Helpless

(Chapter Nine: Wild Card)

Olivia sat on the edge of the hotel bed dressed only in her panties and Elliot's dress shirt. She riffled through her duffel bag to find something to wear as he showered in the next room. She dressed quickly and walked across the parking lot to get them some coffee.

"Hey," she said with a smile as she stepped back into the hotel room to find Elliot fully dressed laying across the bed watching the morning news.

"I was wondering where you had gone. I was starting to worry."

"I went to get some breakfast." She sat down a plastic bag with two take out containers on the desk by the door and handed him a large cup of coffee. She opened the bag and handed hit a white Styrofoam container. "Two eggs over easy, sausage and bacon, toast, hash browns and coffee."

"You are amazing. What have you got?" Elliot asked wanting to make sure she actually ate something.

"Ham and cheese omelet, egg whites only. And fat free mocha cappuccino. I'm going to eat El, you can stop worrying about me."

"I will never stop worrying about you," he said with a smile as he kissed her. "I have spent eleven years looking out for you. I don't expect that to change any time soon."

Olivia smiled at him over the rim of her coffee cup. "I'm used to it. I like you being there."

"Good. Because I'm not going anywhere any time soon," he said tracing his thumb over her lips before bringing his mouth to meet them.

"I was thinking, while you were in the shower. I made a list of people we should talk to. If this was someone he worked with, I'm guessing they knew Kate and Max."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, her father had big dinners at the house all of the time. Kate was his pride and joy. He liked to show her off and with the wedding coming up…. Kate told me that her father had a long list of business contacts that he invited to her wedding. She made a comment about having over four hundred guests and she and Max didn't know half of them."

"Wow."

"Yeah. He liked to show them off. She and Max."

"Show all his business associates his picture perfect family."

"So when he rips them off and they are looking to hit him where it hurts the most."

"Take out the wife and kids right in front of him. I guess they figured that would make him talk. But what was it that they wanted?"

"Had to be more valuable than all of the jewelry and expensive art work that they left behind."

"So he works with what? Big business transactions, large amounts of cash. What if he was stealing from the company? That would give them motive to go after him for a revenge killing, but not the family."

"What if he wasn't the one stealing it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what if he found out who was? Maybe he had some sort of evidence against someone else. They send someone in to shake him down and find out where he is hiding it, whatever it is. The intruders tell him that if he doesn't give them what they want, they will kill his family. They chose this particular weekend because they knew Kate and Max would be here for the wedding. But they didn't count on us being here."

"I think we should go and talk to the people around his office. Try and sneak a peak at some financial records. But we are going to have to be careful, Liv."

"Elliot, after talking to that sheriff yesterday I don't think we will have any problems from them as long as we stay out of their way."

"Olivia that sheriff is the least of our problems. If this was an inside job from and someone he worked with hired men to kill him and his family. They are going to know we were in that house the moment we go asking questions. We'll stick out like a sore thumb. Why would Manhattan detectives be investigating a Seattle murder case? We need a wild card."

"What?"

"You know, a more than obvious clue that gives us a little more versatility in this case. A way to get in and out without being detected. I know we are on to something. I feel it. Like it is right in front of us and I just can't see it."

"What if we weren't investigating the murders?" She asked as he looked at her confused. "What if we were investigating him for embezzlement from the company he used to work for back in New York?"

"I didn't know he ever worked in New York."

"He didn't. But they don't know that either."

"So we heard about his death and came here to try and get a few answers for the case we are working against him. Okay."

"But it's a one shot deal."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we get in and get out. Get what we can in one visit. By the time they are able to confirm that we are not who we said we were we will be half way back to Manhattan. We have to make this quick. If they catch us and realize that we are witnesses in the case, they will kill us."

"You finish eating. I'm gonna make a few calls and see if we can't get an appointment to get in and talk to a couple of the big shots at his company."

"Okay."

TWO HOURS LATER

Elliot and Olivia walked into the tall building and took the elevator up to the sixth floor where Kate's father used to work. They spoke to a few of his coworkers and were only able to gather fragments of information from them.

The man was a big shot in this company, who made a lot of money and spent a lot of money. He and his wife get new cars every year and always hosted large parties for their friends and coworkers. They spoke to his former secretary who refused to let them into his office to look around.

As Elliot turned on his Stabler charm and spoke with the woman, Olivia excused herself to the ladies room. She headed down the main hall, but instead of turning right to go to the rest room, she hung a left and let herself into the unlocked office.

She attempted to sneak a peek at the files in the file cabinets, but they were both locked up tight. What she did find odd though was the face that he had been dead for a while and was now buried and his computer in his office was turned on.

She bumped the mouse and watched as the screensaver faded away to show a list of charities the companies made donations to. Each of them with an account number and the amount of money that had been donated. She moved the mouse up and hit the button to print out a copy of the document.

Olivia opened the drawers of the desk searching for anything that seemed unusual. She stood up and paced the office floor, there was something here, she could feel it. Just then she saw someone through the blinds as they walked toward the office. She ducked under the desk and curled her knees to her chest just as the office door opened.

"I could swear I heard someone in here," she heard a man's voice say.

Olivia watched his shoes from under the desk as he turned and walked back out of the office closing the door behind him. "Shit," she mumbled remembering the page she had printed out as she peered over the top of the desk to see if the coast was clear. But the man was standing just outside the window talking to someone on his cell phone. She ducked back into her hiding place.

She sat there quietly for a moment remembering that night she had hid inside the closet like this. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together and tried to remind herself to breathe.

When she opened her eyes and raised her head she noticed something strange. Ahead of her, taped to the underside of the desk was a flash drive. Olivia squinted for a moment to focus her eyes on it. Why the hell would he hide it under his desk. She leaned forward and pulled it off the desk and slipped it into her pocket.

She raised up once more to see that the hallway was now clear. She climbed from her hiding place as she folded up the print out and slipped it into her pocket as well. Olivia walked back out to the front desk where Elliot still stood talking with the secretary.

"Thank you for your help," Elliot said with a smile as he saw Olivia.

They turned and made their way to the car.

"Lets get the hell out of here," she said as they headed across the parking lot. "And fast, I almost got caught and I am not so sure they didn't notice I was in there."

"Did you get anything?"

"I got something."

Elliot nodded and opened the car door for her. They headed back to the hotel where they put the flash drive into Elliot's lap top to see what was on it. It was a list of names. Each with an address and social security number. Under each name was a bank account number and a dollar amount.

"What the Hell?" Olivia said raising her fingertip to point at the screen.

"It's contact information. He was helping to take them down."

"I'm talking about this," she said pointing to a name that was all to familiar to them both.

"Contact information for the F.B.I., the feds were in on this?"

"F.B.I. Agent Dean Porter," she read off the screen as she turned to look at Elliot.

"I think maybe we are in over our heads," he said staring at her.

Olivia exhaled and picked up her phone.

"Liv, what are you doing?"

"Calling an old friend," she replied staring into his eyes.