Olivia and Fin crowded around Velasco's computer screen as he pulled the results up.
Fin raised an eyebrow, "Well I've never seen that before…" he said in disbelief.
"Pretty lucky though," Velasco observed.
The DNA results illuminated the computer screen, and Velasco was right. It was a crazy stroke of luck. "Two DNA profiles," she shook her head. She couldn't believe it. For once they had a lucky break in this godawful case.
When they sent the samples to the lab, they figured the hair belonged to one girl or the other, but somehow both girls got their hair tangled up in that branch. Some strands of hair belonged to Abby, and the rest belonged to Clem. They finally had some substantial physical evidence that proved Abby was with Clem that night.
"Can we bring Abby in? Now that we have some evidence beyond eyewitness testimony," Velasco asked.
"Yes, but let's wait for Bruno and Churlish to get back here. They should only be about an hour."
"They find anything interesting?" Fin asked.
"They aren't sure. They said they picked up a few things, but they weren't sure if anything would be helpful." Olivia explained.
"It was a bit of a Hail Mary," Fin admitted.
"Yeah, but let's get them back here, and see what they gathered from the campsite." She shrugged, "maybe we will get another lucky break." She wasn't that hopeful, but maybe if they got Abby to actually tell them what happened, they could create a case against Marcus. That seemed like wishful thinking too. She hated this case and desperately wanted things to fall together.
-000-
Olivia had about two minutes to sit at her desk and attempt to down the random meal shake she found in the fridge. Just as she popped the cap off of the drink there was a light knock on her door.
She sighed and relinquished her only moment of solitude. "Come in," she called.
The door opened slowly, and she pushed her drink aside when she realized who stood in front of her desk. Natalie Wilson. Clem's mother.
She stood and motioned for the couch in her office. "Hey, um," she wasn't expecting to see her today. "Want to sit? Can I get you anything?"
Natalie lifted her hand to wave her off, but she took her up in her offer to sit. Olivia joined her. Grief hit her like a gut punch. She struggled to keep her emotion controlled when she asked, "What can I do for you?"
Natalie let out a nervous breath. "I uh, I've just been wondering, um…I guess I wanted to know how the case is coming, or if you have any ideas on what happened. I know you can't share much on an active investigation, but I kinda hoped," she swallowed. "I guess I hoped you could tell me something, because my mind keeps going to the worst places, and I can't…" tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "I just need to know what happened so I can process this. I can't, uh, I can't keep living in limbo. It's killing me." She bit her lip and tears streamed freely down her face.
Olivia's heart ached. She wished she could wrap this woman in a tight hug because she was living every parent's worst nightmare. Her child was dead. Her only child was dead, and she had no idea how to do her life without her little girl.
The pain hit her right between her eyes. If she lost Noah…she couldn't bring herself to think about it.
"You're right. I can't share very much right now. We have been trying to keep the press away from this. There are so many minors involved, and we are trying to maintain everyone's privacy the best we can."
"I understand," Natalie's eyes dropped to her hands. She looked lost. She looked defeated.
Olivia decided to share what she could. "It's looking like a case of bullying gone too far." Way too far. "It seems like Clem may have inadvertently stumbled on some kids breaking the camp rules. When she called them out on it they reacted badly. I can't go into details, but we believe a classmate was the primary aggressor, with another classmate acting in sync with her demands." Olivia hesitated at her next admission. "It's possible an adult was involved. Not with the assault itself…but maybe what happened after…."
"Moving her body," Natalie clarified.
"Yeah. We aren't sure yet. It's more of a hunch, but we are hoping to have more information on that soon." Olivia dropped a hand to Natalie's arm. "What else can I do?" He question bled with sincerity.
Natalie's dark brown eyes held hers with all the intensity of a grieving mother, "Find out who hurt my baby. She deserves justice for what happened to her."
Olivia patted the other woman's arm. "I wholeheartedly agree."
-000-
Elliot tossed the two metal spoons into the sink with a clank. He secured the lids back onto the cartons of ice cream. The boys had decided bowls were for quitters and tried to finish the entire cartons on their own. They weren't successful.
Elliot tossed the tubs into the freezer, and returned to the small kitchen table. He flipped his laptop back open, and snagged his reading glasses from their perch on a couple case files. He decided to work on the background searches for the two cases his team were working on. From his position he could work while keeping tabs on the boys.
Noah sat on the floor, controller in hand, and elbows resting on the ottoman. Jace sat on the couch with one leg kicked up casually. The boys appeared comfortable, and Elliot was grateful Noah thought of the idea. It was a nice for them to be at ease, not feeling the need to put on a show for anyone.
"How's Colton?" Noah asked nervously.
Jace sighed, and kept his eyes glued to the screen. "I dunno. He's not talking to me…or anyone else really."
Noah's eyes returned to the screen. "That sucks."
"Yep," Jace's answer was short and clipped.
Noah took the hint and focused on the level they were trying to complete. Silence passed between them, the soundtrack of the game was the only noise filling the air.
"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Jace blurted.
Noah's head flipped away from the screen and back again. Noah intuitively remained casual. "Yeah. It feels a little embarrassing," he shook his head, but remained focused on the game. "I'm twelve and sleeping in my Mom's bed." He hit a few buttons on the controller to complete a combination move. "I haven't slept in my room since we got home."
Elliot waited for Jace's response. He was impressed with Noah's openness and his ability to share something uncomfortable to help a friend.
Their current situation was excessively challenging, but he was grateful to get to know Noah in a way he could have never achieved from a distance.
"I haven't slept in my bed either," Jace admitted. "Colton has been in my parents' bed every night, and I can't sleep without him there." Jace shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I'm sleeping in Mason's room."
Silence dropped again and the boys played quietly. Elliot returned his focus to the documents illuminating his computer screen until their conversation picked up again.
"I wish Colton would talk to me." Jace sounded uncharacteristically down.
"Me too," Noah responded. "Is he at least talking to your parents?"
"Not really." Jace kept his eyes on the game as the conversation turned serious. "He was talking to my mom, and then Clem…" his voice tightened at the mention of their friend.
"It wasn't his fault." Noah paused the game to focus on the conversation.
"That's what I said, but he doesn't believe anyone." Jace tossed the controller onto the ottoman and leaned back on the couch. "He won't talk about it, and my parents are so worried about him that I can't talk about it, and so my house feels like it's silent all the time because no one wants to talk about what we all need to talk about." Jace groaned in exasperation. "It's fine. I'm fine. Colton has it way worse than I do, but I just…" his eyes flicked to Noah. "I'm sad about this. Clem was my friend and I mad that this happened."
"Me too," Noah admitted. "You can always talk to me because I feel the same way as you. I miss Clem. I know it's going to suck really bad the next time I have to go to dance."
"Ugh. I didn't think about that. That sucks." Jace sympathized.
"Yeah. I'm not looking forward to it. I might want to, like, pause or something for a month, but I don't know if my mom will let me." He leaned his head back on the couch. "It's not like I want to quit or anything. I just don't want to cry like a baby the second I walk into the studio."
"I get that," Jace nodded. "Your mom is pretty understanding about things though. I bet she'll be fine if you take a break."
"Probably," he sighed. "I don't know. Sometimes I get tired of thinking about all of it."
"Me too," Jace admitted. Then he smiled, "We could get back to this game, and we could stop thinking about everything else."
Noah reached for his controller. "Sounds good to me."
-000-
Olivia observed from the other side of the glass as Abby waited with her mom and their lawyer. She didn't look nervous at all. She almost seemed amused by the situation. She spoke to her mother and flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. How the hell did a twelve year old have such perfect hair? This girl was almost unreal.
She watched Abby with her mother. Abby seemed to have this perfect life, and in contrast Ethan's was a mess. Strange how two entirely different lives arrived at the same level of violence.
She didn't hear Fin approach until he said her name, "hey Liv."
She turned, "hey." She returned her focus to the group in the interrogation room.
"What are you thinkin about?" Fin wondered aloud.
She unconsciously played with her compass necklace while she spoke. "Just about nature versus nurture."
"Whatcha mean?"
She kept her eyes on the people behind the glass but explained her thoughts. "You know, that great psychological question? Do our genes influence our behavior, or does the environment we are raised in dictate behavior?"
"Prolly both I'd imagine." Fin kept his eyes on the glass.
"Look at this case. We have these two kids. One raised with her biological parents in a seemingly loving, albeit permissive environment. That girl is only inches away from a sociopathy diagnosis.
"Then look at Ethan. Born into a loving environment, but raised by a criminal sex trafficker. He's gotta have Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and he's headed for the same diagnosis as Abby. It's an interesting phenomenon."
"Yeah. I don't really care how they got to be the way they are, I just want them to pay for what they did to that little girl."
"Me too," Olivia admitted. "Bruno about ready to go in?"
"Yeah, he was reviewing the DNA info, and Ella's interview before goin in."
"You going in with him?" She grinned, already knowing his answer.
"Hell nah. Just send Velasco if Bruno needs back up." He folded his arms and shook his head.
"Yeah yeah," she laughed. "Can't believe you're scared of a little girl…"
Fin put both hands up in mock defense. "A conniving sociopath in the form of a little girl. No thanks. I'll pass on that interview."
"Do me a favor, and call the lab. I need those DNA results from the campsite ASAP."
"They don't like when I nag…"
"Do it anyway." She knew they were backlogged and everyone needed things expedited, but she desperately wanted to wrap up this case.
Fin nodded, "Yes Cap!" He exited the viewing room, just as Bruno opened the door to the interrogation room.
Here we go.