Chapter 7: On the Run

The 2-7 spent all weekend looking for their killer. They had a suspect, Pierce Marsh who fit the physical description Cassie left and an apartment in the Bronx and had two priors: assault and larceny.

They staked out his place with an unmarked car down the street.

"He wasn't in when we called his supervisor and he hasn't tried to come back," Green reported to his boss.

He had a blue 99 Taurus that they had a BOLO out for.

"What about his employer?"

"He got fired about a month before the murders. His coworkers hadn't heard from him since." He had been working at a White Castle.

They combed through his financials looking for anything that would connect him to Jessica or Henry Walter, but they were coming up blank.

"He picked this house for a reason," Van Buren told them. "I want you to find out why?"

Alex didn't have a babysitter available, so she brought Cassie to work. She had headphones for the girl, so she wouldn't hear the ADAs talking about murder and a coloring book to fill in while Alex did her job.

Knock Knock.

"Come in!"

It was her secretary. "A Toni Brixton is on the phone from DCFS."

Of course. Alex told her to transfer the call.

"Miss. Cabot!"

"Alex is fine."

"Why hasn't Cassandra been turned over to DCFS?"

"Because she's safe and sound right here."

"We have protocols."

"I am well aware Miss Brixton, but she's four years old, both her parents were murdered, and their killer is still out there. Until we know why their house is targeted, it would be unsafe to let her out of our sight. What if she's a target?"

"You think she's safer with you?"

"I work in a secure access building, and I live in one as well. How many foster parents would take on a child if they knew that she might be the target of a psychopathic killer?"

"Would they have to …"

"I would be ethically bound to inform them," Alex warned.

"I suppose she can stay with you until the killer is arrested."

"Thank you."

Target

"You don't really think Cassie's a target do you?" Trevor asked her over lunch.

"I hope not," Alex told him, "but I'm not sure what this case is all about. Why did he break into the house while everyone was home? What was he there to take? Was he acting alone?

I don't want Cassie in foster care at all, and I certainly don't want her out of my sight until we can answer those questions."

"How is Buttercup doing?"

"She's adjusting. She talks about her parents a lot, which I think is good, but I just feel so terrible. I just want to wave a magic wand and bring them back."

"You're doing the best for her," Langan told her. "It's all you can do Lex."

"Her parents used to play music and she would sing along. I'm getting my piano out of storage, so we can have our own musical Friday."

"And you didn't invite me," Trevor said dramatically.

Alex winked, "do you still have it?"

"You know I do."

"Friday at 7PM."

Say Goodbye

On Wednesday morning, Cassie said her final goodbye to her parents. Alex arranged for a private funeral for the philanthropists, and had deferred to Jessica's and Walter's friends when it came to the guest list.

Scores of people came: doctors and nurses from the hospital, college classmates of Jessica and staff from the charity where Henry and Jessica had both volunteered.

The media was outside the gate, snapping pictures and gossiping over the guest list, but they stayed back. Alex told them under no uncertain terms if they tried to sneak into the funeral, she would have them arrested for trespassing.

All of the cameramen were trying to get pictures of little Cassie . She wore a black dress and clutched to Toby as Alex held her hand.

The Bureau Chief imagined that her mother's funeral had been just like this.

Jessica's best friend, Anna, gave the eulogy.

"I last spoke to Jessica on Friday afternoon. She and Henry had been planning a family vacation. I still can't believe that I'm never going to have dinner with them at their house or watch Jessica cheat as she knocks her husband into a dunking booth at the charity fair.

Jessica and Henry were a lot of things to a lot of people: parents, benefactors, friends, doctor or ally. And for every one of us, that thing they were was positive. I know I'm a better person for having had them in my lives and it would be a strain to think of someone who didn't feel that way about them.

They lived to put smiles on other people's faces, that's what made them really happy. Instead of mourning the tragic way that they died, I ask you to celebrate the way they lived, to do the little things that can really make a difference in someone's life, anything from holding open a door for someone who's arms are full to donating blood if you are eligible. I'd like to think that every time I make someone smile, Henry and Jessica are smiling down at me."

After Henry and Jessica were laid to rest, Alex and Cassie left flowers at their graves.

Henry Adam Walker, 1970-2007 Beloved Husband and Father. With his hands, he saved lives.

Jessica Greenfield Walker 1974-2007, Beloved Wife and Mother. With her words, she brought joy.

Alex gave Cassie some time to say whatever she wanted to say.

"Mommy, I really miss you and Daddy, and I hope that God is taking good care of you now. I don't live in the house anymore. It's too scary without you and Daddy. Alex is going to be my new Mama. She takes care of me and we live on Park Ave now. I think you would have liked her."

Obsession

Wednesday

Olivia was testifying for the grand jury in the Stacey Peterson case. They had arrested her college ex-boyfriend for the rape. She got struck from behind and she didn't see him, but security cameras showed him lying in wait outside of her building.

He also went nuts when the police questioned him. He didn't say that he raped her, but he said that he loved her and he had to save her from her fiancée whose engagement she had just announced in the NYT. He claimed that she had voluntarily come with him and they "made love," before she left under her own power.

Olivia had gotten the confession herself. This guy made her sick, and she wanted him to fry.

"How did you come across the defendant?"

"We went through the security camera footage for the bodega across the street from Stacy's apartment building. We saw him on the footage day after day and in the hours leading up to her attack."

"What did you do when you saw the defendant?"

"We printed out a picture and asked Stacey if she recognized him?"

"And what did she say?"

"That he was her ex-boyfriend Jace Masters."

"Did she have an ongoing relationship with him?"

"No. She said she hadn't seen him since graduation."

"She never invited him over to her apartment."

"No. She never told him where she lived."

"How did he find her building?"

"He followed her from work."

"And how do you know that?"

"He told me."

Casey's questions elicited what Jace had told the detectives and how they knew he was lying.

"There was no evidence that she had any relationship with him. She never called him or texted him. She never sent any e-mails. She never went out on dates with him.

He was obsessed with her and when he learned she was marrying someone else, he lost it. He hit her on the head while she was trying to get home, took her to his apartment, raped and beat her and left her in the alley."

"Did he tell you anything that helped you reach this conclusion?"

"He told me that since she was found in the alley, she was damaged goods. Her fiancée wouldn't want her anymore."

"He raped her to try and ruin her engagement."

"Yes, he thought she would take him back if she didn't have anyone else."

It only took two hours for the grand jury to vote for the indictment.

Casey already got a phone call from Jace's attorney asking to talk about a deal.

"He wants his client to be able to plead guilty but mentally ill." The guy clearly had psychological issues and didn't seem to understand that Stacey wasn't his girlfriend and wouldn't be coming back for him.

"What does that mean?"

"It means he goes to jail, but he gets extensive mental health treatment while he's in there. He's also away from the general population."

Olivia wondered if Jace was really as sick as he purported to be, but he knew Casey was sensitive to mental illness after what happened to Charlie.

"I know you'll do the right thing."

They shared a quick kiss before heading back to work.

Friday

It took until 5PM, but they finally had a deal. Jace would be going away for 5-8 years and if he was still not sane, then he would go to a mental hospital until it was safe for him to be released.

Olivia wanted him to go to prison for a lot longer, given that he kidnapped, raped, beat, and left his victim out in an alley, but if he was as crazy as she acted, then they would be able to keep him in the hospital for a long time.

"Drinks at Mulligans to celebrate?" Stabler questioned.

"I'm in," Fin said.

They were all in and went to get to the bar.

Someone Special

Olivia got the first round. She needed a good beer to get the edge off. This week was a rough one.

"I can't stay too long," Stabler commented. "I did say I'd be home for dinner."

"I guess it will be us four for the evening," Fin commented, "Unless Liv and Casey plan on sneaking away."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "We will do whatever we care to do and you need not be concerned."

"Munch, you up for throwing it down with me."

"Actually, I have plans this evening?"

Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"You find Mrs. Munch #5?"

"I'm having dinner with a friend."

"A female friend?" Fin questioned.

Olivia wondered if it was Alex. He would have said so, or would he?

"Do we know this female friend?" Stabler questioned.

"I believe you've met her before."

John was the first to leave. He had to get the dough made.

Once he was gone, Stabler and Fin gave each other a knowing look.

"What?" Casey questioned.

"I have a feeling he's going to dinner with an ADA that we used to know," Fin said directly.

For people who aren't dating, they spend a lot of time together.

Alex had no idea how to make a pizza from scratch. She could buy pre-made dough and buy the sauce and the shredded cheese, and layer it all together, but John apparently was more old school.

She bought what he said to buy, and he was going to work his magic.

Alex had on a simple pink tank top and jeans. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on flip-flops. It was a virtual 180 from her normal court attire.

The doorbell rang and when she answered it, John whistled. "Someone is looking fabulous."

"I just threw this on," she retorted.

"You could make a trash bag look chic."

"Maybe I'll wear one to court. Come in John. Cassie! John is here."

"Hi John!" She ran up to him with a drawing she did.

"Hi Cassie, ready to help me make a pizza?"

"Yeah."

They washed their hands and got to work.

Cassie was too short to reach the top of the counter, so she had to use a stepping stool.

"First, we're going to make the dough."

John did the measuring and let Cassie add everything to the bowl.

"Mix it up with your hands until it's no longer sticky."

"It's weird feeling," Cassie laughed as she kneaded the dough.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Alex questioned.

"If you could wash the arugula and set it out to dry."

Alex got right to it. Who knew Munch could make pizza?

They made the dough, made pizza sauce and mixed the mascarpone with shaved black truffles to serve as the base.

It all went into a pre-heated oven.

"Where did you learn to make pizza?" Alex questioned.

"I used to live in Italy," Munch told her, "Naples to be exact, and I lived above a pizzeria because the rent was cheap. The woman who ran it needed an extra pair of hands, so she taught me how to make pizzas, and then paid me to help make them."

"Parli Italiano?"

"Alcuni."

Trevor came just as the pizza was coming out of the oven.

"You would arrive after all the work was already done."

"That's why I'm partner at my firm."

After the pizza came out, and when it came out, John topped it with prosciutto, arugula, and Parmesan cheese.

"Dig in everyone."

John's pizza was a big hit. Soon, it was all gone.

Now it was time for music. They started discussing what they could play and how they learned.

Alex and Trevor had been singing buddies for two decades. They had been in the same choir during elementary school.

"We were even in a band together once," Trevor commented. They had a friend Buggy who played the drums. Trevor was on guitar and Alex would sing and play the piano.

"My mother taught me how to play the piano," Alex said. "She deemed artistic talent a necessary part of being a lady, and God knows I can't paint, so I played piano instead."

"I learned to play the flute because I wanted a hobby where I didn't have to talk to the people I went to high school with," John admitted.

"I learned to play the guitar by hanging around people in garage bands and going to underground concerts, just local battle of the bands stuff," Trevor added.

They started with a simple song from the Aristocats, Scales and Arpeggios. Alex sat on the piano with Cassie right at her side.

Cassie sang Marie's part; John was Berlioz, and Alex, of course, was the Duchess.

It had been a long time since Trevor had heard Alex sing, well live anyway. He still had the recordings from when they were younger.

Too bad she plays for the other team.

If it weren't for that, he thought they could have gone the distance. It was impossible not to fall a little bit in love with Alex while she sang, voice of an angel.

"You're up Trevor, unless you're going to wimp out," Alex teased.

Trevor:

Everybody wants to be a cat,

because a cat's the only cat

who knows where it's at.

Cassie fell asleep pretty early in the night.

Alex got Cassie in her pjs and got her into bed.

Friends

"The night is so young," Trevor looked and it was only 8:30.

"We did start our evening at 6:30," Alex reminded him.

"I usually don't leave my apartment before 10PM."

"You have anything stronger than orange juice?" Munch questioned.

She fished out her Scotch and they started to get to know each other, this being the first time these three adults hung out together.

"What's the one topic you don't want to talk about?" Munch started with.

"You want me to say what I won't say."

"You know you've truly arrived in a friendship when you say the things you wouldn't say to your other 'friends.' I want to know when we've made it."

It was an easy answer for Alex, "Olivia."

John expected as much. "Mine is my father."

Trevor said "Louise Robinson," but neither Alex nor John knew who she was.

After they got that out the way, they started talking about lighter topics. Munch told them about life in Baltimore and why he had moved there.

"My family basically disintegrated. My brothers don't speak, and my mother was in her own world so I decided to take a job in a new city. I moved to Baltimore and joined the police force there, where I was a homicide cop."

Munch had crazy stories, about how he had met each of his four ex-wives. Alex could tell that he actually did believe in true love; he just never found it.

"It sounds like you kept falling for women who couldn't keep up with you intellectually. They can't appreciate the genius behind your ramblings."

"So I need to marry a librarian next?"

"Or maybe filter for intelligence before you filter for looks."

"Now that's blasphemy," Trevor insisted.

"Just a thought."

"An intriguing one," Munch said as he poured himself more Scotch.

Trevor hadn't met anyone special. "I don't know where I'd find a girlfriend at this point. I don't want to date anyone in my office; it's a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen if it doesn't work out, and I don't really meet people outside of work."

"You could go for a woman in a rival firm, have a dramatic law saga that can appear on Nancy Grace?" Alex teased.

"You're such a brat!"

"I can't say I'm primed to meet anyone either. Hi, I'm Alex, I came back from the dead, am estranged from my family, and I have a four year old daughter."

"Now that's a pick up line," Munch said. "Just go out with whomever you don't scare away."

Alex rolled her eyes. Eventually, the bottle was gone and it was getting late.

"I'll bring something next week," Trevor said.

"It's going to be tequila isn't it?"

"You know me well, Lex."