A/N – Hey guys…sorry about the delay. I've been working on one of my short stories while I was doing this.

So keep reading…

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Chapter Nine - There Is No Light Here

She knew that her being there made Peter anxious. And Olivia had to admit, despite the gun and the overly protective husband that she had by her side, the idea of sitting in a room with a man that was a convicted sex offender made her nervous. But Quinton Miller had reported A.J missing and they needed to talk to him. She could see why the victims and their families were up and arms about his release. He had hired a lawyer and had taken the state to the cleaners for wrongful imprisonment. He had himself a nice apartment in a nice area. And despite Peter's concerns, he seemed to be behaving himself. He hadn't stepped a toe out of line since he was released from prison. They introduced themselves and Quinton had ushered them in, offering them tea and coffee. When they sat down, Quinton's eyes lingered on Olivia but she ignored the chill that it sent down her spine.

"When was A.J supposed to meant to see you again?"

"Yesterday at 4:30. She's never been late and I got concerned."

Peter frowned.

"Why was she meeting you?"

Quinton smiled.

"Because we are friends."

Quinton studied Peter for a moment.

"You don't think I deserve friends?"

Peter shrugged.

"Considering what you did? No I don't."

"I made some mistakes. Everybody does. I doubt, Mr Bishop, that you are flawless."

"No but I don't rape women on my days off."

Olivia winced at Peter's words. True but not really what they needed. Quinton shrugged.

"You don't know me. And that's fine. Your thoughts and considerations don't concern me."

Peter shook his head.

"Your relationship with A.J makes no sense."

Quinton sighed.

"It does for us."

"Why was she visiting you? The truth this time."

Quinton considered Peter's demand, his eyes still shifting to Olivia, even though she had been keeping quiet.

"She wanted to do another book on me."

"What about?"

"My crimes. It's what she does."

"And that's why she was coming to see you?"

Quinton nodded, not trying to hide the fact that he wasn't paying attention to Peter anymore. Olivia watched as Quinton's gaze started on her practical boots and worked its way up her legs, lingering for a moment on her chest before reaching her face. And that was it for Olivia. She had reached her creep limit. She put a surprised expression on her face, tapping her pockets for her phone and gave Peter an apologetic smile.

"I should take this."

She moved as quickly as she could out of the room and outside, the cool air making her feel slightly cleaner. She moved out of the view of the front windows so that Quinton couldn't see her and took some deep breaths. When her phone actually rang, it took her by surprise.

"Dunham."

"Hey Olivia it's Astrid. I got the records back."

"And?"

"It's not pretty. A.J had over a hundred hospital admissions in a little over four years."

"What for?"

"Things like broken ribs, nose, infections in split lips, fractured eye socket…the list is quite long."

Olivia felt sick. The list of injuries sounded too familiar to her. It was the injury list her mother had.

"Peter was right."

"About what?"

"About Mike abusing A.J. Bastard. Peter's just finishing off with Quinton now. We'll be back soon."

"Ok. You'll get to see these things for yourself."

"How exciting."

She heard Astrid chuckle before she hung up, slipping the phone back in her pocket. Ten minutes later, Peter came ambling out of Quinton's home, his hands in his pockets.

"You ok?"

Olivia nodded.

"Fine. He just made my skin crawl. Sorry I bailed like that."

Peter shrugged, offering her a crooked grin.

"Apparently, I'm not the only one who finds you distracting."

Olivia refused to feel guilt about the fact that she hadn't thought much about Etta while they had been out in the field. As far as she was concerned, beautiful things like Etta belonged away from that kind of mess. But on the way back to the lab, she let thoughts of her daughter flood her mind, bathing away the horror and concern for A.J. She wanted to see her daughter, to press her lips against her soft skin and inhale that intoxicating scent that only came with babies. When they arrived at the lab, Olivia made a quick movement to Peter to be quiet and they snuck in. Astrid was sitting, going over the files. And Walter had Etta in a chair, holding up flash cards for her, repeating words to her.

"Etta, this is a dog. Can you say dog?"

Etta simply giggled and mumbled. Clearly, she thought this whole thing was hilarious. Walter, not one to ever resist Etta's giggles, simply smiled and repeated himself with the same result. He went over dog, cat, cow, pointing to Gene to make his point but Etta didn't follow. When Walter sighed and lowered his cards, Etta frowned, clearly concerned that he wasn't having as much fun in this game as she was.

"Pop. Hi!"

Walter grinned and scooped Etta up in his arms, blowing a gentle raspberry into her neck.

"Hi, precious little Etta."

He was always so gentle and careful with her. They all were but something about the way that Walter hugged her and kissed her made Olivia smile. She was just as precious to him as she was the Peter and Olivia . He was a great Pop and she had no doubt that over the years, the word 'no' would not exist when it came to Etta getting what she wanted.

"Hi!"

Peter made a show out of popping around the corner, causing Etta to squeal and try to wriggle out of Walter's embrace. After a quick glance to make sure her path was clear, Walter lowered her to the ground. Etta started crawling before she had even hit the ground, sending herself off like a little rocket to Peter's waiting arms.

"Hi! Dada!"

Peter grinned over Etta's head as she pressed her face into his neck, trying to give him a raspberry.

"I've been promoted apparently. Hey Etta, have you been good?"

Etta ignored his question now reaching for Olivia. Peter handed her off and Olivia inhaled the sweet scent of Etta as her little girl started tugging at her hair, talking in baby babble.

"Hi princess."

"Hi! Mama!"

Olivia grinned.

"Looks like I got a promotion as well. When did she start that?"

Walter smiled.

"We have been working on it since the park. She called Astrid 'Dada' and Gene 'Mama'."

Olivia chuckled, sliding Etta onto her hip, making her way over to Astrid.

"Hey Astrid. How's it going?"

"Slowly. There's plenty of information here. But no police reports, which confuses me."

Olivia frowned.

"What? She never reported him?"

"Nope. They were married for almost five years and then she filed for a divorce eighteen months ago."

"Sounds like it happened too late."

Astrid frowned as she pulled another piece of paper.

"There's something else."

"What?"

Astrid swallowed.

"She was admitted just before filing for divorce. It appeared he reached a point in the abuse of no return."

"How so?"

Astrid handed Olivia the paper, which Olivia ran over quickly, keeping it out of reach of Etta. According to the hospital, A.J had been admitted with not only severe vaginal tearing but also bleeding. She had been pregnant and Mike, the man who was supposed to love and protect her, beat and raped her. And again, A.J didn't file charges. She filed for divorce instead.

"Jesus. And here I was talking her ear off about Etta. Poor A.J."

Etta smiled when Olivia said her name, gumming her fist.

"Do you think he did it? Do you think he killed her?"

Olivia sighed.

"I would like to think so but he seemed surprised that she was missing."

"That's a shame Sounds like he would have been a good one to pull in. So what now?"

Olivia's mind flicked to the evidence that they had in the truck.

"We found some things at her home. I'll go over it tonight and hopefully find something."

"Why would someone put up with that kind of abuse?"

Olivia shrugged, thinking of her mother and all that she had tolerated before Olivia, tiny nine-year old Olivia, took control of the situation herself.

"I don't know Astrid. I really don't know."