Chapter 18
As expected, Oscar Papa had been less than contrite when Olivia and Duarte threw the recording of his ordering the SVU Captain's hit. He shifted the blame to his driver and brought up Noah, which only caused Olivia to threaten him, in front of Carisi, who was live streaming into the interrogation room at Central Booking. The ADA was worried that the Captain's bias would influence a jury, but not in the way they would want it. He warned her before leaving the session. He had some BX9 cronies to try the next day and he had to stay focused.
"We have to make sure that Oscar doesn't get bail," Olivia said as they headed for the exit of Central Booking.
"Let the Bronx ADA worry about that. No way a judge lets him go home after making those kinds of threats," Duarte told her. Olivia wasn't so sure and was about to voice her opinion when her phone rang. She quickly answered it as they signed out of the building and headed for their cars.
"Who was it?" Elliot asked as they climbed into the vehicle. Duarte had to be dropped off at his precinct, he climbed into the back seat while the former partners took the front seats. Once the Gangs Captain was dropped off, it would be back to Manhattan for the evening.
"Fin. He is going to finish some paperwork in the Bronx, then head to the bar with Bruno. He'll be back home tomorrow," Olivia commented, unintentionally labeling the One-Six precinct home.
"That'll be good to have him back," her former partner nodded.
"He's bringing Bruno with him and thinks Churlish would be a good add to our unit too," she told him.
"You think McGrath will sign off on that?" Duarte gave her a look, which she saw through the rearview mirror. Olivia shook her head and replied,
"I'll never turn down help, but you've got a point."
"McGrath should be kissing your ass. You two took down BX9 and Fin and Bruno took down the backlog at Bronx SVU, along with making new hiring suggestions for the unit. Never mind about getting the Feds out of here," Elliot pointed out.
"We are rarely granted what we ask for. Remember how long it took Munch to get a new coffee pot?" Olivia gave him a look as he expertly moved the car through the New York traffic.
"And that was after he'd been shot in the ass," Elliot chuckled.
"You give McGrath the evil eye you gave Oscar and he'll be too scared not to give you what you want," Durate chimed in. Olivia chuckled, but underneath Elliot knew that she wasn't really laughing. Duarte was turning out to be a pretty good guy, but he didn't understand just how Momma Bear, Liv could be. Maybe it wasn't more than any other mother, but Olivia hadn't changed who she was just because she became a Captain. If you were important to her, she would do anything to protect you, and that went double or triple for Noah.
"I need a drink," Olivia told Elliot after they dropped Duarte off.
"Sounds like a great idea. You have a place in mind?" He asked.
"My place?" She asked him.
"You got it," Elliot smiled. He redirected the car to the location they'd decided on. Once they were inside, Olivia opened a bottle of wine and handed Elliot a beer. The silence in the apartment between the two was broken by Elliot's question,
"How are you?" It was a complicated question to be sure, but he wasn't sure too many people asked her that. He took a seat on the sofa.
"I'll be better when Noah is home and Oscar Papa is done," she told him, setting her wine glass down on a coaster on the coffee table, before sitting next to him. That was the answer he expected.
"Liv…" he pressed. Old Elliot may not have done so but they no longer had to pretend or have any pretenses. They no longer worked directly together. She heaved a sigh.
"You know me," she said. He just nodded. She wasn't going to open up tonight, there was too much on her mind.
"Not as well as I should," the words tumbled out and Elliot wasn't sure if that was about to ruin their evening. It was Olivia's turn to nod. They'd talked, expressed their concerns, but there was still an elephant in the room. A loud breath passed between Olivia's lips.
"I had a case… things went more than just sideways… if there was a cliff, it went over it," she started. Elliot could feel his chest tighten. Then her phone rang.
"Rollins, what is it?" Elliot could see Olivia's shoulders sag.
"Ok, we need a meeting first thing in the morning," the Captain said. There was more from the blonde and it made things seemingly worse.
"He has to do what he has to do. We'll carry on without him. Thanks Amanda," with that the call ended.
"What's up?" Elliot wanted to know.
"Benny is dead. His own mother poisoned him with some of her baked goods," Olivia shook her head.
"Geez," he couldn't believe it.
"And Fin and Bruno literally just saved a woman's life. She'd been dumped in a garbage truck and was about to compacted. She'd been assaulted and drugged, so they will be handling that," she told him.
"Wow," Elliot was glad that Rollins was trying to help out where she could.
"It's going to be a long day tomorrow. We have to try and nail Oscar Papa without Benny," Olivia huffed. Elliot slowly, carefully pulled her to him. She put her head on his shoulder.
"Then we better relax tonight," he kissed the top of her head. They'd tackle that case she started talking about later.
To Be Continued…
