Author's Note- This story is a slow, work in process. All feedback is appreciated!
Disclaimer- I don't own anything, it's all NBC. Any likeness to any real life persons is unintentional.
ANTHONY'S PIZZA AND PASTA
65th AND MADISON
4:30 PM
Olivia and Eliot walked into the small, empty pizza parlor. The walls were covered in sports memorabilia. There were a few small chairs and booths that filled the narrow dining room. A counter and a pizza oven were at the very back.
"Hey guys, how are you doing today?" a smiling girl with auburn hair asked from behind a cash register, underneath an 'Order Here' sign. The two detectives walked towards her. "What could I get started for you?"
"We're actually all set. We're looking for Steven Hickey and Shelby Siex," Olivia responded. The girl hesitated.
"Um… Shelby's not working today. Hickey's out on a delivery, he should be back pretty soon," she looked down at her feet, then nervously at a wall. Just then a middle-aged man with graying hair and bright blue eyes walked out from the kitchen.
"Hey folks, are you all set?" He asked.
"They're looking for Hickey and Shelby, Joe." The girl told the man. He looked at her, then back at Olivia and Eliot.
"My name is Joe Pedatto, I'm the owner. Could I ask why?" He raised an eyebrow. Eliot and Olivia pulled out their badges.
"I'm Detective Elliot Stabler and this is my partner Detective Olivia Benson, from NYPD. We need to ask Shelby and Steven some questions."
The man shook his head. "Those two are always in trouble. Anything to help officers. If you don't mind my asking, what did they get into this time?"
"Right now they were the last people seen with Frank Hersetter before he was murdered."
"Wait… Frank is dead?" Joe exclaimed. "Dear lord… was he the one found in Central Park?" Olivia nodded. Joe shook his head. "I can't say I didn't see it coming, but still…"
"Would we be able to ask you some questions about Frank until Steven and Shelby come back?" Elliot asked the man. He nodded.
"Of course. Like I said, anything to help. I didn't like the kid but no one deserves what he got. Kirsten, could you grab us some drinks?" He asked the girl who was wiping down tables. She nodded.
"Wait… Kirsten. You're a friend of Frank's right?" Olivia asked. The girl shrugged. We knew each other. Nothing important. I-I have to finish cleaning," She muttered, grabbing a stack of trays and disappearing back into the kitchen. Olivia and Elliot exchanged glances then looked back at Joe.
"All the kids that work here hang out." Joe shrugged.
"Liv can you go talk to Kirsten?" Elliot asked his partner. "Jason mentioned her."
"Of course." She nodded following the teenager into the kitchen.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Olivia looked around the kitchen. A Spanish commercial for a credit union was blaring from a small radio. The back sink was overflowing with dirty dishes, but the girl was nowhere in sight. Olivia walked towards the back fridge when she smelt the familiar scent of cigarettes coming from a side door. She walked out into a back alley and found the teen sitting next to a dumpster.
"Kirsten?" Olivia asked. The red head was fidgeting with the thick hemp of her woven bracelet.
"Yeah?' She looked up.
"I need to ask you some questions about your friend Frank."
"He wasn't my friend." She sighed, taking a drag of her cigarette.
"Well according to Jason Raffey you two hung out and did drugs."
"Jason Raffey is a tool that doesn't know what he's talking about," she spat.
"Kirsten, you're not going to get in trouble. I won't tell your parents or your boss. I'm just trying to figure out what happened to Frank."
"Well you're barking up the wrong tree. Like I said, we weren't friends, we didn't hang out."
"So you guys never blew lines together?"
"Once or twice. I dated Steven. They are best friends. We used to run into each other, but I tried to keep contact to a minimum. Like I said, I don't know anything about the kid other than he's a spoiled junkie." She ground her cigarette butt into the concrete with the heel of a worn Converse tennis shoe. "I have to go back to work. The dinner rush is just about to start." With that she stood up and walked back into the kitchen of the restaurant.
Olivia shook her head. Kirsten knew more than she was letting on.
XXXXXXXX
"Are you sure you don't want a slice Detective?" Joe asked as the two men sat down.
"Oh I'm fine thanks. I hear Frank was fired from here not too long ago."
"Yeah," Joe nodded. "The kid was bad news. He had an attitude problem. Always high. Never got his work done. Never knew anyone who could deliver a pizza one block down an hour late. When Danny, our manager confronted him about it, he tried to beat him up. I got called in and fired him on the spot."
"So he made enemies here?"
"The kid had enemies everywhere. No one liked him, except for Shelby, Steven and Jason. They all bond getting stoned and ditching school."
"What about Kirsten?"
"She dated Steven for a bit, despite my warning about employee relationships. They broke up a few weeks ago. She hung out with them for a while, was always high too. I almost fired her. Ever since they broke up she's been my best employee. Smart girl, good thing she got away from them."
"Did her and Frank interact?"
"Not that I remember."
"Hey Joe. I couldn't find the address so I brought the pie back." A short teenage boy walked into the store. He had moppy blonde hair that fell into his eyes. He spoke with a stutter, and his eyes were bright red.
"I'll take care of it Hickey. Come over here." Joe motioned.
"Hi Steven. I'm Detective Elliot Stabler of the NYPD. I'm here to ask you some questions about your friend Frank."
"What about him? I haven't seen him since last night." The boy seemed nervous, he struggled to speak through his stutter.
"I know. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we found Frank in Central Park this morning. He was murdered."
"You're kidding me." Steven slumped into a seat next to Joe. "He can't, I mean, I was with him last night."
"That's why I'm here. I need to know what you guys did."
"Well…I picked him and Shelby up after school. We went to the park, smoked a few bowls. Pretty much the normal stuff. We were waiting for our friend Danny to get off work to buy us beer, but Frank said he had a hot date. He wouldn't say anything except he was going to get laid."
"What time was this?"
"Around 9 when he left us. We'd come back over here to meet up with Danny. He said he was going to a coffee shop in the East Village. Jesus Christ… I can't believe he's dead." Steven collapsed with his head in his hands. "He was my best friend."
XXXXXXXX
"So what did you get out of Joe and Steven?" Olivia asked Elliot.
"Joe hated the kid. Fired him. Said he had anger and drug problems. Steven said Frank, Shelby and himself spent all afternoon smoking a bowl until they went back to the restaurant to get beer from their manager at 9. He said Frank left then to go meet up with an unnamed date at a coffee shop in the East Village." Elliot shrugged taking a bite out of a slice of cheese. Joe wouldn't let them leave without a box of pizza to take back to the precinct.
"We have to find out who the girl is. That puts us back to square one. Let's go back to the station, see if crime scene found a cell phone or if Munch and Fin have any hits on potential suspects."
Elliot nodded. "What about Kirsten?"
"She wouldn't talk. She knows something, but refused to admit even hanging out with him."
"He could have harassed her like the rest of the girls." Elliot shrugged.
"Well we're going to have to find out soon." Olivia shook her head, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box.
