“You know Liv, after all these years, I can’t believe she’d lie to me and have us all on a wild goose chase,” Elliot piped up, as him and Olivia searched the alleys between the school and his home. “I mean, have I no taught her better than that?”

“She was scared Elliot,” Olivia reminded him. “Everybody acts different when scared.”

“Yeah, but still,” Elliot replied. “We could’ve found the body by now and actually have suspects or the actual bastards that did this.”

Olivia shrugged slightly. “She’s just a kid.”

“It doesn’t….” Elliot trailed, as Olivia cut him off.

“If it was any other kid, you’d use that excuse – that they’re ‘just a kid’. But because it’s Lenore, you’re angrier and more protective than usual. I really don’t know what the Captain’s thinking, letting you work this case when you’re so emotionally involved.”

“Liv, if he didn’t let me work it, I’d be going at it alone,” Elliot told her. “You ought to know me well enough by now to know that.”

“I do know you that well, Elliot,” Olivia replied. “But I still think you should’ve spent at least today with Lenore, at home. I mean, if you were her, would you really want to be stuck at the station alone?”

“If it means catching the perps, then yes,” Elliot answered.

“Elliot, she’s a young girl who looks up to you more than you know,” Olivia pointed out. “Girls can be overly clingy when they’re scared or upset. And right now, she’s both. Though, she may not seem clingy, she could just very well be hiding it.”

“I wonder what else she might be hiding,” Elliot muttered.

Olivia sighed and shook her head, seeing she wasn’t going to be able to get through to him right then. “Hey, there’s blood here. I think this might be the alley Lenore was in.”

Elliot quickly rushed over to see, and following the trail of blood, soon found the body of the male that had been shot. “Looks like they shot him a few times, not just once.”

Olivia shook her head, continuing to look around for evidence, while Elliot radioed in to the station, to say they’d found the body.

Soon enough, the coroner and the crime scene unit showed up to go over the scene with Elliot and Olivia. Both had guarded the area, not wanting anyone to suddenly just walk in on the crime scene.

“He’s about sixteen, seventeen,” Dr. Melinda Warner told the detectives. “He’s been dead approximately nineteen hours. I won’t know more until I get him on the table.”

Elliot shook his head. “We would’ve found him sooner than eleven o’clock today, if somebody had told us what way she’d come home,” he muttered, still angry with Lenore for not telling them in the first place.

“Elliot,” Olivia started, placing a hand on his arm. “She was scared and not thinking straight. Give her a bit of a break.”

Elliot shrugged Olivia off, and went on investigating the crime scene surroundings. He wanted to be sure they found everything they could possibly need to catch the people who’d beaten his little girl up.

“You know, we probably could’ve had this case half solved if she’d just told us all the details like she’d been asked,” Elliot commented after a short while of silence.

“Elliot, don’t start this again,” Olivia told him. “You ought to know people don’t always make the best choices when scared.”

“I still wish she’d have made a better decision,” Elliot stated. “If she’d just come home her usual way, none of this would’ve happened!”

“Elliot, it would’ve happened,” Olivia pointed out. “Only, Lenore wouldn’t have been involved.”

“A father’s allowed to go over the ‘what ifs’ when their child is involved,” Elliot snapped. “Now, let’s just get this over with.”

Little did they know, that someone in the crowd that had gathered nearby was listening very carefully to their conversation. Upon hearing a name he thought he’d never hear again, he quickly, but casually vacated the scene. He had to inform his leader – and quick!

Meanwhile, back at the station, Lenore was still sitting in Elliot’s chair reading her book, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. She was still a little jumpy, but not so bad about it now, since everybody was pretty much coming up in front of her and not from behind.

“I wonder what’s taking them so long,” she wondered silently, taking a small break from her book.

Lenore glanced around cautiously, before deciding to go see what the Captain was up to at the moment. She got up, leaving her book lying upon Elliot’s desk, and quickly hurried off into Captain Craigen’s office.

Captain Craigen looked up in surprise when he heard someone come in, smiling a little when he saw whom it was. “Hey. How’s it going out there?”

Lenore shrugged slightly. “Okay,” she answered quietly. “Um…C’n I stay here with you for a lil’ bit?”

Captain Craigen nodded. “It’s okay to be scared, Lenore. Just don’t distract me from my work anymore than you have too, alright?”

Lenore looked down sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I know you’re busy and all. I’ma just go back out and sit in Elliot’s chair again.”

Captain Craigen watched her a moment. “How about we go get some lunch first.”

“Okay,” Lenore agreed readily. She knew no matter where they went, so long as she was with him, she was safe. “I’m kinda hungry, anyway.”

“So am I,” Captain Craigen told her. “How about we go to the Deli down the street?”

“Sure!” Lenore exclaimed. “Elliot and I eat there when I come to visit him at work. They have a mean turkey and cheese sub!”

Captain Craigen smiled. “Well, maybe I’ll just have to try this mean turkey and cheese sub then, won’t I?”

Lenore smiled back up at him, as she grabbed her jacket from where she’d left it. “Once you try it, you’ll never forget it.”

“For right now, I’ll take your word on it,” Captain Craigen replied.

Lenore giggled as they headed on out of the station, to make their way to the Deli down the street. She felt a little less scared, since they were doing something somewhat normal. True, she could’ve gone to school, but hadn’t wanted to do so – even if her ribs weren’t as sore as they’d been the day before, thanks to amazing painkillers.

“Are you buying?” Lenore asked suddenly, feeling a bit shy and ashamed. “I – Elliot never gave me any money this morning. I – I think he was too mad to – to think of it.”

Captain Craigen nodded. “I’m buying. Was going to anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks,” Lenore said softly, truly meaning it. “And I’m sorry I sent you guys on a wild goose chase yesterday….”

“Just don’t leave important things like that out again,” Captain Craigen told her. “Because we can’t catch these guys if we don’t know everything – and I mean, everything.”

Lenore nodded quietly, starting to feel bad for not mentioning her dream earlier. Though, she did truly want to figure it out first, because she didn’t want to give them any more false information.

They finally reached the Deli and headed on inside, grateful there really wasn’t that much of a line-up. Especially since Captain Craigen didn’t want to be away from the station any longer than he really had to be.

Little did they know that at the moment, their every move was being watched very carefully. The one watching was waiting for the perfect moment to make their move.