Casey went inside the house with Charlotte, quickly disabling the alarm so she wouldn't set it off before entering, then setting it again—she wasn't taking any chances. Sometimes with four girls, it can get so loud that the mothers miss the noise their system makes when a door gets opened—that being said, it's always either one of them, Emily, or family because everyone else would ring the bell, but Casey wanted to be alerted with more than just the 'ding' of a door opening if something were to happen.
She had the little girl in her arms and was trying to stay completely calm as to not set off Charlotte's anxiety; I know we're going to have to explain it to her, but I can't do that until I have more information—she hasn't mentioned the 'mean lady' since Cassidy broke into their penthouse, and while it's great the other girls are still so young and won't understand…Charlotte will. She doesn't get anxious often anymore, but when she does it's heartbreaking for the mothers—as if she's that little 2 year old all over again.
Casey smiled at Charlotte and gave her a kiss, "Charlotte baby, can you do momma a really big favor?" the little girl nodded enthusiastically in Casey's arms. "Mommy and I need to talk about some grown up stuff for a minute—do you think you could watch Harper for me?"
Charlotte loved when she got to 'watch' her sisters, and while it didn't often happen for more than a few minutes while mommy or momma went potty, or went into the kitchen to start preparing a snack, she thought it was the best thing ever. "I can do it momma, pomise!"
Casey gave her a tight squeeze, "Thank you so much, baby. Let's go see mommy and your sisters."
They went into the playroom hearing squeals and laughter; Casey put Charlotte down and she ran right up to her mother, "Mommy!"
Alex turned to look at the little girl and smiled, opening her arms for Charlotte to fall into, "Hi sweet girl." She looked up at her wife and saw fear in her eyes…something she hasn't seen since before the twins were born, and it made her anxiety start right away.
Casey turned on the tv in the playroom, put on a movie for the girls to watch, moving almost robotically as she also checked the windows to make sure they were locked—when she did that, Alex started to really panic. Charlotte had nothing to do with her decision to stay home...
"Alright baby, mommy and I will be right back okay?" Casey said, looking at Charlotte.
"Otay momma," Charlotte smiled. Harper was playing with her dolls, but when Casey put on the movie, her attention was drawn towards the screen—as was Charlotte's.
Casey picked up Blayke, Avery was already in Alex's lap and motioned for her wife to follow her—knowing the babies couldn't understand and it would be too much to guarantee they'd behave for Charlotte, Casey thought it would be better to take them.
"Case, what's going on babe?" Alex said, worry evident in her voice.
Casey led Alex out to the couch and made sure to sit so they were facing each other, their knees were touching as they held a baby in their lap—each of them had a toy in their hands, and also got to look at each other in the process which they loved doing, babbling away. Casey reached out so she could hold Alex's hand, which her wife accepted right away.
"I got a call from Cragen as I was pulling into Charlotte's school," Casey said, trying to keep her emotions at bay. The only thing she could think about was protecting her family, and what that would entail. It's the 15th of December who knows how long they could be out there, it's not as if we can stay cooped up in the house—and I'd prefer not to spend Christmas anywhere else because we have our traditions…maybe we could go away for a week or so…I can call and make reservations somewhere, we can escape the chaos and hopefully they'll be caught in the meantime…
"What did he say, babe?" Alex said, pulling Casey from her internal battles.
Casey shook her head to clear her thoughts, "Lex, I don't have all the details yet, but…" she took a deep breath, "Cassidy and Richard Nealson escaped." Alex paled drastically, letting go of Casey's hand so she could cover her mouth in pure shock.
"W-what? How? N-no," Alex said, shaking her head in disbelief. "W-wh—"
"Lex," Casey said, scooting even closer to her wife and wrapping a protective arm around her, "Cragen is coming over right now to explain what he knows. I know it's almost Christmas, but we've always done well with impromptu vacations…" Casey suggested. "I haven't figured everything out yet because I don't know all the details, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you or our babies."
Alex wiped the few tears that fell, "I-I'm not, she—she wants you … ," the blonde whispered, not being able to say the last word.
Casey only nodded knowing it was true, Cassidy wants her dead—however, she's not a little girl anymore, and she has a family to protect. "Nothing is going to happen to any of us, honey. I promise," Casey said, leaning in to kiss her wife gently.
"Y-you can't p-promise t-that," Alex hiccupped, trying to keep her tears at bay especially in front of the babies even though they were now occupied on the floor in front of them.
Casey rubbed Alex's back with one hand, the other on her thigh, "I can promise that Lex, because our family is my everything. I will not let anyone take that away from me, ever. Until forever ends, no matter what."
Alex nodded and leaned in to capture her wife's lips, jumping when the doorbell rang. "That's either Cragen or Emily; I asked her to come over and watch the girls stating it was an emergency."
"Okay," Alex said, knowing Emily would protect their girls too. Alex's mind was racing, as was Casey's—each wanting to protect their girls, but Alex was worried about her wife as well seeing as those two people have caused more harm to her wife than a person should ever deal with.
Casey gave Alex one more kiss then went to answer the door; she turned off the alarm again so she could open the door, quickly ushering Cragen into the house, then armed it again.
"Casey I'm s—" Cragen started to say.
The redhead just shook her head, she didn't want to hear the apology—this isn't Cragen's fault, nor should he take responsibility for it. They would have no way of knowing something like this would happen, especially after them being locked up for almost two years now.
"Lex is in the living room with the babies, go ahead and make yourself at home—I'm just going to check on Charlotte and Harper; Emily is on her way over so she can help with the girls and the twins will be going down for a nap soon."
"Okay, I'll go see my little honorary grandbabies then," he said, giving a small smile. "Hey Casey?" he waited until she turned to face him again, "I just want you to know, there are already two details outside—they will be here 24/7 until we figure out next steps." Casey nodded and kept walking.
They parted ways where the hallway split, Cragen continuing into the living room and Casey turning right to go into the playroom. Alex didn't know what to say to Cragen when she saw him—she knew her anger wasn't towards him, but there was nobody else to blame right now and he was the messenger. She was feeling a bit out of control with her emotions, trying to stay calm for her babies—closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
The two didn't say much besides hellos, Alex watching as the twins went up to Cragen smiling and babbling about who knows what. She couldn't help but smile at that; no matter what is going on, seeing them happy can always change her mood. Alex could tell they were already getting ready for their morning nap though, getting extra snuggly and wanting to be held. Cragen had Avery in his lap, and she pulled Blayke into her own, loving how her body cuddled right into her.
"I know I say this every time, but they're so beautiful Alex," Cragen said, smiling down at Blayke who was in his arms, then over at Avery.
"Thank you," Alex smiled; normally she'd make a comment questioning whether or not he could tell who was who, however she wasn't in a very playful mood right now. 11 months later and the babies look almost more identical if possible; at least that's what everyone else tells them, the mothers didn't see it though.
Casey saw the girls were fine then went back into the living room; before she was able to sit down, the doorbell rang again—damn she's fast Casey thought to herself. She held up a finger, "One more minute," then left to get the door.
"Thank you so much for coming on your day off—you know I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't urgent," Casey said when greeting Emily.
"Of course! It's no problem at all, don't worry about it. What's going on? Are you okay? Who's outside?" Emily asked.
"Long and short of it, Cassidy and Nealson escaped," she watched as Emily's face changed slightly, then shifted back. Damn that must be an FBI thing. "Those are protective details outside and Cragen is here to give us more information I just didn't want—"
"Say no more," Emily reassured. "I'm so sorry, Case. Are you okay?" Casey nodded and even though Emily didn't believe her, she let it go. How would you be okay right now?
"The girls are watching a movie, Lex and I have the babies in the living room; they will most likely fall asleep within," she looked down at her watch, "the next ten minutes if that."
"Do you want me to get them down for a nap?" Emily questioned.
"No, it's okay—if you could just keep the girls busy, and safe. I've already made sure the windows are locked in the playroom, you watched me turn on the alarm and we're keeping it on just an FYI so don't try and open the door."
"Noted. I won't let them out of my sight," Emily assured. "Let me know if you need anything."
Casey went back into the living room and was happy to see the babies were already starting to fall asleep—it was an early morning for them waking up at 6am instead of 6:30am for whatever reason so falling asleep early was perfect. As much as she wanted to know what was going on, putting the babies in their cribs first would suit them best.
"Why don't we put these two down for a nap before we talk," Casey suggested. Alex agreed, standing up cradling a sleepy Blayke, and Casey reached down to take Avery out of Cragen's arms. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen," Casey said to the man.
"Thank you. I have some phone calls to make in the meantime," he said to them. Once the women went upstairs, he went into the kitchen just to make sure there would be no possible way for Charlotte or Harper to overhear him.
Fifteen minutes later the babies were asleep and the mothers were standing outside the nursery. Casey made sure their windows were locked, blinds drawn, shades closed, and left the cameras for their cribs up on her phone; the split screen showed into their cribs and the other side showed the room as a whole. Casey wrapped her arms around Alex who was staring down at the phone, "Lex," Casey said gently.
Alex lifted her head up so blue bore into green. "We're going to be okay, baby," Casey assured, placing a kiss to Alex's lips. "Do you want to stay up here with them while I go talk to Don?"
Alex shook her head, "N-no. I just—I," tears fell freely. Casey tried to wipe them away but they were streaming down her cheeks too quickly and her wife started to hyperventilate.
"Shh, shh, shh," Casey soothed, "I know babe, I know. Come on sweetie you need to breathe for me, in and out." Alex was starting to panic; it had been a while since she had a full blown panic attack, but it seems like they were heading there. Casey picked her up bridal style carrying her into their bedroom, and into the bathroom where they kept some of her anxiety meds, "Open baby," Casey instructed the blonde tapping the side of her cheek—Alex was now sitting on the vanity leaning her body weight against her wife. Thank gosh the medication melted in her mouth, she was in no condition to swallow a pill right now; Casey slipped it into her mouth and wrapped her arms around the blonde.
"There we go babe, shh, shh, shh, I've got you," Casey said, rubbing her back. She was standing between her wife's legs, the blonde laying against her chest as she comforted her rocking back and forth. "We're going to be okay, Lex. You need to breathe though baby, come on, breathe for me."
A few minutes later, Alex was finally calming down—her body was tired, however, she knew they needed to talk to Cragen. What is he going to tell us? What's going to happen? I don't think I can do this, I'm so overwhelmed.
"Lex, baby how about I talk to Cragen while you stay up here and rest a little bit," Casey suggested. She knew her wife would take the news better coming from her anyways and after her huge panic attack, her body was tired. Casey ran her fingers through Alex's hair and pressed a kiss to her temple, "Hmm? Why don't you lay down?"
Alex didn't want to leave Casey to have to handle things alone, but she was so tired—it had been a long time since she's had such a bad panic attack and it took a lot out of her body. Alex just nodded against Casey's shoulder wrapping her legs around her wife's waist, arms around her neck.
"Okay baby, let's get you into bed for a little while," Casey lifted her wife up, Alex clinging onto her like a koala, walked into their bedroom and gently laid her down in bed. Alex's eyes were already fluttering as she grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed and covered her giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be up to check on you in a little while honey." Casey pressed a kiss to her lips, then ran her fingers over her cheek and down her jaw. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Alex said, sinking further into the pillow.
Casey closed their bedroom door and sighed, the babies are asleep, the girls are playing with Emily, a trained FBI agent, Lex is resting—let's go figure out what the hell is going on.
Cragen was downstairs pacing—he wasn't a man who normally paced, nor one who got nervous about much but this was an attack on his family. Of course the entire squad thought of Casey, Alex and the girls as family, but Cragen always thought of them like daughters. His mind went racing to Liz and Alexander who he knew would be pissed, but that was only right, I mean, he was too. Their anger would be out of fear though, his anger was at the asshat who had clearly been colluding with Cassidy and Nealson. His detectives had already split up, Fin and Munch went to Rikers, Stabler and Rollins went to Bayview as he went over to the Novak residence. This morning was anything but a typical Friday at the precinct, and Cragen was livid.
Flashback
Cragen had just sat down at his desk with a cup of coffee when his phone rang; the precinct was still quiet as it was only 8:10am and had no reason to have his door shut. He answered the call not thinking much of it.
"Good morning Captain Cragen, this is Deputy Marshall Samuel Collins."
"What can I do for you?" Cragen asked, skepticism evident in his voice.
"Actually, it's what I can do for you. I understand we have two similar persons of interests—" he started to say before getting cut off.
"With all due respect sir, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Captain, this morning I was notified that Cassidy Novak and Richard Nealson have escaped cus—"
Collins was cut off again by Cragen screaming, "THEY WHAT? Son of a—"
Elliot, Rollins, Munch and Fin all looked towards the captains door when they heard him yelling into the phone. Nobody wanted to be the one to go in there and ask, so they just waited while trying to eavesdrop.
Cragen wrapped up his phone call with the Marshall then got on the phone with Rikers and Bayview to figure out what the hell had happened. Why wasn't he notified right away? He didn't care what rules he was about to break to get answers, Cragen WAS going to get them behind bars again where they belonged. Or dead…
"STABLER, ROLLINS, MUNCH, FIN, MY OFFICE NOW!" he screamed. His office door had been slammed shut for the phone calls to the prisons so nobody had any idea what was going on—but it seems as if they were all about to find out.
Elliot gave Rollins a little shove forward so she would enter first and she shot a look back at him to say 'what the fuck, dads mad and you send me in first?' She had truly found her place at SVU and loved everyone she worked with.
"What's going on Captain?" Rollins said, using her southern charm to try and deescalate the man.
Cragen took a deep breath and said, "Cassidy Novak and Richard Nealson have escaped custody—" he didn't get the chance to continue before everyone reacted.
Amanda's jaw dropped open in shock, Munch paled and rubbed the back of his head not knowing what to think but the other two, those were expected.
Fin clenched his jaw and balled his hands up into fists, "HOW THE F—"
He was cut off by Elliot slamming his hand against Cragen's filing cabinets, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?"
Everyone besides Fin seemed to jump a bit at his response, the slam startling them out of their own thoughts. "I know everyone's emotions are running high, especially because this attack is against not just one, but two of our own and their family but we need to focus people." Cragen said, his voice regaining composure as he spoke.
"Munch and Fin go to Rikers find me anything—talk to anyone Nealson might have had contact with. Stabler and Rollins, do the same thing at Bayview; Cassidy has money, search the paper trail. If I were a betting man, I'd say this was planned together however, we have no idea how. The prisons have given us full access and will cooperate with whatever we need; I've already been contacted by US Marshall Sam Collins he will be meeting you at Rikers," Cragen said looking at Munch and Fin. "US Marshall Tyler Bradshaw will be meeting you two at Bayview," he said looking at Stabler and Rollins. "I'm just as angry the feds found out before we did, but I already informed him of my connections with Tim Greenburg friend of the Novak family, and Collins assured me they will only be here to help."
Cragen knew his squad didn't work well with the feds, he hated it just as much because of the way they handle the cases—but Tim, Owen's friend, made an impression on him. Tim gave Cragen his card and said if he ever needed help, give him a call or mention him by name—apparently Tim had a lot of pull with the feds. Cragen has never felt the need to use this until now, being the Novak family, he wasn't going to let anyone take them off the case.
"Got it Cap. Um, who's gonna tell…" Fin trailed off.
"I am going over there to talk with them now; around the clock monitoring of the Novak residence will start now and I want updates every step of the way. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." And with that, the four detectives left his office all wondering what the hell just happened.
End of Flashback
Cragen looked up when Casey came into the kitchen and spoke causing him to be pulled from his thoughts. Casey wasn't surprised to find the man had moved into the kitchen from the living room, she had been upstairs with her wife for much longer than either of them intended. "I'm sor—"
He shook his head, "There's nothing to apologize for, Casey. If anything, I'm the one who's sorry this is happening. Is she okay?"
Casey knew Don was aware of Alex's panic attacks and nodded, "She's resting. Can I get you anything? I can make you a cup of coffee, or we have some Pellegrino," she said, seeing as it was only a little after 10am, and the man didn't drink.
Casey had already opened the fridge to take out a bottle of water for herself and Don didn't think he could handle coffee right now so he said, "Pellegrino would be great thanks."
They sat down at the kitchen island and Casey waited to hear what they knew so far. Cragen explained how both Nealson and Cassidy seemed to be communicating somehow, Casey pointing out it wouldn't be hard for her to pay someone to do some dirty work as the woman has always thought she was above everyone else. Cragen agreed with that assessment, but what broke Casey the most was how others have been injured and killed because of her.
December 14th — 6pm: Day of the Escape
Jason came and knocked against Cassidy's cell door signaling it was time: Cassidy stared down at the little black pill in between her fingers, took a deep breath, then put it in her mouth. About five minutes later once Jason was far away, she felt unimaginable pain and collapsed on the floor. She screamed out in agony, but Jason knew this was part of the plan—I need to wait, 'prisoners don't get special treatment because they yell, it needs to look believable', at least, that's what Nealson kept telling him. Another few minutes passed and he ran into Cassidy's cell calling for backup and they rushed the woman to medical.
"We need to get her to a hospital, now!" the doctor shouted.
"No way," the warden said. "No prisoner transfers to the hospital until morning; she'll have to wait."
"She won't make it that long; if her appendix burst, she'll die," the doctor explained.
"Fine. But I don't have enough man power to send two men right now," he said.
"I'll go," Palmer volunteered a little too cheery. "I mean, I'll escort the prisoner, sir."
The warden signed off, the ambulance was called and off they went. Once they were on their way, Jason pulled out a gun and instructed the EMT to stop working on Cassidy knowing she would be fine after what she took, it just had to seem believable. He then instructed the other EMT to pull over, made them get out of the vehicle and started to threaten them, "If you so much as mention tonight to anyone, I will hunt you down."
The EMT's would have said anything to live so they agreed. That being said, they knew his name, the prisoners name, and Jason hadn't taken any of their information to 'follow through' on his threat. Jason drove off with the ambulance leaving the two EMT's without their cell phones, but they still had their wallets meaning: at least he didn't know where they lived.
At Rikers, there was an entirely different situation taking place as Nealson knew what he had to do to get out with Palmer helping Cassidy. He faked sick as well, even used the same pill Cassidy took but he only took a half of one knowing that wouldn't be enough to subdue him and he'd still be able to fight. They wheeled him into the infirmary where he started putting up a fight against the nurse who was in there alone—she was so stunned by the man who was just screaming out in pain to then be perfectly fine that when he covered her mouth with his hand and asked where a scalpel was, she showed him. The guard outside the door didn't notice anything that was going on in the room and she was fearful for her life—a young nurse, giving a crazed man a knife but what else could she do?
Just when Nealson was about to use it on her, the doctor walked in and screamed for the guard who was outside. He quickly stabbed the doctor, sliced his throat, then rushed towards the guard. The nurse stood there screaming, but she had no way out of the room. The guard put up a good fight that he ended up losing to Nealson—the prisoner took the cuffs off the guard, locked the nurse up and told her if she wanted to live, she would shut up. The young woman nodded and watched as Nealson took the guards uniform off then put it on himself; he searched his pockets for keys and was happy when there was keys to the mans car.
Nealson turned to look at the woman who was trembling in fear dangling the key to the cuffs right in front of her face, "As much as I'd love to stay and play with you, and believe me I would, there's a beautiful redhead who can't wait to scream my name when I split her in half like I did when she was nine." Nealson gave a satisfied smirk when the nurse gulped, then dropped the keys just a tad out of reach of her. He closed the door to the infirmary, made his way through the prison in his 'guard' uniform, and left to meet up with Cassidy.
Casey and Don had been talking for a while about everything, each stepping away to make their own phone calls—Cragen to check in with his detectives, Casey to check on the girls and call the Cabot's before Liz heard from anyone else in the office as to what was going on. She knew it would be better coming from her anyways and both Liz and Alexander dropped everything saying they'd be over in 20 minutes. Casey told them the alarm was on and to call her instead of ringing the bell when they got there just to make sure not to wake Alex; she wasn't sure her wife was actually sleeping, and if she was the bell wouldn't wake her, but with her anxiety through the roof right now Casey wasn't about to take any chances. Casey text Owen and Jake to let them know what was happening stating she'd give them a call when she knew more and not to fly out—she didn't know how long they'd be staying here anyways. The more she found out, the more Casey wanted to take her family and run: until they were found that is. Casey was never one to back down from a fight, but when it comes to protecting her family, removing themselves from any immediate danger wouldn't be 'running'.
"I'm going to go check on Alex before her parents get here," Casey said to Cragen. He nodded and said to take her time. She ran up the stairs and was relieved to find her wife sound asleep, I'll always keep you and our girls safe, Lex. I love you. Casey walked over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, fixed the blanket so it was covering her shoulders and went back downstairs.
It didn't take long to track Jason Palmer's sorry ass down, at least on paper—tracking him down in person was another story, it's as if he fell off the face of the earth. They made sure to get all of his information and already sent officers over to his place to see what they could find. The warden couldn't believe Jason Palmer was involved as he had been there for four years, but it was evident he didn't know the man as well as he thought—neither warden for that matter.
When the detectives searched the prisoners cells, everyone felt just as sick to their stomach seeing not only the plan Nealson and Cassidy put into place but what Casey's mother promised the man as well.
Fin could only read so many of the notes passed to Nealson before throwing things in Nealson's cell around. He couldn't wait to get his hands on this Jason idiot along with Nealson—this time, he'd do more than bash his head against the interrogation table.
"You need to calm down," Munch said.
"Shut up, Munch! Cap said we had full support, my ass we do! They ain't helping us—they don't care a predator with FBI training is back on the freakin' streets and they ain't doin' jack to find him. This is personal!"
Munch continued to let his partner rant; as angry as he was, he knew Fin has always been extremely overprotective of the Novak's. Munch loved them just as much, but Fin's relationship with Casey and Alex was greater than his—he was the big macho brother who would do anything to keep them safe. Munch has a different approach on things, following the evidence to get leads—not so physically aggressive like his partner. Fin had thrown the notes he was reading all over the cell and Munch went to pick them up; he was going to have to put together the clues as to where the two may be fleeing. He was in contact with Rollins as Elliot was having a similar reaction to Fin, especially after seeing the note about 'cherries' and describing his encounters with Casey in detail: that's when he completely lost it.
"How dare he!" Elliot screamed. "SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL! I swear to god this son of a—" he ran off to the bathroom and got sick not being able to handle what he read. Rollins was left trying to decipher the clues from the notes, gathering whatever she could from the cell before they made their way back to the station to meet up with Munch and Fin.
TARU already put a trace on Palmer's phone but it seemed to be off; his apartment was empty, no sign of the man. The only thing they were able to collect in his apartment was bank statements showing large deposits obviously made by Cassidy and a few receipts; what they did find however, was a bill of sale for a car he paid for in cash. The detectives weren't sure if the car was for him or the escaped convicts, but they already put a BOLO out on it along with an APB with pictures of Nealson, Cassidy. They also put one out on Jason as a person of interest in helping them escape—the detectives needed to talk to Jason and figure out what the hell he knew and lock his ass up as well.
Once everyone got back to the station they started to piece together the clues they had. Jason was clearly helping them from the outside, but he didn't lead the detectives to a location. They already had cars stationed at the Novak residence and more officers were checking their old penthouse seeing as neither prisoners most likely knew the family had moved. If anything is in our favor, it's that, Elliot thought to himself in a moment of clarity, which were few and far between because of his anger that was boiling over. The only thing keeping him focused was the fact he needed to protect his 'sisters'—once they had any of the three in custody, the gloves would come off and he would lose it if someone didn't hold him back. Elliot kept seeing the words he read: 'I love cherries', 'you gave me the greatest gift', 'god her body was so tight and perfect', 'made for me', 'I'll fuck her straight this time'.
They were all working on piecing things together, checking financials of Palmer, tracing last knowns, making phone calls to see if anyone knew where he could be while going over the notes written back and forth for the last six months when Elliot slammed his fist down on his desk in frustration.
"They've been planning this for at least six months, that's how long the payments go back—how the hell did nobody notice this Jason idiot hanging around them both?" Elliot mumbled.
The detectives had interviewed the nurse who, besides being shaken up was physically okay, the two EMT's, both wardens, and anyone who knew Palmer. What they learned was, nobody really knew the guy besides the fact he 'wants to be a fed, but the kids never gonna make it', 'ya that kid ain't goin' nowhere big', 'Jason thinks he's a big shot but spends more time making friends with the prisoners'. From the guards comments the detectives pieced together the fact Nealson most likely charmed his way into getting Jason to do his dirty work for him by being a former fed himself.
"He obviously covered his tracks while at work, not so much at home," Amanda said, holding up the receipt for the car along with the others for a gun, two knives, rope, and a mattress. Amanda shivered at the thought of the mattress and what that meant god forbid what Nealson wrote in the notes was able to happen. 'I'll tie her up and fuck her straight so good this time', 'can't wait until she's screaming out my name'.
"Tutuola," Fin said into the phone. "Are you sure? … Where? … Ya we're on our way now don't do anything until we get there, SVU takedown only." Everyone was looking at him expectantly when he hung up the phone, "Jason Palmer has been spotted, seems to be alone so they ain't gonna take him down yet—gonna wait and see if he leads the tails they have on him right to the convicts. We're leadin' the chase now." All four detectives ran out to the squad cars and off they went—giving the captain a call to let him know the update as well.
Back at the Novak residence, things were going about as well as could be expected. Casey was happy that Alex was still sleeping and she now had two extra sets of hands because her in-laws had gotten there before the twins woke up from their nap. Cragen and Casey were able to explain what they knew so far to Alexander and Liz before Blayke and Avery woke and when they did, the grandparents played with them for a while before taking charge of getting lunch ready for the girls.
All four babies were thrilled to see grandma and grandpa in the middle of the day and Casey was happy they were there as well for support. Cragen said he'd give Casey updates every step of the way but he really needed to be getting back to the station to see how the interview with Jason Palmer was going to which, Casey agreed. Emily said she'd stay as long as needed; it never hurt to have extra hands, along with someone who can also protect the girls. Casey was very thankful for Emily being here on her day off and asked if she'd stay through lunch knowing she herself was going to go upstairs to see if her wife was awake and try to talk to her about her thoughts.
Once she entered their bedroom Casey saw the blonde was still sleeping and smiled; she didn't want to wake her up however, she needed to be a part of the plan Casey thought up as well. She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed a stray piece of hair away from the blondes face, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, "Lex honey," she ran her hand down her wife's arm.
Alex rolled over a little bit and stretched then quickly curled her body back up causing Casey to laugh, "Come on sweetie, open those beautiful eyes for me." Casey leaned down and placed a kiss to her wife's lips and when she pulled back saw Alex's eyes fluttering open. "Hi beautiful, did you have a good nap?"
Alex stretched her body again then reached up to bring Casey's body closer to her own nearly pulling the redhead on top of her. "Lex, as much as I'd love to snuggle we can't right now." Alex groaned, almost whining a bit at that. "I know honey," Casey gently sat up and pulled Alex up with her placing kisses to the side of her head as the blonde wrapped her arms around the redheads neck.
"W-what time is it?" Alex croaked out, sleep still evident in her voice.
"11:50am," Casey said, rubbing the blondes back and holding her close.
Alex quickly pulled her body back in shock, "What?" she looked over at the clock and realized her wife was right. Shit, I've been asleep since 9:45am. "Oh my god, why didn't you wake me?"
Casey wrapped her arms around Alex again bringing their bodies close together, "You needed the rest babe. It's okay—we've been fine. Your parents got here around 10:45am, and Emily is still here too."
"M-my parents are here?"
"Of course they are honey—I called them after talking to Cragen for a bit and they rushed over." Alex's body tensed when Casey mentioned Cragen and told her wife what they knew so far. She explained how they already have Palmer in custody, and were keeping an eye on the penthouse to see if Nealson and Cassidy showed up there. It wasn't clear if they knew the Novak family had moved, but Casey was hoping they wouldn't know. If they did, Casey made sure to let her wife know they already have two details sitting outside.
After explaining everything, she said, "So, I've been thinking…what if we get away for at least a week maybe more. I know it's almost Christmas, but I'd rather lug a bunch of presents someplace tropical than stay here and cause us more anxiety with staying here. And who knows, they could be caught within the week and we can come home for the holiday. We could even get out of dodge for a week or so, come home for the holiday and leave again."
Alex was listening to everything Casey was saying, she really does think of everything. I don't know why I get myself so worked up knowing my wife is always prepared for whatever comes our way. She would never let anything happen to us. I know she's feeling so guilty about the two men who lost their lives, the doctor and guard at Rikers but that isn't her fault. I wish I could help her see that.
"Umm, where were you thinking about going?" Alex questioned.
"Where would you like to go?" Casey countered.
"I mean, we have four babies so it's not like we can just go anywhere," Alex said.
"We can bring your parents honey, and if they can't or don't want to come we have a nanny who has a girlfriend that is our assistant—she won't need to be in the office if we give her the time off. We could even bring Johnathan and Addison if they want to come, or we can bring everyone. They'd all be here for the holidays anyways."
"I don't care where we go," Alex said, dropping her head to Casey's shoulder. "I just—I don't think I want to be here right now."
Casey nodded her understanding and kissed the top of her head, "I know baby. I'll have them fuel up the jet and we can leave tomorrow morning bright and early. We'll book something after talking to your parents, and if they can't come with us now, I'll send the jet back to get them before the holidays if we need to extend the trip."
"I love you," Alex said pressing her lips to Casey's.
"I love you too, Lex. And I promise, we're going to be okay."
