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| Donald Cragen stood in the vestibule of the small church where long ago little Mikey Logan had been an altar boy. Young, innocent, and trusting. Until the parish priest had abused that trust. No, even back then Logan hadn't been innocent. By the time Fr. Joe got his hands on Mike, quite literally, Mike's mother had already inflicted serious damage on the boy's psyche. And body. Thinking about it now, he wondered if Lennie's decision to bring Mike's body back 'home' was the right one. But the simple truth was that there wasn't anywhere else that made any kind of sense either. Mike had pretty well been done with the church; it wasn't any part of his adult life. And Cragen really couldn't blame him. But now that that life was over, this seemed to be the only fitting way to mark its end. No. If Mike had to die young, a truly fitting end would have been like Max Greevey's. Killed in the line of duty, Max had gotten full honors, Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, VIP Honor Guard, the whole works. But no, Mike hadn't died on the job. It looked like he'd gotten involved with the wrong person, a possessive 'daddy' who didn't like Mike's gallivanting around. And the worst part was that they couldn't even pin it on the bastard. Munch, Fin, Green, and Fontana had spent the entire day yesterday canvassing Miller's building trying to find anybody who knew anything about his kinky love life. Nobody knew anything. Former 'lovers' said that Miller was possessive and ran a 'tough scene,' but he'd never threatened to kill anyone for leaving. It broke Cragen's heart that they weren't going to be able to find justice for Logan's death. He moved into the sanctuary and took a seat next to Anita Van Buren. There weren't many people here; Logan wasn't the sort who had long-standing relationships of any kind. Oh, he was likeable enough, got along with co-workers when his temper wasn't getting in the way. But he didn't form attachments, not usually. And so now at the end, there were very few people who cared enough to come say goodbye. Most of them were cops; Anita, and Lennie Briscoe. His last partner, Frankie Silvera, and their boss, the Lieutenant from Staten Island whose name escaped Cragen at the moment. Ed Green and John Munch were there more to support Lennie than for having known Mike, and their partners were there more for the case than anything else, to see if anybody 'interesting' showed up. But the only slightly unexpected person was EADA Jack McCoy, who had after all worked with Logan for a year. Cragen was startled when a hand landed on his shoulder. "Don. Mind if I join you?" He looked up to see a very somber Phil Cerreta. "Course, Phil." Anita moved over, making room, and Phil slid in beside them. Cragen introduced them in hushed tones, and then the Mass was beginning. At the back of the room, a lone woman entered a few minutes later. Dark haired, with red-rimmed eyes, she took a seat at the back. She knew this wasn't what Mike would have wanted, but somehow she had to be here anyway. She had a message to deliver � Lennie sat through the Mass, going through the motions, repeating the ritual prayers, but somehow his heart wasn't in it. The Priest said comforting words about Mike being in a better place now. Lennie surely hoped so, but in his heart he didn't believe it any more now than he had believed the Rabbi at Cathy's funeral. Caught between the Jewish and Catholic faiths growing up, he'd ended up not 'sold' on either one. And 25 + years in the NYPD had convinced his cynical soul that if there was somebody watching over the human race, he/she/it was doing a hell of a lousy job and didn't deserve to be 'worshipped.'. What came after this life, he didn't know. All he knew for sure was that as far as HE was concerned they were gone. And that it left a gaping hole in his heart, in his life. When the mass was over, they filed out of the church and drove the few blocks to a neighborhood cemetery. Mike's parents were buried here. However, Lennie had insisted on a plot on the other side of the cemetery from them. He couldn't leave Mike for eternity next to the woman who had beat him as a kid. He had fought for his freedom from his past; he deserved to keep it now. Practically all the men present were co-opted to be pall bearers, except for Lennie who was accorded the role of 'family.' Cragen wondered about that; he knew they had been close, but 'next of kin?' He'd felt an almost fatherly connection to Logan, had almost expected it to be him who had to take on these sad duties. Part of him was maybe a little hurt, but the overwhelming hurt of Mike's death far overshadowed his petty jealousy. Of course, now that they knew about Mike's � preferences, Cragen wondered if the partners had been more than friends. It didn't fit what he knew about Lennie, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd been surprised on that front. The graveside ceremony was short, almost frighteningly so. And then it was over. People milled around for a while, chatting in subdued voices. Don and Phil reminisced about working with Mike, while most of the other cops congregated off to one side. Jack stopped to say a few words to Lennie, then made his exit. The dark haired woman took his place. "Hello, Lennie." Lennie looked down at her, surprised. "Doc! Didn't expect to see you here?" She smiled sadly. "Mike was my patient at one time, Lennie. But he was also my friend. I was so sorry to hear about this. He deserved better." Lennie nodded. Now he remembered; Mike had mentioned working with Dr. Olivet after Max Greevey had been killed. Lennie had kidded him for a while that he and the beautiful doctor would make a good pair � of course he hadn't known. "Yeah, he did. And from what Ed tells me, it don't look good for pinning this on the bastard who killed him �" Olivet sighed. "Lennie, if the cops are investigating Mike's death, it probably means they're investigating his life, too � certain things are bound to come up now �" Lennie cocked an eyebrow at her. // She knows. // "He was gay �" She nodded, and reached into her purse. "Lennie, I advised him to tell you a long time ago, but he was too afraid of losing your friendship. But knowing his was a risky job, he gave me this, and asked me to give it to you if � this � happened." Lennie took the envelope, his eyes wide with fear. Mike's 'confession.' What would he say? Did Lennie want to know? Part of him wanted to rip it open right now, while part of him wanted to throw it in a fire, unread. He swallowed his fear and tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket. "Thanks, Doc," was all he managed to get past the lump in his throat. Liz Olivet just nodded and patted his hand before turning away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Across the manicured lawn of the cemetery, Joe Fontana watched Lennie and the woman with interest. He caught Van Buren's attention. "Lieutenant. Do you know that woman talking to Briscoe?" Anita turned, wondering who he was talking about. Then she recognized the good doctor. "Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. She's a psychologist, was on retainer with the department back when Mike worked the 2-7." "So she knew him?" Don Cragen joined them, jumping in. "When his first partner in homicide was killed, she worked with him professionally. Actually, there were rumors about her and Mike after that � I guess that's all they were, rumors." Frankie Silvera and her boss broke off from the knot of cops, turning towards their car. Joe hastily turned and caught her arm. "Det. Silvera, can I ask you something about one of your cases?" She had been crying earlier, but was fairly calm now. "Yeah, sure." "It's probably nothing, but � In Logan's notebook, I found a notation about somebody named Joey. It was about a month after the case was closed. Do you know if Mike might have stayed in contact with him?" Frankie thought a minute. "Joey � oh, yeah, the young prostitute. He was found beaten, left for dead. We're pretty sure it was his pimp who did it, but the kid wouldn't press charges. You know, now that you mention it, that one did seem to hit Mike kind of hard. He kind of freaked when we got the kid's full name. What was it, something with a K �. Kroll � something Polish sounding �" Cragen's blood chilled in his veins. With a shaky voice he asked, "Krolinsky?" Fontana turned to the Captain. "That name mean something?" // My god � // Cragen licked his suddenly dry lips. "One Fr. Joseph Krolinsky was the former pastor of this church �" Ed put it together first. "The one who �" Cragen just couldn't say it, so he just nodded again. "Yeah. A few years after that incident he finally left the church and got married. He had two sons, I think. One of them could have been Joe Jr." Frankie shuddered as she realized what that case must have meant to Mike. "As in our Joey �" Fontana's eyes narrowed. "So why was there a notation about him a month later? Right before Mike was killed?" Cragen and van Buren looked at each other. Anita spoke. "Worth checking out." Cragen nodded. "Let's reconvene back at SVU HQ. Det. Silvera, can you join us?" She glanced at her boss. "Lt. Stolper?" // Kevin Stolper! That's it. // Cragen kicked himself for not remembering the man's name. Stolper nodded, and Cragen gestured for her to join him in his car. As they made their way back to their cars, Ed waved Joe on. "I'll be there in a minute." Joe raised an eyebrow, but realized that Ed was heading over to say a few words to Briscoe. He headed to the car, giving them a moment. Ed saw Lennie standing alone now at Mike's grave, his shoulders slumped and shaking. He intended to offer a moment's comfort, until he realized Lennie was speaking. "Why, Mikey, why? Why didn't you tell me back then, after you decked that son-of-a-bitch Crossley? Why did you shut me out? But no, you just couldn't let anybody get that close, could you? "All this time we could have been together! I guess it's just as much my fault, though. I coulda said something, too. But I was scared, too. And I figured even if you were gay, you wouldn't be interested in a used-up old fogey like me. "And then you go and hook up with an abusive son-of-a-bitch like that? If you wanted somebody older, you could have come to me! I'd've taken care of you, Mikey! Loved you! Damn you!" Lennie's words stopped Ed in his tracks. Now it all made sense. Lennie hadn't been upset just because Logan was gay; he'd been upset because he hadn't known. They'd both been so busy keeping the secret, they hadn't trusted each other. He realized that Lennie really didn't want anyone to have heard those words. He didn't need the shock of finding out someone had. There would be another time to talk about this. For now, he turned away, even though Lennie's sobs just about tore out his heart. Continue on to Chapter 7 Send me some Feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
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