Watching

Part 3

3.

They had walked for a while when he saw them entering The Standard, a 21 storey hotel. He guessed they were going up to a party in the penthouse on the top floor. There was no way he could go up there so he would have to abort his mission for now. He passed the building and continued walking. He turned left twice and found his way back to the car. He took a deep breath and headed back home.

...

She had not returned to her apartment. He still could not get a fix on her weekends. It was beginning to annoy him. He had been watching for over a week. He was getting tired of it. He wanted to get closer but he still did not know enough about her social life. Was the man with the beard her boyfriend? He had not seen him around her apartment. He had not seen him at all before last night. Since she didn't come home to her place, she must have gone with the man to his place. Or maybe they had stayed at The Standard.

He rubbed his eyes and folded his arms across his broad chest, while still staring at her apartment. He sighed. It was time to run some errands. He did not expect her to come back any time soon.

...

She did not come home that Saturday. In fact, she did not come home all weekend and on Monday there still was no movement at all in her apartment. He was getting restless. Where was she? She had just carried a small purse Friday night so she hadn't gone on vacation. Was she alright? His only lead was the bar where she had met up with the man in the EastVillage. On Tuesday night he could not sit and wait any longer. He drove back to the EastVillage and went to the same bar. She wasn't there. Of course she wasn't. Why would she be at the same bar on a Tuesday?

The waitress recognized him.

"A cup of tea, sir?" she asked with a smile.

He nodded. "You remembered?"

"Sure I remember. I don't get many orders for tea at this time of night. Are you sure you don't need anything stronger?"

He grinned at her. "No thanks. Tea will be fine."

He did not drink. He had sworn never to touch another drink again. He had been sober for a few months now and he was beginning to feel stronger again. More in control of himself. He still did not feel at home in the AA meetings but he did attend. While he was sipping his tea, his eyes kept surveying his surroundings. There was no sign of the beautiful detective.

He quickly scanned the faces of a group of four men entering the bar and suddenly his eyes went a little wider. One of them was the man she had been with. He looked down, pretending to check his phone, when the men passed his booth. They were speaking Spanish and seemed to be very pleased about something. They sat down at the bar and ordered some beers. They all had their phones in their hands and were showing each other what was on the screens. He could not see what they were looking at but he guessed they were exchanging pictures.

They stayed at the bar for quite a while and he was on his third cup of tea when the men got up from the bar stools. Two of them had to use the bathroom before leaving and he decided he would go in too. He was just another visitor at the bar and he had just had three cups of tea so it only made sense that he would have to go at some point.

The two men were still busy with their phones, even in the bathroom, and one of them told the other "mia favorita". He was showing his friend a picture of a young girl and he managed to glance at it. He quickly looked away when he saw what kind of picture it was. The little girl couldn't be much older than 8 and she was completely naked. She was straddling a huge teddy bear and smiling at the camera. He felt sick inside. These guys were into kiddie porn.

As disgusted as he was, he left the bathroom quickly after the men had left, and followed them from a distance as they left the bar. They were obviously too busy and too noisy to notice him. While he followed them for quite a while, he was beginning to put things together. If these men were into child pornography, perhaps that had been the reason she had hooked up with one of them. And if so, he should stay out of her way. But what if she didn't know? What if it was the other way around and the men were using the detective to make sure they weren't on to them?

There was no way of knowing the situation. He knew that.

Still, he worried.

About her.

Detective Olivia Benson.

  ...