The night of December twentieth gave way to the morning of the twenty-first. To keep from going totally mad in her office that morning, Olivia jumped at the first chance she had at visiting Zacharias McFadden at the hospital in Queens. He was finally up for talking.

This meant a ride with Amanda. Her sprained ankle was finally healed, and she had a clear head, too. She was also good company on long car rides. Olivia was thankful for this because the ride out to this area of Queens was a bit long, but in the wintertime, when snow had to factored in, it was even longer. Amanda faithfully accompanied her CO, and was even pleased that she got drive, but they were scarcely two blocks away from the precinct when she fell quiet as she ruminated on some things that were happening at home.

Olivia found the silence to be unsettling.

So she said, "Your quietness is making me jumpy. Will you tell me what you're thinking?"

Amanda nodded as she wended the car through the morning traffic. "News from the home front, lieutenant."

"Whose home front? Yours and Dominick's?"

"Also there, but I was thinking more of my mom's and Benoît's."

"Then how about you start with your news first?"

"Dominick and I want to get our own place together." Amanda took a deep breath and slowly let it out, as she felt her baby wiggle around. "We already have a dog, one kid, plus a kid on the way, so saying that we're becoming hard-pressed for space in our apartment is putting it mildly. We also want one or two more kids in a few years."

"Oh, wow." Olivia said in surprise.

"A change of scenery is needed, and as it currently stands, we're thinking about houses in Queens. Our neighborhood of choice is Astoria."

"I see. When do you want to be all moved in to a place out there?"

"February, at the latest, before I'm too big and miserable. We're just getting in front of this before it gets away from us altogether. What do you think?

"I think that I'm really proud, and especially of you—you've come a long way since you fell out of the sky, back in 2011."

Amanda steered the car into a different lane, so they would make it to the bridge they needed. "I have, haven't I? I've done a lot of growing up."

Olivia nodded. "All of your old habits are behind you, you're doing really well at work, you fell in love and made a family, there's also your beautiful bond with Sophia, and then I can't begin to name all of the other scary obstacles that you've overcome. No matter what life has thrown at you, Amanda, you always get back up to keep going."

"I never thought about it like that, but you're totally right, Liv."

"You deserve the recognition, my friend." Olivia gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Now, tell me about what's happening down in Georgia, please."

Amanda perked up even more. "It's about the triplets—I'm getting two sisters, and a brother!"

Olivia felt her heart jump. "That's really wonderful! Do your siblings have names yet?"

"Yep! My new brother is Benoît Etienne Rollins the second—they named him after my stepdad."

"That's really sweet. Do you know what Benoît and Etienne mean?"

"They mean 'blessed,' and 'crown.' My stepdad's parents gave him those names because he's an only child." Amanda recalled. "I can't imagine how pleased he is to pass those names down."

"Extremely pleased, I'll bet. What are your new sisters' names?"

"They're called Eden Lily, and Haven Aster. My mom has always liked names that sound beautiful."

"And lilies are deeply symbolic in the Bible," Olivia reflected. "But something tells me it's more than that."

"Lilies can represent a lot of things, but my mom's favorite meanings for them are innocence and love. Asters represent patience. These blooms were the hallmarks of my mom's flower bouquet when she married Benoît." Amanda explained. "My parents are also both religious, and they go to church every Sunday, so I'm sure that they picked the names right from the Bible because of the places that they are."

"So it would make perfect to have rich, beautiful names for Eden and Haven, and one packed with a lot of importance and history for little Benoît."

"Mhm." Amanda merged on to the main bridge that would take them in to Queens. "Dominick and I have already been compiling names for kid number two, and I don't know all of what's on his list, but gender-neutrals are dominating mine. Am I rambling?"

Olivia shook her head. "No—I appreciate this distraction. What's at the very top of your list?"

Curiously, Amanda blushed. "Since Jesse's middle name is Olivia, after you, but Alexandra is nine letters long, I've settled on Alexis as my top choice for a first name."

"It means 'defender of man,' you know."

"Yep, and your Alex has always treated Dominick and I like family, and she's a very good friend to us. We've both always loved that, so I think Alexis would be a nice nod to her."

Olivia's heart clenched as she thought of her missing fiancée, but she didn't let it show. "Alex would love it, and I bet Dominick will say yes when you float it by him."

"I agree. I just wish he'd propose to me…"

At this, Olivia said nothing and turned to look out the window. She'd already known for quite awhile that Carisi had plans to propose to Amanda soon.

The last thing she wanted was to give it away.


GREENWOOD GENERAL HOSPITAL

INTENSIVE CRE UNIT

6970 PINEVALE STREET

ASTORIA, QUEENS COUNTY, QUEENS


Kathleen was waiting for Olivia and Amanda just outside her husband's room. She had an anxious expression on her face.

"Zacharias hasn't taken a turn for the worse, has he?" Amanda said in surprise.

"No, detective." Kathleen looked from her to Olivia. "He asked that I come explain why he was knocked out of commission yesterday; he felt bad that he couldn't help then."

"We don't judge." Olivia replied. "We're just happy that he can help us now."

Kathleen shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Besides becoming concussed from the tumble he took yesterday, Zacharias got some deep cuts and scrapes, too. The bummer is that he developed a surprise allergic reaction to the antiseptic ointment they started to clean it all up with. It was pretty severe and it manifested in the form of a red rash."

"What a run of bad luck."

"What happened after that?" Amanda blurted. "Is he on the right kinds of meds now?"

"Yes, thank goodness, but he's been feeling a little bummed because his newfound appearance actually scared the kids."

"Gee, that's too bad. I'm sorry."

"So are we, but things have improved since yesterday." Kathleen sighed. "He's also on pain meds because he bruised a bone. To that end, those meds make him sleepy."

"Then we'll try not to take up too much of his time." Amanda decided.

Olivia nodded in agreement. "Could you show us in, please, Kathleen?"

"Okay. He's through here."

Olivia and Amanda followed Kathleen in to Zacharias' hospital room. He had it to himself and was propped up on pillows, dressed in hospital clothes. He wasn't on an external oxygen supply, but it was clear to see from the various bandages and gauze pads, and the different patches of red skin that he was recovering from something. When he saw his visitors, he sat up straighter.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help yesterday." he said apologetically as Olivia and Amanda sat in the chairs beside his bed.

"There's nothing to apologize for." Olivia said reassuringly. "Everybody is just pleased that you're in one piece."

"Thank you, m'am."

The lieutenant gave a small, rueful smile. "I'm sure it's just a habit because you're in the service, but there's really no need to stand on formality with me, Zacharias, because I was Elliot's partner for over a decade. My first name will do just fine."

"Okay, Olivia. I'll tell you what you want to know, but is there an update on the other guy? Trevor?"

"His arm is broken, but it's been set and put in a proper cast. He was able to go home to his family yesterday."

"That's good. My doctor said I'll be able to go home tomorrow morning. Did Kat tell you what happened?"

"She did, and she also said that the medicine for your bruised bone makes you sleepy."

Unable to help himself, Zacharias gave a small irrepressible yawn, excused himself, and turned to Amanda. She had her notepad and pen out, and had been taking notes.

"Detective Rollins, right?" Zacharias added.

"Uh-huh. You are our most valuable lead on Alex right now, and the lieutenant and I appreciate the gravity of your circumstance, but it would be really good if you could start from the top."

"Okay, detective. I can do that."

Zacharias paused to yawn again, and then collected his thoughts. "Every day when I'm stateside, I always go running in Astoria Park, and I'm always home by seven to shower and be there when the little kids wake up. Yesterday was business as usual, but then I saw him."

"Garrett Rhys?"

"Yeah." Zacharias bobbed his head. "I hadn't seen him since the day he washed out of the corps, but I definitely noticed him because of how early it was."

"What was he doing?"

Zacharias gave a visible shudder. "Is there a law that says anything about stalking being against the law here? I wouldn't know because I grew up abroad."

Amanda sighed. "No, to your question, I'm afraid. Is that what you think is happening?"

"Yep. He was there, at the end of my favorite trail in a van, and he had one of his thugs with him. They were waiting for me."

It was Olivia who jumped on this particular tidbit. "Do you remember anything about this associate?"

"He had a coiling snake tattoo on one arm, and he spoke with a heavy Russian accent." Zacharias looked from one visitor to the other, puzzled. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Olivia answered. "But we've already identified this associate, and his name was Misha. He's turned up dead, though. Is there anything else you can remember?"

"Misha said something about being on a schedule, and that he would have liked it if I 'came quietly,' I wasn't about to let that happen."

"Of course not. What did you do?"

Zacharias leaned back on his pillows, feeling the sleepiness come creeping back. "I'm really fast when I run, but so was he. He'd caught me before I'd gone fifteen feet, and after the, he frogmarched me to the van. I didn't have a chance to escape because he had a gun pressed to my back."

"Was there anyone in the van?"

"Uh-uh. It was empty."

"Then do you remember anything else? Like the time, or a plate number?"

"It was almost a quarter to seven—I remember because it takes fifteen minutes to jog from the park to our house." he yawned. "Sorry about that…"

"It's okay." Olivia said kindly. "Dig deep, and see if you can remember anything else—you've already helped us establish a timeline."

This gave Zacharias new heart and he concentrated before brightening. "I remember the plate, and that the van was dark—black or blue, maybe. I'm not sure…"

"Don't worry about it. Tell me about the license plate, please."

"The whole thing is LYN-0305, and one of the van tail lights is broken. I don't even know how I remember that…"

"You'd be surprised at the knowledge the brain can retain when under pressure like that." Olivia put her things away and stood, with Amanda following suit. "You've been a really big help today, and Detective Rollins and I are going to go back to Manhattan. You get some rest."

"Thank you, Olivia."

He waved good-bye as they left, with Kathleen calling after them that she'd call if Zacharias remembered anything else.

True, though the interview with did help the detectives nail down a better timeline that what they'd already constructed, and even though they were able to add on to the BOLO they already had, Olivia and the others had naught but false leads for the rest of the day.

Before she knew it, the twenty-first gave way to the twenty-second.

And still no sign of Alex.