Chapter 13:
Brass stood on the edge of Lake Mead looking at two very wet 16-year-old girls. One stood about 5'6" and was rail thin with long black hair and chocolate eyes. The other was short, maybe 5'2" and curvy with choppy brown hair and amber eyes. Both had embarrassed looks and tried not to make eye contact with the Captain.
"So Lynn," He turned to the taller one. "Exactly what were you and Alexis doing out here?"
"Swimming."
Brass waited a beat for more information and then said blandly. "Aren't you the talkative one? Why were you out swimming at 11:00 at night?"
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Youth group camping trip."
"Mm-hm. That's a decent walk through the woods from the campground. What instigated this little bout of nighttime trekking?"
Lynn blushed deep red for a second before turning to the other girl in askance.
Alexis just shook her head. "Oh no, you tell him. It was your idea."
Lynn chewed her bottom lip and looked down at her feet as her toes dug in the gritty sand. Alexis rolled her eyes.
"Gawd. You're such a weenie. We were going to meet up with our boyfriends and do a little skinny-dipping."
"Not very modest, huh?" Brass quipped.
"You try living in a house with three other females and multiple animals. No privacy whatsoever."
"That's you; I'm an only child, you dork." Lynn mumbled.
Brass smirked at Alexis. "Point taken. So where are these mystery boys?"
Lynn mimicked Alexis' eye-roll. "Thomas, Al's boyfriend, got sick when we found her and Donny, my boyfriend, ran when he heard the cars pull up. I guess he's got some history with you guys."
"So why didn't you guys follow suit when you saw the dead body?" Sara said as she pulled off her gloves with a snap.
Lynn crossed her arms over her chest. "Not any worse than some of the stuff at my clinicals. I'm going to be a nurse."
"Same here." Alexis pointed a finger at where Greg was crouched over the body. "Although, it is about as gross as that charred cadaver that Mr. Phillips let us see."
Lynn made a face. "Where did David get that one? It smelled gross."
"You guys know Super Dave?" Sara asked, surprised.
Lynn smiled slightly. "Cousin."
"So, your boys are gone?" Brass tried to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand.
Alexis leaned back and looked at the small copse of trees a few feet away. "Hey Donny! It's safe. They're not gonna confiscate your pot stash. And bring Tom with you if he's done tasting his s'mores again."
A lanky brunette with dark brown eyes stumbled out from behind a tree in only a pair of boxers. He pulled an equally lanky blond in the same state of undress behind him. Thomas, the blond, had green eyes that matched his green tinged skin. Donny looked pissed.
"I don't have a pot stash."
Lynn elbowed Alexis. "You know he gave that up months ago."
"Right…" Alexis sounded unconvinced. "Tom, tell 'em what happened."
Thomas took a few deep, fortifying though shaky breaths. "Don and I were getting ready to jump in with the girls when Alexis yells that we need to call 911. When I caught sight of her…"
He turned even greener and ran pell-mell for the woods. Donny scowled as he pulled his pants on. "Tom barfed as soon as he caught sight of her. I picked up the phone after he dropped it and called the cops."
"So why'd you run when we showed up?"
The brunette shrugged. "Habit."
"And for some reason, Lynn still wants to date him."
"Shut up, Al!" Lynn hissed.
"You guys touch anything?" Brass raised an eyebrow.
"Please. We watch enough crime shows to know not to do that."
"Thanks. If you think of anything that might be pertinent, call this number." Brass said as he handed them his card. "And if you head back to the campsite now, I won't be telling your pastor and parents what you were doing out here."
Alexis gave him a brief smile and went to collect her boyfriend as Donny and Lynn slowly meandered back to their youth group.
SVUCSISVUCSISVUCSISVUCSI
About a half-hour later Sara stood across an autopsy table from Dr. Robbins and David Phillips.
"You just missed the family reunion, Dave."
David frowned at her.
"Brass and I met your cousin Lynn. You showed up right after she left. She was one of the kids who found the body."
David smiled ever so slightly. "She was the one who always got into trouble. Can't say I'm surprised. Is she still hanging out with, um…what's-her-name? Alexis, or something like that."
"Yeah. What a pair."
"Not to interrupt this fascinating conversation but I have a dinner date with my wife and I'd kind of like to get there on time for once." Robbins interjected.
"Sorry Doc. So what's the verdict?"
"She's only been dead four hours. Broken neck. From the bruising on her jaw I'd say someone grabbed her head from behind and gave it a quick, sharp twist." Robbins said as he picked up the head to demonstrate.
"Anything tell us who the guy was?"
"Not really. She was raped; lots of fluid, too. And I did find some scrapings under her fingernails. I sent it all with Greg to Trace. Whoever this guy was, he was big and rough. She's got bruising on her upper arms and pelvis to match the ones on her jaw."
"You get an ID on her?"
"I zipped the prints to Jackie and she sent them through CODIS. She e-mailed me back." Robbins handed him the printout.
Sara scanned it. "Name's Tia Elan. Stripper. The only reason she's in the system is she got caught two months ago for possession. She got off easy because she was a minor."
Olivia stuck her head in the door. "Hey, you almost done?"
"Why don't you guys work on the case without me? I think this one's gonna take a while."
"Anything I can do to help move it a little faster?" Olivia said as she made her way in the room.
She stopped short when she saw the body and pulled out her phone. "Hey, Elliot…Yeah, I'm in the morgue. You might want to come down here. It's about Sara and Greg's case."
Then she took a picture of the corpse with her phone and sent it with a text saying, 'Look familiar?' to Munch and Warner.
"Can I ask what's going on?"
Olivia turned to Robbins. "Sorry. My partner and I've been here a week and we've never met. Detective Olivia Benson."
He shook her outstretched hand. "Dr. Al Robbins. So you're one of the detectives they sent in. New York, right? That would mean you know George Huang."
Before she could answer Elliot wandered in. "Where's the fire?"
"Dr. Robbins," Sara said, motioning to Olivia's partner. "Elliot Stabler."
Elliot shook the Doc's hand distractedly as Olivia snapped on a pair of gloves and pulled Ms. Elan's sheet back all the way. "Bring back memories El?"
The detective slowly dragged a hand through his hair. "Oh, shit."
About that time Greg rushed in, obviously excited. "You're never gonna guess whose DNA was all over our corpse."