CHAPTER THREE
Since Vic and his Strike Team were executing a warrant outside their division, they had to inform South division as well; so two officers from that division joined them as well. Vic made like it was a bigger deal that the guy had been selling to kids in Farmington district.
Vic and Ronnie smashed in Castillo's door
"LAPD! On the floor!" Vic yelled, weapon trained on the Hispanic, clad in only boxers and a tee shirt.
Castillo raised his hands and hit the floor.
"Tear it up boys," Vic said.
The cops began a through search, opening cabinets, dumping drawers and leaving nothing unturned.
Shane headed for the bedroom, where Stevie had told him to look for the shoebox. The other cops spread out through the apartment.
"Got some weed!" one of the South Division patrol cops yelled from the bathroom. He'd found the bag Stevie had 'left' earlier.
Shane came from the bedroom in another few minutes after a courtesy toss of the room. He didn't turn up anything but the usual stash of porn and dirty clothes until he hit the shoebox.
He handed it to Vic, lid off.
"Look what we got here," he said.
Vic looked at the assortment of jewelry and ID badges and driver's licenses. "Well, well. Looks like you've been a bad boy muchacho," Vic said, finding Michelle Sutton's ID among the rest. "Just wait till someone make you their bitch in Pelican Bay."
Castillo remained silent and sullen.
"Read this sleaze his rights," Vic told the patrol cop, hoisting the man off the floor. "And make sure he doesn't hit his head getting into the car," he deadpanned.
******
Lem was in the chair by the hospital bed when Michelle woke up. She blinked several times, trying to focus, then stared down at her bandaged wrists.
"Oh God," she said weakly.
Lem stood up, stretching every muscle in his body that screamed when he stood. "Yeah," he said, basically agreeing with her summation of the situation.
She looked up at him with total devastation on her face. She looked completely shattered.
"I'm so ashamed," she said quietly, her eyes not meeting his.
"Why?" he asked finally. "Why did you do this?"
Michelle closed her eyes and silent tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I.I looked in the mirror and.I was so scared. I was scared and I hurt." she wiped at her eyes, and winced as she moved her hand. "It hurt so bad on the inside, I wanted to hurt on the outside so it would stop."
"Michelle, what happened to you was horrible, it was a crime. But there is no way in hell you can justify-this," he gestured to her arms.
"You don't understand. What happened just brought it all back. Everything."
"What do you mean?"
"After what that bastard did to me in the garage I started to remember little pieces.then, last night I looked in the bathroom mirror and it all came back." she choked on her words. "I've been raped before."
"What?!"
Her tears fell faster now. "When I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12. My parents had gotten divorced, my mother was dating a lot of men.this one guy, she left me alone with him.I guess, I thick, it only happened once, but.it just all came back.why I never dated in high school, why I can't trust anyone.why it hurts so bad!" she sobbed.
Lem sat down on the bed beside her and took her in his arms.
"I'm sorry baby," he told her, trying to soothe her.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she cried. "Why am I such a bad person, to make these people hurt me?"
Lem knew now how deep her scars were. "It's not your fault. You're not responsible, not now, not then. You were a child; you were not responsible for the pig that hurt you! Those guys, they're the ones who were wrong, not you. Never you."
She hid her face in his shoulder. "I didn't think you could ever touch me again.I didn't think you'd have any respect for me.I'm-nothing."
He picked up her chin. "Michelle, you are so far from nothing. You're a smart, beautiful, wonderful person. You have a beautiful heart. You're so strong. I have the utmost respect for you. I want to make you see that. I want to make you see that you're worth so much more than this. You can't punch yourself.you're too good for that, and I won't let you."
She continued to cry for some time, and Lem held her.
Finally, she was able to control her sobs, and Lem dried her eyes and her face with tissue. She looked at him then; really saw him for the first time since the attack.
"You really meant what you said?"
"I meant all of it." He ran a hand through his blond hair. "Michelle, I care about you. I want you to be okay again. I know it'll take time, but you're so much stronger than this. Promise me you won't give up, okay?"
She nodded. "I guess I just lost it for a while."
"But I don't want to lose you. Any time you forget that, just ask me."
She managed a small smile then.
*****
"You raped those women," Shane told Castillo. He'd collected reports from the Sheriff's office of three more rapes reported in or near St Augustine's hospital. All were employees of the hospital in some capacity. Three IDs matched, including Michelle's, to Castillo's box of souvenirs. One report stated the victim was missing a silver chain with a turquoise cross, also in his shoebox.
Castillo, handcuffed to the table of the interrogation room in the barn, shook his head.
"You've got their stuff, ID's, necklaces. We have 4 victims, employees of St Augustine's hospital that match. But from all the trophies you took, I'd say the hospital was just the tip of the iceberg," Vic told him. He tossed Michelle's and the other IDs on the table.
Castillo wouldn't look. "I find things in the laundry. People lose them."
"Bull shit!" Shane yelled. "You knew their schedules, you knew when they'd be alone, and you knew your buddy Antone would lie for you!"
"No!" Castillo denied.
Vic was reading, or rather pretending to read, the file he held open in his hands.
"So on Tuesday, you were late to work. You carpool with Antone. Whose fault was it you were late?" The question seemed to be a little off the track, and it threw Castillo. Which was just what Vic wanted.
"It was Antone. The car broke down."
That gave Vic the line he needed.
"And who came up with the plan to stalk these women, rape them and beat them?" Shane put in.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Castillo continued to deny.
"Yeah, so when we drag Antone down here, he's gonna say where you were each time a woman from the hospital was raped, that right?" Vi asked.
Castillo shrugged.
"I don't think he likes you enough to share a cell with you."
Castillo remained quiet.
"When we find all the women this stuff belongs to, and we will find all of them, you're gonna go down hard. You cop to just the 4 and we can make sure you have a nice prom date for the next ten Pelican Bay socials," Vic offered sourly.
"Yeah, one with a big dick," Shane added dryly.
Obvious that Castillo was going to say no more, the two detectives headed for the door.
"Lets go talk to Antone," Vic said as if in disgust. "See what he coughs up."
*****
Antone, in the other interrogation room, was being played by Ronnie the whole time. "Castillo's in there right now, blaming you, telling the other cops you're the rapist," he told the man.
Antone shook his head. "No."
"Oh yeah, he is. The way I figure it, you and your buddy had this whole thing planned and you both took turns. One of you stalks and rapes, the other provides the alibi."
"I never touched one of those women!" he denied.
"Well, if Castillo says you did." he shrugged and left it hanging.
About that time, Vic came in.
"We've got a Tweety bird next door," he told Ronnie. He sat a tape recorder on the table. "Says it was all Antone's plan." He turned to Antone. "Yeah, your amigo says you picked out the women, got their schedules, and planned each attack."
"No! He did not say those things!"
Vic pressed the PLAY button on the tape player.
"Who came up with the plan to stalk these women, rape them and beat them?" It was Shane's question to Castillo.
"It was Antone." Was the answer Castillo gave.
Vic hit STOP. With the magic of technology, he and Shane had quickly spliced the tape to make it seem as though Castillo had answered Shane's question blaming Antone.
Antone was not about to take that rap.
********
"That was all it took," Vic explained to Lem later. "Antone gave up Castillo quick; told how Castillo had stalked the women, stolen their schedules from each unit and then asked him to provide an alibi in return for money."
"The lab called with the DNA results too," Shane told him. "The DNA from one of the cigarette butts with Castillo's prints matched the DNA taken from Michelle and the three other victims. The lab's getting verified DNA from him now. When it matches, he'll be charged with all four counts. That plus the jewelry and ID's will put him behind bars for a long time."
The Strike Team had come together in their 'clubhouse' for the first time in a week. Lem had returned to work after taking some days off to stay with Michelle.
"You guys, I really appreciate this. So does Michelle. It's really gonna help her a lot."
"How's she doing, anyway?" Vic asked.
Lem shrugged. "It's gonna take time. She's being released from the hospital the afternoon. She's got a lot of therapy to go through."
"And you? You gonna be able to stick with her?"
Lem shrugged. "I care about her. I want to help her. Yeah, I'm gonna do whatever it takes."
*******
Lem and Michelle walked hand in hand in the park near her place. She looked a lot better; the bruises were healing. The bandages on her wrists were small now, just covering the healing tissue. Her scars were slower to heal. Knowing Castillo was behind bars helped with those some.
"So, I've got an appointment with the counselor this evening," Michelle told him. She'd been going twice a week.
"That's good."
"I was.wondering if you'd come?"
Lem looked down at her. He was glad to see some of the sadness gone from her eyes. He put her hand up to his face and kissed it.
"You want me to?"
She nodded. "I'm not sure where we go from here. I can't promise anything. I can't even give you back what we had, but we can try, right?"
Lem gave her a smile. "Yeah. I'll go." He didn't know where they'd go either, but he knew he cared. Whether Michelle was 'the one' or just a beautiful friend, she had taught him so much already. And he knew that life was complicated. There were ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, and he knew that sometimes you gotta sing the blues.
I was forgotten until you called my name.
.Lost in the shadows.
.Until your light shined my way.
.Now I believe again.
.In all my dreams again.
.I'm wide eyed and innocent.
.Those doubting days..
.Are so far away and .Oh.
.I will fall. .And you will catch me always. .Time has taught me this. .I will fly. .And you'll be there to guide me. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. .And I know what love is.
.Now there's no mountain . .Too high for me to climb. ..No ocean so wide. .That I could not reach the other side. .Now I believe in me. .Cause you live and breathe in me. .And nothing can come between. .We are one star. .No night can darken.oh.
.I will fall. .And you will catch me always. ..Time has taught me this.. .I will fly. .And you'll be there to guide me. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. .And I know what love is.
. .It's an unspoken thing. .A quiet opening. ..There are no words that can go that deep. .But I know. ..I know ..
. I will fall. .And you will catch me always. .Time has taught me this.. .I will fly. .I will fly.
.And you'll be there to guide me.. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. ..And I know what love is.....
Celine Dion "I Know What Love Is" written by Ric Wake, Arnie Roman on "One Heart" by Celine Dion
Since Vic and his Strike Team were executing a warrant outside their division, they had to inform South division as well; so two officers from that division joined them as well. Vic made like it was a bigger deal that the guy had been selling to kids in Farmington district.
Vic and Ronnie smashed in Castillo's door
"LAPD! On the floor!" Vic yelled, weapon trained on the Hispanic, clad in only boxers and a tee shirt.
Castillo raised his hands and hit the floor.
"Tear it up boys," Vic said.
The cops began a through search, opening cabinets, dumping drawers and leaving nothing unturned.
Shane headed for the bedroom, where Stevie had told him to look for the shoebox. The other cops spread out through the apartment.
"Got some weed!" one of the South Division patrol cops yelled from the bathroom. He'd found the bag Stevie had 'left' earlier.
Shane came from the bedroom in another few minutes after a courtesy toss of the room. He didn't turn up anything but the usual stash of porn and dirty clothes until he hit the shoebox.
He handed it to Vic, lid off.
"Look what we got here," he said.
Vic looked at the assortment of jewelry and ID badges and driver's licenses. "Well, well. Looks like you've been a bad boy muchacho," Vic said, finding Michelle Sutton's ID among the rest. "Just wait till someone make you their bitch in Pelican Bay."
Castillo remained silent and sullen.
"Read this sleaze his rights," Vic told the patrol cop, hoisting the man off the floor. "And make sure he doesn't hit his head getting into the car," he deadpanned.
******
Lem was in the chair by the hospital bed when Michelle woke up. She blinked several times, trying to focus, then stared down at her bandaged wrists.
"Oh God," she said weakly.
Lem stood up, stretching every muscle in his body that screamed when he stood. "Yeah," he said, basically agreeing with her summation of the situation.
She looked up at him with total devastation on her face. She looked completely shattered.
"I'm so ashamed," she said quietly, her eyes not meeting his.
"Why?" he asked finally. "Why did you do this?"
Michelle closed her eyes and silent tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I.I looked in the mirror and.I was so scared. I was scared and I hurt." she wiped at her eyes, and winced as she moved her hand. "It hurt so bad on the inside, I wanted to hurt on the outside so it would stop."
"Michelle, what happened to you was horrible, it was a crime. But there is no way in hell you can justify-this," he gestured to her arms.
"You don't understand. What happened just brought it all back. Everything."
"What do you mean?"
"After what that bastard did to me in the garage I started to remember little pieces.then, last night I looked in the bathroom mirror and it all came back." she choked on her words. "I've been raped before."
"What?!"
Her tears fell faster now. "When I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12. My parents had gotten divorced, my mother was dating a lot of men.this one guy, she left me alone with him.I guess, I thick, it only happened once, but.it just all came back.why I never dated in high school, why I can't trust anyone.why it hurts so bad!" she sobbed.
Lem sat down on the bed beside her and took her in his arms.
"I'm sorry baby," he told her, trying to soothe her.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she cried. "Why am I such a bad person, to make these people hurt me?"
Lem knew now how deep her scars were. "It's not your fault. You're not responsible, not now, not then. You were a child; you were not responsible for the pig that hurt you! Those guys, they're the ones who were wrong, not you. Never you."
She hid her face in his shoulder. "I didn't think you could ever touch me again.I didn't think you'd have any respect for me.I'm-nothing."
He picked up her chin. "Michelle, you are so far from nothing. You're a smart, beautiful, wonderful person. You have a beautiful heart. You're so strong. I have the utmost respect for you. I want to make you see that. I want to make you see that you're worth so much more than this. You can't punch yourself.you're too good for that, and I won't let you."
She continued to cry for some time, and Lem held her.
Finally, she was able to control her sobs, and Lem dried her eyes and her face with tissue. She looked at him then; really saw him for the first time since the attack.
"You really meant what you said?"
"I meant all of it." He ran a hand through his blond hair. "Michelle, I care about you. I want you to be okay again. I know it'll take time, but you're so much stronger than this. Promise me you won't give up, okay?"
She nodded. "I guess I just lost it for a while."
"But I don't want to lose you. Any time you forget that, just ask me."
She managed a small smile then.
*****
"You raped those women," Shane told Castillo. He'd collected reports from the Sheriff's office of three more rapes reported in or near St Augustine's hospital. All were employees of the hospital in some capacity. Three IDs matched, including Michelle's, to Castillo's box of souvenirs. One report stated the victim was missing a silver chain with a turquoise cross, also in his shoebox.
Castillo, handcuffed to the table of the interrogation room in the barn, shook his head.
"You've got their stuff, ID's, necklaces. We have 4 victims, employees of St Augustine's hospital that match. But from all the trophies you took, I'd say the hospital was just the tip of the iceberg," Vic told him. He tossed Michelle's and the other IDs on the table.
Castillo wouldn't look. "I find things in the laundry. People lose them."
"Bull shit!" Shane yelled. "You knew their schedules, you knew when they'd be alone, and you knew your buddy Antone would lie for you!"
"No!" Castillo denied.
Vic was reading, or rather pretending to read, the file he held open in his hands.
"So on Tuesday, you were late to work. You carpool with Antone. Whose fault was it you were late?" The question seemed to be a little off the track, and it threw Castillo. Which was just what Vic wanted.
"It was Antone. The car broke down."
That gave Vic the line he needed.
"And who came up with the plan to stalk these women, rape them and beat them?" Shane put in.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Castillo continued to deny.
"Yeah, so when we drag Antone down here, he's gonna say where you were each time a woman from the hospital was raped, that right?" Vi asked.
Castillo shrugged.
"I don't think he likes you enough to share a cell with you."
Castillo remained quiet.
"When we find all the women this stuff belongs to, and we will find all of them, you're gonna go down hard. You cop to just the 4 and we can make sure you have a nice prom date for the next ten Pelican Bay socials," Vic offered sourly.
"Yeah, one with a big dick," Shane added dryly.
Obvious that Castillo was going to say no more, the two detectives headed for the door.
"Lets go talk to Antone," Vic said as if in disgust. "See what he coughs up."
*****
Antone, in the other interrogation room, was being played by Ronnie the whole time. "Castillo's in there right now, blaming you, telling the other cops you're the rapist," he told the man.
Antone shook his head. "No."
"Oh yeah, he is. The way I figure it, you and your buddy had this whole thing planned and you both took turns. One of you stalks and rapes, the other provides the alibi."
"I never touched one of those women!" he denied.
"Well, if Castillo says you did." he shrugged and left it hanging.
About that time, Vic came in.
"We've got a Tweety bird next door," he told Ronnie. He sat a tape recorder on the table. "Says it was all Antone's plan." He turned to Antone. "Yeah, your amigo says you picked out the women, got their schedules, and planned each attack."
"No! He did not say those things!"
Vic pressed the PLAY button on the tape player.
"Who came up with the plan to stalk these women, rape them and beat them?" It was Shane's question to Castillo.
"It was Antone." Was the answer Castillo gave.
Vic hit STOP. With the magic of technology, he and Shane had quickly spliced the tape to make it seem as though Castillo had answered Shane's question blaming Antone.
Antone was not about to take that rap.
********
"That was all it took," Vic explained to Lem later. "Antone gave up Castillo quick; told how Castillo had stalked the women, stolen their schedules from each unit and then asked him to provide an alibi in return for money."
"The lab called with the DNA results too," Shane told him. "The DNA from one of the cigarette butts with Castillo's prints matched the DNA taken from Michelle and the three other victims. The lab's getting verified DNA from him now. When it matches, he'll be charged with all four counts. That plus the jewelry and ID's will put him behind bars for a long time."
The Strike Team had come together in their 'clubhouse' for the first time in a week. Lem had returned to work after taking some days off to stay with Michelle.
"You guys, I really appreciate this. So does Michelle. It's really gonna help her a lot."
"How's she doing, anyway?" Vic asked.
Lem shrugged. "It's gonna take time. She's being released from the hospital the afternoon. She's got a lot of therapy to go through."
"And you? You gonna be able to stick with her?"
Lem shrugged. "I care about her. I want to help her. Yeah, I'm gonna do whatever it takes."
*******
Lem and Michelle walked hand in hand in the park near her place. She looked a lot better; the bruises were healing. The bandages on her wrists were small now, just covering the healing tissue. Her scars were slower to heal. Knowing Castillo was behind bars helped with those some.
"So, I've got an appointment with the counselor this evening," Michelle told him. She'd been going twice a week.
"That's good."
"I was.wondering if you'd come?"
Lem looked down at her. He was glad to see some of the sadness gone from her eyes. He put her hand up to his face and kissed it.
"You want me to?"
She nodded. "I'm not sure where we go from here. I can't promise anything. I can't even give you back what we had, but we can try, right?"
Lem gave her a smile. "Yeah. I'll go." He didn't know where they'd go either, but he knew he cared. Whether Michelle was 'the one' or just a beautiful friend, she had taught him so much already. And he knew that life was complicated. There were ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, and he knew that sometimes you gotta sing the blues.
I was forgotten until you called my name.
.Lost in the shadows.
.Until your light shined my way.
.Now I believe again.
.In all my dreams again.
.I'm wide eyed and innocent.
.Those doubting days..
.Are so far away and .Oh.
.I will fall. .And you will catch me always. .Time has taught me this. .I will fly. .And you'll be there to guide me. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. .And I know what love is.
.Now there's no mountain . .Too high for me to climb. ..No ocean so wide. .That I could not reach the other side. .Now I believe in me. .Cause you live and breathe in me. .And nothing can come between. .We are one star. .No night can darken.oh.
.I will fall. .And you will catch me always. ..Time has taught me this.. .I will fly. .And you'll be there to guide me. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. .And I know what love is.
. .It's an unspoken thing. .A quiet opening. ..There are no words that can go that deep. .But I know. ..I know ..
. I will fall. .And you will catch me always. .Time has taught me this.. .I will fly. .I will fly.
.And you'll be there to guide me.. .Straight up to my heart's highest wish. .I feel you close to me. ..And I know what love is.....
Celine Dion "I Know What Love Is" written by Ric Wake, Arnie Roman on "One Heart" by Celine Dion