Latch Key
Chapter Four
1-6 Precinct
SVU Squad Room
Interrogation Room A
7:18 PM
John walked in and he saw Jennifer pacing.
The girl had a bruise on her cheek and she was pale.
"I hate her!" She yelled. "I hate her so much!"
"Okay, Jennifer, just calm down," John said. "Have a seat."
Jennifer ran her fingers through her hair and sat down.
"Jennifer, are you okay?" John asked.
"No, I'm not okay!" She yelled impatiently. "Here comes mom-I mean Sharon saving the day again!"
She got up and went over to the window. "What have you got going this time, Sharon? Come to prove you're the best fucking mother of the year!"
Jennifer closed her eyes and clutched her middle. She began to sob and John came over to her and helped her to sit back down.
"Because of the stupid shrink, Sharon knows that I'm pregnant!" She sobbed. "She hit me! She hit me and said everything was my fault!"
Behind the glass, Sharon sat bitterly in the chair and looked at Casey.
"It was her fault," Sharon said. "Are you going to arrest her for killing my kids?"
Casey stared at Sharon hard.
"I'm thinking about charging you," Casey said, her arms crossed. "For negligent homicide, and abandonment."
"What? It's her fault!" Sharon yelled. "And now that little slut is pregnant!"
Elliot slammed his fist onto the file cabinet in Cragen's office.
"That slut is eleven years old!" He yelled, making Sharon jump at his inflection. "You left your three kids by themselves!"
"I had to!" She yelled. "I told Jennifer to take care of her brother and sister while I dealt with something."
"With what, exactly?" Casey asked.
Sharon reached into her deep purse and took out a videotape.
"I'm suing ACS," Sharon said. "And if Jennifer had kept her damn legs closed-"
"Shut up," Casey said, disgusted with Sharon. "What's on the tape?"
7:21 PM
Jennifer had her head down on the table.
"Jennifer, please, let me help you," John implored. "I know that someone hurt your little sister."
"Stop it," she begged.
"And I know that person hurt you too," he continued. "Please, tell me who that person is."
She sat up and stared at him.
"I'm only pregnant because I wanted to get pregnant," she sniffled. "I wanted it."
John looked at the girl skeptically.
"You wanted to have sex, and get pregnant," he asked. "You wanted a lifetime of responsibility at eleven years old?"
"Yes," she cried as she stood up. "Why don't you believe me?"
"Because you're smarter than that, Jennifer," he said. "I know what it's like not to have the carefree childhood. It's scary when your mother leaves you alone with no resources, not having a clue how to take care of yourself. I know you wouldn't want that life for your children. You would want to be a good mother."
"I AM a good mother!" She yelled. "I loved Eddie and Megs so much! I was their mother! ME! I fed them, helped them get up in the morning, cooked, cleaned, washed their clothes. Everything! I even breastfed Megs as comfort when she started missing Sharon. Do you have any idea how good that felt? I held her close to me and I was already pregnant, so I had milk. I just…lifted up my shirt and she…she looked at me like I was her mother. She loved me so much after that."
"If you loved them so much, why kill them?" John asked.
"Because there was nothing left!" She sobbed. "There was no more money, barely enough food…the teachers were getting suspicious and…I only had two days left and Sharon never showed up. I had to do it. I wasn't going to let them take away my life."
"Who, Jennifer?" He asked. "Tell me."
Jennifer shook her head. "No! Leave me alone!"
Just then, Elliot walked into the interrogation room.
"John, you should take a look at this," he said.
John reluctantly left Jennifer in the interrogation room crying and went into Cragen's office.
"I think we've found our pervert," Elliot said as Casey played the tape.
He saw Jennifer performing oral sex on the tape and it sickened him down to the core. It was obviously dark, but not so much so that they couldn't see some small details.
"Yeah, just like that," the man on the tape moaned as he tangled his fingers in the girl's hair and yanked at it. "Tell me you're a lucky girl."
Jennifer was crying. "I'm a lucky girl."
The man threw his head back and that's when Cragen paused the tape.
"Son of a bitch," John said before he went back into the interrogation room.
Jennifer was sitting at the table wiping her tears.
"Jennifer, I saw the man that hurt you," he said. "He hurt you, didn't he?"
"No!" She cried. "No, I wanted to!"
"Jennifer, it's okay," John said as he hugged the distraught girl. "We can protect you."
The girl sobbed. "He hurt me and Megs! He threatened to take them away from me if I didn't do what he wanted! So I had sex with him. I did whatever he wanted! He promised not to tell anybody about Sharon running away and he told me that he wouldn't take Megs and Eddie away from me. But he was! He was going to take them away! I wasn't going to let him hurt Megs again! There was nothing else I could've done!"
John sighed and hugged her.
ACS Headquarters
8:10 PM
"James Matheson!" Elliot called.
James stood up from his desk among the commotion in the office.
"Detectives," he said nervously. "What's the problem?"
Elliot grabbed the man's shirt and pushed him up against the wall, knocking down and bulletin board to the floor.
"Elliot!" John yelled. "Calm down. Not here."
Elliot was seething with anger, but he had to reign it in. He turned James around and pushed him harshly up against the wall and roughly pulled his hands behind his back.
"James Matheson, you're under arrest for rape," Elliot informed.
"What?" James asked. "What the hell?"
"You have the right to remain silent," John began. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford one, the lousiest fucking attorney we can find in the city will be appointed to you."
"This is a mistake," James said.
"Shut up," Elliot growled. "We've got your sorry ass on tape."
1-6 Precinct
SVU Squad Room
10:00 PM
James Matheson was on his way to central booking, as well as Sharon for negligence. She went out screaming and yelling at Jennifer, who was traumatized, pregnant, and alone. She was sent back to the hospital because of her immediate fear of being taken by a social worker.
Casey and Cragen came out of his office while John and Elliot both plopped down in their chairs.
"What a day," Elliot sighed as he looked at his watch. "Damn."
"Well, it's not like tomorrow will get any better," Casey groused. "Branch is going to flip when he sees that tape."
"Betcha he won't," Harold Rosenberg said. "Defense for Mr. Matheson. This is for you."
Casey glared at the man and snatched the paper from his hand.
"Motion to preclude the videotape and the confession?" Casey asked. "This is bull and you know it."
"Bull it is not," Harold smirked. "The tape was seized illegally."
John stood up. "That's impossible, Sharon Zimmerman brought the tape in herself. It was in her possession."
"That after breaking in to my client's apartment," Harold divulged. "In addition to charging the nutcase, make sure you slap on a B&E charge. Face it Casey. You have a very disturbed little girl who killed her two siblings, and a mother who didn't care about anything but revenge. You've got no case."
Harold walked out of the precinct.
The atmosphere in the squad room was heavy.
"Hey," Casey began as an idea hit her. "We didn't see James Matheson come in to the room with a video camera."
John snapped his fingers. "And the camera was angled so that there was a clear view of the room. CSU didn't check for a camcorder."
"If Sharon was the original owner of the tape, technically she can't steal her own property," Casey smirked. "I'll see you guys in the morning. We're going to nail the bastard to the fucking wall."
Cragen looked at his watch. "Go home, get some rest. You guys talk to CSU in the morning."
Elliot and John each gathered up their things, preparing to leave.
"I haven't called Liv all day," Elliot sighed. "Shit."
The three of them walked out together.
"Elliot, Liv works here same as you," Casey chuckled. "When she's working, how often does she call you?"
"Point taken," Elliot grinned. "See ya."
"Bye," John said before he walked down the street with Casey to his car.
She put her hand on his arm and stopped him, leaning against his car.
"We're going to get him," she assured him before kissing him softly. She smiled. "I'm your girlfriend and you still doubt my abilities."
"Which ones?" He quipped and she playfully smacked him.
He reached for her breast and she pushed his hand away.
"Where'd you park?" He asked.
"Parking garage two blocks from the DA's office," she said. "I have to stop by and get a few things. I'm going home with you."
Casey Novak's Office
District Attorney's Office
10:30 PM
Casey put a few files into her briefcase and then sorted out her desk. Once she was finished with that task, she closed her blinds and then made sure she had an extra suit in the wardrobe in her office.
She put some things away in the drawer of her desk and that's when she felt John wrap his arms around her waist. She sighed and turned in his arms to face him.
"Tell me about it after?" She asked and he nodded.
They kissed passionately and Casey lifted herself up onto her desk and allowed herself to be gently lowered down onto her back.
Elliot Stabler's Home
Queens
11:00 PM
Elliot entered the house and sighed. It smelled fresh, like a tropical scent and he turned on the lights in the living room. He looked around, and it was spotless. He turned on lights in the family room and kitchen. Not a dish, stitch of clothing, or shoe to be found.
"She cleaned," he chuckled to himself.
He knew that Olivia was a neat freak by nature, but she cleaned the entire house, and he wondered how long it took her.
"El?"
He turned and saw Olivia standing in the archway to the kitchen, a grin on her face.
"Long time no see," she said as she came over to him.
She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you for cleaning up for us," he said as he rocked them gently. "You didn't have to do that."
"Hey, I've been staying here too," she shrugged. "I have to lend a hand."
Elliot smirked and looked around. "Looks like you lent about twenty hands."
"I cleaned upstairs too," she said. "That closet next to the kids' bathroom? Complete disaster area."
"I've been meaning to get to that," he sighed. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. I guess you're feeling better?"
"Yeah, but I turned the thermostat down," she said. "It's so hot."
"Because you've been up moving around," he said before kissing her again. "I'm sorry I haven't called you all day. God, honey, I've been thinking about you and the kids..."
"Your case?" She asked as they made their way quietly upstairs.
"Yeah," he sighed as they went to the bedroom. "We caught the bastard."
He began to take off his shirt and Olivia sat on the bed. "What about the girl?"
"Oh, she's three months pregnant," he reported, shaking his head. "At eleven years old. That girl has been abused, neglected, and forced to grow up faster than she should."
Olivia sighed and held her arms out to him, and he got into bed and she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.
He rested his head on her breast and then he thought about Jennifer. He couldn't imagine his own daughter going through that. Being eleven years old wasn't supposed to be that complicated.
"She's just a kid," he sighed and she kissed his forehead.
"I know," she said. "But your kids are safe because you protect them, because you're a great father."
He wrapped his arm around her waist and they held each other with a new kind of strength that seemed to propel them into a whole different level of intimacy. It felt completely natural and deep, and Olivia relished the moment because she'd never just sat and held someone in a relationship before.
Elliot's ability to withstand the hellish things he dealt with on a daily basis was renewed just being in her arms.
