benson and Stabler. They were a good team. Two of his best in fact, he thought fondly. It was depressing how much this job had ended up costing them. The only consolation was that they had found each other.

"Well, better get back to it," he said. I'll hear from you tomorrow then?"

"Yes, probably around the same time."

"OK. Take care of her, Elliot. Oh and Elliot! Happy birthday, for yesterday!"

"Thanks," replied Elliot awkwardly, embarrassed but touched that his ex-captain had remembered.

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Elliot headed to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee, as he tried to get his head round all the information Cragen had given him. Police corruption was something that angered every honest hard-working cop out there, him included. This guy was seriously a piece of work, he thought. He sincerely looked forward to the day they caught him and locked him up for a long time, preferably for the rest of his life. He had a long list of charges awaiting him, so that likelihood was high at least.

He sat at the table. The coffee tasted good. A few moments later he heard Olivia enter the room and he turned to greet her.

"Hey," he said. "Sleep well?" He stood and went to her, reaching for her lower arm.

"Yes, thanks," she said. "Did I hear you on the phone? Did you speak to the Captain?"

"Yes, I'll tell you all about it! Would you like a drink?"

"Tea please," she said sinking into a chair. He quickly made the tea and brought it to her, telling her everything Cragen had told him in the process. She was as shocked as he was to hear the squad's suspicions.

"I can't believe I worked with this guy for three months and yet didn't have a clue about any of this… least of all that he was a rapist!" said Olivia emptily.

"Why would you suspect anything though? He was supposed to be on your side!"

"You had him figured out better than I did after just one meeting!" she said bitterly, remembering how Elliot and Miller had sparred that night in the pub back in August.

"I didn't have anything figured out," said Elliot sheepishly. "I'm afraid I was just jealous."

"You were?" she smiled at him teasingly, on one level enjoying how self-conscious he suddenly looked. "Well, you had nothing to worry about! My heart was with you from long before."

Now it was her turn to feel slightly uncomfortable. All this honesty was still awkward. It was hard to get used to the change after years of suppressing her feelings and holding back.

Elliot decided to change the subject fast. He regretted saying he was jealous. Jealous of her rapist? That was hardly something she needed to hear! Luckily she didn't seem to be bothered by his near faux-pas.

"It's horrible weather," he said quickly. "I don't think we'll be able to run today." She looked disappointed.

"Anything in mind instead?" she asked.

"Don't forget we have to go up to Plattsburgh for your appointment this afternoon," he reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she groaned. It wasn't that she didn't want to attend the therapy, for she did. It was just so exhausting going over and over it.

"It'll be worth it," Elliot encouraged her. He understood her hesitance. He wasn't the biggest fan of therapists himself, even though he reluctantly realised the need for them. "We could head up there soon and get some lunch before your appointment, then maybe pick up some DVDs for tonight?"

"OK," she said. A night snuggled up with Elliot on the sofa sounded good. She knew she wouldn't be up for anything much more energetic than that.

"Do you fancy driving up there?" he offered. He knew she liked to get behind the wheel and as partners they had shared driving duties equally.

"You know what, maybe I will," she said, thinking it would be a nice distraction.

...

Her therapy session went relatively well. It wasn't quite as draining as the first one on Friday had been, but tiring all the same. At least there had been no need to explain everything that had happened from scratch this time. While she had been in there, Elliot had gone to the DVD store and then the supermarket. He was planning on making a lasagne that night. He was fairly confident that he could pull it off after all the years of watching Kathy, who was in his eyes the expert. Olivia liked the fact that Elliot knew his way somewhat around a kitchen. She felt a little embarrassed about her own complete lack of interest in anything domestic, but she supposed Elliot was fully aware of this side to her and had accepted her anyway. He had sometimes teased her about her lack of homemaking skills during their years as partners. She specifically remembered his feigned exasperated attitude towards her penchant towards relying on take-out for sustenance. Thinking back on moments like that, she realised that he had always cared about her.

She asked Elliot to drive back. She kept her hand on his thigh, wanting to feel close to him. She remembered there had been several occasions where they had been in the car, driving back from a case and she had longed to place her hand on him and feel connected to him. She tried to imagine what his reaction would have been had she actually done that. No doubt he would have been shocked and immediately demanded a new partner. She recognised that Elliot had needed time to accept that his marriage was over. It was a shame for her it had taken this long. She supposed that realistically she was too old to consider children now. Besides he probably felt he had enough with the five he had. It was something she thought about though. She wondered what it would be like to have his child and what that child would be like. She knew he was a wonderful father. She wondered what kind of mother she would be. Given the way her life had played out in a full circle, she wondered if maybe it was a good thing she hadn't had a child. She would never wish this on a potential daughter of hers.

She knew she was once again lost in her own thoughts on the journey back from therapy. Elliot didn't press her to talk. He patiently waited until she was ready. When they arrived back he busied himself in the kitchen, while she lay on the sofa, a book in her hand but not reading a single word on the page. Her mind was racing. Would it be like this every time she went up there? She thought therapy was supposed to help, but so far it just seemed to send her thoughts spiralling out of control. It was exhausting. Her therapist had said it would take time. She'd only had two sessions.

Elliot reappeared from the kitchen. He said he'd finished the lasagne and had placed it in the oven, waiting for it to brown. He sat down beside her on the sofa and took her feet and massaged her gently. Gradually she found herself relaxing, soothed by his touch. By the time the lasagne was ready she felt much calmer and looked forward to the rest of the evening with Elliot, the man she loved more intensely than she had ever thought possible.