The room was empty, but Fin could hear the faucet going in the bathroom. He sat in a chair and waited for Karen. He didn't have to wait long. She came out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of faded jeans, and a light green long-sleeved shirt with a scooping neck line. She wiped away some water from her face and looked up.
Her sad blue eyes meet with Fin's intense dark ones, and she froze for a moment. She squeaked out the word Jesus and ran back in the bathroom, quickly shutting the door. She leaned against the door shaking her head. He couldn't be real. Some medical induced delusion.
She pushed herself off the door, and took a deep breath. It did nothing to settle her nerves. She raised her shaky arm and slowly opened the door. She peeked out, and stared at Fin. He was sitting casually in the hospital chair, looking around. He turned his head and stared at Karen. She gulped and exited the bathroom.
The first thing Fin noticed when she stepped out of the bathroom was she had been crying. The second thing he noticed was how scared she looked, yet there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes as she looked over Fin. He had a grave face that seemed set in stone. Karen found this trait unusual, and continued to stare at him. He was seemed real, and was sitting in her hospital chair.
"Hello," she whispered sheepishly.
"Hi," he responded.
Karen walked closer to him, but made sure she kept her distant. She sat on the bed, her eyes never leaving Fin and asked, "Where you from Heaven, Hell, or upper eastside?"
She laughed gravely at her private joke. When Fin didn't answer her, she realized she was talking to someone she wasn't sure even existed. She jumped off the bed and muttered, "I'm crazy. I'm talking to a medical illusion."
"I'm not an illusion," Fin told her.
"I don't want you to be real," Karen said quietly, backing away from Fin.
"Why?" Fin asked calmly, standing up.
Karen shook her head and backed away saying, "Stay away from me. I can't die."
"Why would you think you would die?"
"Listen Angel of Death or Collector of Damned Souls, leave me alone," Karen snapped at him. She winced as soon as the words spilled from her lips. She stared remorsefully at Fin and started reciting 'Our Father.'
She truly confused Fin. He had seen her be fierce and fight with everyone else, but around him she acted like a scared two-year-old who liked to hide behind their parents when they met a stranger, but who would also peek out and stare at the stranger. To Fin, she seemed almost as if she feared his wrath.
"I'm not here to collect your soul," Fin told her.
"Of course you're not," Karen said. "You're only a delusion. And I'm insane to think I would get an angel."
"You're not crazy," Fin said kindly.
"Oh, but I am," Karen rebuffed, "because I'm having a nice little chat with my delusion."
"Can I ask you something?"
Karen shrugged and said, "Why not, delusion?"
"Why don't you tell anyone what happen to you that night?"
Her face drained of emotions. She gazed into Fin's eyes and he knew the answer. Her eyes held fear, desperation, anxiety, and showed she was hurt deeply. Still, something about the way she was acting he felt as if she wasn't worried about herself. If she had been concerned about only herself, she would tell the police what had happened. Yet she had kept her mouth shut, and he had figured out why.
"He threatened Krystal, didn't he?"
She dug her nails into her left wrist and nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. As she held back the tears she choked out, "I can't let anything happen to Krystal."
Fin nodded. He understood how Karen felt. He would make sure his child was safe too, by any means.
"Karen if you tell me what happened, I'll make sure Krystal is protected," he assured her.
She looked desperately at Fin and said, "I wish I could believe you Angel."
Fin wondered how he could get Karen to talk. He didn't want to threaten her with arresting her for obstructing justice, and he definitely didn't think that would have her open up. He had an idea, but it could end up with him getting slap. It was the only option left.
"Do you want justice?" Fin asked.
"Yes, but not at the price of Krystal," Karen told him.
"Don't you think Krystal wants justice too? Don't you think she wants the man who almost killed her mother to be put behind bars?"
Karen paused, she hadn't thought about that possibility. Fin knew that and continued, "She was the one who stayed by your side, day and night refusing to leave. She's a victim too. If you don't want justice for yourself then how about justice for your daughter?"
She looked sadly at the ground and bit her lip. Finally she asked, looking up at Fin with determination in her eyes, "My daughter would be safe, right?"
Fin nodded and Karen said in a shaky voice, "I thought he was Ron, that's why I opened the door. If I knew he wasn't Ron, I never would have opened the door."
She sat down on the bed shaking. Fin pulled a chair up to her and said, "It's all right Karen, take your time. Tell me what happened."
"I want to shut the door, but he pushed it back open. He handed me a piece of mail I drop on the stairs, as he stepped into my apartment."
"Why do you remember him giving you a piece of mail?"
"He criticized me for being unorganized," Karen answered.
"What happen next?" Fin asked, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
"I asked him to leave, but he just laughed. Called me an adulterous whore, and said he didn't need to listen to me. That's when I tried to force him out and he hit me." Her hand flew up to her jaw where there was a fading bruise. She took a deep breath and went on. "At that point I told him to leave or I would call the cops. He laughed at me and said it wouldn't matter if I did or not, he could easily put cops on the pay role. That's when I punched him.
"It shocked him for a moment, and I started running towards my bedroom. He grabbed my hair, and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arm around my neck and squeezed. I cried out, but he squeezed tighter till I couldn't make a sound. That's when I elbowed him, I wasn't sure if I hit his stomach or groin, but I know I hit him. That's when I ran, and made it to the bedroom. I locked the door, and went to the phone debating if I should call 9-1-1. I thought maybe he would leave on his own if I stayed in my room.
"And that's when he started banging on the door and kicked the door in. I froze, and when he started coming towards me I realized he wasn't going to leave on his own. So, when he got in range I started throwing punches. He grabbed my wrist and pushed me against the wall. He pushed his arm against my throat and with my one free hand I started clawing at his arm. He pressed his arm deeper against my throat until I almost collapsed.
"I remember falling to the ground, and hitting the corner of the table on the way down. I also remember looking into his eyes, trembling, and seeing smug satisfaction on his face. He started saying something, but I couldn't hear it. While he was distracted I tried to crawl away, but he grabbed my leg and dragged me over to the bed. I kicked his arm away and tried to stand. He grabbed my arm and forced me up.
"He started twisting my arm, so I grabbed a fist full of hair and pulled. He threw me on the bed and said-" Karen stopped and broke down. All the tears she was holding back flooded through and she couldn't stop them. She was shaking worse then before and she started using her sleeves to wipe away the large masses of tears streaming down her cheek. Fin looked around and found a box of tissues. He got up and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she murmured.
"No problem," Fin told her. He paused and asked, "What happened next?"
"He said if I screamed or hit him again he would hurt Krystal," Karen answered him, already halfway through the box of tissues.
"I hate to ask, but can you tell me what he did after that?"
"He got on top of me and ran his hands over me." She paused and sobbed heavier as she said, "I couldn't just lay there and do nothing, even though I tried to remind myself to stay still for Krystal's sake. I just couldn't. I started fighting back and he bashed my head against the headboard. Then all I could focus on was the pain. When I felt his touch again, I tried kicking him and he bashed my head against the headboard again. I blacked out after that."
She used the rest of the tissues, and looked down at the ground. Fin placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I know it's hard, but did you ever find out his name or can you give a description of his face?"
She stopped shaking, and her eyes turn dry. She looked at Fin with unreadable emotions in her eyes and said, "His name is Jonathan Marcelo."
Casey Novak was sitting in her office preparing some final paper work for the first day of Ron's trail, when she got Donald Cragen knocked on her door. "Come in."
"Hi Casey," Cragen greeted her.
"Hi Don, is there something I can do for you?"
"Well, I've got good news," Cragen told her, taking a seat. Casey nodded and Cragen told her, "Fin got Karen to make a statement."
"That is good news," Casey said. "Did she finally come to her sense and stop protecting Ron?"
"No," Cragen said with an air of trouble in his voice.
Casey picked up on it and asked urgently, "What happened?"
"She says Jonathan Marcelo raped her."
Casey smiled and asked, "And what do you expect me with that? Arrest the son of New York's biggest and most powerful businessman? This is a practical joke, right?"
"No," Cragen assured her seriously.
Casey's smile dropped off her face and she shook her head. "We have an almost perfect case against Ron Weston with matching fingerprints over the victim's apartment, a souvenir from her apartment, a sexual history with the victim and no alibi."
"There's no motive," Cragen reminded her. "Plus, if I was a juror and the victim said in court that Ron didn't rape her, I wouldn't evict him."
"Donald, do you know what you are asking me to do? If I give up this highly plausible case to peruse a highly implausible case, I will be the laughing stock of the District Attorney office."
"Casey, do you honestly think you could win this case if Karen gets on the stand for the defense?" Donald asked.
"I'd have a better chance then if we prosecute a Marcelo," Casey told him.
"What would convince you to try and convict Marcelo?" Cragen asked.
"A motive that can't be shot down with reasonable doubt."
Rikers Island Holding Cell Number 3. Friday, March 5th.
Ron Weston sat in a gray prisons suit across from Casey Novak with his lawyer sitting next to him. Casey stared at him wondering why she had let Olivia talk her into coming here. Olivia had to spend twenty minutes convincing her that Ron knew something and was covering up for someone, maybe even Jonathan Marcelo. Finally, after Olivia had whined, or what seemed like whining to Casey, nonstop for fifteen minutes Casey agreed to talk to Ron. So that's what she was doing here.
"What is it that you want to talk to my client about Miss Novak?" Jacqueline asked her eyes staring sternly at Casey.
Casey held in her thought that this was ridiculous and said, "The police have informed me that they think he is covering for someone. Whether it is a partner, friend, or enemy and I think it would be in your client's best interests to tell us everything he knows."
Ron stared at her when she said enemy. His eyes widened with fear and he wondered if she knew. No, he reassured himself, she couldn't know.
"I think the only reason you would ask that is if you have evidence against someone else for the same crime my client allegedly commented," Jacqueline said in a mater of fact tone and her eyes were no longer filled with anger, but amusement. "So tell me about this new piece of evidence and then maybe we'll talk."
Casey stared at Jacqueline with loathing. She knew she couldn't go flat out and tell Jacqueline what Karen said. "How about you tell your client how bad this case looks for him, and if he doesn't start talking soon then he is digging his own grave?"
Jacqueline leaned in and whispered in Ron's ear. Ron knew his defense looked bad and he would probably lose, but he rather go to jail then face the alterative.
"I don't know anything," Ron told Casey stubbornly.
Casey glanced over to Olivia agitated. Olivia felt the heat from her glare and decided to take a chance. She sat down and looked at Ron. He was nervous, and she knew he was hiding something.
"Would it help if I said I didn't think you did this to Karen?" she asked softly.
Ron looked at her cautiously. Her face looked genuine. She had concern written all over her face, which was looking gently at him. Ron shook his head and said, "That's a lie. You think I'm guilty."
"No, but I do think you know who might have done this," Olivia told him. "And I don't know why you are trying to protect him."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ron said again.
"He already went after your ex-wife, who is to say he won't go after you or your wife or child?"
Ron turned his head violently and Jacqueline asked, "What's your offer?"
"He tells us what he knows and from there we see if we can knock off the sexual assault charge," Casey said defiantly.
Jacqueline pondered this for a moment and whispered in Ron's ear. Ron shook his head and said, "No, I won't say a thing."
Casey said and got ready to leave. She felt there was no point in trying to help Ron if he didn't want to help himself, even if Olivia did want to help prove his innocence. She didn't know why everyone in the sixteenth precinct who once worked so hard to prove his guilt was now trying to prove his innocence. It was starting to get on her nerves.
"Ron, please tell us about what you know so we can put Karen's rapist behind bars," Olivia said. "If we don't catch him now, he will attack again. Rape to rapist is like a highly addicted drug that they grow a tolerance to quickly. If Karen's rapist strikes again, he will kill his victim and there's no telling who that will be."
Ron shifted uncomfortably and mumbled bitterly to himself, "Maybe if she had kept her mouth shut this wouldn't have happened."
Casey raised an eyebrow and asked, "What does that mean?"
"I'd like a moment alone to speak to my client," Jacqueline demanded quickly.
"No," Casey answered her shortly. She turned on Ron and asked, "What did you mean by 'if she had kept her mouth shut?'"
Ron shook his head and said, "No way in hell I'm going to tell you."
"How would you like content to be added onto your list of charges?" Casey asked in a dangerous tone. "Tell me what you meant."
Ron stared her down. Hated boiled in his veins and was reflected in his eyes, yet Casey's treacherous stare was much worse and Ron knew it. "I was being blackmailed," Ron said quietly and slowly.
"You were blackmailed into trying to kill Karen?" Casey asked to clarify.
"No!" Ron cried out. He sighed desperately and explained, "I was supposed to do this article on the Marcelos, about the alleged drugs that they smuggle into the country, when Marcelo stops by for a chat. He says he knows whom I'm doing and that it would break Hannah's heart if she knew, but he would gladly tell her. Then he says drop the article and no one would have to know, for now.
"I never told Karen I was being blackmailed, but I have a feeling she figured it out. And since Karen is Karen, I wouldn't have put it past her to confront Marcelo about and end up in the hospital."
Casey stared at him and whispered, only loud enough for Ron to hear, "You better not be lying."
Then she stood up and walked over to Olivia by the door. "Is that enough for a motive?" Olivia asked in a pompous manner.
Casey gave her a glare and said, "Maybe." She turned to Ron and asked, "Are you willing to testify to being blackmailed in court?"
Ron laughed and said, "Why should I? I'd end up dead, and besides, it won't help my case."
"No, but it will help the prosecution's case against Jonathan Marcelo for the rape and attempted murder of Karen Barely."
A/N: all right, tell me how you think the story is going so far. I hope you like it.
