SAVING GRACES

Chapter Seven



His head buzzed as Olivia drove. “No…not now…I can’t…I don’t even know who I am.” He chanced a look at Olivia. “She’s beautiful…She gets more beautiful the more you look at her…And she’s kind…and smart and tough…Why did she hug me? Because she’s kind, you idiot…Why did you tell her about your Mom? Because you’re an idiot…” He slumped in the passenger seat.



“You ok?” Olivia asked gently.



“Uh…yea…”



“You haven’t said much since we got in the car…not that you have to…”



“Just…thinking about the case…and…” He looked at her shyly. “What happened…”



She smiled at him, and that wonderful warmth swept through him again.



“The case,” he thought. “Concentrate on the case. It’s what you’re supposed to be doing…And maybe it’ll keep other things out of your head.”



Olivia tried to understand what led to Bobby’s retreat inside his head. His revelation about his mother stunned her as much as her own about her parents. “Maybe both of us had rotten childhoods…Maybe that’s why…” She gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Maybe he thinks we’ll hurt each other...” She took a deep breath.



“Look,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I don’t know how to do this except be honest…”



Bobby didn’t move. “Maybe,” he said. “Maybe we…” He shook his head. “You deserve better than that….”



Olivia carefully guided the car into the SVU parking garage. “Ok,” she said. “I know I feel something for you…and you feel something for me…or else what was all that in my apartment?”



Bobby nodded slowly. “But…Olivia…I…” For a moment he thought he could tell her everything, tell her about Brady and his mother, about why his great success was a huge fraud, how he wasn’t sure who or what he was. “There’s so much,” he said feebly.



“Yea,” Olivia agreed. “Look…We know this is going to be awkward.”



Bobby nodded again.



“We try to remain professional…As much as we can…We have a responsibility to our jobs…and our partners.”



“You’re saying a lot of what I’ve been thinking,” Bobby said softly. “But not all,” he thought.



“We need to act as normally as possible…”



“Whatever that may be for us,” Bobby said ruefully. “Eames…” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “She thought…she saw…something…and I…I’m not good at hiding things from her…and it’s never good when I do…”



“I think we can tell our partners, if there’s anything to tell.” Olivia smiled. “But Elliott is awfully protective of me.”



“I think Eames trusts you a lot more than Stabler trusts me.”



“Only because Elliott doesn’t know you as well as Alex knows me.” She tenderly placed a hand on his arm.



“We may have four people in this,” Bobby said.



“Maybe,” Olivia admitted with a grin. “And if we don’t get up there soon, two of them are going to come looking for us.”



The other detectives barely registered their arrival, aside from Munch’s comment, “It’s not the food.”



“Hey, partner,” Alex said as Bobby sat at his desk. “You look a little better.”



Bobby watched Olivia sit across from Stabler, who gave her a close look. Bobby clicked on his computer. “I’m sorry…It wasn’t Benson’s fault…I…zonked out…”



“Don’t worry, Bobby,” Alex said as she looked at several files. “No one is complaining about you getting a few minutes of sleep. Not when you’re responsible for most of our breaks in this case.”



The compute screen blurred in front of Bobby’s eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck.



“Hey…you need some more rest…”



“I’m ok,” Bobby said quickly. “What did we find out about Bertelli?”



Alex decided not to press the fight. “He checked out…and Munch suggested seeing if he had contact with anyone else…A few names came up…One of those…” She handed Bobby a paper. “Gregory Veneer.”



Bobby’s eyes narrowed. “Veneer…as in…”



“Very rich…very old money…very influential…” Alex said.



“They always are,” Bobby muttered. “What’s he doing...” He read the report and looked up to meet Alex’s gaze. “An indecent exposure charge…”



Alex nodded. “Which may have involved a child. The SVU guys are convinced his family got the charges reduced. He’s been good ever since, or at least good enough. But the people I talked with at the leagues…They say Veneer and Bertelli are close…Veneer is careful not to get too close to the kids. Although…” She sighed. “No one seems to have checked much on his background when he volunteered…Damn…If cops don’t do checks, how can we expect…”



A triumphant Fin appeared. “Got something! On my way back from court I talked to one of Michael’s teammates. He remembers seeing a police car…not NYPD…around the ball fields the days before and week of Michael’s disappearance.”



Bobby’s heart pounded so loudly in hope that he thought everyone in the room must hear it.



“Can the kid describe it?” Stabler asked anxiously.



“Better than that.” Fin held up a large piece of paper like a trophy. It contained a detailed pencil sketch of a police car clearly marked “Westchester County.” “The kid hopes to be an artist,” Fin said. “Told him we might have a job for him if all his stuff is this good.”



In the midst of the excited buzz in the room, Bobby stood and walked to a corner. “Don’t rush on this,” he thought. “Coincidences…All of this may be coincidences…This is a terrible thing…One of the most horrible things to accuse someone…But…but everything we have…Everything tells me…And time…time is against us…Michael Flynn doesn’t have time…”An image of a terrified boy trembling in the dark flooded his mind, and he shivered.



“Bobby?” Olivia’s soft voice said. “Are you ok?”



She touched him tentatively on the arm. A current briefly jumbled his mind and left it with a stunning clarity.



“Truth,” he said. “You have to tell me the truth…”



Puzzled and slightly frightened, she studied him. “Of course…”



“Do you think I’m right in focusing on Bertelli? I’m not following some obsession?” He looked intently in her eyes.



“Yes,” she answered firmly and without hesitation. She met his eyes with equal intensity.



“Ok,” he said.



Triumph filled Olivia. She knew from speaking to Alex and her brief but intense observation of Bobby that he didn’t trust easily. Within a few hours, he’d trusted her in both his professional and private lives.



Cragen dealt with the DA’s office in seeking permission to search John Bertelli’s and Gregory Veneer’s lives. The detectives continued to assess and process what information they had. Bobby caught Olivia’s eyes at one point, and she gave him a quick smile. A comfortable warmth spread through him. “I trust her,” he thought. “And she seems to want me to do that.” He concentrated on the computer screen. “But she doesn’t know…if she did…” He sighed.



Huang appeared at his side. “Goren…Can I talk to you…”



“Of course.” Bobby turned. “What do you think about Bertelli?”



“We need to talk to him…and to Veneer…of course,” Huang said. “But what we’ve found out about both men…I don’t think either of them is capable of a crime like this…but together…”



Bobby nodded.



“That,” Munch said as the other detectives observed Bobby and Huang, “is an odd looking couple.”



Alex chewed a pencil thoughtfully before she spoke. “I almost feel sorry for the guy they’re profiling.”



Cragen appeared from his office. “Nothing for Veneer, but the A.D.A. is willing to get us warrants to search Bertelli’s car and home. She’d prefer we get him to talk to us first. I can’t blame her…I’m not thrilled this is a cop from another department.”



“We may be able to get him to talk to us,” Huang said.



“What,” Stabler said. “Bertelli and Veneer are going to waltz in and talk to us?”



“Maybe,” Bobby said softly. “Veneer is less likely, but Bertelli…Huang and I have some ideas…In the meantime, we should check out the Veneer family’s real estate holdings…See if they have any property near or central to the disappearances.”



“All right,” Cragen said. “If you can get one or both of them in here, great. But remember…we’re working on a deadline here.”



His eyes darkening, Bobby nodded. “I know.”



Alex watched Bobby as he returned to his desk. She sat next to him. “What are you and Huang up to?”



“Huang came up with a possible profile of the perp…or perps…We were able to get some more information on Bertelli and Veneer…”



“They fit the profile?”



“It’s…neither of them entirely…It’s odd…Put them together and they fit pretty well…Bertelli, according to what we’ve got, is pretty tightly wound. He’s never married, and his life is his work, the Catholic Church, and these baseball leagues. His work record is unblemished…”



“But we know an unblemished record doesn’t mean a good cop,” Alex commented.



“Bertelli’s record is blissfully free of any spots,” Bobby said. “Of course, it’s also blissfully free of any real police work. I’ll grant you that he’s apparently a great administrator…”



“Oh, a paper pusher…”



“Yea…and he’s good at pleasing his superiors.”



“Veneer?”



Bobby pulled out a paper from the stack on his desk. “He shows some signs of being a classic predator…But not a killer…”



Alex sighed. “Bobby…really…What are the chances that Michael Flynn is still alive?”



“I…I don’t know,” Bobby admitted after a moment. He blinked, terrible images of what might be happening to Michael Flynn flowing through his mind. “The longer it takes…”



“Bobby.” Alex rested her hand on his arm. “We’re all working on this. You’re not the only one. You’re doing your best. Ok?”



His eyes met hers. “Ok.”



“Food…I have food,” Munch announced as he strode into the office. “A feast…”



They were all terribly hungry; Alex in particular bore resemblance to a ravenous beast.



“Good Lord,” Munch said. “Don’t get between her and the food.”



“Something I learned long ago,” Bobby said dryly.



“Where does she put it all?” Fin marveled.



“Burn a lot of calories chasing after my partner.” Alex brandished a breadstick. “Just walking with him takes a lot of energy.”



Cragen appeared at his office door. “Well,” he said looking at Bobby and Huang. “I’m convinced the two of you may be mindreaders.”



“Bertelli?” Bobby asked. “He’ll talk to us?”



Stabler dropped a fork, and Munch choked on a meatball.



“Better than that,” Cragen said. “He’s in the city…He wants to come here…”



Alex dropped a breadstick, and even Bobby looked surprised.



“He’s on his way,” Cragen added. “When I told him he could be a great help to us, he was extremely eager.”



Bobby abandoned his lasagna. “In the city…He’s in the city,” he muttered. “That may mean…” His eyes shining, Bobby looked up at Cragen. “Captain, we need to have a tail ready to follow him when he leaves here.”



Cragen nodded.



“You think,” Alex said. “If Bertelli is in Manhattan, Michael Flynn is too.”



Bobby nodded.



“Well, let’s get ready for his visit,” Fin said and started to pick up the remains of dinner.



“Wait.” Bobby reached across the table to stop Fin. “Leave it.” He looked at Huang, who nodded slowly.



Fin looked in surprise at Bobby and Huang. “What? You think this guy will get upset at seeing our dirty dishes?”



“No,” Bobby said slowly. “But he won’t like the mess. Fin, which one is your grungiest, dirtiest interrogation room?”



“None of them are going to win good housekeeping awards,” Fin answered.



Sensing vaguely what Bobby and Huang were up to, Stabler stood. “I’d go with three,” he said. “It’s so dark that sometimes I have to rely on my memory to not bump into things.”



“Perfect…That’s the one…” Bobby sat in thought. “Eames…You and Stabler…You should start talking to Bertelli…and then…” He caught Alex’s gently warning look. “I…I’m sorry…” He looked at the SVU detectives. “I’m charging ahead here…I didn’t mean to…”



Stabler’s temper had flared at Bobby’s rush forward, but it cooled with the other detective’s sincere apology. “Just let us know what’s going on and give us time to catch up.”



“Ok,” Bobby said. “Here’s what Huang and I think.”



END Chapter Seven