A/N: Shouts out to Faith Ann Tucker and my anonymous reviewer. So glad you liked it. A little more EO is on the way. ;)

Chapter 9

They were at the crime scene for almost two hours but they had gathered all the information they could along with Mr. El-Amin. The Muslim man was terrified that he was on someone's hit list and the detectives figured it'd be the best thing to bring him in.

"I am a religious man surely you cannot think I did this," he said to Munch and Fin who had brought him into the interrogation room.

"Religious men have done plenty of terrible things in the name of their beliefs," the Jewish man told him.

"Allah knows it. We shall all be judged when we meet our maker and those that drag his name through their twisted beliefs will be very surprised," El-Amin nodded.

"I'm with you on that one. Now why do you think these weird things keep happening around your restaurant?" Munch asked.

"The only thing I can think of is my religion and my skin color. My neighbors and I get along just fine and they have been helping me through this. I have told my wife to stay home for fear that something could happen to her," he explained.

"How'd she take that decision?" Fin wanted to know.

"Well she was upset. We worked very hard to get to this country and run our restaurant but it seems somehow I got a target painted on my back and I'll not have her get in harm's way; especially after the dumpster fire. What if this kidnapper saw me? What am I to do? What about my wife?" El-Amin's fear seemed genuine.

"First, how do we know that it wasn't you who kidnapped that girl?" Fin narrowed his eyes at him.

"I installed security cameras after that poor woman was found in the alley. The video proves I didn't do it!" El-Amin pointed out.

"You could have paid someone to lead suspicion off of you. You know I can smell a conspiracy a mile away," Munch said.

"No offense but the guy you're looking for doesn't exactly fit into my friend list," the Middle-Eastern man told them.

"Got something against white guys?" Fin gave him a look.

"White guys? I told you the guy in the beige Honda with Jersey plates and it was a Hispanic guy," El-Amin cocked an eyebrow.

"You just said the magic words," Olivia said as she walked into the interrogation room.

"Pardon?" Their witness was confused.

"The crime scene guys confirmed that you installed those cameras and they have the tape of a dark-skinned man pulling a woman into a beige Honda with Jersey plates," she explained.

"You see I wasn't lying to you!" El-Amin was relieved. Just then Captain Cragen entered the room and Olivia left heading back out into the squad room. Despite all the excitement, Elliot was still nowhere to be seen. Olivia frowned, knowing that he hadn't left since his jacket was on the back of the chair behind his desk.

"Briscoe, have you seen Stabler?" She asked of the younger detective.

"Cribs last time I checked," he smiled at her. Olivia nodded and headed over to the bunkroom. She knocked but when she got no response she entered.

"El, there you are," she said. Her partner was sitting on one of the beds, his head in his hands.

"She's threatening to fight for custody of the kids. Say that I lied in the original divorce papers and take me to court," he said without looking up at her.

"What?" Olivia sank down next to him.

"This is turning into the ugly thing that I didn't want," he pulled his hands away from his face and heaved a sigh. Olivia could tell that he was in one of those moods where his emotions didn't meet with the tough exterior façade of a former Marine and police detective. While Elliot Stabler had anger issues, the rest of his emotions often never worked their way to the surface.

"Look we'll do whatever it takes for you to fight this. She can't win on suspicion that we're in a relationship, especially since we aren't," Olivia said. Elliot turned to look at her but she couldn't place the look on his face.

"What?" She asked confused.

"We?" He asked.

"I'm your partner. I'm here for you. Now get your rear in gear mister. We have a case to solve," with that she leaned in kissed him on the temple and headed out of the cribs. What were you thinking? She shook her head and headed for the coffee pot, hoping that she hadn't just made a big mistake.

To Be Continued…