Another thing that didn't sit right with Olivia: the last that she knew, Simon lived in Brooklyn, so if Josie was Simon's daughter, what was she doing wondering around Central Park?
Her phone starts to ring again, she looks at the caller ID, it's Tucker. Yeah, she knows why he's calling. She turns off her phone. Maybe she can buy a burner phone, if she really needs one. She knows she's going to pay dearly for this later on, but this is something she _has_ to do. Besides, she already has ignored two other phone calls from Tucker and Finn, she's already in over her head, so what more does she have to lose that she hasn't already?
She first drives around Broadway and 80th Street to see if she recognizes anyone, mainly her half-brother. Lots of joggers, people walking their dogs, or biking with their children. No here looks out of place. No one here looks like they are hunting down their escaped daughter slash play toy. This is a dead end.
Off to Brooklyn then. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she was sure she'd know it when she saw it. She put her blinker and turned onto the Brooklyn Bridge, which she knew was her point of no return. She knew right where Simon lives - used to live? She's been there before when helped him out. It was only a couple of miles outside of Manhattan. She kept wondering what she was going to find outside the brownstone. And she kept wrestling if she should knock on the door, or just drive by.
She put on her blinker one more time to turn right on Simon's block. She slowed down to ten miles an hour so she can scope out his building. There's no movement. Nothing inside, no lights on. Maybe he did move. Once she's past his building, she picks up speed so she can drive around the block to drive by one more time.
She did find something interesting at the end of the block: the 2 / 3 subway line entrance - which stops at 79th Street and Broadway. Huh. This would certainly give Josie easy access to where she was found. Time to park the car and do a search on foot. She parked at the end of the block and crossed the street to the side of the subway station and Simon's apartment.
It wasn't a matter of _what _she spotted, but _who_. She saw the lady from Child Bright getting out of her car. Olivia _knew_she knew more than she was letting on. She walked a little closer to see where she was going, she was heading right for Simon's building.
"Stop right there!" Olivia shouted. On instinct she felt for her gun in her hip.
Lisa turned towards Olivia and about dropped the bag she was carrying. She put her hand to her chest. "Oh, you nearly scared me to death."
Olivia is next to Lisa now. "Okay, the gig is up. You didn't find Josie in the park today, did you?"
"I … did," definitely lying now.
"How do you know her?" Olivia's voice soften just a bit.
Lisa looked down to the ground, "I don't, not really. I didn't know her name until you told me."
"But you've seen her before," Olivia stated.
Lisa nodded her head. "She lives in the apartment across from me. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you earlier, I just wanted to help her."
"How did you get her out of there?"
Lisa shook her head, "I did find her in Central Park. She must have taken the train down there," she took a deep breath and looked off in the distance, like she was replaying something in her head.
"What?"
"I shouldn't say much more here. He'll be home anytime. He's not going to be happy."
She had to know, "her father?" Olivia took off walking, Lisa following.
"I'm guessing."
"We can chat in my car, I parked at the end of the street."
Lisa nodded in agreement and followed Olivia. They walked in silence, both contemplating how much they can truly tell the other person. Once they got to Olivia's car, they both climbed in the front seat.
The women sit in silence for a bit. They both know what each other is thinking. After a bit, Lisa breaks the silence.
"It's all because of me that she left home. Last week was the first time I saw her in the hallway alone. I slid her my card that had my business address on it. I told her that I could help her if she could get to my office."
Olivia sat with this information for a minute before responding. "You felt that was safe? For her to escape that house and wonder alone around the city?"
"I don't know that I thought that far ahead. I just wanted to get her alone without him."
"So you think today she was looking for you?"
Lisa nods her head. "Please tell me she's okay."
"Why did you just leave her at the hospital alone?"
"I don't know. I guess I panicked."
"About what?"
"Getting charged for kidnapping or something. I don't know. I never took a chance to save a child like this before. I also wasn't expecting her to have that big gash on her forehead. If she didn't need stitches, I would have just brought her to my office."
"Did she tell you what Simon did to her?"
"Whose Simon?"
Crap. Did Olivia just show her hand too early? "That's what she told us her father's name is," keep it impersonal, Liv.
"Are you sure she said Simon? That's not the name I recall."
What? Is Olivia getting played? If so, by whom? She digs out her cell phone and turns it on. "Which apartment does she live in?"
"3B. Right across from me in 3A."
Yup, that's Simon's number. As her phone wakes up, it buzzes to life. She has at least ten new missed calls. Yeah, she's gonna pay dearly for this one.
"Boy, you're popular," Lisa joked.
Olivia ignores all these notifications and goes for her photos. She scrolls for a while and then finally fits it. She blows up the most recent picture she has of Simon from when Josie was just a baby. Olivia makes sure Lisa can't see her standing next to him. She shows her the photo.
"Is this Josie's father?"
At this point, Olivia wasn't sure which answer would hurt more.
"Can I?" Lisa reaches out for the phone. Olivia hands it to her.
"He looks young here."
Olivia's heart dropped. "So you do know him?"
"Yeah, I mean he pops in every so often, but to my knowledge, this isn't her dad. He doesn't live there."
Olivia exhaled the weight of the world that was perched on her shoulders. But wait. This really brings up more questions than it does answers.
