"I am so eager for this son of a bitch's blood I can taste it." Olivia said, bouncing around in her seat.
"Yeah, but don't pee on the seat, you know the department will never pay to reupholster these fifteen year old Crown Vics." Fin remarked, pushing her down in her seat. "Don't get over-excited, we may not find enough to stick."
"Oh, we're gonna get him." Olivia muttered seriously. "We're gonna get him."
They pulled into the parking lot of Security Veterans Utilization with Carisi and Amanda behind them.
"Okay, search warrants?" Olivia ascertained.
"Search warrants." Amanda said, holding them up.
"You guys go ahead," Olivia said, checking her ringing cellphone. "Fin, supervise." She stepped away to answer the call. "Olivia Benson."
"Come on, guys." Fin said, leading them into the building. He walked up the front desk assistant. "Hey, NYPD, we have a search warrant."
"I'll get the boss." The assistant said. She went off into the back.
"I've been doing some research about this place." Amanda said. "It's legit. A retired cop started it about three and a half years ago and it's been pretty popular. These aren't you average rent-a-cop, these are retired NYPD cops and retired servicemen and veterans. People want the best, this guy gives it to them."
"Well, here's hoping he's as above board as his business claims." Fin remarked. He turned and caught a glimpse of a man's profile reflecting in the glass door and took a step forward. "What the-oh, hell. Y'all run this down, I gotta go and get Liv, we don't need to be here for all this bullshit." He threw his hands aside and strode outside. "Hey baby, let's head on back to Manhattan, let Rollins and Carisi handle this."
"Why?" Olivia asked.
"Tell you in the car." Fin said.
"What is it?" Olivia asked as Fin led her back to the car.
"More like who." Fin said. He started the engine. "Firm was started by an ex-cop and employees vets and retired cops. Owner's a big deal."
Olivia made a face. "It's not Dean Porter is it? He took retirement a couple years ago. He was going to get fired but he resigned at the last second. Apparently he went a little too far with a case and disgraced himself."
"Liv." Fin said seriously. "It was Elliot."
Olivia stared at him emotionlessly.
"Stabler." Fin added.
"I know who you're talking about." Olivia said, sliding her sunglasses on. "I didn't work with him for thirteen years and forget his name."
"Has he ever called since you left?" Fin asked as he started the car.
"No." Olivia answered, staring out of the window. "No, he never called."
The young assistant returned. "Okay, my manager is coming out. He's going to help you guys find the files you need."
"Thanks." Carisi said. He turned to Amanda. "Why did Fin and Liv leave?"
Amanda shrugged. "Maybe they realized we don't need mommy and daddy to help us execute a search warrant?" She nodded towards the young man who walked out from the offices to greet them. "Hey, Detective Rollins, Detective Carisi, we have a search warrant for the employment files on an Ashley Palmer, one of your guards."
"You guys have a search warrant, right?" The young man inquired. "Can't do anything without a warrant."
Amanda held out the blue paper. "It covers everything from paper and digital to person records and professional."
The young man examined the warrant. "Alright, it's all good."
"Who are you?" Carisi inquired.
"Stabler. Richard Stabler." The young man answered. "General manager. My dad owns the place. Told me to handle this."
"Uh, we'll need to speak with him as well." Carisi said.
"Follow me." Dickie requested. "Lauren, can you hold dad's and my calls until everything settles down?"
"So, your dad's the boss." Amanda observed.
"Yeah, he was actually a detective as well, for Manhattan. For twenty years." Dickie answered. "He retired a few years ago."
"What unit did he work for?" Carisi asked.
Dickie turned to them. "Uh, yours, as a matter of fact."
"Your dad was an SVU detective?" Carisi questioned.
Amanda snapped her fingers. "Stabler!" She turned to Carisi. "Liv's partner from way back right before I started was a Stabler. He retired and I took his place."
"I'll try not to hold it against you."
They all turned.
Elliot Stabler strode out of his office and held out his hand. "How are things at the unit?"
Amanda shook his hand eagerly. "Oh, great, you know, everybody's doing well. Solving crimes, making the city safer."
Elliot chuckled and shook Carisi's hand. "Got a new roster down there since I left?"
"There's us two." Amanda answered. "And Fin, and Olivia."
"Munch? Cragen?" Elliot questioned.
"Both of them retired." Amanda answered.
"Who's running the place now?" Elliot asked.
"Lieutenant Benson." Carisi answered.
Dickie nudged his father. "Lieutenant Benson."
Elliot smiled mutedly. "That's great. I'm glad the unit's in good hands. She's probably the best person they could have replaced Cragen with."
"Now, you were her old partner, right?" Amanda asked.
"That was me. Thirteen years." Elliot answered.
"Wow." Amanda remarked. "It's cool to meet you."
"Hope you've heard only good things." Elliot said.
"Uh, not a lot actually." Amanda admitted. "Olivia doesn't really reminisce."
Elliot smiled after a moment's hesitation. "Well, why would she? I've been gone for a while now. Probably had loads of partners since then."
"Me, and this guy Amaro who went out to California, Fin for a while. Once she took over she didn't need a partner." Amanda said.
"So, you guys need some files." Elliot said quickly. "Come with me. Dickie is our computer guy, takes care of all the techie stuff. I'm old school."
They went into his office.
"I've got the employment file already pulled for you, and Dickie is going to print out what we have on him as far as his work file." Elliot said. "You can have all of it. Those are the originals. I made copies."
"I'd say you came prepared but then again you probably know better than we do." Amanda said with a smile.
"Well," Elliot shrugged. He sat down behind his desk. "How is Fin? And, Olivia?"
"They're great." Amanda answered. "Liv's really got Fin helping run the place now, he's sort of her right hand."
"They were always close." Elliot said. "She once saved his life when he got shot in a bodega. And was undercover with her in Sealview."
"Liv went undercover at Sealview Prison?" Amanda marveled.
"Yep. Managed to snag the guard who had been hurting inmates and an inmate's civilian daughter." Elliot said. "She never did like to talk about the past."
"Dad, server's down again." Dickie called from across the hall.
Elliot sighed quietly. "We've been having internet problems all week. Our provider is doing some kind of overhaul to the system. Can we run the files to you guys tomorrow morning?"
"Absolutely, no problem." Amanda said.
Carisi gave her a panicked look.
"It's cool." Amanda said, waving him down. "He's one of us, after all."
"Lieutenant isn't gonna like that." Carisi remarked. "Search Warrant's a search warrant. She's say take the whole computer and have TARU look at it."
"Our IT guy is actually a retired TARU guy." Elliot informed them. "Morales. If he was here today he'd have the files for you in a heartbeat."
"You really do recruit the best." Carisi observed.
Elliot shrugged humbly. "I was part of a lot of cases where private security firms, in one way or another, had a part in a crime, whether as the attacker, a subduer, a witness, or a stonewall. I figured, why not use my experience from the department and from the Marines and create a company where we actually give a shit."
"Look, we'll let Olivia know the deal with the computer. She'll be cool with it. Especially if it's you." Amanda said. She held out her hand. "I know I'm talking a mile a minute, it's like meeting your favorite baseball player or something. I mean, we don't hear a lot but you're Stabler, you were a big deal in our unit."
"Nah, it was always gonna be Olivia." Elliot said. "She was always the one who held the unit together. Seriously, she left once, went undercover with the Fibbies, she was gone a little less than half a year, and everyone just sort of lost direction."
"She was undercover with the FBI?" Amanda questioned in amazement. "God, she never talks about any of this."
Elliot smiled. "Glad to see she hasn't changed."
TBC