Chapter One – Invitation
Olivia entered her apartment. It was close to ten PM and she had been working since seven AM. She saw the message light on her answering machine. Probably Tim saying that she had canceled or postponed one too many dates because of her job. She decided to deal with it tomorrow.
She wandered around the apartment turning on the AC unit and a couple of fans. New York was having one of the hottest summers on record this year. She then sat down at her computer. A quick check of her e-mail, a shower and then bed. She'd 'eaten' at the station before she left so she didn't have to worry about food until morning.
She scrolled through her in-box. She really should check her e-mail more often, she thought. Letting it build up for a couple of days just meant a huge backlog to clear out. She deleted the usual assortment of spam and briefly wondered if Munch was right and the 'filtering' software actually made it easier for the spammers to find her. One name on the list popped out at her. Olivia smiled. It had been almost a month since her last e-mail from Dawn Summers.
Ever since the Cummings case Dawn and Olivia had started a correspondence. By unspoken agreement they did not talk much about their jobs, except to mention how they kept both of them from having anything remotely resembling a social life. The e-mails were a nice touch of normality in Olivia's life. A way to remind herself that the world wasn't filled with perverts, rapists, pedophiles and other monsters.
She and Dawn had one extended exchange comparing shopping in New York with shopping in London. They had also shared a couple of lunches when Dawn had come into town to check on the New York office of Guardian Research. She opened Dawn's e-mail and saw an invitation.
A couple of Dawn's friends who worked at the Jenny Calendar Foundation in Cleveland were getting married in two weeks. Dawn wanted her to come to the wedding. As much fun as it might be, Olivia didn't want to take the time off work. She typed a quick reply saying that she would have to decline.
"Olivia," Captain Cragen leaned out of his office. "Can you step in here a moment."
"Sure thing Cap," Olivia responded. She got up from her desk and went into the Captain's office. She sat down in front of Cragen's desk.
"I think you should take a couple of days off Olivia," Cragen said. "This Bannion case has run us all ragged and you especially."
"Captain," she replied. "I'm fine. I admit I screwed up in the interrogation, but we got him."
"Olivia, how long has it been since your last vacation?" Cragen asked.
Olivia paused and started thinking.
Cragen waited a few moments. "If it takes you that long to remember, then it's been too long. You need to get out of here for a few days and remind yourself there's more to world then this."
"I did get an invitation to a wedding next week," Olivia replied.
"Perfect," Cragen said. "You're not scheduled for any court appearances and Elliot and John can handle your current case load. Go to a wedding, have a good time. Do something normal."
"Alright Captain," Olivia reluctantly gave in. "I'll e-mail my friend and tell her I can go."
"Let me know the time you'll be gone next week," Cragen said.
"No problem. I'll go tell Elliot," Olivia got up from the chair and left the office.
"So what's up," Stabler asked.
"The Cap's making me take some vacation time," Olivia replied a little annoyed.
"I hate to say it Olivia," Stabler said. "But you need some time off."
"You too," Olivia said. "I made a mistake. I admit that. I don't need to be sent to my room."
"You need some time to rest Olivia," Stabler said. "We've had a month of ugly cases and you got too close to this one. Take a couple of days, get your mind back in the game."
"I'm going to wedding," Olivia said.
"That should be fun," Stabler said. "Who's getting married?"
"I don't know," Olivia replied. "Dawn Summers invited me as her guest. A couple of her friends from the Jenny Calendar Foundation are getting married. I guess she and Buffy will be the only two people there I'll know."
"Didn't the Jenny Calendar Foundation pop up in the news last month?" Stabler asked.
"Yea, one of there employees testified at a trial in Seattle," Olivia said. "A cult case or something. Dawn said it wasn't a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Elliot was a little shocked. "Didn't the cult kill six of its members?"
"Dawn doesn't have a lot to do with that stuff," Olivia said. "She probably gets most of the information from her sister. Whenever she mentions work, it's usually to talk about some old book she's translating or bizarre artifact they found."
"Well, tell them I said hi," Stabler said.
Just then the Captain came out of his office.
"We've got a victim. EMT's just brought her to the hospital," he said. "Elliot, John head out there and be ready to interview her when she gets out of surgery. Olivia, Fin, I want you two to secure the crime scene. I'll take care of CSU."
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Olivia got back to her apartment at a reasonable hour. She turned on her computer and sent an e-mail to Dawn saying the situation had changed and she could go the wedding next week. She then got up and began to prepare a quick dinner.
About forty-five minutes later the phone rang. Olivia answered. "Benson."
"Hi Olivia," came a familiar voice. "It's Dawn. I just got your e-mail. Great that you can come. The wedding is on Thursday. Can you come in on Tuesday?"
"That shouldn't be a problem," Olivia said. She did some quick calculating in her head. "Dawn, it's got to be ridiculously late there. What are you still doing up?"
"We do our best work after sunset," Dawn replied. "Don't worry about plane tickets or a hotel. We'll take care of all of that. I'll e-mail everything you need to know tomorrow. Well, today for me."
"That's really not necessary Dawn," Olivia was surprised by the generosity.
"Hey I know what a cop makes," Dawn said. "Did you hear anything in the news about the San Cristo a couple of months ago?"
"Spanish galleon," Olivia replied. "Sank a bunch of centuries ago carrying what today comes out to a couple of hundred million in gold and silver. A lot of people are going to get rich off that."
"Guardian funded the salvage team and did the research that helped locate the galleon," Dawn said. "Even splitting 50 percent with the salvage crew and turning over some of the artifacts to the British Museum, we still stand to make a tidy little profit. I expect my bonus this year to be huge. A plane ticket I can cover. Consider it my treat."
"Ok, you win," Olivia said.
"Great," Dawn said. "Like I said, I'll e-mail you everything tomorrow. Look forward to seeing you again."
"Me too," Olivia replied. "Just one thing..."
"Sorry Olivia," Dawn said. "But some stuffs going down right now. I got to go. Check your e-mail tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye," Olivia heard Dawn hang up the phone.
She set the phone down and realized Dawn still hadn't told her who was getting married.
