Physical Evidence
NOT CUPCAKE FRIENDLY. Angst. Sexual situations. Adult Language. Babe HEA!
Not mine. No profit. Belong to JE.
Thanks to my fabulous Beta, Jacqueline!
Chapter 20 – May 15, 2010 – 3:25 am
Quinton sat in her car and tried to keep the bile from coming up. She'd brought her binoculars and camera in case she found Joe doing anything incriminating. She surveyed his house and watched the cab drop his companion off just minutes before midnight. Since then, she watched through her binoculars as he desecrated the young woman in every way possible. She snapped pictures of him choking her; handcuffing her to the bed; and raping her anally. Being a police officer meant protecting citizens. Watching while Joe violated that poor girl was the hardest thing that Quinton had ever done. The only saving grace is that she didn't have sound to go with the images.
At RangeMan, Luis was cleaning up the mess that Tank made in the break room when he tipped the refrigerator over in a rage after hearing the recording from Morelli's house. What the woman at his house went through hit too close to home. That may have been Steph, since she didn't remember what Morelli did and might never remember. Tank couldn't tolerate knowing that Morelli was free to violate women when his best friend was sitting in jail. Plans were in place to ensure that Morelli would pay for what he did. An SUV waited outside of Morelli's house and when the young woman exited, RangeMan would follow her home and take her into protective custody. She would be treated for physical and emotional injury and remain at Haywood until Morelli could be stopped.
Frank Plum dozed off as he sat around the corner from Morelli's house, waiting for that phone call from the Steph look-alike. Last time he'd checked his watch, it was just after 3 am. No woman ever stayed that long when they visited Morelli. Frank started to worry. Dreaming about what Steph must have gone through when she visited Morelli's house the night she ended up in the hospital, he was startled awake by the chirping of his cell phone.
"Cab Company." He answered.
"I need a ride." He heard the small voice whisper. "I have to get out of here now."
"Leave now then. I am around the corner. I'm coming now." Frank assured her. He started his cab and pulled around the corner just as she was running down the steps. She yanked open the door and jumped in, yelling, "Go! Go! Go!"
As Frank sped around the corner, he stomped on the brakes as a woman stepped out into the street, holding her arm out in front of her. As the cab stopped abruptly, Frank could see that she was holding out a law enforcement badge.
"What's the problem?" He asked through the open window.
She walked over and jerked open the cab door. Slamming herself into the seat next to Candy, Frank once again heard an anxious, "Go! Go! Go!"
"What are you doing here?" Candy asked Quinton, recognizing her from the police station earlier in the day.
"I'm here for you." Quinton answered. "Please pull into the closest McDonald's parking lot." She ordered Frank.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are and I'm not stopping anywhere." Frank hissed.
"I'm Detective June Quinton. I work in TPD's Criminal Investigation Bureau." Quinton explained. "How old are you, sweetie?" She can't be a day over sixteen.
"I'm not answering any of your questions until you tell me what this is about." Candy replied coldly. Why is she following me? It's almost 4 a.m.!
"This is about what just happened to you back at Morelli's." When Candy's eyes widened in shock, Quinton continued. "I need to know what's going on between you and Detective Joe Morelli."
"That's none of your business!" Candy spat. "I have the right to go wherever I want to."
"I know that he's abusing you." Quinton admitted. I can't believe I didn't see the kind of man that he is. He's just like my stepfather. Is that why I got involved with him? Did my subconscious somehow seek him out? Am I that fucked up? "I want to help you."
"I have all the help I need right now!" Candy laughed sarcastically. "I don't need your kind of help."
"Where do you live?" Quinton pressed.
When Candy didn't answer her, Frank pulled into a McDonald's parking lot. He killed the engine and stayed silent in his seat while Quinton continued talking to Candy. I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen. Let's see what this girl can reveal about Morelli that will help get Ranger out of jail.
"Look. I don't know what kind of life you've had…how bad your childhood was, what you've been through; I know it's hard to trust people, but I can help you." At Candy's skeptical look, Quinton continued. "Trust me, Candy. The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. You don't have to be abused by Joe Morelli anymore. We can help each other and ensure that he gets what he deserves."
"Have you met him?" Candy asked incredulously. "He's charming and smart. No one will believe me. He'll kill me if I help you." She said fearfully. "I'm off the streets. That's enough."
"So you think that being his whore is going to make you happy?" Quinton asked icily.
"It's better than prostituting myself on the corner for drug money." Candy retorted.
"It's not better! You're being someone's fuck toy! Believe me…been there, done that." Quinton confided. "I was sexually abused by my stepfather repeatedly as a teenager. He used to treat me exactly the way Joe treats you. Just because Joe shows moments of kindness doesn't mean that it's okay to force you to fulfill his every sexual whim."
"He's done more for me than my family ever did. He's a good looking guy. There are worse men than Joe to have sex with." Candy rationalized.
"You think being his sex slave is any better than the streets?" Quinton asked quietly. "Sweetie, you deserve to go to school, have friends, and have dates with normal guys…."
"Who would want to date me?" Candy exclaimed. "I had sex with men for money! I'm not the kind of girl you date."
"I used to think the same thing; that no one would want me because I was used." Quinton confided. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I found the love of my life because the truth is I'm so fucked up that I've never had a normal relationship. In fact, I've been sleeping with the wrong men, substituting sex for affection."
Candy's eyes filled with tears. "I was hooked on crack. Joe took me to an apartment, locked me in and arranged for a nurse to stay with me through my entire withdrawal." A tear escaped down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. "He got me an apartment away from Stark Street. He even helped me get a job at a pastry shop. My life is better than it was a month ago. It may not be the American dream, but I'm not on drugs or out on a corner to support my habit."
"Tell you what? Let me see if I can find more evidence against him so that you don't have to testify at all. If I do that, will you let me help you get away from him?" Quinton asked. "You can stay with me until he goes to jail. I just need some time and somewhere to start looking. Please."
"He's paying for my apartment, has given me clothes to wear, and buys me groceries. If he wasn't helping me, I'd be sleeping with old, disgusting men for money and still hooked on drugs." Candy explained. "There are moments where he is so sweet to me. He calls me Cupcake. No one has ever given me a nickname before."
"He calls you what?" Frank snarled. "Cupcake?" At her nod, he enlightened her. "That's his fiancée's nickname." He pulled a picture of Stephanie out of his wallet and handed it to Candy. "This is a picture of her. See the resemblance?"
"Oh my God!" Candy exclaimed. He thinks I'm his fiancée that he put into the hospital? That explains the Jekyll and Hyde routine. "What's her name?"
"Stephanie." Frank said quietly. "What's yours?"
Candy started to cry. Joe called me Stephanie. Oh, God! "Candace Rogers, but everyone calls me Candy."
"Who are you?" Quinton asked Frank.
"Frank Plum." He extended his hand across the front seat and Quinton shook it. "I'm Stephanie's father."
"I'm sorry about what happened to her. Who do you think is responsible?" Quinton asked.
"You have to ask? There's no doubt in my mind that Joe Morelli put her in the hospital." Frank fumed.
"Do you have any proof of that?" Quinton pressed. Please say yes. Please say yes. If there's more evidence out there, I won't be doing this alone.
"Some, but it wouldn't hurt to gather more." Frank shrugged. Aren't you the cop sleeping with Morelli?
"How old are you, sweetie?" Quinton asked Candy. If she's underage, Joe's in even more trouble.
"I just turned eighteen." Candy replied quietly. "Please! He'll kill me if he knows I've talked to you. You don't know what he's capable of setting up. He'll make it look like an accident…like I overdosed! I may not have the perfect life, but I don't want to die!" Her desperation broke Quinton's heart.
"We are taking you someplace safe. You're going to have to give up your job because you won't be able to leave the building once we get you to where you'll be staying. It won't be forever; only until Morelli is behind bars." Frank explained.
"Where?" Candy asked. "How do I know it's safe? Joe can find me anywhere."
"Take us to my apartment. I can keep her safe." Quinton instructed Frank.
"No. I have a safer place than that. Don't worry." Frank winked at Candy in the rearview mirror as he started the engine and pulled back out into traffic. "It's the last place that Morelli can get to you."
As Frank pulled into the RangeMan garage and honked his horn, Hal pressed the key fob from behind the cab and opened the gate.
"Are you shitting me? We waited all night to follow this woman back to the garage?" Ram asked as the SUV followed the cab inside the gate. "Unbelievable!"
"Where are we?" Quinton asked from the backseat of the cab.
"RangeMan Enterprises." Frank admitted. If this is the cop with the hard on for Ranger, this should go over really well.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Quinton smirked, turning to Candy. "He's right. This is the last place that Morelli can get to you."
"Is this going to be a problem for you?" Frank asked Quinton.
"Not anymore. I'm starting to believe that Ranger Manoso is innocent in all this and that he's right about Joe framing him." Quinton admitted, despite the guilt she felt.
"A man can be destroyed but not defeated. Morelli can try to destroy Ranger's life as much as he wants, but Ranger isn't the kind of man who will let it happen without a fight. He also isn't the kind of man who holds a grudge for believing the evidence when it points to guilty." Quinton locked eyes with Frank in understanding. "He'll be grateful for the collaboration."
Quinton laughed in relief. "Good. After hearing all of the rumors about third world countries, I didn't want to be on his shit list."