T Minus 5 Days, cont'd
Elliot rounded the corner into the bull pen, searching for someone who could bring him up to speed on the investigation. Cragen's office was empty, sending a chill of fear through him. Fin and Lake's desks were abandoned also. Munch was there though, calling him over with a nod.
The older man tucked the phone receiver under his chin. "I'm still tracking down a couple million sets of prints from that dumpster. Fin and Lake have Derek Santini in interrogation; Cragen's looking on."
"Thanks." Elliot went in search of Cragen, wanting to see who things were going with Natalie's boyfriend.
As he stepped into the room, he heard Derek's voice considerably less intimidating than it had been that last time he'd been at the 16. "I don't know nothing about that lady cop. I only saw her a couple of times."
Fin was leaning against the wall, glaring. Lake was seated across from Derek and he leaned in, his normally friendly face angry. "Don't you mean the bitch who ruined your life?"
Derek's eyes went wide, as though he'd never expected his words would come back to haunt him. "I didn't-"
Fin joined in, crowding Derek's side. "Don't bullshit us, man. We all heard you."
Lake got up, walked around the table, and crowded in on Derek's other side. "Yeah, we did. We all saw you grab her too."
Fin shook his head. "That's not ok, Derek. You shouldn't be grabbing women and threatening them."
Derek's voice reflected terror. "I didn't threaten her."
Lake laughed with no humor at all. "It sounded like a threat to me. What did you think partner?"
Fin nodded. "Yeah, it did." He leaned in further, causing Derek to cringe and shrink against Lake, who immediately shoved him off. "You know, Ches, I don't think I'd like somebody threatening you, since you're my partner and all."
Taking the hint, Lake nodded. "Partners are special, Derek. Bet you didn't know that."
Derek looked like he was trying to shrink into himself or perhaps slide under the table. "I didn't threaten her. I just wanted her to talk to Natalie's father."
Fin ignored him, continuing to talk to Lake. "I wonder how Olivia's partner liked hearing her get threatened like that."
Lake grinned behind Derek's head, considering they all knew the answer to that question. "Maybe we should bring him in here and ask him."
Fin nodded, backing off Derek's side. "Yeah, I think Elliot might like a few minutes alone with you."
Derek's eyes were comically wide. "You mean the big guy?"
Fin grinned and nodded. "I should probably warn you, he's got this thing about guys who hit women, especially his partner."
Lake threw a file folder in front of Derek, pointing to something on one of the pages. "It says right there that Natalie said you beat her up." He looked up and shook his head at Fin. "Damn, Elliot's not going to like you at all. You attacking your girlfriend and his partner."
"What can I do to make it better? There's got to be something, right? You want me to do something for you?" Derek looked like he was about to cry.
It was more than a little disappointing since Elliot's gut told him Derek didn't know a damn thing about Olivia's abduction. He pressed the button on the speaker, silencing the observation room and turning to his boss. "He's a punk. He doesn't know shit."
Cragen took a long moment to size him up before he slowly nodded. "I don't think a scrawny kid like that could get a jump on Olivia anyway, but he was in here threatening her the night it happened."
Elliot knocked on the door, calling Fin and Lake into the other room. Derek saw Elliot and his eyes widened even further. The fear on his face gave them all a momentary smile.
Fin shook his head. "I think he's about to wet his pants."
Cragen seemed disappointed, even though it had been a long shot. "Cut him loose. He doesn't know anything."
Lake and Fin shared a look before Lake sighed unhappily. "Damn, we were having fun."
Cragen led the way back to the other room. "Ok, Derek was the last of the possibilities who weren't on your list. So let's divvy up the recent releases and get started on them."
Elliot nodded, thinking he should probably get a shower and change before he actually tried working. But just as he was going to explain himself to Cragen, another idea struck him. "Did anyone talk to Howie?"
Cragen shook his head. "I don't recognize the name. Who's Howie?" He stepped into his office for a moment to retrieve some paperwork.
"Probably no one. Someone we talked to in connection with Natalie." Elliot's brow furrowed as he recalled the way he'd abandoned Olivia while they were talking to him. "She said he creeped her out. Didn't seem like a threat to me, but-"
"Munch, you and Elliot go find Howie. See what his feelings are about coming in for a little chat."
Olivia hated driving. She hated the crazy way people tried to kill themselves in the city, she'd always claimed. Kathy had simply never gotten a drivers license, preferring all types of public transportation to driving. So Elliot was used to driving. He didn't mind; he was perfectly willing to admit, provided no one was listening, that he liked the control. He hated sitting in the passenger seat, letting someone else take him somewhere.
But when they headed out of the precinct, Elliot found himself opting to slide in on the opposite side and letting Munch take the wheel. Since his talk with Huang, he was calmer, less upset with himself. But he was still anxious, desperate to know where his partner was, clinging to the hope that nothing irreparable had happened to her.
Despite the fact that he did feel quite relieved to have spilled his guts to Huang, Elliot had no desire to discuss his feelings or his relationships with anyone else, most especially Munch. Of course Munch never had any qualms with prying into someone's personal life, so he spent the first few minutes of the ride sizing up his temporary partner's mood.
"So was the good doctor handing out happy pills this morning?"
Elliot looked at Munch curiously, but didn't bother to respond. In all the years they'd worked together, Elliot had come to one conclusion regarding the other man – that being that Munch was the rumor mill. Anything anyone said to Munch somehow got disseminated throughout the precinct within a matter or hours without Munch ever looking the slightest bit guilty.
And there was no fucking way Elliot was adding anything to the list of things people loved to repeat about himself and Olivia.
"Seriously, Elliot, you seem much calmer since you returned. Huang help you put things in perspective?" His deadpan delivery did nothing to help Elliot believe anything he said was a joke. "There are other fish in the sea, right? Other cops to partner with? Other partners to do the mattress mambo with?"
Elliot really wished he'd been driving just then because he would have loved the chance to slam on the brakes and demand that Munch get out of the car. As it was, his only recourse was to get out of the car, which wasn't necessarily a good idea while it was moving.
Instead of answering, Elliot clenched his jaw and told himself that hitting Munch would be a low blow. Hitting Munch would be morally worse than hitting Olivia; at least Olivia stood a snowball's chance in hell of landing a return punch.
"Dani's back in town, right? That's got to make you happy, knowing she came back and all."
All the good his little talk with Huang had done was erased in that second, at the sound of Dani's name.
"Fuck you, Munch!"
Munch actually jumped in surprise at the sudden shout. "Damn, Elliot, I thought you were all mellowed out on lithium or something."
"Fuck off." Elliot wasn't sure anymore if hitting Munch was out of the question. No matter how hard he'd tried in his life, morals had rarely actually come into play when he had to make a decision.
"So Dani's not back in town?" Munch was waggling his eyebrows, thinking something was funny about the situation.
"Jesus, Munch, just shut the fuck up!" Between Munch and Lake, Elliot was starting to think he was going to have to hit someone in the squad. Maybe if he decked one of them, everyone else would back the fuck off. If nothing else, it would make him feel better.
"How the hell does Olivia put up with you?"
Elliot shrugged. "Liv and I have been partners for ten years. How many partners have you had again?"
"I didn't take the sergeants exam because Fin and I were having a lovers quarrel."
The idea that someone thought something inappropriate was going on between them pissed Elliot off the same as always, despite the recent turn of events, because that assumption had been made a long time before the recent turn of events and Elliot absolutely resented it. "I'm giving you a warning because it wouldn't be a fair fight, but that's all you're going to get, got me?"
Munch was quiet, allowing Elliot a moment to think his threat had made a dent. But then the older man grinned. "Do the three of you hang out a lot?"
"The three of who?" Elliot dragged his hand over his face, feeling exhausted. He needed sleep. Fuck that, he needed to find Liv. Then he would get sleep. He hid a smile as he thought that perhaps, after finding Liv, they could curl up together and get the rest they both deserved.
"You and Liv and Dani." Munch was acting nonchalant, but Elliot didn't believe for one second that he didn't know he was pushing buttons. "You guys seemed all chummy the other night, you know, until you started hurling insults at each other. Family feud?"
"Jesus fucking Christ, knock it off." Cracking his knuckles, Elliot began to seriously contemplate how much trouble he would get in for taking out some of his anger and frustration on someone who was pretty defenseless in a fist fight.
Munch chuckled at something only he thought was funny. "I still don't see it. Liv is so well-spoken while your vocabulary appears limited at times. How do you get along so well?"
So Munch liked Liv better. It wasn't much of a shock. Everyone liked Liv better. At least, every male like Liv better. "Maybe because she doesn't mention Dani every other word."
Munch laughed. "Yes, I can see how that might be off limits between you two."
Elliot shifted sideways in the car, fixing his pointed glare at Munch. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Munch glanced at him and then shrugged. "Nothing."
"No, I think it means something. I don't think you would have bothered to say it if it didn't mean something." He didn't avert his eyes and therefore noticed Munch growing more uncomfortable by the second.
Finally reaching their destination, Munch pulled off the street and met Elliot's glare. "I just think you should be careful."
"Careful of what?" Elliot felt nervous butterflies amassing in his stomach. There was something about Munch's tone that made him fearful that his normally slightly insane conspiracy theories were only a cover for a highly observant mind.
Munch shrugged. "I like Olivia. I don't want to see her get hurt."
"And I do? She's my partner." He immediately bristled at the suggestion because no matter how often he accidentally did it, he never really intended to hurt her.
Checking the side view mirror, Munch climbed out of the car and fell in step beside Elliot. "I don't think you're as unaware as you pretend to be, Elliot. And I don't think either of us is really talking about work here."
Elliot's feet stopped moving, unsure of what to say. If there was anyone who'd picked up on any subtle change in their relationship the few minutes he and Olivia were in the same room after their relationship had become intimate, it would be Munch. And there was something about Munch's attitude that deeply disturbed Elliot. Shaking his head with a smile, he realized he was getting as paranoid as Munch. "Mind your own damn business." He started walking again, determined to end the conversation.
But Munch reached out, his hand catching Elliot's arm. "Seriously. Don't fuck with her. If you're just screwing around, enjoying your freedom or whatever, don't do that to her."
Elliot tried to brush off the unnervingly accurate timing. "Isn't that my line? Busting the balls of anyone trying to screw her over." He pulled his arm free and stepped around Munch.
"I'll turn your ass in before I let you break her heart."
Elliot's feet stilled once again, his torso twisting to stare back at Munch. He recognized the challenge, knew that Munch wanted an assurance that he'd never hurt Olivia. But Elliot wasn't about to give Munch anything he could use to feed the machine. He wasn't about to let the rumor start that they were fucking around. That rumor had been going around for years, but it could be devastating once they were no longer honestly able to vehemently deny it. He swallowed hard and glared at Munch. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. So I think you'd better stay out of it."
Munch nodded slowly, giving far more thought to Elliot's words than were necessary. Then he stepped forward, crowding into Elliot's face with an angry scowl. "There's no lock on the door to the crib. Why don't you think about that?"
And then Elliot was left alone on the sidewalk, staring at the empty space where Munch had stood, wondering if his heart had just stopped beating.
