Chapter 16

Olivia walked into the precinct the next morning, hoping they could make some progress on the case. There were still too many unknowns and she didn't like that – especially when there could be a woman still being held against her will. She'd gone down to TARU and the technicians promised that they'd have something for her soon. The Captain was not happy with that and let her displeasure known. It was not something she usually did but this case was getting to her. She apologized and the tech promised it was all right. He also promised to call her as soon as possible.

"Hey Liv, you ok?" It was Fin, calling from his desk. He had been watching her. His commanding officer had stopped halfway to the coffee machine, lost in thought.

"We need answers Fin. Any word from Melinda?" She asked.

"No, but as soon as she calls, I'll let you know. Carisi is coming back in today. Casey Barreto's lawyer wants to talk," he told her.

"Good. Where is the rest of the team?" The Captain wanted to know.

"Detective Lee is coming upstairs to talk about Casey's office before our meeting with Sonny. I haven't heard from Klass or Gonzales. Churlish and Bruno are bringing Casey in. Rollins and Huang should be along soon," he promised. Something about being the senior most officers somehow made them first into the office.

"We're going to have to get you a badge Doc," they could hear Klass's voice coming down the hallway, seemingly with Doctor Huang.

"I turned in my FBI badge for private practice but I'm always willing to help a friend," he told her as they entered the bullpen.

"I thought it was for the crappy coffee," Olivia smirked.

"Well, there is that," George chuckled.

"No Rollins?" Klass was a little concerned.

"What about Gonzales?" Fin asked.

"He had to run back to Jersey. His Captain wanted an update and he's worried about his ADA wanting a piece of the pie, as it were," Klass explained.

"Well until we can prove that skeleton in the morgue is Diane Powell, we still have jurisdiction. You find Louis Howey?" Olivia gave her a look.

"Negative. We've got the local precinct sitting on his place. I called his boss this morning and he hasn't turned up for work. I issued a BOLO. If he's not guilty, he's not making it easier on himself," the Queens SVU detective admitted.

"No, he is not. We need to either rule Casey Barreto out or rule him as our suspect," Olivia heaved a sigh. They heard the ding of the elevator and turned to see who was coming.

"Captain Benson," it was Detective Lee.

"Detective, please enlighten us with the contents of Casey Barreto's office," she smiled at him.

"Well, his office was immaculate, as you probably noticed. I found the knife in the locked drawer of his desk. After Churlish warned me about the second toothbrush, I looked around for anything that might indicate a girlfriend. There was nothing to find. If this guy killed Makayla Powell, he didn't leave any information in the office," Lee explained.

"So, what is with the second toothbrush and women's clothing?" Klass was confused. She'd been updated by Fin the night before.

"You didn't find anything indicating why he got himself a gun and kept a knife at his office?" George asked.

"If this guy was getting threats, he did not keep them. The only other time I've seen such paranoia was when someone was protecting someone else from whatever evil is headed their way," Lee admitted.

"Does he have a family member that he could be protecting? Though, why he'd need a knife at work, doesn't really fit," Olivia frowned.

"We checked – other than not paying his child support – there is nothing that jumps out from the page. Family wise – his parents are in a nursing home and he had no siblings. So that just leaves the ex-wife and the kid. Could he be having a mental breakdown of some sort?" Fin looked at the forensic psychiatrist.

"He seems to be lucid fairly often and I haven't actually seen any paranoia when we talked to him," George frowned.

"Then I've got nothing," Fin shook his head. Olivia's phone rang and she was hoping it was TARU but it was not.

"Carisi what is it?" She immediately grew concerned.

"The baby is coming!" Was all he managed to get out.

"Do you need a ride to the hospital?" That made everyone turn their heads.

"No, the ambulance got here in time. We're loading up now," the ADA said.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," Olivia told him.

"Find the missing lady. I'm sending another ADA down to handle the Casey Barreto interview. I'll keep you posted," Carisi course corrected her.

"Please do!" With that the call ended. Olivia turned to the team. The baby was early and while that was scary, Rollins had entered her thirtieth week, which gave the child a very good chance at surviving. Still, she hoped that everything would be ok. Fin's phone broke her concentration with its ringtone. He wasn't on the phone long at all.

"You'll never guess what Melinda found," Fin said.

"That can't be good," Klass said.

"Our skeleton was missing two fingers and two toes. The DNA came back to Diane Powell," the Sergeant told them.

"Guess that rules out Casey Barreto," George said.

"And explains why Louis Howey is on the run," the Queens SVU detective scowled.

"We need to widen our search for Howey. Get the bus station, train station, and airports on alert. I want everything clamped down that hasn't already been clamped down," Olivia told them.

To Be Continued…