Two.
Olivia arrived and found Carisi and Rollins poring over surveillance footage, stopping, reversing, and replaying in slow motion a five second clip of what appeared to be two young men.
"Lieutenant, we think this is them," Carisi reported. "The picture isn't great, but it looks like they both have duffle bags. Two black males. Heading toward the park at 133rd."
Olivia squinted at the screen. "Anyone following?"
"Not that we can tell," Rollins answered.
"Have we heard from the oceanographer?"
Carisi shook his head, "Not yet."
"Ok, so we have to wait on that," Benson sounded impatient, but she was wondering why she was called in for this, "let's get that tape to TARU so they can enhance it. What time was that?"
"About eight-thirty. The coach said practice ended at seven, so we have about ninety minutes unaccounted for," Carisi said.
"We dumped both boys' phones," Rollins added, "nothing other than teenage stuff. No calls, just texts, and nothing after nine that night except for people trying to reach them."
"Which people?"
Carisi ticked off a list which included parents, grandparents, other relatives, several friends, the lacrosse coach, and, "another person we couldn't really connect with the boys. Benjamin Cartwright?"
Olivia snapped her head up, "Cartwright? I know about him. His name came up when Fin and I talked to the team earlier today."
Rollins scrolled through her notes, "Yeah," she said slowly, "we talked to him and another cop, Dunmore, right after the boys went missing. They were the ones who called it in actually."
"Why them?" Carisi asked.
"They're PEP volunteers, both played lacrosse in high school."
"Are they partners?"
"No, but they grew up together in Jersey. Cartwright is out of the two-eight, and Dunmore is in narcotics."
Olivia shuddered. This was terrible timing. Absolutely no one—the public, politicians, judges, police officers—had recovered from the sex trafficking scandal and now it looked like SVU was going to at least have to investigate the possibility of dirty cops, without the official assistance of Tucker.
"I'll call IAB."
At Olivia's mention of IAB, Rollins and Carisi shot one another an awkward glance and Olivia noticed.
"Guys," she began, "this cannot get weird among us. I know…I know I didn't help matters by keeping things secret and it came out at the worst possible time, but we need to move past it."
"We get it, Lieutenant," Carisi said kindly, "you, Tucker, you did such a good job of being professional about it on the job, none of us had any clue. It was just a surprise."
Rollins, who, like Olivia, had been arrested by Tucker, still harbored resentment toward him because of it, but she knew she was on thin ice with Benson and her boss's love life wasn't her business anyway. Still, it would take time for her to stop seeing Tucker as the enemy. "He's right," Rollins was content to let Carisi speak for the both of them. "Just out of curiosity, why isn't Tucker back at IAB yet?"
Benson shrugged, "I was temporarily reassigned because of my alleged bias toward him. He was accused of serious crimes. The process just takes longer, they're still piecing 1PP back together, and his official reinstatement doesn't seem to be a priority."
"Maybe waiting until a new chief is named?" Carisi suggested.
"Maybe." Olivia redirected the conversation to the matter at hand, "Anyway, I'll call Sergeant Draper before we move forward with Cartwright and Dunmore, but you two go out to the neighborhood. It's almost ten-thirty. Maybe someone remembers seeing the boys that night."
Before Olivia called Cole Draper, she sent a text to Ed. Please eat dinner, I could be a while.
….
"PEP. Police empowering people. And they're partnering up there in Harlem with Hudson University lacrosse?"
Ed sat across from Olivia in a small booth at a small neighborhood diner. Noah sat next to Olivia in a booster seat and entertained himself with crayons. He occasionally picked at his pancakes. Saturday morning breakfast had become part of their routine.
Olivia took a bite of her eggs and nodded. "Yes, you remember, 1PP created PEP in order to smooth over community relations during the stop-and-frisk protests."
"Yes, ok," Ed recalled, "but lacrosse? In Harlem?"
"That's the brainchild of Hudson Teachers College. It started as a thesis project. And lasted," Olivia reported brightly, "they were featured in a Sports Illustrated article last year."
"You read Sports Illustrated?" Tucker looked at her quizzically.
"No," Olivia said through a giggle, "Carisi knew about it."
Ed smiled at her adoringly. He loved seeing her smile. "Come here," he leaned over the table as far as he could, and repeated himself, "come here." Olivia stretched her torso forward, the hard lacquered edge of the table cutting into her ribcage. Ed kissed her quickly.
Olivia beamed at him. She was not normally a PDA fan, but with Ed it felt so natural and right, and he was so cute just then she couldn't resist.
"So," Olivia switched back to serious, "I'm meeting with Draper Monday." She hated bringing this up, but Ed had to know.
Ed pressed his lips together and nodded, "Yeah, probably a good idea to get IAB in the loop sooner rather than later."
Olivia massaged her forehead, "I cannot believe this is happening."
Ed forced a laugh, "I know. I wish I could help. Hopefully soon."
"Carisi had a good point last night," Olivia said, trying to sound reassuring, "That maybe they're waiting for a new chief to be sworn in before they close the investigation."
"Carisi? You talked to him about me?" Ed inquired, sounding uptight.
"No," Olivia reached out and wrapped her fingers across his forearm. He was tense. "When the names of those two cops came up, I said I would get in touch with IAB…and Rollins and Carisi, the look they gave one another, I had to clear things up with them. And I'll have to do it again with Fin and with Barba. And with Dodds…if he lasts."
"What did you say?"
"I told them we needed to move on. Carisi, he told me they were just surprised that we were so, um, so normal around one another at the precinct. Then Rollins asked about you."
"How did they expect us to act?" Ed asked incredulously, "Did they think you'd be sitting on my lap in the squad room?" Envisioning this, they both started laughing. Mimicking them, Noah started cracking up, too.
"Is that funny, Noah?" Olivia cooed at him, pulling him close and kissing him on the top of his head. She turned her attention back to Ed, "Maybe I need to just take everyone out for drinks and set the record straight. We're getting back to normal, nothing has changed, maybe we should have disclosed earlier, maybe I screwed up by not being prepared to answer questions about us, but what's done is done." Olivia lightly slapped the table with both hands.
"It might be tough for a while, take some getting used to," Tucker pointed out. He felt bad for Olivia, but he was glad the only person he had to deal with was Sergeant Draper, and Cole would probably just give him a congratulatory pat on the back.
"I just can't have them thinking every time you're involved with a case that it's somehow compromised."
"They won't," Ed assured her, "let your work, and mine, speak for itself."
"We're good police," Olivia boasted.
"Yes we are." Tucker drank more coffee and pushed what we left of his breakfast to the side of the plate. "So, what are you doing today?"
"Actually," Olivia replied, trying to sound mysterious, "You and I are doing something."
"Really…" Ed tried to not sound too excited.
"Lucy is coming to pick up Noah, then you and I are, well, I thought we could hang out at your place this afternoon," she cocked an eyebrow flirtatiously.
"Ahhhh, ok," Ed drawled, "it's supposed to rain today anyway, so it's not like there's anything to do outside."
"My thoughts exactly."
….
Olivia followed Ed into his apartment and as soon as she closed and locked the door Tucker pressed her up against it, kissing her intensely, probing her mouth with his tongue. Olivia dropped her bag and wriggled out of her coat, letting it fall to the floor in a heap. Tucker still held his keys in one hand. He tossed them towards the kitchen island where they landed and skidded the length of the granite countertop before they, too, fell to the floor.
"This was such a good idea," Ed gasped, his mouth still on hers.
Olivia, who, in addition to kissing back, had peeled off Ed's jacket and was now unbuttoning his powder blue oxford, managed a breathless, "absolutely." She slid her hands under Tucker's white t-shirt, pressing her fingers into his muscles, turned on by the feel of his chiseled physique.
He stopped kissing her long enough to pull her sweater over her head. That, too, joined the collection of items littering the parquet floor. A garment trail-jeans, belts, panties, boxer briefs, shoes, socks, her bra—led from the door to the bedroom where the entangled pair fell on Ed's plush mattress giggling like young lovers on their honeymoon.
Ed tried to mix up his lovemaking routine, but there was one part he never failed to repeat and that was to pause a few seconds to admire Olivia's gorgeousness. He knew this probably annoyed her and made her impatient, but he didn't care. Now that he was actually with her, he didn't necessarily have to savor the view of her body, naked, lying seductively in front of him, but, again, he didn't care. For the rest of his life, he would remain awestruck whenever he saw her and especially when he made love to her.
He went back to work with his mouth, kissing and gently nipping at her neck, feeling her back arch with pleasure. He slowly and delicately moved down her body, teasing her a bit.
"Ed," she moaned as he made his way back up and resumed kissing her on the mouth.
In one motion, she flipped herself over, on top of him, taking control. She playfully pinned his arms over his head and smiled slyly at him, her brunette locks hanging down, brushing his face, and then lightly bit his ear, knowing how much that drove him crazy.
They jostled like this for a while, battling to be on top, kissing, touching, and exploring everywhere, lingering in spots they knew were especially erogenous. Finally, Tucker could no longer wait.
His intense, middle-of-sex, blue-eyed stare made her shudder with erotic delight. Tucker thrust more rapidly, roughly, wanting to hear her cry out for him in delight and satisfaction.
She did.
So motivating.
When he exploded inside of her Ed had what was very close to an out-of-body, hallucinatory experience. He was numb, dizzy, and delirious with happiness and indescribable emotion. "Oh, my God. Olivia. I love you," he managed to blurt out as he fell on her, sapped of energy, his voice thick, deep, and raspy, more so than usual. He peppered her face with a few more kisses before nestling his head under her chin. She ran her fingers across his back, still breathing hard, content, and the tiniest bit bothered that it had taken so long for her to find the absolutely perfect lover. She would forever be amazed that Ed Tucker could make her feel this way. It was a plot twist not even the savviest observer could have predicted. But it happened, and she was so happy.
"You're amazing," she said sweetly.
"You are," he volleyed back at her.
If it weren't for the blissful post-coital silence as they lay wrapped in one another's arms, the vibrating phone would have gone unanswered.
"Someone's phone."
"Mine is in my bag," Olivia said, "It's probably yours."
Ed left the bed and rummaged through the discarded clothing. He found the phone in his jeans pocket. He stared, stunned, at the message on the screen and wandered back to the bedroom.
His obvious shock startled Olivia. "Ed? What's wrong?"
He shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing. It's from Cole. They want me back at work tomorrow." He rolled back in bed and snuggled up next to her. She kissed his forehead.
"It's over," he declared, relieved. "It's finally over."
"Don't forget to bring a suit with you when we leave here later," Benson reminded him thoughtfully, also feeling as if an enormous weight had been lifted.
"I'm staying over tonight?" Ed asked out of courtesy. He was not disappointed.
"Well, yes," she teased, "I wouldn't want you to oversleep on your first day back. And I hear it's going to be a busy one, with that SVU Lieutenant coming in and all."
"Oh, yeah," Ed played along, "That cute brunette. I love her."
She kissed his head again and then again for good measure. "And she loves you."