BACKGROUND CHAPTER 3

sorry for the lack of updates, this was spose to be my spring break but I was in TN from Sun-Tues which of course was fun but since hten I've been working, grr lol...I worked Wednesday/Friday/Sunday ALL DAY. This is my dad, I have no choice :

Elliot began following the boys. Keagan and Kevin were both walking very quickly. Elliot made sure to watch them carefully, following them but not wanting to be obvious.

Every once in awhile, Keagan would swivel around to make sure Kevin was keeping up, and every once in awhile Kevin would look around, so Elliot got a good look at them. Keagan looked a lot like Kayla, minus the extra weight. Actually, both him and Kevin were very lanky. But Keagan's hair was dark brown as Kayla's were, and with his face constantly looking as if he was nervous, he face looked like her's as well. And while Kevin wore the same anxious expression, his hair was a much lighter brown, almost blonde, and his face looked much younger than Keagan's, despite only a 2-year difference.

Elliot followed them for another block or two, a little angry that parents would let two young kids wonder around aimlessly. Then again, from what he knew of these parents and the fact that they had indirectly caused the deaths of two young girls, he didn't have high expectations.

By the time they got to their apparent destination, they were out of the main city. Elliot hadn't realized how close Johnson Academy and the neighborhood was to being where he lived, but these two boys were walking on a street only a few over from his home.

They finally started up the driveway to their home. It was a nice house, a two-story. Elliot couldn't see inside at all. He watched as the two boys went inside, hesitant, and Keagan gave Kevin a little talking, which Elliot could only hear bits and pieces "...Mom...Bad mood...Don't act up...Leave dad alone...I know you miss Kayla...Shut up...She's dead, Kevin.."

Elliot watched as they went inside. Could they already know about Kayla? Or could they be talking about the sister killed in the car wreck, Kacey?

He waited about five minutes before approaching the house, knowing that Cragen and Olivia were going to be furious with him, but wanting to get to the bottom of how a parent could simply kick out their fifteen-year-old child.

He knocked on the door a couple of times. WHen it opened, he saw that it was Keagan. "Yes, sir?" He asked.

"Hi, I'm Detective Stabler. WHat's your name, buddy?"

"Keagan."

"Well, Keagan, are your parents home?"

"Yeah, just a second," he said, walking off to find his parents. A few moments later, a woman dressed as if ready to leave to a party appeared. "Yes, Detective Stapler?" She asked in a drawling voice.

"Um...Stabler, ma'am. I have some bad news, I was wondering if I could maybe come in and talk to you and your husband?"

"Oh, sure," she said, not showing any worry over 'I have some bad news'. She led him the way to a living room, motioning for him to sit down on the love seat.

He saw a young boy, maybe preschooler's age, playing with a couple of toys next to where the lady had taken a seat.

"First off, I didn't catch your name...?" Stabler asked.

"Oh, I'm Molly. Mike! Mike, come in here, there's an officer," she called.

While they waited for her husband, Stabler looked around. There were dozens of pictures, perfectly aligned in matching or themed sets. Mostly there were pictures without Kayla, but in a couple there she was, mostly in the background. He saw a picture of all five of the kids, they all looked much younger, but it couldn't have been that long ago. He guessed the stress of losing siblings did that to you.

"Mike, this is Detective Stabler," Molly introduced them.

"Hi. What department you from?"

"Special victims unit."

"Oh. Well, what'd you have to tell us?" He asked.

Stabler reached over and picked a picture off the coffee table, of all five of the kids. "Beautiful family you have," he started.

"Yeah, but that's not what you came here for, with all due respect, Detective Stabler," Mike said through gritted teeth, almost as if he was expected something bad.

"Please, call me Elliot. These are your daughters, Kayla and -"

"Yes, those are them, I'm going to repeat myself one more time Elliot, what did you have to tell us?" Mike demanded angrily.

"Okay. I'm very very sorry to have to tell you this...But your daughter Kayla...Two students found her dead on the school's campus yesterday."

He could see both the parents' bodies stiffen, both neither showed any emotion besides Mike, who's eyes seem to glaze over before he snapped out of it. Before anyone could say anything, they heard Keagan begin to scream. "What! Kayla can be dead! What the hell, get out, you're lying! I hate you! And you two! Now you've killed both of them!" He wouldn't stop. Mike neared him and grabbed him, wrapping his mouth over Keagan's mouth.

"Look would you just get out?" He pleaded with Elliot.

"They kicked her out-" Keagan started ranting again before his father had managed to pull him into a nearby room.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, ma'am. Of course, we're going to have to talk to you and the oldest two boys...Here's the address to the medical examiner's...we're going to need you to formally ID the body."

"Oh sure...Um, we'll be there tomorrow morning, nine o'clock sharp," Molly said, the same smile still transfixed on her face. She led Elliot to the door.

She looked as if she was going to say something, but instead she shut the door as soon as Elliot had stepped out.

Elliot knew that there was something just not right about the family, especially the parents being so quick to shut their son up rather than console him. And neither appeared to be grief stricken that they had lost their second child in a year.

He began to walk home, since it was only a few streets away, when his cell phone rang. Looking at the Caller ID, he saw that it was Cragen. "Shit," he mumbled, "Stabler."

"Elliot, get your ass down here right now!"