"Wanda June Breeden, come on down!"
Waiting for the rental car seemed like an eternity. Elliot was sprawled on the bed, restlessly watching "The Price Is Right". Olivia, who hated game shows, sat beside him, flipping through the phone book. Nothing had been said about their time in the bathroom that morning. It was hard to push it out of his mind, but Elliot was intent on immersing himself in the garish happenings with Bob Barker and crew.
Ever since they'd been in Virginia something had changed between them. Not to say they weren't always close. But lately their relationship had been that damn emotional push-pull. She'd want to be friendly, he'd want to be distant. Then it would switch. She'd pushed too hard about the divorce and that sent Elliot into a fighting stance. While Olivia often offered up very little about her personal life she expected everyone else to be completely open about theirs. He pushed her away mentally and physically by denying any sort of touch between them. Olivia countered back by being cold and distant and requesting to work with Fin. Fin knew exactly what was going on but kept his mouth shut, ever the gentleman.
Their first attempt at a semi-reconciliation was over a coffee Elliot bought for her. Then she bought him lunch. Then they played cards. Slowly the lines of communication opened up again. And now here they were, sitting on a bed in a cheap hotel, reading the phone book and watching afternoon television on a blood-speckled comforter. His knuckles were wrapped in toilet paper. Yes, she'd heard the hit and gave him a strange look when she came out of the bathroom. Oddly, she didn't say a word.
"I think that's our car," Olivia said suddenly, nudging a dozing Elliot. A white Explorer had pulled up and an Enterprise emoployee was wandering from door to door. She bolted to the door and signed the papers.
Elliot realized they must look like a prototypical cheap motel couple. He was shirtless, Olivia's hair was damp and the room was covered with fast food wrappers. They were both bruised up and zonked on medicine. All he needed was a few teeth missing. All Olivia needed were some pink sponge curlers and a cigarette.
"Well, Mister and Missus Stabler, here's my ride. Glad we could help you out. Enjoy your honeymoon," the rental guy said, before turning away. They both looked at each other and nearly burst out laughing as the Kia drove away.
"An Explorer, huh. Someone's spending some big money on us. I was expecting two go-karts and a can of gasoline," Elliot said, beginning to pack their meager belongings.
"We've got to get to the Western Union office to get our petty cash. The first thing I plan on doing is filling that prescription. Then I'm going to buy every magazine they have for the drive back," Olivia smiled. They checked out, saying their goodbyes to Mrs. Falbo and her cat. They both had a terrible time getting into the SUV, but at least Elliot could drive with his good right foot.
Wal-Mart was home to the Western Union center. Olivia was also gratified to see they also had a pharmacy, so she tottered off as Elliot picked up their allowance. Elliot then bought a box of donuts and shovelled them into his mouth as he gawked at all the stuff. He was in the microwaves when Olivia found him. She'd already taken a dose of meds, as evidenced by the bottle of root beer she was toting.
"How many donuts have you had so far?" she asked, looking doubtfully at the box.
"About six."
"You're wearing about three," she smirked. Before he could lift a hand to his face, she stepped close. He instictively bent over, and she licked a smear of cream filling off his face.
They locked eyes. Danger, danger, danger. Olivia turned her head first, obviously embarrassed. "I need a new microwave," she said quickly, pretending to look at the display.
"Yeah," was all Elliot could manage. He just stared at the floor.
"Stabler? Benson?"
They turned in the direction of the deep voice. A state trooper was in the aisle. Had he been there the entire time?
"I'm Sergeant Brown. We've been looking all over for you. There's something that happened this morning I think you guys need to know about," he said, shaking their hands. "I don't know if it's connected to you, but it's...well, you'll just have to see for yourself."
They followed him into the vast parking lot. "Where are we going?" Elliot asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Nowhere a four wheel drive can't handle."
Virginia is a gorgeous place any time of year, but sometimes Mother Nature plays cruel jokes on its natives. Most summer days are mild and slightly humid. Nothing a dip in a pool can't handle. But this day was a real nasty one. The storms from the night before had not cooled the air at all. A wall of low, black clouds menaced from the mountains. Lightning lit up their underbellies. The air was so still nothing could move. Leaves hung limp on trees and wavy lines of heat flowed from the blacktop. The streets were deserted. The population bounced from air conditioner to air conditioner and probably lingered over lunch longer than usual, stalling to stay in the cool air.
Elliot looked at those ominous clouds and sighed. They made him wish he was reading a good book in his basement. And what the hell was she doing, licking his face in an appliance aisle?
Olivia grunted from the passenger seat. The SUV was drifting over the center line. He quickly righted them and hoped she couldn't read his mind.
They turned off on a side road and switched to four wheel drive. The red clay squashed all over the windshield as they bumped along. "This must be a river access road or something," Elliot mumbled. He was right. They reached the muddy bank soon enough. A coroner was there, other cops and an ambulance.
"What the...," Olivia asked no one but herself. Elliot's crutches sank into the soft bank. He felt oddly at home in the usual bustle of activity that surrounds a crime scene. He held up the crime tape for Olivia to limbo under and crossed under himself. Sgt. Brown waved them over towards the ambulance.
"Five of them," the sergeant said, shaking his head.
"Five what?" asked Olivia, looking around. Someone snapped a photo close to them and Elliot felt her jump a little.
"Kids...the coroner thinks they were thrown from the river bridge a few days ago. They don't belong to anyone around here."
The color drained from their faces.
"All of them were naked, no real identifying marks. One was wearing this, though," said Sgt. Brown. he held up a Ziploc bag with a rubber bracelet inside. "It says NYCM."
"New York City marathon. I have one...at home," Olivia said. She looked sick.
"Brown, can I use your phone? I need to call Cragen and get Munch and Fin over to that townhouse with a SWAT team," Elliot said. Cragen agreed to get the team in motion, but would Virginia police be willing to do the same thing? While Olivia was looking at the bodies, he was able to convince Brown to talk to his superiors.
"We should probably stay in town another night," Elliot said when Olivia returned. She nodded, looking a little sick. "Guess we could stay back at that fleabag."
Sgt. Brown smiled. "Nah. You're not safe there. We've got a Holiday Inn up on the strip. It's interior corridors, passkeys...the works. You're a guest of Virginia State P-D as long as you need to be. But you might want to double up again, just in case, you know? And our hotels are pretty full up due to the Bluegrass Festival in Monterey, up the road."
Their drive back to town was quiet. Olivia twisted her watch around her wrist, presumably thinking about that bracelet.
"Five kdis. I can't believe sometimes there's just that much evil in this world," she sighed. Elliot gave her a sidelong glance.
"I know what you mean. It's hard to find the good things in life. Because there aren't many in our line of work - in our lives," Elliot frowned. "Except you."
Olivia's head shot up. 'Except me what?"
"You're a good thing in my life. Sometimes when I come against a brick wall, I always remember you've probably got an answer. And I push you away sometimes and I'm sorry."
Olivia blushed and let her head whack the back of the seat.
I just want to feel you in my arms, taste your skin and make you forget what's happened in your life up until this very minute.
"You never said to me last night why exactly Kathy left. It wasn't all me, was it? It couldn't have been," Olivia said, her eyes shut.
The pit of Elliot's stomach fell out. He didn't want to lie. But how could he tell the truth? He jerked the wheel and the Explorer came to a shuddering stop on the soft shoulder. Before Olivia could think, act or speak, Elliot was out the door.
