Chapter Twelve – Victim Support

Rae had stayed at the Beach View Hotel for almost three hours, having called the station first to let them know that she would be delayed.

Because of the link between Leonie and Samantha, Rae had suggested to Detective Windsor that he request Amanda to come and oversee the removal of the body and the forthcoming autopsy.

Rae found that she was enjoying working with Reece Windsor; he was a little younger than she was, a tall black man with laughing eyes. At probably six two, maybe six three, he was about the same height as Steve, he had his hair in tiny braids across his head and down into the nape of his neck. His black jeans were obviously new, the perfectly plain white t-shirt that he wore didn't have a crease in it, and his black leather jacket was clearly well loved. They got to know each other as they waited for the medical examiner to arrive, and Rae got an insight into a lifestyle completely different to that of both her partner and herself.

Steve, she knew, had had a safe and secure childhood. He had been in the privileged position of having two parents who loved him dearly, a sister who, although no longer living, had provided a stability and type of companionship which wasn't available from anyone but a sibling. Life had dealt him some rough blows, Rae realised that, he had served in Vietnam which she knew had scarred him in ways very few people could understand, he had lost two members of his immediate family over the years, but as she sat talking to Reece she learnt about a contrary start in life, and an alternative set of goals.

"So, Rae," Reece smiled, he had called her Detective Yeager, but she had insisted on a more familiar way of being addressed, "it's a pleasure to meet you; I guess you get fed up with people saying that your reputation precedes you."

"It depends how they say it!"

"I'm a friend, I promise, so, have you been to this part of town before?"

"Yeah, I think I've seen most of the really nice places, plus all the seedy bits, dumpsters and other locations where bodies seem to accumulate!"

"Do you ever wish you were back in London?" Reece looked interested and Rae had shaken her head.

"Oh, no. I like it here, I mean look around you, sun, sea, sand, well, just over there is sea and sand." Rae gesticulated in the general direction of the ocean, which was just across the highway. "I have made a complete new life for myself, I have a husband, two small children, friends; no, I like it here, very much. How about you, do you wish you were some place else, or doing something different?" Rae hoped she hadn't overstepped the boundaries of a very new friendship, but somehow she knew she hadn't.

"I've never wanted to do anything else. I wanted to be a cop from the first time I saw one of my neighbours get hauled off for some misdemeanour or other. And where I grew up it was happening all the time."

"And it didn't make you hate the guys who were doing that? I mean let's face it, when we arrest someone we aren't always that gentle are we?" They had sat down on the low wall outside the entranceway to the fitness centre, and the two detectives were enjoying the warm sun.

"I guess we're not, are we? But no, it didn't make me hate them; it made me want to do a better job, to make sure that there was some sort of equality, or the chance of it. I guess you know enough about Los Angeles now to know that if I tell you I was born and raised in Watts that it wasn't Beverly Hills."

Rae had smiled politely, not knowing whether her companion realised where she actually lived. "No, I know it isn't. So you never changed your mind, decided you wanted to do something a little less … dangerous?"

"Well, for a while there I wanted to be Charles Barclay or Kareem Abdull Jabar."

"I beg your pardon?" Rae had looked completely bemused and Reece had laughed out loud.

"Who were your heroes when you were growing up?"

"I wanted to live like the Liver Birds, or go see Peter Bonetti play. I guess heroes weren't as universal when we were growing up, huh?" Rae saw him shake his head. "The Liver Birds was a TV programme about two girls who lived in a flat … sorry, apartment, my mum wouldn't let my sisters and me watch it, but we used to keep the sound down low, and Peter Bonetti was the goalie for Chelsea, who were my football … which is soccer here, team!"

"And Barclay and Abdull Jabar are basketball players. I wanted to be just like them, I got the height, but I can't get a ball through a hoop no matter how hard I try. How about Magic Johnson, the Refrigerator or Mr. T? Or Denzel Washington, there are days when I still want to be him!"

"Now those I know. Um, Donny and Marie Osmond?"

"Oh yeah, all teeth and hair! And did you notice that your heroes were white and mine were black? I was staring at a future that included guns and drugs, but going into me, not being investigated by me, I didn't want that." Reece looked down for a moment and Rae remained silent, she had a feeling that she had traveled somewhere painful and she had no intention of intruding.

"When I was eighteen my brother was killed in a drug raid. He was clean, but he was there, he was black and he was shot. I had good enough grades to go to college, and as soon as I graduated from there I went to the police academy."

"And now … do you get up each morning and be a cop for yourself or your brother?"

Reece looked at her and Rae felt his eyes bore into her. "Nobody ever asked me that before." There was silence again for a while, "I think that first of all it was for Darryl, always for Darryl, but now, no, this is for me. I like being a detective. I don't know if I would still be a cop if I had to be a patrolman the rest of my life, but as Detective Windsor I am working for me, to be the best I can be for me and maybe then for my family." He smiled, "Thank you, it's good to know that."

"Hey, Rae!"

Amanda's voice cut into their conversation and the two detectives stood up and greeted her.

"Amanda, I'm glad to see you, but it's not my case, this is Detective Windsor, it's his call."

Reece held out his hand and smiled as he did so. "Hi, I've seen you from afar, but I don't think we have worked together before."

"No, I think I would have remembered, I'm Amanda Bentley, Doctor Amanda Bentley, and I'm pleased to meet you."

They walked together into the fitness centre, ducking under the police tape, and no longer talking, all of them feeling, somehow, that it wasn't seemly.

"How come you're here, Rae?" Amanda stood looking up sadly at the body of the woman who was hanging down from a set of overhead bars that covered the ceiling.

"She is the mother of Samantha Morrison, the second victim of our serial killer…" Rae stopped as she saw the horror and sadness in her friend's eyes. "I was worried about her and so I was just calling in on my way to work, I guess I left it a little too late."

"You know these bars don't seem to fit with a fitness centre, more a school gym." Amanda was still looking up as she spoke, but no one answered her.

They all stepped back as one of the crime scene officers began to take their pictures, watching as they circled the body making sure they got photos from all angles. Reece wandered over to where there was a set of brochures in a wall display and, once he had pulled on his gloves, he took one and began to look through it. "Is this her daughter?" He handed the pamphlet to Rae, who was now also wearing gloves. She looked at a set of photos which adorned the advertising for the fitness centre. Leonie was in all the pictures, either on her own or with clients. Samantha was obviously playing the part of a very beautiful, fit member of the club.

"Yeah, that was her. Her mom said that they were planning to go into business together; I guess this place was just too much for her to bear…" Rae felt the fury suddenly rush up inside and she clenched her fists as she spoke again, "You know when we get this guy, and trust me we will get him, she won't go down as one of his victims, but she is, just as surely as her daughter."

Rae's voice had echoed around the large room they were in, feeling helpless and angry she turned away and Reece went to follow her, but felt Amanda's hand on his arm. "Leave her, she'll be ok. She's a tough cookie, but she feels these things, she'll come back in a couple of minutes and carry on, but she's right, unless I find signs of foul play, this will go down as just another suicide."

. . . . . . . . . .

Steve had spoken with Rae on the phone just after two, and had heard the anger and pain in her voice as she told him what had happened. He had asked her to e-mail through the interview notes from the day before, together with anything else that related to the killings that he hadn't seen yet. Once he put the phone down Steve moved out into the garden and sat in the sun. He was surprised at how tired he still felt, and he closed his eyes and let the rays warm him through.

The incident which had resulted in him being home began playing from beginning to end in his mind like a video tape. As he saw the knife make its arc shape in front of him once again he gasped and opened his eyes, suddenly glad that he was sitting in his own yard and not the precinct. He had been worried about Jesse ever since he had come home from the hospital after the explosion. Whatever way you looked at the happenings in the garage both Jo and Jesse should be dead, they weren't, but they weren't as they had been either, and Steve remembered Alex's words as he explained a little of their injuries that first awful night. It would be a long time before they got their old Jesse and Jo back, he had said, if they ever did.

. . . . . . . . . .

Lauren had arranged to see Jesse in the afternoon, hoping that she would be able to sign his discharge papers and revert to their Monday appointment schedule. He had arrived in her office just after two, dressed to go home, and had taken up the offer of a cup of coffee.

"How are you feeling today, Jesse?" Once again the recording equipment was doing its work, and this time, because they were in the counseling suite of the hospital it was being videoed as well.

"I'm ok. Alex gave me something to help me sleep, and you know it really does help." Jesse had his hands cupped round his drink, taking warmth from the china. "I don't dream, and when I wake up I actually feel like I have had some rest, I … I can't remember the last time I felt that way." Jesse looked down at his hands, he was a doctor, he shouldn't be here being treated, he should be doing his job.

"And what part of that do you find a problem? The lack of sleep, the admitting to it, or the fact that you might have to take tablets for a while?"

Jesse considered the question for a minute and then looked up, "All of them I guess, somehow none of this is easy any more."

"You know, I don't think it ever was easy for you to tell me anything, but I've been going back over your files, and I realize that you've been gradually shutting down ever since Rae and Steve rescued you from the garage… Jesse?" Lauren was instantly concerned as her client flinched and tried to disappear into his chair at the mention of Rae and what she and her partner had done.

"What?" Jesse wrapped his arms around himself feeling suddenly cold and uncertain.

"I want you to tell me a little of how you feel when you think about what happened with Don Werner."

For a few minutes Jesse sat, almost unblinking, staring into space, he seemed to be unaware of the world around him, as if he was so deep in thought that it effectively cut out everything else that was happening. Finally he took a breath and began to speak.

"I'm fine, it happened, and I was scared, but it's over now, I don't have a problem with it any more." Jesse looked over Lauren's shoulder; somehow it was easier than looking in her eyes.

"I see, so if I needed to get some information from you about it you would be ok to talk it through with me, or maybe if Rae needed to have some questions answered you could do that?"

"I don't think that she does have questions, Steve was there, he knows what happened, she could ask him, and I told you already, so you don't need any more information."

Lauren flicked back through the typewritten notes in front of her, the time Jesse was mentioning had been just after the actual explosion, he had still been in the hospital and the meeting had been in his room. Although still on a lot of pain medication he hadn't been sleepy or muddled, and they had talked together easily, although the subject matter had been anything but that.

Lauren had sat quietly by Jesse's bed for a little over five minutes before he began to speak. She knew that he was suffering great pain, but she had checked his chart and he had been given his last set of meds just an hour before so he was relatively pain free at the moment. Her heart had gone out to him as she had seen him for the first time since his release. The superficial wounds were healing over, and she knew they would disappear in time, his legs were hidden under a metal cage to prevent the bedclothes putting any weight on them, and his arm was suspended at an angle so that there would be no edema caused. But it was his face and his hair that produced the most distress. He looked haunted, and his head was almost red raw where she could see the results of his hair being pulled out by the roots. She knew that physically he would recover, but mentally she was very concerned for him.

"Hi, I wondered when you would come see me." Jesse had looked at her, and tears had formed in his eyes.

"If you think it's too early to talk things through then I can go, but I really would like to get our meetings started today." Lauren had a pad of paper on her lap, and although she hadn't written anything yet she already had observations which she wished to note down.

"No, I want to talk about it, I need to talk about it, but not to Rae, or Steve, or anyone who was there, I need to discuss it with someone who doesn't know what happened."

Lauren had nodded her head, she could understand his feelings, if he talked about it with his wife or his friend there would be a need to thank them over and over for saving him, and she knew that even though neither of them would feel that was necessary she was certain Jesse would. "Ok, well, you talk and I'll listen, but I think I need to start a little before you were taken, did you know about Don Werner, what he had been doing?"

"Yeah, I knew, it was an awful case, and it was really getting to both Rae and Steve, they found a dismembered head in the freezer, Steve found, well he found … genitalia in his truck, I knew that if they didn't get a break soon it would wear them both down. We knew it was a cop, a vice cop, we just didn't know which one."

"I see, and did you feel in any danger because of your wife's involvement with this guy?"

Jesse had shaken his head and a wave of pain had crossed his features. "No, not this time. I have in the past but this time, although it was awful, it was just a case that she and Steve asked for help on, nothing more."

"And when you were taken, how did they get to you?" Lauren looked up, interest on her face. She hadn't read the reports purposely so that everything Jesse told her was fresh and new, there would be plenty of time to catch up on the official version later.

"I should have realized, known that something was up, I know there are some crazy guys behind the wheels of the cars in this city, but this was different, when I look back he knew who we were, I had a Texan heiress in my car for crying out loud, and I let him tailgate me for miles." Jesse had paused then, lowered his eyes and looked at the bed sheets for a while.

"Jesse," Lauren had a sudden idea and continued speaking even though her friend and patient hadn't answered her, "do you blame yourself for what happened?"

Jesse had thought again, but Lauren couldn't gage his reactions until he began to speak. "Sort of. I know that I'm not to blame for what he did to us, but the car, I'm married to a cop, Jo used to be one, and we just let them take us. We made it too easy for them."

"Jesse, what is the official line if you're car-jacked?"

"If the guy has a weapon, give up your car, but if someone tries to abduct you, you should fight back."

"You are right on both counts, but you weren't abducted by one person, there was two of them wasn't there?" She had received a nod and so continued talking, "and you knew that the whole LAPD would be looking for you. Jesse, the two of you could be dead now if you hadn't gone with him, you can't blame yourself, and you were on the highway, I don't think that you need to reproach yourself for any of this."

"But if I'd gone a different way, or had spotted him and pulled into a busy parking lot or something he may have driven off." Jesse had been silent again and this time Lauren knew he was putting feelings together. "No, he wouldn't, would he? He wanted Jo, whatever happened he wanted her, at least this way I was there, she had someone with her all the time." The realization that he had helped seemed to calm Jesse down considerably and he had turned and smiled at Lauren. "Thank you, I hadn't looked at it that way before, I guess I did help didn't I?" The smile that had crossed his face then had been so bright, so real that Lauren had reached over and taken his hand and squeezed it, she had been worried for him, but maybe, just maybe he would come out of this intact after all.

Lauren looked up; the session had ended just after that as Jesse had begun to tire. They had talked about what had happened over the next few weeks, but, as she had realized earlier in the day as she re-read all his notes, Jesse had become an expert at keeping his feelings tightly controlled, and she hadn't actually gotten anything very much out of him since then.

"Jesse, do you want to go home?" Lauren knew the answer, but she needed to see his reaction, she wanted to see if there was any fear or trepidation in his answer.

"Can I? Yes please, I miss my girls, and I just want to be back where I belong. I want to work too, Lauren, please."

Lauren sat and thought for a few minutes, then she picked up the phone and put a call through to the ER department; as she waited to be connected she spoke to Jesse. "I'm going to speak with Doctor Sloan; I don't think you should treat patients right away, but maybe if you work on the clerical side for a week or so, see how things go."

Jesse nodded his head and then saw Lauren react as a voice spoke to her through the phone and he knew that part of his immediate future was about to be decided, and he had no say in it.

. . . . . . . . . .

Rae had, in the end, spent most of the rest of the day helping Reece Windsor interview staff members at the Beach View Hotel, and by the time it got to six o'clock she felt tired and disillusioned. The friends and colleagues of Leonie had painted a picture of a woman who had found herself later in life than most. She had struggled to give her daughter a strong, happy and secure upbringing, and as soon as she was able she had gone to school and taken her GED then, once she had passed that, she had finally gone to college.

The fitness centre at the hotel had been successful before Leonie had taken charge of it, but it had become even more so in the two years she had been there. Samantha had graduated high school, but knew that her mom couldn't afford to send her to college and so she had offered to work for a couple of years so that she could fund her own education.

Once they had finished at the hotel Rae had said goodbye to Reece and, making a quick decision, decided to drive by the drug store where Samantha had worked to speak with the manager if it was still open. As Rae had thought, it was a twenty-four hour store and she could see a middle aged woman standing behind the counter. Rae knew that Steve had spoken briefly with the woman after Samantha had been identified, but she had been too upset to give him any information, and in the end, as she had become breathless and faint he had put a call through to her doctor, and concluded the meeting. Now though, the woman looked in control of herself, and there were two other members of staff also working, so Rae was confident she could get the interview over with and that when Steve returned to work on Monday they would be up to date with everything, or as up to date as they ever got!

Rae moved up to the counter and smiled. "Hi, I'm Detective Yeager; I'd like to speak with Mrs Thorne please."

"Yes, that is me, it … it was a man last time. I'm glad it's not him again; he was really nice, kind too, but well, I made such a fool of myself." The woman took Rae's ID which she had taken out of her jacket pocket and then she looked closely at the photo and back at Rae. "I'm sorry, I don't see faces too well."

Rae felt her heart plummet, she had held out high hopes for possibly the one person who had seen Samantha with Dominic. Still at least they had a name for the guy now, and thankfully it wasn't Jacob, or Michael or one of the other very popular ones.

The two women went out into the small staff room at the back of the store and Mrs Thorne sat down. Rae waited a minute, realized that an invitation wasn't going to be forthcoming, and sat down anyway. She was so tired that she didn't think she could stand up for a whole interview.

Forty-five minutes later, it was clear that no one in the drug store had enough information for them to be able to provide an accurate description of the main suspect in their murder enquiry. Rae now knew that Dominic was taller than Sam, had blonde hair, which could have been light brown, was wearing blue denims which might well be black, and had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Mrs Thorne had gotten very tearful as she explained how she had offered for Sam to take some extra time on her lunch hour as long as she worked through the afternoon.

"I got so angry you know when she didn't come back. I mean I had given her extra time and still she was late. I was going to fire her when she arrived. I can't have that sloppy time keeping, but I didn't know, how could I have known? Maybe if I hadn't said she could have a long lunch break maybe she would still be alive." The tears had started in earnest then, and Rae, remembering what had happened the last time someone had spoken to her, kept a very close eye on her. Once the tears slowed a little Rae placed her hand over that of the distraught woman.

"Ma'am, even if you had banned her from seeing Dominic he might still have gotten to her somehow and killed her, there is no way of knowing what would have happened. But I don't think that those extra few minutes made any difference to her fate, I really don't."

"She was such a lovely girl, she saved all her money, didn't go out much, her mom was really her best friend … Oh, Leonie, she must be taking this so hard, and I haven't even gone to see her, I will go tonight, right after you have gone I will go see her."

Rae carefully placed her hand back on her own lap and took a deep breath. "Mrs Thorne, Mrs Morrison died this morning." Rae knew that there would be no chance of any other information, but she also thought that she had everything she was going to get. There was no security film of the time Sam had met Dominic, the camera was positioned to show the cash desk, the rows of shelves where customers were out of sight of the assistants, the pharmacy and the main door. Dominic had been seen entering through the door, but the area had been in shade, and his face wasn't visible. It was also impossible to see whether the lady who thought he had blonde hair was correct, or the one who thought brown.

. . . . . . . . . .

Jo had found Steve fast asleep in the garden, the cares of the last few days forgotten as he sat, his long legs out in front of him, and his head leant back against the high backed chair he was sitting in. For a while she had sat on the grass just enjoying being with him, watching him, loving him with every fibre of her being.

Jo needed to speak with Steve, but somehow studying him was a far more satisfying pastime, and so, for about thirty minutes there had been no sound except that of the birds in the trees, and the occasional car driving along the road in front of the house. Slowly though Jo could tell that Steve knew he was no longer alone, and so, not wanting to put all his police defenses on alert she moved over and gently took his hand.

"Hey, good lookin' whachadooin'?" Her voice was soft and husky, she suddenly realized that she didn't want to talk, and Steve waking up slowly and looking up into her eyes pulled her onto his lap and began to kiss her. Jo melted against him, running her fingers through his hair before letting her hands play down his spine, feeling his skin through the material of his shirt, and then pulling it from the waistband of his pants so that she could gently massage his back muscles. Steve let out a deeply contented sigh before moving slightly so that he could plant tiny kisses down her neck until Jo carefully moved back from her husband's embrace and helped him to his feet; she walked back inside in silence and took him up the stairs. The house was empty and as he followed her Steve felt himself becoming more and more aroused, and when Jo entered their bedroom and closed the door behind him he took her into his arms and began running his fingers through her hair as he kissed her once more.

Their love-making was slow and sensuous, neither of them wanting it to end, but finally, as the light dimmed on the early fall evening they lay, naked, in each other's arms not needing to say anything or do anything, just loving each other, totally.

. . . . . . . . . .

Rae had called the hospital from her car after interviewing Mrs. Thorne and was thrilled to find that Jesse had been discharged. She asked whether she needed to come pick him up but she was told that he had gotten a lift from a friend, and was no longer in the building. Rae smiled to herself, Jesse was a popular member of staff, and she was sure that there would have been no shortage of offers to take him home. Rae then called the station and let Cheryl know that she wouldn't be coming back to the precinct. It was a little earlier than she should be finishing, but she was so despondent after the interviews that day that she knew she would be about as much use as a chocolate teapot until she got some sleep.

Rae picked up her daughters from Sally, listened as she told her that Eliana had once again had an asthma attack, paid for the services she had received, and also gave her the bouquet of flowers she had purchased on the way over.

"Oh, Rae, they are just lovely, but you shouldn't have." Sally had gazed at the beautiful flowers and taken a deep breath of the heady scent of the roses and carnations that were all held together in cellophane.

"Sally, I don't know what I would do without you; you won't let me pay you more than I do per hour, just today you cared for Ana when she was sick, you do so much. This is just a little indication of how thankful I am that you are the one looking after our daughters."

The child carer leant over and kissed her friend on the cheek. There had been many times when she had wished that she looked after children whose mommy and daddy worked normal hours, but then either Eliana or Anneya would smile and give her a kiss and a hug and she knew that when they finally both went to school she would miss them terribly, and that all the worry and concern was worth it if it helped give them a stable upbringing.

"It has always been my pleasure to look after them, and you pay me above the going rate anyway." Sally paused for a moment and then began to talk again. "I haven't liked to ask before, but how is Jesse?"

"He's better than he was. Lauren discharged him, so he should be waiting when we get home." Rae couldn't help herself, she just beamed as she spoke.

"Well then, what are you doing standing on my step? Get going, go home and have a lovely family weekend, and I'll see the girls on Monday." Sally made shooing gestures with her hands, and laughing, Rae walked back down the path with one little girl clasping tightly each side of her.

The traffic was heavy, and the pool car had a rattle Rae wasn't sure about. She would have to go and look for a new car the next day, or at least check the internet. Rae glanced at her watch, it was half past seven, and she didn't feel at all like cooking. "Girls, I think we will call into Bob's and grab ourselves some dinner, what do you say?"

"Yay, ribs!" Eliana bounced in the back of the car, her booster seat making the noise that only polystyrene against nylon could. She didn't have ribs, but the beef sandwich with coleslaw and salad, Anneya had the same, but Rae usually took it to pieces and let each little girl eat it with her fingers.

Pulling into the parking lot Rae carefully unfastened the car seat that her youngest daughter was in and then hitching her up so that she was sitting on her hip she moved around and opened the other door and waited for Eliana to release her belt. They had come to an agreement the day that her eldest daughter learnt how to undo her buckle. If she left it alone until her mommy said otherwise, she could be the last person to leave the car and make sure that the doors were locked. So far it was working like a charm. The little girl climbed carefully out of the car, moved over to the passenger door, stood on tippy toes and looked in through the glass. As the two buttons engaged in the doors she turned. "Okey Dokey, let's go!"

Rae shook her head and laughed; someone some day was going to have their work cut out being married to Eliana. Rae held out her hand and felt the soft smooth flesh of her child's hand as it slipped into hers and then carefully they made their way towards the bright lights which advertised the barbeque restaurant.

Barbeque Bobs wasn't busy; in fact as Nadine put a fresh vase of flowers on one of the tables near the door, she wondered whether it would liven up at all. It was a Friday night, and usually either Steve or Jesse would be working. Tonight though she knew that Alex Martin would be coming over to cash up at the end of the evening, and he had left a message telling her to call him if it got busy before ten, which was when he was planning to arrive. Nadine shook her blonde ponytail and looked around again, there were only three tables occupied in the whole place, and there were four people on duty. She had a feeling that Alex would be getting his quiet night in. The sound of the bell above the door heralded a new set of customers and Nadine turned, a smile on her face which froze in place, as she saw who had just come in.

"Rae, hi, you should have called, I would have gotten your order ready. I don't have room for you to sit, why don't you go to the car? I'll get it brought out to you, or better yet I could have it delivered to your house, how would that be?"

"Nadine, what's the matter?" Rae tried to move a little further into the restaurant, but the young woman wouldn't let her. All her cop instincts came on alert and Rae was just about to speak again when Anneya began to call out.

"Dadda, Dadda!"

"Rae, please, go wait in the car." The pleading tone in Nadine's voice finally got through to Rae and she turned and left the restaurant, trying to ignore both the sound of her childrens' cries, and the view behind Nadine of her husband holding hands with another woman, the same woman she had seen him kissing just days before.