All In the Family (A Law And Order SVU fanfiction)

Chapter.7 The Blue Box

RESIDENCE OF LINDA JACOBS: 10:15 AM

"That's...that's impossible," Linda whispered. "There must be some mistake..."

"We won't know for sure until we investigate," Benson said. "Forensics is searching the basement right now. If we do find anything, you'll be the first to know."

Linda sighed as she sat with Benson and Amaro in the living room while a huge team of investigators rifled through her basement.

"So you're meaning to tell me that my husband hid millions of dollars in our own house and he didn' t even tell me?" Linda said, her voice suddenly high pitched.

"We don't know for sure yet," Amaro said. "But we had to look into it. It could be linked to the investigation in some way."

"So whoever attacked me just wanted my money?" Linda asked. "So maybe it wasn't personal? Maybe that's all they wanted in the first place, the money..."

"That's a possibility," Amaro said. "We're doing everything we can to find this guy, Linda. We will get him."

Linda shook her head. "Why would Carl do this?" She asked. "I know the cancer made him act differently, but my God... he stashed probably millions of dollars in my house without telling me, than he goes and tells everybody else...didn't he know that it would put me in danger? I could've been killed! Or worse-"

"Linda," Benson said. "He didn't tell many people as far as we know. The only people who know are Dan, Barbra and Carl's parents."

Barbra froze. "Those bastards," she whispered.

The room went silent.

"I should've known as soon as you mentioned the robbery," Linda said, shaking with anger. "My in-laws. My fucking, greedy, piece of sh-"

"Linda," Benson said gently. "Just yelling about this is not going to do you any good. If you really believe that your in-laws did this, give us something we can use to put them away."

Linda calmed down. "What do you want to know?" she asked.

"Anything and everything," Amaro said. 

"I...I don't have any proof that they did this, but I...I just know they did. They stole my money. They-"

"Linda," Amaro began. "We want to help you, and we believe you. But we can't just put these people away with nothing on them. Just tell us anything you can about them, and if they did this, we'll find away to get them behind bars."

Linda sighed. "Alright...well, their names are Victor and Elaine Jacobs. They live in Queens, but they're originally from Florida...um, they used to be small- time criminals. You know, robbing convenience stores, stuff like that. But they never really did more than a few months of time. They were poor. Carl's money was all self made. They hated the fact that Carl had money and they didn't. Hated it. And they always hated me. They thought that I acted like I was better than them. And you know what? I am better than them. At least I don't go around with fake guns robbing people-"

Olivia glanced at Amaro with concern.

"Linda, can we have a minute?" Benson asked.

"Oh...sure," Linda said, still lost in thought.

Benson pulled Amaro into the kitchen.

"I think we might've got our guys," Amaro said, a glint in his eyes. He wanted this one. Really, really wanted it.

"But if it was the in-laws..." Olivia trailed off.

"...Her own father-in-law raped her," Amaro said. "And they both stole millions of dollars from her."

Olivia felt sick. She had dealt with a lot of cases in her years in the SVU, but this one caused so much damage to so many people.

"This is going to destroy the whole family," Olivia said.

Amaro laughed bitterly. "Oh, come on, Liv. The family was destroyed long before we got here."

"Detective Benson," a guy from forensics called over. "We found something in the basement that could be linked to the case."

Benson and Amaro ran down the stairs without hesitation.

Another man from forensics was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, holding up a gigantic blue wooden box with a lock on it.

"...This must be where he kept it," Benson said quietly.

"Jesus Christ," Amaro said with a slight smile. "Hasn't the guy heard of a safe?"

Benson shook her head. If that was really the box that Carl had used to hide the money in, he must've been even more far gone than they imagined. It looked like it would be incredibly easy to break in to.

 Olivia heard light footsteps coming down the stairs. Linda was at the edge of the staircase, staring wide eyed at the blue box like she had seen a ghost.

"Linda, are you alright?" Olivia asked.

Linda didn't move.

"Linda?"

"That box," she whispered. "Adam made him that box in wood shop when he was in junior high."

There was a long silence.

"It was a few weeks before Carl's birthday, I remember. He told Carl he made it in woodshop. God he was so proud of it. He - he even got frustrated when Carl thought it was just a box."

Amaro gave her a confused look. "Looks like a box to me," he said.

Linda shook her head. "That's exactly what Carl said," she continued. "Adam...he said it wasn't a box. It was a time capsule. He told Carl to...put something in it. And when he was-when he was gone, Adam would find it. He said it- it had to be something really good. Something worth finding."

The man from forensics started walking to the door.

"Wait, where are you going with that box?" Linda called out in a strange voice.

"We have to check it for fingerprints, ma'am," the man said.

Linda sighed. "Please bring it back soon," she called out, but the man was already out the door, and he had taken the box with him.

Those words wouldn't stop ringing in Nick's head, and he couldn't get them out.

Make it something worth finding....