Chapter 7

"Betty!" Akiko smiled as the German Shepard entered her hospital room. The dog put her front paws on the bed and licked her face.

"We thought you'd want to see a friendly face," Fin said as he and Velasco entered the room. The two flashed their badges and identified themselves. The Sergeant was surprised that the woman was awake and seemingly so perky. Her head was bandaged and a good portion of it had been shaved so the medical personnel could treat her wounds.

"Did something happen to Amanda?" Akiko was immediately worried.

"No, she let us borrow Betty. Detective Klass is helping our Captain try and find the person who did this to you," Fin explained. The woman heaved a sigh of relief and petted Betty.

"Why don't we start with what you last remember?" Velasco asked. The two detectives took seats in the chairs near her bed.

"Honestly, I was coming home from the bodega and the next thing I remember was waking up here… the doctor…" her perkiness shifted to tears and Betty put her head down so that her muzzle was on Akiko's leg. She petted Betty, trying to keep it together.

"We're sorry that happened to you and we're sorry that you're going to have to deal with this but we want you to know we're here for you and that we're going to try and find this guy," Fin told her as he handed her a box of tissues.

"Amanda doesn't think I'm mad at her, does she?" Akiko asked as she tried to stop the tears from flowing.

"Like we said – Detective Klass is trying to help our Captain. We do have a bigger issue that has just come to our attention. Your coworker…" Fin started.

"Drew?" She wasn't sure how he fit into all of this.

"Yes. He's been shot outside of your office," Fin said. He could see that she was shocked even though the man had been a creep.

"Who did you tell about him?" Velasco chimed in.

"Well Dawn Mann from HR and my cube mates suspected something was up. Of course I told Amanda," Akiko told them.

"You never went over Dawn's head to your boss?" Fin wondered.

"No. As much as I wanted it to stop, I knew that if I went to my boss, it would get Drew's boss involved as well," Akiko explained.

"And that would be a bad thing?" Velasco was confused.

"Drew's boss, Marty Hutchinson, was moved from our department to that department. He'd been having an affair with his secretary and his wife reported him to the boss above him – Mr. Buckland. Mr. Buckland is second in command of our branch. The only reason he didn't fire Marty was because – as he put it – "his wife deserves to take him to the cleaners". Mr. Buckland figured that basically Marty would quit, rather than be embarrassed or be forced to give most of his paycheck to his ex. To everyone's surprise, he didn't quit. The secretary on the other hand did quit," she said.

"So, Marty has no shame?" Fin asked.

"Worse. He doesn't think he did anything wrong and his male subordinates get away with pretty much anything. So, if I brought this to Mr. Davis, my boss, and he tries to get Drew actually punished…" she trailed off.

"His boss would go to the mat for him," Velasco frowned.

"Well, I imagine that is about to change considering that Queens SVU Captain Hoffman paid Drew a visit once he found out you were in the hospital," Fin gave her a smile.

"That might give Marty reason to shoot him," Akiko figured.

"Could be. We'll investigate everyone you gave us. Before we go, though, there will be an officer here with you until we catch your attacker. It's for your safety," the Sergeant explained.

"I appreciate that," Akiko smiled slightly as the two detectives stood up to leave. Fin didn't want to take Betty away from her but he knew the doctors and nurses would throw a fit. That's when the officer at the door interrupted them.

"I've got a New Jersey Trooper here. Says he knows Miss Akiko," the officer told them before handing them the identification given by the man outside the door.

"Trooper Gonzales," Fin called to him. The man quickly entered the room. He had a plastic bag in his hand and a small duffle.

"Amanda called me. The hospital said she could bring some items down here for Akiko," the trooper smiled.

"We were just leaving. Akiko, you ok with us leaving him here with you?" Velasco wanted to know.

"Scott that is very sweet of you. You didn't have to go through all that trouble. I appreciate that you and Amanda are looking out for me," she said.

"It's no trouble at all. I'm glad that you're awake and I'd like to help keep you company, if you don't mind," he smiled at her.

"Betty has to go back to work so, yes, I would love some company," Akiko smiled back.

"I'll see the detectives out and be right back," Scott promised. She nodded and he set the bags down before walking with Fin and Velasco to the door. Betty did not need to be told that it was time to go. She licked Akiko one more time and then followed the detectives.

"What's up Scott?" Fin was concerned that he needed to pull them aside.

"Is Akiko safe here? You have an officer on the door," the Trooper knew what that meant.

"No one outside of our unit knows she's here and the story hasn't made the news. We just thought it would be a good idea – mostly because we thought that maybe Drew from work was the issue," Fin explained.

"That guy," Scott shook his head.

"It wasn't him. He's dead. Shot in broad daylight in front of his office. Amanda and the Captain are on that with Bruno," Velasco told him.

"Good God. You think someone who knew what Drew had been doing killed him? Seems like an overreaction," Scott admitted.

"Could be but Akiko gave us another suspect so we're off to check on that," Fin promised.

"Ok. Good luck," Scott gave them a smile and turned back to Akiko. Once the three were in the elevator, Velasco gave Fin a look.

"What?" The Sergeant asked.

"You trust him?" The detective wanted to know.

"Look, he was just as disgusted as us when we discovered what Howey was up to. I don't see him committing something like this. He's got no motive to hurt Akiko since she's helping with Betty. Plus, do you really think that Klass would let him near her if he was some sort of psycho?" Fin wondered.

"No. He didn't feel like a creep before and he doesn't now, but he's part of this small circle," Velasco pointed out.

"True, but he's got an exemplary record and we have no evidence that he was in town when this incident occurred. I checked," the Sergeant said.

"You called his boss to make sure he went to work?" The detective was surprised considering that could get the Trooper in trouble with his boss – or worse, his boss would make him unavailable to question.

"Didn't have to. He has an E-Zpass. It wasn't used until about the time we met him at Akiko's apartment. There aren't many ways into the City from Newark without going through a toll route to get to Klass's apartment," Fin said.

"Well at least we can cross him off then," Velasco nodded.

"Let's focus on the people who could be using Akiko to get to Klass. We still haven't ruled out that it's one of the sickos on parole," the Sergeant pointed out. The elevator dinged and they exited into the parking garage. That's when Fin's phone rang.

"Tutuola," he answered. Velasco and Betty waited for him to get off the phone.

"That was Liv. She wants us to head back to the precinct – there's something she didn't want to share on the phone," he told them.

"That doesn't sound good," Velasco said.

"No, it doesn't," Fin agreed.

To Be Continued…