Cal walked in the room looking at the cube. He saw Loker pacing the floor and quirked an eyebrow at the young man. "How long have they been here?" asked Cal wondering if Loker had been in the cube yet.
Loker looked at Cal and couldn't even try to hide his contempt for the man that he considered his mentor. Loker had been falling in love with Ria and now they were friends at best...co-workers at worst. He could see the way that Ria and Lightman looked at one another. He knew the truth even if no one verbalized it in the office. Over the last month Loker's relationship with Lightman had began to deteriorate and he was once again considering offering his skills to another firm. Loker realized that he was just glaring at Lightman. "They've only been here for ten minutes. They are ready for you." Loker handed him a file folder with information on both suspects.
"There something you want to say to me, boyo?" asked Lightman cocking his head to the side.
"You are a lot of things and most of them are bad. But I respected you because you've always been straight up. You know how I feel about Ria. I love her and you are doing...whatever you are doing with her...my letter of resignation is on your desk. I'll be leaving in three weeks," said Loker.
Cal nodded and walked into the cube where the two suspects were currently across the table from one another. He looked back and forth between the two men noting that one man looked much more nervous than the other. Cal didn't say anything he just looked between the two of them watching their reactions to his staring at them. "My friend Bernerd here seems to think that only one of you have been committing these crimes...that only one of you is involved." said Cal purposely mispronouncing Agent Dillon's name.
A microsmile formed on the older of the two suspects' face. He was the one that had seemed calm from the very beginning. His hands were folded on top of themselves and resting on the table.
Cal walked over and stood behind the chair of the older suspect. The man was about 6'3' 200 lbs with black hair that was starting to gray at the sides. Clay chuckled and said, "But my friend Bernerd is wrong as he normally is...because there is more than one perpetrator in this room. You and your buddy across the table over there are equally responsible. The difference is that your friend over there feels guilty and you...well there is a look of pride on your face."
The man's expression quickly changed as he tried to mask his true emotions.
Cal laughed and said, "You are proud don't try to hide it. You are proud of raping and terrorizing innocent women..." Cal opened one of the file folders in his hand. "Daniel Greene 44 years old...let's see you've been convicted of sexual assault, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery. You've been in prison more than you've been free...but you've stepped into the big leagues...because once the feds convict you...they are never going let you go. But you Sean Monroe. I am trying to figure out why you are involved in this. You are a god kid. You've never been arrested. Why would you become a rapist? Or help one?"
Sean spoke up. "I never..." Sean was about 24 years old. He was a plain looking sort of young man. Sean was tall and lanky and didn't look like he'd been in a fight his entire life.
"Shut up!" said Daniel Greene glaring at the younger man.
Cal chuckled and said "Oi! What are you listening to this bloke for? He isn't going to serve your time for you. And he isn't going to be able to protect you in prison. You'll be fair game to everyone in there that is stronger than you. You are going to prison there is no question in that, boyo. But the question is can the feds put you in protective custody so you don't become anyone's bitch." Cal could see the look in the young man's eyes he knew that he was ready to cave in.
"I swear I didn't know...I...I didn't know..." said Sean in tears. The young man rested his head on the table. He couldn't believe that his life was over.
"Don't you open your mouth! If you do you're dead! Do you hear me? They've got nothing. Don't you open your mouth you little bastard! I'll kill you and your sister!" screamed Daniel trying to lunge across the table at the younger man.
Agent Dillon motioned for the two agents standing outside of the cube. As they entered he said, "Get this one out of here."
The two agents wrestled the large man out of the room and subdued him.
Cal had a seat across from Sean and said "Now you are here with just us...he can't hurt you..."
Agent Dillon said, "If your information is good and we can verify that you played little to no role in this crime spree the AUSA might just cut you some slack. He might even cut you loose, but you tell us the truth...all of the truth. Dr. Lightman will know if you are holding back." Dillon was excited knowing this case could be a bump to his career.
"I swear I didn't know that he was raping women. Danny is my sister's husband. Danny works for a maintenance company that services buildings in the D.C. metro area. Six months ago my sister, Viola, called me in a panic. She told me that Danny had lost the master keys to the buildings he was in charge of. She was scared that he was going to lose his job. Later that same week she called me back and said that he found his keys, but he was afraid he might lose them again. She asked me if I could make copies so that if he ever lost them again he wouldn't be in trouble. I told her that I couldn't do it, but she's my sister you know and she was crying...saying that if I didn't make the copies...that Danny was going to hurt her. I told her no. I didn't believe that Danny would really hurt her, but he dragged her down to my shop and he beat my sister in front of me. He broke her arm. I was scared that he was going to kill us both. So, I copied the keys for him...all of them. I know it was wrong, but that is all I did and I swear I didn't know what they were for."
Agent Dillon nodded to Lightman and the two men walked out of the cube together. "Are you sure that he had nothing to do with this?"
"I am positive. He is showing real fear and real remorse. It doesn't appear that he is holding anything back. But with a record how was Daniel able to get his job?" asked Cal feeling anger rising in him.
"He used a fake name and a fake social security number. That is why we missed him when we checked out all of the usual suspects the first time around. His sheet was clean. It wasn't until we put everyone's pictures through facial recognition that we got a hit," said Agent Dillon. "Is Torres any closer to being a complaining witness? So far only four of the victims are willing to come forward. I'd like to convict him for as many of these attacks as I can."
Cal shook his head. "I don't think that I will be able to convince her to come forward. She is only just now getting over the trauma. She's a proud woman, but she's also scared and she's not willing to reopen the wounds that are just starting to heal. And I have no attention of trying to force her to do so, Bernerd."
"Maybe the agency's psychiatrist could talk to her...not just to get her to testify but also to help her..." said Agent Dillon.
"I will talk to her and see if she is interested but I don't think that she will be," said Cal.
"Alright, I am going to get the two of them out of here and back to lock up while I talk to the Assistant Attorney General..." said Agent Dillon. He nodded to the FBI agents and they started escorting the men out of the room.
Ria walked into the building. "Foster, it will only take a couple of minutes and then we can leave back out. I need my files." Ria was about to walk into her office when she saw two men being escorted out of the building.
Daniel Greene smirked seeing Ria.
Lightman spotted Ria and said, "Oi! Get in here. I need to talk to you, love."
Ria stood frozen for a moment. There was something about the man that was very familiar.
"Now!" yelled Lightman to get her attention.
"Uh...okay," said Ria walking into Lightman's office. "Who was that man?" asked Ria.
Lightman closed the door behind them and said, "That is the case that I was working on this morning. Why aren't you with Foster?"
Ria said, "I needed to come back here to get the files on the Danforth case. What case are you working?" She was getting agitated since Lightman was obviously avoiding telling her what was going on.
Lightman said, "Loker is quitting his job."
"What?" asked Ria thrown off track momentarily. "Why would he do something that stupid? He loves working for you. He worships you."
"Well, it seems the lad is in love with you. And he finds working here untenable," said Lightman glad that his last minute distraction had worked. He picked up Loker's letter of resignation.
"That is crazy! He loves working here. He does good work here...I need to talk to Loker. But I haven't forgotten about this..." said Ria accusingly. She snatched the letter from his hand
She took off to find Loker and found him in the breakroom. "What the hell are you thinking, Loker?" asked Ria slamming the letter on a table.
"I am thinking that I want a blueberry muffin," quipped Loker holding a muffin in his hand. He eyed his letter and said, "I see Lightman told you."
"Why are you quitting, Loker? You love this job more than anything," said Ria in an exasperated voice.
Loker walked over to her and looked into her eyes. "Not more than I love you, Ria."
Ria laughed nervously. She didn't even know what to say to that. Ria cleared her throat and said, "Loker, you broke up with me. You couldn't handle me and all of my crazy. And I can't say that I blame you because I am crazy."
"You were freaking out because you were attacked and you couldn't bring yourself to tell me about it. I let you down. But I can't watch you with Lightman when I still love you, Ria. So, I think it is time that I move on. I've been threatening to break out on my own for awhile now. I think it is time," said Loker. He sat down at a table eating his muffin.
"My problems just don't stop there. I have a lot of them and I probably always will. And as much as you cared about me you never understood them. You never understood me. Cal does...he understands what it is like to cower in fear from someone that is supposed to love you. He understands why I don't really trust anyone," said Ria. She had a knot in the pit of her stomach. Ria didn't want Loker to quit because of her.
Loker shook his head standing up and said, "You trusted him. When you couldn't trust me! I was there, Ria. I wanted to help you. I kept asking you what was wrong and you kept pushing me away! I would have helped you through this. I would have been by your side! What makes Lightman so different!"
"Because he's screwed up too! I don't have to pretend to be normal with him. He knows I'm not. He sees me for who I really am. Not the role I play here at work for everyone else. Or the role I play for my sister. He knows the ugliest parts of me and he loves me anyway. I could never be my true self with you because you are so sweet and so good. And so normal. I was always scared that I was going to scare you away," said Ria touching his cheek. "You deserve someone that doesn't have nightmares at night. You deserve someone that isn't carrying years of baggage on her back. You deserve someone that isn't broken inside. Because I am, Loker," said Ria.
"I know that you are broken. Maybe I didn't know before, but I can see that now. But I believe that you are loveable that your are fixable. Being with Lightman is only going to hurt you. He's going to break your heart," said Loker.
Ria shook her head and said, "And that is why we can't be together. Because you foolishly think that I am fixable. A house built on brittle foundation, no matter how pretty it looks, is doomed to fall apart. You trying to fix me would only drag you down."
"We were happy, Ria. We had a future together. I love you. I wanted to make you my wife. Remember we talked about kids. You'd be such a great mom...is Lightman going to give you kids?" asked Loker. "If you are so unfixable then why did you share your dreams with me? Being a mother? Being a wife? Going to college?"
"I don't want children anymore," said Ria with confidence though her face showed her lies. "Being with you made me believe that all of that was possible. You gave me hope, Eli. But then...I was attacked in my own home. And I was humiliated and violated. And I realized that I was just as broken as I had always been. And I started to wonder what about me...made me a victim. I just want a quiet happy life. Not complicated. And I'll have that with Lightman. He makes me so happy. I feel loved and safe and I love him. I want you to find the same for yourself. But you shouldn't have to quit your job to do that," said Ria.
"Coming here every day seeing you with him I just can't do that," said Loker.
Ria sighed. "I am not going to let you throw your life away, Loker. I am bad news and eventually you will realize that. So, let me make it easy on you. I'll be the one to quit. Effective immediately..." Ria walked out of the breakroom and went to her office. She started packing her things.
Foster walked into Ria's office. "Are you ready to go?"
Ria said, "I am sorry, Foster. But I quit. Eli can't work with me here so it is time that I leave. I'll let Lightman know."
Foster stood there stunned but turned and walked out of the room. She stormed down to Lightman's office and said, "Way to go, Cal…"
Lightman had his feet propped up on his desk. He looked up and asked, "What have I done now, love?"
"Loker is quitting and so is Ria. Remember when I told you that sleeping with Ria was a bad idea?" asked Gillian angrily.
"I have the Loker situation under control…" Lightman's face sobered when he heard that Ria was quitting. "What?"
"She is clearing out her office right now." said Gillian.
Lightman stood up from his desk and walked down the hall to Ria's office. He leaned against the door frame. "What are you doing?" asked Lightman.
Ria hastily wiped away her tears. "I am quitting. This job is Loker's life and he is walking away from it because of me. So, I figure if I quit then I won't be here to break his heart."
"Loker isn't going to quit. I am going to convince him to stay," said Lightman.
"How?" asked Ria still packing.
Cal walked over and gently stopped her from packing. "I am going to give him the promotion he's been waiting on. He's going to get his own team and be able to work his own cases."
"Do you really think that will work?" asked Ria.
Lightman pulled her into his arms hugging her tightly. "Yes, I believe that it will work." He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips and just held her against him.
"I feel like I can't get anything right," whispered Ria after the kiss. "I am happy with you but now I am about to lose a friend because…I'm happy. He just doesn't understand that I am broken…he thinks that I am fixable and I'm not."
"I'll take care of everything. He won't be able to resist the job offer. And hating me might be good for him. He won't look up to me as much. It is time he learned how to become his own man and not just my protégé." said Lightman. "Sometimes the broken things are the most beautiful and deserving for love."
Ria laughed softly and smiled at him. "That is a very sweet thing for you to say." Ria asked, "Are you going to tell me who those guys were?"
He cocked his head to the side a moment trying to think of the right way to say it. "We think he is the man responsible for your attack," said Lightman as gently as he could manage.
Ria's eyes widened and her breathing picked up realizing that she had been in the same room with him and didn't even know it. A sick feeling came over her face. Ria's hand shot to her mouth and ran from her office to the bathroom getting sick.
