Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Gangster

62. Save The Date: Murder Pimp

"We got something," Juliana called in the squad room.
Dodds splayed out all of the papers out on the table. "Each one of those hotel rooms was registered to a Carlo Valdez, who claims and has proof that his account was hacked. We need to meet with the bank and figure out if they know who it was."
"Okay," Benson nodded. "You guys go and check that out, and report back to us. We'll piece all this together in the meantime."
"On it," Juliana nodded as she and Dodds headed out.

****

Juliana Barba and Mike Dodds spoke with the bank manager at the specific branch that managed Carlo Valdez's account.
"Ms. O'Hannigan, we need to know if your branch has been able to find the person who hacked into Carlo Valdez's account recently," Juliana explained.
"Not yet, Detective, but we're working on it," the young woman promised.
"Well, we're going to need you to make that your top priority. This is an important police matter," Dodds replied.
"Of course, Sergeant," she nodded. "Is that all?"
"Yes, thank you," he nodded. "We'll be in touch."

****

"So does the DNA from the crime scene match anyone in the system?" Juliana asked as they returned.
"Nope," Carisi replied.
"Perfect," Juliana muttered. "Any connections between the murders?"
  "Yeah," Fin nodded. "The hair is dark brunette, and real, and they found lipstick on some wine glasses; always red."
  "Our next step is to place this woman at each hotel; TARU's going through the cameras now, but somehow some of the footage was deleted. We need everyone checking out the hotel bartenders, and trying to find a woman we could place at every single crime scene. TARU's sending through pictures of each woman matching the red lipstick criteria now," Liv Benson said. "I'll send them to each of you on the way."
  "Yes ma'am," Dodds nodded as he and Juliana left the precinct.

****

Maybe twenty minutes later, the entire squad received somewhat blurry security camera pictures of each of the women matching the criteria at each hotel bar, along with the text.

"One more thing. CSU results are in. The suspect's gotta be anywhere from 5'4" to 5'7" feet tall."

  "Benson said that the woman's gotta be anywhere from 5'4" to 5'7"," Juliana said out loud.
  Mike Dodds frowned. "Great. Average height brunette woman, wearing red lipstick. Fantastic."

Juliana sighed, organizing each one of the pictures into a category on her phone by specific hair color. Hair could easily be changed; the only reliable thing was her lipstick.

****

  "Dodds. We got a couple of potential matches. TARU's identifying them now," she reported as she got off the phone with Lieutenant Benson.
  "Thanks, Barba," Mike nodded as he finished with a bartender as Juliana's phone rang again.
  "Hello?"
  Dodds raised an eyebrow
  "It's the bank," Juliana whispered as she stepped away.

She reentered the room a few minutes later.
  "They found the person who hacked Valdez. It's a guy; Tom Chavez."
  Mike sighed as they both left the hotel. "Let's go check it out."
  Juliana nodded. "You drive, I'll send the matches to TARU so we can get an ID on both."

****

  "Hey, I didn't kill those dudes, I swear," Chavez panicked.
"We know, Tom," Mike nodded. "Just tell us who you're helping."
"Okay, okay," he breathed. "I got his name."
"And? What is it?" Juliana asked.
"His name's Danny Guerrero. They call him Gorilla. That's all I know," he promised. "I didn't know he was killing those dudes; Ion work for him no more."
"You realize Guerrero probably wants to kill you now, right? No one gets into the inner circle and lives," Juliana murmured.
Chavez gulped. "Yeah, I guess."
"Yeah. Good. Now, we can protect you, no problem. But if there's anything you haven't told us, well.... let's hope you can fend for yourself," Juliana smirked.
"That's everything, Detective! I promise," he gasped.
"Okay, man. No problem. Just pray we don't have to drag you into the interrogation room."

****

"Alright, guys. We got matches on the two women, both Hispanic. Mariana Williams and Anastasia Bolera," Carisi announced.
  "Okay, we're getting somewhere," Benson nodded. "Okay, we got the addresses here.
  "Fin, Carisi, go check out Williams. Dodds, Barba, you're going to Borealis's place."
  "Alright," Juliana nodded as they all left.

****

Juliana knocked on the door of the apartment door.
"Anastasia Bolera? NYPD."

There was no answer.
Dodds knocked on the door again. "NYPD," he called.

A woman answered the door the door; Anastasia Bolera.
"What do you need?" she asked.
"We need to ask you a few questions," Dodds explained.
"Can we come in?"
"Yeah, sure," she nodded quietly.

She looked almost exactly as she had at the hotel bar. They both entered, just as Juliana was suddenly hit over the head.
"Aw, f**k," she gasped just as she passed out.

****

Juliana finally came to in a hospital bed, as Rafael Barba and Mike Dodds both stood over her.
"Hey, Juliana," Rafael smiled.
"Rafi? Mike? What happened, what happened with the case?" she asked.
"It's fine, J. We got Anastasia, and her pimp. You were right about the murder pimp thing," he smiled.
"I knew it," Juliana murmured with a chuckle, sitting up.
"Whoa, whoa," Rafael Barba stopped her. "You've got a light concussion, Juliana."
"It's okay, I'm fine, really, babe."
"Okay, well, we'll just have the doctor check just to be sure," he nodded.
"What's happening now? Did the pimp plead guilty?"
Rafael nodded. "He did. It's not going to trial, mi vida. You did it. Because of you, in a non-f**ked-up way, we got all the evidence we need on him, and he looks completely guilty."
Juliana smiled. "Of course. Hey, what time is it?"
  "It's morning. You slept like a baby, mi amor," Rafael chuckled. "But, more importantly, we won this one. It was a good one, for once."
  Juliana smiled. "For once."