Shout out to the new follows/favorites. Ya'll are awesome, and I'm glad you're liking it. Here's the latest chapter – I know, I can't believe it's been three chapters in less than a month either, but there have…so if you haven't caught up on the recent postings, check them out before you read this one. I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter, and about the story in general. You're reviews make me happy! Enjoy this chapter. N
Chapter 29
"You look so pretty. Yes, you do. Such a pretty little princess."
"Like her momma." Annabelle squeaked in surprise as Rafael's voice sounded from behind her. "Lo siento." Ignoring the smirk playing on her husband's lips, she kissed the brunette baby on the top of her head, before wordlessly passing the fifteen-pound child to her father, who quickly wrapped the wiggling body in a fluffy white towel. The new mother quickly left the room, smiling at the sounds her husband was making towards his tiny clone.
Fifteen minutes later he was joining her in the living room, taking his newly plated burger and fries before slowly sitting on the couch, "what are we watching?"
"Hairspray. It was just back from commercial when I came in here," coating a fry in ketchup she handed the black remote over, "you can change it if you want."
He waited until the song being performed was over before he spoke, "This will be fine." The couple finished their unhealthy dinner as they watched the film, Annabelle pretending that she didn't notice Rafael mouthing the words every so often.
"We're getting old."
Rafael scoffed, "excuse me?"
Annabelle looked at her husband in amusement, "Well, we are!"
"And how do you figure that?"
"It's Wednesday night. We're watching a musical, and we're yawning."
"We're tired."
"It's 7:30 at night!"
He sighed, drawing his eyes away from the screen, "what do you suggest? We just put Lina down."
"I don't know," she chuckled to herself, "wanna make out like we're sixteen?"
The brunette smirked, "No, thanks."
"Okay," Annabelle unconsciously pouted, turning back to watch Zac Efron sing, smiling when those familiar lips met her neck, "thought you didn't want to make out."
Rafael smiled against her skin, "I plan to do far more than just make out, carino."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yes," then his lips were crushed against hers, causing her to wrap her hands around his neck, fingers instinctively twisting around the fine hairs at the base. Rafael straddles Rafael's waist, bringing a groan to his lips as their cores pressed together, roughly. With quick fingers, he undid the buttons of her flannel shirt revealing her milky skin, which his mouth was instantly dawn to, her nails gripping her biceps tightly. Rafael's hands came to rest against one of her heaving breasts, thumb flicking across the hardened nipple, as his tongue gave the other similar treatment. Moving them into a horizontal position, his lips never leaving her heated flesh. Their lips continued to get reacquainted with one another's bodies, both relishing in the sounds the other was making. Movements only stopped when Annabelle pressed against his chest, to wiggle free of her pink silk panties; Rafael took the moment to pull his sweats from his body. As Rafael settled back onto the couch, the twenty-seven-year-old took control, straddling her husband once more, causing him to hiss in pleasure when her palm surrounded his member, stroking him gently, before rubbing it along her soaking slit, teasing them both. Lowering herself onto his girth, she bit her lip to contain her moan, her body singing as it began to readjust to his size. Her hands fell to the top of his shoulders, his gripping her hips as he silently urged her to move. After a few moments of relishing to feeling of how he felt inside her once more, she began to slowly rise up and down. His grip tightened, wanting nothing more than for her to speed up, as her breathless sounds seemed to become pure torture as they reached his ears. Shifting so he could be more in control, Annabelle gasped in surprised as the firmer stroke hit her core in a new angle, caressing her g spot. The new sounds escaping from his wife's lips told Rafael that she was getting closer with each deep thrust.
Twisting his hand around, he began to press against her clit in short, harsh strokes. Annabelle cursed, her body arching as the pleasure began to radiate from his ministrations. She cried his name as she met her release, milking his pulsating member as Rafael followed her over the edge with a guttural moan. Trying to catch her breath, Annabelle fell forward, the new position causing the now softening member to slip slightly free, his juice instantly beginning to spill down her thighs. "God, I love you."
Rafael chuckled, kissing her neck as her position, curled around him, made it difficult to reach her lips, "how's that for old?"
"Shut up."
-xXx-
Annabelle finished the coffee, just as the footsteps sounded from behind her, signaling that Rafael was approaching. "Buenos dias."
"Morning, darling. You're not ready?"
"I'm going in late. I have a meeting with Alex Munoz in an hour."
"Alone?" The Cuban turned towards his own coffee cup, the moment he noticed the tone shift in his own voice, hoping that she didn't.
"Raf, chill," the pajama clad cadet ran her fingers over his tensed shoulders, "I'm meeting him at 8:30 to discuss the menu…he said he has it finished. Olivia will be there by 9 to do a walk through with us." She smiled at the look of peace that covered his face the moment he took a long drink of Cuban blend. Adjusting the silky blue tie into a straighter position, she cupped his face, thumb stroking the light stubble gracing his jaw, "I like this. It's sexy."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah," she stepped closer, her chest brushing his, "I'd love to show you just how sexy it is."
"Why don't you?"
Green eyes flickered to the clock on the wall, making the redhead step away with a smirk, "you have motions today, right?"
"Mhm," he murmured, fully focused on untying the Mulan robe from her form, "why?"
"It's 7:54."
"What?" Rafael spun around to glare at the clock, "shit," then he was rushing from the room and she heard the front door slam thirty seconds later.
Shaking her head with a smile, she pulled the spice apple puree from the fridge, before taking the elevator up to where her daughter was now sitting up in her crib. "Good morning, beautiful." She listened to the babbles of the seven-month-old, her eyes brightening at every sound, "is that right? Well, little Lina, it's time for breakfast, my love." After giving Catalina a quick diaper change, she took the stairs back down to the kitchen, where the puree was losing a bit of its coldness as it sat perched on the bar, little green spoon next to it. "Apples…yummy yummy yummy," Annabelle made a couple of faces at the little girl once she was settled into her high chair, before she began to scoop the goop into the child's mouth, loving the sounds of delight Catalina was making as she ate. Catalina was finished with her breakfast and was getting cleaned up when Tyler made it into the house. "You okay?" The amusement in her voice was obvious as she looked over the wet Hudson student.
"It's raining."
"Really?"
Tyler glared at the smiling redhead, "I hope you drown."
Annabelle's smile turned into a full-blown laugh, "there's robes in the guest rooms. Go change and throw your clothes in the dryer."
"Thanks," and the brunette took off in the elevator, doing her best to keep water from getting all over the house. Once Catalina was back to her glorious self, Annabelle took the stairs two floors up to her bedroom to get dressed for the day. Pulling on a pair of straight legged blue jeans and a long-sleeved grey shirt, before slipping on her orange rain boots and a scarf of the same color, luckily the current shade of orange didn't clash with the auburn shade of her hair. Filling the grey leather purse with her essentials, she picked her daughter up and rejoined a now drying Tyler in the kitchen. "You ready for a super fun day, Cat!"
Annabelle grinned, relinquishing her hold once she kissed her daughter's chubby cheek, "Have fun. I should be home by 8. Rafael sooner. You sure you don't mind keeping her this long? I can call Lucia."
"Honestly, it's fine. Both my classes were cancelled, and I need to work on one of my final papers, so Cat'll be a great distraction," Tyler laughed, giving the infant a small tickle.
"Alright. If you're sure. Call me if you need anything. There's money on the bar if you want take out or – "
"Anna, I'm fine. I've done this before."
"Not for twelve hours, and I think she's teething."
"Anna, I'll call you the instant I can't handle her, I promise."
"I'm overreacting, aren't I?" Tyler just grinned in reply. "Okay. I'm going." She kissed Catalina once more, "love you, angel. Bye, Ty."
-xXx-
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Munoz. There was a wreck on 16th street."
"No problem, Annabelle," his words were accompanied by him kissing her cheek in greeting, something she had come to know as something Rafael's friends and family did, although when Alex did it, it made her feel highly uncomfortable. "This place is amazing. I don't know how you ever found it."
"Emma did actually. I can't believe how much more space we needed this year." She clapped her hands together, wincing as it echoed throughout the pavilion, "tell me about the menu."
He motioned for her to sit on the cushioned bench, which she did, slowly, her eyes not leaving his form, "I went for a female caterer, as you wanted. Her name is Abigail Kirsch. I decided an option of three hors d'oeuvres: artisan vegetable sushi, which is gluten free, Caesar bites, and onion soup-wich. I'll have my assistant send you the exact ingredients later today."
Annabelle nodded, "okay, and for dinner and dessert?"
"since she's a small business, there aren't as many options as last year," he looked towards the other side of the room, "Many feel that there were too many options last year."
She ignored the spite in his voice, "I think a smaller menu could be great this year."
"Fantastic. The starter is a citrus tuna tartar. There is also homemade bread. The choice of beef or chicken for the meal, and two types of chocolate somethings for dessert." Annabelle nodded, slightly surprised that the former mayoral candidate had come through this year. He placed his hand on her knee, "I remember how much you liked chocolate."
She smiled, patting his hand in hopes that he'd remove it, "pregnancy cravings."
"They do have a sundae cart if that's something we'd like instead."
"Ice cream?"
"Cheesecake."
She leaned towards the Latino, "tell me more about this cart of cheesecake."
"Three types of cheesecake: New York, caramel, or chocolate. Then there are three sauces, three fruit compotes, and then five different kinds of crunchies, as they call them."
"Crunchies?"
"I'll send you the list."
"Excellent. Have you thought about the drinks by chance?"
"I have a few ideas, but first I need to know the theme?"
She laughed, "sorry, I thought I emailed everyone. It's going to be winter wonderland, as long as there are no major objections."
"Not from me. Yelena would be happy to help with decorations. I mean, you do have a new baby running around, so this can't be easy for you."
She hesitated, "sounds good. Have her shoot me an email when she's able, and I'll send over my ideas and we can go from there."
-xXx-
Annabelle groaned as her phone blasted from the nightstand, "Barba."
"Be ready in 10. We got a case." Annabelle wordlessly hung up, groping for her black rimmed glasses, shoving them a little to roughly onto her face. Letting out a huff of breath, she slowly pulled herself from the king size bed, shuffling quietly towards the closet to grab a pair of loose light blue jeans and a t shirt. Dragging a blue beanie over her braided hair, the cadet jogged down the stairs and out the door, deftly locking it behind her, before she settled herself into the front seat of the familiar car. Annabelle accepted the steaming cup of coffee with a grunt of thanks as she pulled the seatbelt across her chest. "Sorry about the late call. Barba keeping you up late?"
She lightly rolled her eyes at Carisi's teasing, "Catalina is teething. I just got her down about an hour before you called."
The Staten Island native winced, "damn. Sorry."
"Shut up, Sonny," she smiled softly, allowing the music he had playing to fill the new silence, as she took large gulps of the scalding liquid. "Okay, so what are we going into?"
"Quinn something. She's 27," he paused to sip his still full drink, "called 9-1-1 around 11:25, said she was jumped."
Once they arrived at the scene, Fin repeated what they already knew, before the trio made their way into the building, "Anna, take point."
"Wait, what?" Her head whipped around to see the oldest detective smiling, before she sighed, "okay." Steeling herself, she walked into the room she had been directed towards, instantly noticing the dark-haired woman on the couch, shakily adjusting the blanket around her shoulders. "Hi. I'm Annabelle. This is Detective Tutola and Detective Carisi. We just have a few questions for you, if that's okay?" Quinn nodded her consent, signaling for Annabelle to continue. "I was told the man who did this wore a mask?"
"Yes, it was a black mask."
"Was he short? Tall?"
Quinn took a deep breath, shuddering as she exhaled while looking at the trio, before she wet her lips, "Medium height, medium build."
"Could you tell his race?"
"No, but it doesn't really matter?"
Annabelle paused, briefly looking back at Fin who motioned for her to continue, "Why not?"
Quinn's hand moved to her neck, "I think I know who did this," she stopped to calm her breathing again, "his name is Ray Wilson. And he's been stalking me since college."
-xXx-
Carisi stood from where he had been lounging with the other detectives, as Fin filled everyone in on the new case, "I'll go get more details."
Olivia held her hand up, stopping him, "let Anna and Avery handle it. Avery, take point."
The two female cadets went into the room, quickly going through the formalities, before stationing themselves in front of the sexual assault victim, their backs facing the mirror. An awkward silence enveloped the group, Annabelle waiting before she broke it, "What can you tell us about Ray Wilson?"
"We met at college. At Rutgers. We went on one date. I just wasn't interested, and he wouldn't leave me alone. He just kept texting me. And following me and he started leaving me notes on my car and buying me gifts. And he even followed me to my parents house once."
"Did you get a restraining order," Annabelle winced at how harsh her question sounded.
"Yes! Of course, but he didn't care, she sighed, "and then one day after class, he was in my closet."
"Did he assault you?" Cadet Avery chimed in, sounding ten times nicer than Annabelle expected her to sound.
"No. I threw my coffee at him and ran into the bathroom. Locked the door and called 9-1-1. The police came five minutes later."
"What happened?" "He go to prison?" Both cadets spoke at the same time, although Avery's question was the one answered.
"Yes. He got out on parole last year. Moved back to Patterson."
"Did he contact you again?" Annabelle leaned back, thankful that Avery was taking charge, as she was meant to do.
"yeah, he sent a letter of apology to my office. That made me nervous, so I called Sargent Cole."
"Sargent Cole?"
"He's the office that saved me that night."
"And you're still in touch?" Annabelle hoped her tone wasn't noticed, but the look on Quinn's face told her that it had been. She decided to stop questioning Quinn, the lack of sleep from the night before finally catching up to her, completely throwing her off her game, which was unsettling her.
"Yeah. We sorta became friends. I knew his daughter. We went to college together. He's retired now." She paused, "I asked him to make sure Ray wasn't still obsessed with me." Quinn shook her head, "I should've called NYPD."
"the only thing you need to worry about is you, okay?" Quinn bit her lip, nodding. "you're gonna be okay, Quinn. You're gonna get through this."
After Quinn smiled in acceptance at the blonde woman's words, Annabelle stood up, "We'll be back in a minute." She waited until the door closed before she spoke to her classmate, "good job in there. You saved my butt."
Ashley Avery flicked her long blonde ponytail from her shoulder, "well some of us got into the academy based on her merits, not who we know," she then walked away leaving Annabelle speechless and fuming.
-xXx-
Saturday came, bringing along an even more out of place feeling for Annabelle as she sat in the precinct with the group she had been working with for the past week, knowing that she had only three more days until the academy graduation. "Ray Wilson, 27. Convicted four years ago on breaking and entering and attempted sexual assault. Paroled in October." The conversation trailed off as Carisi and Benson walked off, still talking about the case. Annabelle continued watching the videos she had gotten from around Quinn's house, knowing that she would miss the resources Attention Inc provided her, when she was completely finished with the company.
A couple hours later, she gave up and quit set the system to continue scanning for Ray's face as she pulled up information for the banquet. "Where is everyone?"
"Jersey, talking to Cole. Find anything?"
Annabelle shook her head negatively, pulling the half way completed seating chart to her main focus, "I've got the programs running. Is it just us?"
Cadet Andrew Williams nodded, "Fin went to the john. Rollins went…somewhere with Avery." Annabelle smiled slightly, her fingers adding and erasing names from the one-hundred tables.
She continued for another thirty minutes before slamming the screen shut in frustration, "this is useless." She pushed herself away from the desk, "I give up." Walking from the precinct, she flopped down atop the steps on the outside of the building, before dialing the familiar number.
"Hello?"
"Tyler. How's everything going?"
The student chuckled from across the line, "you and Mr. Barba must think alike," when Annabelle didn't reply, she continued, "he just called. Miss Cat is okay. I just put her down for a nap."
Annabelle smiled, despite herself, "how are you doing? It's already 3."
"I'm fine. We had a rough morning, but now we're friends again."
"I'm glad," she paused, pulling the phone from her ear to read the newest text, "Listen, I have to go. Just wanted to make sure you were good. I know you aren't used to these twelve hours days, and now you've had three in a row."
"I'm good. Have a good day!"
Annabelle laughed, opening the door to the precinct, "I'll see you at 8."
Once they hung up, Annabelle finished making her way back to SVU. "Where have you been, cadet?"
She looked at Amanda, who was giving her a hard look, Avery and Williams looking on, "I had to call the babysitter."
"Next time. You need to ask before you leave."
"Yes, ma'am." Amanda didn't reply to the sarcasm, merely giving her another harsh look, which Annabelle ignored in favor of checking her surveillance videos for any results. Once that failed, she pulled the seating chart up once more, determined to get it finished before she had to leave for the day.
"Avery, Anna, you're with Carisi."
The redhead let a breath of air out, before slowly getting up the join the other two. "Where we headed?"
It was Avery who answered, "DNA results are back."
-xXx-
"The stalker was being stalked. Is that ironic or weird?"
"Both," Olivia looked around the room, "Fin, Rollins, take Williams and Avery. Talk to Wilson," she stared at Annabelle, who was slouched in her chair, typing on the computer, "find me surveillance, Anna."
The redhead nodded, saving her progress on the seating chart and logging back into her Attention Inc programs. Two hours later, she was feeling a bit more confident. "Black Cadillac parks outside Wilson's restaurant on the day of Quinn's assault. Driver runs to the kitchen entrance and runs right back to the car."
"This is the entrance where Wilson takes his smoke breaks?"
Annabelle nodded, opening her mouth to speak when Amanda's voice rang out, "yeah. Same one. Seems a little set uppy to me." Thanks, Rollins. Annabelle decided her input was no longer needed, instead going back to the videos to check for anything else.
-xXx-
"Wanna head down to pick up an arrest warrant from Barba?"
"Sure," Annabelle didn't look up from the laptop as she answered, closing out the program before standing up.
"Not you. Avery can do it. You just keep working on your banquet." Annabelle frowned at the way Amanda spoke, before sitting back in her seat and reopening the seating chart, twenty-five seats away from being completely finished with the task.
She frowned as a notification popped up an hour later, "Hey, Rollins. I just got an easy pass hit on Cole. And Quinn is sitting next to him."
"When? How long ago? Answer me."
"45 minutes. Jesus, I was looking," she muttered the last words to herself, although not very quietly as Amanda shot a glare in her direction while she was picking up her phone. Frustration mounted, and she angrily closed out the chart and pulled up the photographs of centerpieces that Yelena Munoz had emailed her the night before.
-xXx-
"Anna. You're with us."
The redhead looked up from her email, closing the screen the moment the draft was saved, grabbing her black peacoat from the back of the chair, shoving her arms through the holes as she walked towards Carisi, "What's up?"
The duo was rushing towards the elevator, Olivia having already went ahead of them, "She told me to pick a cadet. There's no one else I'd rather have my 6."
She smiled, squeezing his arm as they waited for the elevator to finish going down, "Always got your back. Where we going?"
"Cole and Quinn." She nodded, dodging an intern as she ran towards the back door of the car, Carisi automatically going towards the front.
Olivia passed a gun back to her friend, "don't shoot me, okay?" Annabelle shot her a look of mild panic, to which Olivia laughed, "I'm kidding. I trust you. Everyone has bad weeks," she cut Annabelle off when she opened her mouth to deny it, "I've noticed. It's a normal thing, especially when you're just starting out. Plus, you're almost single handedly planning the banquet."
"Yelena has been very helpful. Very opinionated."
"I wouldn't trust either of the Munozes further than I could throw them."
The rest of the ride was spent in comfortable silence as they hurried to their newest destination, Annabelle having spent the time her two superior officers were questioning Linda Cole about possible places for the retired sergeant to go. Coming to a mailbox reading 'Cole 31' "This is it," Carisi spoke as he pulled the car to a stop near the mailbox.
"Alright. Let's take a look around." Annabelle took a deep breath at Olivia's words, knowing she should not be feeling this panicky. Popping the trunk, the three put-on bullet-proof vests. "Anna, stay with me. Be careful, Carisi."
"I'm good."
"Hey," Olivia stepped up closer to Sonny, "I said be careful." She looked between the two of them, "both of you." They both nodded, Carisi unstrapping his gun, silently letting Annabelle know to do the same thing.
Annabelle followed behind the other two, glancing behind them, often. "Looks empty."
She nodded in front of them, "black Cadillac, straight ahead."
"Alright. Ready? Here we go." The trio headed towards the car, eyes shifting to the house and then back to their destined paths. Olivia saw the curtain move first, revealing Cole and his side arm, "gun." She grabbed Carisi's arm, pulling him down, Annabelle dropping into a crouched position as well, as the trio were hidden at the back of Cole's car. She took a deep breath, calming herself from her panic, knowing that it wouldn't help anyone. "Sargent Cole? It's Lieutenant Benson," Annabelle's eyes didn't leave the window, looking for any other sign of life as Olivia yelled towards the house, her ears catching the dialing sounds from Sonny's phone. "I know you're up there."
"Help! He's got a gun!" Quinn's anguished screams caused Annabelle closing her eyes in sympathy.
"This is detective Carisi. SVU. I'm at 31 Timber Lane Road. I got, uh, one suspect. He's barricaded. He's armed. Got one hostage. Send a tactical team and HN right now."
Annabelle glanced around the corner when Olivia spoke again, "Lieutenant Benson." A pause, "Let's just talk this through Sargent. Let's just talk this through." Another pause, "No, I'm sure there is. There is always something to say. And I want to hear what you have to say," she took a breath, "I want to understand, but first, you need to let Quinn go, okay?" A longer pause, "No, Cole. Quinn belongs in New York. She belongs with her family. She belongs with her friends, and you know that because you're a very, very smart man. You are a career police officer, and I know that you understand that." She heard Carisi shuffling around, "Okay. Then I'm going to shoot ya straight. You and I need to figure out something very fast, before the SWAT team and before the FBI get here. Can we do that?"
"I'm gonna see if I can make eyes on him." Annabelle's green eyes widened as Carisi rose up, and headed towards the house, she repositioned herself in front of Olivia, so she could block her in case the need arose, as she spoke on the phone, patting Sonny's arm in a silent reminder to be careful when he moved pass her.
"You did, and you did keep her safe, and you need to keep her safe now." Her new position meant that she could hear parts of Cole's replies, glaring at the phone when she heard the words beautiful whores. "I care, and I care…because I understand." She paused for a second, "You and I have spent our lives on the job. Given it our all, and you're right, we are taken for granted. People don't get it, they don't' understand. You're absolutely right," she waited to let her words sink it, "It doesn't feel good, but you and I both know that, that's not Quinn's fault, so you need to let her go, okay? You're a cop, I know that you understand this. So, I need you to listen to me, and understand that you have the opportunity right now, right here, to stand up and do the right thing. One more time."
"You mean one last time."
"Tom, listen to me. I want you to think about your wife. I want you to think about Linda, the woman that loves you. I want you to think about your daughter, who loves you. They both love you, now listen to me."
"They don't love me!"
"yes, they do. Tom, Tom, there's a future here. you have a future." Annabelle couldn't hear his reply, "listen to me, listen to me, take a breath, right now. Don't hang up on me." Annabelle took a breath the moment Olivia told Cole to do so, knowing she had to get ahold of her shaking hands. "Tom." She pulled the phone from her ear, "Oh no." The two women met each other's gazes, "stay with me."
Annabelle wordlessly nodded, standing to follow behind the brunette as they made their way around the house. Quinn's muffled screams alerted them to her presence upstairs, Annabelle covering Olivia's back as they two started to slowly make their way up the wooden platforms. She tensed when she saw the gun pressed against Sonny's forehead. Jumping when the sound went off, blood splattering the area, before Tom Cole's body hit the floor with a thud.
As the ringing stopped, she recognized the loud screams as Quinn's. Olivia was rushing towards Carisi, "You're alright. You're alright," the moment he nodded, she touched his shoulder before going to Quinn and untapping her mouth, all while mumbling comforting words to the girl.
Annabelle quickly re-holstered her gun, going to her friend. Sonny hit the ground, almost as if he was in slow motion, knocking the gun from Cole's now non-existent grip. Annabelle ran his hand over his knee, from her position knelt next to him, both of them looking back at Olivia and Quinn, the lieutenant looking a mixture of scared and relieved.
-xXx-
"Sonny almost died today."
Rafael coughed, choking slightly on his scotch, "what?"
"Yeah. An ex-cop held a gun to his head. Olivia killed the guy."
"He okay?"
"He's fine. I don't know how, but he's fine."
"What do you mean?"
"I," she hesitated, "I was scared to death. Even before we even got into that room. I was shaking." She took a long sip of her red wine, "I thought I could do this, but what if I can't? I watched one of my friends almost die! I didn't even care about the victim…I just went to him. He had blood on his face, his clothes, and he was fine ten minutes later. I don't know. I mean, maybe I'm kidding myself. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a cop."
