A/N: A shout out to SVUSHIPPER4EVER. Liv will have more to say trust me. ;) Glad you liked it. Thanks!
Chapter 10
Elliot waited outside the door. On the other side of that door was his partner and the department shrink. Her appointment had only supposed to have been an hour, but she'd been in there for almost two. Elliot figured that the shrink was supposed to be seeing other cops but there was no one else waiting, except the receptionist who tippy tapped on the keyboard in front of her, answered the phone, and otherwise ignored the detective who was trying to sit still in the waiting room.
"I hate to bother you but is this usual? I thought my partner's appointment was only supposed to be an hour," Elliot asked the receptionist. She seemed young but looked tired – the bags under her eyes were noticeable.
"Doctor Valentino always clears her schedule for police involved shootings. Luckily her other patients understand. She still makes calls once the appointment is done, she might even see some others later today, but she never likes to rush things," the brunette smiled.
"Oh. She cares a lot, doesn't she?" Elliot wondered.
"She does. That's why she posts the informational and inspirational posters. Some patients need the extra push. Not many cops want to be here," she said.
"And the photos? Pretty sure that she isn't supposed to let people know who her patients are," Elliot pointed out. There were two photos on the wall with the Doctor in them. The pictures were police academy graduation shots – one much older than the other. He figured that one was her husband and the other her daughter. The other photos were of sights around the city.
"They aren't her patients. They're her family," she responded with a slight smile.
"Two cops in the family and she works as the department shrink? Wow," Elliot was impressed.
"Makes her uniquely qualified," the receptionist nodded. That's when the door opened and Olivia and the doctor exited. Elliot could tell that his partner had been crying at one point despite her trying to hide it.
"Detective Stabler, I'm surprised to see you here," Valentino smiled slightly.
"Just picking up my partner, Doctor, nothing more," he smiled a little.
"Well that's thoughtful of you. Since you're here, did you want to get your meeting out of the way?" Valentino was supposed to be swinging by the precinct tomorrow to check up on the detectives.
"I think I'll wait until tomorrow. You'll be at the precinct, right?" He asked.
"Nine am tomorrow, see you then," with that the doctor turned around and headed back inside her office. Elliot escorted Olivia down to the car – they didn't say anything until they were inside the vehicle.
"Are you ok?" He asked as they sat there, the keys were still in Elliot's hand.
"Why wouldn't I be?" She wasn't looking at him. Olivia just stared through the windshield not looking at anything in particular.
"Because you were in there for almost two hours and you've been crying. You can't hide from me Liv. I know you too well," he said. Olivia hung her head.
"It doesn't matter. There's no way after that meeting I get to keep my job," she said.
"Wrong. We have proof that Jenna didn't bring that gun into the precinct," Elliot told her.
"What do you mean?" Olivia looked up at him.
"Kenny is like a dog with a bone. He was sniffing around and he found something that will definitely get you off the hook," Elliot said.
"I think you're putting a few horses before the cart, aren't you? Even if she had help, you really think the cop who helped her would fess up?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"Forensics is working on getting prints off the gun. The serial number was ground down, but they think that they can match the rifling off the bullets that hit the two scumbags," he explained.
"So maybe our helper didn't realize that the gun was fired before? Knew enough to file off the serial number… what if our helper didn't think that she was going to use it?" Olivia suddenly had an idea.
"What do you mean?" Elliot asked.
"Hear me out. She tells her helper that she's coming in; she needs to talk to the detectives. They say, perfect because as you're exiting the precinct, you don't have to go through the metal detectors. That way you can pick up the gun and no one will know," she said.
"They figured that she'd never actually fire it. Jenna probably fed them a line about wanting it for protection now that she was all alone," he nodded.
"What started out as a helping hand became a way to get what she wanted. Or maybe she changes her mind at the last second. Either way, the officer might not have had any idea what she was actually planning. It would explain why the officer would help – they figured they'd never get caught," Olivia told him.
"See this is why we need you back," Elliot smiled. He jammed the key into the ignition and started the car. Pulling into traffic, he headed back toward Olivia's apartment.
"I'll talk to the boys. You need to be hands off but if you're right, then we definitely have something more to work with," he was almost giddy as he moved through traffic.
"Look El, without proof of where that weapon came from, we're still dead in the water," she said.
"Not exactly. Where would an officer get a gun that wouldn't necessarily trace back to them?" Elliot wondered.
"The street? I mean it really isn't that hard to find one," Olivia pointed out.
"Yes, but then they'd have a dealer who would identify them," Elliot said.
"The property room," Olivia's shoulders slumped.
"The property room," he nodded.
To Be Continued…
