After a stop at the bank, during which Harper emptied the contents of safety deposit box number 305 into a bag to take with her, she went with Olivia and Casey to the precinct. She didn't say much afterwards until there was there was food in front of her, and she was eating. Once she had finished and the table was cleared, she was reasonable again and could think straight, once more.
It was in the conference room between Olivia's office and the file room that she settled in for what was going to be a lengthly conversation.
She knew she had to talk about Brighton Beach, but there was one last thing she wanted to talk about first.
"So you two," she said, looking from Olivia to Casey. "Are engaged, but not to each other?"
"Bingo." Casey confirmed.
"And that's because you," she motioned to Casey. "Are engaged to Olivia's eldest, and that would be my niece, right? Sophia?"
"Gold star." Casey showed Harper a picture on her phone. "This is us, and our daughter."
The picture was meant to have been a selfie in the kitchen at home, but Sophia had crashed it, and not to be left out, Melissa had pushed a chair over and stood on it, so she could be level with her mothers. She loved getting her picture taken.
"Your family is beautiful." Harper told Casey.
The attorney beamed. "Thank you!"
"What yours and Sophia's little one called?"
"Melissa Joy." Casey put her phone away and then pointed to her middle. "This is Melissa's brother, Henry, and Sophia is carrying their sisters, Agnes and Esme."
"Oh, my goodness. Congratulations." Harper indicated her own swollen bulge. "This is my boy, Xander Jude Bailey the second. He's being named after his dad."
"That's really sweet."
Harper took the compliment in stride, and then turned to her sister.
"So if Casey is engaged to Sophia, where is your affianced?"
As Casey had predicted, Alex had shown up at the precinct by the time she, Olivia, and Harper arrived. Harper just had yet to see her.
At the moment, she was watching the conversation from the other side of the glass. When she heard Harper ask about her, she opened the door without any preamble and let herself in.
Olivia lit up at the sight of her fiancée, something that Harper noticed immediately. In fact, the word that came to mind when she saw her sister's expression was lovestruck.
Alex walked up to Harper and extended a hand. "It's really wonderful to meet you, Harper. I'm Alex, and I'm the one engaged to Olivia. I'm also sorry that you've been hurt."
"Thanks."
They shook hands.
"It's great to meet you, too." she spotted Alex's baby bump and smiled, waving in indication. "I'm sure you'll understand if I don't get up—Xander does not like it when I make sudden movements, and right now, I'm positively dead on my feet."
"I totally get it." Alex took a seat opposite her, next to Olivia. Casey was on Alex's other side. "My daughter does the same thing to me, on a regular basis, and she's really strong."
Harper studied Alex. "So you're going to be my sister-in-law when you and my sister tie the knot?"
"Yes."
"What's your role, in correlation to the squad? You must have one, if you were already on the other side of the glass."
Alex grinned, impressed. "Not bad—I'm in Bureau Chief of the Special Victims Unit."
"Making you, what? Casey's boss?"
"That's two for two."
Harper studied the trio in front of her, fascinated. "I can see that you all are a unit of some kind, even without the engagements happening. How long have you all been friends?"
"A very long time." Alex responded.
Casey sighed, nostalgic. "Eons."
"A lifetime." Olivia finished.
Their answers had been in unison, and Harper was now the one impressed.
"That answers that, I suppose." Harper eyed her bank bag. "I'll go through my stuff later, but is this the part where I start talking about what happened to me?"
Olivia nodded. "Yes."
"I'll talk, since we're all family, but I'm not repeating myself because I'm worn out." Harper pointed at the room's main window. "Is anyone else over there at the moment?"
Olivia looked at the glass, and arched an eyebrow. Amanda was on the other side, but had only just arrived, looking for her so she could deliver her finished report on Harper. As was her way, however, Olivia had demonstrated her ability to read Amanda like a book.
Sighing, Amanda caved, and let herself into the room, closing the door behind her.
"Hey, lieutenant." she offered. "I have that information you wanted. What did I just walk into?"
"Have a seat."
Amanda obeyed, obedient and curious. She took the last spot, on Olivia's other side.
Olivia turned to her sister. "Harper, this is my partner, Detective Amanda Rollins."
"Is she related to one of us?"
Olivia shook her head. "Technically, no."
Harper arched an eyebrow. "Okay, what's the catch?"
"It's complicated, but Amanda is one of Sophia's older half-sisters."
Harper opened her mouth and then just as quickly, shut it when she couldn't think of anything to say.
"It's true." Amanda confirmed. "I'm also the squad tech guru, but enough about me—were you about to tell us what happened?"
Harper nodded, and the feelings she'd been holding back started rushing to the surface.
"Where do I start?"
"From the beginning, and there's no need to rush."
Harper nodded again. "But for the record, it isn't standard procedure to have a lieutenant, her partner, and two attorneys around, right?"
"Yes, and even though we only just met you, we care about you. Also, every one of us at this table has been though some kind of traumatic physical ordeal or another over the years."
"Meaning that all of you get it?"
"More than you know, Harper." Olivia said as Amanda, Casey, and Alex nodded. "We're all on your side."
Harper proceeded to tell them about being abducted around the corner from her favorite bistro, on the previous morning, and then about being brought to the place in Brighton Beach. She even told them about who else was there, and how her attack had happened. Even harder was explaining why she and the others had been taken, and why her attack had even happened in the first place.
Understandably, she was very emotional by the end.
"Harper," Amanda said gently when she was done. "Do you remember anything about the guys who had you?"
Harper nodded. "I think most of the guys are from the neighborhood, because they only spoke Russian. The guy who took me is a guard, or something, from Rikers. His name is Bishop."
A light suddenly went off somewhere in Casey's head at the mention of Rikers Island, and the surname Bishop. She spoke directly to Harper.
"Was he a little older? Blond hair, maybe?"
"Yeah, but I never caught a first name. Just always Bishop." was the reply.
"And does he have a scar?"
"It runs down his right eye. Why are you asking me this?"
"Do tell." Olivia added.
Casey stood. "I've heard of this guy through the grapevine before, but I just can't remember why. I need to borrow Amanda."
"You got it." Olivia turned to her partner. "You're on deck now, tech guru."
Amanda stood, too. "Casey, what do you need?"
"For you to run a name or two."
"Then let's roll."
Alex also got to her feet. "Wait up."
Very soon, the room was empty, except for Olivia and Harper. The latter was leaning back in her chair, holding her hands on the other side of her big belly, and she was breathing very strategically.
"Everything alright?" Olivia asked her. "Do you need a drink?"
Harper shook her head. "No, but thank you. Xander was just acting like he was going to start hiccuping—once he starts, he goes for hours."
"I remember that. Sophia did the same thing when I carried her." Olivia laughed at the memories. "Hey, you said Xander is being named after his dad?"
"Uh-huh."
"What happened to Senior?"
"He had cancer, Olivia."
The lieutenant gasped and moved her chair around the table, positioning it so that she was facing Harper.
"I am so sorry."
Harper gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "We found out later than we should have that it was advanced Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Things went unnoticed because we were moving in to the shelter after another mess, but that's another story. Twenty-four hours after the diagnosis, I became violently ill after eating dinner."
"Morning sickness?"
"Yes, and it was so bad, I couldn't go anywhere. It left a few months ago, though."
"How did Xander feel about the baby? Happy?"
Harper nodded. When Olivia passed her a tissue box, she plucked a few tissues out and wiped her teary eyes.
"He was over the moon, but it gets worse."
"Oh, my God, Harper. How?"
"Xander was the absolute love of my life—he was an orphan, too, and we met in our last group home. We left together, when we aged out, and we got married as soon as we could. June made seven years."
Olivia connected the dots. "You knew Xander quite awhile, though, huh?"
"A long while: we were twelve when we met, and I knew him like the back of my hand, so it didn't surprise me when I found out that even though he was ill, he stepped in to be a Good Samaritan during a mugging, one day."
"Was he hurt?"
Harper sighed heavily and wiped her eyes again. "Stabbed, and he had an operation to repair the damage. He did recover, but not too long after, he went back into the hospital."
Olivia was hanging on to every word. "For what?"
"Xander had an infection at the site of his operation."
"Did the infection irritate the cancer?"
"It did. Xander went downhill right before my eyes, and there wasn't even time to let him die in a familiar place."
"Oh, honey. When did it happen?"
Harper used new tissues to wipe her eyes yet again. "Last month."
"And that's why you skipped over your last appointment on the mobile hospital?"
Harper bobbed her head and practiced her strategic breathing again as the baby did a somersault.
"Yeah. Does it make me a bad mother?"
"Not a single bit." Olivia said seriously. "It makes you a grieving widow. Do you feel guilty?"
"I do. I've always taken good care of my body, especially since getting pregnant, but last month, I just fell apart. It was all I could do to get out of the bed to go to work."
"Where do you work?"
"I do clerical work downtown, for an accounting firm, but my boss is about to retire." Harper explained. "He did set it up for me to be transferred to a high-powered law firm. I'm presently on bereavement leave, and when it's over, I start my new job."
"Where?"
"At Henshall & Langan; I'll actually be working for Langan, himself. Do you know him?"
"Saying yes would be an understatement." Olivia rubbed Harper's back. "Listen, I completely understand the guilt—I gave Sophia up for adoption when she was born, and I had no way of knowing that she was going to grow up in some not-so-fun circumstances. I also had no way of knowing that she'd have the same seizure problem that you do."
"She probably got it from me…"
"Probably." Olivia agreed. "But she wandered back into my life recently, and she'd begun to heal. So have I."
"Wow."
"Sophia also told me that she used to be angry at me when she was younger, but let go of it when Melissa was born because the baby helped her understand what peace is."
Harper mulled over what her sister was telling her. "Did hearing this alleviate your guilt?"
"It did." Olivia patted Harper's shoulder; she noticed the younger woman seemed to appreciate physical affection, and she was happy to give it. "And I heard the doctor and the ultrasound tech both say that Xander is perfectly healthy. They would've told you right away if he wasn't."
Harper blew out a breath and nodded.
"You're right, Olivia. Thanks." she blew out another breath as she felt Xander kick her with both feet. "When I found out the baby was on the way, I knew right then and there that if there was a boy cooking in there, that I'd name him after his daddy. But now I'm proud to do it because of what Xander means."
"It's another version of Alexander, and you met my fiancée—her full name is Alexandra. All the names mean defender of man."
"Right again." Harper said. "Defending a man is half of what cost my husband his life, but he was a hero for that, because the other guy lived, and the perp was caught and arrest. Baby boy is going to have a lot to live up to."
Olivia leaned back in her chair as an old memory came to mind. "Mom was a fan of Old Hollywood, you know, and a fan of Olivia de Havilland."
"The star of Gone With The Wind."
"That's right. Mom told me she named me for her, and also because Olivia means peace." Olivia became wistful. "She told me that the last time I saw her."
"Wow." Harper said a second time. "My middle name is Atticus. I bet you can figure out why mom named me Harper Atticus."
Olivia didn't have to search her memory too hard to for the answer. "She was an English professor at Hudson, and her favorite author was Harper Lee."
"Who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, which was her favorite book. She told me once."
"Her favorite character from the story was Atticus Finch, defender of Tom Robinson, the falsely accused and downtrodden. She read the book so often that she wore it out, and that year, I gave her a replacement copy for her birthday." Olivia smiled at Harper. "Mom named you after one of the most important authors of all time, and after one of the most well known characters in all of modern literature, who just so happened to be a lawyer."
"Then I guess it's fitting that I'm going to be working at a law firm, huh?"
"It is. She wasn't always good to me, but she found peace before she died, so I know that she would be proud of you, Harper, for surviving everything that you have. I know I'm proud." Olivia stood and stretched. "I still have some questions to ask you, but I'm going to go check on the others for a minute. Is there anywhere you need to be today?"
"No."
"Then will you wait for me?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. Flag anyone down if you need something."
"I can do that."
"Good."
The sisters hugged.
Olivia had scarcely reemerged into the bullpen when Elliot came hurrying up to her. She was taken aback when she registered alarm on his face.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked him.
"We have a problem," he said. "And it concerns Carisi."
