Chapter 7: The Second Family

Our kissing became frenzied, and his hands were sliding up and down my sides and then grabbed my ass. I groaned with pleasure and grabbed at the hem of his shirt to pull it off. I didn't want any of this to stop, I was ready to see and feel all of Elliot. I suddenly felt him pull him away and we were both trying to catch our breath.

O: "What's wrong El?"

E: "Nothing at all, it's all too right Liv. I don't want to go too fast though. Not that long ago, you said you weren't ready and were concerned about us losing our friendship. As much as I don't want to stop this, our friendship is more important, and I want to make sure the moment is right. You are in the middle of a horrible case right now and I don't think it's the right time."

I couldn't believe he was the one putting on the brakes. I know I said I wasn't ready all those months ago, but I was more than ready now. My body was burning with desire, and I have never wanted anyone more in my whole life. I pushed back away from him and leaned back on the couch letting out a long sigh.

E: "Liv, I want you more than you will ever know but I also want us to always have a relationship with no regrets."

O: "You're right El. We should take it slow."

He reached up and placed a hand on my face and rubbed his thumb across my cheek. His touch felt so good. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to regroup. The exhaustion of the day started to catch up with me and I was suddenly extremely fatigued. I told Elliot I would call him tomorrow with updates on the case and he said he would see what he could find out on his end. I closed the door behind him severely disappointed and still horny, but fatigue took over and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The following day hadn't revealed much information about the Sutton family. They weren't that close with any of the neighbors. One neighbor said she had heard them arguing some but nothing that was too out of the ordinary for a married couple with young kids. No one had noticed any strange activity or visitors either. Mr. Sutton had a brother who lived in Brooklyn, and he did mention that John had told him they were having some marital problems and were seeing a couple's therapist. Mr. Sutton's brother did not know of anyone who would want to hurt the family or had any kind of motive against them.

I had just finished eating lunch in my office when Amanda came running in to tell me another entire family had been killed in their home just blocks away from the Sutton home. My stomach cramped and I thought my entire lunch was going to resurface. Did we have a serial killer of families? Amanda said a mother, father, and two young kids were all found murdered with the same MO of the Suttons. I couldn't believe this was happening. We had no suspects and no motives for the Sutton murders and now a second family had been killed. I was hoping the second crime scene would give us more information so we could figure out who this sick bastard was.

I took Rollins to the second family's home since we were both at the last one and I wanted to see if there was a connection between the families and compare the crime scenes. I worked hard to compartmentalize before walking into the home already knowing how horrible it was going to be. I focused on just the facts and the evidence so that I wouldn't miss anything pertinent, and it kept my emotions in check. Amanda informed me on the way over that the father's name was Ken Miller and he was married to Jennifer Miller. He worked at a publishing company, and she was a teacher. They had a son and a daughter both close in age to the Sutton's kids.

The entire family was upstairs just as at the other scene, so Amanda and I headed towards the master bedroom. I froze when I laid my eyes on Ken and Jennifer lying deceased in their bed. The scene was almost identical to the Suttons' bedroom. Ken had been stabbed too many times to count in the chest and abdomen and Jennifer had her throat slit and was also raped just like Katrina Sutton. The daughter's bedroom was also the same with both kids lying on the bedroom floor, they were killed the same way as the Sutton kids, and had a rag with chloroform lying next to the son. It was eerie how similar the scenes were, and I had no doubt that these heinous crimes were committed by the same person. I told Amanda we had a serial killer, and we needed to get a handle on this case fast.

O: "Amanda, what's your profile of this perp or perpetrators?"

A: "Well, I do think it is only one person. There is no evidence of breaking and entering so it must be someone that both families know. That is probably the link we need to find to get a suspect. This person is full of rage, especially towards the mother and father. I believe he is a white male probably in his thirties and alone. I suspect something happened with his own family, most likely as a child and he hates his mother and father. He most likely is a loner and is obsessed with wealthy families so probably has a job as a professional."

O: "We need to find the connection between these two families. Let's look at the kids' schools as well as see if there is a connection with the husband's jobs."

I was back at my office looking over both case files trying to find the connection when I got a call from Elliot. He asked how the case was going and I told him about the second family. He knew it would be a late night so he said he would bring dinner to my office and help me out with the research. I was on my desktop and Elliot was sitting across my desk on a laptop. We were both eating Chinese food while we dove deep into the lives of the Sutton and Miller families. It really felt like old times when we were both at SVU and had sat across from each other for over 12 years. I missed us being partners and us working on another case together only made me remember the pain of when he disappeared from my life. I wondered if I would ever get over him leaving me like that.

Elliot suddenly yelled, "Liv, I think I found something! Both couples were seeing the same marriage therapist, a Dr. Kendall Knapp."

That had to be the connection between the families. We had to question this therapist to find out more information. My phone rang just then, and it was Trevor Langan. This guy was relentless. I saw Elliot pause and felt him staring through me to gauge how I was going to respond.

I answered the phone, "Hey Trevor."

He responded, "Hey Olivia. I was just checking in with you since things seemed awkward the other night when I stopped by."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just wasn't expecting you and was caught off guard."

He then said, "I noticed Detective Stabler was there when I stopped by. Is he the reason you were acting strange? Is there something I need to know?"

I sighed, "Listen Trevor, it's complicated but I do think that we need to put a pause on our relationship. I have this big case and I'm not ready to date anyone right now."

There was a long pause before he responded, "Well, I can't say I'm not extremely disappointed. I guess the rumors were always true about you and Elliot Stabler. I just can't compete with him. Take care, Olivia." He hung up the phone before I could ask about the rumors even though I already knew. No one in SVU or anyone who had worked with us, believed that Elliot and I weren't sleeping together.

I looked over at Elliot and he had a sly grin on his face. "So, you aren't ready to date anyone right now? I guess I shouldn't try asking you out then. I mean, you seemed more than ready to get in my pants the other night. Were you just using me, Captain Benson?"

I blushed and responded, "I was upset about the case, and you caught me at a vulnerable moment. It won't happen again. I may be open to going out with you though once this case is solved."

Elliot seemed to be satisfied with that and we decided we would both go interview the therapist tomorrow as partners.