Monday morning came too soon for the Barba-Benson household, and Rafael didn't have to wait long before he was called down to the 1-6.
It had been a good weekend, Sunday being rather calm, them merely going to his mother's for brunch - arroz con pollo, naturally - after Mass and spending the majority of the day there as a family.
He'd had two hearings that morning, respectively for the Marshall-Lynch and O'Toole cases, and then had to deal with some issues with his ADAS, two of which were being put under quarantine for two weeks due to exposure to relatives who had caught COVID-19.
He hadn't been terribly surprised someone from his office was exposed as the numbers grew, but it hadn't stopped him from groaning at all the overtime he was looking at.
He'd then had to converse with several other ADAs regarding their cases, getting briefed, and handling some minor issues with conduct that had come up. He'd quickly eaten the lunch he'd brought from home and then had needed to reschedule a meeting with Jack McCoy, when, after replying to a couple of e-mails, Olivia called him, asking him to come down to the precinct, but not ending the call before letting him know something that had gone down earlier when she'd been walking Noah to his, surprisingly not yet shut down, dance class.
He frowned when he heard what Noah had told Olivia early. "Jake's older brother? Vaping in fifth grade?"
She audibly sighed. "In the school bathroom with three other boys."
His frown deepened. "Was it just tobacco?"
"I didn't think to ask," his wife muttered over the phone. "I mean, I'm not worried. He... he would never."
"Mm-hmm."
"What?"
"Nothing," he said. "I know you already talked to him, but I'll talk to the kid when I get home tonight." He shook his head despite the fact that she couldn't see it. "At least he knows the boy got suspended. Hopefully, that'll help hammer the message home."
Now it was her turn to hum.
"Relax, Liv," he said, trying to reassure her. "Noah's a good kid. It'll be fine."
"I know," she said, sounding a bit more relaxed. "I'll see you soon."
"See you soon, Cariño."
"See you soon."
Ending the call, he'd thrown on his black suit vest, tucking his red tie under it, told Carmen where he was going, and then swiftly made his way out of 1 Hogan Place.
"So, what've you got for me?" he asked immediately upon entering the squad room.
"Well, it's a bit of a mess," Rollins admitted. The woman sighed. "It's my sister."
"What happened?"
"Well, I -" Rollins went on to explain that she'd been going for a run before she went to the doctor's. She had been running on a bad knee, knowingly, and ended up having to have it drained earlier. During her appointment, she missed a call from her sister, Kim, who said she failed a drug test. She told Rollins that she needed advice. Apparently, her sister then asked a woman to watch her young child, Mason, when she ran to the bathroom.
"Wait!" he said, "since when does your sister have a kid?"
"Finding out I'm an aunt was a surprise to me too," Rollins muttered, before continuing with the story. She hadn't seen her sister in three years prior to this.
Apparently, once Kim Rollins went to the aforementioned bathroom, she took drugs, no longer sober, and ended up overdosing.
Rollins then got a call and immediately headed to the hospital. Kim told her sister that she was probably going to jail and needed legal help. She explained the situation and asked if maybe her sister could get her a deal.
At that point, Rollins contacted Olivia. She told her how Kim claimed her doctor had been extorting her for sex. Fin and Olivia met with Kim who, although surprised her sister wasn't there, told them how she was given oxy by her doctor before he had sex with her in exchange for the pills.
Tamin and Fin then went to talk to Kim. She claimed her doctor gave himself a shot 'down there' while telling her to take off her clothes. They allegedly then had sex before he finally gave her a prescription. She claimed it happened at least twelve times.
Just then, Rollins' phone rang and she, apologizing, walked over to her desk to take the phone call.
"Dealing with a junkie is like playing Russian roulette," he muttered once he was sure that the blonde detective was out of earshot.
"Amanda should just cut Kim off," Olivia said softly. "That's what I did to my brother."
"If this guy is as bad as Kim says," Fin chimed in, "we need to put him away."
Rafael sighed. "If being the keyword."
It wasn't much longer before Tamin and Carisi walked up, Rollins following close behind them.
"Update on Paul Capezio?" the captain inquired.
"Orthopedist," Carisi explained. Lost his hospital affiliation when St. Vincent's closed. He lost his private practice a few years after that."
"Now he sublets an exam room in a medical suite in the West 30s," Tamin chimed in, "keeps odd hours."
"And what about his prescriptions?" Rafael inquired.
"Still putting that together," Tamin admitted. "He was sanctioned a year ago. Hard to tell how many patients he's got because he doesn't file electronically."
Olivia gave them a questioning look. "How does he pull that off?"
"He's got an eyesight and age exemption," Carisi explained.
"And according to Kim," Rafael said, "he extorts sex from women who need Oxy? No offence, but do we actually think she's credible?"
"Down to the ED injection that he gave himself while Kim was taking her clothes off," Olivia pointed out. "Now, she's volunteered to go undercover."
He shook his head. "That's not happening."
"Well, I can go," Tamin suggested. "Have Kim vouch for me."
"It's easier if I go," Rollins chimes in. "I'm her sister. Capezio will trust me. I got the knee the size of a grapefruit. All I have to do is bring the x-rays with me."
Carisi eyed his fiancée, his expression showing clearly just what he thought of that brilliant idea. "Amanda -"
"I don't like this," Fin agreed.
"Then you go with her, Fin," the captain suggested without missing a beat. "We need to get this doctor off the street."
"And if I get enough for an arrest," Rollins said, shifting her weight slightly, "what does this mean for Kim and her son?"
"Counsellor," Olivia inquired, turning to better face him, "will a judge ROR Kim?"
"I can ask," he said, "but custody's a separate issue. And I have to say, Kim getting her son back at this point isn't in Mason's best interest."
"I'll file for custody," Rollins said softly, "but until then... He's my nephew, guys, I can't have him at social services."
They all just nodded, making a plan for Rollins' meeting with the so-called doctor, having her book an appointment with the doctor for the following day.
Satisfied that the situation was under control, Rafael headed back to his office to try and get as much work as possible done, texting his mother to ask her to relieve Lucy as both of them were likely to work late that night.
He was relieved when he rapidly got a text back. '¡Claro! Sabes que me encanta pasar tiempo con mis nietecitos, Mijo. Ven a casa cuando puedas.' (Of course! You know I love spending time with my grand-babies, Mijo. Come home when you can.)
Relieved that the children were dealt with, he pulled out some of his files, diving headfirst into the mountain of work he had.
When he finally headed home that evening he knew that the children had been asleep for some time, but was happy to see both his mother and wife sitting on the couch chatting about something or other.
He greeted them, and, needing to relax after a rather long day, he poured himself a drink and sat down, starting to chat amicably with two of his favourite women.
