Author's Notes: Damn arthritis waking me up at ass o'clock. *grumbles* So yeah here we have the next installment. I'm not truly happy with it because I know this violates A LOT of laws but honestly I needed to do it for the sake of making this thing work. I did some research trying to figure out where to set this thing and couldn't come up with anything in the New York area I liked so I figured why the hell don't I just take it South? So that's what I did. Sorry about all the stretches on this one. I know it's going to bother some people.
Anyways there was something else I wanted to address. A review actually. Now normally I hate doing that mostly because I feel like it's a load of crap but I wanted to clear some things up in case anyone was wondering what was going on. First of all I want to thank Laurel Hardy (hope I spelled that right) for giving me some constructive feedback. It's exactly what I wanted and thank you for taking the time to do so. I feel like I haven't made things clear hence why I'm not satisfied with it totally. I will likely once it's through go through and re-edit it and add some things that are missing and this will be one of them. There are many reasons why Elliot is unfriendly and frankly angry with Julia. First being her uncaring attitude towards well everything. She seems to just be jerking them around while a killer gets away with murder. I also feel that Elliot being the family man he is (which I respect immensely) would worry that the victim who during this time would be about the same age his two oldest daughters (or at least around their age) could've easily been them. He takes this one a bit personally which I intended to reveal later as to why that happens. He will eventually in the course of things warm up to Julia. But it's going to take some convincing on her part that she actually gives a shit. Really he also knows the only reason she's talking to them at all is because of Alex. She wouldn't lift a finger to help if it hadn't been for her and that makes him angry because to him the fact that a girl was killed over something as senseless as what appears to be nothing but a giant sex party (which is acutally much deeper and will be revealed to be such later). Not to mention he also knows Olivia's feelings for Alex and he doesn't appreciate the way she's being sort of jerked around by Julia suddenly appearing and the reminders of what is obviously a deep relationship with Alex being thrown in his partner's face. He's protective of Olivia after all.
So I hope that cleared some reasons why he's so upset/angry with Julia at first. I'm very sorry that it didn't come through that that was what was going on. That's my fault as a writer since I didn't make it quite clear enough. And again thank you very much for the criticism. I really do appreciate it as it made me realize that I didn't make it clear. Now enough of my yammering. Onward to the story...which is a bit longer...woo!
Chapter 6:
A month passed with the Detectives o f the 1-6 basically forgetting about the strange story and the even stranger woman that had told it to them. Though both Stabler and Benson were upset that they couldn't bring their Jane Doe's killer to justice they had to move on to cases that needed solving just as badly. So it was a shock to everyone when the same strange woman came waltzing in like she belonged there.
"Can I help you Ma'am?" Sergeant Munch asked immediately rising to his feet with a smile on his face. Always the ladies man, he wasn't about to let the opportunity pass to admire one of the fairer sex.
"Will you give it a damn rest? She's not here to see your bony white ass." Fin cursed from his place watching Munch trying to hit on the redheaded woman.
She laughed, "It's all right. Actually I do need help. I'm looking for a Detective Stabler and a Detective Benson?" She asked still smiling.
"They're in questioning a suspect right now. Perhaps I can help you?" Munch offered looking over the top of his glasses at her.
She laughed and shook her head. "No, but thank you for the offer. Is there any place I can wait on them that I'll be out of the way?"
"Of course I'll take you up to the lounge." Munch easily led her to the stairs up the where the crib was. It would be the best place for her to wait out of the way.
Julia settled herself on the well worn couch waiting for the Detectives to join her. She hadn't told anyone she was making this trip nor did she inform Alex she would be here. She shifted her purse and began to dig for a piece of gum pulling it out and unwrapping it with surprisingly delicate fingers. She popped the piece into her mouth smiling when Detective Stabler's head and then body appeared coming up the stairs.
"Good afternoon Detective Stabler. How are you?" She asked politely.
Stabler stared at her with wide eyes a bit shocked that she would just walk into the precinct. Olivia for her part was in a state of shock as well. She gave the woman a bit of thought every now and then but for the most part she didn't think about her that often. And now here she was sitting in their lounge like she belonged there.
"What can we do for you today Julia?" Elliot asked even though he gritted his teeth a bit having to be so polite to her.
"It won't kill you to smile will it?" She asked with a smile of her own. "Well I've actually come here to tell you I think I can help you with your case if you're still interested in it."
Elliot looked at Olivia they both exchanged silent words with the look before nodding. "All right. What sort of help are you offering?" Olivia asked.
"It took a while but I managed to get back into Decadence's good graces. They're having a party in a month's time. I know it's not much time but it's going to be the best chance you've got at finding your killer. One of the members owns his own private island in the Caribbean and he's offered to allow all the members to come down for a week long extravaganza on the Island. Everyone who is a part of Decadence is attending. I know it's out of your jurisdiction and you couldn't arrest your killer until we got back to the states but this will be your shot at finding out who did it. If you're interested that is."
"And what would we have to do to get to this extravaganza as you call it." Elliot asked looking at Olivia again.
"Well for starters we'll have to come up with some fake identities for you. Put all of that in place. I came here to give you two enough time to do so. Secondly I'm only allowed to bring one guest and frankly since neither of you are known you're likely to get turned down for it. So we'll have to come up with another way to get you in." Julia stood up. "Of course Alexandra is known to them. Well I suppose that's all up to you how you wish to proceed. Alexandra has my number. She can get a hold of me once you've all decided what to do. I'll see you later Detectives. Have a good rest of the day." She stepped past them and walked down the stairs.
Elliot turned watching as Munch stood up smiling brightly at her.
"Thank you very much for all your help earlier. It was very sweet of you."
"Don't encourage him!" Fin yelled smiling at her.
She giggled and waved before she walked out her boots clicking and her hair moving with each step.
"So let me get this straight. " Captain Cragen was speaking to his two best Detectives. "You two want me to authorize this whole thing based on what this woman has said? How do we know it's not a hoax? And where does Cabot stand on this whole thing since she's going to be brought into this as well?"
"She wants to see justice done." Olivia put in. "She says what this woman says is valid and that we should trust her. It's the only lead we've got Captain. I know it's a stretch and it's out of our jurisdiction but I think it's a valid lead and she is going to be our way in."
Elliot made a face which Cragen noticed. "You're not buying this?"
"I don't like her Captain. But I do think it's worth checking out. I just hope it doesn't prove to be a waste of time and resources."
"Have you tried to find out anything about her?" Cragen asked folding his arms. "Without a last name and an address it's impossible."
"She did say she worked as a professional Dominatrix. Some of the clubs may know her." Olivia offered.
"Go see what you can find out about her. I'll set this all up if it looks like we can trust her. Ask Cabot about her too. She may not want to say but she brought this woman into it and she'll know more about her than what you've got so far." Cragen ordered.
Olivia bit her lip not happy to bring up this woman's relationship with Alex but she nodded.
"How the hell did I get elected to be the one to talk to Alex about this?" Olivia muttered to herself as she made her way to the beautiful ADA's office.
"Come in." Alex called as soon as she heard the knocking at her door.
"Detective. What can I do for you today?" Alex asked setting her paperwork done as she looked at her.
"Well I know we haven't brought it up or anything in the last month but do you remember the Jane Doe case? The one where you asked your friend Julia about it?"
"Yes? What does Julia have to do with anything?" Alex asked arching her brow. She hadn't spoken to her former mistress since that day in her office a solid month ago.
"She came to the precinct the other day. Said she had a way into Decadence if we wanted to take it. She told us how to do it but the Captain isn't going to sign off on anything unless he knows for certain she's not going to get us killed or anything like that."
"Or that she's not responsible for the murder and it's not just some elaborate cover up?" Alex supplied easily. She sighed. "I haven't seen her in a year or so, I couldn't tell you what she's been doing but she's perfectly sane from what I know of her. " Alex sighed softly. "Let me call her. I'll see what she's willing to share with you."
Olivia nodded, "That would be best. At least we can get an idea of what we're looking at."
Alex nodded and lifted her phone from it's cradle. She dialed a number she remembered well and waited. "Julia? It's Alexandra. The Detectives told me what's going on. They said they're captain wouldn't agree to sign off on anything until they knew the information was coming from a credible source." Alex waited. "Let me get a pen and I'll write it down." Olivia watched as Alex began to jot down various things. When she finally hung up the phone she held out the legal pad to her. "Here. She said this is everything you should need. Her address, her real name, her date of birth everything."
Olivia reached out taking the pad and looked down. "Audra? That's her real name? I thought it would be more exotic."
Alex cracked a smile. "Julia was her great grandmother's name. From what I remember her telling me they were apparently a lot alike. That's where it came from. "
"You knew her real name this whole time?" Olivia asked feeling a bit hurt that Alex hadn't shared that to start with.
"Yes I knew it. But it wasn't for me to share. That was her decision to make. She's given you what you need. Go and do the background check and tell me what you find out." Alex lifted her pen beginning to work on her paperwork a clear dismissal to Olivia.
"Her real name is Audra Dickerson. She's thirty seven. She's descendent from the Carnegies so she's got quite a bit of old money. She lives on 5th Avenue in a penthouse apartment her grandfather bought and left to her in his will. She's got no record, only a parking ticket which she promptly paid. She went to school at NYU and then went to law school but she doesn't practice." Elliot explained as he and Olivia sat in Captain Cragen's Office. "She also owns a few buildings left from her grandfather. One is a converted club, the other one is a dance studio and office buildings. She doesn't seem to have much to do with either of them from what we can tell. She rents out the space. She has two cars registered one is a BMW convertible, the other one is a Toyota Sequoia. I even checked out her passport, she was abroad when she told us she was. In fact when Cabot brought us to meet her the first time she had only been back a night according to her flight log. Her mother lives in Japan so she was over there visiting her from the looks of it. I can call her mother and find out if she was there." Elliot offered.
"That's not necessary. Check her passport and make sure that's true. If the stamps are there she's good." Cragen shook his head. "Have you been to her address to make sure it's not fake?"
"I don't think one could fake a penthouse on fifth." Olivia muttered. "We could go and knock on the door see if she answers."
"We do need to speak with her about all this. We could just say we were in the neighborhood?" Elliot offered. Olivia nodded willing to see what they were getting into.
Cragen rose from his desk. "Then let's go. I want to meet this woman for myself."
"Detectives? How are you?" Julia answered the door on their third time knocking. The doorman had been hesitant to let them in but a flash of their badges had gotten him to agree.
"I'm sorry. I don't think we've met before. I'm Julia. Or Audra as I'm sure you've come to know me as." The redhead held out her hand to Cragen.
Cragen took it and nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'm Captain Cragen."
"It's nice to meet you Captain. But please don't call me Ma'am. Makes me want to look around for my mother. Come inside. Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked as she stepped back offering her home to them willingly. The penthouse was as immaculate as they'd thought it would be. Marble floors in the foyer, crown molding, all the fanciness of an Upper West Side Apartment.
"We're fine. What we came to speak to you about is what you told my Detectives. I need you to elaborate on that and let me know what they're getting themselves into."
"Of course. Let's go to the den and we'll talk." She led them to her den which was wood paneled with rich dark leather sofa and chairs. A large flat screen sat in the corner near the fireplace with its gas logs all ready going.
"So I'm sure they've told you some of the details all ready so I'll skip over what they've heard before and start into the meat of things if you will. Decadence e is first and foremost is a BDSM type of club. There will be lots of that on the island. It's a private island owned by the CEO of a large software company. I'll give you the name so you can see if it's legitimate if you wish."
"We would appreciate that." Cragen nodded finding the woman rather agreeable unlike his Detectives.
"Of course. Now the thing to be concerned about are the thorough background checks performed on everyone. Not just the ones who are coming in the positions of power. If they catch anything out of the ordinary the whole thing will be compromised. And they're not one to take that lightly. The girl was definitely one of theirs. When I spoke to one of my friends who's still with the club he confirmed for me that one of the girls was missing but they had all assumed she'd decided to leave which they're free to do as you know. But he wouldn't tell me her name or anything of the sort. I couldn't pry seeing as it would raise suspicions."
Olivia folded her arms as she listened. She was thankful for the fire burning nearby that thawed her out from the cold outside that seemed to have seeped into her bones.
"So did my background check turn out all right? I assume it did or we wouldn't be here talking about all this? I appreciate your discretion on the matter."
"It did." Cragen confirmed taking the lead and letting his Detectives take in their surroundings since they seemed uncomfortable in her presence. She nodded and smiled.
"So we would need to set your Detectives up and get things working in that way. Alexandra will be fine. She's rather well known to them I'm afraid. But she's not in any danger. They would be thrilled to have her show up."
Cragen's brow furrowed but he didn't ask instead he nodded, "It is out of our jurisdiction and I typically wouldn't sanction this operation for the dangers it puts my people in."
"I understand that but with all due respect you're not going to get another chance at having all of these people in the one place at the same time. It's your only chance to figure it out. I gave you enough time to decide what to do and get everything working. As is that's the best I can do. If you decide you want to go through with this I'm perfectly willing to help out in any way to make things smoother and make sure there is no chance of complications. I put myself on the line as well. These people don't take betrayal of their world lightly and seeing as my grandfather was one of the founders, I put my own reputation on the line. So there's no need for a worry about me breaking cover. I know what's at risk here."
Cragen took a breath, "If I set this up, if I allow this to happen and the murderer turns out to not be there my people are going to be in trouble."
"Your murderer is there Captain. It's just a matter of eliminating those that weren't a part of it. A week should be plenty of time to do so. And once everyone flies back to New York you can arrest him or her as soon as the plane touches down. "
Cragen looked at his Detectives and nodded, "All right can you give us the name of the CEO and we'll look it up and make sure everything checks out?"
"Of course. I'll be right back I left it in my office." Julia rose to her feet moving across the carpeted floor and down the hallway to her office.
"Here it is. It was nice getting to meet you Captain. I'll see you next time Detectives." She smiled as she walked with them to the door holding out a scrap of paper for Cragen to take. He took it and nodded walking out with his detectives.
"I don't like it. It's risky." Cragen said shaking his head as soon as they got back to the precinct.
"I checked the flight log. Frank Hermann has a plane chartered to take a group of guests to his private island in the Caribbean next month." Olivia confirmed looking up at Cragen. "She's telling the truth Captain. Her name was on the manifesto."
Cragen bit his lip, "Okay. If you two are sure you want to do this."
"We are Captain. We'll talk to Cabot too bring her up to speed and let her talk to Julia. I know there is going to be a lot more preparation then just all this." Elliot sat back putting his hands behind his head as he stretched back in his chair.
"Do it. And I'll set this thing up."
Author's Ending Notes: All right now we're getting somewhere. *rubs hands together* I'll likely get the next chapter up this afternoon but we'll see where it goes. I gotta run some more errands when I re-wake up from my short nap that I'm planning to take as soon as the naproxen kicks in and shuts the pain in my knees down. Let me know what you think yeah? And like I said I know I've stretched laws EVERYWHERE. Sorry about that. Just let me know what you think yeah? And again constructive criticism only please.