Elliot reached for his phone in the dark. Who was calling at this ungodly hour? Kathleen's name flashed across his screen.
He tried to push back the worry, but since they moved to Europe the kids usually scheduled their calls with him. He answered, "Hey, Kathleen is there something wrong? You okay?" He worried about Kathleen the most in his absence. She had been psychologically stable when they left the country, but growing up with his mother he knew that bipolar could be tricky to manage.
"Yeah dad I'm fine," Kathleen answered. "It's not about me. It's about Olivia." Elliot's stomach sank on the mention of his former partner and best friend. He swung his legs out of bed and grabbed his robe. He looked behind him to see Kathy sleeping soundly. Their marriage had improved after leaving New York, and knew the mention of Olivia might set their progress back.
"You there dad?" Kathleen asked.
"Yeah yeah," Elliot answered in a hushed tone. He shut the door to his bedroom to finish this conversation in the kitchen. "What's going on with Olivia?" His voice cracked with the use of her name. It had been so long since her name passed through his lips.
"The others said I should leave it alone. They told me you and mom are doing great and telling you would put you in a bad position, but dad, I think you should know." While Kathleen struggled the most out of his children she was the one he connected with the most. Part of him felt like she knew. She knew how much he loved Olivia, but she kept the knowledge to herself.
Feeling exasperated he asked again, "what happened?"
"I'm not sure where to start. Maybe we should have told you when it happened, but I don't know. There was nothing you could really do, and I knew you would drop everything to get home..." Kathleen was rambling.
"Kathleen," Elliot almost begged, "What is going on?"
He heard her let out a nervous breath as she gathered her courage. "About six months ago Olivia was taken hostage by a rapist who escaped prosecution because of lab error. " Elliot's pulse immediately increased. "I don't know a lot of details, only what was on the news, but he had her captive for four days." Elliot heard Kathleen pause, again rallying courage. "Um, he apparently tortured her," Kathleen struggled to find the right words, "and while he had her with him he raped another woman and uh, he killed two people." Elliot felt his blood burn with white hot fury. His breathing must of tipped off Kathleen to his mental state. "Dad, please calm down. She is alive and okay, but the trial started yesterday. It's not going well. Apparently the man decided to represent himself and I don't know dad, part of me thinks she needs you here."
Elliot wasn't sure how to respond. He hadn't spoken to Olivia since he had decided to leave the force. Would she want him there, or would his presence create more stress. "I don't know Kathleen, I mean, I didn't really leave in a good way. She probably wants nothing to do with me."
Kathleen sat silent on the other end of the call. Finally, she spoke in a quiet pensive voice, "Dad, she was your partner for 13 years. She was your best friend. She was part of our family for as long as I can remember. All I know is if I was her right now, I would want my best friend there, even if we weren't talking."
They again sat in silence. "I'll get there as soon as I can," He continued, "and Kathleen?"
"Yeah dad?"
"Please don't tell anyone I'm there. Don't talk to your mom about it. I'm not sure how this is going to go or what I am going to say..." his words trailed off.
"I won't dad."
"Thanks. I'll call you when I have everything lined up. I'll probably need you to pick me up once I get there."
"Yeah. Call me when you know something." She paused and then said, "love you."
"Love you too Katie." He ended the call and stared off into the dark night. He wasn't sure what to tell Kathy. He wasn't sure how to talk to Olivia. All he knew was he couldn't stay here when she needed him. He already missed too much, and hopefully she could forgive him for the silence of the last few years.