title: memory - chapter eight
author: duck
rating: pg-13
author note: mm, i'm such a sappy shipper, but it's so much fun! eternal love to kukrae.
disclaimer: if you see my name in the credits, it's just a fluke and my wildest dreams have come true. and then there'll be lots of nekkid, hawt sex. yes, on network television. my wildest dreams, remember?
-----
Olivia slowly awoke to a feeling of absolute comfort. It was so perfect in fact, that it wasn't until she'd been drowsily awake for a few minutes that she realized her neck had the most God awful crick in it. The pain of it had probably been the thing that woke her up. She tried to roll to relieve the cramping in her muscles but couldn't get very far. Her brain told her she was probably caught in her sheets, so she tugged away harder.
A sleepy grunt startled her out of her lethargic state and she finally processed why she was so warm and comfortable: she was sprawled across Elliot's upper torso, her face buried in his neck. He had both of his arms around her, which explained why she hadn't been able to move. She rested her hand on his chest and propped her chin on it, waiting for him to wake up. He was already starting to shift his head back and forth, stretching out the kinks in his neck and groaning in the back of his throat.
When his eyes finally opened after one particularly vicious pop in his neck she smiled at him. His blue eyes looked gray in the semi-darkness and they widened when they caught sight of her. The muscles in his arms tightened around her in obvious surprise and she resisted the urge to chuckle at his expense. When he finally processed what they were doing in her bed together, she knew because she could feel all the fresh tension drain out his body.
"I think it's safe to say that was a mild surprise for you," she said, still offering him a smile. He returned it, if a bit weaker.
"Quite. You too?" he asked, almost sounding hopeful.
"A bit, yes. I haven't woken up next to someone in a while. What time is it?"
He glanced over to where she knew the luminous red numbers of her alarm clock glowed; she couldn't see because his arm was in the way. "It's almost six-thirty."
"Mmm, so we have a couple minutes before we have to get up." She buried her face in his neck again. It felt so good to have such intimate contact with someone, anyone. The fact that it was Elliot was quite the happy bonus.
"Yeah, but why bother staying in bed if we're awake already?"
"It's comfortable. Don't make me get up," she said, tossing in as much early-morning crossness as she could.
"Tell you what," he said, his warm breath tickling her scalp through her hair. "I'll pay for breakfast."
"You might regret that offer later; I'm starving."
- Special Victims Unit Squad Room -
- Thursday October 7th 8:33am -
"Elliot, Olivia." They'd barely hung up their coats and sat down before Cragen's voice cut across the early morning chatter of the squad room. He appeared next to their desks, a neutral look firmly in place. Elliot thought it was almost like he was trying too hard to be neutral. "There're a couple new rape cases that need your attention. Where are you on the Nichols date rape?"
"We're going to go to the perp's home today, confront him with what's happened to his victim after the hit and run," Elliot answered. "We're thinking maybe it'll guilt him into talking. He's out on $500,000 bail, so there's not much chance it'll work."
"We still have to try," Olivia added.
"There's always the possibility that he really didn't do it," Cragen offered.
"There is that," Elliot acknowledged, biting back his laughter at the hesitancy in his superior's voice. "We still think he did it and that his girlfriend is lying to cover his ass."
"The coincidence is almost too much to swallow." Cragen thought for a moment. "Don't push him too hard on it, but don't give up after a few seconds either. How's the girl doing?"
Elliot met Olivia's eyes for a moment before she suddenly found a pen on her desk fascinating. "We talked to her doctor at the hospital yesterday." He shifted his gaze from Olivia's down-turned face to Cragen's curious one. "He thinks she's got short-term memory loss; that she won't be able to form new memories. The last thing she'll probably remember for the rest of her life is her rape."
Cragen didn't respond for a moment, but Elliot recognized it as the veritable quiet before the storm. He'd had it trained on him often enough for being out of line to know that his captain's anger was simmering before it exploded in a burst of righteous fury. He didn't have to wait for very long.
"Push the son of a bitch as hard as you need to." He headed back to his office without another word.
Elliot smiled grimly at Olivia, who had finally looked back up at him. "Shall we?"
- 243 West Madison Avenue -
- Tuesday October 5th 6:20pm -
Elliot shifted the police sedan into park and turned the car off. He let his hands linger on the keys before pulling them out of the ignition, appraising Olivia as he did so. She was staring out the window with an inscrutable expression on her face. He wasn't sure if it was abject despair or just a muted anger. "Olivia," he said softly.
She turned her head and he realized it had been the former. She was swinging through moods like a kid through a jungle gym. "Let's play this as light as we can. Take the sympathetic mode, okay?"
She gave a quiet sigh that spoke volumes. "You take the lead," she said, shrugging.
"Last time he saw you, you were playing up the bitch card," he reminded. Her eyes shifted as she reached back in her memories for it.
"Right." She considered it for a moment. "I'll just hang back and look bored."
He finally pulled the keys out and pocketed them. "Okay. Your despondency is easily mistakable for boredom anyway."
The corner of her mouth quirked in irritation, but she opened her door and got out without saying anything to him. He sighed, hating how she was a completely different person every day. He knew she needed therapy, and probably sooner than she was going to get it. He moved to get out the car, not even bothering to lock it, given the neighborhood they were in.
He stood shielded behind the car and gazed up at the elegant apartments. Such a beautiful exterior hid at least one man who did criminal and twisted things. He yanked the keys out his pocket and hit the lock button on the key chain.
Olivia had paused on the sidewalk, toeing at a loose rock. He joined her and held her gaze for a moment before moving towards the garage entrance. The apartment building was four stories tall, but had a large garage for the residents and their guests that was halfway aboveground. There wasn't actually a "main" entrance, just the garage one, which was guarded by a security guard hidden away in a small booth next to the driveway.
As they approached, the guard emerged from the booth, his hand resting on his gun. "Evan," Elliot said, nodding to him. They'd made his acquaintance when they'd been here two days ago executing the search warrant. Evan was an imposing black man in his late forties. He'd had to retire from the police force during a department downsizing, but the world of private security had been good to him. He'd been more than friendly enough while they were waiting for the landlord to come down and escort the detectives to Farley's apartment.
"Detectives," Evan said, nodding back. "How goes the investigation?"
"Well enough, I suppose," Elliot said, keeping half of his attention on Olivia, who was staring at a point somewhere a couple inches above Evan's left shoulder. "We're just here to inform Farley about the condition of his girlfriend."
"Watch out," Evan advised, chucking his thumb in the direction of the parked cars. "His 'real' girl's over. Has an attitude like a stray tomcat on the prowl, that one. She yelled at me earlier for not telling Sebastian you were in his apartment when he came home."
"Thanks for the warning," Elliot said with a grin. "We've talked to her already. Slammed the door in our faces."
"How's your vic?" Evan asked.
"Not too well," Olivia interjected, offering the guard an unenthusiastic smile. "She's still in the hospital."
"May have problems with short-term memory loss," Elliot finished.
Evan shook his head regretfully. "She was a nice girl. Always said more than just the polite hello when she came by, which was only a few times mind you." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Best thing about not being an officer anymore is not having to see bad things happen to good people day in and day out. You must have a rough time with it, being in sex crimes and all."
"You don't know the half of it," Olivia muttered. Evan gave her an inquisitive look, but before he could ask Elliot jumped in.
"We've got other cases that demand our attention, so we're just going to be as quick about this as we can. We'll see you on the way back down, Evan." He headed in the direction of the door but Evan called out before he took two steps.
"I need your badge numbers again."
"Can't you just look it up from two days ago?" Elliot asked, fishing out his badge. Next to him Olivia was doing the same.
"Sorry, just policy I have to follow," Evan said, shrugging in apology. He scribbled the numbers down and held out the clipboard to them. "I need you to sign it too."
"Right," Olivia said, taking it first. She signed her name and quickly handed it to Elliot. He smiled at her signature; it resembled the sloppy scrawl she usually slapped at the end of paperwork somewhere around one in the morning. He signed his own name as quickly as he could and handed the clipboard back to Evan.
"You two take care, now," Evan said as he turned towards the sound of a car coming down the driveway.
"You too, Evan," Elliot said, but the man only gave a half-hearted wave over his shoulder, his attention focused completely on the silver Mercedes that was waiting at the closed gate.
"Nice guy," Olivia said, for once no rancorous sarcasm tainting her voice.
"Yeah," Elliot agreed. "Your boredom gameface ready to go?"
"Couldn't be more disinterested. You are, after all, the most idiotic partner a detective could have." Her dull tone was only accented by the deadpan expression on her face.
"You're funny," he said, knowing she was teasing him.
"You think I'm kidding?"
"I think you're acting the part very well, Liv," he said, moving for the door. "Now c'mon. Let's go put your skills to good use."
- Apartment C -
Elliot banged on the door for the second time. "Mr. Farley, open up. It's the police." He glanced at Olivia, who was slumped against the far wall with her arms crossed. She did indeed look thoroughly disinterested with the proceedings. If Farley opened up the door Elliot was sure he'd hear more than one exasperated sigh from her.
He heard movement behind the door before it was jerked partially open, the chain on the back of it stopping it from opening all the way. Farley's face appeared in the crack. "I don't have anything to say to you without my lawyer present."
"We just wanted to give you an update on Lida's condition," Elliot said soothingly.
"I don't care how that bitch is doing. She's ruining my life," Farley sneered. Angry arrogance twisted his handsome face and Elliot's thoughts immediately snapped to the kid's cocaine habit.
"She's suffering from short-term memory loss," he said before Farley could shut the door. He threw his hand out to jam it open as the other man made a move to close it. "The last thing she remembers is Monday night. And that's the last thing she'll remember for a while."
"What does that mean?" Farley asked, the nastiness of his tone slipping. "Is she in a coma or something?"
"No, she's awake," Elliot replied. "She just can't form any new memories. The doctors aren't sure if she'll ever be able to again."
"What are they saying, Sebastian?" Marna's voice rang out shrilly from behind Farley. He turned away from the door and said something in a low, harsh tone to her before returning.
"Stop harassing me before I file a complaint," was all he said before he forced the door closed.
Elliot just shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Olivia. She rolled her eyes and heaved herself away from the wall to walk away. He furrowed his eyebrows and followed in her wake. When they were a few feet away from the apartment door she slowed so they were next to each other.
"He looked higher than a kite," she said.
"I can't believe he's out on bail and using already," Elliot said, hoping his disgust was evident enough. "Maybe his addiction is worse than we thought."
Olivia was quiet for a moment until they'd reached the exit. "I don't understand how his girlfriend is still with him. After knowing what he did?"
"I don't think she believes it," Elliot said as he held the door open for her. "And if she does, why jeopardize her career and her future by breaking up with her boss's son?"
"Still, she's staying with someone who abuses cocaine, raped a woman, and then tried to kill her with his car."
"We don't even know for sure that he did it."
She sighed and looked over the twenty-odd cars in the garage. There were only ten apartments in the whole building, so the small number of cars wasn't surprising.
"I mean, you and I know he did, but..." He trailed off, realizing she wasn't walking beside him anymore. "Olivia?" She'd stopped a few feet behind him.
"There's a black SUV over there," she said, pointing.
"Yeah, it's Farley's Escalade," Elliot replied, squinting in the direction she'd pointed.
"No, his is over there. This one's in guest parking."
He realized it was parked next to the silver Mercedes they'd seen enter earlier under a giant "GUEST PARKING" stenciled in red on the wall. A horrible idea entered his mind and he dismissed it. It tenaciously clung on, his instincts screaming at him. "You don't think..."
"I'll call on the tags," she said, already pulling her cell phone out and striding towards the car. "You ask Evan who it belongs to."
Elliot headed for the guard's booth at a quick jog. "Evan!" he called. The man's head appeared in the window. He looked confused for a second, but stepped out quickly.
"'Lo again, Elliot. Something wrong?"
"The black SUV in guest parking," Elliot said. "Who does it belong to?"
Evan reached back inside his booth and pulled his clipboard out. "Black SUV," he said quietly, running his finger down the list. "Black Ford Explorer, tags 654BV3. Belongs to Marna Rivers. That's Farley's girlfriend." His face twisted into a smirk. "I remember now. She bought it a couple weeks ago so they could match."
Elliot felt his teeth clench involuntarily "Evan, if she tries to leave I need you to stall her any way possible." He raised his head looking for Olivia over the top of a red sports car. She was waving and almost running towards him. He had pulled out his cell phone and hit the button for Cragen's office by the time she reached him.
"Elliot, it's hers."
"I know."
"I think there's even dried blood still on the grill." She looked downright vicious at the prospect. A tendril of worry snaked through his heart before Cragen picked up.
"Cragen," a voice answered in his ear.
"It's Elliot, Captain. We don't think Farley did it anymore."
"The hit and run or everything?"
"Just the hit and run. We just found out his girlfriend has a black SUV too. Olivia says she thinks there's dried blood still on the grill."
"Don't let her car out of your sight," Cragen ordered. "I'll get the warrant to examine her car and have a CSU team down there within the hour. Where are you?"
"Farley's apartment building. 243 West Madison. The garage underneath the building is the only way in. They can't miss it."
"Good job to the both of you on cracking this," Cragen said before hanging up.
Elliot snapped his phone shut and grinned at Evan. "Never mind. We're staying put till CSU shows up."
[tbc]
hey look! a plot!
author: duck
rating: pg-13
author note: mm, i'm such a sappy shipper, but it's so much fun! eternal love to kukrae.
disclaimer: if you see my name in the credits, it's just a fluke and my wildest dreams have come true. and then there'll be lots of nekkid, hawt sex. yes, on network television. my wildest dreams, remember?
-----
Olivia slowly awoke to a feeling of absolute comfort. It was so perfect in fact, that it wasn't until she'd been drowsily awake for a few minutes that she realized her neck had the most God awful crick in it. The pain of it had probably been the thing that woke her up. She tried to roll to relieve the cramping in her muscles but couldn't get very far. Her brain told her she was probably caught in her sheets, so she tugged away harder.
A sleepy grunt startled her out of her lethargic state and she finally processed why she was so warm and comfortable: she was sprawled across Elliot's upper torso, her face buried in his neck. He had both of his arms around her, which explained why she hadn't been able to move. She rested her hand on his chest and propped her chin on it, waiting for him to wake up. He was already starting to shift his head back and forth, stretching out the kinks in his neck and groaning in the back of his throat.
When his eyes finally opened after one particularly vicious pop in his neck she smiled at him. His blue eyes looked gray in the semi-darkness and they widened when they caught sight of her. The muscles in his arms tightened around her in obvious surprise and she resisted the urge to chuckle at his expense. When he finally processed what they were doing in her bed together, she knew because she could feel all the fresh tension drain out his body.
"I think it's safe to say that was a mild surprise for you," she said, still offering him a smile. He returned it, if a bit weaker.
"Quite. You too?" he asked, almost sounding hopeful.
"A bit, yes. I haven't woken up next to someone in a while. What time is it?"
He glanced over to where she knew the luminous red numbers of her alarm clock glowed; she couldn't see because his arm was in the way. "It's almost six-thirty."
"Mmm, so we have a couple minutes before we have to get up." She buried her face in his neck again. It felt so good to have such intimate contact with someone, anyone. The fact that it was Elliot was quite the happy bonus.
"Yeah, but why bother staying in bed if we're awake already?"
"It's comfortable. Don't make me get up," she said, tossing in as much early-morning crossness as she could.
"Tell you what," he said, his warm breath tickling her scalp through her hair. "I'll pay for breakfast."
"You might regret that offer later; I'm starving."
- Special Victims Unit Squad Room -
- Thursday October 7th 8:33am -
"Elliot, Olivia." They'd barely hung up their coats and sat down before Cragen's voice cut across the early morning chatter of the squad room. He appeared next to their desks, a neutral look firmly in place. Elliot thought it was almost like he was trying too hard to be neutral. "There're a couple new rape cases that need your attention. Where are you on the Nichols date rape?"
"We're going to go to the perp's home today, confront him with what's happened to his victim after the hit and run," Elliot answered. "We're thinking maybe it'll guilt him into talking. He's out on $500,000 bail, so there's not much chance it'll work."
"We still have to try," Olivia added.
"There's always the possibility that he really didn't do it," Cragen offered.
"There is that," Elliot acknowledged, biting back his laughter at the hesitancy in his superior's voice. "We still think he did it and that his girlfriend is lying to cover his ass."
"The coincidence is almost too much to swallow." Cragen thought for a moment. "Don't push him too hard on it, but don't give up after a few seconds either. How's the girl doing?"
Elliot met Olivia's eyes for a moment before she suddenly found a pen on her desk fascinating. "We talked to her doctor at the hospital yesterday." He shifted his gaze from Olivia's down-turned face to Cragen's curious one. "He thinks she's got short-term memory loss; that she won't be able to form new memories. The last thing she'll probably remember for the rest of her life is her rape."
Cragen didn't respond for a moment, but Elliot recognized it as the veritable quiet before the storm. He'd had it trained on him often enough for being out of line to know that his captain's anger was simmering before it exploded in a burst of righteous fury. He didn't have to wait for very long.
"Push the son of a bitch as hard as you need to." He headed back to his office without another word.
Elliot smiled grimly at Olivia, who had finally looked back up at him. "Shall we?"
- 243 West Madison Avenue -
- Tuesday October 5th 6:20pm -
Elliot shifted the police sedan into park and turned the car off. He let his hands linger on the keys before pulling them out of the ignition, appraising Olivia as he did so. She was staring out the window with an inscrutable expression on her face. He wasn't sure if it was abject despair or just a muted anger. "Olivia," he said softly.
She turned her head and he realized it had been the former. She was swinging through moods like a kid through a jungle gym. "Let's play this as light as we can. Take the sympathetic mode, okay?"
She gave a quiet sigh that spoke volumes. "You take the lead," she said, shrugging.
"Last time he saw you, you were playing up the bitch card," he reminded. Her eyes shifted as she reached back in her memories for it.
"Right." She considered it for a moment. "I'll just hang back and look bored."
He finally pulled the keys out and pocketed them. "Okay. Your despondency is easily mistakable for boredom anyway."
The corner of her mouth quirked in irritation, but she opened her door and got out without saying anything to him. He sighed, hating how she was a completely different person every day. He knew she needed therapy, and probably sooner than she was going to get it. He moved to get out the car, not even bothering to lock it, given the neighborhood they were in.
He stood shielded behind the car and gazed up at the elegant apartments. Such a beautiful exterior hid at least one man who did criminal and twisted things. He yanked the keys out his pocket and hit the lock button on the key chain.
Olivia had paused on the sidewalk, toeing at a loose rock. He joined her and held her gaze for a moment before moving towards the garage entrance. The apartment building was four stories tall, but had a large garage for the residents and their guests that was halfway aboveground. There wasn't actually a "main" entrance, just the garage one, which was guarded by a security guard hidden away in a small booth next to the driveway.
As they approached, the guard emerged from the booth, his hand resting on his gun. "Evan," Elliot said, nodding to him. They'd made his acquaintance when they'd been here two days ago executing the search warrant. Evan was an imposing black man in his late forties. He'd had to retire from the police force during a department downsizing, but the world of private security had been good to him. He'd been more than friendly enough while they were waiting for the landlord to come down and escort the detectives to Farley's apartment.
"Detectives," Evan said, nodding back. "How goes the investigation?"
"Well enough, I suppose," Elliot said, keeping half of his attention on Olivia, who was staring at a point somewhere a couple inches above Evan's left shoulder. "We're just here to inform Farley about the condition of his girlfriend."
"Watch out," Evan advised, chucking his thumb in the direction of the parked cars. "His 'real' girl's over. Has an attitude like a stray tomcat on the prowl, that one. She yelled at me earlier for not telling Sebastian you were in his apartment when he came home."
"Thanks for the warning," Elliot said with a grin. "We've talked to her already. Slammed the door in our faces."
"How's your vic?" Evan asked.
"Not too well," Olivia interjected, offering the guard an unenthusiastic smile. "She's still in the hospital."
"May have problems with short-term memory loss," Elliot finished.
Evan shook his head regretfully. "She was a nice girl. Always said more than just the polite hello when she came by, which was only a few times mind you." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Best thing about not being an officer anymore is not having to see bad things happen to good people day in and day out. You must have a rough time with it, being in sex crimes and all."
"You don't know the half of it," Olivia muttered. Evan gave her an inquisitive look, but before he could ask Elliot jumped in.
"We've got other cases that demand our attention, so we're just going to be as quick about this as we can. We'll see you on the way back down, Evan." He headed in the direction of the door but Evan called out before he took two steps.
"I need your badge numbers again."
"Can't you just look it up from two days ago?" Elliot asked, fishing out his badge. Next to him Olivia was doing the same.
"Sorry, just policy I have to follow," Evan said, shrugging in apology. He scribbled the numbers down and held out the clipboard to them. "I need you to sign it too."
"Right," Olivia said, taking it first. She signed her name and quickly handed it to Elliot. He smiled at her signature; it resembled the sloppy scrawl she usually slapped at the end of paperwork somewhere around one in the morning. He signed his own name as quickly as he could and handed the clipboard back to Evan.
"You two take care, now," Evan said as he turned towards the sound of a car coming down the driveway.
"You too, Evan," Elliot said, but the man only gave a half-hearted wave over his shoulder, his attention focused completely on the silver Mercedes that was waiting at the closed gate.
"Nice guy," Olivia said, for once no rancorous sarcasm tainting her voice.
"Yeah," Elliot agreed. "Your boredom gameface ready to go?"
"Couldn't be more disinterested. You are, after all, the most idiotic partner a detective could have." Her dull tone was only accented by the deadpan expression on her face.
"You're funny," he said, knowing she was teasing him.
"You think I'm kidding?"
"I think you're acting the part very well, Liv," he said, moving for the door. "Now c'mon. Let's go put your skills to good use."
- Apartment C -
Elliot banged on the door for the second time. "Mr. Farley, open up. It's the police." He glanced at Olivia, who was slumped against the far wall with her arms crossed. She did indeed look thoroughly disinterested with the proceedings. If Farley opened up the door Elliot was sure he'd hear more than one exasperated sigh from her.
He heard movement behind the door before it was jerked partially open, the chain on the back of it stopping it from opening all the way. Farley's face appeared in the crack. "I don't have anything to say to you without my lawyer present."
"We just wanted to give you an update on Lida's condition," Elliot said soothingly.
"I don't care how that bitch is doing. She's ruining my life," Farley sneered. Angry arrogance twisted his handsome face and Elliot's thoughts immediately snapped to the kid's cocaine habit.
"She's suffering from short-term memory loss," he said before Farley could shut the door. He threw his hand out to jam it open as the other man made a move to close it. "The last thing she remembers is Monday night. And that's the last thing she'll remember for a while."
"What does that mean?" Farley asked, the nastiness of his tone slipping. "Is she in a coma or something?"
"No, she's awake," Elliot replied. "She just can't form any new memories. The doctors aren't sure if she'll ever be able to again."
"What are they saying, Sebastian?" Marna's voice rang out shrilly from behind Farley. He turned away from the door and said something in a low, harsh tone to her before returning.
"Stop harassing me before I file a complaint," was all he said before he forced the door closed.
Elliot just shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Olivia. She rolled her eyes and heaved herself away from the wall to walk away. He furrowed his eyebrows and followed in her wake. When they were a few feet away from the apartment door she slowed so they were next to each other.
"He looked higher than a kite," she said.
"I can't believe he's out on bail and using already," Elliot said, hoping his disgust was evident enough. "Maybe his addiction is worse than we thought."
Olivia was quiet for a moment until they'd reached the exit. "I don't understand how his girlfriend is still with him. After knowing what he did?"
"I don't think she believes it," Elliot said as he held the door open for her. "And if she does, why jeopardize her career and her future by breaking up with her boss's son?"
"Still, she's staying with someone who abuses cocaine, raped a woman, and then tried to kill her with his car."
"We don't even know for sure that he did it."
She sighed and looked over the twenty-odd cars in the garage. There were only ten apartments in the whole building, so the small number of cars wasn't surprising.
"I mean, you and I know he did, but..." He trailed off, realizing she wasn't walking beside him anymore. "Olivia?" She'd stopped a few feet behind him.
"There's a black SUV over there," she said, pointing.
"Yeah, it's Farley's Escalade," Elliot replied, squinting in the direction she'd pointed.
"No, his is over there. This one's in guest parking."
He realized it was parked next to the silver Mercedes they'd seen enter earlier under a giant "GUEST PARKING" stenciled in red on the wall. A horrible idea entered his mind and he dismissed it. It tenaciously clung on, his instincts screaming at him. "You don't think..."
"I'll call on the tags," she said, already pulling her cell phone out and striding towards the car. "You ask Evan who it belongs to."
Elliot headed for the guard's booth at a quick jog. "Evan!" he called. The man's head appeared in the window. He looked confused for a second, but stepped out quickly.
"'Lo again, Elliot. Something wrong?"
"The black SUV in guest parking," Elliot said. "Who does it belong to?"
Evan reached back inside his booth and pulled his clipboard out. "Black SUV," he said quietly, running his finger down the list. "Black Ford Explorer, tags 654BV3. Belongs to Marna Rivers. That's Farley's girlfriend." His face twisted into a smirk. "I remember now. She bought it a couple weeks ago so they could match."
Elliot felt his teeth clench involuntarily "Evan, if she tries to leave I need you to stall her any way possible." He raised his head looking for Olivia over the top of a red sports car. She was waving and almost running towards him. He had pulled out his cell phone and hit the button for Cragen's office by the time she reached him.
"Elliot, it's hers."
"I know."
"I think there's even dried blood still on the grill." She looked downright vicious at the prospect. A tendril of worry snaked through his heart before Cragen picked up.
"Cragen," a voice answered in his ear.
"It's Elliot, Captain. We don't think Farley did it anymore."
"The hit and run or everything?"
"Just the hit and run. We just found out his girlfriend has a black SUV too. Olivia says she thinks there's dried blood still on the grill."
"Don't let her car out of your sight," Cragen ordered. "I'll get the warrant to examine her car and have a CSU team down there within the hour. Where are you?"
"Farley's apartment building. 243 West Madison. The garage underneath the building is the only way in. They can't miss it."
"Good job to the both of you on cracking this," Cragen said before hanging up.
Elliot snapped his phone shut and grinned at Evan. "Never mind. We're staying put till CSU shows up."
[tbc]
hey look! a plot!