Olivia awoke of her own accord and felt the sheets beside her place on the bed, fingers coming up empty as she clutched at the air. She remembered vaguely falling asleep in Elliot's arms and realized he must have snuck away when he knew she was fully engrossed in her slumber. She mentally kicked herself at the missed opportunity.
She quickly dressed and wandered into the living room, inadvertently stumbling upon a sight which made her share a rare smile; there was Elliot, curled up peacefully on her couch, looking adorable in this state as she always knew he would. The thought of the image being more than just a one time occurrence crossed her mind and she shoved it away.
She knelt beside his form and lightly touched his arm, his groggy eyes opening to reveal red streaked across blue. He gave her a warm smile and scrubbed his face with his hand, stretching his entire body upward, the gray cotton shirt lifting slightly to reveal a sliver of stomach that made her shudder. He looked at her curiously, concern filling his sleep riddled eyes. "Is everything okay?"
She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders up and down as if to say that she knew he was already aware of the unspoken answer and he gave her another smile. "You thought I left, didn't you?"
"I knew that you were - "
"Olivia," he interjected, his hand wrapping over the base of her elbow, eyes scanning her face for some sort of emotion. "I'm not going anywhere."
She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the sudden urgent knock at the door. Elliot's hand instantly shot out the coffee table where his weapon was resting and sat up, cocking and pointing the gun at the door. "Who is it?"
"It's Simon."
The pair shared a meaningful look and Olivia motioned for Elliot to invite the visitor in. He was cautious given the overwhelming circumstances, checking the peephole to make sure it was really the brother of his partner.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Elliot asked, temper rising at the unexpected appearance of Simon.
"Elliot," Olivia warned as she shot him a glare, turning her attention back to Simon. "Why are you here?"
Simon threw up his hands in a defensive gesture. "I thought it would be wise to check up on you seeing as how that prick Richard White is after you."
"How do you even know about that?" Olivia asked, her face taking on a bewildered look. She ran through the names in her mind of who she'd told but she couldn't recall her brother at all. It had been months since she had spoken to him last, out of touch for longer than she could remember.
"You seem to forget that I'm a criminal," Simon pointed out. "I know people who know people in high places."
"Simon, if you know something - " Elliot's jaw clenched as he stepped toward the younger man in threat.
"I would tell you. Do you really think I'm that stupid to withhold information from you?" Simon asked with eyes flashing as he argued. "Especially when my sister's life is in danger."
"Then who told you?"
"I got an anonymous tip," Simon shrugged. "Just something I picked up along the grapevine. I tried everything I could to get something more from these guys that were talking but you know how they are. They'll talk but they won't tell if you catch my drift."
Elliot ran a hand through the short wisps of his hair, a heavy sigh escaping him. "White had friends on the inside and I'm willing to bet he's got a whole hell of a lot more on the outside too," he said angrily. "I want you to watch your back, Simon, but keep your eyes and ears open. You find out anything, even some minute detail you might think is unimportant, you come straight to me."
"Why would I have to watch my back?"
"Because Richard White will kill you to get to me if he has to," Olivia spoke up softly, arms crossed in defiance. "And the people you love."
"I think it might be a good idea if you stayed here for awhile until everything blows over," Elliot said. "It would be the safest choice at this point."
"But I have a fiancee and a family!" Simon cried, rising from his seat on her couch. "I cannot just leave them and - "
"They would be put under police protection," Elliot told him. "A detail all day, everyday like I am with Olivia."
Simon turned his head and looked at his sister, eyes searching her face for an answer. "Do you think that I should?"
Olivia shrugged, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. "You would have the best protection here with me and I can assure you that Elliot will make absolutely sure that your girls are one hundred percent safe."
"I'm already putting the call in to have Fin be placed on twenty four guard for your girls," Elliot said, cell phone perched at his ear. "In the meantime, Olivia and I are going to check out White's old apartment from the first time he was out of prison."
"Don't you think she should stay here?" Simon suggested. "Outside she would definitely be in the line of fire."
"I'm not letting her our of my sight," Elliot said with a fire burning bright in his eyes. "Richard White has no idea that you're staying here so you're safe until we get back."
Simon stood up and looked point blank at Elliot. "You take care of her."
Elliot nodded curtly at Simon and placed his hand on the small of Olivia's back protectively, leading her out the front door. He knew that Simon's words had rung true; his first priority was to keep Olivia safe even if it cost him his life.
When they arrrived at the vacant previous home of Richard White, Elliot slipped his weapon out of its holster and blasted a bullet right at the knob of the door. He kicked it open, the back of it hitting the wall with a loud thud.
"You know you could have just had the landlord unlock the door for you."
"For all we know, the landlord could be in on it," Elliot said grimly. "This isn't exactly the time to be taking chances. We are going to do things my way until I'm satisfied this bastard gets what he deserves."
She slipped a credit card out of her back pocket, sliding it through the adjacent closet door. "I think I can handle this myself."
"Nice trick you got there," he grinned at her, reaching his hand over to flick on the light. She gave him a wide smile but when they turned their heads to the wall across from them, she faltered slightly at what images flooded her mind.
There on the wall, hundreds of them jammed together like puzzles pieces that wouldn't quite fit, were candid photos of Simon Marsden. Some of him with his fiancee, some with his soon to be stepdaughters, some at work, some while he was out in public. Each photo captured him in some light, the epitome of a stalker's desire.
"Every single one is of Simon," Olivia whispered, eyes glued to the collage, a large lump seeming to stick in her throat. "Richard White has been following Simon too."
"Olivia," Elliot said, placing his hand on her shoulder to snap her back to reality. "Call your brother and tell him to get out. Tell him to get out of the house right now!"
Her voice shook with the nerves she couldn't calm. "Why?"
"Because these pictures are fresh," Elliot said, running a fingertip over the wet ink and showing his now black riddled finger. "Seconds after we left Simon alone at your apartment Richard White took off to go after him because he somehow knew that he was there. He knows that Simon is there without us and he will kill him."
Her fingers moved across the buttons of her phone and she listened closely to the dial tone, her eyes widening. "He's not answering."
He could see than anguish cross her face and all he wanted to do was trade places with her, make everything go away but he couldn't. Instead, he told her that everything would be okay even though he doubted that the words he was speaking were true and rushed her out, driving like a madman in the direction of her apartment. There were several occasions where he almost got them killed with his frantic driving but she payed it no mind.
She just wanted Simon to be okay.
She flew up the stairs two at at time, unlocking the door quicker than she ever thought possible. "Simon?" she called out, panic lilting her voice. "Simon!"
When she heard no answer, the tears began to flood in her eyes as the many possibilities raced through her psyche. Suddenly she stopped as she saw the large pool of crimson on the ground and the hand of Elliot at her waist.
"Olivia," Elliot soothed. "We don't know that this is Simon's blood."
"That's too much blood. Nobody could survive that," Olivia choked out, her hand covering her heart as if she could not withstand the pain. "Nobody."
Her breath caught in her throat as she turned, burying her face in the crook of Elliot's neck, fingers splayed across his back as if she never wanted to let go. She gripped him so tightly and he rested his chin on the top of her head, hearing her whisper only a few words over and over: Please let him be okay.
All Elliot could do was hold her in his arms as his eyes stayed focused on the piercing crimson stain that covered the floor.
