257
Aligned Design
Ch 47
"I swear to God, I will have your ass for statutory rape, assault, kidnapping, and anything else I can drum up." Deakins made himself stay away from the filthy piece of shit sitting at the table in Interrogation Room 2. Perkins and three others stood by, just in case their boss went ape shit on the guy.
Deakins knew he would have to turn the kid over to the locals, but not yet. He spoke with Perkins, telling him to park that maggot in a holding cell until Deakins got back. "Nobody talks to him. He talks to no one. This bastard has no rights, understand?" Deakins said he would be back in two hours. He headed to his vehicle and drove to the hospital to see his daughter.
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Bobby held Gleason until she fell asleep. He carefully moved away from her and went into the living room for the throw on the back of the sofa. He returned to the bedroom and laid it over her green throw. He stood and watched her sleep for a few moments. He had been certain she was carrying his child. Certain. He sighed and turned away.
Bobby ran down to the lobby and retrieved the Sunday paper from his box. Then he heated a cup of coffee in the microwave, sat in his chair, and opened the paper. Ten minutes later, he was asleep.
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The Melbourne, NY PD positively identified all but two of the fatalities from the pileup. The body from the vehicle with the art had had a wallet on it. Because two other wallets had been found in the vehicle with the body, they ran all three though the system. Neither Alphonse Jones nor Palmer Tillman popped; however, they got a hit on Dominic Jenese. The hit also showed a recent pull from the Major Case Squad in Manhattan.
Sgt. Tom Dillon gave a call to MCS to let them know that the wallet of their recent pull on Dominic Jenese had shown up in a wrecked vehicle in Melbourne. He left a message for anyone associated with the pull. He was told, with thanks, that someone would get back to him shortly.
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Angie sat with Julie in a bay in the ER of Methodist Hospital. Angie would have killed her youngest daughter had she not been so relieved that she was alive. Julie would have a shiner on her right eye for weeks and would not see the light of day for years – if Angie had her way. Julie was lucky that Matt hadn't hit her harder or more often.
Angie had insisted, over Julie's protests, that a rape kit be done. She also insisted that vaginal fluids be tested for every known STD including HIV. She wanted to know if Julie could be pregnant, and if they could tell how long ago her hymen had been broken. She wanted all of the facts before she talked with Julie's father. This child needs counseling. She asked about referrals for this kind of behavior.
Julie sat and sulked on the gurney, not looking at her mother, dreading her father's arrival. She thought of Matt. Well, she was done with him, not that there would be any chance of her ever seeing Matt again after this. She honestly wondered if her dad would beat up Matt. You know, take him into a soundproof, windowless room with officers standing outside the door, knowing what he was doing, standing guard, letting their boss beat the crap out of Matt. He deserved it, for sure.
The more she thought of what she had done, the worse Julie felt. She thought about the good time she had had with her folks the previous evening. They fun she and her mum had had all day yesterday. She thought about Caitlyn, her best friend. Caitlyn's mum probably made Caitlyn tell her own mum about Matt and his car. She thought about how badly Caitlyn must feel, having to tell on her best friend.
The more she thought about things, the worse she felt. After nearly an hour of just sitting and waiting, Julie was in a very dark place in her mind. Her parents would not be able to love her ever again. Her teachers will find out. They will think of her as a bad girl. Everyone at school will know about her, they'll think she's a slut. The boys will all want to go out with her just so they can get into her pants. None of the girls will want to hang out with her, because she's so easy. Julie had thought herself into a clinical depression.
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"I will bet you we have a stack of things waiting for us when we get upstairs," Sledge said to Bishop in the lift.
"And this excites you?" she replied.
"Yeah. See, if we have stuff to do, the time will go fast. We'll get a leg up on Goren and Eames. Maybe push that art heist to the solve column. Then, Deakins will look upon us favorably." Sledge smiled at his logic.
"'Look upon us favorably'? What is with you, Edward? Since when do you care about who thinks what about anything?"
They walked from the lifts to the bullpen. "Hey, Sledge, you got a couple messages here. And the report on the Glock .22 stippling came up," Perkins called over.
Sledge turned to his partner and smiled with a nod, "Told you, didn't I?" He crossed to Perkins and picked up two message slips and the stippling report.
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Deakins found his wife and daughter in the ER. Angie saw him and crossed to him, arms out. He gathered her, hugged her and walked to his daughter. Angie pulled him back and said, "Jim, wait. Don't yell. She's safe. Don't yell at her."
Deakins couldn't take his eyes off his daughter's face. "Look at her! Jesus Christ, he beat her!"
"Jim! Jim, look at me. Jimmy, please. Please."
He finally looked at his wife. "I had them do a complete vaginal workup. A rape kit, swabs for all STDs. Let's wait and see what they say. Ok? Jim, do not yell at her. Promise?" Angie held onto his arm until he nodded. They walked to Julie's side together.
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"Sweetie, oh, Canvettelli, I have missed you! Come here, come here." Jenese saw his quasi-business partner and rushed to him. Tillman stayed back, hanging out with the two bags. He watched his lover hug and kiss this pretty, slim, pale, young man. So, this is the famous Canvettelli, huh? Well, well, well. We shall see.
Canvettelli was aloof, air kissing his former lover. "So, you are here. Are we wealthy? How much did you get? Where is it?" He looked at Jenese from under raised eyebrows.
"We are wealthy indeed! You are going to be so happy. The guy really wanted those pieces. Well, he only wanted two of them, but I told him the lot or naught. He said ok, reluctantly. But, because it was three times what he was expecting to pay, he had to transfer funds between accounts in the Caymans."
Canvettelli crossed his arms, slung out his hip and copped an attitude of ultimate disdain. "So, you have no money. Is that right? The money is in the Caymans. Do you have an account number? Tell me you have an account number."
"Of course, silly, I have an account number. What do you think I am? Now, I want you to meet our third party." Jenese turned and motioned for Tillman to approach. "Sweetie, come here, I want you to meet a very important person. Come on, come here."
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Julie wouldn't look at her parents. Deakins was trembling. Anger and relief battled for domination in his mind and heart. "Julie. Are you ok?"
She refused to look at him. Her parents hated her. Her teachers will hate her. Everyone at school will hate her and then laugh at her. Her face hurt. She just wanted to die.
"Julie. We're going to wait to see what they find out from the tests and then we'll go home. Do you want something to drink?" Deakins was afraid of how she looked. Not the black eye, but the way she looked. He had seen that same look in too many perps sitting in an interrogation room. Resignation, later diagnosed as bipolar disorder.
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Larry was just about finished digitizing the surveillance DVDs from the storage facility. He really needed to requisition new equipment. He'd keep the old, current, equipment, but he could really do good stuff with new equipment.
He had six more hours to do and then it would all be ready for Goren to eyeball. What a freak that guy is, Larry thought. He'll sit for hours just looking at tapes of nothing. Damn, though, he'd find something. Every time. There would be miles of tape of nothing and he'd find something. Larry had heard some of the guys talking about Goren. They said they heard him once say he liked to watch. Yeah, he's just the type to sit back and watch. Freak.
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Gleason came out of the bathroom and headed down the hall. She saw Bobby sound asleep in his chair. The newspaper lay crumpled in his lap. His right leg slung over the arm of his chair, his left leg folded under him. His head rested on his left shoulder. He looked like a little boy. Gleason stopped with that thought. A little boy. Wisps of a dream blew away. A little boy.
She left him sleeping and went into the kitchen to make soup and salads for dinner. They should have gotten some bread. Darn.
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Sledge and Bishop looked through the stippling report. She put it in her debriefing notes for tomorrow. Sledge asked her to add the surveillance tapes that Larry said would be done by morning; Goren will want to sit and watch the footage. Jesus, what a dork. Sledge also said to add the hit on the wallet found in the wreck in Melbourne. Bishop included the ME's report that would be up tomorrow sometime, Goren will want to go poke around the two bodies.
"You know, after we debrief the captain, Goren and Eames, we need to get back on that sailboat. The divers are going down tomorrow midmorning. We should be out there, don't you think?"
Bishop stopped writing and said, "I go where you go, big boy."
Sledge smiled at this. "Goren won't be in until close to ten. He's got his shrink first thing. That will give us some time to set up the visit to the pier. We just may settle these two cases this week. That'll make the boss happy."
Bishop looked at her watch. Four-nineteen. "Deakins never made it in today. Good on him for taking off a Sunday. Hope he had a good time with his family. That way, he'll be a happy boss tomorrow."
Sledge smiled, recalling last night. What an event that was. Deakins' daughter is a piece of work, huh? "So, you think it's time to head out? I do. Let's go."
They each closed up shop and headed out. Sledge went to Eames' place. He hoped she was hungry. They would get dinner afterward.
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Eames set the table and opened the wine. She had made pork chops, new potatoes, green beans, a nice, salad, and she even thawed a cheesecake. She changed the sheets, had taken a nice bath and was really looking forward to this evening. She had done a lot of thinking this afternoon. She wanted to see how this went and then would continue her thinking.
It had been a long time since she felt this excited.