Chapter 10
Casey Novak emerged from the courtroom with a smile on her face, trailed by Gallagher, Benson and Stabler. "We got it! I could tell by the look on the Judge's face when she saw the scrapbook that her mind was pretty much made up, but when David talked about the phone call last night, that really sealed the deal. We caught a big break when Justin didn't show up but his lawyer did. He won't be able to argue he didn't have proper notice or representation. As soon as the paperwork goes through, I'll get it over to you.
She turned to her star witness. "You did a great job, David. I have to admit I was a little nervous when I heard about last night, but you really held it together. You should be proud."
"Thanks, Ms. Novak," Gallagher responded, a slight blush tinging his cheeks. "And thanks for everything you've done for me. I really appreciate it."
"Not a problem. I have to warn you, though, the next round isn't going to be that easy. If we can't get Justin to confess, the sexual assault charges are going to be extremely difficult to prove. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Pretty sure," David said with a slight hesitation. "The thought of it scares me a lot, but I know I can't let Justin get away with it. After the phone call last night, I know he'd have no qualms about doing something like that to somebody else. He wasn't really sorry he did it to me. He was more upset that I didn't react to it the way he expected me to. How long will it be until the trial?"
"We have to catch him first," Stabler interjected.
"Once we do there'll be a lot of preliminaries, and I'm sure his lawyer will be angling to make a deal to avoid trial," Novak said. "If there's no deal, there'll be weeks, possibly months of motions, objections and discovery to wade through before we're ready for trial. It can be a long drawn-out process. That's one reason we got the TRO. If he makes bail at his arraignment, we can arrest him again if he tries to contact you."
"If he makes a deal there wouldn't have to be a trial? What kind of deal would you make?"
"In exchange for him pleading guilty to all the charges or possibly to a lesser charge, if I feel it's warranted, we'll offer him less jail time. I don't intend to accept any offer that gives him a get out of jail free card."
"Will there be doctors at the jail who will help him? What his father did to him really messed him up in the head. The way he is, it isn't all his fault. Somebody should try to help him."
Novak, Benson and Stabler exchanged glances. "We can see about getting him into a psychiatric facility to do his time, if that's what you really want," Novak said.
"Could you? No one would hurt him there, would they? I know if they put him in a regular jail, the other guys will hurt him -- the way his father used to - and I don't want that. He does this stuff because he never had anybody who gave a damn about him or did anything but hurt him. I want somebody to help him the way all of you are helping me. I wish I could help him myself, but I know things have gone too far for that. He's not going to listen to me any more. I'd even drop the charges if I believed he'd get help and that he'd leave me alone and not hurt anybody else, but I know he won't. Not until someone forces him to stop."
The others were silent for a moment before Stabler finally said, "I wish I could be as good a person as you are, David. I really do."
Gallagher looked at him in surprise. "You are a good person, Elliot. You've been really good to me. I don't know how I would have gotten through any of this without you, without all of you. And I really want to thank you for that. It means more to me than you could ever know."
"That's what we're here for," Novak said, attempting to lighten the mood. "I've got to go. I've got a meeting back at the office. I'll send you those papers as soon as I get them from the judge's office."
As she turned and strode off down the hall, Benson asked, "Can we drop you somewhere, David?"
"Actually," Stabler interrupted, "he's coming with us. George Huang needs to meet with him again."
"Why?" David asked, his voice going slightly wary. "He said I was fine when I saw him before the hearing. He wouldn't have let me testify otherwise."
"Do you really need to ask after what happened last night?" Noting David's crestfallen expression, he added, "Look, he just wants to sit down with you and go over some options for additional counseling. I know you're comfortable with Dr. Wilcox and he said you wouldn't have to stop seeing her if you don't want to, but we both think it would help for you to have someone else to talk to. It seems pretty clear there are some subjects you aren't comfortable discussing with her, and you really need to talk about them with somebody. You have to get it off your chest before it eats you up from the inside out -- and that is what's happening, David. You've got to do something about it now."
Gallagher continued to stare at him unhappily for a moment before finally nodding his head.
David ambled idly through the Elmhurst campus, enjoying its seasonal beauty on this brisk November day, and feeling better than he had in weeks. He'd been surprised to find Dr. Wilcox at the meeting with Dr. Huang and relieved when she supported Huang's suggestion that he get additional counseling. Elliot had been right that there were things he just didn't feel comfortable telling her, but she had been so kind to him over the years he hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings by saying that. Dr. Huang had recommended several doctors and he'd agreed to make preliminary appointments with two of them. If he didn't like either of them, there were several other names to choose from. It was a pleasant surprise to find that after hiding from his dark past for so long, the thought of talking about it no longer filled him with shame and fear, but with a huge sense of relief.
"David! David, wait up!"
The familiar voice startled him and his heart was racing in his chest as he turned to face the person rushing toward him. "Hi Jess," he said, his voice tinged with nervousness.
He felt another wave of relief when she didn't hesitate, but simply threw herself into his arms and hugged him.
"Oh, God, David! I've been so worried about you! Why didn't you call me? I've been out of my mind!"
"I'm sorry, Jess. I was going to call you last night but things got a little crazy. Then I had to go to a hearing this morning."
"A hearing? What kind of hearing? You're not in trouble are you?"
"No, no. I'm fine. I had to testify so we could get a restraining order against Justin. They'll be arresting him as soon as they can find him, but Ms. Novak was worried that if he makes bail, he'll keep trying to harass me into dropping the charges."
"You won't, will you? You're not going to let him get away with what he did to you, are you?"
"No. I can't take the chance he'd try to hurt somebody else if he sees he can get away with it this time."
"Is it okay for you to be walking around here by yourself? What if Justin's lurking around here somewhere, looking for a chance to get at you?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. When I told the detectives I wanted to come here to try to work on some projects, they said I should be safe here. Campus security is working with the police and they're keeping an eye out for Justin. If he shows up on campus, they'll arrest him on the spot. He'd be stupid to show up here with so many people looking for him. And unfortunately Justin's not stupid," he added heavily.
"Notice how I've managed to restrain myself from saying I told you so," Jessica said with a small smile.
"I appreciate that," he said returning the smile.
Jessica had one arm looped around his waist as they walked and talked, and David kept his arm around her shoulders, thinking how good it felt, how natural, to be with her again. "I'm sorry for putting you through all this, Jess. I never even asked how the funeral was. How's your mom holding up?"
"As well as can be expected. The stroke was so sudden. We all thought Grams had another 20 or 30 years left in her."
"She was a terrific lady. I . . . ." The sound of a cellphone's chirping ring interrupted the conversation.
"When did you get a cellphone?"
"Ms. Novak gave it to me in case there was an emergency and they needed to reach me. I'd better answer it."
He pulled out the phone and, not recognizing the number in the display, spoke tentatively into it, "Hello?"
"Is this David Gallagher?"
"Yes. Who's this?"
"This is Officer Peterson, from police dispatch. Detective Stabler's cellphone is on the fritz so he asked me to pass a message on to you."
"What is it?"
"There's been a development in the Justin Graves case. He needs you to meet him at the Regis Arms Hotel in Manhattan at 3:00. Room 624."
David's heartbeat sped up and an alarm went off in his head. "Why? What's going on?"
"Hey, I'm just the dispatcher, not his personal assistant," the man growled. "I only pass along the messages. What should I tell him when he calls in again? Will you be meeting him or not?"
Gallagher hesitated for a moment, then said, "Tell him I'll be there. I'll do anything I can to help."
"Okay, I'll tell him." The man abruptly cut the connection.
"What's wrong, David? You look upset."
"Oh, nothing really, Jess. Detective Stabler needs me to meet with him. There's been some new development about Justin."
"Do you want me to go with you?" she asked, eyes full of concern.
He flashed her a grateful smile. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine."
David stepped out of the elevator and walked down the sixth floor hallway, giving the room numbers on the doors he passed a cursory check but knowing instinctively the room -- no not just a room, a suite -- would be at the very end of the hallway.
He'd had a strong sense of deja vu from the moment the cab turned the corner and the hotel came into view. He'd been sitting, staring absently out the window, letting his mind wander, wondering what the hotel would look like. He'd been in so many during his time away that they all blended together. Even so, it had unsettled him greatly when the building appeared before him looking exactly the same as the picture he'd conjured in his head, except for the awning covering the entrance being a rich royal blue instead of the deep red he'd envisioned.
The sense of familiarity had stayed with him as he crossed the lobby and entered the elevator, although there were just enough things - furniture, lighting, fixtures - that weren't quite right to make him believe it was just a trick his mind was playing on him because he was nervous. He wiped his slightly sweaty palms on his jeans as he approached the double doors marked 624, trying not to let the trepidation he was feeling paralyze him.
A small voice in his head was shouting, This is all wrong! If they found Justin here or found out something that links him to this place, why aren't there any police around? And why did he want to meet you in the room instead of in the lobby?
David raised his hand to knock on the door, but it began to tremble slightly as Justin's words from the phone call the night before reverberated in his head. Can't you see he's just like all the others? He just wants you for himself. He squeezed his eyes closed and thought back at those voices, NO! That's not true! and forced himself to knock.
The door swung open when his knuckles smacked against it, but he remained standing in the hallway for several moments trying to fight back the waves of fear and apprehension that were cascading over him. Slowly he forced himself to move forward into the room, already knowing what it would look like inside - large, open living area brightly lit by the sunlight streaming in from the floor to ceiling windows lining one side of the spacious room. There was a sliding glass door that led to a balcony that stretched the entire length of the room and, he knew without being able to see, continued down the side of the building to meet up with another sliding glass door leading from the master bedroom. At the far left was a small kitchen/dinette area and the door immediately to the right opened to a short hallway leading to the master bedroom with its own private bath to the left and a slightly smaller bedroom with a connecting door leading to the central bathroom to the right.
David stood with his hand on the doorknob looking around the familiar room -- again some things were different, but they were small things like curtain fabric and the color of the rugs. He closed his eyes to block out the image of the room, but another image took its place.
He was slumped into one of the cushy armchairs facing the wall of windows trying to read a book as Mike paced back and forth in nervous agitation. There was a knock on the door and the man's face split into a huge, excited grin as he raced to answer it.
The pain of the metal digging into his hand as he instinctively tightened his grip on the door handle pulled him abruptly out of the vision, his heart racing with fear.
"Elliot? Are you here?" he finally managed to force through a throat that was so dry and constricted he wasn't sure how he'd managed to force any sounds through it at all.
Knowing no one inside could have heard that barely audible query, he forced himself to step further into the room and push the door closed behind him. The click of the lock automatically engaging made him jump nervously as his eyes swept the room again, searching for a sign that someone else was there. His stomach constricted painfully when his searching gaze finally halted at a familiar object. He felt his hands clench involuntarily as he stared at the trenchcoat that had been carefully folded over the back of one of the easy chairs.
Please God, please don't let this be happening, he prayed silently as he forced himself to move to the easy chair and touch the coat. He ran his finger tentatively over a stain on the sleeve he remembered seeing that morning as he'd watched the detective pull the coat on before they left his apartment to go to Casey Novak's office.
The muted sound of soft music playing somewhere close by penetrated the layers of shock and fear. He wondered distantly if it had been playing all along and he'd been too distracted to notice or if someone had just turned it on as he moved automatically toward the slightly open door leading to the bedrooms, following the sound as though it were his own personal pied piper. Pulling the door all the way open and stepping through into the hallway beyond, he focused all his resolve on continuing to move, forcing his reluctant feet forward. His steps slowed as he approached the master bedroom and he felt his body start to tremble again.
He was glad the numbness enveloping him like a cocoon had finally silenced the voice screaming in his head for him to stop, turn around and get out now. Because he couldn't stop. He had to know. If Justin was right, he had to see it for himself. He didn't know what he'd do once he'd seen that awful truth, but seeing it was the only way he could ever believe it.
When he reached the door to the master bedroom, he saw the bed had been turned down. Carefully laid across one of the chairs so they wouldn't crease were a familiar suit coat, trousers, dress shirt, and tie. "Elliot," his voice was so small the word was barely a squeak.
He felt someone come up behind him just before a hand touched his back and slid lightly up and down it in a comforting motion before sliding down to gently squeeze his buttocks. David closed his eyes for a moment to fight back the tears of disappointment before forcing himself to turn around, even though he had no idea what he was going to say or do.
There was barely time to register the malicious smile, the spiky red hair or the movement of the other man's body before pain erupted in his shoulder, then along the side of his face, spreading up to his forehead then downward to reverberate through the rest of his body. He barely felt the second blow smash into his ribs before the world went dark and his body crumpled to the floor.