Juliet and Juliet?

Chapter 23

Four people from three areas of US law enforcement sat in silence at a familiar booth in the back of the diner. Alex and Olivia sat opposite Porter, while Elliot flanked him on his left. A cellphone was sitting in the center of the table. Porter was trying hard not to stare at it.

"Agent Porter," Alex began, "Have you been in contact with Liam Connors?" she asked.

"I'm not under arrest, I'm not in court and I don't answer to you Miss Cabot, " Porter answered coldly.

Alex had anticipated his response, "Agent Porter, you saved myself and Detective Benson from Sean Connors, yet were planning on taking us to him and his brother. I'm just trying to establish motive," she said coolly.

"I told Olivia and Stabler why I'm doing this, I don't need to repeat myself."

"Has the blow to your head induced short term amnesia? Can you not remember what you told them?" Alex mocked.

Porter glanced at the cellphone again, "Of course I remember, but you're wasting your time with me... you should be out there, making a deal with Connors so we can salvage this clusterfuck," he said sharply.

Beside him, Elliot snorted but said nothing.

"The only place Sean Connors is going is back to Federal lock up, I'm sure there will be a cell close by so that you can keep in touch," Alex retorted, voice laden with sarcasm.

Olivia picked up the cellphone and began scrolling through the messages. "Sean received messages from his brother, were you aware of that?" she asked without looking up.

Porter followed her fingers as they skillfully navigated across the keypad. "No, I didn't. Is that Connors' phone?" he asked casually.

Olivia stopped her movements and looked over at him, "Does it matter whose phone it is?" she replied, holding his gaze.

"You should be tracing the messages, trying to find out where they've been sent from," he said, not breaking the eye contact.

"But not tracing calls?" she retorted quickly.

Porter continued to glare at her, "Of course tracing calls, I meant tracing all activity from that phone," he said sharply, indicating the phone in her hand.

Olivia looked at the phone in her hand, "We will, just as soon as comms are back up at the Command Post. Goldie's cut off all transmissions until he knows who to trust," she replied casually and placed the phone back on the table. She looked over at Elliot. "Why don't you see if Luker's heard anything."

Elliot slid out from the booth, he moved to the end of the counter where Agent Luker was positioned and started talking to him. He turned his back to the occupants of the booth and discreetly brought out his cellphone and dialed Cragen's number.

Alex and Olivia studied Porter closely looking for any sign of unease but his outward appearance was calm and neutral.

Alex turned to her right and looked at Olivia, "You know if I was Liam Connors I would be calling my brother to find out what the hold up was. I'm an escaped prisoner, hiding in a cabin, I'm pretty sure I'd be worried a SWAT team weren't about to descend on me." she commented.

Olivia nodded, "I know, less than 30 minutes away too. I'd at least check to make sure my little brother was okay and en route. He sent a lot of messages to Sean's phone but they stopped abruptly. Maybe he knows the game's up and he's bailed," Olivia said in agreement.

Porter shifted in his seat. "I need to go to the restroom," he announced.

Alex nodded, "Of course, we'll just wait until Elliot gets back," she said and smiled.