Sorry for the delay in updating this and my other stories, but I have been away at Camp with the Cadets and had no time. Hope you find this was worth the wait.
Chapter 4
"Olivia…..Olivia you need to get up."
She could hear someone talking to her but she couldn't take her eyes off the motor home.
"Dammit Olivia you need to move," she heard as hands went around her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. She turned her head to see who was talking to her.
"Don….."
"Yeah, it's me….What the hell you doing back?" he asked her as he led her towards another motor home. "Fin, get in that car and get it out of here."
Fin nodded, as they reached the motor home and Don opened the door and pushed her up the step and inside.
"Let's go John," said Don and the motor home started moving as the sirens from the police cars got louder. "Drive around the back of the cabins," Don told him.
Olivia looked around the motor home and stopped when she saw Elliot sat in the living area just staring at her. Don went to the front with John as the he drove them the long way out the park avoiding the local police and up the track and finally onto the road.
"Get a few miles down the road and find somewhere to pull in," he said looking in the mirrors and seeing Fin following them in Olivia's car.
"I thought you were all dead," she said as Don came back to her and sat beside her. "I saw them shooting up that motor home and I thought… I thought, I had lost you all."
Don put his hand on her shoulder gently as Olivia kept her eyes on Elliot who hadn't moved or spoke as he continued to stare at her.
"We had just changed vehicles and were about to leave when they showed up," he told her. "What are you doing back? You should be at the airport."
"I stopped at a diner and saw the gang pass by. I tried to call you but couldn't get through, so I jumped in my car and headed back. As I entered the park all I saw was them unloading their weapons into the motor home….. I thought I was too late, I thought you were all in there."
The motor home shook as John pulled off the main road and down a small track into a clearing and stopped. A minute later the door opened and Fin came in.
"Everyone okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Don looking between Olivia and Elliot who were still staring and still hadn't spoken to each other.
"So what now?" asked John coming into the back and joining them.
"We stick to the plan," said Don. "We drive through the night and get as much distance as we can between us and that park. Right now the gang think Elliot was in that motor home. But it won't be long before they find out it was empty. I'm going to get Amaro to hire another motor home and we will meet up with them and swap again."
Fin and John nodded.
"Olivia," said Don. "You need to get going if you have any chance of making that flight."
"I'm not leaving," she said without looking at him.
"Olivia, I know this freaked you out but….."
"I'm not leaving," she said finally looking at him. "I'm staying right here."
Don sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Okay fine. Fin, you drive her car and until we can drop it somewhere for the rental company to pick up."
"Sure Cap," he nodded glad to be getting out of the motor home for a while and away from the tension.
"Wait," said Elliot speaking for the first time since Olivia had got back. "I need my bike and stuff picked up," he said standing.
"Elliot we are not going back for your bike and clothes," said Don.
"It's not my clothes, I have evidence and shit which the FEDS will need. It's with my bike."
"Why the hell did you leave evidence!" yelled Don. "Why didn't it all get sent to the FEDS?"
"Because at the time I wasn't thinking fucking straight," he said getting up close to Don. "All I was thinking about was getting away after been jumped on and stabbed. Now we need to go back and get my stuff."
"No way, it's too dangerous and you bike has probably been found by now if it's parked outside a bar or motel."
"It's not," Elliot told him. "I hid it out of sight. Now we need to go and get it."
Don shook his head.
"I need that evidence if we have any chance of taking them down," he yelled getting into Dons space. "Now take me back to my fucking bike!"
Don ignored his outburst and calmly turned to Fin. "Can you ride a bike?" he asked him. Fin nodded. "Good get the directions from Stabler, go and get the bike and his stuff. Dump the car and ride the bike back to us."
"Sure Cap," said Fin looking towards Elliot.
"No way," said Elliot.
"You don't have a say in this," Don told him sharply.
"Like hell I don't, Fin is not riding my bike," he snarled getting right up into Dons face.
"Fine," said Don turning to Fin. "Find the evidence and leave the bike," he smirked before turning back to Elliot. "It's your choice," he told Elliot.
Elliot scowled at him.
"You asked for us to come here and to help you, so you get back home safely and able to give your evidence. So, either you do this my way or we drop you at your bike and leave you. There has already been one attempt on your life and ours already, and we still don't know how they found you. We can't risk you being spotted out there on a bike. So either Fin gets your bike or it stays were it is."
Elliot thought about it for a few seconds before turning to Fin. "You better not damage it," he told him before picking up a map and laying it on the table. Fin stepped towards him and looked down where he was pointing. "Here is the Motel and Bar I was at," Elliot told him. "Two hundred metres down the road is a track," he said moving his finger along the track. "My bike is about hundred meters down the track on the right hand side just before a right hand bend in the track. It's about ten meters off the track, hidden by branches."
"And all the evidence?" asked Fin.
"Stand in front of the bike, straight ahead is a large old tree head towards it. Just past the tree is a pile of logs, the files are wrapped in plastic in one of the logs."
Fin nodded.
"The bike has almost a full tank of gas," said Elliot handing him the keys. Fin took them and turned back to Cragen.
"I will leave the car at the motel and walk down to the bike," he told him, and Cragen nodded turning to Olivia.
"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind and head to the airport, you can always change your flight."
Olivia shook her head. "No I'm staying," she told him, but looked at Elliot.
"Okay, I best going," said Fin heading to the door.
"You damage that bike and I will hurt you," said Elliot.
Fin turned around and faced Elliot.
"And you hurt Olivia anymore and your gonna wish you were back with your biker friends," he told him before looking at Olivia, winking and walking out the door.
They all stood in silence looking at each other as they heard the car start up and pull away.
"Okay, happy campers," said Munch. "Let's get this trip on the road," he said turning towards the driver's seat and climbing in. Don picked up the map and moved to join him in the front. Before he climbed into the passenger seat he turned to Olivia and Elliot.
"I take it you two can be left alone back here, without going at each other like little kids?" he asked them.
They both looked at him then back to each. "We will be fine," said Olivia.
Don looked between them before climbing in the seat next to John, and the motor home pulled away and back onto the highway.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Elliot jerked awake and put his hand on his stomach on top of his wound. He looked out the window and saw it was dark outside. He had fallen asleep not long after they had started driving again. He guessed it had something to do with the alcohol he had drunk after Olivia had left.
"Dammit," he groaned as pain shot through him.
Olivia stood up from where she was sat reading a book and got a bottle of water from the small fridge and took it to him.
"Here," she said handing him the bottle and two painkillers. She saw Cragen turn around briefly and look at them before looking back out the front.
"Thanks," he said taking them from her and taking them quickly. "How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours."
"Is Fin back yet?"
She shook her head. "He rang earlier. There were a few bikers at the bar you mentioned, so he couldn't risk going for the bike. We are going to keep going until we get to a little place called Pinetop-Lakeside. It isn't actually that far but because we are sticking to back roads it will take a lot longer."
"Yeah I guess it will."
"Fin will go a more direct route once he gets the bike and get us another motor home, to swap into. Amaro and Rollins have been going ahead and dropping back to check that we aren't being followed and the route is clear ahead, as much as they can tell. They are going to find somewhere quiet where we can park up for a while and rest."
"You guys have it all worked out huh? The perfect little team."
Olivia ignored him and his little dig at the team.
"When are we going to stop for food?" he asked Don and John. "I'm starving."
"We will stop at the next place we come to and get something we can eat on the go," Cragen told him.
Elliot sighed and winced a little as he moved sitting up a bit.
Olivia reached back and grabbed the first aid box. "Lift your top up and I will change your dressing," she told him.
"It will be fine," he told her.
"Just lift your top and stop being so stubborn. I need to check those stitches as well, it's the first time I have sewed somebody up."
Elliot sat back and pulled his t-shirt up. They both looked down as Olivia gently took hold of the dressing and pulled it off.
"Damn that stings," he hissed as they both looked down at the stitches. "They seem okay, you done a good job," he told her as he touched them gently. "A lot better than I did my first time."
Olivia opened a swab and gently began cleaning it. "Your first time, how many have you done?" she asked him.
"Quite a few."
"On yourself or others?" she asked him, as she dropped the swab and ran her fingers over another scar on his side. Elliot shivered at her touch as he watched her fingers on his skin.
"Both," he told her his voice quiet. "Being in a biker gang you can't always go to the ER. We used to have a Doctor but she got pregnant by one of the gang and decided she needed a better life for her baby and disappeared."
Olivia looked at him. "She disappeared or you helped her leave to keep her safe?"
"Liv the baby wasn't mine," he quickly told her.
"I never said it was, I just wondered if she was one of the women you helped."
"Yeah, she was," he told her and gave her a small smile for the first time since they had seen each other. "I just hope she sorted her life out."
Olivia just nodded as she got a clean dressing out and put it over the wound.
"All done," she told him and pulled his t-shirt down. Elliot grabbed her hand as she went to move away.
"Thank you," he said to her. Olivia nodded and tried to move away but he kept hold of her hand. "For everything," he told her. "For coming out here, for stitching me up and for coming back when I have been nothing but a total prick to you."
Olivia swallowed hard and finally looked at him. "I'm just doing my job," she told him pulling her hand from his grasp and walking away towards the rear of the home and the bedroom.
"Is that all I am to you, just some other job?" he asked her, as Don turned back around and watched them.
Olivia stopped and turned to face him.
"Yes….. You are. And once we get you back to New York safely, the job will be over," she told him as she turned back, opened the door and went in closing it behind her.
Elliot sighed and dropped his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.
Don turned back around and looked at the road ahead.
"Well at least they talked and didn't scream at each other," said John. "I would call that progress."
Don chuckled. "Yeah, and we have almost 3000 miles to go, you never know what could happen by the end of it."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Elliot got up and went to the front of the vehicle and sat down behind the seats.
"Why don't you let me drive for a while?" he asked them. "Give you guys a break."
"We can't risk anyone seeing you," said John.
"We haven't passed another vehicle for over thirty minutes now. We are in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night who exactly is going to see me. Hell we haven't even passed anywhere to get something to eat, since I asked you and that was nearly 3 hours ago."
"Okay," said Don pulling the vehicle over and stopping.
"You get some sleep first," said John to him as Elliot climbed into the driver's seat.
"Wake me in an hour or so."
Elliot pulled away as Don settled down on the couch and closed his eyes. Elliot turned the dial on the radio and turned the music up a little as they both sat in silence as they drove down the dark roads.
"I heard you and Olivia talking earlier," John said to him after about half an hour of silence.
"Yeah, she hates me."
"Oh I think that's a bit strong," smiled John.
"I shouldn't have said those things I said to her, when I first saw her. I was angry, hurting and pissed off…..God I was such a prick," he sighed.
"Well we always say things we don't mean in the heat of the moment, and besides we are kind of used to you being a prick."
Elliot picked up a bottle of water and took a drink.
"You know I was sat up in the trees for hours watching you guys before I finally came down. I was going over everything I was going to say to her in my head when I was finally face to face with her."
"And that was the best you could come up with?" John asked him. "Blaming her and telling her you didn't want her here."
"I don't know what happened, I just lost it. The little voice in my head was telling me to just shut the hell up," he sighed and shook his head. "Jesus I really screwed up."
"Well you have 3000 miles to try and put it right my friend."
They drove in silence for a while before John spoke again.
"Why didn't you come to us when it all went to shit?"
Elliot shrugged. "I thought I could handle it."
"El, you admitted to putting a gun to your head, I wouldn't say that was handling it. I would say you had totally lost it."
Elliot glanced over to him. "Don't hold back there John."
"When have you ever known me to dance around a subject?"
"Never," he smiled.
"So why didn't you come to us?"
"Like you said earlier I keep everything bottled up. I didn't think I needed help. So I just hid away. Then the longer I was alone the angrier I got that no one had been in touch."
"So why not go to Liv. She would have been there for you, you know she would have."
Elliot turned around and looked at Cragen checking he was asleep.
"When I thought she wasn't getting in touch with me I got it into my head that… That she hated me."
"Why the hell would she have hated you?"
"Because I pulled the trigger on Jenna, I killed a girl we were supposed to be protecting."
"Elliot you done what needed to be done that day. Nobody knew where she was going to fire next or at who. Nobody hated you for what you had done… Nobody especially Olivia. You took that shot to save us all."
Elliot shook his head. "No I didn't," he said looking straight ahead. "I took that shot to save Olivia. I saw Jenna look at Liv and begin to raise the gun. I couldn't let her shoot Liv."
"You're her partner it's you job to have her back."
Elliot looked over at John. "I didn't pull the trigger to save my partner; I pulled it to….. To ….."
"To what?" asked John.
"To save the woman I ….. I was in love with," he said letting out a large breath at finally saying the words. "I pulled the trigger on a young girl because I couldn't bear the thought of losing Liv."
John looked at Elliot a small smile on his face at Elliot's confession of love.
"So why ignore her after that. You say you loved her, your marriage was over why not go to her and tell her."
Elliot licked his lips and looked back at Don to make sure he was still asleep.
"Do you remember that case years ago with Victor Gitano?"
John nodded. "How could I forget that was a tough case?"
"Yeah well, you don't know everything."
John looked at him a little confused.
"Not everything was put in the report. When we chased Gitano down to the warehouse he grabbed me and had a gun to my head. He kept taunting Olivia to pull the trigger and kill him, but Olivia knew if she did I would be dead. I kept telling her to pull the trigger so she could find Rebecca and save her, but she wouldn't do it. I kept begging her but she wouldn't take the damn shot."
"Did you really expect her to?"
"Yes!" he snapped. "I had already let Ryan get killed because I went to Olivia instead of going after him. I couldn't let another kid die."
"What the hell do you mean you let Ryan get killed? You didn't let him get killed. Gitano took him and Gitano killed him, you had no way of stopping that."
"Yes I could. Gitano lashed out at Olivia with the knife and she dropped to the floor. I looked over and saw Gitano grab Ryan and disappear, I could have gone after them, but no I went to Olivia, I had to know she was okay….. And then I blamed her asked her why she didn't take the shot, even though I knew none of it was her fault. It was all me and my feelings."
"Because you were in love with her even back then."
Elliot nodded.
"After the case we were sat in the hospital and I told her I couldn't do the job without her. That I couldn't take it if I had to, that night she put in a transfer to computer crimes and shortly after that she left for Oregon."
John looked at him but didn't speak as Elliot took a deep breath.
"I told her I needed her and let a kid die because I went to her and she just left me. No call nothing. She just went to Don and asked for a new Partner. So after I pulled the trigger on Jenna and then never heard from her, I just figured it was all like Gitano again and she wanted nothing to do with me."
"And you never once told her how you felt."
"How could I, I was married."
"Not on the Gitano case or when she came back to the unit."
"Yeah well I was pissed off and hurt then. By the time things were good between us again I thought I had got Kathy pregnant and was moving home again. And then Jenna happened just as I was building up the courage to tell her how I felt."
"To say you guys were the units top two detectives you were both pretty useless when it came down to figuring each other out and your feelings for each other."
"Olivia doesn't feel anything for me John, and who can blame her after the way I have treated her, especially since you guys got here. I just want to get back to New York, testify and get the hell away again."
John could tell by the look on his face he was now finished talking as he stared straight ahead. He turned around and saw Olivia stood in the doorway to the bedroom. He smiled at her and climbed from his seat as she got close and he could see her eyes were red from crying. He laid his hand on her shoulder and nodded as he walked past to the bedroom.
She climbed into the passenger seat next to Elliot without speaking or looking at him.
"How much of that did you hear?" he asked her quietly.
"Not much, just from where you were pissed off and hurt after I came back."
Elliot nodded but didn't look her way.
"What were you building up the courage to tell me?" she asked him looking down at her hands.
"It doesn't matter," he told. "Not now anyway."
"Are you really leaving as soon as you testify?"
Elliot slammed the brakes on and pulled in to the side of the road. The heard a thump and a groan from behind them followed by a "What the hell?" as Don fell off the couch.
"Yeah I am," he told her climbing from the driver's seat. "Like I said I have nothing in New York anymore."
"Where will you go this time?"
Elliot stopped and turned around to face her just as Cragen got up from the floor. "What do you care?" he asked her. "You will have another job to move onto, I won't be your problem anymore, you can get back to your new partner and your perfect little squad," he said going to leave.
Olivia grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "El, we can't keep doing this to each other. We can't keep sniping and bitching at each other, talking to each other like shit, it's getting us anywhere."
Elliot looked down at her hand gently curled around his wrist.
"I don't know how we are supposed to move on this Liv," he said quietly. "So much has happened and been said."
"Me either, but I really want to," she said sliding her hand down his wrist and into his hand. They both looked down at their joined hands, as Don walked slowly to the back of the motor home.
"So what do we do?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Try talking to each other instead of yelling."
"Stop blaming each other."
"Yeah that would be a start," she said giving him a small smile.
"Yeah it would," he said as he ran his thumb lightly over the back of her hand.
"So, why don't we start by you making some coffee, whilst I keep driving."
"Yeah I think I could manage that," he smiled. He looked down as he gently pulled his hand from hers and turned towards the kitchen area. He looked towards Cragen who nodded and smiled at him, before opening the door and going into the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Olivia looked back as Elliot sat down next to her again a travel mug of coffee each in his hands.
"Where did Don go?"
""Into the bedroom with John," he smiled. "I think he wants to give us a bit of time together."
Olivia began to chuckle. "I would love to be a fly on the wall with those two in there together."
"Yeah," he smiled before they fell into silence and sipped their coffees as she drove.
"I'm sorry for what I said to you," he said quietly. "I was out of line."
She nodded. "You weren't the only one at blame," she said to him.
"Yeah but the things I said to you when I was drunk…."
"Was the truth. Everything you said that night you meant."
"But I shouldn't have just said it like I did, blurting it out like that."
They sat in silence again as they sipped on their coffee.
"How could you be so selfish?" she asked him breaking the silence.
Elliot snapped his head around to her.
"What?"
"How could you even think of killing yourself….. putting your gun to your head, what about all the people you would have left behind, your kids, your mom…..Even me, you were being a selfish prick."
"I thought I had lost everything, my job, my kids didn't want anything to do with me cause I was either drunk or never there, I was getting divorced, I had lost the woman I loved. I was at rock bottom, like I had nothing left to live for any more. I hated my life and I hated myself."
"And you thought killing yourself was the only way out."
"Yeah, I did at the time."
"And now?"
"Now I pray to god every day and thank him."
"What for?" she asked him. "What do you thank him for?"
Elliot looked away from her and let out a shaky breath.
"What did you thank him for?" she asked again.
"That….That when I pulled the trigger…..my gun jammed and didn't go off," he told her.
Olivia slammed her foot down on the brake and the motor home skidded to a halt.
"Jesus Christ Liv!" said Elliot as the remains of his coffee spilled over him.
Olivia ignored him and opened the door climbing out, before she doubled over and vomited.
Elliot opened his door and ran around to the other side of the motor home.
"Liv you okay?" he asked her putting his hand on her upper back as she carried on heaving.
"Don't fucking touch me!" she snapped wiping her mouth.
"Liv….." he said removing his hand just as Don and John opened the side door to the home.
"I was right the first time," she said looking up at him. "You are a selfish Prick," she said standing up straight and glaring at him.
"What…..?"
"You didn't give a shit…" she said pushing against his chest. "About who you hurt, who you left, all you ever think about is your fucking self!" she said. Elliot didn't see it coming as she punched him in the face knocking his head to the side.
"Ouch," said John chuckling and getting a dig in the ribs from Cragen to shut him up.
"What the fucking hell was that for!" yelled Elliot grabbing her wrist as she went to punch him again.
"I….. I thought you had….. I thought that….that…."
"That what!"
"That you didn't pull the trigger," she screamed in his face. "That you decided against it, but you didn't," she said pulling her wrist from his grasp. "You….You pulled the trigger…..You pulled the fucking trigger!" she yelled hitting him again. This time he just stood there and didn't try to stop her.
"Liv I…."
"You shouldn't be here," she said pushing his chest. "If that gun had gone off you…. You….."
"But it didn't go off."
"I know you hated me Elliot, but what about your kids. They didn't deserve to lose you like that. You….You should be dead," she said tears rolling down her face as she wrapped her arms around herself. "And it would have been my entire fault. Your kids would have lost their father and it would have been my entire fault," she sobbed.
"No Liv, it wasn't your fault and I should never blamed you," he said stepping towards her. "And I'm so sorry that I put all this on you," he said as he reached for her and pulled her to him. She tried to resist but he was too strong for her and he pulled her against his chest. "I'm so sorry," he told her again as he held her tightly to him as she cried. "I made the choice to leave and not get in touch," he breathed against the side of her head. "That was all me. I just wasn't strong enough anymore and I finally broke. But I should have come to you, I should have come to my partner for help. And you will never know how sorry I am that I didn't do that."
He heard her sniff against his chest before she pushed herself away from him and slowly looked up. "It was hard when you left, not seeing you every day, not talking to you. But I knew you were out there somewhere. But knowing now how close I came to losing you forever," she shook her head. "If that gun had gone off, I … I don't think I could have….. I don't ….."
Elliot reached forward and gently wiped away the tears on her cheek.
"Have you ever thought about doing it again?" she asked as she sniffed.
"Never, I swear to you. That day was the turning point for me. A few days later I took the job with the FEDS."
Olivia looked up at him.
"I was going to call you," he told her. "I was going to get my life together and call you, but I … I let my anger take over. I kept telling myself you hated me which is why you didn't call."
"I don't hate you," she told him.
"I know that," he said giving her a small smile. "And I don't hate you either."
"Yet you still didn't want me to come out here, and you still put all the blame on me as though you did."
"It wasn't that I didn't want your help, I just didn't want to explain everything like this. I wanted to see you and tell you everything once it was all sorted with the FEDS. I wanted to explain it all to you without any distractions. When I saw you I just, I got pissed off and angry, because I wasn't expecting you. I was in pain from the fight and tired. And I shouldn't have taken it all out on you. But I just…..I mean you know how stubborn I am and what my temper is like, I knew I should have stopped but I couldn't."
Olivia narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.
"What?" he asked as she just stared at him.
"You …..Apologising, I have never heard it before," she said giving him a small smile.
"Yeah well, it's the least I could do," he smiled back. "I know I have a lot of making up to do Liv, and a lot of explaining to do, I'm just asking that you give me a chance to do this."
Olivia was about to reply when she looked over Elliot's shoulder and saw the lights of a car coming down the road.
"Get in the home," she said quickly. Elliot turned and looked back up the road seeing the car. Don and John looked to where they were both looking. Elliot ran to the home as John and Don came out, and he climbed in shutting the door.
The other three watched as a police car pulled up its lights finally flashing on.
"Just stick to our cover," said Don and they both nodded as the lonely officer got out the car and began to walk towards them.
"Morning," he smiled as he got closer to them. "Everything okay with you folks?"
"Just a little leg stretch," said Don stepping towards him and smiling. "Get's a bit harder to travel long distance the older you get."
The officer just nodded and looked between the three of them.
"You been driving a long time?"
"Yeah," said Olivia. "We weren't supposed to but I fell asleep and let these two take charge. We were supposed to stay on the main highways, but they decided to take a scenic route. Which would have been, fine if they hadn't lost the signal on the satnav, and then got us lost?"
"Hey," said John looking at her. "I told you to pack an old fashioned map."
"I did," she sighed as though fed up with them. "But you left it at the last Motel we stopped at."
"Yeah well, I didn't think technology would let us down."
The officer continued to look between them.
"So you folks on a trip or something?"
Olivia nodded. "Driving across the country LA to Washington," she said looking towards Don and John. "Living out the lifelong dream of these two," she told him. "However I didn't want them doing such a long journey alone so I took a month off work and tagged along with them. And after tonight's little antics I think that was a good idea."
The officer smiled and then looked towards the home.
"So it's just the three of you?"
"Yeah," said Don. "Just Me, my daughter and my best buddy," he said and the officer just nodded as he walked over towards the home and began looking in the windows. Olivia looked at Don and then back to the officer.
"I'm sorry officer," said John. "But have we done something wrong?"
The officer never spoke as he continued to look into the windows.
"So," he finally said to them. "Is this a rental?" he asked turning back to them.
"Yeah, it is," said Olivia. The officer nodded."Is there a problem?" she asked him as he walked towards the door. He turned towards them.
"There was a shooting late yesterday, on a campsite a few counties over. An eye witness said a motor home with four men and a woman fled the scene as soon as it happened. An alert was put out as the local police want to talk to them to see if they can shed any light on the incident."
The three of them looked at each other.
"And you think it was us?" asked Don.
The officer shrugged.
"I have been ordered to check all motor homes. The speed the motor home left park makes the local Sherriff think they had something to do with it."
Olivia began to laugh.
"Officer I don't mean to be funny but there are only three of us, and we haven't been anywhere near any shooting."
He nodded and looked back to the motor home. "In that case you won't mind me taking a look inside, just to make sure."
Olivia tried to stay calm as she looked over at John and Don and to the home.
"What….you think we are hiding people."
The officer shrugged. "One quick look and you can be on your way."
"I'm sorry but we have done nothing wrong," she said getting annoyed.
"Then you won't mind me looking around," he said resting his hand on the gun on his hip.
"Go ahead," said John from behind them. "The door is open," he told the officer. Olivia and Don turned and glared at him. "Look the sooner he looks around and finds no one there the quicker we get to a rest stop and I get something to eat, and then some sleep," he smiled.
The officer opened the door and climbed into the home, quickly followed by Olivia. He stood in the doorway and looked towards the front and then to the small Kitchen area, and to the back of the home and towards the closed door of the bedroom. He stepped around a fallen over chair as he walked towards the bedroom.
Olivia swallowed hard and tried to remain calm as he slowly opened the door and peered into the room. He stepped in and opened the cupboard as Olivia stood in the doorway and looked into the small room confused to find it empty. She looked back at Don who had followed them in and shook her head letting her know Elliot wasn't there. Don narrowed his eyes and looked towards the bathroom door that was shut just as the officer squeezed past Olivia and stopped by the door. He looked at Olivia and then Don as he pushed it open and looked inside finding it empty.
Olivia let out the breath she was holding as he turned away and headed out the home in silence.
"Sorry for taking up your time," he smirked at them.
"No problem Officer," said John. "You were just doing your job."
The officer nodded and slowly walked back to his car. As he opened the door he turned to face them. "You may be best to stay on the main highway, these small roads can be a little dangerous," he told them. "You never know who you might bump into."
"Thanks for the warning," said Olivia. He tipped his hat to them and got in the car but didn't move as he sat and watched them.
"Let's go," said John heading to the driver's door.
"What about….."
"Just get in," he told her. "He isn't going anywhere until we drive away. I don't think he was convinced with our little show just now."
They all climbed in and John started up the engine. He stuck his hand out the window and waved to the officer behind them as he pulled away from him, slowly picking up speed.
"John we can't just leave Elliot," said Olivia.
"We aren't," he told her. "We just need to put a little distance between us and him."
"I understand that, but where the hell did Elliot go?" she asked him.
"Playing Spiderman," he smirked as he looked back and saw an empty road behind them. "This should be far enough," he said stopping.
"What the hell does that mean?" she asked just as there was a noise behind them. They all spun around.
"That's what I mean," he grinned as Elliot's legs came through the small sky light in the roof and he dropped down.
"Jesus Christ, did you have to drive so fast. There wasn't much to hold onto," he grinned as John quickly put the motor home into gear and started driving again.
Cragen shook his head and slumped back into the seat.
"You need to stay completely out of sight from now on," he told Elliot. "No more driving, no showing your face in public. Obviously this gang have a lot people on the payroll."
"There will be other gangs looking for me as well. Word will have got out and they will try and get to me first. Use me as ransom, to get money, drugs or guns from the Grim Angels," he looked around them worried, his eyes stopping on Olivia. "And these other gangs won't think twice about killing you guys," he told them. "Or worse," he said his eyes locking with Olivia's. "Trust me I have seen it."
Thanks for the great reviews on this story please keep them going.
