Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Without A Trace characters or the reference to Law and Order's Jack McCoy in the first chapter of this fic. But as it goes on, we will meet the McNamara family of Brooklyn...and they are all my own creation. I haven't yet decided if this will turn out to have a romance in it or not...but if it does, it will definitely be a Danny centered romance.
The Avalon Center in this fic is based on a women's shelter my best friend opened a few years ago after she was raped. Most of the character Katie and her story is based on my beloved friend. Turning her story into a missing person's case will be tricky, but I hope I can do it justice! I hope that this pays tribute to her. Please read and review...I love feedback!
"Once we find out who he is," Malone says of one victim, "odds are we'll find out where he is."
Where There is Darkness
Chapter One - A Familiar Face
Bull Pen of the FBI Missing Person's Unit: Thirteen Hours Missing
It was an ungodly hour of the morning when Agent Samantha Spade dragged herself into the office, intent on heading straight for the coffee pot. But when she saw the rest of the team gathering in the bullpen, she knew there would be no time for coffee this morning. Jack, Danny, Vivian, and Martin...all on high alert and ready to get to work. Another person had gone missing.
"What have we got?" Sam asked, coming up behind Martin and joining the team.
"Matthew Francis Runyeon. Thirty-four." Senior Agent Jack Malone began the rundown of the case. "Last seen leaving his Wall Street office last night around five o'clock. Wife called it in a few hours ago. Cops from Staten Island found his car under the ramp to the Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn side, but no sign of Runyeon. Blood on the door handle has been sent to the lab and we're awaiting test results. We're going to need to get people over to his house and office to start asking around."
An intern walked up and handed Vivian the enlarged DMV photo for Matthew Runyeon, which she promptly put up on the board. Sam looked up at the photo and drew in her breath. "Frankie."
"You know this guy?" Danny asked, as the whole team looked at Samantha.
"Yeah." Sam said, looking around at the team. "And so do you, Jack. So does anyone who was living in New York seven years ago. Matthew Francis Runyeon used to go by the name Frankie Runyeon."
"Christ." Danny said quietly, closing his eyes. A similar reaction was noticeable in Vivian and Jack.
"Anyone care to fill me in?" Martin asked, not finding any need to remind them that he was in Seattle in '98 and had no clue as to why this particular guy garnered such a swift reaction from the team.
"This guy was responsible for the rape trial that ate Manhattan." Danny said, then muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
"It was my last year on the force." Samantha explained. "Got a call about one o'clock in the morning that a young woman was found raped and badly beaten in the bathroom of a downtown club. Mary Katherine McNamara. Katie, for short. To her friends, she was K-mac. Anyway, she was out celebrating a big promotion with some of her friends. When I got to the hospital and went in to question her..." Samantha's voice faltered a bit at the memory before she regained her composure. "...her rapisthad stabbed her and then written 'Whore' in her own blood across her chest. There was a lot of internal bleeding and she barely made it through surgery. But she was a fighter. Pulled through surgery and had barely regained consciousness before she told me her story. Katie identified Runyeon as her rapist and we were off and rolling to trial."
"So he's out of jail already?" Martin asked and Sam shook her head.
"He never was convicted. Some kid in the evidence lab mishandled the rape kit and Runyeon got off on a technicality." Jack interjected,as hewas also familiar with the case.
"A banner day for the NYPD." Sam remarked sarcastically. "We had him. Katie was brilliant on the stand. She had the jury in tears. And Jack McCoy, the prosecutor, was perfect. Hammered into Runyeon and his overinflated ego."
"Apparently, Runyeon had been hitting on Katie on the dance floor and she wanted nothing to do with him. He even sent a bottle of champagne over to her table, which she and her girlfriends refused to open." Vivian, who remembered reading about the case in the papers, explained. "He was flying higher than a kite and her rejection was a serious blow to his ego. So later on that night, after he had been stewing in his own angry juices for awhile, he cornered her in the bathroom and raped her. To show her why no woman turns down Frank Runyeon."
"She put up one hell of a fight, too. Which is why he stabbed her." Jack added, a note of admiration in his voice.
"And then the defense discovered the evidence problem and called for a mistrial." Sam finished.
"But not before the defense raked that poor girl over the coals." Danny added, also remembering the case. "Runyeon's father was some bigwig from Boston and put together a legal team that rivaled O.J.'s. And then, you know the drill. The victim got put on trial. Every guy she ever slept with, every drink she ever had, everything she ever did as a stupidhigh schoolkid andcollege co-edwild child was paraded out in front of the jury. They even submitted the dress she wore out that night claiming it was too sexy." Danny shook his head. "Runyeon's team said the sex was consentual and when he left her she was fine. So, naturally, some other guy came along after he left and raped her."
"Except that only Frankie's DNA was found on Katie's body." Sam quipped.
"Why didn't they re-try him?" Martin wanted to know.
Sam dropped her head and said, "We couldn't convince Katie to testify a second time. Like Danny said, the defense team really did a number on her. And the case went high profile, so every where you went people were debating it."
"The rape trial that ate Manhattan." Martin repeated Danny's earlier statement, now understanding what he meant.
"Katie didn't want to go through it all again." Samantha continued. "Said she just wanted to get back to her life."
"And has she?" Martin asked, intrigued by the story.
"She tried to. It was rough going for awhile. She was on the fast track in the business world before the attack, but I heard she left her consulting firm and started a women's center downtown. Helping other women who have been attacked helped her get her own life back in focus. But it all came crashing down again on 9/11." The team looked over at Jack, wondering how he knew all this. Jack simply shrugged. "I know her old man, Tommy McNamara. Good man. He's a retired chief of the FDNY...Rescue 2 over in Brooklyn. Besides Katie, he and Sophia had five sons...all firefighters, like their dad. Tommy and the boys were all at Ground Zero on September 11th." Jack shook his head and said quietly, "Only three of the boys ever came home again."
"The McNamara's are a close-knit Irish Italian family, born and raised in Brooklyn. Sophia runs an Italian bakery in the neighborhood, just down the block from the firehouse." Sam smiled as she thought about the McNamara family. "Katie and her brothers were close. They really rallied around her after the rape. We almost arrested one of them for threatening Runyeon before we went to trial."
"Avalon Women's Center? I know that place." Vivian said, thinking back to what Jack had said. "They do amazing work there. They have trained specialists on duty to help victims of rape and abuse, a program to educate college students about sexual assault and how to take steps to prevent it. Not to mention a hotline that provides live, anonymous, secure crisis support to victims of sexual assault and their families and friends."
"And last year they opened a shelter for women and their kids who need a safe place to stay in order to escape or prevent an attack." Sam chimed in. "I heard that one of their staff will accompany women to the hospital, to the police, through court proceedings, appointments with lawyers, Financial Aid Workers, and Social Workers, wherever they need to go to provide emotional support and advocacy."
"She really turned her tragedy into a triumph, huh?" Danny asked, seemingly impressed.
"So," Martin said, thinking out loud and steering the conversation back to the case at hand, "I guess this means we have to add Katie McNamara and her brothers to the list of people we have to talk to about Frank Runyeon's disappearance."