Remember
Author's note: I originally started writing this story back in 2005, but never got around to finishing it, so that's why the time-frame is 2005 and not this year. I also do not own the rights to Cold Case and it's characters, or the character Tommy Oliver from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I'm merely borrowing them. Props to Jerry Bruckheimer and Haim Saban.
March 15th, 1983
That particular day had started out fine and went by without any incident. That is, until after the family had finished dinner and were relaxing in the living room watching TV. All of a sudden, the front door burst open from somebody kicking it in, and the family was confronted by two men. One of them had a gun, and he was pointing it at the parents. Two young boys get up off the couch and run out of the living room looking for places to hide. One ran into the kitchen and under the table, the other into a nearby closet. An argument between the intruders and the parents ensues, and when the father tries to fight one of them, he gets shot and killed. The boy who hid under the kitchen table hears the gunshot, comes out and sees that his father is hurt. As he rushes at the intruders, he gets shot at, the bullet merely hurting him. Thinking her son is dead, the mother pleads for her life. But the pleas go ignored, and she gets shot as well. With both parents and one of the kids shot, the two intruders start looking around the place. They ignore the valuables, looking for something specific...
Days pass, then weeks, and months. Finally, the case gets filed away into storage, where it is held along with thousands of other open, unsolved homicides. Something else is also filed away with it, a missing persons report. And they both sit there, waiting...
Twenty-two years later, 2005...
Everyone at the Central Division of the Philadelphia Police Department was each going about their routine, barely noticing as a young man walked in, unsure as to who to look for. But Detective Lily Rush saw him, because to her, he looked like he was not from around town. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.
"I don't know, maybe. I just came in from Los Angeles, and I came here on lead as part of a search for my birth parents. I was adopted, right? And-"
"Okay, first off, what's your name?" Lily asked.
"Thomas." He replied, "Thomas Oliver. But, everyone calls me Tommy."
"Alright. Well, Tommy, you should know, we're the homicide division here. "
"Then I found the right place. See, I think that my birth parents were murdered, and I saw the whole thing happen." Tommy replied. That got Lily's attention. She opened a drawer to her desk and pulled out a notepad.
"What year do you think this happened?"
"I was about five years old so, 1982, maybe 1983."
"Alright. That's a good start." Lily said.
"One other thing, " Tommy added, "Look for the name Reade. I also remember the name Dylan Reade."
In the storage warehouse where all the cold cases were stored, Lily Rush, along with her partner Detective Scotty Valens and Lieutenant John Stillman were going through all the rows of boxes, looking for cases in 1982 and 1983 with the name that Tommy had given them. "Now, just what exactly are we looking for again?" Scotty asked.
"Any cold jobs where the parents were killed, and also with a missing childrens report from either 1982 or 1983. Possibly with the name Dylan Reade." Lily replied.
"So in other words, a needle in a haystack." Scotty remarked, "Just how much stock do you put in this guy's story anyway?" Before Lily could respond, Lieutenant Stillman could be heard coming down the stairs from one of the upper levels. The box he had with him was marked "Reade, A" from the year 1983 in the month of March.
"I found the name you were looking for." Lieutenant Stillman set the box down and opened it up. "It was the only box with the name and the way it was spelled."
"Let's see what we got" Lily said as Lieutenant Stillman flipped through the contents, papers and files.
"Anthony Reade, 35 years old. He was killed on March fifteenth in 1983. Cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, as it killed him instantly. His wife Jessica also received one to the head, but she was not killed. Instead she's been in a coma. The couple had two boys, fraternal twins. Aaron Michael Reade and Dylan James Reade, both five years old. They were reported missing that same day."
"Dylan Reade." Lily's eyes widened.
"The name Tommy mentioned." Scotty added, "So it looks like he was right."
"Then those weren't ordinary nightmares Tommy experienced." Lieutenant Stillman said.
"Now the question is, which one is Tommy? Aaron or Dylan?" Lily said.
"Sit down with Tommy again. Find out if there's anything more he remembers." Lieutenant Stillman told them.
"So we found a casefile that may be a possible match to what you've told me so far," Lily said as she sat back down with Tommy Oliver again, "But I just wanted to go over some more details. You told me that by going to this doctor about these nightmares you had, you were told they were repressed memories."
"That's right." Tommy confirmed.
"How much were you able to recall?"
"Well, it's all very fuzzy. Because from the perspective I was seeing things, I may have been hiding somewhere. It was out of the killers' view, but I could still see everything that happened. I think I was inside a closet. I remember two men, and they were arguing with my parents. Then my dad starts struggling with one of them, but he gets shot. Next, I saw a boy come out of nowhere and he fights with them. At first, I thought it was me, like I was watching myself. But then I figured, he was my brother." Tommy explained, "I had the chance to meet him in 1997."
"That's nice." Lily said, "How did he find you?"
"Well, that's another complicated story." Tommy replied.
"Did he ever reveal what information he found out about his and your birth parents?"
"No, he couldn't remember anything past five years old. All he was told was that he was found abandonded with a gunshot wound to his head, and no memory of who he was or how he ended up where he was left. Something about retrograde amnesia. He got put into foster care, then was adopted by a Native American couple. I only got to meet his adoptive dad though, as his mother had passed away earlier."
"How did you find out your adoption wasn't legal?" Lily asked.
"There was a news report about a police raid on the people my parents worked with when they adopted me. We eventually got contacted by the police, because they wanted to use the papers my parents receieved as evidence. All the papers and the information on them turned out to be false." Tommy said.
"Well, it sounds like everything you told me matches up to what's been reported in the casefile. Not that I didn't believe you, it's just that everything has to get verified. Oh, one other thing. Do you remember which name you got called?"
"I remember when my brother got shot, mom yelled 'Aaron!', so I guess my name used to be Dylan."
While Detective Rush was still sitting down and talking with Tommy, Detectives Nick Vera and Will Jefferies were going through various records, looking for who the Reade's neighbors were in 1983. They were going to find out if any of them had seen anything suspicious on the night of the murder. According to the casefile, one neighbor gave a statement of what she saw and heard, so Vera and Jefferies were looking for her current address. When they found what they were looking for, Vera and Jefferies went to pay her a visit. "Diane Herbert?" Nick asked the lady who answered the door.
"Yes, I'm Diane. How can I help you?"
"I'm Detective Nick Vera, and this is my partner, Detective Will Jefferies. We're re-investigating the murder of Anthony Reade."
"Oh yes, I remember him, his wife Jessica and their two boys. Very nice family, so tragic what happened to them.
"We understand you gave a statement to the cops who responded to the scene back in 1983. We were hoping you might remember anything else since then." Will Jefferies said.
"Well, no. Only what I had told the cops back then. I heard what sounded like fireworks, but the sounds were too far apart. I looked outside from the living room of my house, but I didn't see anyone out there. Then I saw two men rush out of the Reades' house, and they had both of their sons with them. On boy looked injured."
"Did you happen to get a good look at the two men?" Nick asked.
"Not really, because it was dark outside then. Although, one of them looked like Jessica's brother." Diane replied.
"You've seen him before?" Will asked.
"He was there about a week before the murders. Now, I saw them get in this four-door sedan that was parked in front of the house. But I couldn't make out the licence plate, sorry."
"It's quite alright." Will told her, "Do think if we sat you down with a sketch artist that you would be able to describe the two men to him?"
"Well as I said, it was dark out. But, anything to help I suppose." Diane said.
The next day at the Police Department, both former neighbor Diane Herbert and Tommy Oliver were in separate interview rooms. Each one was working with a sketch artist, as the detectives were hoping they could get descriptions of the two individuals they saw that night. "One of them had either black or dark brown hair, kind've like mine," Tommy began, "and he had it cut short on top, but it was longer at the back."
"You mean, like a mullet?" The sketch artist asked.
"Yeah that's it." Tommy confirmed, "And his hairline was maybe an inch and a half from his eyebrows."
"What colour were his eyes?"
"I don't know. Brown, maybe?" Tommy said, "and they were maybe, an inch apart."
"Alright. Now, how about the nose?
"Um...short. With a slight bump in the middle."
"Okay," The sketch artist continued to add more details. "and his mouth?"
"Thin lips. And looked like he hadn't shaved in maybe, two days." Tommy replied.
"Did you see enough of his face to get an idea of his jawline?"
"Square jawline. High cheekbones."
In the other interview room, Diane Herbert was giving more general descriptions, mostly pertaining to what the suspects were wearing. "I remember one of the men was wearing a black jacket, possibly leather because it looked shiny." Diane began, "And jeans. He was wearing light blue jeans."
"Alright, and how about the other suspect?" asked the sketch artist she was working with.
"He looked like he was wearing a jean jacket that was light blue, and also jeans. But his jeans were black, or dark blue. It was hard to tell because it was dark outside that night." Diane replied.
"Were you able to see their faces?"
"Everything happened too fast. I only got a look at their backs."
"Okay, do you remember anything about their hair colour and style?"
"One of them had dark hair. Maybe black, or dark brown. And he had it cut short on top, longer at the back." Diane said, "The other had lighter looking hair, perhaps blonde-ish. I don't know. But his hair was definitly cut short all around."
"Alright then." The sketch artist said as he put the finishing touches on the pictures. Once that was done, he showed them to Diane. "How do they look?"
"That's it. Exactly who I saw."
Meanwhile back in the first interview room, the sketch artist Tommy was working with was getting started on the drawing of the second suspect. "Okay Tommy, now tell me about the second man you saw. What colour was his hair?"
"Um, maybe blonde. It was a bit dark so I'm not entirely sure. Could be dark blonde." Tommy replied.
"Alright, and how was it styled?"
"Short. On top and at the back. His hairline was also a little further back from his eyebrows. Probably by two inches."
"Okay. Now how about his nose?" asked the sketch artist.
"Hmm, no bump. Just sloped down evenly and straight."
"Did you manage to see his eye colour and space between his eyes?"
"Not really. His eyes weren't dark like the other guy. They could've been blue or green. Maybe hazel." Tommy said, "And his eyes were also an inch apart."
"Was he clean shaven or not clean shaven?"
"Definitly clean shaven." Tommy replied.
"How about his jawline?" The sketch artist asked.
"More oval. No remarkable definition." Tommy waited as the sketch artist put the final touches on the pictures. Once that was done, she turned them around for Tommy to see.
"Alright. How do they look?" The accuracy must've been incredible, because Tommy looked like he had seen a ghost.
"That's them. Those are the two men I saw. And the light-haired man, he had the gun." Tommy said.
When both the sketch artists were finished working with Diane and Tommy, they all got together to compare all the pictures. Detectives Rush and Valens were there with them. "Now the neighbor was only able to give descriptions of their clothes and hairstyles. This is what she came up with." He showed the drawings to the detectives. Tommy also got a look at them.
"Yeah, that's what they wore that night. And the hairstyles are correct."
"And I worked with Tommy on the facial descriptions," the other sketch artist pulled out her work, "and he confirmed that these are the two men he saw." She said, "How do you want to go from here?"
"Work with tech support, and see if you can get them to age-enhance the facial pictures." Scotty told her.
"Meanwhile, we got a crime scene to visit." Lily said as she put on her coat.
The house where the Reade family used to live still stood empty, a for-sale sign still standing in the front yard. Even with the crime-scene tape long since removed, the house still gave off the feeling of the tragedy that took place inside all those years ago. With Tommy along for the visit, Detectives Valens and Rush pulled up alongside the the front of the house. As they got out of the car, Tommy looked around, getting a feel of the neighborhood. Even though many of the surrounding homes were updated, everything started to look familiar. "Anything you recognize Tommy?" Detective Rush asked.
"I know this place. I've been here." Tommy replied, "Everything's like, deja vu." With the keys that Lily picked up from the realtor, she opened the door so that Tommy could have a look around inside the place. "Yeah, I remember this house. It's coming back. " Compared to the outside, inside everything was all clean. Crime-Scene Clean-Up had long ago removed all the bloodstains.
"Can you remember where everyone was?" Scotty asked.
"Yes," Tommy replied as he led the detectives into the living room. "My parents were standing here. And the men they were arguing with were standing over here in front of them." Tommy pointed to the entrance of the living room.
"What about your brother and yourself?" Lily asked. Tommy pointed them to the area leading to the dining room.
"My brother ran in that direction, probably into the kitchen. I ran into this closet." He them to the closet near the front door. "But to make sure they didn't know, I ran in the same direction as my brother and looped around so that I could get into the closet without them knowing." The detectives opened the closet doors to have a look inside. Almost immediately, they noticed a stain on the carpet in the right hand corner of the closet.
"Looks like something was missed in the clean-up." Scotty remarked. "What is it?" Tommy had a look.
"I don't know. I don't remember being shot or injured."
"It's too light to be blood." Lily said as she snapped on some gloves. She felt her hand along the place on the carpet where the stain was. "It's been here a while, still dry." Lily pulled out a small baggie and grabbed some of the stained carpet fibres, pulling them out. "I don't remember this being in the evidence that was already collected. We'll have trace see if they can analyze it, find out what made that stain."
"I think I know what it might be." Tommy looked like he was remembering something... In his mind, he saw himself hiding in the closet, watching as both his parents and brother were shot. Looking down, Tommy saw that he had wet himself...
"Guess we can cancel that trace analysis." Scotty said.
As Tommy returned to the hotel he was staying at, Lily and Scotty went back to the station house and signed in the new evidence they had collected. While they were doing that, Lily got a message that someone was there to see her. She came into the offices and waiting for her was a woman who bore a striking resemblence to Tommy. "Are you the detective working on my case?"
"I'm Detective Lily Rush, and you are...?"
"Jessica Reade." Lily was flabbergasted.
"But, I thought you were-"
"In a coma, yes. I was, but I awoke from it in 2002. Since then, I've slowly been putting my life back together. Anyway, Diane managed to contact me. Diane Herbert, I'm sure you met her."
"We have."
"She said you were looking at my case again."
"There's been some new leads that came to light recently, so yes, it prompted a new look." Lily said.
"Have you been able to find my boys?" Lily was hesitant to tell her the reason she was on the case was because the new leads were quite possibly provided by her surviving son.
"We're still looking for them. But we do know for sure that they were both kidnapped."
"I want to show you something." Jessica opened her purse and pulled out some papers. "I never gave up thinking my boys were still alive after all these years. So I had their photos digitally age-enhanced to extrapolate what they might look like today." She handed the papers to Lily. Scotty came over to join them, just as he saw the colour drain from Lily's face.
"What is it Lil'?" She handed the papers to him.
"Look like anyone you know?" Lily asked. Scotty recognized one of the faces on the page immediatly. The picture looked exactly like Tommy.
Later that day, Lily paid a visit to the hotel Tommy was staying at. "Detective Rush, please, come in." Tommy let her in the room. "How's the case coming along?"
"It's, coming along just fine."
"Then, why the serious look on your face?" Lily sat down on the bed as Tommy took the chair across from her.
"A woman came into the department today, asking about the case as well. She looked, kind've like you in a way."
"Really?" Tommy asked, surprised.
"She had this with her." Lily pulled out the age-enhanced pictures that Jessica gave her and handed it to Tommy.
"Oh my God." Tommy was shocked to see his own face staring back at him. "Is this, me?"
"Sure looks like it. The woman who gave this to me was Jessica."
"Jessica? Jessica Reade?" Tommy asked, taken aback. "My mother, she's alive?"
"Yes. She is."
"But how? I saw her get shot. I thought she was dead."
"The gunshot only put her in a coma, and she stayed that way until 2002." Lily gave Tommy some time to let this all sink in.
"I can't believe it. When can I meet her?"
"Well, we can't just take her word for it. She may have your picture-"
"What about a DNA test?"
"That's why I came by. We'll get a sample from you and if it matches, we'll set up a meeting." Lily told him.
"Great. Where do I get it done?"
Detectives Nick Vera and Will Jefferies on the other hand, had been busy with a different task altogether. "Since there was no DNA or automatic fingerprint database back in '83, we figured that over time, our suspects would eventually do something to end up in the system." Nick said.
"We had the evidence analyzed again. DNA, fingerprints, the works." Will added.
"Any luck?" Scotty asked.
"Yep. Got two hits. One to a Colin Graham, the other to a Vernon Stasi." Nick handed the files to Scotty for him and Lily to look at.
"Our suspects have been busy. Multiple priors. Vernon with assualt, a few drunk-and-disorderlies and some fraud charges. Passed one too many bad cheques. Colin's got fraud, money laundering and uttering threats." Scotty remarked.
"Look at this. Says here Colin was being looked at for involvement in a human-trafficking ring." Lily said. "Maybe Vernon is connected as well."
"Nothing in his file about that." Scotty told her.
"We also got those composits from the sketch artist that worked with Tommy age-enhanced to reflect how they'd look today. Check out the results." Nick handed the pictures to Lily, who pulled out Colin and Vernon's mugshots for comparison. Both the age-enhanced composits and the mugshots looked alike.
"Looks like we found our suspects."
"What is so important that you had to interrupt me for? I had some very important business that I was involved with." Colin said, noticably annoyed.
"Important business? More money laundering?" Scotty asked with a sarcastic smirk.
"C'mon detective. I'm not in that game anymore. I'm strictly legit now." Colin sighed. "Look, I already did my time. What more do you want from me?"
"Do you remember what you were doing in, oh, March of 1983?" Scotty asked.
"Are you kidding me? I can't even remember what I had for breakfast sometimes." Colin scoffed. "C'mon, get to the point detective. What am I really here for? I don't think it's to just shoot the breeze."
"Do you remember the Reade family? Anthony, his wife Jessica, and their two boys?" Scotty placed a photo of the family in front of Colin, who glanced at it briefly.
"Nope. Can't say that I do."
"That's funny, because DNA and fingerprint results show that you were in the their house. In fact, a neighbor saw you at their place."
"Yeah well that neighbor is wrong or doesn't see straight." Colin snapped.
"Then how did your DNA and fingerprints end up in that house? Because as you know, those results don't lie. They didn't just appear there by magic, Colin."
Meanwhile, Lily Rush was in the other interview room with the second suspect Vernon Stasi. "So Vernon, I'm just curious, have you heard from your sister Jessica lately?"
"No, I can't say that I have. Don't expect to either."
"You two don't get along?"
"We get along fine. But we just don't talk much. I don't see any of the family too often." Vernon said.
"Well, I can imagine why, seeing as Jessica's been in a coma since 1983. She's only been out of it since 2002."
"I thought she died." Vernon said. That was a mistake. "I mean, maybe, I don't know if she-"
"Now, what would make you think that?" Lily asked, catching Vernon in his mistake.
"Maybe it was another Jessica." But it was too late. The cat was out of the bag.
"No Vernon, what made you think she was dead?" Lily asked again. "Because the only reason I can think of that would make you believe she was dead, is that you were at her place in 1983. And that you were there with your friend Colin Graham."
"I don't know anybody by that name." Vernon replied.
"Then how is it that several sums of your money were found in his accounts? Yeah, we did some checking into your financials, and found the cheques you wrote out to him." Vernon sat back, knowing that Lily got him.
"Alright. So I know him. But he's not my friend. He was my bookie. I had a problem with gambling then. But I'm over that. I haven't had to deal with Colin in years."
"Well that's good because, he's also being looked at for involvement with a major human-trafficking operation. But, I bet you already knew that."
"No, actually, I didn't." Vernon said.
"What would you say if I told you we found your DNA and fingerprints at your sister's house, along with Colin's?" Lily asked.
"I'd say you're joking. No, make that lying. What would Colin be doing over there?"
"Well, we did find your DNA and fingerprints over there Vernon."
"Of course they'd be there. She's my sister." Vernon smirked.
"We also found Colin's DNA and fingerprints." Lily added. The smirk disappeared almost immediatly.
"That's impossible."
"DNA and fingerprints don't lie Vernon. Now I want to know, what was your bookie doing there that night, when we know your sister was not connected to him in any way." Lily said, getting in Vernon's face. "Start talking. Because we also have Colin here, and one of you has the choice to co-operate, and the DA will take that co-operation into consideration." Vernon gave it a thought.
"If I talk, the DA will consider a deal?" he asked.
"Only if I like what you have to say." Vernon and Lily both sat in silence as he pondered his next few words that would decide his fate.
"For a long time, I had addiction problems. Alcohol, drugs. But most of all, it was the gambling that really got me. I would do anything for a game, for the money. For, the thrill of the win. But after being on a losing streak, I was in major debt. I'd ask the family to help me out sometimes, and the week before what happened, I asked Jessica to loan me some money to pay off the debt. But, she said she wasn't going to help me anymore. Colin gave me a choice. If I didn't pay him, he was going to have me killed. Or, I would help him instead in his trafficking operation..."
Anthony and Jessica Reade were watching TV with Dylan(Tommy) and Aaron(David) when the front door burst open from Colin kicking it in. "What the hell?" Anthony snapped.
"Vernon what is going on?" Jessica asked. Colin pulled out his gun and pointed it at the couple. Dylan and Aaron took off out of the living room.
"Shut up and stay where you are. We're here for the boys." Colin sneered.
"What do you want them for?" Anthony asked, stunned.
"Since you won't help me get out of my gambling debt, I'm taking them, one way of the other." Vernon said.
"You'd sell out your own sister? Your own family? For God's sake Vern, they're your nephews!" Anthony yelled.
"Don't you think I know that? Tony, if I don't pay the debt, they're gonna kill me! So it's either me, or the boys."
"I can't let you do this. I won't let you!" Anthony rushed at Colin, struggling to pry the gun from him.
"Anthony NO!" Jessica shrieked. There was a loud BANG as the gun went off, and Anthony slumped to the floor, his head bleeding. "Anthony!" Aaron, hearing the gun go off came out of hiding and saw his dad lying on the floor, dead.
"Daddy!" He rushed at Colin, pounding on him with his little fists. "You killed my daddy!" Aaron hollered. As he went for the gun, it went off.
"NOOOO! AARON!" Jessica screamed as her son fell to the floor, bleeding.
"What the hell Colin? I thought you wanted both of them!" Vernon shouted.
"Well it's too late for that now isn't it?" Colin pointed the gun at Jessica. "Alright bitch, where is the other boy?"
"I don't know" Jessica replied, trying to contain her contempt and fear.
"Jessica, tell him where Dylan is, or he's gonna kill you." Vernon pleaded.
"Then that's what you'll have to do. You're just going to have to find him yourself."
"Fine by me" Colin cocked the gun, and fired. Jessica fell to the floor as the bullet hit her in the head...
And so the case draws to a close. Colin Graham and Vernon Stasi are both arrested. Jessica Reade looks on in disgust as her brother and Colin are lead past her on their way to the holding cells down below. Then, she notices that someone is standing behind her. It is Dylan, or rather Tommy, the name he goes by now. After not knowing what had happened to him for twenty-two years, Jessica and Tommy finally embrace. Looking on, are the spirits of Anthony and Aaron, who grew up as David, and who sadly, had passed away in a car accident four years ago. And in the warehouse, Nick and Will high-five each other as the box is put away. Written on it, the word "Closed".
The End