A Dark and Stormy Night part 7

R rating

I own nothing and expect even less

Thank you Chely for putting up with all my silliness!

Olivia pushes Natalia over by the couch and goes to answer the door. Olivia is very surprised when she sees Dinah Marler standing next to Doris. "Doris why did you bring a reporter with you? You know Natalia isn't giving individual interviews." Dinah answered before Doris could get her mouth working.

"I'm not here to ask for an interview. I have something Doris wants you to see and I'm not letting it out of my sight." Olivia gave Doris a dirty look. Natalia didn't need company right now; especially a member of the press.

"Olivia don't give me that look. You and Natalia will thank me and Dinah as soon as you see what her camera guy caught. Now get your laptop out and put this thumb drive in. Please watch this first before you get all bent out of shape." Doris walked over to Natalia and sat down on the couch near her.

"Can you tell me what's on the thumb drive? Is it going to tear my world apart again?" Natalia could only imagine what was on the drive. Her parents behaving badly. Shouting out things they know better than. Telling more lies about her.

"I don't think so. Just watch it. It's a conversation between Russo and Guzman out on the steps of the court house just before the down pour happened." Olivia came out of the bedroom with her laptop. Doris moved over on the couch so Olivia and Natalia could watch at the same time. Dinah set up the laptop for the two women. The picture started with Russo running down the courthouse stairs towards Pastor Guzman.

"What the fuck are you doing Guzman! I told you that I didn't want any of this bullshit going on during the trial. This just makes the world think you're a bunch of crack pots. We can't win the public's backing if they think you're all nut jobs!" Guzman just shrugged his shoulders.

"I am doing the Lord's work you asshole! I don't care if some scummy nonbeliever like you doesn't understand what I'm doing! The problem here is not me, it's the fucking Riveras, if they had just killed their fucking dyke daughter, like I told them to do, then none of this would be happening. I'm not on trial for killing my mother am I? And that fucking dyke is deader than a door nail! They have to be better at getting rid of the stain on humanity that the fucking homos cause! I can't kill them all myself!"

"Are you fucking kidding me! Get the hell away from here! Don't tell me anymore! You are one crazy mother fucker!" As Russo was screaming the last comment, the sky opened up and rain started coming down in buckets.

Natalia sat there dumbfounded. It was his voice she had heard when she was down in the basement. The pastor told her parents to kill her and they tried their best to do it. Emotions started coming at her from all directions. All of sudden she couldn't get any air in her lungs. She heard Olivia's voice asking her if she was alright but she couldn't answer. Everything just went black.

Natalia could hear a voice calling to her, but it was so dark everywhere. It took a few moments for her to realize it was Olivia's voice. She was trying so hard to go to the voice, but it was like she was trying to swim in honey. The harder she tried, the harder it became to move. The voice was telling her to rest that she would always be there when she woke up. Natalia relaxed and tried to float on the honey.

Natalia wasn't sure how much later it was when she became aware that she was lying on the floor and being held in strong arms. She cuddled in closer to the body holding her. She took a deep breath and immediately knew this was Olivia's body. She was smiling even before her eyes opened.

"What are you smiling about? You scared me to death!" That made Natalia frown. She didn't want to scare anyone, least of all Olivia. But before she could apologize, her lips were covered by Olivia's and a slow healing kiss took place.

"Ugh, excuse me ladies, but you're not alone in the room. Will you please come back up for air." Doris was always uncomfortable with public displays of affection. It didn't matter if it was straight or gay people. Dinah came out of the kitchenette with a glass of water for Natalia. Olivia pulled back from the kiss. Natalia was still smiling when she opened her eyes. The first thing that came into focus were the beautiful green of Olivia's eyes.

"This is becoming a wonderful habit. My parents cause me to go unconscious and your scent brings me back. The green of your eyes is the first thing I see." Natalia leaned in and brushed her lips across Olivia's. "Can you help me back into the chair? I don't want to make Doris any more uncomfortable than she already is." Then she started to giggle. Olivia looked at Dinah for help. Together they both gently picked Natalia up and placed her in the wheel chair. Natalia was very happily surprised that it was almost completely painless.

"I'm sorry for scaring everyone. When it hit me, really hit me, what my parents had been doing to me for years and why, I just couldn't get any air in my lungs. I'm fine now. It didn't even hurt sitting back in the chair." Dinah picked up the glass of water she had set down on the coffee table and handed it to Natalia. Natalia took the glass and sipped a little water in. She smiled at Olivia and reached for her hand. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Doris.

"Ok counselor, what does all this mean to Natalia and the case?" Doris smiled at both of them.

"That was my fault. I should have told you what was going on first, before showing you the footage. I'm sorry." Natalia smiled and encouraged the ADA to continue talking. "Dinah's cameraman Danny caught this as it was taking place this afternoon. He couldn't hear what was being said at the time because of all the other shouting going on. When he got back to the studio, he downloaded it into the editing program and was able to remove all the extraneous noise and just have the two men's voices. He immediately called Dinah and after Dinah saw it, she called me." Dinah was shaking her head in agreement to everything Doris was saying.

"This the point when everything started to move at breakneck speed. Danny made several copies of the footage with the sound cleaned up. I sent one copy each, to Judge Jamison, Chief Cooper and my boss Jack Stevens the DA. I called the judge and explained what she would be receiving momentarily. I also informed her that I hoped that after she saw the footage she would issue a warrant for Guzman's arrest. Five minutes later we had an arrest warrant. Chief Cooper sent two officers to find and arrest Guzman on conspiracy to commit murder and murder." Natalia put her hand on Doris's knee to get her attention.

"Can you really arrest him based just on this conversation?" Doris nodded her head yes.

"Yes we can. This is the best kind of confession. It was completely unsolicited. We're going to use it against Russo too. As a sworn officer of the court, he should have at least reported Guzman's confession of killing his own mother. He did not. He's using attorney-client privilege as his excuse. Just before I came here, I went to the jail and showed the footage to Russo and your parents. I offered them a deal, if they changed their pleas to guilty. I'm waiting for Russo to call me back." Olivia didn't like the idea of a deal.

"What do you mean a deal? You have them by the short hairs. Why are you letting them off easy?" Natalia rubbed Olivia's thigh trying to get her to calm down. Doris was expecting this response.

"Calm down Olivia. If they take the deal, they'll both be in prison longer than if the jury found them guilty on every count. The deal is for twenty years a piece, with no parole. They could both be out of prison in ten years if we finish the trial. The deal is a much stronger sentence."

"My parents aren't stupid. Why would they take a deal like that?" Doris smiled.

"They are hearing twenty years instead of the thirty or forty the judge will surely give them if the jury finds them guilty on all charges. Parole is never mentioned at the sentencing. When a defendant takes a plea deal, they are agreeing to serve the whole sentence." Doris's phone started to ring. She looked at the screen and excused herself and went into the bedroom. There was a knock on the door. Dinah went to the door and opened it. Room service had finally arrived.

Three hours later Olivia and Natalia were finally alone again. Natalia was bone tired but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon. Too much was going on for her brain to let her sleep. Guzman had been easily found and taken into custody. When the other members of the church found out that he had been arrested, they set up a vigil outside of the police department. They had their hate signs, but were quiet. They were waiting for their leader's release. Her parents had agreed to the plea deal, with one stipulation; they wanted to speak to Natalia first. A meeting had been set up at the courthouse at eight o'clock in the morning. That gave them an hour before they needed to be in the courtroom.

"What do you think they want to talk to me about? Why make it a stipulation of the deal? You're going to be in there with me right? I don't want to be alone in the room with them." Olivia sat on the bed beside the woman she had fallen deeply in love with.

"I have no idea what they want to say to you. I would hope that seeing Guzman for the crazy animal he is, they are going to get down on their knees and beg for your forgiveness. But I don't think they can see him for what he truly is. If you want me in there, then that's where I'll be. But even if I'm not in the room, you won't be alone. Doris will be there." Natalia cuddled into Olivia the best she could without hurting herself. Olivia wrapped her arms around Natalia and held her as tight as she dare.

Banging on the door to the suite woke the both up before dawn. Olivia threw on her robe and staggered towards the door. It felt like she had only been asleep for a few minutes. "Whoever the fuck you are, you better have a good fucking reason to be knocking on my door at this time of night!" Olivia was shocked when she looked through the peephole and saw a very upset looking Doris. She quickly opened the door and let her in.

"I'm sorry to wake you Olivia, but all hell is breaking loose. The protesters that were outside the police station tried to break Guzman and the Riveras out this morning. Several people were shot. One protester is dead. It's still going on. Turn on the tv so we can get an update. I didn't want Natalia to be surprised by what's going on. I don't know if her parents are hurt or not." Olivia became instantly awake.

"Thank you for coming in person to tell us. If you could possibly start a pot of coffee for us, while I help Natalia get dressed and in her chair, I would be eternally grateful." Doris smiled and headed for the kitchenette to start on the coffee. She was never one to turn down a cup of coffee, unless someone was offering a martini instead.

Natalia was already in her robe when Olivia came in the room. "Did you hear what Doris said?" Natalia nodded her head yes.

"Yeah, I heard every word. Please help me get into the chair so we can go into the living room and see what's happening now. Guzman won't tell the congregation to stop until they get what they want or they're all dead. You can never let the devil win. They consider anyone that's helping me, the devil's representative. I'm worried about all the innocent people that will get hurt because of it." Olivia helped Natalia stand, then pivot so she could sit in the chair. They went into the living room and turned on the tv. Dinah was on screen giving an update to the situation.

"As you can see behind me, the main building of the police station is in chaos. Smoke has started to rise from windows in the back of the building. We are being told that several fires have been started inside the police station by Guzman's people. We don't know what they are trying to do by starting the fires. It's too dangerous to send in firefighters. Guzman's people keep shooting at any law enforcement. I'm going to try and get an update on Chief Cooper. As I stated before Chief Cooper was pulled out of the station by his officers. He's now in the make shift triage unit paramedics setup down the street." The scene continued to show what was still going on at the police station. Another reporter came on the screen giving almost the same information Dinah had just given.

They could now see flames coming out of the roof of the station. "Oh my goodness! Olivia look! Flames are shooting out of the roof. I hope they got out as many people as possible. This is all my parents' fault. How could they have been so blind to follow the teachings of a crazy man." Natalia dropped her head. Olivia and Doris could tell she was praying.

"Doris who do you have at the station? Are they sending you any updates on your phone?" Doris was very busy checking her text messages. She found one that had a lot of information in it. It was from her daughter Ashley. Thank god Ashley was safe back at the television station. However, Ashley was at the command center and had access to all the reporters on the scene from WSPR. She was sending the most up-to-date information, that Doris was getting. "Let me just finish reading this." Doris finished the text from Ashley.

"Ok, that was a text from my daughter. She's an intern at WSPR. She's collecting all the information coming in from all the reporters on the scene. So what she's basically telling me is; Chief Cooper is going to be ok. He was shot in the leg. Paramedics were able to stop the bleeding at their set up and have sent him on to Cedars. The fire is in the lockup section of the station. No one knows if anyone is still in there. Mrs. Rivera was removed as soon as the trouble started. She's been taken to the lockup at the courthouse. Guzman and Mr. Rivera are thought to be still somewhere inside the police station." Doris took a sip of her coffee before continuing with the rest of the information Ashley had sent.

All of a sudden there was a loud crack. It sounded like huge bolt of lightning had hit the Beacon. Moments later all the windows in the suite rattled. Natalia looked up at the tv screen just in time to see the police station explode in a ball of fire!

TBC.