Chapter 17

Benny had sung like a bird all about his boss Oscar Papa. BX9 had gotten his cousin killed and Benny had been looking for revenge. Well provided that the right protection could be offered, of course. Everyone in the room knew that once Benny talked, the clock on his life would begin to countdown.

The gang leader's driver had been recording the conversations inside the car. He actually had the conversation in which Oscar Papa ordered the hit on Captain Benson and Noah. Olivia was ready to grab the man – she wanted it so badly. Elliot could sense how much she wanted it and he totally understood but they still needed to be careful.

"We should go pick him up," Duarte told the former partners outside the interrogation room.

"We try busting into his place and we're going to have a blood bath on our hands," Elliot pointed out. There were too many civilians around Oscar Papa's apartment and the gang leader's own family would be inside the apartment.

"I wasn't exactly planning on having the SWAT team show up," Duarte winked. Elliot looked at Olivia and she said,

"Let's get moving." She headed out of the hallway and into the bullpen where the usual detectives were not there. Fin was with Bruno in the Bronx and Velasco and Muncy were handling cases coming out of the Manhattan precinct. Olivia hoped that the separation would be over soon as both units could not function with only partial staff.

Oscar Papa opened the back door of the car that his driver used to take him around the city. He told him the address that they needed to go to and was surprised when Duarte turned around in the driver's seat. The back passenger door opened and Benson climbed into the car.

"Hi Oscar," she said. The Captain was glad that Elliot was just outside the car – blocking the spot where the gang leader might have tried to bail out.

"Captain Benson, it's nice to see you. What have you done with Benny?" Oscar asked.

"Don't worry about Benny. We have him nice and secure," Duarte answered the question.

"So, what are we doing here?" Oscar wanted to know.

"Oscar Papa, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of an NYPD Captain and her son," Elliot told him after he opened the car door. The man made sure to restrain himself as he pulled the gang leader out of the vehicle.

"I hope you have all your ducks in a row," Oscar said.

"You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you do so. You have the right to an attorney. Should you not be able to afford one, one will be provided to you," Elliot continued with his Miranda rights. Duarte and Olivia climbed out of the car. The Bronx Gangs Captain radioed for the NYPD Traffic Enforcement to secure the vehicle. It would be towed to the Crime Lab and searched for evidence.

Elliot put Oscar Papa in the back of a nearby squad car. Duarte was going to ride with him to make sure the gang leader made it to Central Booking. Elliot and Olivia climbed into the former's car and followed them down there. Silence enveloped the two former partners. They had done it – well Olivia had done it. Elliot knew that she wasn't relaxing though. Until she could bring Noah home, there would be no relaxing.

"Liv… breathe," Elliot told her as he stopped at the red light, right behind the squad car. She was breathing but she knew what he meant. She needed to take a moment to just appreciate what had been achieved. Oscar Papa was in custody. BX9 was slowly being dismantled based on the evidence from the rape tree. The rape tree also helped to clear a lot of the Bronx SVU backlog. Things were going her way, but she couldn't enjoy it. There was that constant fear that something was about to go sideways.

To Be Continued…