He smiled as he looked at his phone, Noah's face showing up on the screen as he accepted the FaceTime call.
"Hola, Mijo," he said. "Estoy subiendo al carro ahora. Estaré en casa pronto." (Hi, Mijo. I'm just getting in the car now. I'll be home soon.)
"¡Solo quiero decirte algo!" the little boy said rather animatedly despite having a phone in his hand. "¿Te acuerdas de la obra que está haciendo la escuela?" (I just want to tell you, remember how the school is doing that play?)
"Sí, me acuerdo de eso," he assured the boy. "El Cascanueces. The Nutcracker, right?" He didn't particularly expect Noah to recall the Spanish title of the play given the fact they'd only discussed it once. (Yes, I remember that.)
Noah nodded, looking quite pleased with himself and whatever it was that the boy wanted to tell Rafael. "Yes. Bueno, me pidieron que interpretara al sobrino." (Well, they asked me to be the nephew.)
"¿En serio?" he said, smiling even more warmly now. "¡Es absolutamente fantástico, Noah! ¡Felicidades!" (Really? That's absolutely fantastic, Noah! Congratulations!)
The young boy's enthusiasm was somehow even more palpable now if that was possible. "Tengo un solo, Papi. ¿Quieres ver?" (I have a solo, Papi. Wanna see?)
"¿Sabes que? Ahorita estaré en casa," he said. "¿Qué tal si me lo muestras cuando llegue allí, Mijo? Entonces puedes mostrármelo en persona." (You know what? I'll be home in a minute. How about you show me when I get there, Mijo? Then you can show me in person.)
"Okay," Noah replied after a moment. His son looked a bit dejected but quickly recovered. "Apúrate. ¡Hasta pronto!" (Hurry. See you soon!)
Rafael felt a bit bad for brushing him off, but pushed the thought aside for a second and went to speak.
He was interrupted, however, by his son talking away enthusiastically once more. "Oh, ¿te acordaste de conseguir los zapatos?" (Oh, did you remember to get the shoes?)
"¿Los carmelitas que te gustaron?" Rafael replied with a chuckle. "Sí, los tengo." He'd wanted a pair of dressy brown shoes he'd seen the other day when they were out shopping that was similar to a pair Rafael had. "Y también obtuve todo para Dulce de Fruta Bomba." (The brown ones you liked? Yes, I have them. And I also got everything for Papaya in Syrup)
The boy grinned. "¡Chévere!" (Awesome!)
He rolled his eyes, amused. "Te quiero, Mijo. See you soon." (I love you, Mijo.)
"Yo también te quiero, Papi," Noah replied cheerfully, the earlier disappointment clearly forgotten. "¡Chao, Pesca'o!" (I love you too, Papi. See you later, Alligator!)
He chuckled at his son's antics. "¡Y a la vuelta, Picadillo!" (In a while, Crocodile.)
There was definitely never a dull moment with his family. He had to chuckle to himself as he ended the call, and got into his car, about how excited the boy was for shoes of all things. That boy was really something else.
The next day was spent with Rafael in court regarding one of his domestic violence cases. It was the last day of the trial, mostly consisting of closing arguments and redirects, and he'd been done by two o'clock, a guilty verdict coming down by four o'clock. He hadn't been sure he was going to get a guilty verdict, especially when the defendant had been found not guilty of the first of several charges.
He'd been back in his office, managing his files, for an hour when he got the call that he was needed down at the sixteenth precinct.
"So, where's the fire?"
His wife sighed. "Meghan Gale - from Kansas - and Freja Bergdahl, an exchange student from Sweden," the captain explained. "Both victims were dosed with DMT. Freja was found two weeks ago at 6 AM, wandering, wearing a sheet by the fountain at Rockefeller Center. As for Meghan, she was found this morning in central park."
"She was drugged," Rollins said, "badly." She sighed. "She was still out of it this morning and collapsed. I was on scene with the EMTs after she collapsed and had to calm her down. She was terrified and kept babbling about elves who want to take her back to her world." Rollins gave another sigh and shook her head. "They had her digging her own grave."
He blinked, trying to compose himself. "My God."
"Now, both rape kits came back with semen from multiple donors," Olivia said, "but from Freja's tox screen, she had been taking prescription antipsychotics. We initially missed the second victim because the unis thought that she was homeless and EDP so they took her to the psych ward."
He nodded to show he was listening.
"DMT overdose is not a regular Saturday night, so I called a Bellevue nurse I know to see if they had any cases," the captain continued.
"So, what are we looking at?"
"It's a man-woman team who pick very young victims," Olivia explained, "take them to some group house, drug them with DMT, rape them, and then and then dump them, in some public space."
"'They got into a chariot with no horse' was how Meghan put it," Fin said.
"I showed him a picture of a pedicab with leopard printed seats and the girl identified it when Rollins showed her," Tamin said. "Traffic cams also caught them - her and a girl named Anais - at Greenwich and 7th."
"And this Anais is the female partner in this?" Rafael inquired.
Olivia sighed. "It certainly seems that way."
"Have you ever seen something like this before?" Rafael asked the room. "Could it be some kind of cult?"
Fin shook his head. "I don't know."
"I've never seen anything like it," the captain said, "but, I mean, Meghan says that she remembers an older man, talking to the group. She called him a wizard. He was apparently teaching. Freja also drew a picture of what Carisi identified as the Bust of Sylvette."
They went over a few more details regarding the oh so lovely case before Rafael finally had to ask. "Are they credible?"
The captain looked at him. "They've been consistent, but they were drugged."
He nodded. "But otherwise? Personal histories? No past drug abuse or-?"
"Seemingly good kids," Tamin said. "Going to school. Not drug takers by any means."
He tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment. "Anything on the rape kits?"
Olivia shook her head. "No hits."
"No criminal records," Fin said, "not DNA savvy."
Rafael raised an eyebrow. "Led by a wizard?"
"Yeah," Carisi said without preamble, "who has unlimited access to DMT, tougher to get than cocaine and meth."
"Shamans in South America use it to access a higher dimension," Olivia explained.
"So our wizard gets DM through a religious group or medical research?" Rafael asked.
"We've already checked clinical trials to see if they've had any of the drugs stolen.
He gave his wife a pointed look. "And?"
"I drove Freja around," Olivia said. "She pointed out a brownstone to me during our drive. It was bought thirty years ago, by a foundation for radical therapy."
"- and gifted to Julius Adler for his institute," Officer Tamin added.
Rafael raised an eyebrow. "So he's our white-bearded wizard?"
Rollins walked over to a photo on their board. "Dr. Julius Adler, an esteemed professor of Radical Psychiatry at Tompkins Square, a prolific author, and -"
"And a freak," Fin deadpanned. "He uses psychedelics as a cure-all."
"In controlled, clinical studies," Rollins pointed out.
"I ran the building, Counsellor," Carisi explained. "It's got nonprofit status. Now, there have been seven complaints in the last year."
His curiosity was piqued. "Such as?"
"Noise," Carisi explained without hesitation, "kids partying, a cello being thrown out of a third-story window."
He nodded. "And both vics remember going into that brownstone? Can they make an ID?"
"No," the captain said, "but Freja was clearly triggered." She paused, giving him a rather serious look. "Now, she thinks she remembers the red door and the high stoop."
Rafael raised an eyebrow. "She thinks," he deadpanned. "She also remembered trolls."
"There's reason to believe he has DM and other psychedelics inside," Officer Tamin said without missing a beat.
"But if he's running clinical trials," Rafael said, "it could all be perfectly legal."
"Come on, man," Fin said. "You know you can trust us."
"I do, Fin," Rafael said, "but going out on a limb for you guys, yet again I might add, is just asking for it be sawed off." He gave Olivia a pointed look. "And it won't do the victims any good." He glanced between them all. "Due diligence."
The captain gave him an exasperated look. "Look, it's an academic institute."
He glared. "I need some patina of probable cause."
"Seriously?" Officer Tamin scoffed.
Olivia put her hand up to stop things from escalating. "Hey, Kat, he's just he's just doing his job." She sighed, looking at him. "We'll get you the evidence."
He gave a slight tilt of the head in response.
"We could take a run at Adler," Rollins suggested. "See if he gives us anything."
"That's a good idea," Olivia said. "Carisi, Rollins, see if the vics have remembered anything since we last talked. Kat, Fin, you're off to see the wizard."
Once the were alone, all Rafael could do was loom at his wife and say, "Well, this one's going to be a slice."
"That's one way to put it," she said.
They were in for a long next few days.