"What did you find when you arrived on the scene?" The question was asked by ADA Rafael Barba as he questioned one of the police officers called to Olivia's apartment after the gunshots had been heard by neighbors.
The trial had started only a day before and so far Barba was confident in how it was going. He had already questioned one of the neighbors of Olivia, who testified that she had seen Sutton earlier that evening in the hallway near the apartment and that she heard the fight, as well as all three gunshots. Now he was talking to Officer Maze, who had gone into the apartment.
"We arrived maybe five minutes after the shots had been reported." The middle-aged officer answered. "There were already people on the sidewalk and we had to remove them, before myself and my partner, at the time, headed up the stairs."
"When you got to the floor of Sergeant Benson's apartment, what happened?" The attorney stood calmly behind the courtroom table.
"We found Sergeant Benson's neighbor, the one who reported the shots, outside her own apartment waiting for us to arrive. She said that she had heard fighting and things being knocked over in the apartment before hearing the gunshots. We figured there had been a struggle, but we also were unsure about whether or not there was someone armed and dangerous still in the apartment."
The ADA moved now, slowly making his way to the witness stand. "So is that why you waited before entering the apartment?"
"Yes it is." The officer was answering the questions easily and with confidence. "There were men already placing themselves on the rooftop across the street by now and we wanted to make sure they gave us the go ahead to enter safely."
"When you were given the permission to enter, was it still only you and your partner?"
"No. Now Sergeant Benson's partner, Nick Amaro had come up to the apartment as well. He told us that he had heard the report on the scanner and needed to know that his commanding officer was okay. We figured that since he knew the possible victim, it would be alright for him to enter with us." Maze said.
Barba moved away from the witness stand but stayed in the middle of the courtroom. "When you broke through the door of the apartment, what did the three of you find?"
Officer Maze sighed, a tactic Barba had taught him to show the jury just how horrible the scene was and its effect on him. "Both Jack Sutton and Officer Brian Cassidy lay on the living room floor. Officer Cassidy was unconscious and lying in a pool of his own blood. Sutton however, was conscious."
"Did Sutton say anything?"
"Yes he did." The officer paused before he said, "He said these bitches deserved what they got."
Barba returned to his table, simply nodding at the small victory he got from showing the jury how sadistic Sutton really was.
"After seeing the scene that was in the living room, where did you go?"
Nick Amaro looked out at the courtroom. The eyes of the trial audience bore into him; most of whom were there because everyone knew the story of Olivia's kidnapping and they all had to hear what would happen to her second kidnapper. The jury, also completely focused on him, all wore cold looks that read no emotion. He wasn't a fan of testifying, but for Liv he would do just about anything.
"I headed towards Sergeant Benson's bedroom." Nick answered.
"Why was that?" Barba questioned.
"I figured that if Sutton was still there, Sergeant Benson was still there. And typically the bedroom is the chosen place for a rapist to sequester his victims." Nick knew there was more truth than he liked to remember about the statement.
Barba turned from Nick and looked at the jury. "Now officer Amaro can you tell the jury what you found in the bedroom?"
"I found Sergeant Benson handcuffed to the bed post." Nick felt a chill go down his spine at the thought. "Her blouse had been ripped off of her and her pants were undone."
"And did she say anything or make any noise?"
Nick nodded in response. "Yes, she did. She was crying in pain."
Barba turned back and made eye contact with the detective. "Were you able to identify what was causing Sergeant Benson's pain?"
"Sergeant Benson had not yet disclosed to our squad about her personal event, but when I noticed, it was obvious that she was pregnant and complications from that were what caused her to be in pain." It felt weird to say that in front of everyone, the team themselves were still processing their boss' pregnancy.
After a long day in court, Nick returned with Barba to the precinct. Nick had a few things to finish up with a case they wrapped the day before and Barba wanted to check on Olivia. He had to make sure that she was ready to take the stand the next day.
But she wasn't there when the two men arrived. "Where is Olivia?"
"She went home." Amanda answered bluntly.
"I wanted to talk to her about tomorrow." Barba explained. "Maybe I can catch her at home tonight."
"I don't think that's a great idea." The female detective warned him.
"Is something wrong?" Nick now jumped into the conversation worried about his partner.
"Not particularly." Amada replied. "She's just obviously exhausted and she wasn't focused today because she's so stressed about the trial tomorrow."
"Maybe someone should go check on her." Barba suggested.
Stressed and exhausted she was when Olivia returned home after a ten hour day at the precinct.
Her back was aching, her feet so swollen she had to pry off her shoes, and she had been experiencing somewhat painful false contractions all day. And she hoped it would be worth when she was holding the baby in arms, but at that moment she would give anything to not be pregnant any longer.
Just as the sergeant was changing out of her uncomfortable work clothes and into a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, there was a knock on her front door. With a heavy sigh, she walked, or waddled as she found that was a better description of her movement nowadays, to the door and opened it to find Rollins on the other side.
"Amanda, is something wrong?" Olivia asked the blonde detective taken aback by her sudden appearance.
"No, everything's fine." Amanda assured her.
Liv opened the door all the way and stepped to the side. "Here come in."
Amanda walked in and awkwardly stood behind Olivia as she closed the door and locked it. "I know you probably don't want to see me tonight."
"It's not that I don't want to see you, I'm just surprised is all." Liv moved slowly past where Amanda stood and lowered herself easily onto the couch. "Is there some particular reason you are here, though?"
"Umm… Yeah." Amanda finally sat down in the chair across from the couch.
"Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess? And please don't tell me it's anything bad, because I don't need any more of that." There had been enough bad news surrounding all of the events Olivia had gone through and anything more would have set her off.
"Oh, no. It's nothing bad." Rollins told her. "It's just that Barba stopped by after you left today, because he wanted to talk to you about tomorrow, but when I told him you had left him and Nick were all worried and said someone should check on you. And I volunteered so you wouldn't have to deal with either of them tonight."
"I appreciate that. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was have to consult with Barba some more. As it is I still have to go through the whole thing again tomorrow."
Olivia was referring to her testimony that she would have loved to avoid at all costs, but she knew she couldn't and Barba had been on her all week about being prepared. Too bad not much of anything could prepare a hormonal, pregnant women to testify about her attempted rape.
"Well hopefully after tomorrow it will all be over." Amanda knew the strain it was putting in her commanding officer. "And then you focus on more important things."
Olivia laid her hand on her stomach, knowing what more important things her detective was talking about. "I hope you're right."
"I know you're tired of hearing it, but I honestly think this is going to end how we want it. Barba said it went well today, the jury seems sympathetic and the defense has a pretty weak argument."
There was a pause as neither of the women said anything to each other. Although they had spent a little more time than normal together in recent weeks, the tension left over from other past happenings would still creep in now and then.
"You know it's getting late and I don't mean to kick you out or anything, I would just really like to get some sleep." In all actuality, Liv was sort of kicking Rollins out. As much as she knew the younger woman was trying to be helpful she didn't want to hear it tonight.
"Of course." Amanda got up from the chair and bee-lined for the door. "Have a good night sergeant."
"You too, Amanda."
With her guest gone, Olivia was quick to make her way into her bed. Although, sleep seemed impossible just as it had so many night before. Being so far along, she was noticing that there was absolutely no comfortable positons and her child liked to be the most playful late at night. However, tonight it wasn't a baby kicking or being uncomfortable; tonight it was the thought of having to sit in a crowded room tomorrow and testify that yet another man had violated her and killed someone she loved more than she could express and left her a single mother. The thought of having to explain her situation again, left her wide awake and upset to the point of tears.