Well, here's the new chapter. Don't break your hearts on it. OLIVIA'S BACK! And kidney donation love.
Happy reading my happy bunny kitty ponies!
…
"So if Jonathan raped the women and the rest of your family tried to kill everyone else, who killed Jonathan?"
"I don't know." Katrina sniffed, looking up and finally meeting Olivia's eyes. She had to feel some pity for her- there was something about Katrina right now that reminded Olivia of all the young girls she'd pulled off of the street for prostitution, a look of desperation and shame, as though at this moment all of the reasons they'd used before were suddenly becoming horribly illogical. "Look, I know what he did was horrible. But he couldn't help it. Jonathan would never know anything he did was wrong. So there was no reason to kill him. In his mind, he was innocent."
"I find it very hard to believe that someone can brutally rape and kill three women and see nothing wrong with it, no matter how insane they are." She'd seen a lot of screwed up perps, but they all knew they were causing pain. What made them messed up was that they liked it. "He wasn't hallucinating, so he was very aware of his actions."
"Talk to his psychiatrist. Doctor Graine told us over and over again that he had this weird morality complex. We just didn't think it would lead to this."
Olivia sighed, taking a seat across from Katrina. She didn't know why this was exhausting her so much- on any other day she'd be pumped right now, so close to finally closing a case she'd been digging at for weeks. But right now it was almost painful to sit here and go through this, feeling everything about the job horribly dreary when she looked into Katrina's eyes and saw the gruesome reality she'd come to inhabit. At one time, Olivia had honestly hated Katrina and her family, denouncing her for her money and her self-importance. Yet she was just another lonely victim now, led into a corner where she had to give everything up, until she was just as thin and fragile as every other woman in her situation.
"Katrina, why are you telling us all of this now? This would have helped us clear your brother ages ago. Anything involving mental health could have stopped him from a serious sentence. He might even be alive-"
"Well, I don't have a choice, do I?" Katrina cut in, frowning. "We could have taken care of this on our own, without any police involvement. But Ripley had to…he had to just say everything back there." A small fire simmered in her eyes. "That bastard."
"You should be glad Ripley's talking. The rape charges are off and you're not looking at any scheming with a sexual assault. Now it's just…murder." She coughed hesitantly, realizing it wasn't much better.
Katrina sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm screwed either way, right? Story of my life, I guess." She stared at her palms, now facing the ceiling when she flattened them on the table. "You know why my father abandoned me before? He found out I'd gotten an abortion. That was all. He was furious. Anytime I do anything out of line with his demands, he flips. Well, tell me dropping out of college to raise my ex-boyfriend's kid was going to be better than just having the procedure and forgetting it happened. He was keeping close tabs on me though, and he found out, and called me the night before it was going to happen. He didn't say I was supposed to keep it and raise it, but he told me specifically not to have the abortion tomorrow. I hung up and got it done the next day. He didn't give me permission, so I was over. I received a formal letter describing my loss of inheritance and disownment from the family three days later." Katrina curled her fingers into fists, folding them quietly in her lap. "I've been spending the rest of my life trying to get back in his favor, and now I'm going to jail. It's over…again."
In a way, Olivia was getting very sick of hearing the same woe-is-me storyline from Katrina, but her words had rung a chord in Olivia's mind. If the Bates patriarch kept that kind of close watch over his disfavored daughter, what kind of security did he have on his insane son? If he gave Jonathan even a fraction of the attention he gave to Katrina's actions, then he would have an exact idea of what his son was up to…and who finally killed him.
"Will you excuse me?" She stood up, quickly going for the door where she knew Cragen was watching.
"Problem?" He raised an eyebrow, giving her a disillusioned frown as she closed the door behind her.
"Did you hear that?" She pointed to the window where Katrina now sat, looking forlorn. "What she just said?"
"Most of it. I just came from where Elliot's interviewing the rest of the clan."
"But the part about how closely her father was watching her? She was away at college, trying extremely hard to hide the fact she was terminating her pregnancy, and he still knew exactly what was going on and when she was going to do it the night before it even happened. That meant he was having her followed and possibly bugged. If he did that for her, what do you think he did for Jonathan?"
Cragen nodded. "Keeping tabs on your insane rapist son seems a lot more important to a guy with a reputation at stake than keeping an eye on the rebellious daughter."
"Exactly. So if there's anyone we need to talk to about closing this case, it's him."
"Well, I'd suggest asking him right now, since he's in with Elliot right now."
"What?" She blinked, frowning. "When did he show up?"
"About the same time everyone else remotely related to Jonathan came through the door. Along with a generous posse of lawyers that Casey is having a dandy time dealing with right now. Apparently she went to school with two of them, had an unsuccessful relationship with another one, and can't find a single one that wants to cooperate on the case."
Olivia shrugs, stepping away. "Well, I guess that means I'll be addressing him with a few matters of law of my own."
…
Elliot seriously needs to relax. Or he is going to shove this man's head through a wall.
And it wouldn't be the first time a bastard like this had gotten under his skin and procured similar results.
"One more time, Mr. Bates. Do you know who killed your son, or have any idea who could possibly be capable of this act?"
"Honor above all. That is what we must depend on."
Elliot groans, rubbing his temples in order to prevent his hands from forming fists and making their furious way across the table to meet with flesh.
"You know, Mr. Bates, you are making your case worse by not answering the questions. You're starting to look guiltier and guiltier with every senseless expression you use."
"That is because I am aware of the law, Detective Stabler, and I am also aware that I don't need to be here. You never told me why I was being brought in for questioning, and therefore we cannot start the interview until I am informed. I arrived here to return my daughter and her fiancée to their homes, but was escorted here without explanation."
Shit. A smart bastard. These were the worst.
"Alright, you want to know? We have evidence that you kept close surveillance on your children, and if so, thought you would have information that could help us pinpoint the suspect that killed your son."
"I don't know where you received that evidence, but I assure you it is incorrect or has been misread."
"Your daughter said you knew about her abortion before she had told anyone else. She was also over a thousand miles from home at the time, making it nearly impossible for you to find out in any other method. Unless you have a psychic connection, in which case you might as well leave now, since I can't convict you for ESP."
"Katrina is an unreliable source no matter what you're talking about. I knew about the abortion because she'd let slip to her brother, who immediately informed me like the good boy he was."
"And yet she says she told no one."
"I assure you Jonathan knew."
"Well, it's too bad there's no way of contacting him to confirm that, isn't it?"
"Terrible." An explicitly horrible grin spread across the man's features, and the steel grey hair that had originally made him look dignified was suddenly giving him the look of a messenger of death. "But that is another one of his greatest assets. Jonathan serves me even in the afterlife."
"And you have no idea how he got to the afterlife, right?"
"Not a one." There is a short pause, and then the cold smile disappears. "I'm sorry I can't be very helpful, but if I knew I would certainly tell you. Losing Jonathan was a terrible burden on the Bates family."
Financially, of course. Elliot rolls his eyes, unable to take this man much longer without losing grip on his anger.
"I'll be right back." He says, sorry he has to finally give in and take a breather. But when he opens the door, he almost smiles to see her standing there, biting the edge of her thumb while she watches through the window.
"You're not going to say 'I told you so', are you?" He asks, his arms folding across his chest.
"When I tell you I want to ask him myself, I don't' mean I'm going to tell you the question and watch you badger him." She smiles anyway though, shrugging in forgiveness. "I am so sure that he knows everything, but I'm not so sure how to get it out of him. We haven't got anything on him, so we can't use a pressure tactic. And I think he could care less if we shoved one of his children off the Brooklyn Bridge, so I don't think there's any chance of using them as a threat. We really need a plan before we go in there again."
"I'll talk to Munch and see if he can dig up something on him. At any rate, I need to take a break from this guy before I break his neck."
"Always a smart decision." She smiles again, and he's glad she's here all of a sudden. It feels right, being together, tying the ends up on the case that started the relationship, knowing they weren't ending anything those nights had begun. Her smile is different today anyhow, full of her life force; it's more open, but somehow more exhausted, as though she grins out of sheer vulnerability.
"I'll be back." He squeezes her arm gently, and then steps past her, her body brushing slowly against his before parting. Everything about it is utterly meaningful, and he turns for one last moment to meet her eyes, seeing something sincere in them. All of her life's truths are in them today, and he drinks her with a glance, tasting all the sweat and honesty of their relationship like the sort of memories you have right before you sleep. Your dreams descend and you remember some lonesome truth that you know you'll never see in your mind's eye again, and then all fades to a figment of your fantastical reality.
Munch is not at his desk, but the phone on his own desk has begun to ring. Glancing across the squad room and seeing no one of more urgent need, he answers it, immediately regretting the decision the moment the voice responds to his greeting.
"Elliot? I'm sorry to call you at work…it's just…"
Jesus, Kathy. Not you. Not now.
"What?" His reply is short and unfeeling. He lacks the sympathy and the patience to hold back a snap.
"I really need to talk with you. Tonight."
"I have plans." He glances over his shoulder, looking for the partner in his now-settled sexual schedule.
"It won't take long. I just…we really have to talk about this."
"By 'this', I assume you mean the divorce."
She takes a long time to answer. "Yes."
"Look Kathy, now is not a good time. Do you think it can wait?"
"No, Elliot. It really can't."
"Okay. And where do you plan on talking about it?"
"You could come over here. Or I could come over there."
"My place is not…not good."
"Fine then. My apartment."
"How about we meet somewhere else? That restaurant the street over from your place…um…"
"Sulieman's."
"Yeah, that."
"Okay, let's do that. Is seven alright?"
"It's fine." He bites his lip. "I have to go."
"Right…" There is a long pause, as though she is hanging on to him a little longer, as though her fingers are still in his like that long walk on the beach where they decided to consecrate their marriage. He remembers the sun and the sand beneath his feet and happiness washes him with a gentle wave, but…
"Elliot." Olivia is standing over him, smiling apologetically when she realizes he is on the phone. "Sorry," She mouths, and leans against the cabinet behind her.
"Okay," He speaks into the receiver again, frown returning. "Goodbye then."
"Bye." She says quickly, and it is a race to hang up first, but he thinks he must have won.
Olivia strides toward him, long legs and perfect hips and all of her smelling like sunset. "Everything alright? You look like someone just arranged your funeral."
Maybe they did. "Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugs it off though, because here she and here he is and they are everything when they're this close.
"Find anything yet?"
He rolls his eyes playfully, leaning forward to miss her swiping hand. "You didn't even give me two minutes, Liv."
"Well, you've always had fast hands."
He takes it as a bit of innuendo, and returns it obediently. "You shouldn't talk. Your tongue is a bit on the fast side, too."
"And here I thought it moved at a perfectly fine rate." She sits down across from him, stretching herself out along the lines of the desk until she's staring at him with her eyebrow raised, perfect harmonic architecture from end to end. "At least you never seemed to protest before."
He grins, although he is looking at the computer screen. "It's hard to speak up when you're easily distracted."
She laughs quietly, trying to hide her amusement. "You think it's hard to speak up? Try giving compliments when your mouth is full."
"Could you two please discuss this some other time?" Munch has suddenly appeared, eyebrows raised above the rim of his glasses. "Jesus, I hate it when people start bragging about how well they give head."
"Make you self-conscious, John?" Fin quips from across the room, his back to them until he pulls out a file. "Hey El, I got something for you."
"As long as it's not an arrogant rich bastard's calling card, then goodie."
"It might be his calling card to jail though."
Elliot raises an eyebrow, beckoning for the folder. "That sounds a little better."
"Looks like Bates didn't clean up his act as well as he thought. Police have still got records on a charge from a former employee that Bates fired her on unreasonable and unlawful terms."
"Any specifics?"
"Nope, but we've got her name and address, so you might want to hit that next. Maybe Bates isn't as straight-laced as we thought."
"You mean someone actually thought that at one time?" Elliot laughs, and turns to his partner. "Sound like a plan?"
She grins. "You're driving."
…