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Olivia hadn't expected any more trouble from Porter since the surveillance cameras had been deactivated. He'd slumped, defeated on a plush couch that was hidden from the only camera left in the suite.
While she understood that Porter was just testing her, she was more concerned with everyone's safety. A federal undercover investigation should not have been an invitation for Porter to rekindle something with Olivia. She knew he would hide under the umbrella of his alias, and would claim that he was just playing the good husband. What she didn't understand was why he needed to shove his tongue down her throat and palm her ass whenever he could. If anything his lascivious behavior was bringing attention to them.
Three days had passed since they were able to sweep the room, and bring in some equipment of their own. Now, Olivia and Porter didn't leave the room without a wire, and they were careful to record anything that was said to them regarding the girls.
Another activity that kept them busy while they waited to meet their donor, they looked for the room where they were allegedly keeping some of the girls. Porter made the most progress on this when, on the second day, he wandered onto a freight elevator and pressed basement. There was the usual cacophony of the hotel staff busting about, and the distant clanging of pots and pans from the kitchen. He walked down the dimly lit halls, following the endless network of cinderblock walls painted an unappealing gray. Eventually he heard the sound of someone crying, and followed the sound around the corner. Porter was shocked to see a young brunette girl run burst through a door marked emergency exit, nearly colliding with him bore tearing down the hall.
Porter turned to follow her, but was stopped short by a bellowing yell coming from behind the emergency exit door. He ducked into an alcove, and watched a burly man lumbering down the hall after the girl, muttering curses along the way.
"Well, we seem to have found where at least one girl was being kept," he whispered the location into the microphone hidden in his cufflinks, before sneaking back to the lobby and boarding the elevator with a group of guests.
Olivia was sitting pensively in the bedroom waiting for Porter to make it back. He'd been gone a bit longer on his scouting mission than she would have liked. But she thought it was smart that one of them remain in the room to minimize the likelihood of their exposure.
She was just about to make her way to the pool to look for Porter when he came rushing into the room.
"Baby, I'm back," he shouted with an unnerving amount of enthusiasm that he reserved for microphones and cameras in their main sitting room. She sat patiently at the edge of the bed while he closed the door and turned to toward her.
"So, I think I found one of the girls," he said, "I mysteriously found myself on a service elevator, was going to pretend I was lost but then I heard cries, and there she was running out of an emergency exit. The alarm didn't go off, and about 15 seconds later a guy ran after her. I think we need to get our men in there, or at least have someone watching that door." He finished quickly, gauging her reaction to the news.
Olivia had been pensive ever since the assignment started; she saw the lengths these people were willing to go through for this lucrative operation. Their team quickly realized that couples with a history of fertility issues and an apparent abundance of funds were being targeted.
While Porter and Olivia were paying a fair amount of money for this "service", other couples had paid upwards of a million dollars for the entire surrogate experience. They were no doubt unaware that the young mother would disappear after their child's birth and wind up at a dump site, inside out.
Olivia didn't think she could handle it if they failed and they too were the cause of another girl's death. Porter noticed the look on her face, and knelt in front of her.
" Olivia, nothing is going to happen to these girls…I think now that the girl escaped things might progress a bit more, it's a liability to have her running around the bowels of the hotel. As soon as they contact us, we get the team in order and they storm the place." He said, his hand now covering her knee.
Olivia scooted away from him, " you know, you don't have to put on any act with me porter, I know what you're doing." She said angrily at him.
"What are you talking about?" he said as he stood up. " Is this about before? You know I was just trying to make us look credible, Olivia."
She shook her head at him, " I think that when we're in the rooms without cameras we should keep this professional, no more touching."
Porter smiled at her and walked a bit closer, " Olivia, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable but we do have a bit of a history, and I suppose I enjoyed having you to myself a little more than I realized."
Olivia stepped back unconsciously as he invaded her personal space. She hadn't realized how much until she felt the cool plaster of the wall behind her.
Porter immediately blocked her in, pressing both hands on the wall.
"This is exactly what I mean, what are you playing at?" she said quietly, aware that if they were loud enough the microphones could still pick up their sounds.
Porter ran a hand through Olivia's tousled brown waves, ignoring her slight shudder. "Do you have any idea how many times I've regretted what happened between us?" he said lowering his face to hers.
Olivia turned her head in time to avoid his kiss, instead only barely feeling his lips brush against her cheek.
"Stop now, or I'll report you when this is over," she said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible.
Porter regarded her for a moment, still blocking her in before he dropped his hand to the hem of the dress she was wearing, and slid his hand up her thigh.
Olivia gasped, immediately slamming her legs closed and reaching for his arm.
"Don't," she said louder than she meant to, hoping that it wasn't picked up in the other room.
Porter whispered angrily into her ear, " Our wires are shut off… all I have to say is that I thought we were being watched, and I wanted to put on a good show, he said, grabbing her wrists in his hand and nudging her legs apart with his knee.
"Everyone knows we've worked together before, sometimes isolated..." he said, returning his hand to her thigh. This time however, he kept going until she felt his fingertips brush the crotch of her panties before pushing them aside
She gasped and started to fight him more, wondering how he had such a strong hold on her. He was using his body perfectly, and she couldn't throw him or slide around him.
The pressure on her wrists was nothing compared to his fingers, which were teasing at her entrance.
"Please, don't " she said softly as he pushed a finger inside of her.
Olivia hadn't thought about Sealview for a while, the last time being when Lowell Harris sent her a birthday card, which was far more disturbing than she let on. But now, pressed against a wall with Porter's hand between her legs, she was right there in the basement again, huddled on the filthy floor, holding her breath.
Not even realizing she was shaking Olivia launched herself off of the wall, managed wrenched an arm free, and immediately slapped him before stumbling away.
"You son of a bitch," she said, breathing harshly, " don't you ever touch me like that again, I don't care what excuses I have to make to your superiors, I will shoot you."
Porter rubbed his cheek, a smirk on his face, " what, now that you're with Stabler you're done with me?"
"I can't be finished with something that never started," she said turning her back to him, and hooking herself back into the wire. She clicked it on with a sigh of relief.
He looked at her quietly for a moment; she could see that he was trying to decide if he would let her win this round or not. She was wired and he wouldn't want any controversy, ambitious prick that he was. She smiled sweetly at him and handed him a case file from the desk.
"We should go over these background files before we meet anyone else, I can't take any more surprises."
Porter took the file, his lips pursed tightly, "whatever you say detective" and with that they sat at opposite ends of the room, and read every sickening detail of each criminal's life. Olivia hoped that everything would work out better than her last undercover stints.
At first, she was comfortable knowing that Porter was there and had her back. He had saved her life a couple of times now, and she was grateful for that. But his actions were keeping her heart rate dangerously high. She was a little afraid that he would take advantage of the situation again and that she wouldn't be able to hold it together. The last thing she wanted to do was freak out because he was touching her, and end up with several dead girls as a result.
They sat in silence for an hour before their room phone rang. Olivia looked over at Porter as he answered the phone, "Mr. Taylor."
Immediately his face lit up, and he looked over at her and nodded. She sighed in relief; they were probably going to be out of there sooner than she thought, which was perfect because if Porter tried anything else, she might be tempted to tell Elliot.
Of course, now that Elliot was no longer an officer, he would probably end up in prison, and with that she resigned herself to simply keeping Porter at arms length until they had to play happily married.
Porter got off the phone and walked over to her. "Tomorrow evening, dinner with our prospective donor and we finally get to meet the management.
Olivia nodded at him, " well, call it in, we need at least two guys on us." she said, shifting uncomfortable under his gaze.
"Olivia, I'm….I don't want things to be strained, we have to appear happy for this to work, can you do that?"
"I'm not the one that was unprofessional…. just restrict it to hand holding" She said, tossing him another file.
Next: Porter endangers Olivia, who will end up fighting for more than the victim.