Keeping Her Safe

Chapter 4

"Okay, so what do we know so far on the Kayla Stone case?" Cragen asked, as the squad assembled for their morning meeting.

"Kayla is fourteen and has been raped twice in the past year; once in September and once just last week. Each time it occurred at the same time and in the same place, an empty alley behind the school parking lot about two hours after school got out. She also believes that it was the same man both times."

"Alright. What information have we gathered about the perp?"

"Nothing," Olivia said, shaking her head.

"Well, that's helpful," Fin said sarcastically.

"I mean, we have no concrete evidence as of now, not even any leads. She has no clue what he looked like; apparently he wore a purple mask while he was attacking her," Olivia said. "All she could tell us was that he was thin and he- apparently he smelled like lemons."

"Lemons?" Amanda asked in confusion.

"Hey, with this little evidence we have to go with what we've got," Olivia shrugged. "Besides that...there was one other thing, but it was purely speculation."

"What is it?"

"Well, she told me that both of the school shootings at St. Joseph's occurred only a few days after each of her attacks, and that the shooter appeared to be aiming only at her."

Amanda slowly nodded. "So she thinks that the shooter is the same person that assaulted her."

"It wouldn't be the craziest situation we've had here."

"Wait a minute," Fin said. "You're saying she thinks that scumbag that raped her also tried to kill her at her school to cover up the evidence?"

"Yeah, she thinks so. And I think she might be right," Olivia said.

"Alright," Cragen said. "Let's see if we can get any sort of profile on him."

"...Well, we know he has to have a pretty good knowledge of the school and the layout of it to know exactly what alley would be deserted enough to attack somebody," Fin said. "I'd say this guy is definitely on the inside. Teacher or student for sure."

"He had to have access to the school to get in the building when he shot up the place, too," Amanda said. "I think Fin's right about the teacher-or-student thing."

"Okay, good," Cragen said. "What else."

"Well, we could start by looking at the typical profile for school shooters," Nick said, speaking up for the first time. "Statistically, we're looking for a young male, possibly with a history of depression, bullying, or abuse at home."

Cragen nodded. "Olivia, Fin, why don't you head to the school and start talking, see if you can get names for people who fit out description."

"On our way," Olivia said, heading towards the door.

"Good," Cragen said. "And good work this morning, everyone. This has been a tough case from the start, but you're all doing a great job so far. Keep up the good work."

As soon as the team disbanded, and everyone went their separate ways, Rollins headed straight for Nick's desk.

"Hey," she said, as he looked up and smiled at her.

"Hi Rollins," he responded, and she was immediately and cruelly reminded that their relationship still had to be kept hidden from the team; that in front of the guys it was still 'Amaro and Rollins'.  Amanda hated it. She hated the fact that she had to act like they were just co-workers and not in a committed relationship in public.