Chapter Nine
The next morning, Casey Novak was officially missing. Fin and Munch knew that Rook had to have taken her, and they had looked everywhere for her. They had no fresh leads. They were all at the house for the minute, taking phone calls from loonies. Fin was getting a little nervous. They still didn't know what made Rook tick. They'd called Huang in, but since he didn't have much to go on, either, they still were in the dark. Fin was yelling at some crazy loon who was swearing that she had seen Rook and Casey at a diner in Soho. He was pretty certain that she hadn't, they were working on the assumption that he was hiding out with her.
Elliot walked into the crowded station, and knew that they hadn't found Casey yet. He hadn't heard back from Fin since the day before. This explained why. He'd come to get some things from his desk. The memorial service was in about an hour or two. He went to the Captain's office. He wanted to tell him that it was OK if they didn't come to the service, since they had to find Casey. He didn't want to have them down three guys if they didn't have to be. They were already down two with him and Liv not working.
Cragen smiled at him when he walked in. ''Hey, Elliot. What's up?'' He asked, wishing that there hadn't been so much going on lately. He knew that Kathy getting murdered had really hurt him. More than he cared to admit.
Elliot had already dressed for the service. He wore one of his best black suits, but he'd gone open-collar. He hadn't wanted to wear a tie, 'cause he knew he'd just be fidgeting with it the entire service. ''I just wanted to tell you that you, Munch, and Fin don't have to come to the service if you don't want to. I know you're busy looking for Casey.
Cragen felt even sorrier for Elliot and his family after he had said that. He had always been a little closer to Olivia and Elliot than he had Munch and Fin. He felt like a surrogate father to them. ''Elliot, we'll be there. We do have to find Casey, but we aren't going to make you go through this alone.''
Elliot didn't say it out loud, but he was really glad that his friends were going to be there. He only wished that Casey was going to be OK. He still felt bad that they were going to be wasting an hour or two at the service, but he really needed them there. He did have his family, and Liv, but he really would feel better with them there. ''Thanks, Don.'' He said, and left the office to go to his desk.
Some of his collegues patted him on the back as he passed, but Fin took the time to talk to him a minute. ''Did you ask her yet?'' He asked, under his breath.
Elliot shook his head. He'd been meaning to ask Olivia the day before, and give her the ring, but by the time they'd returned from Queens, everyone had been really tired, and he'd decided to wait until that evening. He had told the kids, though, and they hadn't been as angry as he was expecting them to be. They were actually starting to soften towards Livvy. He had decided that it was the time they'd spent with her at the house in Queens. ''No, by the time they got back to the apartment from packing, she and the kids were tired. I'm planning on asking her tonight, if I think the timing's right. I'll see how I feel.''
Fin said, ''You know, you can wait a bit. There's no rush, El. You know she's meant for you.'' He knew that Elliot was hurting right now, and he thought that it wasn't the time to make a big decision like that.
Elliot nodded. ''I know, but I want to ask her now. I love her. I want to make her mine officially. I know the time's right. I'm more sure of that than my own name.''
Fin changed the subject. ''So, what time's the service? Munch and I are coming together, but Cap's driving seperately. We want to make sure that we're there for you.'' He was surprised by the look on El's face. He looked like he was going to cry.
Elliot took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. ''Thanks, Fin.'' He paused again and then said, ''It's at one. It's not going to last that long, and then we're taking her to the cemetary. You guys don't have to go with us for that if you want to come back and keep looking for Casey. I'll understand.''
Fin shook his head. ''No, we're going to stay wit you as long as we can. I'm not going to leave until you tell me that you don't need me. I know that we're short staffed right now, but we really don't have much to go on anyway. It'll be OK for a bit. Don't worry. We're not going to abandon you.'' He heard Munch call his name, where he was looking at the board. ''I've gotta go. We'll see you at one.''
Elliot nodded and rubbed his eyes, to keep the tears from falling. He grabbed the things he needed from his desk and headed back to the apartment. When he got there, it was the great changing of the unies, as a new one relieved the old one. He headed inside, giving a nod to both of them. He was surprised to find the apartment covered in clothes. There wasn't a space in the living room that didn't have some article of clothing draped off it. ''Livvy, babe, where are you?'' He called, as Eli gurgled at him from the playpen.
Olivia came into the living room, half dressed. She had her pantyhose on, but she was missing a skirt. She said, ''Dickie and Elizabeth are getting ready with Maureen and Kathleen in the dorms, and then they're meeting us here, so we can all go together. What did you pack yesterday? 'Cause I can't find the skirt that I wanted to wear.''
Elliot replied, ''I only packed up the clothes that you told me I could. I don't know what you're talking about. What does it look like? Did you unpack everything?'' He asked, looking around incredulously.
Olivia shook her head. ''No, just a couple of boxes. I just can't find my skirt. It frustrates me. I'm going to look in the stack of clothes I laid out for this week and see if it's in there somewhere. I did lay out Eli's outfit, it's in his room, why don't you get him ready while I finish up?''
Elliot agreed, and picked up their son and took him off to his bedroom. He couldn't believe how good it felt to be talking about this normal, every day stuff with Livvy. He couldn't wait until she was his wife.
About an hour or so later, the kids had shown up at the apartment. Dickie and Elizabeth both sat on the couch, watching Eli, who was gurgling away in the playpen again, looking very cute in his little suit. Maureen and Kathleen both stood off to the side, not really wanting to get comfortable. Elliot came out into the living room, and gave them all kisses on the cheek. Dickie said, ''Is Olivia ready yet? Mo wants to get there early.''
Elliot said, ''Yeah, she was missing her skirt, but she found it. She's finishing up with her hair and makeup.'' He went around the living room, picking up the clothes and putting them back in the boxes that they had been packed in.
Lizzie said, ''I'm going to get a water.'' She headed into the kitchen, surprised that she still didn't feel at home here, even though she had already begun to think of it as home in her head. She actually was glad that her father had found someone that made him happy. She really didn't have a problem with Liv anymore.
Olivia came into the living room, having finally found the skirt she wanted to wear. ''OK. Let's go.'' She said, giving slight smiles to all of the kids, and going to pick Eli up.
Elliot was blown away by how beautiful she looked. ''Liv, you look really nice.'' He said, as he picked up the diaper bag. He was always blown away by how amazing Liv was.
Olivia smiled. ''Thanks, babe.'' She called to Lizzie in the kitchen, to tell her that they were going. She held Eli close, surprised at how quickly she had begun to feel like a mother.
It only took a few minutes to get to the church. Elliot chose to stay outside for a bit, 'cause he wasn't ready to see Kathy yet. He had decided on an open casket for the kids, but he was going to have to prepare himself for it. He wasn't quite ready to see her like that. All still and peaceful. He still couldn't accept it.
Olivia looked around the church. They weren't the only ones who were early. Some of Kathy's other family members had filled up one of the pews on the right side. She could feel their stares boring into her. She shook it off and headed up to the front pew and let the kids file past her, and set Eli's diaper bag on the floor underneath the pew and sat down. She held Eli and breathed in his baby scent. It centered her, made her feel like she belonged. Eli had always loved her. He had taken to her even before she and Elliot had gotten together.
Elliot joined them a couple of minutes later, and put his arm around Livvy, despite the stares from his ex-wife's family. He was determined not to let them make him and Liv feel that she wasn't worthy to be there. He didn't care what they thought. She was going to be there for his kids, and that's just the way it was going to be.
They felt a little better a half an hour later when more people began showing up. Munch, Fin, and Cragen sat behind them. Fin gave Liv's shoulder a squeeze. He knew that she had to be feeling the hatred. The tension in the front of the church was palpable.
The reverand began the service, and then Kathy's sister and parents both said something. The kids all trouped up to recite a poem that Kathleen had written, Maureen holding Eli. Then Elliot went up, to say the last bit. He was nervous, and looked straight at Liv once he got up there. She centered him, gave him stabilty. He met her eyes for a moment, and then began to read something he had written. ''I was married to Kathy for a very long time. She gave me five wonderful children. I loved her. Even though she and I weren't together anymore when she was...'' He stopped, and slowly began again. ''When she left this Earth, I still cared for her. She was a wonderful person, and I always thought that she deserved someone better than me.'' He pressed a hand to the casket, and then went to sit back down.
After the reverend closed the service, they all headed to the cemetary. Elliot had insisted that Munch, Fin, and Cragen went back to the station. He told them that it was great that they had come to support him, but he wanted them out there looking for Casey. He wanted her to be OK. They were reluctant, but they did as he asked.
Afterwards, the kids and Kathy's family headed to a resturant downtown for the wake, since the house in Queens was full of boxes and things to be sold in the garage sale, and Elliot and Olivia headed back to the apartment. Elliot went to change into something he could paint in. He was going to go and paint the living room in the new house. They had told him all the paperwork would be finished up that day. He was glad how things had worked out.
Rook was watching Casey struggling with her bonds. It was quite interesting to see. He had decided that he was going to demand that he be given money and an audience with Benson and Stabler. He was hoping that they would give him what he wanted, since he had Casey. She had finally stopped yelling for help a few hours ago. He had just finished feeding her dinner. She had not looked happy that she had been fed instead of feeding herself.
He picked up the phone and called the Manhattan SVU precinct, and asked to speak to Cragen. When Cragen answered, he indentified himself. He knew that they knew who he was. There was no point in lying. ''I'm Merritt Rook, and I have your ADA. If you want her to stay alive, you will send five hundred thousand dollars with Detectives Benson and Stabler. I want an audience with them. You have two days to complete this. I want to give you time to get the money together.''
Cragen was surprised at how polite and educated Rook sounded. He didn't know why he was, they hadn't really had much to go on with Rook. He said, ''Well, that can be arranged. Where would you like this to take place?''
Rook said, ''There's an abandoned theater out here in Brooklyn. It's called The Critic. Be there two days from now at noon. I will bring Ms. Novak with me, so you'd better not try and outsmart me.'' He hung up the phone.
Cragen placed the receiver back down and everyone could tell he was pissed. ''He wants us to be in Brooklyn, two days from now, with five hundred thousand dollars with Benson and Stabler. They aren't even officially at work. Plus, Liv's pregnant, I don't want to send her out in the field.''
Fin said, ''What do you want to do, Captain? I don't know what he's going to do if we try to outsmart him. If he's anything like Harris, he's going to be pretty pissed.''
Cragen seemed to not have even heard him, he was thinking out loud. ''What kind of criminal asks for just five hundred thousand? They usually aim pretty high.''
Munch spoke up. ''Cap, maybe he's really not after the money. Maybe he really cares more about having that audience with El and Liv than he does anything else. I'm betting he only took Casey to get what he wanted. He probably doesn't really care if she's alive or not.''
Fin argued, ''But if he really wants that time with El and Livvy, then he'll keep her alive. It's them he's really after. I think it'll be alright as long as we make sure that we have backup at the theater. And we put a bullet proof vest on Liv. What do you think, Cap?''
Cragen wasn't entirely sure about this plan, but it was better than anything he could come up with. ''I guess that's what we're going to have to do. I'll call the brass, so we can get the money. You call Elliot. If they don't agree, then we'll do something else.''
Fin called Elliot on his cell, taking it to the crib. He wanted privacy. ''El, it's Fin. I've got something new on Casey. Rook just called the precinct. He wants you and Liv to bring him five hundred thousand dollars. He wants an audience with you.''
Elliot was knee deep in paint. He carefully stepped into the middle of the room. ''When does he want this? And I'm not sure that actually giving him what he wants is such a good idea, Fin.''
Fin replied, ''Well, what we were thinking was putting a bullet proof vest on Liv, and making sure that we have a lot of backup at the theater he wants us to bring it to. I know that it's a little dangerous, but we're not sure that he's going to hurt you. So far, all he's done is been an accessory to murder and kidnap Casey. Harris has done all the killing. Maybe you'll be able to make the collar.''
Elliot hated to agree to this. ''I'll talk to Liv and get back to you. When is this all going down?'' He didn't want to put Liv in the line of fire, but he knew that if he protested too much, Liv would want to do it just out of spite.
Fin replied, ''Two days from now at noon. Just talk to her and let us know, we'll be thinking of a backup plan.''
Elliot said bye and hung up his phone. He would think about this for a bit before he told Livvy. He wanted to form a solid stance before he brought her into this. It sounded way too dangerous.