We Know What You Did

2: Runaway

Once at the precinct, Chelsea was shown to the interview room while the detectives gathered in Olivia's office.
"What's going on?" Sonny asked.
"You tell us," Olivia said. "I got a call from Syracuse PD, who were looking for you. Your brother-in-law reported Chelsea missing and the only person he could think of her being with was you." Olivia explained.
Sonny put his hands on his hips. "She told me she asked Tyler about spending the weekend with me." Sonny sighed. The other detectives stood silently, waiting for him to continue. "She called me a little after midnight last night. She said she needed to see me. I had the day off and figured I'd drive up to see her. When she asked to come with me, I had to say yes. She wouldn't lie to me."
"Let's see what Chelsea has to say about it" Olivia said. Sonny nodded and went to leave the room. "Not you, Carisi." Olivia stated. "Fin, Rollins, you got this." The detectives nodded and Fin and Amanda entered the interview room while Sonny stood beside Olivia and observed.
"Hey, Chelsea" Amanda said sweetly as she and Fin entered the room. Chelsea gave them a small smile. "You're not in trouble, sweetheart. We just want to know what happened. Can you tell us about today?" Amanda and Fin took a seat.
Chelsea nodded. "I just wanted out of the house. It's nearing the anniversary of mom's death and I needed a change in scenery." Chelsea told the same lie she had earlier. "I was the one who called Uncle Sonny to come get me. He didn't take me. I asked Dad about it last night. Maybe he just doesn't remember."
"Ok. And that's all?" Amanda asked. Chelsea nodded. "Alright. We'll figure this all out when your step-dad gets here." Amanda stood up to leave.
"Wait, Dad's coming here?" Chelsea asked, getting anxious. Fin nodded. "I don't have to go home, do I?" Chelsea became visibly upset and frightened.
"Uh, I don't know." Amanda told her. "We'll have to see." She and Fin left the room and reentered Olivia's office.
"I told you guys she's not a liar" Sonny said in defense is his niece.
"We still need to hear Tyler's side of the story." Olivia added. "Go wait for him." She instructed. Fin and Sonny left the room while Amanda hung back.
"Liv, did you see the way she freaked out when I told her that her step dad was coming?" Amanda asked. Olivia nodded and sighed. "She doesn't want to see him. She seemed scared."
Olivia nodded again. She had been doing this job for a long time and she was fairly good at picking up on red flags from abuse victims. "I'll talk to her." Olivia entered the interview room.
"Hi Chelsea." Olivia took a seat across from the teen. Chelsea was still visibly anxious. She was pulling at the sleeves of her sweatshirt and nervously biting her bottom lip. "How's it going? We haven't seen you around here in a while."
"It's ok." Chelsea avoided eye contact.
"Do you still play soccer?" Olivia knew she had to get Chelsea to feel more comfortable before she brought up Tyler.
Chelsea looked up and smiled a bit. "Yeah. Pretty much everyday." Olivia continued to make small talk and Chelsea slowly began to relax. "How are things at home?" She finally asked.
"It's still weird without mom sometimes" Chelsea answered truthfully. "I miss her."
"It gets easier," Olivia tried to reassure her. "What about Tyler?"
Chelsea tensed up at the question and looked at her lap. "Fine." She answered sharply.
"I bet you two are pretty close now, huh?" Olivia observed the girl. Chelsea nodded, not quite ready to talk about the newfound tension between her and her stepdad. "Chelsea, can you tell me why you wanted to get away this weekend?"
"Like I told Uncle Sonny and Amanda, I just wanted to get out of the house!" Chelsea became defensive.
"What did Tyler say when you asked him about it?" Olivia asked.
"He was the one who suggested I go to Uncle Sonny's" Chelsea quickly conjured up another lie. She began bouncing her leg and fidgeting. "Can I talk to Uncle Sonny?"
"In a little bit, ok? Just hang tight for now. Can I get you anything?" Olivia asked sweetly. Chelsea shook her head and leaned back in the chair. Olivia smiled sympathetically at the girl before leaving the room.
"Can I be with her now?" Sonny was standing impatiently outside the interview room.
"Let's talk first," Olivia guided Sonny into her office.
"What is there to talk about?" Sonny asked. "Chelsea told you she asked Tyler if she could spend the weekend with me. I don't know why he reported her missing but I didn't kidnap her!"
"Carisi, calm down. We know that." Olivia said. "Some things just don't add up. Chelsea said she asked Tyler to come here but, when I just spoke to her she said her visit to the city was actually his idea." Sonny brushed it off. "What about your phone? Why'd you turn it off?"
"It isn't off" Sonny told her.
Olivia raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure it is. We couldn't reach you for over 2 hours."
"Then it must've died. I never turn off my phone" Sonny pulled his phone out of his pocket and was surprised to find it was actually just powered off.
"According to Syracuse PD, they initially got through to you but you hung up and turned off the phone." Olivia told him.
Sonny took a minute to think through what happened earlier and sighed when the realization struck him. "I have a hunch. My phone did ring this morning. I had Chelsea answer. She told me it was the wrong number. She must've turned it off."
"Why would she have done that?" Olivia asked. Sonny shook his head and shrugged. "There's something else" Olivia continued. "When Fin and Rollins mentioned Tyler-"
"I noticed" Sonny cut her off. "I know I haven't been doing this as long as you but I picked up on it." Sonny paused. "Do you think he hurt her and that's why she wanted to leave?"
Olivia sighed. "I tried to talk to her but she shut me out when I approached the topic."
Their conversation was cut short by screaming coming from the squad room. Both detectives stepped out of the office to see what was going on.