Memories and Mysteries
Steve stood in the kitchen and stared at his partner. For a moment he couldn't think of anything to say, but then he seemed to explode.
"What? You think that Cheryl, or the Chief, or Newman, not to mention all the other people on that list, are capable of doing something like this? Leroy and Carlos, I worked with them, and they're still friends, and Leighton, we've known each other for years."
"But it has to be somebody who knows what you do, when you're busy, when you aren't, it has to be somebody who knows your movements well." Rae found herself looking towards the English butler as she spoke and she quickly turned away, but Steve saw what she was doing.
Steve shook his head in disbelief, and when he spoke again he barely managed to keep the anger out of his voice. "Oh, come on ,Rae; consider what you have just said and done."
Rae found that she was unable to meet his gaze, and she turned away from him. "I'm sorry, I … I guess it's got me so rattled, I'm not thinking straight." Rae considered for a moment, and then she turned to the Englishman standing quietly on the other side of the kitchen, "Michael, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have done that."
"Done what, Madam?" Michael smiled at her, and Rae knew that the moment was passed as far as he was concerned. "If you will excuse me I will check that all is well in the morning room."
As Michael left Rae looked towards her partner, but he turned away, so she moved until she was in front of him, and then she placed a hand on each arm. "Steve, I'm sorry. It's just …" Rae stopped talking almost as soon as she started and let her hands fall and then she looked away. For the first time since she had met him Rae had no idea what to say.
Steve watched Rae struggle with her emotions, and felt his annoyance and disgust at what she had said ebb away. She had always been able to think things out beforehand when she worked in London, the urgency with which they seemed to have to work hadn't been a problem then, and he knew that if she'd had time to reflect on any or all of this first she would never had said what she did. With a quiet understanding of how she was feeling Steve reached out and gently touched her shoulder. "Rae?"
Steve heard a grateful sigh as Rae turned to him and took his hand between her own, "I'm sorry, Steve, I'm so sorry."
"Leave it, Rae, this has got us both upset. We're talking about people we love finding things that nobody should ever have to see, or getting letters about them. We just have to double our efforts and catch him before he can scare anybody else."
"Yeah, I know, but even if we think it's a vice cop we aren't certain are we …? No, that's wrong; it has to be one of them because of the head. Oh, dammit, Steve, I hate this, I hate it for you, for everybody on that list, for the two people he has killed, even that slimy worm Crosier…" Rae suddenly stopped talking and Steve could tell that her mind was racing. She moved over and sat down at the kitchen table once again, pulling her notebook and a pencil back towards her as she did so.
"I need to write this down, and Amanda has probably already thought about it and figured it all out but … if you are missing for as long as Crosier was, which was about a year wasn't it?" Rae looked to Steve for confirmation and got a nod and an encouraging smile. "Why would there be flies and maggots? They should have been gone; they would have eaten all the food long ago, and left. And the head, it was in a freezer, a working freezer, if he wasn't there, why were all his services still connected? Someone has been keeping that house running. The grass was cut, the front garden was tidy, that is not consistent with someone who has been missing that long. And, let's face it, if somebody chopped your arm off, you are not gonna be doing yard work." Rae stopped talking and leant back in the chair. She knew that she hadn't eased their problems any, in fact she had probably made things worse.
Steve had sat down as Rae had been speaking, and now he watched as she began to make some notes. He didn't say anything, not wanting to break her concentration, but to his surprise she began to speak again.
"We need to get on to his service providers for water, gas, electricity. There must be bills somewhere, but I sure didn't find them, if I had, I would have, hopefully, thought of this earlier… You know there were no bank statements either. That house had been gone through before we got there… Dammit!" Rae banged her fist down on the table. "We're being played for fools here. You are being played for a fool, and you're too good a cop to have that happen to you." Rae stopped talking, suddenly embarrassed by what she had said.
Steve smiled and then carried on her previous train of thought. "Thank you… So, we need to find his bank, that won't be so hard, we'll just get a court order and hit Payroll, and then we can go to his branch and find out the information on the companies we need to visit. But we can't do that until the morning, so put your book away, and let's go join the others for a little while, ok?"
Rae just nodded, but she did as he had suggested, and together they walked towards the morning room. As they pushed the door open they could see Eliana playing on the rug with a ladies purse, Rae smiled, but knew that she would need to rescue it before her daughter discovered lipstick or money. It was all the same to her and usually ended up in her mouth.
As she moved towards her, the little girl looked up. "Momma." Eliana smiled at her mother, until she realised what she was going to do. "No! Mine!"
"No, Honey, I think it is probably Debbie's, because I don't think that Aunty Jo has a purse like this, now, it is time to give it back. Please." Rae held her hand out, and her daughter shook her head angrily, sending all her curls bouncing back and forth as she did so.
"No! Mine… Yana's." Two big tears appeared in her eyes, and her lip began to quiver.
"Rae, it's all right, there's nothin' in there that I can't replace real easy. Let the little angel play if she wants. An' I have told you, Debs is just fine."
"Debs, you are being very kind, but she will put things in her mouth, and that could be a little dangerous."
"Oh, ok then, let's see if she will let me take it back." Debbie got up and moved across towards the little girl, who instantly began to scream, and, the purse forgotten, rushed at her mother with all her might.
"Well, it wasn't quite the reaction I had in mind, but I guess it did the trick." Debbie put all her things back into her purse, wiping each one on a tissue as she did so. They had been Eliana's first casualty and were spread all over the rug.
"Oh, I don't know, I can understand it myself." Jo spoke in a low voice, but it travelled, and both David and Steve glared at her. "What did you find out? I'm guessin' that Michael received somethin' meant for you, yes?" Jo hurriedly changed the subject to cover her embarrassment, she hadn't meant for her words to be heard by anyone.
"We were one letter missing, and now we aren't. I think we could be in for a long day tomorrow." It was Rae who spoke, and the regret in her voice was obvious.
"Oh, no, Rae, Honey, you were supposed to be helpin' me with all the final preparations for the ball. It won't be nearly so much fun without you." Jo moved a little closer to her friend, and the sadness in her eyes showed Rae just how much she had been looking forward to it.
"Well, I will be at a bit of a loss, I know that David is playin' golf with some of his colleagues in the mornin' I would just be delighted to help you… It would give us a chance to get to know each other a little better." Debs smiled at Jo, a look of expectancy on her face.
"Well, gee, Debs, I don't know, I'll have to think about it." Jo could feel her heart falling faster than a broken elevator.
"I think it's a wonderful idea, I want you an' Debs to be friends, just as Steve an' I have become friends." David had his arm around his girlfriend, and the smile on his face tore at Jo's heart.
"Ok, thank you, Debs, that would be lovely." Jo hoped that her words didn't sound as forced as they actually were.
Rae moved across and touched her friend on the arm. "Texas, I'm really sorry, but I promise, Saturday I am yours. Anything you want doing I will be here. Neither Steve nor I are working, and nothing short of an imminent arrest will get us anywhere near the station."
"Honey, thank you, but Saturday everythin' will be in the hands of the caterers, an' fate. I will be finished. All the auction items will have been collected or delivered by the mornin' an' the rooms will be decorated while I … while we are there tomorrow so that I can make sure that everythin' is ok. Then it is just a case of callin' anybody who said they were comin' but haven't paid for their ticket to find out if they still plan to attend." Jo paused for a moment, checking her mental list of things to do. "Saturday, I have appointments with the hairdresser, the dressmaker to pick up my gown, an' the manicurist. I don't even plan to turn my cell phone on, that way they have to go through Michael, but thank you anyway."
"That's all right. I have to go and buy a new dress, and Jesse needs a new tux, so I guess I will be kinda busy myself on Saturday morning."
"You don't have a dress yet, Rae? My, that is cuttin' it mighty close. I don't think I would be able to sleep if I didn't know exactly what I was wearin' way ahead of time. Why on earth have you been dilly-dallyin' so long?" Debs shook her head, a shocked look on her face.
"I did have a dress, a beautiful dress, but it was lost in the fire, along with everything else. I just haven't had time to go and replace it yet." Rae grew wistful as she spoke. She still had to write out the list of the things that had been destroyed for the insurance adjustor, but she was putting it off, knowing that it would really bring home to her just how much she had lost.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go upsettin' you. It must have been awful, losin' everythin' like that. Jo told us about what happened. My home is just so precious to me; I don't think I could bear to lose anythin' at all from it." Debbie wasn't looking at Rae as she spoke, but the two small children on the rug and so she didn't see the look of anguish that clouded her features.
Jesse had been watching his wife, and he moved across to her as he saw her response. "Shhh, it's ok. We're still all together, and that is the most important thing."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I mustn't let it get to me." Rae took a deep breath and tried to get herself under control. "Steve, Texas, we need to get the girls home to bed, I'll see you in the morning, partner, I'll get in for eight, and then we can get ready for our busy day."
Steve had also seen the result of Debbie's words and he smiled. "Sure, don't worry, I'll see you then… No, hold on, you'll need a lift won't you?"
"Oh, of course, yes, please, I'll be ready just after seven then."
"Why, what happened?" Texas looked across at the two detectives, wondering why they would be travelling together.
"They found a foot in Tom, he's being held at the impound yard right now." Rae shuddered. "I was going to get a new car, but I think I'll stick with it for a little longer. If our suspicions are anywhere near the truth then I won't give him the satisfaction of thinking he got me to change my vehicle." Rae's voice was a little shaky and Jesse placed his arm round her.
"Come on, Rae, leave it tonight, let's go home and switch off for a little while, ok?"
Rae just nodded, and then she crouched down in front of Eliana. "Sweetie, it's time to go, say bye bye to Auntie Jo and Uncle Steve."
Eliana got to her feet and taking her mother's hand looked up, "Bye, Unki Teve, Anti Jo." Then she grinned and began to toddle towards the door, pulling Rae with her.
"I guess I'm going then! Bye all." Rae smiled and then let herself be taken out towards the front door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jesse came down from putting his two daughters to bed, hoping that Rae had done what he had told her to and put her feet up in the living room with a magazine, but as he got closer to the door he could hear her crying, and with a heavy heart he hurried towards the sound.
"Rae, Honey, what is it?" Jesse took her into his arms, and her sobbing increased. "Baby, what's the matter?" Knowing that she was unable to answer him he looked around hoping to get an idea of what had started her crying, and there on the table was a piece of paper, and Jesse could see that she had begun to make the list of all the things that they had to replace.
Slowly Rae began to calm down, and finally through gulps and more tears she began to speak. "I … I didn't realise … what we had … lost, Jess… everything is gone…" The tears began again, and Jesse carefully helped her to her feet and moved over to the sofa that was in the room, then he sat down, easing her with him.
"Shhh, Rae, I am so sorry, but, Honey, you shouldn't have to work this out by yourself, this is something we need to do between us, and all the time you need to remember that we are still together, and our two most precious things are upstairs, right now, fast asleep. Nothing matters as much as that."
Slowly Rae smiled, "I know, Jess, but there were so many memories there. All our wedding photos are gone, the video, pictures of Eliana and Anneya when they were born, even the letter I sent you from The Willows that you liked so much."
Jesse smiled and shook his head. "Oh, no, that I still have." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and took a folded and dog-eared piece of paper from it. "I don't really need it any more, I know it off by heart, but well, I was just so thrilled to receive it, I have kept it with me ever since."
Rae kissed him gently on the lips, as the tears began to dry on her cheeks. "Read it to me, Jess, I don't remember what I wrote."
"Ok. Here goes.
My darling Jesse,
I don't think I have ever written you a letter before, I guess because we have always been together, which is probably why I am finding this time apart so hard.
I wanted to write to tell you how you have been in my thoughts for the whole time I have been here, your picture is on my nightstand, and I just wish it could talk to me, help me when things hurt, raise a hand to brush away my tears, to say something silly and irreverent to make me smile and laugh. All the things you do, probably without thinking, to make my life so full.
I don't think I have ever realised before just what you do each day to make me feel so special, so loved, so a part of a couple, a family, but these past weeks I have begun to see how effortless you make it, but how much love and care is always put into everything you do.
Jesse, I have sent you to hell and back over the last three years, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that without you I wouldn't have stayed alive and sane.
I know I have to stay here, to finish the work I have started, but I also know that if it is all for nothing and I come back and am still dependent on you, still bad tempered, grouchy and still not a cop you'll smile, give me a hug and help to make it better.
Whatever happens, one part of my life has, ever since I arrived in America, been a constant delight, if the rest of it collapses I will still have you, our daughter, and the baby I am carrying, and that will have made everything I have ever done worthwhile.
I love you Jess,
Rae
"I just love it, Rae, it made me feel so wonderful when I received it, and when I have a bad day, or a case that isn't working out, I read it, and then I can go and carry on again. Thank you."
Rae smiled at her husband and kissed him gently on the lips. "Wanna go and try out another bedroom?"
Jesse grinned back at her and took her by the hand. "Oooh, I think I could be persuaded!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steve and Jo didn't get a chance to be alone together until they were both in their new bedroom in the East Wing. Jo made herself comfy in the seemingly enormous bed and watched as her husband got himself ready to join her. First of all he just walked about barefoot as he made sure he had everything for the morning, and then, stripping off his clothes as he went, he headed for the bathroom, and she heard the shower start up.
Five minutes later he came back into the room, grabbed a clean pair of shorts, climbed into them, and then, with a smile in her direction, got in beside her.
"That woman, she just doesn't know when to quit." Jo had obviously been ready to explode for a while, and before Steve could even give her a kiss she started to talk.
"Who? What woman, Jo, Honey, you've lost me already." Steve shook his head, he had hoped that Jo had waited for him so that they could at least have a kiss and a cuddle before they went to sleep, but he guessed she had other things on her mind.
"Debs, you saw how she upset Rae, but did she notice, no, not her, so desperate to hog the conversation, an' she should have been lookin' at who she was talkin' to, not, 'those sweet angels', bleugh!"
"Bleugh?" Steve laughed, despite himself, and got a look of disgust from his wife for his troubles.
"She just kept blatherin' away, you noticed that Rae was gettin' upset, I did, so did Jesse, so why couldn't she? Stupid woman!"
"Jo, leave it, I know you don't like her, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't like any woman that David brought here. She was probably talkative because she was nervous. Just try to get to know her, and you'll find she's fine, I'm sure. You have a great chance to do that tomorrow."
"Oh, don't remind me! There is more chance of me flyin' to the moon an' back than becomin' friends with that, that, that woman." Jo knew that it was a lame finish but she was tired and really didn't want to talk about her any more.
"Mmm, well, I think she's nice, she's friendly, and David loves her, so you are gonna have to do something about making sure you and she get along."
"No, I don't, she's just plain awful, I don't know why but I just know I'm right, now go to sleep, I have nothin' else to say." Jo looked at him, hoping that he would take her in his arms instead, but he did as he was told, and turning his back to her made himself comfortable and drifted off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rae made sure that she was at Steve's front door at seven the following morning, not wanting to be the one keeping anybody waiting. As she rang the doorbell she heard Michael's footsteps across the hallway.
"Good morning, Detective Yeager, the Lieutenant is waiting for you in the morning room. Have you eaten, Madam?"
"Yes, thank you, Michael, I had a yoghurt drink and an apple." Rae laughed as she saw the look of disgust on the butler's face. "You know that is about what Jesse thinks of it too. But I have eaten it for years, and I'm not going to stop now."
Steve, hearing the voice of his partner, came out of the morning room and moved over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. As he did so Debbie came down the stairs.
"Well, good mornin' Rae, Steve, Honey, I guess you two are off to fight the world of crime an' evil then?"
"Something like that. How are you, Debs?" Rae smiled, the accent was so strong when Debbie spoke, that it made Texas sound as if she was born and bred in LA. "Debbie, I wanted to thank you for stepping in and helping Texas out today. I was so looking forward to it, but real life has to come first, unfortunately. I feel much better about it, knowing that she won't be alone."
"It's my pleasure. David wants me to get to know her better, an' I want that too. I have no plans to be leavin' David any time soon, an' she is the only family that he has. It is important to me that we get on as well as we can." Debbie smiled and flicked her long blonde curls back over her shoulder.
"Rae, Honey, we need to get going, there is a lot to do before we can get on to the payroll department, including getting a door-to-door done to find out why Crosier's house was so well tended, and if anyone saw someone arrive there with a head under his arm!"
Rae rolled her eyes and pulled a face as she heard him, and then, seeing that she looked a little green, smiled across as Debbie. "He's such a slave driver, but I wouldn't want to work with anybody else. Take care, we'll see you later."
With that Rae and Steve turned and moved across to the doorway, and Debbie stood, a satisfied smile on her face, and watched them leave.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rae sat at the computer and read through what she had written. She still didn't think that they had a strong enough case to get the Chief to agree to an investigation into the members of the Vice Squad, but she knew that before the day was out she would have to present what they had to him. Maybe the utility companies would provide them with something more to go on. As she sat there scanning her words she was aware of someone standing behind her and she turned to see Cheryl waiting to speak with her.
"Hey, Cheryl, what can I do for you?" Rae smiled at her friend, but then she saw the detective's face change from one of friendliness to one of anger.
"You think someone in Vice is responsible for this?" Her words were full of surprise, and not a little anger. "What proof do you have?"
"Cheryl, just hold on a minute. First of all, I would never read a report over your shoulder unless we were working together, and I would really rather you didn't do it again."
"I didn't read it, I just saw the word vice and … and well, then I guess I did read it, sorry." Cheryl had the grace to look embarrassed but she was still angry.
"Mmm, and yes, we think that someone in Vice is responsible, but if you say anything, to Martin or anyone else, you'll scare him off. I need you to promise me that you won't do that." Rae had turned in her chair and was now looking at her friend with an extremely serious expression on her face.
"You think Martin could do this?" Cheryl's face reflected her fury but she managed to keep her voice down, not wanting anybody else to hear what she was saying. "He is a kind, gentle man, and you think that he could … could cut someone up, you are wrong, you are so wrong."
"I want to be wrong, but I have no proof and no idea when exactly these things are left to be found. Nobody is gonna have an alibi worth squat, because we have no tight timeframe. Do I think he could do it? Well, I don't know. You thought I'd murdered three people and tried to kill two more, so you tell me!" Rae's voice had got louder and louder, and she spat her final accusation at Cheryl, stood up, sending the computer chair skating across the floor and headed for the stairs. "If anyone wants me I will be seeing how my door-to-door went!"
Steve, who had been to check with Margaret what time it would be best to take their notes to the Chief came back into the squad room to see Cheryl sit down at her desk and begin slamming and banging anything and everything there that would make a noise, and Rae disappear down the stairs into the main entrance hall of the precinct. He looked around for some sort of enlightenment and was relieved when Ben Chapman came over to stand with him.
"Ah, I think that you may have to either catch up to your partner or work on your own for a while. Rae and Cheryl just had a short but very un-sweet conversation."
"Oh, great, just what I need. Ok, thanks, Ben." Steve let out a long sigh, and considered his next step.
"Hey, any time, Steve." Ben turned and headed back to his desk, raising his eyes to the heavens as he did so. His own partner, Sam Yip smiled at him as she carried on with her work. Everybody in homicide knew that Rae and Steve had two particularly gruesome cases at the moment, and they were all extremely glad that they hadn't taken the call on either of them.
Cheryl looked up and glared at Steve as he moved over towards her desk. "So, Lieutenant, do you think that Martin is a homicidal maniac as well?"
"Oh, come on, Cheryl, what do you expect me to say to that? We have to go on the evidence we have, you know that. We haven't accused anybody of anything because we aren't sure yet, but there are some things that point in difficult directions…" Steve paused for a minute knowing that something was wrong with this conversation. "I can't believe that Rae would have discussed this with you, she knows how important confidentiality is right now, so what happened?" Steve had both hands on Cheryl's desk and she moved back, suddenly she found her old partner very threatening.
"Nothing happened." Cheryl tried to look away, but the cold stare in Steve's blue eyes held her and she found she couldn't break free. "All right, I read over her shoulder, and I saw what she had put in your report."
"So now you know why it is not good to have a partner who works in the same station as you do. What are you gonna do, Cheryl? Tell him, or keep quiet? You know you could blow our case right out of the water. As far as we know, no one in Vice has any idea that we suspect them. We would like to keep it that way for as long as possible." Steve stood up, and saw Cheryl relax a little.
"I have no choice do I? Yes, I will keep quiet, but you are wrong, Martin has nothing to do with this, and if he thought that any of his colleagues were involved I know he would have told me." Cheryl stood up, she couldn't continue the conversation any further, and so she walked over to the coffee machine, and once she had poured herself a cup she stood where she was and began to drink.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jo and Debbie arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel, on Wilshire Boulevard, just after eleven, Jo and Steve had decided that it would be best for all of them to actually stay in the hotel for a couple of nights and so, once Jo had registered, they left their bags with the valet, and sat in the extremely luxurious surrounds of the lobby to await the arrival of the manager, who would take them to the room that had been booked for the ball. The room was used during the day as a conference facility, but it would be an elegant and sophisticated location for the Josephine Sloan Masked Fundraising Ball. Debbie looked around her and smiled.
"Oh my, this is just a beautiful place. You know they filmed 'Pretty Woman' here. I don't suppose you have any stars comin' tonight; you don't seem to mix with those types of people."
"No, nobody famous, just people who want to donate some money to charity and have a good time as well. An' I am not at all interested in the type of people you think I should meet with." Jo tried to keep her tone friendly, but she knew she had failed.
"Well, excuse me, I didn't mean to offend you, it's just … well, never mind, let's just get started on this; I am real excited to see what you have planned."
Jo wanted to find out what Debs was hinting at, but saw the manager of the hotel coming across to meet her and turned her back on the woman, a smile now on her face as she waited to speak with the man who had helped her enormously so far.
"Mr. Haynes, how are you today?"
"I am very well, Mrs Sloan, and yourself? Getting a little excited I would imagine. It is going to be a wonderful evening." The manager was all that Jo expected him to be. Dapper, with slicked back hair and very shiny shoes.
"Well, I have to admit to a few butterflies. Mr. Haynes, this is Debbie Gardiner, she has kindly offered to help me, because Mrs Travis has had to work."
"I am very pleased to meet you Ms Gardiner; your friend has done a wonderful job so far."
Debbie smiled and shook the manager's hand. "I am sure that she has, an' I am just so anxious to see it all comin' together."
"Well, ladies, if you would like to follow me." With a flamboyant gesture Mr. Haynes directed the two women down one of the beautiful hallways towards the Sunset Ballroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once Rae had checked with the desk about her door-to-door, the results of which weren't back yet, she left the station house and gradually began to calm down. She knew that she owed Cheryl an apology for what she had said to her, but she also knew that the other detective was in the wrong for reading over her shoulder. With a sigh Rae realised that she didn't have the luxury of time to spend in a blue funk and she really should be getting on. Not wanting to go back into the building straight away Rae headed round to the impound yard to see what was happening with her car. She could see Tom looking little and lonely at the back of the area reserved for any vehicle in an ongoing investigation and looked around for somebody to ask about it.
As she got closer to her vehicle she saw someone crouching down next to it and moved a little nearer, realising as she did so that even though he was wearing the overalls of a police mechanic the man wasn't testing her car, but trying to break into it. "Hey, what are you doing?"
The man swung round, and Rae looked up at his face, but it was covered by a balaclava type helmet and sunglasses.
"Freeze or I'll fire!" Rae had her gun in her hand, but the would-be car thief was either deaf or desperate and he lunged at Rae as he passed, sending her sprawling backwards into the wall. Rae felt her head slam against the brickwork, and then she fell forwards onto her knees. Aiming her gun at the retreating figure she got off one shot before her hand began to shake and she had to let her gun fall to the ground.
One of the mechanics working on a vehicle further down the yard came running at the sound of gunfire and saw a small dark haired woman slumped on the floor, a gun by her side and stopped in his tracks. As he stood there he saw her turn towards him, and recognising the figure as a cop he moved a little closer. "Are you alright, Detective?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I will be in a minute." Rae moved so that she could rest her head on her knees, and waited for the world to stop spinning. She gingerly put her hand inside her jacket and took out her cell phone, then checking for Steve's number she dialled and waited for him to answer.
Twenty minutes later Steve had looked for anything that could have caused their murderer to return to the scene of the crime and found nothing. He had however, received a call from one of the patrol men he had asked to check the area surrounding the yard, he had found a set of overalls that matched the description Rae had given in a trash can just five minutes away. Now though Rae was being checked over by a paramedic and Steve was taking down the details of what she had seen.
"He was crouched down when I saw him first, and he seemed quite big as he moved away from me, but I couldn't say that I recognised him as any of the guys in vice. I'm sorry… Ow!" Rae let out a cry of pain as the EMT ran his hand over the back of her head.
"I apologise, Ma'am, you have a nasty bump here."
"That's ok; just warn me if you are gonna do it again."
"Rae, maybe you should let them take you to Community General, then Alex can check you over." Steve looked anxiously at his partner; she seemed a little pale, and shaken.
"No, I'm fine, a nice hot cup of tea and I'll be as good as new."
"I don't think that you have a concussion, Ma'am, but if you feel dizzy or nauseous then you need to get yourself checked over by a doctor." The paramedic began to tidy away his gear as he spoke.
"Thank you and I promise I'll do that." Rae smiled at the young man and then turned to her partner. "Now, can we please go back inside? I am getting a cold bum sitting here on the ground."
Steve held out his hand and Rae took a hold of it and then he pulled her to her feet. "Ok? Remember, if you feel dizzy …"
"Or nauseous, I know, but I don't, I just have a headache, and, I have to admit my pride is a bit dented. But I'll live." Rae ran her hand through her hair, and then gently felt the large lump that had formed on the back of her head, as her fingers probed she pulled a face. "Ow, I shouldn't have done that." Then with a smile she felt Steve's arm go around her, and without further argument she let herself be led back to the precinct.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you sure you'll be all right now?" Steve looked over at his partner, he had provided her with the cup of tea she wanted and one of the icepacks that lived in the squad room refrigerator, he was relieved to see her nod her head carefully, and so he spoke again. "Ok, I need to pop down to Vice for a moment, and I guess you need to write a report on why you fired your gun. Ron is due in at half past eleven so that we can finish the character profile, the Chief wants our up-to-date report on his desk at noon, and Payroll are expecting us at one. Which gives us about two hours before we get to finish for two days of high class glitz and glamour." Steve had been counting things off on his fingers, and Rae's face had been getting more and more horror struck.
"Oh great, and somewhere between now and eight tomorrow night I have to go and buy an evening gown and a new tux for Jesse, get the girls over to Sally's house, visit the hairdresser, work out how to set the alarm on our new house, and, if I am really lucky, even sleep!"
"I think that is an optional extra!" Steve smiled at her as he watched her make herself a second cup of tea and then he headed for the stairs and the unpleasant task of finding out who had an alibi in vice and who didn't.
Martin was on the phone when Steve tapped on the door and then entered the room and he waved at his friend but carried on talking. Don Werner was washing up a set of coffee mugs at the sink in the corner, but apart from that there was no one in the room.
"Hey, Sloan, what's the matter, can't you keep away?" The large black detective came walking over, drying his hands on his pants as he did so.
"I just needed some info on Wanda Harris." Steve had been wracking his brains as to what excuse he could make up for being back in the vice department ever since he had left homicide, and as he walked in through the door he realised that they had no additional information on their murder victim, and if anybody knew her it would be these men.
"Yeah, sure, what do you want to know? Some of the other girls who used to work for Denny are scared, I can tell you that. It's bad enough when a hooker gets killed, but her pimp too? That's not good. He didn't have a big stable, just four or five girls, but all of them have been on the phone over the last few days, but I guess they'll all have new pimps by the middle of next week and they'll disappear back into the woodwork." The words seemed strangely out of place coming from the mouth of the extremely tall and smartly dressed man standing in front of Steve, and there was a compassion there that showed that life hadn't hardened him completely, not yet, anyway.
"Did Wanda know Crosier, or was it just Denny?" Steve looked around and saw Martin put his phone down and push his chair out, ready to come and join them.
"No, Wanda knew him, and I don't mean just to say hello."
"Hey, Steve, you looking forward to tomorrow?" Martin smiled as he spoke and for a moment Steve was unsure what he was talking about, but then realisation dawned.
"Oh, yeah, actually I am. Jo has worked really hard at this, Rae too when she was able, it should raise a lot of money for the hospital and things." Steve stopped talking and looked around him. "Did you all go down with the flu or something? I don't think I've ever seen the place so quiet."
"Well, there are only seven of us anyway, but we have two on vacation, and three out on cases, sometimes it's like this, other times all of us are here and you can't move for cops. Can I get you a coffee or anything?" Martin smiled at his friend, he missed his company, although he got on with most of the guys in his new department, he had enjoyed the camaraderie that existed between Steve, Rae, Cheryl and himself.
"No, thanks, I'd better be getting back, but if you could let me have anything that you've got on Wanda and Denny Harris, and the list of his other girls, by yesterday, I would be grateful."
"Yeah, as you can see things are really jumping here, I'll get it sorted out for you by the end of the day. Bye Steve." Martin waved a hand as he watched him turn and head back the way he had come.
As Steve walked back into homicide he could see Rae on the phone and Ron sitting at his desk waiting for him. Getting nearer he could hear Rae speaking, and then he caught her eye.
"Oh, wait a minute, Sir; Lieutenant Sloan has just walked back into the room, if you would hold the line a moment." Rae put her hand over the mouthpiece and then turned to Steve. "It's the principal of Daniel's school on the phone; he needs to speak with you urgently."
"Is he ok, has he been hurt?" Steve took the phone as he spoke, and was relieved to see Rae shake her head.
"No, I already asked that." Rae was silent then as Steve began to speak and listen.
"This is Lieutenant Sloan, can I help you…? Oh, I see … no, I'm sure you don't, and I can assure you I don't either … yes, ok, I'll be right over… Yes, I do I've dropped him off before… Thank you, good bye." Steve put the phone down on its cradle and both Ron and Rae could tell that he was not happy.
"Steve?" Rae knew she didn't need to say anything else.
"Daniel has been fighting at school; the principal has sent the other kid to the hospital with a suspected broken nose and two black eyes. He wants me to take Daniel out of school, and he has suspended him for three days… They don't want him back until Thursday. Jo'll go mad, and I'm not too impressed myself." Steve's hands were in fists, he didn't need this, he had too many other things to concentrate on.
"Steve, you go and sort that out, Ron and I can do this profile, and I can see the Chief too. If you're not back I'll even head over to payroll on my own. I'm not proud. Now, go… Oh, and Steve… something has been bothering Daniel for a little while, let him have his say before you condemn him, ok?" Rae had her hand on his arm, and he smiled at her.
"Yeah, I guess so. Dad always listened to my side of every story. Of course, I still used to get grounded, but at least he listened first! Thanks, Rae, Ron, I'll see you tomorrow." Steve grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and headed out towards his truck.
Daniel's school was in the Rampart district, and so Steve turned out of the station towards route 101, all the time wondering what had gotten into his foster son that would cause him to get into a fight in school. With a sigh Steve realised that Daniel had been a little out of sorts, snapping at him when they had been talking the other night, and he knew that Jo and Michael had kept him home earlier in the week because they were concerned about him. Fifteen minutes later Steve indicated to leave the main highway and was soon drawing up outside the grey and depressing buildings that housed Daniel's school.
When Jo and he had first thought about fostering the boy Alex had told them how well he was doing at school and the decision had been made to keep sending him there, even though it took a while to get there each morning in the rush hour traffic. Now though Steve wondered, as he locked his car, whether they had made the right decision.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ron and Rae spread out all the information that they had on the bits and pieces case on the desk and then called up the profile that they had loaded into the computer. Silently they both read through what the three of them had come up with so far, and then Rae turned to the quiet FBI agent with a frown.
"We don't have much, do we?"
"Nope, but we will get more, each time he does anything we can add to this, gradually we'll get a complete, or almost complete picture of who he is and even why he is doing this."
"You know, I've been thinking about this, I've been thinking of nothing else it seems, and I reckon that he must be working with someone else. There is no way that all this could have been done by one person."
"Ok, keep talking." Ron pulled a pad towards him and as Rae spoke he began to write down key words.
"First of all if I came at you with a knife what would you do?"
"Disarm you!" Ron smiled. "Rae, you are a little lady, I could get it off you no problem." Ron laughed as Rae stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ok, let me try again. If you were being held prisoner by me and I came at you with a knife what would you do?"
"Back away, run, flinch, cower, anything to get away from the blade."
"Good, so would I. Now neither the woman nor Crosier was drugged, there is nothing in their system. They could have been tied up, but we have a hand and a foot and there were no marks to show that they had been bound in any way. They had to have been subdued somehow."
Ron kept writing, and Rae waited for him to finish. Once he had done so he looked up. "So you are saying that someone was holding them down while they had pieces hacked off them?" Ron managed to suppress a shudder. He had worked on some very distasteful cases in his time, but this was pressing hard to be in his top five.
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And, someone is keeping them alive afterwards. They're dead now, but Crosier was definitely alive when his arm was cut off, and he would have gone into shock, he was also alive when he had his genitals removed, so someone with medical knowledge and the ability to get supplies is involved." Rae shook her head; she had a feeling that this case was going to get worse before it got better. "I think that there are at least two people involved in this, and don't forget someone was keeping Crosier's place going."
The phone rang on Rae's desk and she leant over and picked it up. "Detective Yeager … Hi, Amanda, how are you? … yeah, I know what you mean. I'm working with your lovely fiancé to try and work some of it out right now … No, he didn't call … oh right … and you are absolutely sure…? No, sorry, of course you are… I guess it's pretty obvious really, but it's good to have it confirmed… Yes, please, can you send them by courier…? Yeah, I'll see you then, bye."
Rae put the phone down and turned to look at Ron. "Mmm, well that was a very interesting call. Few things, and two of them open things up a little and one finishes one case off, at least I think it does. First of all Crosier head had been in another freezer before his own. There are two sets of shelf markings in the flesh of his neck. And then just to complicate matters, at least I think it does, Amanda is almost positive that the knife used to hack various body parts into small useable pieces is the same type used to cut Denny Harris's throat, I guess it could be coincidence, but I'm not convinced, and the gun found at the Harris place was the one used on Wanda."
Ron looked at Rae and shook his head, impossible as it seemed, this case had just got even more confusing.