Fin Tutuola was not looking forward to the next few days. It was snowing and it was going to keep snowing for hours. After it stopped snowing, it was going to take the city a few days to clean up. Between now and that time, he was going to have to walk through snow whenever he needed to go somewhere. It was going to be deep, and it was going to get in his shoes, making his feet cold and wet. Thinking about all these things that were going to happen put him in a nasty mood.

He cheered himself by thinking of the bad couple of days that Munch was sure to have. Cragen had reorganized the partnerings for the case so he, Fin, was now with Elliot and Munch was with Healey. She hadn't liked the way he and Elliot had teased Munch immediately after Cragen turned his back, and she'd left in a huff. He wouldn't be sad when she left at the completion of the case.

On the other hand, chasing Terry Paige was kind of a rush if he could make himself forget about who the guy was and what he did to college girls. The whole concept of a manhunt reminded Fin of his days in Narcotics when he'd gotten to have shoot-outs with drug dealers and go undercover. Chasing a killer who had escaped from prison definitely ranked with the exciting situations most people linked to police work. Movie-cop stuff. If anyone made a movie about SVU it would be horror or sick psychological thriller rather than the action/adventure he occasionally missed. Fin had hoped this case would be a change of pace up until the point Nicole Martin had turned up in a dumpster. Now it had turned into another glamourless pervert-hunt.

Things had certainly looked grim after he, Elliot and Munch left Missing Persons that evening. They'd pulled the files of any college girls reported missing in the past week that matched Paige's type. Not including Nicole Martin, they'd come up with four hits for girls missing since the weekend. Four new driver's license photos hung on the board, four new brown-eyed brunettes that Terry Paige could have stashed somewhere. Fin was ready to scream with frustration.

For all his pent-up anger, however, Fin couldn't imagine how Elliot felt. His fellow detective was sitting at his desk, staring intently at the board, though Fin doubted he was studying the pictures of their new potential victims. A copy of the note found with Nicole Martin's body was also hanging on the board. Fin shuddered as he reread it.

Dearest Elliot and Darling Olivia,

I hope you aren't working too hard to find me. I'd hate for you to be tired when it comes time for us to dance.

Best Wishes,

T.

Munch hadn't needed to perform content analysis on that note. They all got the message loud and clear.

Fin assumed the note was the reason Elliot flipped out on Eckerson when he entered the room alone around ten, brushing the snow from the shoulders and sleeves of his coat. "Where's Olivia?"

"She's not up here yet?"

Elliot got up in Eckerson's face. "No, she's not here. She's supposed to be with you. You're supposed to be making sure she's safe."

"Look, I stopped outside on the way in to talk with Healey. Olivia went in, so she's obviously somewhere in the building."

"What did you not understand about Paige being after her? Do your fucking job!"

Eckerson leaned in and said something Fin couldn't make out, but it made Elliot turn red with rage. He raised his voice and continued speaking, "She's probably in the bathroom or something. She doesn't want or need someone looking over her shoulder all the time."

"She doesn't have psychos stalking her all the time," Elliot shot back as he left the squad room. Fin couldn't really understand why Elliot hated the Marshal so much. Despite what everyone else seemed to think of Eckerson, Fin had to give him some credit. He knew how to do his job and he wasn't afraid to make the tough decisions. Not a lot of people had the balls to order a kill shot, even if it meant saving lives. Eckerson had earned his respect with that action alone.

"Is Captain Cragen still here?"

Fin gave the Marshal an affirmative nod. He walked into Cragen's office, shutting the door and leaving Fin and Munch alone.

"Why's Elliot hate Eckerson so damn much? Is he still pissed over that hostage thing?"

"What, you wouldn't resent a person you thought put me in unnecessary danger?"

Fin scowled. Some days he appreciated his partner's deadpan humor, but others he wanted to shake him until he was incapable of delivering anything but straight answers. "Look man, it's been a long day and I hate snow, so just answer the question."

"I think Elliot dislikes Eckerson not only because of the case three months ago, but also because of the fact that Eckerson used to date Olivia. I think he's worried that the good Marshal might take his bodyguarding assignment a little too literally."

"She had a thing with Eckerson?" Fin thought back to the day in the motel in Cape May. When he'd gotten up to the room where everything had gone down, people had been milling around, tending Baxter, checking on the kid, but Olivia was nowhere. Worried, he had sneaked a look into the bathroom only to see her sitting on the edge of the tub with Eckerson squatting in front of her, hands on her waist. They'd been talking, but he didn't hear anything since both pulled away as soon as they saw him watching. He thought aloud, "That explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Well, a bunch a things. Like why Eckerson was so ready to shoot Baxter. And why he shoved the SWAT team outta the way to get up to that room after he ordered the shot. And why he..." Fin trailed off. He'd been intending to tell Munch about the scene he'd witnessed in the bathroom, but changed his mind at the last second. Olivia was a private person; she wouldn't want the details of her personal life splashed all over the precinct any more than he would.

Munch, like any good detective, couldn't let it rest. "And why he what?"

"I was just gonna say that maybe that's why he's back. Y'know, he still likes her or somethin'." Fin thought Munch was about to make a smug reply, but instead the conversation ended as Eckerson walked out of Cragen's office.

"So, Captain Cragen tells me there's some new information that you two can fill me in on."

"Yeah, we got the note back from the crime lab and we got some information from Missin' Persons..."

Munch interrupted, "Why don't we wait for Olivia to get back so we don't have to go through it twice."

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Eckerson hung up his coat and sat down at Olivia's desk without another word. After a few minutes, he turned. "Oh, and Det. Munch? Sorry you're stuck with Healey."

Fin decided he had to respect anyone who could give Munch a shit-eating grin like Eckerson was and get away with it.