Epilogue
Three weeks later
Bobby and Alex walked briskly back into the squad room after finishing up some interviews on a bank heist they had just caught. After plopping back down into their desk chairs, Alex flipped open her laptop, while Bobby began jotting down notes in his binder.
"So are we both thinking inside job?" Alex asked with out breaking the rhythm of her typing fingers.
"Y-yeah," Bobby said as he glanced up from his binder. "What are you finding on the bank VP?"
"Everything you'd expect to. Yale education, been with the company for eight years, married for nine," Alex said. "Interesting hotel charges here…he could have someone on the side—"
Bobby's cell began to tremble against his desk and they both glanced down toward it.
Bobby picked it up and read the name flashing on the screen.
"It's Fin," Bobby said.
"I guess they got a solid lead."
Bobby nodded and then flipped open the phone.
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Alex led the way into the Manhattan SVU squad room with Bobby close behind her. They both scanned the room for Fin and then spotted him walking toward them from his desk.
"Hey, guys," Fin said with a nod of his head and then gestured for them to follow him. "Stabler's got our guy in interrogation right now."
"W-who is it?" Bobby asked as they walked.
"Alan Decker. His wife was one of Strauss' regular visitors," Fin explained and then turned the corner to a window that peered into the interrogation room.
Munch and a brunette, female detective stood next to the window and watched the interrogation.
"Wow, six detectives on one suspect," Alex said. "How dangerous is this guy?"
"Elliot and I have just been helping out," the woman said and then extended her hand to Alex. "I'm Olivia Benson."
Alex introduced herself and then Bobby, who was only half paying attention to the other detectives. Benson shook his hand as well with a warm smile.
"And, Bobby, you were right about the scene. It was staged," Fin said.
"He was framing his wife?" Bobby asked, staring into the interrogation room.
He and Alex glanced over the tall, lean, middle aged man with graying hair and small wire frame glasses sitting across from Detective Stabler and beside his own lawyer. Decker was a worn man. Dark circles colored his eyes, which stayed glued to the table top, and his mouth stayed tense.
"We're thinking that," Fin said. "But he hasn't said anything. We found his wife's DNA on the body and she admitted to seeing him that night, but says she left him alive."
"As if she would say anything else," Alex said.
"Well the wife said she and Strauss didn't use condoms…since she's on the pill, and we found a third set of prints on the condom wrapper."
"And they matched the husbands?" Alex asked.
"Yep."
Alex huffed and glanced up at Bobby, who returned her gaze and then looked back to Fin.
"H-has Stabler gotten anywhere with him?" Bobby asked.
"Not yet," Benson cut in. "We thought he'd relate to Elliot…open up about his wife."
Bobby nodded.
"Because he's the only married one," Bobby assumed.
"Right," Benson said.
"C-can we hear?" Bobby asked.
Olivia nodded and reached passed him to turn on the intercom.
"I know what it's like," Elliot's voice sounded through the intercom. "Married twenty some years...and then it all gets throw away. You're an ER doc, right?"
Decker nodded.
"That's a lot of long hours…wife feels neglected," Elliot said. "It's the same being a cop. My wife got tired of it."
"Did she cheat on you?" Decker asked, briefly glancing up at Stabler.
"She left me…and took my kids with her. I don't even know them anymore," Elliot said. "When did you realize your wife was seeing someone else?"
"He's done talking to you," the lawyer said. "Now, if you'll give us a few minutes, I have an arraignment to get him ready for."
Elliot huffed and then headed out of the interrogation room, while Olivia reached passed Bobby again to turn off the intercom.
"Ah, I see major case is here…you two want to give it shot?" Elliot asked, though it sounded more like an accusation than an invitation.
"Uh…no," Bobby said. "He's not giving anything up."
"Not sure I can blame him," Elliot said. "If my wife had been having an affair with a mutt like Strauss, I'd want to kill him to."
"Yeah, but…you can't put all the blame on him…she had a choice in the matter," Bobby said.
"What? You two don't think she's getting punished too?" Alex asked. "Her secret's exposed, her husband is going to jail, and, the best part, she gets to explain it all to her kids. Everyone gets punished one way or another."
Bobby glanced toward her and watched as she shook her head in disappointment. He understood she was thinking about Tricia, Marcus, Strauss, and what scorn and heartbreak had done to all of them.
"God, can't couples just stay happy with each other anymore?" Alex asked, but didn't move her eyes from Decker.
"Me and my wife are very happy…now," Stabler said and then walked off.
Alex smirked a little at that and then looked up at Bobby.
"I-I could say the same about me and my wife," Bobby said, softly.
"Yeah, yeah you could," Alex said and then shook herself out of her head, turning toward the rest of the group. "Thanks for the show. We better get back to our current case."
"You might be getting a call from Novak if this makes it to trial," Fin said.
"Whatever you need," Bobby said. "Thanks for keeping us in the loop."
"No problem," Fin said. "You still have to tell me how you got that wife of yours."
"Come by for dinner sometime…we'll tell you all about it," Bobby said and the nodded good-bye to Munch and Benson. "Nice meeting you, detective."
Alex and Bobby turned on their heels and then headed out of the squad room.
Once the got back to the SUV, Alex unlocked the doors and Bobby studied her from over the roof of the car.
"You okay?" he asked.
She smiled at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she said. "Come on, let's get back. This bank VP isn't going to trip himself up."
Bobby nodded and then they both climbed into the car.
END
A/N: Thanks for reading. That's it for this installment. I have a couple things started for this series but am not sure yet what's going to be next. My brain is a jumble of ideas right now, so there's no telling which my win out.