Hidden Feelings
Chapter 1
The Jig Is Up
Katarina had been sitting in an exam room at Angel of Mercy Hospital for what seemed forever. She had come in earlier that morning and she refused to speak to anyone but the police. She wanted to make sure the facts were clear and straight from her mouth.
Faith Yokas walked into the exam room. She smiled gently, thinking this was another poor rape victim. "Ms. Stratford, we were told you requested the police. Can you tell me what happened?"
"This better be good, 'cause if you called us in here to tell us something that'll waste my time, I'd like to know before time." he warned as he held the pad of paper with a pen to it.
Faith turned to Bosco, "Will you shut up and let her talk?" she said through clenched teeth. Faith turned back to Kat, "Please excuse my partner, he doesn't know when to pull his foot out of his mouth."
Katarina looked at Faith sharply. "I know this place," she took a deep breath, knowing Harry would try to have her killed, but then it couldn't be any worse than having johns beat her all the time. "This guy, Harry Baits, he has a bar. He deals crack out of it an' he has girls, young girls, one of 'em is 16." Kat looked at Bosco, "He let's guys beat on the girls, like he let's 'em beat on me." She looked at Faith again, "I want out, I'm clean, I never did drugs. I woulda left his ass years ago, only he told me he'd kill me if I said anything. But it can't be worse than this right?"
Faith sat in a chair and prayed Bosco was writing this all down. "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us everything? We'll make sure your safe," she said taking out her pad.
"My name is Katarina Stratford. I'm 21 and I have been workin' for that jag off for six years. He brings these girls in, desperate girls, virgins, who need a job. He let's 'em work the bar. Then one night he hands 'em a key and tells 'em the customer is ALWAYS right, give 'em what he wants. They always want sex, hard." She paused for a minute as a pain creped up her spine. "He imports crack, every kind u can think of, if he gets a girl that fights he'll drug her, but mostly he jus sells the stuff to big guys. He won't even mess with junkies."
"Do you know who these big shots are?" she asked, cringing that she'd have to hand this off to Cruz because it was anticrime. "Names, places, and the name of these girls. I can talk to them and get his guy put away for prostitution."
Bosco wrote as fast as he could, he made it sloppy but legible. He already developed a taste of hate for this Harry guy as the story went on. He looked up from the pad and closed it, tucking it through his belt first to Faith then to Kat. "Your information isn't a waste of time we'll snag this skell and keep you safe, don' worry 'bout a thing," he told her with serious eyes. His day just got more interesting. He didn't want Cruz to be in charge of what he and his partner stumbled upon, he wanted someone that would handle it right and that had to be Wynn.
"Do you have a contact number that we can reach you at if we need anything else out of you?" she asked.
Kat sat up straight in her bed, "You want somebody who can bust him it's me. He dragged me in when I was 15, I was his first whore, I'm the secretary." She reached in her bag and pulled out an address book. She tossed it to Bosco. "Everything you need to know is in there. Names, addresses, bank account numbers, all the transactions, EVERYTHING."
Bosco flipped through the address book nodding in approval as he scanned through the names. He knew that it word got out that she turned them in she'd be in big trouble so he planned to give her all the protection she would need. He closed the book and tapped his thumbs against the cover "This is valuable," he informed both of them.
"No kidding Bosco," Faith said. "We'll we need to make a few phone calls first so we'll be here a while if you think of anything else," she said standing, "Come on lets call Cruz" she said coldly knowing it was what had to be done, forgetting about Wynn.
Bosco grabbed her shoulder before she left. "Lets call Wynn, we don' need Cruz screwin' up our chances again especially with this guy," he whispered to her out of earshot from Kat. He sure as hell didn't want to even get Cruz involved in any way even if she found out later he didn't want her involved now, he wanted someone who could get the job done and that was Wynn.
"I don't want her near this either Bosco but this is a job for ACU not Narcotics," she said, looking at Bosco. "Fine Lets call Wynn and see what she has to say about this," she said, "But if she refuses it goes to Cruz," she said. "And if she accepts I want in, "she said.
"On Thursday he's getting a big shipment in, He'll have at least 5 buyers. That should give you enough time to get a team up or something, right?" She sat back down as the pain ran up her spine again.
"We could get a team up by tonight if we really had to," Bosco told her making sure he made it clear that it wasn't a problem. He knew she wanted revenge on this guy and her revenge was valuable to him since this guy could have cut supplies down if they cut him off the streets. "Is he a dangerous man when it comes to weapons? Has he ever killed anyone?" he asked, making sure he covered all the bases. He was planning to take on an ACU shift when this all went down so he could be a part of it. He hoped Faith would come with him so he wasn't stuck with Cruz.
"If he's killed we need to know."
Kat scoffed at the suggestion, "Harry wouldn't get his hands dirty, he has men to do his work, most of them use the girls, that's usually payment, u kill, u get a freebie. He must have 10, maybe 15 and they don't have the best weapons in the world, but they are good shots. He'll have them guarding Thursday."
"Is this Harry rat involved in any illegal gambling action along with all his other mock mafia stunts?" Bosco asked, he had the pen and paper out again and wrote down the names and other information as he shifted from foot to foot. He was tired of standing, he had been there for a long time if his muscles in his legs started to get sore he was even getting writers cramp but it was all worth it to help him snag this jag-off.
"If he was it will help us building a case against him," she said, handing Kat her card.
Katarina thought for a minute. "No, he doesn't mess with gambling himself, but as to his homies I wouldn't know."
"Call if you need us or if you remember anything else," she said. "55 DAVID to Central. What's the 1020 on Narcotics Sgt?"
"A the house David."
"Thanks," she said. She turned to Bosco, "When you're done lets call her."
Laura Wynn sat in her office. She was getting frustrated with the stillness of the day. She looked out the window. She looked at the phone as it rang. She picked it up and looked at the ID. "Bosco" She answered it, "This better be good Boscorelli..."
Bosco was outside one the phone at the desk calling Wynn. He let his partner stay with Kat since he didn't want her left alone under any circumstances. "Oh this is good" he assured her then he started up his story giving all the facts to her as he read them from his notepad that sat on the admit desk. "So did I waste your time?" he asked matter-of-factly knowing her answer would be no.
"We'll make sure this gets handled. My partner and I are the best at this stuff," she said. "So he dragged you in when you were15. What did he say, do you remember at all?" she asked hoping for something to get the story straight.
Katarina sighed, "My mom died when I was 15, I had to take care of my lil sis and my drunk dad. He said he could get me a job in his restaurant, as a hostess. I worked there for a while, he taught me to mix drinks, and I did some witnessing to make some extra cash. Then one day he hands me a key and tells me 'the customer is always right, give him what he wants.' So the guy got what he wanted. After that, I tried to get out, but he told me he'd kill my sister. So I stayed. Then she got cancer and died. But then he told me he'd kill me. So for six years I did what I had to, to stay alive..."
Faith hoped Bosco told Wynn that she wanted to be in on it too. "We'll handle this, why'd you get out now? What happened that you'd turn him in?" she asked softly.
"The new girl, she was only 16 when she came in and when I saw the look in her eyes after...her spirit was dead. I know he'll know I turned him in, but like I said, it can't be worse than watchin' little girls get raped and gettin' beat on myself."
Wynn leaned back in her chair, a smile across her face. "Nice work Boscorelli, I want you to stay on this with me, but then I'm sure you couldn't be pried off the case. Just do me a HUGE favor, keep this under wraps, away from Cruz."
Bosco nodded into the receiver as he drew a couple doodles on a blank sheet of notepad paper with his black ink pen. "That's why I called you," he explained to her, happy she was letting him help. "Can I go in undercover with ya? Me an' Yokas?" he asked hoping he'd get a big assignment for what seemed like the perfect case.
Laura Wynn sat looking outside her window. "Well the two of you found the case, of course I want you both by my side on it. What, you think I'm gunna ask somebody like Cruz? This is a big case and I need people I can trust."
The girl was young enough to be her daughter, if she had been 16 when she had her, "You remind me of my daughter."
Kat's eyes softened a little. "You got a daughter? She's lucky to have a mom like you." Kat closed her eyes for a minute. She let the pain pass before opening them again.
"You care to tell her that? She won't believe it," she said. "She got mixed up with this guy who gave her Special K and she nearly died. And she still hangs with this guy. She was sexually active with him and all," she said. "You tell her," she said, "and we'll get him."
"I'd tell her, but I'm sure you don't want a slut around your daughter." Katarina looked down.
"That would be better than this Eric guy," she said.
"I bet she's as pretty as you..." Katarina looked up at Faith.
Faith laughed, "You can tell her that too!"
"What's her name?"
"Emily."
"How old is she?" Thoughts of her baby sister ran through her mind, visions of girls getting rapped flooded her. A sharp pain ran up her back.
"She's 16," she said, pulling a picture out of her back pocket. "That's her with her brother Charlie; he's 12" she said.
Kat looked at the picture and smiled. It reminded her of her baby sister. The sharp pain ran up her spine again.
"You ok?" she said. Faith suddenly went into mother mode as she thought about the girl she swore she would take care of her.
"Yea, I'm Ok. It's not the first time I've been in the hospital cuz of a rough guy." Katarina looked out the door and saw Bosco talkin' on the phone. "You guys seem to be a good team. How long you been together?"
'Since the academy," she said. "Easily 14 years," she said. " I was just married and Emily was two," she said. "We've had our hard times he's been there for me and I've been there for him, as always," she said. "You need anything? A place to stay until we get this guy under wraps?" she asked.
Kat shook her head. "No thanks, I have to go back, or Harry will know something is up. Sides, I've got the girls to look after. I can keep the guys busy while you guys get ready."
Chapter 1
The Jig Is Up
Katarina had been sitting in an exam room at Angel of Mercy Hospital for what seemed forever. She had come in earlier that morning and she refused to speak to anyone but the police. She wanted to make sure the facts were clear and straight from her mouth.
Faith Yokas walked into the exam room. She smiled gently, thinking this was another poor rape victim. "Ms. Stratford, we were told you requested the police. Can you tell me what happened?"
"This better be good, 'cause if you called us in here to tell us something that'll waste my time, I'd like to know before time." he warned as he held the pad of paper with a pen to it.
Faith turned to Bosco, "Will you shut up and let her talk?" she said through clenched teeth. Faith turned back to Kat, "Please excuse my partner, he doesn't know when to pull his foot out of his mouth."
Katarina looked at Faith sharply. "I know this place," she took a deep breath, knowing Harry would try to have her killed, but then it couldn't be any worse than having johns beat her all the time. "This guy, Harry Baits, he has a bar. He deals crack out of it an' he has girls, young girls, one of 'em is 16." Kat looked at Bosco, "He let's guys beat on the girls, like he let's 'em beat on me." She looked at Faith again, "I want out, I'm clean, I never did drugs. I woulda left his ass years ago, only he told me he'd kill me if I said anything. But it can't be worse than this right?"
Faith sat in a chair and prayed Bosco was writing this all down. "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us everything? We'll make sure your safe," she said taking out her pad.
"My name is Katarina Stratford. I'm 21 and I have been workin' for that jag off for six years. He brings these girls in, desperate girls, virgins, who need a job. He let's 'em work the bar. Then one night he hands 'em a key and tells 'em the customer is ALWAYS right, give 'em what he wants. They always want sex, hard." She paused for a minute as a pain creped up her spine. "He imports crack, every kind u can think of, if he gets a girl that fights he'll drug her, but mostly he jus sells the stuff to big guys. He won't even mess with junkies."
"Do you know who these big shots are?" she asked, cringing that she'd have to hand this off to Cruz because it was anticrime. "Names, places, and the name of these girls. I can talk to them and get his guy put away for prostitution."
Bosco wrote as fast as he could, he made it sloppy but legible. He already developed a taste of hate for this Harry guy as the story went on. He looked up from the pad and closed it, tucking it through his belt first to Faith then to Kat. "Your information isn't a waste of time we'll snag this skell and keep you safe, don' worry 'bout a thing," he told her with serious eyes. His day just got more interesting. He didn't want Cruz to be in charge of what he and his partner stumbled upon, he wanted someone that would handle it right and that had to be Wynn.
"Do you have a contact number that we can reach you at if we need anything else out of you?" she asked.
Kat sat up straight in her bed, "You want somebody who can bust him it's me. He dragged me in when I was 15, I was his first whore, I'm the secretary." She reached in her bag and pulled out an address book. She tossed it to Bosco. "Everything you need to know is in there. Names, addresses, bank account numbers, all the transactions, EVERYTHING."
Bosco flipped through the address book nodding in approval as he scanned through the names. He knew that it word got out that she turned them in she'd be in big trouble so he planned to give her all the protection she would need. He closed the book and tapped his thumbs against the cover "This is valuable," he informed both of them.
"No kidding Bosco," Faith said. "We'll we need to make a few phone calls first so we'll be here a while if you think of anything else," she said standing, "Come on lets call Cruz" she said coldly knowing it was what had to be done, forgetting about Wynn.
Bosco grabbed her shoulder before she left. "Lets call Wynn, we don' need Cruz screwin' up our chances again especially with this guy," he whispered to her out of earshot from Kat. He sure as hell didn't want to even get Cruz involved in any way even if she found out later he didn't want her involved now, he wanted someone who could get the job done and that was Wynn.
"I don't want her near this either Bosco but this is a job for ACU not Narcotics," she said, looking at Bosco. "Fine Lets call Wynn and see what she has to say about this," she said, "But if she refuses it goes to Cruz," she said. "And if she accepts I want in, "she said.
"On Thursday he's getting a big shipment in, He'll have at least 5 buyers. That should give you enough time to get a team up or something, right?" She sat back down as the pain ran up her spine again.
"We could get a team up by tonight if we really had to," Bosco told her making sure he made it clear that it wasn't a problem. He knew she wanted revenge on this guy and her revenge was valuable to him since this guy could have cut supplies down if they cut him off the streets. "Is he a dangerous man when it comes to weapons? Has he ever killed anyone?" he asked, making sure he covered all the bases. He was planning to take on an ACU shift when this all went down so he could be a part of it. He hoped Faith would come with him so he wasn't stuck with Cruz.
"If he's killed we need to know."
Kat scoffed at the suggestion, "Harry wouldn't get his hands dirty, he has men to do his work, most of them use the girls, that's usually payment, u kill, u get a freebie. He must have 10, maybe 15 and they don't have the best weapons in the world, but they are good shots. He'll have them guarding Thursday."
"Is this Harry rat involved in any illegal gambling action along with all his other mock mafia stunts?" Bosco asked, he had the pen and paper out again and wrote down the names and other information as he shifted from foot to foot. He was tired of standing, he had been there for a long time if his muscles in his legs started to get sore he was even getting writers cramp but it was all worth it to help him snag this jag-off.
"If he was it will help us building a case against him," she said, handing Kat her card.
Katarina thought for a minute. "No, he doesn't mess with gambling himself, but as to his homies I wouldn't know."
"Call if you need us or if you remember anything else," she said. "55 DAVID to Central. What's the 1020 on Narcotics Sgt?"
"A the house David."
"Thanks," she said. She turned to Bosco, "When you're done lets call her."
Laura Wynn sat in her office. She was getting frustrated with the stillness of the day. She looked out the window. She looked at the phone as it rang. She picked it up and looked at the ID. "Bosco" She answered it, "This better be good Boscorelli..."
Bosco was outside one the phone at the desk calling Wynn. He let his partner stay with Kat since he didn't want her left alone under any circumstances. "Oh this is good" he assured her then he started up his story giving all the facts to her as he read them from his notepad that sat on the admit desk. "So did I waste your time?" he asked matter-of-factly knowing her answer would be no.
"We'll make sure this gets handled. My partner and I are the best at this stuff," she said. "So he dragged you in when you were15. What did he say, do you remember at all?" she asked hoping for something to get the story straight.
Katarina sighed, "My mom died when I was 15, I had to take care of my lil sis and my drunk dad. He said he could get me a job in his restaurant, as a hostess. I worked there for a while, he taught me to mix drinks, and I did some witnessing to make some extra cash. Then one day he hands me a key and tells me 'the customer is always right, give him what he wants.' So the guy got what he wanted. After that, I tried to get out, but he told me he'd kill my sister. So I stayed. Then she got cancer and died. But then he told me he'd kill me. So for six years I did what I had to, to stay alive..."
Faith hoped Bosco told Wynn that she wanted to be in on it too. "We'll handle this, why'd you get out now? What happened that you'd turn him in?" she asked softly.
"The new girl, she was only 16 when she came in and when I saw the look in her eyes after...her spirit was dead. I know he'll know I turned him in, but like I said, it can't be worse than watchin' little girls get raped and gettin' beat on myself."
Wynn leaned back in her chair, a smile across her face. "Nice work Boscorelli, I want you to stay on this with me, but then I'm sure you couldn't be pried off the case. Just do me a HUGE favor, keep this under wraps, away from Cruz."
Bosco nodded into the receiver as he drew a couple doodles on a blank sheet of notepad paper with his black ink pen. "That's why I called you," he explained to her, happy she was letting him help. "Can I go in undercover with ya? Me an' Yokas?" he asked hoping he'd get a big assignment for what seemed like the perfect case.
Laura Wynn sat looking outside her window. "Well the two of you found the case, of course I want you both by my side on it. What, you think I'm gunna ask somebody like Cruz? This is a big case and I need people I can trust."
The girl was young enough to be her daughter, if she had been 16 when she had her, "You remind me of my daughter."
Kat's eyes softened a little. "You got a daughter? She's lucky to have a mom like you." Kat closed her eyes for a minute. She let the pain pass before opening them again.
"You care to tell her that? She won't believe it," she said. "She got mixed up with this guy who gave her Special K and she nearly died. And she still hangs with this guy. She was sexually active with him and all," she said. "You tell her," she said, "and we'll get him."
"I'd tell her, but I'm sure you don't want a slut around your daughter." Katarina looked down.
"That would be better than this Eric guy," she said.
"I bet she's as pretty as you..." Katarina looked up at Faith.
Faith laughed, "You can tell her that too!"
"What's her name?"
"Emily."
"How old is she?" Thoughts of her baby sister ran through her mind, visions of girls getting rapped flooded her. A sharp pain ran up her back.
"She's 16," she said, pulling a picture out of her back pocket. "That's her with her brother Charlie; he's 12" she said.
Kat looked at the picture and smiled. It reminded her of her baby sister. The sharp pain ran up her spine again.
"You ok?" she said. Faith suddenly went into mother mode as she thought about the girl she swore she would take care of her.
"Yea, I'm Ok. It's not the first time I've been in the hospital cuz of a rough guy." Katarina looked out the door and saw Bosco talkin' on the phone. "You guys seem to be a good team. How long you been together?"
'Since the academy," she said. "Easily 14 years," she said. " I was just married and Emily was two," she said. "We've had our hard times he's been there for me and I've been there for him, as always," she said. "You need anything? A place to stay until we get this guy under wraps?" she asked.
Kat shook her head. "No thanks, I have to go back, or Harry will know something is up. Sides, I've got the girls to look after. I can keep the guys busy while you guys get ready."