No Pets Allowed

Disclaimer: Law & Order: SVU is owned by Dick Wolf. I do not own Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler or any other character of the program. The idea and other characters in this story, are mine. Hands off as I hate plagerists! 9/24/07 sisterwine75@hotmail.com. I make no money in this fiction, nor do I lend, sell, trade, or copy for dosh. Purely for entertainment.


"How long have you known Judge George?" Elliot paced the in front of the mirror in the Interrogation Room. He and Olivia had taken Simone Harris into custody, after the officer released her from his squad car. He paused as he waited for her answer. Arms folded about his chest, Elliot took a deep breath.

Simone sat with her hands folded on the table in front of her, and her legs calmly crossed. She sat straight and stared forward as she silently counted the years in her head. "I'd say about eleven years." Her thick and soft brown hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and curled down at the bottom, just below her bra-strap. She cleared her throat and shook her head to clear it from the haze of a long flight. "Is this going to take long? I would like to get some sleep before work tomorrow." Her expression seemed to be sincere but indifferent to news that her friend/roommate/lover was dead.

Elliot stopped and sat down on the edge of the table, though his back was to Simone, he turned to face her before he asked the next question. "You want to go to work after finding out that your roommate is dead?" Something about the conversation didn't sit right with him. But then, everyone dealt different with emotions.

The younger woman simply looked at Elliot like he was a bad dream but eventually nodded and shrugged. "It's my way of dealing with something that isn't real yet." Simone Harris was only 32 but looked much older from lack of sleep and the amount of makeup she had put on while in the back of the squad car from the airport to her apartment building. Her dark eyes started turning red and feeling heavy eventhough it was the middle of the day. She was as tall as Elliot but wore heels to gain a few inches more on height. A yawn had gotten her point across much more than anything else. Covering her mouth as she was frozen in effects of yawning, she only half-heard what Elliot asked.

"Was she seeing anyone?" Elliot stood up and turned around to face her.

Simone finished her yawn and removed her hand slowly from her mouth. "Yea. Why?"

Elliot smiled softly and nodded slightly as he started pacing again. "He have a name?"

"Chris Jakosa."

"How long have you known him?"

"Not as long as I knew her. He and Tanya started datin' about three years after she took Juvenile Court gig. He split a couple of years ago."

Elliot narrowed his eyes at the answer. "Know why they broke up?"

"Nope."

"How long were you on vacation?" Pausing at the door, Elliot turned to look at her.

"Three weeks."

"Where'd you go?"

"Vancouver." Simone huffed at the continuous questions and stared at Elliot with disinterest. "Look, I have no idea what happened to Tanya but, I would like to leave and get some sleep. I do have a job to go to in the morning."

Elliot cocked his head to the side and tried to read the young woman who was growing more and more impatient. "Just one more question. Do you have any idea why there would be four large dog cages in your bedroom, with four naked people in them?" He grabbed the chair across from her and sat down, leaning forward as he finished.

Simone was becoming very impatient and tremendously uncomfortable. "I have no idea."

Frustrated from the lack of interest Simone was giving off, Elliot excused himself a moment while he checked with his captain about her release. "We can't hold her for being out of town when this happened. Ironically, she named Mr. Jakosa as being the Judge's snuggle-bunny." Elliot stood there, facing his Captain but turned his head to look at the woman in the Interrogation Room.

Olivia had been checking up on a few leads from her desk and stared at her notepad and the notes she had scribbled down as she and Fin walked over to join Elliot. "Just spoke to Warner; she says the Judge had been killed between 7 PM and 8 PM last night. I also checked with the airlines both at Kennedy and Vancouver. Miss Harris got on a plane yesterday morning at 8:30 and flew out at 9:00. Security also said that she had a two hour wait in line for the baggage countre. It takes at least that long to get across the country, and pass through Customs ontop of that. Looks like we don't have anything to hold her on unless we can place her putting the cages and people into her own bedroom."

"My buddy at Metro said that Christopher Jakosa passed through there seven years ago on a charge of D&D. Jakosa said it was a case of mistaken identity and the only reason why he was busted was that he had been drinking cold syrup before going for a joyride at 2:15 in the morning. Breathalizer pinpointed it at .04. Since he was still a minor at the time of the arrest he passed through juvenile court. And guess who the lucky judge was..." Fin opened the file folder he had carried and handed it to the Captain.

Cragen glanced over the file page that Fin had indicated and read the name of the judge. "Judge Tanya George." Looking back to Simone who, by this time, was walking around the room tensely, he sighed and turned back to Olivia and Fin. "Pay 'snuggle-bunny' a visit. Ask him where he was while his ex-flame was being assaulted. Elliot, escort Miss Harris to a hotel until we solve this. I don't want her anywhere near the scene before we release it."

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Benson shivered in the chilly shade of the building as she and Fin waited for someone to come to the door after they had rang the bell. "His boss said he had the day off." She turned around from the upscale looking building and spotted the vehicle that had been registered to Christopher. "That's his car. He must be here." She shivered again as she surveyed both directions of the building-crowded street.

Knocking twice on the door, Fin peered into the home via the textured glass of the front door. The curtains had been pushed aside to let the day in. They had been standing on the stoop for five minutes and were about to turn away when the door finally opened as they reached the steps down to the sidewalk.

"Can I help you?" A young male voice called to them. His hair had been wet and his body glistened from being in the shower. "Sorry I didn't hear the door but I was in the shower." Christopher stood there in bare feet and jeans, holding his long-sleeved blue dress shirt in his left hand. Shaggy and towel-dried blond hair curled at the chilled air.

Olivia turned back to see a handsome, thin, young man in the doorway and flashed her badge as she and Fin walked back to the front door. "Christopher Jakosa? I'm Detective Benson," motioning to Fin, she finished, "Detective Tutuola. May we ask you some questions?" Taking in his appearance and watching his expression change from a smile to an uncertain look, they were ushered inside the townhome.

The inside of the home had been furnished in well-crafted knock-offs from the local art gallery. Fancy rugs with Indian designs had been specifically placed on the tile floor throughout the first floor while it looked like from the stairs up, the second floor had been a creme carpetting. The home had a warmth to it that the fireplace hadn't needed to add. A small blue and red child's scooter in the shape of a firetruck had been pushed off to one side, along the wall separating the foyer from the parlor. Other than a few more child's toys, the house was spotlessly clean.

Christopher led them into the parlor to two plush navy-coloured sofas that faced each other, on either side of the fireplace. Fin and Olivia occupied one and he sat on the other. "What's this about? If this is about that vending machine incident on campus, last week, I already told the security guard what happened." Remembering his shirt, he quickly dressed and buttoned himself as he felt the chill of outside rolling off of them. His blue eyes studied the two detectives carefully before coming to the conclusion that they were there on other business.

"Did you know a Tanya George?" Olivia placed a candid picture of the judge on the glass coffee table between them and slid it over to him.

The young resident tensed and drew ragged breaths at the picture, horrified at the smiling face that peered back at him. He nodded. "Something happen to her?" Not making a move to either conceal his stunned expression or touch the photo in any way, Chris's eyes flicked up to each of the detectives and studied them. He relaxed as Fin softened his expression enough to calm the young man down.

Fin chose his words carefully. "Her landlord found her in her apartment. She was dead for some time. Mind if we ask where you were all of yesterday?"

The tone Fin had used, eventhough natural, made Chris tremble under his clothes yet he forced an answer. "I was at work until 5:30, and then I had to pick my son up from daycare at 6. It takes me a good half hour to make three miles in evening rush hour." Chris shuddered as he glanced at the picture again. "How'd she die?" Raking a hand through his damp hair, he told himself to calm down but the more he felt Tanya's eyes on him, the more nervous he became.

"Throat was cut. What about last night? Go anywhere special?" Fin clasped his hands together, resting his arms on his thighs as he leaned forward. Eventhough he was wearing his black leather jacket and warm clothing, it was still enough to make the resident suspicious in his presence.

Chris thought for a moment. Shaking his head in thought and shrugging, he answered. "I went to the market. My son, Andrew, has a cold. I went to pick up his medication and then find something for dinner. My wife had to work late so we were on our own until about 9." Copying Fin's stance but not sharing the interest, he quickly turned over the picture on the table after a moment to catch his breath. Between breaths to calm himself and watching Olivia take notes of their conversation, he stole glances of Fin's physique, from what he could see of it.

Detective Tutuola was a very well-toned man and knew how to handle himself in his gestures and voice. The bronze features beneath the clothing must have seen their share of hardened workouts and fightbacks from arrested criminals. Fin was taller than Chris by a few inches and bigger around than Chris. If body language had said anything important it was not to piss the man off.

Olivia looked up from her notes. "Were you two close?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'close.'"

Fin's nasaled voice specified. "Were you two having sex?"

Blue eyes widened at the blunt question and he turned to stare at Fin, not being able to form the words at all. Chris swallowed and felt his heartbeat pound noisily in his chest. "I wouldn't call it that." He had barely found his voice and pushed out the lowered tone when the front door opened and closed. A small boy that was wrapped warmly in his coat, matching red hat and mittens, and snowshoes trodded into the parlor and up to Chris. The young man brought himself to a smile and embraced the young bundle that had called to him from the doorway. Kissing the tiny, cold cheek and whispering to the boy to go back and get his jacket hung up, Chris stood up and quietly called to his wife in the foyer.

A small, three-foot tall boy with straight brown hair and amber eyes raced back to where Chris sat and climbed up to sit beside him on the sofa. Coughing and remembering to cover his mouth before noticing the other two people in the room, Andrew smiled and waved as Olivia smiled kindly back at him. "Is daddy in trouble?"

Chris felt uneasy but it quickly subsided as Olivia smiled again leaned in as if sharing a secret that everyone in the room was able to hear. "No, we're just asking him some questions about someone he knows. Okay?" Her answer was backed up by the mother coming into the room and whispering into the boy's ear about going upstairs to play for a bit before dinner.

"Okay!" Came the happy reply as the boy slid off of the sofa cushion and ran to the stairs, climbing them carefully.

Scooting over so that his wife could sit down on the same large cushion, Chris introduced her to the two detectives. "This is Karen, my wife. Uh, she was also apart of the Judge's warped sense of rehabilitation."

Karen, a woman who was Chris' elder by two years, was a medium height woman and also thin. Neither she or her husband had been drastically underweight but they hadn't been exactly healthy figures, either. Long, naturally curly brown hair flowed from a low ponytail and blended well with her brown kint sweater and off-white leggings. A thin face accented by thin-rimmed glasses stared equally uneasily at the two detectives. "We've done our time in Hell. Mistress Tanya and her sick friends can't touch us, now."

"Can you elaborate on that?" Olivia asked with openness.

The couple looked at each other and silently agreed to have Chris explain. "When I was busted on a false charge, I was taken to see the judge. She gave me a reduced sentence because I was going to be 18 in a few months so, I spent a week in Juvey, and the rest of my time in Community Service, doing odd things like trash duty, stuff like that. A year later, I was working at a pet store and she walked in. Bought a dog collar and food and water bowls. I didn't think anything of it until she came back a week later and asked if I wanted to have lunch with her so she could re-evaluate my situation."

"Both of us became her 'pets.' And there were others, too." Karen had chimed in when Chris paused for a breath and a downward glance in shame.

Fin shifted on the cushion. "You mean like cats and dogs?"

Both nodded.

Chris tapped the picture that remained face down on the table. "Mistress Tanya and what she put us through is the main reason we're scared to close our eyes at night. Judge or not, I'm glad she's dead."

Continued.....