Chapter 18
Noah beams as he inspects his outfit in the mirror. "Well?" She prompts, smiling too.
"I look handsome!"
She chuckles, kissing his cheek. "Very handsome." Her phone pings his location from her nightstand, and a few minutes later, there's a quick wrap at her door before a key is shoved into the lock.
"That's Uncle Rafa!" Noah jumps off her bed racing towards the door. She follows him, wanting to see Rafael's reaction. They haven't spoken about his 'I love you' in the elevator, and he hasn't mentioned that fact that she hadn't said it back.
She's not sure why she didn't.
As he lets himself in, Noah greets him happily. "Hi Uncle Rafa!"
Rafael's expression morphs from surprise, amusement and adoration all at once. "Amiguito! Look at you!"
Noah looks up at him. "Do you like them?"
Entering the apartment, he closes the door behind him, kneeling in front of him. "Like them? I love them." While he's dressed a little more casually, opting to forego his vest and tie, he pulls back his jacket revealing his own pink suspenders.
Noah smiles. "We match!"
Rafael smiles too, pulling him into a quick hug.
"Great minds think alike," she comments. "Let me get a picture."
Rafael removes his jacket so that his suspenders will be visible in the photo, kneeling next to Noah who wraps an arm around around his neck. She snaps the picture. "That's a framer."
"Can we go now?" Noah asks impatiently.
"As soon as you go pick up the toys and plug in your iPad," she instructs.
Noah heads quickly towards his room, giving them a few minutes alone.
"You look beautiful, amor," he comments, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips.
It feels like a rarity these days that she gets to wear anything from her wardrobe that isn't work attire, and while her blazers and her badge on her hip make her feel confident and in charge, the green dress she's wearing now makes her feel soft and beautiful.
Kissing him back gently, she holds up her phone to snap a picture with him. "Smile." He conveniently turns his face into her neck, planting a kiss on her skin and she cradles the back his head with her free hand, snapping the picture anyway.
He presses his lips firmly against a particularly sensitive spot below her ear, his tongue darting out to taste her before his teeth scrape against her skin.
It sends a shot of electricity right between her thighs.
"Rafa." She can feel his smile against her skin and she tilts her head, giving him better access.
"...I love the way you taste, amor," he whispers against her skin. "...I could lick you all over..."
A whimper passes through her lips and she's tugging him closer by his suspenders. "Promise?"
A low rumble emanates from his chest and Olivia practically wilts right there in her living room.
"Promise."
Noah's bedroom door closes and they untangle themselves from each other just as the little boy comes barrelling back into the living room. "All clean! Can we go now?"
"We can go now," Rafael answers. "Get your coat."
She's completely flustered and she watches a little dazed as Rafael helps Noah with his coat before grabbing her jean jack off of the back of the chair.
Grabbing her purse, he holds it out for her. Turning, she slips her arms in and he gathers her hair from the collar, his fingers brushing deliberately against her neck where his mouth had just been. She shivers and his hands slide slowly down her arms.
"Ready?" He questions gently.
There's a tiny smirk playing at his lips and she knows he's enjoying getting her all hot and bothered like this. "Ready." She takes Noah's hand, heading towards the elevator while he locks up behind them.
...
"You sure this is the right place?" Fin questions, rolling down the window to press the button for the front gate.
Carisi looks up at the four story home perched at the top of the hill. "It's the address the secretary gave me."
"I don't know an educator on this planet that could afford a joint like this."
The intercom comes to life. "How can I help you?"
"NYPD," Fin answers. "We're here to speak with Mrs. Cartwright."
The intercom buzzes, and the gate opens automatically to let them in.
...
The mezzanine isn't exactly right place, right time kind of seats, and Liv suspects that might have been a lie on his part. The theatre is relatively full, as she had expected, but the balcony is only half so. There are only a few other people in their row and if she knows Rafael as well as she thinks she does, he's picked these seats to make Noah's experience magical.
He sits on the edge of his seat between them, and as the lights dim, he cranes his neck to see down on the stage.
The opening note rings through the theatre, and Noah jumps a little in surprise. The sky and the sun rise on the stage, the music swelling as the animals appear.
Rafael watches as the amazement in Noah's eyes crests with the music. He's sitting on the edge of his seat to see better and his hand rests on his knee. The opening number, the Circle of Life, ends on a decisive beat, much like the film, and the lights cut out for dramatic effect.
The crowd cheers, and Noah claps his hands enthusiastically.
...
"Can I get you something to drink?"
Carisi shakes his head. "No thank you, Mrs. Cartwright."
The woman nods, gesturing for them to sit. "Please. What can I do for you?"
"We're hoping you could answer some questions about a former student of yours: Ellie Porter," Carisi provides.
The woman visibly tenses. "I'm sorry, but I don't know that name. Are you sure she was a student of mine?"
Fin nods. "She was enrolled at River Heights Academy when you were an administrator there." He opens the file they had brought with them, showing her a photo of Ellie.
Taking the photo from him, the woman inspects it further. "She seems a little familiar. What is this about?"
Carisi looks over at Fin. "Our ADA has reopened her case; Ellie was murdered and we're retracting her last known where abouts, which so happens to be at your former school."
...
Rafael's been to the theatre more times than he can count, and yet, he feels like he's experiencing it for the first time through Noah's eyes.
He danced in his seat when Hakuna Matata was being sung, and eventually got to his feet. Both he and Liv hand to suppress their laughter, but ultimately revelled in his joy. As the play progressed, he settled on standing, his head propped in his hands as he leaned against the railing.
Having watched the animated film with him, Rafael anticipates the myriad of emotions that come at Mufasa's death, and Noah wipes his eyes. Reaching for him, Rafael guides him back and into his arms.
The music isn't any less emotional, and if anything, it's more so in theatre. The tears spill down Noah's cheeks and he wipes them away gently lifting him onto his lap. Liv moves from her seat to take Noah's empty one, running her fingers soothingly through his curls.
As the act comes to and end and the curtain falls, Noah rests his head on his chest. "That was really sad."
Rafael rubs his back in comfort. "It was," he agrees.
...
"That's terrible." She hands Fin back the photograph. "River Heights was home to more than 750 students; it is impossible to know every student, despite how I might have tried."
"Ellie would have been in the eleventh grade then. Can you remember any of the teachers that would have been there around the same time?" Fin questions.
Mrs. Cartwright shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I oversaw the freshman and sophomores. My counterpart, Peter Jacobs was the administrator for juniors and seniors. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
Both Carisi and Fin rise from their seats. "Your time has been help enough," Carisi assures.
Mrs. Cartwright walks them back to her front door, and they give their thanks again before heading back to the squad car. It isn't until Fin is through the gates again does he speak. "You see the way she tensed when I brought up Ellie?"
Carisi nods. "She knows who Ellie is. So why is she lying about it?"
...
Noah watched the remainder of the play from Rafael's lap, and while he had been incredibly attentive to her son, he never lost sight of her. Having moved into Noah's empty seat, her body angled towards them, he let his hand rest on her knee casually. Before long, her fingers were laced with his, his thumb sweeping back and forth against her hand.
And when the final number had been sung and the cast came out for their curtain call, Noah had been beaming.
As people begin to file out of the theatre, they take a minute to just sit, allowing him a few minutes to take it all in.
"What did you think, babe?" She questions.
"Uncle Rafa, you were right; it was magic."
Rafael smiles.
"Thank you!" He wraps his arms around him in a tight hug.
...
"Cynthia Cartwright," Amanda begins, pointing to her photo on the board. "64, originally from the West Coast, moved to New Hampshire in the early eighties and began teaching almost
immediately. She bounced around districts for awhile before settling with River Heights Academy. Started in the mathematics department before becoming an administrator."
Fin swivels in his chair. "What do we know about the school?"
"Private school. Funded through investors, alumni." Amanda brings up the schools website. "Not overly prestigious, but just enough that their clientele is implied."
"Rich, white kids," Fin answers. Amanda nods.
"So when did she stop working for River Heights?" Carisi questions. "Seems like a pretty good gig, if you ask me."
"Officially? She retired," Amanda answers. "Unofficially?" Carisa prods.
Amanda brings up the review page of the schools website. "I had to do a little digging, but it looks like it might not have been voluntary."
"So glad Cartwright is gone, never trusted her after Spring Fling," Fin reads. "This comments got over one hundred likes. What happened?"
"After some more digging," Amanda switches the screen to a local newspaper site. "Their annual Spring Fling formal was busted for drug trafficking."
Carisi folds his arms. "Let me guess: Cartwright had no idea that there were drugs being pushed through her school."
"Officially? No," Amanda confirms. "She retired shortly after."
"Ok, so a bunch of rich kids get busted pushing drugs. What's the connection with Ellie?" Fin questions.
"I don't know for sure," Amanda answers. "But I bet the timing coincides with Ellie being in foster care."
"Why does it feel like we're back at square one?" Carisi sighs, sinking into a chair next to Fin.
Fin shakes his head. "We're not. Look, follow up with those foster homes in the area; Barba said it's time to use some pressure. Rollins, you keep digging on the Spring Fling bust, see if you can find any former students that were there that night. I'll look into Peter Jacobs."
Carisi and Amanda nod, and all three head back to their desks, plan in hand.
...
Noah swings both their hands as they exit the theatre out onto the sidewalk. "Can we take a picture, Momma? I don't want to ever forget today!"
Smiling, she pulls out her phone from her purse. "Of course we can."
Rafael lifts Noah into his arms between them, and they all lean in together as Liv snaps a picture of them. "What do you think?" She questions.
Noah studies the picture, beaming. "Perfect! Can we go for ice cream?"
The joy that had filled her drains a little, immediately looking across the street for the unmarked police car she knows is there. There's an ice cream shop just around the block and as Rafael sets him back down, Noah looks up at her expectantly and she doesn't have the heart to damper his happiness right now. "That sounds like a great idea."
Rafael takes her lead, holding tightly onto Noah's hand as they walk the short block to the ice cream shop.
"When can we go again?" Noah questions between them.
"Well, Aladdin is playing in December," Rafael answers. "We can see what the tickets are like?"
The idea that he'll be in their lives that long, almost a year from now, creates a future with him that is materializing more and more each day.
"What was your favorite part, Mom?"
She swings his hand in hers, thinking about it. "Probably when Simba was reunited with his mom."
"Of course that's your favorite part," Noah responds, matter of factly. "What was your favorite part, Uncle Rafa?"
They step aside on the sidewalk, making room for a group of people, not wanting to be separated. "How Nala helped Simba realize who he was meant to be."
She looks over at him, and his eyes dance with hers.
"What was your favorite part, amiguito?"
"When Simba got to talk to his dad again because he was really sad without him."
"He was pretty sad," She agrees, swinging his hand in hers.
The walk in amenable silence, Noah singing Hankua Matata to himself. When they come to a cross walk, Noah looks up at him. "Uncle Rafa?"
"Yes, amiguito?"
"Do you have a mother and a father?"
"Noah," Liv begins to admonish.
"Liv, it's alright," he assures. "My father passed away a long time ago, and my mother is a Principal at a really great school in the Bronx."
"Like Mrs. Smiley?"
The crossing light signals for them to move, and they join the small crowd making their way across the street.
"Like Mrs. Smiley," he agrees.
Noah swings their hands back and forth and Liv can see the wheels turning in his head as he formulates more questions. "Do you miss your Dad?"
"Sometimes."
Liv sees the way Rafael's jaw jumps several times, the way he won't meet her gaze. Noah had accepted his answer but she knows that his answer had only been to appease her son.
"Sophie in my class, her Dad doesn't live with her...she says she only misses her Dad sometimes too...he's mean to her."
The ice cream shop comes into view and Noah tugs on their hands to walk faster, all thoughts of their current conversation, gone. Rafael gets the door for them and Noah skips right to the display case to peer inside. He pretends to be studying the board above the counter but she can still see how Noah's comment has affected him.
"You ok?" She questions gently.
He shakes his head, swallowing hard. "I'll be ok. What's your favourite ice cream?"
Weaving her fingers in his, she squeezes it gently. "Mint chocolate chip."
His face morphs into disgust. "You're joking. Mint and chocolate? It's sacrilegious, Liv...are you going to tell me enjoy pineapple on pizza next?"
Rolling her eyes, she bumps her shoulder with his. "Not liking mint chocolate chip only reflects poorly on you, Rafa. And as far as pineapple on pizza goes, it's a staple in our house."
Rafael shakes his head, and she laughs, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.
Noah joins them, prying their hands apart so that he can take both of them in his again. "I want bubblegum!"
TBC