Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Gangster

60. Virtue: Where They're Trusted

Rafael Barba dropped Juliana off at the precinct, kissing her goodbye.
  "Go be amazing, mi amor."
  "I love you, Rafi," Juliana smiled as she walked off.

****

Juliana frowned as she got a text from Carisi at the medical examiners'.
  "Tate's father is not related to Frank Baker," Juliana called.
  "Great," Benson muttered to herself.
  Juliana leaned forward toward Mike Dodds. "Mike," she murmured.
  "Yeah?"
  "This is a huge hunch, but.... I gotta feeling about that Pastor Eldon guy," she smiled. .
  "Which one?" Fin asked curiously.
  "Junior."
  "Huh," Mike sighed. "Me too. But we gotta focus on the facts for now, you know?"
  "Of course," Juliana agreed. "Holy sh*t," she said.
  "What now?" Mike asked.
  "Amanda's in the ER. Carisi's staying with her for a bit," Juliana replied.
  "Oh, damn," Dodds thought. "She okay?"
  "Yeah, yeah, I think so," Juliana answered. "She's just woke up. They want her on bed rest," she sighed.

****

Liv has just gotten off the phone with Carisi.
  "How's Rollins?" Mike asked.
  "She's okay, the baby's okay, but.... they want to keep her there for observation. So where are we?" she asked.
  "Well, it turns out Graham isn't Tate's father. No Baker DNA on the paternal side," Juliana announced.
  "So why'd they send him to Ecuador?" Lieutenant Benson asked.
  "He may not be the father of Summer's baby, but we can't rule him out on Lane," Fin Tutuola pointed out.
  Olivia scoffed in disbelief. "Okay, so we're thinking there are two separate predators in her circle?"
  Fin nodded.
  "Look, it's a pretty closed community. I mean, you've got the family, you've got the crew, you've got—you've that pastor," she realized aloud.
  "Yeah, that's exactly what Juliana was thinking," Fin agreed.
  "Damn it," Mike said.
  "Pastor Eldon. He was on that East Harlem mission trip in July with Lane," Juliana added.
  "Is there any chance we can put him with Summer three years ago?" Dodds asked.
  "Let me check," Fin replied.
  "Remember when I told you about Crown Heights? One of the cases involved three pregnant girls in the same synagogue. Now, we always thought it was the Rabbi, but we couldn't make the case. No one was willing to say a bad word about him," Mike explained.
  "Well, no one in this family's gonna say a bad word about that pastor," Liv pointed out.
  "Unless we find something they don't know," Juliana argued.
  "Woah. I got something on their blog. Pastor Eldon and Summer, 2012. Christmas, giving out gifts," Fin showed the squad.
  "At the East Harlem Mission," Benson confirmed. "He gets them away from home. That's his MO."
  "I'll call.... Barba," Juliana volunteered, realizing how odd it sounded.

****

  "On the advice of counsel, the Bakers won't be speaking to you anymore," Eldon smiled smugly.
  "That's aight, Pastor. You're the one we're looking for," Juliana smiled.
  "Oh?" he asked.
  "In July, when Lane was on her mission trip, you were with her?" Sergeant Dodds asked.
  "I was."
  "Did you spend any time alone with her?" Juliana asked.
  "Hmm," the Pastor chuckled. "So that's where you're going with this."
  "Any reason why we shouldn't?" Juliana asked expectantly
  "Respect."
  "Respect," Juliana repeated in disbelief. "The way they shoulda respected Bill Cosby too?"
  The man stood coolly. "Basic human decency. Now, that's not to say I don't understand where you're coming from, people like the Bakers and me, we, uh.... scare you, with the values that we espouse, our faith." He sighed. "We live in Gomorrah. When men of God come here and preach love for the scripture, it threatens you people to the core."
  Juliana frowned, pulling her gold cross out from inside of her shirt, leaning in toward him. "Listen here, you sick son of a b**ch. If you're looking right into my eyes and seeing fear, you're even stupider than we thought. I'm embarrassed, to be a part of the same thing that you are," Juliana murmured, then stepping back. "You're even more stupid to thing I would persecute someone of my own faith for being just that. Don't go preaching your bullsh*t about police discrimination to a black-Latina detective."
  "You think this is religious persecution?" Dodds asked.
  "Well, you said it, not me," he shrugged. "But I have seen it before. Oh yeah, every time I leave New York, I think 'Just keep going. Don't look back.' But," he began. "There's too much work to be done, too many souls to minister to."
  "Like you ministered to Lane?" Juliana asked.
  "Okay, I've had enough of this," Pastor Eldon decided.
  "Not quite. We're gonna need a DNA sample," Dodds said.
  "Since you didn't do the deed, you won't mind givin us one," Juliana smiled, handing him a tube.
  "Well, I believe you need a warrant for that."
  "'Ask and you shall receive,'" Juliana smirked.
  Sergeant Mike Dodds pulled out the warrant. "Open up."

****

  "Just got a text from Benson," Dodds told Juliana. "It's a match."
  "Knew that sh*t," Juliana nodded.
  "Yes, you did. I'm sorry I doubted you," Mike smiled.
  "Not a problem," Juliana shrugged. "Let's roll."

****

  "We're looking for Pastor Eldon," Dodds told the man who opened the door.
  "Oh, Pastor Eldon. I'm sorry, he left early this morning.
  "Any idea where?" Juliana asked.

****

Juliana and Mike hopped angrily into the car, as Juliana put the car radio on.
  "Barba—"
  "Don't talk," Juliana interrupted. "Let's just drive. Ima need a second."

****

Everyone watched earnestly as the Bakers made their official statement on live television. No one had anything to say. Carisi then shut off the TV.
  "Rafael said that Eldon will plead to multiple counts of statutory rape, so he's lookin at hard time," Juliana announced.
  "Another son of a b**ch hiding behind the collar," Carisi said, standing up. "You know, the priest at my church, growing up, he saved my life. He saved my life. But you only hear about the bad ones."
  "So Dodds, you still think this was a waste of time?" Fin asked as Juliana looked in his direction as well.
  "No, I get it," he agreed. "I just thought SVU would be taking rapists off the streets, not out of churches."
  Juliana frowned. "Unfortunately, my friend.... rape is everywhere. We just gotta find it, wherever it's at."
  "Well, for what it's worth, Dodds," Benson began slowly as she stood,"Most rapists don't hunt on the streets. They hunt where they're trusted."
  Mike nodded understandingly as she walked away.
  "You wanna know about the priest where I grew up?" Juliana asked Dodd.
  "Yeah," he nodded.
  "He's my youngest brother's real dad."
  Dodds could only stare in shock
  "Come on, Mike," Juliana sighed. "I'll buy you and Rafi drinks later."