We Know What You Did

3: Something Suspicious

"Where the hell is my daughter?!" Tyler screamed at Sonny. "You think you can just take her? Where is she?!"
"Mr. Stanton-" Olivia began.
"Doctor" Tyler corrected.
Olivia nodded, "Dr. Stanton, please calm down. I'm Lieutenant Benson. Your step-daughter is alright and I can take you to her. But first we have a couple questions." Olivia spoke assertively yet diplomatically. "Please come with me." Begrudgingly, Tyler followed Olivia to her office.
While the scene was unfolding in the squad room, Amanda noticed Chelsea standing in the doorway of the interview room, clearly scared. "Hey, sweetheart, let's go back inside" she said softly. She nudged Chelsea into the room and closed the door and blinds behind them. Chelsea stood with her back to Amanda and began to quietly cry. "You okay?" Amanda noticed the girl's body slightly shaking. "Chelsea?" Amanda asked after a few seconds of not getting an answer.
Chelsea wiped her eyes and turned around to face Amanda. "Sorry" she muttered softly.
"You don't have to apologize" Amanda said. "What's wrong?"
Chelsea shook her head. "Nothing. I just don't want Uncle Sonny to get in trouble because it's all my fault." Chelsea at least said one truthful thing to the detective.
"It's not your fault honey. It's a big misunderstanding. Once Tyler sees you're okay, I'm sure this will all go away." Amanda reassured her. A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.
"Hey Chelsea, someone wants to see you," Olivia opened the door and Tyler came in behind her.
"Chel" Tyler sighed with relief. He held the girl close for a hug. Chelsea initially tensed up and flinched but realized Amanda and Olivia were watching so, she returned the hug as to not raise suspicion. "Are you, ok?" He looked her in the eyes. Chelsea nodded. "You had me so worried. Don't run off like that." Chelsea nodded and apologized. "Uncle Sonny told me you didn't want to be at home because things remind you of mom. I got us a hotel room for the weekend. I thought it might be fun for us to spend some time together doing something special."
Chelsea began to panic. "I need to go to the bathroom." She said and ran out of the room.
Olivia and Amanda shared looks of concern.
"I'll go check on her" Amanda offered. She entered the bathroom and saw Chelsea leaning on the sinks, on the verge of a panic attack. "Hey, Chelsea. It's ok, take some deep breaths" Amanda said. Chelsea shook her head. "It's alright, hun, just breathe." After some coaxing, Chelsea finally started to calm down. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Don't make me go with him!" Chelsea cried. "Please! He... he..." Chelsea was beginning to breathe faster again.
Amanda couldn't take it anymore and finally asked the question that had been in the back of her mind since Chelsea arrived at the precinct. "Chelsea, did Tyler hurt you?"
Chelsea shook her head. "Not really"
"What do you mean by not really?" Amanda pressed.
"He came really close last night" Chelsea answered.
———
Olivia and Amanda sat with Chelsea in the bunks. Tyler was still at the precinct and Chelsea was worried how he would react if he knew she were talking to the detectives without him. They told him Chelsea wasn't feeling well and was still in the bathroom, to buy them some time.
"Chelsea, can you tell us what happened last night?" Olivia asked.
"It isn't a big deal. He didn't hurt me. I think we just need space" Chelsea said. "We fight sometimes but, what teenage girl doesn't fight with her dad?"
"Ok." Olivia nodded. "He didn't hurt you last night. Has he ever hurt you before?" Chelsea shook her head. "Why don't you want to be with him this weekend?" Olivia changed the focus of her questioning.
Chelsea looked between Amanda and Olivia. Lying clearly wasn't doing her any good, so she decided to tell the truth, as little of it as possible. "I was scared last night when we fought. He was yelling. I thought he'd still be mad."
"You were worried he was going to yell at you?" Olivia was skeptical. Chelsea put a lot of effort into running away and Olivia failed to believe it was simply to avoid a scolding. Chelsea just nodded. "What was your fight about last night?"
"A guy" Chelsea didn't say anymore despite Olivia and Amanda both expecting her to continue.
"Look, Chelsea, we just want to help you and keep you safe but we can't do that if you don't tell us what's going on." Amanda leaned forward.
Chelsea closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's fine. I'm fine." Chelsea stood up. "Look, I'm sorry for bothering you guys. I really didn't mean to cause all this trouble. I'll just go with Dad." Chelsea turned to leave but Olivia grabbed her shoulder.
"Ok. But if you need me," Olivia handed Chelsea her business card, "call me." Chelsea stared at the card and reluctantly took it. She headed back to the squad room where Sonny, Tyler, and Fin were talking.
"Hey, pumpkin," Tyler stood up when he saw Chelsea enter the room. "You feeling ok?" He gently stroked the top of her head, causing Chelsea to take a step back.
"I'm fine. Let's go" Chelsea could feel all the detectives staring at her. Tyler nodded and thanked the detectives before turning to leave.
"Wait Chels, can we talk?" Sonny had barely been allowed to talk to his niece since they got to the city and, although the kidnapping accusation was dropped, Sonny still knew something was going on.
"Lunch tomorrow?" Chelsea asked avoiding eye contact. "If that's ok," she turned to Tyler who nodded. Sonny agreed and with that, Chelsea and Tyler left the precinct.
"I don't like this." Sonny said to no one in particular.
"What part?" Amanda asked.
"The whole thing. The frantic 12:30 AM call, the lying. And she told you he came close to hurting her last night and now she just walks out of here with him?" Sonny became angry. "We all saw her when you told her Tyler was coming. She was clearly terrified."
"I don't like it either." Olivia said. "But she denied anything happening. There's not much we can do."
"She's 15, Liv. She's still a kid. This is a case of child abuse." Sonny argued.
"Based on what?" Olivia retorted. "She seemed scared of him and a teenage girl got in a fight with her step dad over a boy? That doesn't exactly scream child abuse."
"I know something is going on" Sonny asserted.
"Well, you'd better hope Chelsea comes to us before something happens" Olivia sounded meaner than she intended. Sonny grabbed his coat and stormed out of the squad room.