A/N: Ok a lot more about the case in this chapter. I promise to get back to the Olivia and Elliot show next week. ;) Hope you enjoy it! :)
Chapter 6
"Police! Open up!" Fin yelled at Vanessa Mayer's door. Silence was his only answer and he smirked before nodding to the SWAT Team Leader to break down the door. Quickly he, Rollins, Amaro, and the team of officers sent with them searched the apartment.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Damn!" Fin shook his head. The place was completely void of any humans. The cat gave them a look before running for cover.
"She isn't here and I don't think she'll be coming back either," Amaro called from the bedroom. Quickly Rollins and Fin joined him and looked upon the scene there. The closet was half empty and dresser drawers were laid out on the bed.
"She took off. For her own safety or because she's got to handle Calvin?" Rollins asked.
"I have no idea," Amaro shook his head.
"We have to search this place for clues. There is something in this apartment that will lead us to Calvin or at least to finger Lewis in something," Fin told them. Quickly they split up and went through the apartment. Rollins gathered up the cat in its carrier and some of its toys and food.
"What you going to do with that?" Fin asked, knowing that with Frannie at home, the cat would be dead meat.
"I want this guy dusted prints or swabbed or whatever it is you need to do. There is what looks like blood on his back paws," Rollins said, handing the cat to the CSI on the scene.
"Blood?" Amaro asked.
"That's what it looks like and it's my guess that Vanessa didn't leave here to save her own ass either," Rollins pointed to the kitchen and the two detectives followed her into the room.
"If you label your pet food for what day of the week when Fluffy gets his expensive cat food and you have a little corner of the room all decked out for him, you don't leave him behind," she said.
"This lady is crazy," Fin shook his head.
"Before or after she met Lewis?" Amaro wondered. Fin shrugged and noticed the phone attached to the wall. He scooped up a pad of paper that was on the counter.
"We better dump her phone records and take this to forensics," he said.
"Hopefully this leads somewhere otherwise we have to try to get it out of Lewis which isn't the easiest thing to do," Rollins sighed. The group then split up and got back to looking for more clues.
Later at the hospital, Elliot was sitting with Olivia in the ICU. She had yet to regain consciousness and the nurse said that she didn't expect her to for a while as the treatment prescribed by the specialist required an ice bath. The bath was keeping Olivia's core temperature just above the hypothermia level in an effort to corral the major swelling occurring at her spine. The machines beeped and whirred but other than that silence reigned in the room.
Munch had Charlotte out in the waiting room and he was running updates and receiving them from the team in the field.
"All right, thanks Captain. I'll tell Elliot. No, she hasn't woken up yet. The doctors are having a specialist coming in. Yeah I'll let them know you're thinking and doing the best you can. Let you know of any updates," Munch said before hanging up.
"Sir, this is a hospital. You need to go outside if you are going to use your cell phone," the nurses had finally had enough.
"I am Sergeant Munch with the NYPD. Olivia Stabler is a detective under my command. I just got off the phone with my Captain. You want me to explain to him why he couldn't talk to me and relay important information about the case because I had to go outside to take my phone calls? You want me to tell him I had to put his goddaughter in someone else's hands so I could take a phone call?" It was the first time Munch was showing any emotion and he immediately regretted taking it out on the nurse.
"I didn't realize you were so close to the detective," she said.
"I'm sorry it's just that I've worked with her for fourteen years and we've handled a lot of perps but never anyone like this," he gave a slight smile.
"That man they brought in with her?" The nurse asked.
"The guy with the knee problems, yeah," Munch nodded. She nodded and the look on her face said to him that something was up.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"He's been real flirty with the nurses. It's not that we don't get that occasionally but he's just…"
"Creepy," Munch finished.
"Yeah, creepy," she nodded.
"Watch out for yourselves and if he gives you any trouble, you call for the officers outside his door," he told her. She nodded and then left him alone. Despite everything that had happened and his obvious fate, Lewis was still being disgusting.
"Sergeant Munch," Barba said as he approached him.
"ADA Barba, back so soon," Munch gave him a questioning look.
"Jack McCoy wants me to keep pressuring him for answers. His new lawyer has played ball so far but I was wondering if I could borrow you for a moment," Barba asked.
"To do what?" Munch asked.
"I want you to help me make Lewis think we have Vanessa. I want you to help make it believable. If he thinks the game is up, he might spill information," the ADA told him.
"He played hypotheticals last time," Munch said.
"Yes but hypotheticals might be all we need. The writing pad that forensics is analyzing is taking longer than they thought and the longer we put off the more than likely chance something bad happened to Calvin. The substance that Rollins found on the cat was blood," Barba said.
"So Calvin could have been in her apartment?" Munch was shocked.
"Yes I think so and I think the reason that Vanessa left her cat behind was because she was hoping to leave a clue," the ADA posited.
"Not much of one besides why would she help us now?" Munch asked.
"Because she knows what happened to the last woman who tried to help Lewis," Barba pointed out.
To Be Continued…