Chapter Four: Bigger Things
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"All right, we traced the call," Fin announced, making his way to Olivia and Elliot. The pair was looking over Olivia's old cases to see if anyone who had a vendetta against her was recently released. No dice so far.
"Where was he?" Olivia asked, jumping up. Elliot's eyes followed her, lingered, then returned to their work.
Fin's serious eyes gripped her own. "He was calling from one of those non-traceable temporary cell phones. However, some people down at One Police Plaza did something very impressive with a computer and a map, triangulating the signal from a tower or some crap. Anyway, they said he must have been calling from a rooftop across the street from your apartment. Were your blinds closed?"
Olivia sighed. "No. I distinctly remember that my air was acting up last week, so the window was open. I never closed it."
Fin saw Elliot's head jerk up from the corner of his eye.
"Well, we should go check it out. Maybe I imagined it, but I felt that he was watching the other victim, too. Let's see what he could see."
"Sounds good," Fin muttered. "Munch and I are going to reaffirm the alert sent out yesterday. Nothing on any of your old cases?"
Elliot stood, shaking his head. "No. All the perps who ever had something against Olivia are still locked up."
Munch sauntered over, paperwork under his arm. "What about cases we lost? Victim's families? Or maybe, locked up perps families?"
Elliot shot his colleague a scathing glare. "We thought of that, too. So far, nothing."
Munch shrugged. He forgave Elliot the comment because of the situation. "Great minds think alike, huh. Well, let us know what you find. Captain does want a transcript of the second call, Olivia."
Olivia nodded numbly. She did notice the concern in Munch's eyes. Something he rarely bothered with. But she didn't have time to appreciate it. Not when another woman would be assaulted and possibly killed in a matter of hours.
"We'll probably need you guys to help canvas the area after we see what we can find," Elliot called in passing, gripping Olivia's elbow as they approached the door. Fin held up his phone absently, listening to Huang rattle on about the MO.
Olivia and Elliot left quickly, jumping into the car. Elliot's tires screeched as they sped from the precinct.
"Hey, if you're going to speed, use the light. We don't need the guys from traffic pulling us over."
Elliot chuckled, and slowed.
"Still think you know him?"
Olivia nodded vehemently. "Yeah. I don't know where or when, but I know I've heard that voice before."
She paused, gazing out the window. Without turning back towards him, she asked quietly. "What did Kathy say when she called?"
Elliot had taken a call during their frantic efforts to trace the call to her cell. He refused multiple times to take it, but the caller insisted. Olivia assumed it to be Kathy.
Elliot sighed. "Liv, I know this is not what you want to hear, so don't take it the wrong way. But I'm going to tell the kids tonight. Kathy called to ask me to come and tell them with her. Also tonight, I'm going to get an apartment until everything is settled." He took a deep breath. "And I want you to come with me." He chuckled, a little bitterly. "Kathy already found one for me."
A thousand retorts burned Olivia's throat. Shouted sermons about equal rights and how she didn't need protection. Things about how he shouldn't turn his life upside down for her. Reminders that he was still technically married and it wasn't right.
But as her mouth opened and closed silently, Olivia realized with shame that she was frightened. She did want Elliot to be near her. And she didn't care as much that he was still married…
Because she'd loved him when he was still in love with Kathy.
None of this came from her mouth.
"We're here," she said solidly. "Let's go."
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They entered the building across from Olivia's building. It was a bakery.
"Come here often?" Elliot asked nonchalantly, but his gaze was intense.
Olivia frowned. "All the time. The clerk knows me by name."
As if on cue, the charmingly corpulent middle-aged woman behind the counter called out Olivia's name in a strange, thick accent, half Italian, half New Yorker.
"Ms. Benson! How nice to see you! Will you have your usual?" she asked innocently.
Olivia's eyes darted around. Her presence was now well known in the bake shop, but no one even turned a head.
She approached the counter quickly, and spoke quietly. "Sure, thanks, Mrs. Patrello. My companion will have the same."
Elliot cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. Companion? Why not partner or friend? What was she trying to do? As Mrs. Patrello grabbed two frosted chocolate chip muffins and two straight expressos, Elliot had to smile. No wonder Olivia was always perky when she came in. Sugar and caffeine every morning.
Olivia munched for a moment, then absently commented, "Mrs. Patrello, it always seems that the same people are in here every morning." Her smile was complementary, but it was almost a question.
Elliot watched silently, and it clicked. The way she avoided asking a direct question told him. This woman doesn't know she's a cop. He frowned absently as the woman cheerily answered as there was no one in line behind them.
"Oh, yeah, dearie. We don't have many customers, but all of 'em come all the time." Then, the generous skin on her face wrinkled in a quaint frown. "But now that you mention it, dearie, there was this one guy in yesterday I'd never seen before."
"What did he look like?"
The matronly woman wasn't suspicious of the questioning at all, even though Olivia had slipped and gone into cop mode. Elliot began to make mental notes.
"You know, dearie, I generally get to know people by their orders and then their faces. This guy didn't make an order. That's the only reason I noticed him. But we were busy that morning. All the regulars coming in at once. But I did notice what he was doing. He was just walking around the building, inspecting the walls. He cut in front Miss Galloway, scone and hot tea every day for forty years, to ask me if there was access to the roof."
Olivia and Elliot locked eyes briefly, but tried not to show their elation. "That's strange," Olivia remarked casually. "Thanks, Mrs. Patrello!" she said sincerely, motioning to the muffin and coffee. Elliot knew she was thanking her for more that that.
"No problem, Ms. Benson! Enjoy!"
They retreated outside and ate in the car, as quickly as possible.
"Thanks for the muffin, companion," Elliot said, giving her a weird look. "Interesting interrogation."
Olivia took a huge gulp of coffee. "Easy to forget that its early morning." She finished the muffin. "Mrs. Patrello doesn't know I'm a cop. I try not to let onto that when I'm in the bakery because of the nature of my job. Since it's a place I go regularly, I don't want to be fingered as a cop since its right across from where I live."
Elliot nodded, studying her carefully. "Understandable."
Olivia spoke in the quick, no-nonsense voice she used when she was on a roll towards something big.
"So, Mrs. Patrello just told us that our perp was there yesterday trying to figure out how to get on the roof that night. But it couldn't be anyone who wanted to get at me because I was a cop. He couldn't have connected me to the bakery through being a cop. And he couldn't have known my address since my phone number is unlisted. And only coworkers know my cell." She spoke breathlessly, but Elliot didn't see what was exciting her.
"I don't follow."
Olivia reached for his hand. "That means he couldn't have traced me to the precinct if he didn't know where I lived to follow me."
Elliot nodded slowly, catching on. "Okay…" he said, finishing his muffin absently.
"But when he called me, he called me 'Detective'. And he told me where to find 'my next victim' as he said. So he knew I was a cop. And he called my cell phone." Her eyes were intense. "Someone who had a vendetta against me would have already known I was a cop. This guy couldn't have. But he found out somehow. How?"
Elliot threw up his hands. "God knows. We're not going up on the roof, are we." Not a question.
Olivia opened her mouth to agree, but paused. "You know what, why bother? Whoever this is already knows where I live, and I'm not going to be there. Another woman is in danger. Let's go back in there. Maybe its good some of these trusting old regulars know I'm a cop."
They reentered the building. They quietly showed their badges and asked for Mrs. Patrello to talk softly as well. She seemed no more than amused by the situation, and showed them the door that led to the stairs to the roof.
Olivia smiled grimly. "That sweet old lady will forget I'm a cop by the next big order she has to cook."
"CSU should come dust up here or something. He could have been careless."
Olivia shook her head. "He's playing with cops. I doubt it. So what do you see?"
Elliot stood close to the railing, crossing his arms. "A clear view to your apartment. It's that one right?" He pointed.
She nodded absently. "Any uniforms?"
He looked around, shielding his eyes from the sun. "I got nothing. Next to your apartment building is a hardware store, and on the other side, there's another apartment building. Chances are this guy had binoculars. Let's tell Munch and Fin to get over here with some."
Suddenly, Olivia's cell phone rang. She tensed, but answered it quickly. "Benson." She sighed, relieved. "Hey, Captain."
Elliot felt his fists unclench slowly.
Olivia listened for a moment, eyes widening.
"Can she make an ID?" Olivia asked, walking quickly towards the stairs. She listened as they approached the car. "Okay. Send Munch and Fin over here with some binoculars. He was on the roof of the bakery across from my apartment. Tell them to look for other cops that might have been in his view… We're on our way to the hospital now." She hung up
"What's up?" Elliot wondered.
Olivia slid on some sunglasses as they rushed from the bakery. "Jordan McKinley just woke up. Captain says she won't speak to anyone. She's waiting for me. Says she has a message for me from him."
Elliot's eyes darkened dangerously. "Liv, I swear to god. If it's a threat, I swear, he's going down. If he even thinks about threatening to touch you, I swear I'll—!"
He stopped suddenly as her slim finger landed on his lips in a rare gesture of public affection.
"It's okay," she whispered bravely. "We'll figure this thing out. But there are bigger things to worry about than me. We have a conscious, terrified victim and only 13 hours to stop him from getting to another one. Let's go."
They stepped from the car and walked purposefully into the hospital, completely unaware of the probing eyes following them.