Chapter 37

XoXoXoXoX

Marcus held the door open for Vivian as she rushed inside the police station. It a typical Saturday night, crowded with argumentative prostitutes, drunks arrested for fighting or the odd criminal whose cause for arrest was unclear. Viv made a straight beeline to the clerk's desk, passing a drunk who was slurring obscenities at his arresting officer arguing that it was the other guy who started the fight.

She placed her hands on the counter and said to the stout woman sitting behind the glass-enclosed cage, "I'm looking for Reggie Johnson. He was brought in for questioning."

"Are you his lawyer?" the woman asked as she scanned her eyes over Viv's dark pantsuit.

"No, I'm his mother, Vivian Johnson," she replied as Marcus came to stand next to her. She read the woman's ID badge and saw that her name was "Sgt. Warbler."

"I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait here," Warbler replied, her unemotional tone reflecting her years of giving the pat response. "Only law enforcement officials and legal counsel are allowed inside."

Even after all these years, Viv automatically reached into her coat pocket for her FBI badge before remembering that she no longer carried one. She dropped her hand, leaned forward and decided to try another tactic. "I am former FBI Special Agent Vivian Johnson and I need to speak with Reggie Johnson."

The woman shook her head. "Ma'am, I am sorry but former agent does not qualify."

Marcus released a frustrated breath and said, "We're his parents, isn't that qualification enough?"

Warbler looked over at him and asked, "Is he a minor?"

"No," Viv replied softly. Warbler denied them again so she decided to try another tactic. "Can you at least tell us if his lawyer has arrived? His name is Jesse Burnell."

She clicked on a few keys and replied, "I do see that his attorney arrived a few minutes ago and is on his way to see him now."

Jesse Burnell was an old friend of the family that Viv had gotten to know after years of working in the bureau. She had considered calling Elaine but she was a prosecuting attorney while Jesse was a well respected defense attorney and when it came to her only son she wanted someone who was used to fighting for the guy on the other side of the interview desk.

Marcus ran his hand over her back and said, "That's good. At least Jesse's here."

Viv nodded as Marcus pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"Vivian?"

She spun around and saw Jack standing behind her; he looked tired like he was in the middle of a really tough investigation.

She rushed up to him and said, "My god, Jack, I've never been happier to see you in my life. They have Reggie here questioning on an assault on some young woman." She gestured to the clerk and asked, "Can you please get this woman to let me in to see him? I'm sure if you tell her who you are she will let you escort me inside…"

"I can't," he said softly before lowering his eyes.

"Why not?" she asked, incredulous. He was a friend and now when she needed him most he was denying her? She worked her jaw, gearing up to argue when a thought occurred to her. "Jack, why are you here? Did Reggie call you?"

He licked his lips and breathed out, "Kate is the young woman who was raped."

It felt like the floor was made of wet sponges, making her feel shaky and unstable. With her knees swaying she asked, "What?"

"Kate was attacked last night," Jack explained; his face unreadable.

"But," Marcus began, his voice uneven as he reached for his words. "I don't understand if it's Kate that they would think it was Reggie? They're friends, they practically grew up together."

Viv joined Marcus in staring at Jack who look guarded as he replied, "A neighbor said that he saw Reggie arguing with her in her lobby just before it happened."

"But Reggie was at a party for his old frat," Viv explained. "How could he have been with her?"

"She was at the same party," Jack replied, coolly.

She stared back at him, trying to process what he was telling her. There was so much impossible information being thrown at her at once that she didn't know which emotion, which issue she had to latch on to first. She slowed down her thought process long enough to switch gears from panic about Reggie to sadness about Kate before finally landing on the only truth she knew could be plausible.

"I'm so sorry about Kate, I really am. That is horrible but you know there is no way Reggie would harm her," Viv replied, trying her best to appear calm and rationale even though she wanted to cry out that there was no way in hell her son, her baby boy, could harm anyone – much less Kate. "He was probably just taking her home." She waited for Jack to agree, that this was just an awful misunderstanding but when he didn't reply and glanced away she stepped closer and repeated, "Jack, you know Reggie wouldn't hurt, Kate. You know that right?" His hesitation may have lasted less than a couple of seconds but it was just long enough for Vivian. She took a few steps away from him, shaking her head. "How can you possibly think he would be capable of doing this?"

"I'm not saying anything yet," he said at last, his tone was low, belying the restrained anger she recognized in her friend of over twenty years. "But he isn't helping things by not answering any questions."

"My son is a black man accused of the rape of a white girl and you expect him to answer questions without a lawyer present?" she countered, as angry as any mother bear defending her cub. "It doesn't matter what year it is, you know how it looks." She fixed her eyes on his and continued, "And while I am so sorry about what happened to Kate don't you forget that I used to be an agent, too. I taught my son long ago what his legal rights are, along with what's wrong and what's right. So don't you dare start passing judgment on Reggie for protecting himself."

"It isn't just one white girl, Vivian. It's my girl," Jack replied, his tone crisp and curt. She recognized it from years of watching him conduct interviews. "And she isn't the only one. They think…whoever did this to her has done it with at least three other girls."

She stared back at him as she realized just how much more serious the accusations against Reggie were becoming. He wasn't just accused of attacking one woman but several. She could feel her heart beating furiously in her chest and the blood rushing through her body. She felt woozy and staggered backwards.

"I don't think we should be talking to each other right now," Marcus said, moving to stand between her and Jack.

Jack's eyes darted to her before landing on Marcus. He nodded his head and with a scratchy voice replied, "Yeah, I think you're right." He started to turn before he stopped and gave her a hard look. "I just need some answers, Viv, for Katie's sake."

She met his eyes but remained quiet as he turned and walked down the hall. She felt Marcus touch the small of her back. She slumped over and shook her head, whispering, "This can't be happening."

"You need to sit down," Marcus said gently, guiding her to a row of hard plastic seats.

She staggered slowly towards them and sat down, her heart thundering in her chest and the blood racing so fast she could hear it in her ears. She took a few breaths and stared straight ahead at the wall across from her. The bulletin board filled with most wanted photos, rules about the waiting room, business cards for bails bondsman, and other things that could only be found in police station.

Marcus ran his hand soothingly over her back and said, "It's going to be fine. Jesse will get this all sorted out."

She leaned back and tilted her head so that it touched the wall behind her. Even with her eyes closed she could feel Marcus watching her. She knew that he was studying her, worrying that about her health and her heart. She lowered her head and looked at him. "Stop it. I'm fine. Focus that energy on Reggie."

He reached out to hold her hand and they sat together silently and waited.

About an hour later, a door opened and Reggie appeared with his lawyer. She quickly embraced him, assured that he was not the man they were looking for. But when he pulled back there was still fear evident in his eyes and Jesse told them that they all needed to go home and talk. Now.

The car ride was quiet. They didn't even bother to turn the radio on since all it did was provide noise to heads already loud with thoughts. Once they arrived home, they all sat down in the living room and Viv clasped her hands, watching Reggie sitting on one of the chairs looking as scared as he did when he was four and afraid of the monsters he thought lived in his closet.

She wanted to ask him a million questions but the words wouldn't come. Thankfully it was Jesse who broke the silence.

"The good news is that they don't have any physical evidence so far," he began. He was an older man with dark silver gray hair and average in stature. He had an affable face but Viv knew that once he was in the courtroom he was a commanding force. "The only witness they have saw Reggie downstairs and since Reggie confirmed that he was there but just dropped Kate off, it's all circumstantial."

"What do you mean by 'so far'?" Viv shifted from where she sat and looked straight at Reggie. "Reggie?"

Reggie shifted nervously where he sat, wringing his hands. He licked his lips and replied, "I thought I was being helpful, making sure she got home alright."

XoX

He opened the door with one hand and helped steady Kate with the other. She laughed as she almost tripped on a step and he grabbed her just in the nick of time. "Careful, okay."

"My hero," she said, her words sounding slurred and slow. She smiled up at him. "You're a good guy, Reggie." She reached up and tapped his nose, a silly grin on her face. "Did you know that?"

"I've been told," he said, laughing softly at the sight of her in a deep inebriated state. He looped her arm around his neck and roped his arm around her waist as he tried to get her to the elevator. "What floor are you on again?"

Kate stopped and in a rapid fire voice sang out, "Just before you hit the floor. One minute you're up top, you better not miss a shot. Making a rough start, you think you won and then it's all gone!"

He laughed.

"I really love Linkin Park," Kate cooed, leaning into his face. Her breath reeked of jello shots and Jagermeister. He already wasn't envying the hangover she was going to have in the morning. "When I was a kid, Hanna and me would crank up the volume and jump around the house listening to it. That was fun."

"Sounds like it," he replied, pressing the call button for the elevator.

She laid her head on his shoulder and said, "I drank way too much tonight." She closed her eyes, humming to herself.

"Yes you did." He saw that the elevator was still stalling on another floor. He looked at her and asked, "What were you doing at that party anyway? I thought you were under the impression that frats were dumb."

Without opening her eyes she replied, "I still do. I had to go for work." She opened her eyes and held out her hand as if she were marking up an imaginary headline. "Ki Delta Delta Annual Fundraiser a Smashing Success! Girls drunk, boys odds of scoring increased, and, oh yeah, raised money for charity."

"For someone mocking the drunken girls you did more than your fair share," he commented, pressing the call button again.

"I know," she murmured. He noticed that her eyes were light pink. "I was just bummed out about having to be there. I thought the alcohol would help." She craned her head up towards him and asked, "What were you doing there? Aren't you too old?"

"Alumnus business," he replied with a wink before tilting his head in close to hers and in a conspiratorial voice said, "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you."

She laughed, her eyes twinkling with either joy or drunkenness. Before he knew how it happened she pulled his head close with her arm and kissed him. It wasn't a soft or romantic kiss, but one out of want or need or just convenience.

Being a guy, he responded at first, the lips and tongues mingling before he caught himself and reacted by abruptly ending the kiss and moving free from her hold. "Kate, no."

She moved her hands to his face to try again and asked, "Why?"

"We can't, its wrong," he replied, taking a step back since her hands and arms kept trying to pull him closer. She wasn't the least bit undeterred, she tried to move her hands back to his face so he grabbed her wrists and in warning tone said, "No, this can't happen."

The elevator dinged and a man around his age exited the elevator carrying a duffel bag. He looked at them with curiosity so Reggie said, "What?"

"Let go of me," Kate said with a scowl, not bothering to acknowledge there was a man observing them. Instead, she yanked her hands free from Reggie's hold. "What the hell is your problem?"

The man eyed them but must have decided that they were just another couple fighting and walked out the door.

"You're drunk," he said as if it were news to her. "You don't know what you are doing."

"I know when I kiss someone I usually don't expect to be brushed off," she said, sounding both angry and hurt. "Just forget it." She walked into the elevator and pressed the button. When he started to follow her up she held out her hand to stop him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I just want to make sure you get in okay," he said, trying to push his way inside but her stubbornness was persistent.

"Don't worry about me," she replied, pressing the button to close the elevator. "I'll be fine. You can go home now."

XoX

"I walked around her block a couple of times trying to decide if I should follow her up just to make sure she got in alright before I finally decided she wasn't so drunk that she couldn't make it inside on her own so I left," Reggie finished. "It was late and I didn't want to take the subway so I stopped at an ATM to get some cash for a cab."

Viv pressed her fingertips to her temple, trying to sort out how bad this was beginning to look for Reggie. "So the reason you didn't want to give any DNA is because they might find some if they did a mouth swab."

"Yeah," Reggie breathed out. "I don't know how it works, I'm not a chemist or CSI or whatever. They wouldn't tell me what they were looking for exactly and then when they told me about the other girls, I called you."

"But son," Marcus said as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "If they think this guy is a serial rapist and they only found your DNA on Kate I'm sure they would know it wasn't you."

Reggie quickly stood up and walked over to the window, his back to them.

"Reggie?" Marcus asked, sharing a worried look with Viv.

"There's more to this," Jesse said before glancing over at where Reggie stood. "Do you want me to tell them?"

"No," Reggie replied before turning around to face them. He had a lost, nervous expression on his face as he met her eyes and said, "I knew the other girls who were raped too."

"What?" Viv exclaimed, giving her son a penetrating look. "How? What are you saying?"

"I didn't do any of this mom!" he croaked out, heavy with emotion. "I know how this looks but I swear to god I am innocent!"

Marcus reached out and placed his hand on her thigh to try and help calm her. He took a deep breath and carefully asked, "How do you know the other girls?"

Reggie hugged his arms close to him and replied, "I sort of dated them."

"Sort of dated?" Viv repeated. "Did you date them or were they just some girls you fooled around with?" Reggie didn't reply but shrugged and looked away. "Damn it!" Viv declared. "Do you have any idea how bad this looks? My god, Reggie," she stood up and walked up to where he stood. "Circumstantial or not, you are implicated in all of this and those cops down there have decided you are their best suspect right now."

Reggie looked at her with sorrowful big brown eyes and replied, "But they are going after the wrong guy."