Chapter 3

Tru sat at the cold metal table in the meeting room of the courthouse, Sonny by her side, clasping his hand for dear life. The door opened and Carson was led in by a security guard. The guard handcuffed Carson to the table and stood in the corner of the room.

Tru took a long look at the man who raped her, not once but twice. The man that broke into her home, not once but twice. The man who his video cameras in her home and traced her cellphone for her whereabouts twenty-four-seven. She took a long hard look at him. Prison had buffed him up, there probably wasn't much to do but work out. His hair was slicked back, and he had on a suit and tie. On the surface he looked almost respectable, but she could see the darkness that lied beneath. She could feel the tension in the room, the waves of hatred that was coming off the love of her life sitting beside her. This must be so hard on him, she thought.

"I knew you'd come." Carson finally broke the silence. "They tried to tell me you wouldn't but…I know you."

Carisi drew in a sharp breath.

"I guess it was too much to hope you would come alone." Carson said.

Tru cleared her throat, ignoring the statement. "Why? Why did you want to see me?"

Carson leaned forward, and Tru instinctively moved back. "I owe you some answers," Carson began. "I never meant to hurt you. I admit, I always had a crush on you-ever since high school. And yes, it set me off when you got into my cab and didn't remember me. Your cop here got that part right. So I followed you, at first, just to see what your life was like. I wanted to know you. I became obsessed with that, and I took things too far."

"Too far?" Tru scoffed.

"I was sick," Carson said. "My behavior was sick, and I'm eternally sorry. There's nothing I can do to make up for the things I did to you. But I will spend my whole life trying."

Tru and Carisi turned to look at each other, and then it was Carson who drew a sharp breath. Obviously, he was still upset to see the two of them together.

"Why did you come?" Carson asked.

Tru turned her gaze back to him, "What?"

"Have I been in your head?" Carson asked. Carisi looked at Tru, she swallowed hard and he felt her hands began to tremble in his own.

"Okay, that's enough," Carisi said as he stood to his feet.

"I am sorry for hurting you, but my love for you was very real. It still is." Carson continued.

"We're done here," Carisi took Tru by the hand and they headed for the door.

"I first met Carson Goldberg five years ago, when I got into his rideshare after work one day—or so I thought. Turns out I had gone to high school with him, I didn't recognize him though. Instead of re-introducing himself and trying to jog my memory, or strike up a new friendship, he began to stalk me. I don't know for how long. One morning, he followed me home from work. He forced his way into my home after me, and then he forced himself into my body. He proceeded to brutally rape me. He blacked my eye, cracked three ribs, I had numerous cuts and bruises. He held nothing back. I thought that would be the end of it, but he continued to stalk me. He sent me pictures of him raping me, he sent me dead birds and dead flowers. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse; he broke into my apartment in the middle of the night and raped me a second time." Tru paused for a minute and forced herself to hold back tears. She looked at Carisi, sitting in the front row next to A.D.D Isiah Holmes, Carisi nodded for her to continue. He was there, she was safe. "He even went so far as to kidnap me. I thought his reign of terror would never end, and if you let him out now it will never end. Maybe not for me, but for the next girl or the girl after that. Something will always be there to set him off. He is an angry, hateful, violent person. It would be a mistake to release him. I won't be safe, and neither will your daughters, or your sisters. Think about them. Think about me."

Tru stood from her stead in front of the room and sat next to Carisi. Carson sat at a table with his lawyer, John Buchanan. They both looked smug and arrogant, and she could tell it was all Carson could do not to smile at her. Buchanan stood to his feet, ready to speak.

"Miss Jordan makes a very intriguing statement. She draws you in with her careful choice of words and well-placed tears. But the fact of the matter is the prosecution railroaded my client and followed a very unethical chain of command through out the entire investigation, collection of evidence and subsequentially forcing my client into a plea bargain. The lead detective on the case is now Miss Jordans live-in boyfriend, and the evidence testing was done at her own place of work. "

Tru's heart sunk as she felt the case slipping from them. Carisi clutched her hand tight, he was worried to. Upon seeing this Buchanan continued.

"Detective Carisi even went so far as to threaten my client while interrogation," Buchanan's his southern drawl with thick with distain as he waved his hand, "But what's done is done. I have advised my client numerous times to file an appeal to overturn his conviction, but that would take too long. He want's his life back. A life that lies in your hands now. I trust all of you to make the right decision. He's paid the dues that Miss Jordan thinks she is owed. Let my client have his life back."

With that he took a seat. The six board members looked at each other.

"Thank you both for your words to consider. We take this matter very seriously. We will give you our decision after a short recess." The head of the board said.

Tru paced in the hallway of the court room, "That didn't go very well at all." She said, she looked to A.D.A Holmes, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"This wasn't a courtroom, I was here for support but I can't cross examine or object." Holmes said.

"He's right, he had no power in there." Carisi said.

"I shouldn't have sounded so selfish. They think I'm unsympathetic, especially after Buchanan made it seem like my words weren't sincere." She crossed her arms over her chest. "They made it sound like we conspired against him."

"Hey don't say that," Carisi put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "The first time I met you, he had beaten and broken you, but you were still so strong and brave, I fell in love with you. And in there you were just as strong and brave that I fell in love with you all over again, you can handle anything they throw your way."

Tru stared into his eyes, knowing he meant what he said with his whole heart. Still, she felt the storm approaching, "They're gonna let him out."

He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her and held her close.

"I hate to interrupt the lovers embrace but," Isiah nodded towards the bailiff, "I think they're ready for us."

Once they were back inside the meeting room, they took their seats and waited patiently for the "verdict".

A middle-aged woman, with dark hair and dark skin sat at the center of the board table. She began to speak. "Miss Jordan, we think what happened to you is inexcusable. However, it is not up to us to decide guilty or not guilty. Its our job to decide if an inmate has made the most of his time in prison and if they are ready to return to society." She turned her attention to Carson. "It seems you have done exactly that. You have held meetings on substance abuse, sexual addiction, anger management, helping other inmates see the error of their ways. You even managed to even get a letter of recommendation from the warden. That being said, it is our decision that your request for parole is granted, given you maintain steady work and stay out of trouble. Also, you are not to come within one thousand feet of Miss Jordan."

Carson was smiling, he had one this time. The woman continued to speak and give him rules and requirements, but Tru didn't hear a word of it.

She staggered out of the meeting room, her breath caught in her throat and a rising feeling of panic was taking over. She grabbed onto the wall to steady herself.

"Tru, it's gonna be okay, just breath." Carisi said. "Deep even breaths."

John Buchanan walked out of the room behind them, followed by the bailiff and Carson. Carisi stood in front of Tru. Buchanan said something to Carson that they couldn't hear and then the bailiff took him away, probably back the prison to get processed out. Buchanan sauntered over.

"Detective Carisi," He said smugly.

"Buchanan, are you proud of yourself?" Carisi asked, "You just helped a rapist go free."

"I do love to win," Buchanan said, he pulled some tri-folded papers from the inside of his suit jacket. "And it's a good thing because, if I had lost I would have had to scrap these, and that would have just been a waste of my time."

He slapped them against Carisi's chest and Carisi took them. Carisi opened the papers, scanning over them quickly. He looked back to Buchanan, "You're kidding me."

"What is it?" Tru asked.

"He's suing me." Carisi said.

"Not just you, the whole department." Buchanan said, "hope you have a good lawyer,"

"Oh, he does," Isiah came from behind Buchanan.

Buchanan smirked, and before walking away said "Well guys, until next time…"

Tru leaned against the wall. Her breath was growing rapid, her world was spinning, being turned upside down. She struggled hard to steady her breathing, but she wasn't having any luck. She looked to Sonny and Isiah, who had both turned their attention to her. She felt like she was seeing them sideways.

"Tru? Are you okay?" She heard Sonny say, but his voice sounded slow and distorted. What was wrong with him? Or was something wrong with her?

"I think I'm gonna be sick," she managed to spit out.

"Your face is as white as my hair," Isiah said.

"Here, sit down," Carisi took her by the arm to sit her down. When she lifted her foot, it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. She took one step and then everything went black.

Carisi lunged forward to catch Tru as she fell to the ground, catching her head in his hands seconds before it hit the floor. Just as quickly as she had fainted, she awoke.

"Are you okay?" Carisi asked.

"Whoa, what happened?" Tru sat up and took Carisi's outstretched hand to help herself up.

"You fainted." Isiah said.

"I don't think I've ever fainted in my life," Tru took a seat on a bench.

"Psychological triggers can often bring on panic attacks. Dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea and even fainting. I'm sure that's all it was." Isiah said. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yeah, I just want to get out of here." Tru said.

"Maybe we should take you to a doctor." Carisi offered.

"Don't be silly, I'm fine." Tru dismissed his notion. "How long do we have?"

"What do you mean?" Carisi asked.

"Before he's released?"

Carisi and Holmes exchanged a worried glance. "It can take anyway from 1 day to 120 days to be released." Holmes said.

"But?" Tru asked, sensing there was more.

"Given that Buchanan is his lawyer and the pending lawsuit, I'm guessing it will be sooner rather than later." Carisi said.

"Carisi, take her home," Isiah said, "we'll meet tomorrow to talk about the lawsuit."

Carisi nodded and he led Tru out of the courthouse.

When they got home, Daisy ran to greet them like she always did. Putting her front paws on Tru's legs, begging for her to pet her. Tru scooped her up and held her in her arms, gently petting her fur. Carisi watched, wondering what she was thinking, what she was feeling, but too afraid to ask. Tru took a seat and Carisi went into the bedroom to change.

He pulled his jacket off and draped it over a chair in the corner of the room. He dug in his pockets as he walked to the dresser, tossing the loose change and his wallet onto the dresser top. Then he reached in his other pocket and pulled out the little black box. He opened it, looking at the ring that once belonged to his grandmother. He was so eager to see it on Tru's finger. But how could he propose to her at a time like this? No, he would wait and see how the next couple of weeks went. The question would have to wait for now, he thought. He opened his sock drawer and shoved the box into the very back. And he shut the drawer back again, locking his hopes and dreams of the future away with the ring.