Steven West was known around the LAPD. To be honest, he was pretty well known around the whole of LA; sure maybe not in the celebrity circles – although he did know and his firm did work for a fair few of them – but every CEO, every Board of Directors, every Executive, knew of him and wanted his firm, West & Daniels, to work for them or with them. The Wests were saught after dinner and party guests, simply so the hosts could non-verbally brag that they had the money and influence to have The Steven West at their party (he was also known amongst the high society gossiping circles as a gentleman who changed wives the same way some women changed their hair colour – he was currently on Number 5, who was probably the youngest and prettiest of all of his wives and now, after around 4 years, cracks hadn't begun to show yet which made some people think this one was maybe sticking around).

So to be totally honest, sitting across from him in a cramped hospital examination room was a bit surreal. Especially since he looked completely different to his usual self – usually he was crisp and neat, never a pocket square out of place or a tie knot squint. His hair seemed to be held with industrial glue half the time, with the way it never moved from his slicked back style. But right now? His slacks were wrinkled, with the front crease that was normally pressed in to the fabric to perfection was gone, only the faint indents of the verticle lines on his knees. His shirt was buttoned incorrectly, evidentally having missed a button hole at some point with the sleeves hastily shoved up to above his elbows, his hair now tousled and loose, falling across his forehead and into his eyes a little – Diaz was a little shocked by how light it was; she always assumed he was a dark blond or light brown, but without it being slicked back with product, it appeared it was actually a medium blonde that complimented his grey-blue eyes well.

Overall, Steven West was obviously a mess and really, who could blame him? But it was still unnerving to see him in such a state. They'd gone through the basic questions – name, age, address, confirming his relation to the victim, his whereabouts etc. As bad as it sounded, the fist 20 minutes of an interview in this case were just formalities – they knew who comitted the crime, they knew the relation each had to Jade and Ryder Daniels.

"She didn't...tell me much. I didn't even know until the photos started getting worse. The silly girl kept quiet because she didn't want to worry me." He ran his fingers through his loose hair, digging his blunt nails into his scalp lightly. "But it seemed that...after she did tell me, I got the impression things escalated. I was never around for much of it." He looked ashamed at that. "Too busy with work. And she was rarely at the house, spending most of her time with Beck. But there was one incident; the sick freak got up onto her balcony."

Steven didn't hear the shout at first – he was in his office on the ground floor, meaning he was a fair distance away from his daughters room; which was how they both liked it. She wasn't constantly being told to keep the noise down and feeling spied on, and he didn't have to listen to is daughters eclectic and frankly, terrible, taste in music or horror-movie screams.

However, Julia rushed into his office with her eyes wide. "Steven! Jade's screaming for you – she sounds terrified!" His young wife exclaimed, turning on her heel and hurrying towards the stairs, evidentially planning on heading up to check on her step-daughter. And with the door open, Steven heard Jade too, a loud shout of 'DAD! DAD!' and it caused him to leap to his feet and practically fly up the stairs, overtaking Julia who had a head start, and one of the maids who was hurrying in worry as well.

He burst into his daughters room and saw her on her bed, dressed in just a shirt, her books spread out around her, her hair in a loose braid, holding a pillow in front of her chest as her eyes were glued to her balcony.

"Jade! What happened?!" Steven asked, coming into the room proper and looking around for whatever had scared his little girl. He may not have been the best father ever, or even show it much, but he loved his daughter more than anyone and would happily kill someone who hurt her or even scared her.

"There was someone on my balcony! I think they...they were taking pictures!" She said, her voice rushed and high pitched, clenching the pillow harder.

His face hardened into a mask of pure rage as he stormed over to the balcony and pushed the heavy foils and curtains Jade favoured out the way – the door had been cracked open for some fresh air to get into the room, and the curtains and foils partially open too – probably how the pervert hadn't been spotted straight away. The pervert who was stalking his daughter had obviously taken off, probably alerted to his being caught by Jade's shouts, but there was a scuff on the white stone railings around the balcony, along with a photo lense cap sitting abandoned on the stone floor of the balcony. Someone had obviously been up here, as Jade said.

"How the hell..." He gritted his teeth, peering down off the edge of the balcony – it was a dangerous drop, no doubt one that would break bones if not outright kill a person. There was no way the person had jumped either up or down from the balcony. Then he spotted it – a large oak tree that had been growing for no-doubt at least 80 years, with its thick branches extending close to the balcony; the only way feasible for the pervert to get onto the balcony without going through the house – edging to the end of the branch then throwing himself a foot or two onto the balcony.

"They must have used the tree." Steven announced as he turned back into the bedroom, seeing his wife perched on the edge of Jade's bed, holding her hand comfortingly (and although it wasn't the time or place to feel a blip of warmth in his chest at how well it seemed Julia got on with Jade. He would admit to himself that a huge reason none of his previous marriages survived was because Jade hated the women, or the women hated Jade. In Steven Wests mind, his daughter came first above everything and everyone else, even if he didn't show it.) "I'm calling a tree surgeon or felling company. It'll be gone by tomorrow." He decided, rage bubbling in his chest. What was the point in having a stone wall and metal fencing around his property if some pervert could hop it and still manage to almost get into his daughters room. The fact of the matter was, the only reason he hadn't come into the room was simply because he didn't want to. He had chosen to stay outside on the balcony. If he had wanted to come in, if Jade had been by herself and he tried to...

The thought made him feel physically sick and he quickly had to force it out of his head. "You're not staying in this room tonight. Not until I get that tree cut down." He decided, closing the doors and locking them. "Now, you can either sleep in one of the guest rooms or-"

"I'm going to Beck's." She stated, still shaken and pale. Steven sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Of course you are." He muttered, but to be honest, he was happy about it – at least this one time. The pervert could obviously get into the ground of West Manor, and even get to directly outside his daughters room. Hopefully, they wouldn't know where she was. And if they did, well, he doubted Beck would be leaving his daughter alone at all, as much as it left a sour taste in his mouth. "Either he comes here to pick you up, or you let my driver take you over. You're not driving across there by yourself."

Jade heaved a sigh and nodded, not even ducking away and glaring as Julia smoothed out a loose lock of hair that had came out of her braid and was curling under her ear. Instead, she almost leaned into it – a huge breakthrough that no doubt Julia and himself would be discussing happily this evening.

"I want to speak to him if he comes to pick you up." He added with a nod, pulling the curtains closed tightly at the balcony, only after double checking the doors.

And of course, within about 45 minutes, Beck had arrived at the driveway, practically falling out of the car in his rush to climb the steps to the front door and let himself in – Jade had long ago told him to just come in if she was expecting him, which Steven wasn't exactly happy about but even if he said something, Jade would just ignore him.

"Beck." Steven stated, standing up from his seat in the drawing room where he had brought his work – his office was too far away from Jade's room, just in case, and he couldn't exactly move his work upstairs to be even closer to her room without her throwing a tantrum about how he was babying her. So, the drawing room, just off the main foyer, was a good spot – hard tables for his case files and laptops to sit, plenty of good lighting and power outlets for his chargers and a direct pathway to the staircase to the first floor where Jade's bedroom was.

"Oh uh...Hi Mr West." Beck nodded, and at least he didn't use that ridiculous 'Papa West' nickname his daughter had used, and her friends had caught on too.

"I assume Jade has told you about the incident?" He saw a flicker of rage cross the younger males face and nodded. As much as he disliked the actor in front of him, there was no denying he loved Jade. And would do anything to protect her, which was why Steven was OK with her going there tonight. "I don't want you to leave her alone for even a minute Beck. If this pervert could get onto her balcony, he can easily get to your RV. Keep all the curtains drawn and the door locked.

"Don't worry Mr West. We're going to be sleeping in the main house tonight – safer that way." Beck assured with a nod. That helped some of his worries leave. An RV was essentially a tin can on wheels – easily broken into or damaged. An actual brick-and-mortar house was safer. Especially since Beck's parents would be there.

"Ugh the main house? But your childhood mattress is the worst for my back." Jade whined as she came down the stairs, the only addition she had from her earlier outfit was a pair of black high waisted skinny jeans, the flannel shirt tucked into the waistband, and a pair of canvas trainers on her feet, her bag hooked over her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I spoke to my mom and she says we can use the den room in the basement." He looked over at Steven, who knew he was doing his best impression of someone who'd just eaten a lemon whole and smelt something terrible. But as far as he was concerned, he'd rather pretend to himself that his daughter was still innocent, despite evidence to the contrary, and hearing about her sleeping arrangements with her boyfriend wasn't helping that delusion. "It's the safest room Mr West – no windows and only one door down to it, that's a heavy duty firedoor. It technically doubles as a panic room or bomb shelter." He explained, and Mr West had to admit that it made him feel better knowing that.

"Text me every so often so I know everything is OK." He told Jade seriously, moving to cautiously and awkwardly put a hand on her thin shoulder and giving it a squeeze, the weak half smile Jade gave in return just adding to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Yeah, yeah Dad. It's fine. I'll text every few hours." She nodded with a roll of her eyes before clearing her throat, as if that could get rid of the awkward air around their father-daughter bonding moment.

"I had the tree cut down and anti-climb paint put outside Jade's window." Mr West explained to Diaz and Fowler, picking at his nails a little absent mindedly. "I thought that it had helped and stopped the worst of it until...I got a call from Jade saying the stalker had been in her room and stolen things. "The second I got home, I had even more security measures put in – electrified spikes along the tops of the walls, all doors other than the main entrance and the kitchen door were barred shut and unable to open from the outside. Security cameras on the grounds. I hired actual security guards to watch the gate and patrol the perimeter."

Diaz and Fowler caught eyes. All those measures made one thing clear; Steven West was ridiculously rich and would spend every single penny of it if it meant safety for his only child. The interview continued on easily enough after that – although, even if the questions were answered easily, it was still an emotionally raw and tough experience, even for the Detectives; it was so odd seeing The Shark of California Courts so uneven and messy, stumbling over his words and speaking too quickly to make full sense sometimes. A stark difference to the cool, collected and smooth talking man they were used too. Takada, back at the office, had an odd 'hate-crush' on the man, and claimed he could charm the stripes off a tiger but could also infuriate that tiger to the point it lashed out – but never at him.

"We'll let you get back to Jade now, Mr West. Although, as I'm sure you know, we'd like to arrange a time to speak with Jade." Fowler quickly continued before Steven could get out his response – which would be angry, judging by the angry frown on his face. "Not right now. We understand that reliving that night is the last thing she wants to do. We won't rush her, but we do need to talk to her."

"I understand. I'll speak with her and see when she thinks she'll be ready. But I'll be there the entire time." He warned with a brisk nod.

"Of course." As if they had any thoughts of anything else happening. It would take the entire West Division to stop Mr West from being in that interview with his daughter. "Thank you for your time Mr West."

Once the man had left, no doubt to rush back to his daughters room, Diaz let out a woosh of air and shook her head. "Never thought I'd feel sorry for that man, but damn."

"You never really think about how this type of thing affects anyone other than the victim until it smacks you in the face." Fowler agreed, shaking his head a little. Whatever was going to be said after that was cut off by a high pitched ringing coming from Diaz's jacket pocket. She pulled out her phone and held it to her ear.

"Detective Diaz." She greeted formally. "Mei how-...OK. We'll be right there." She hung up before giving Fowler raised eyebrows. "That was Mei. She says we best get down to the computer forensics lab at West Division. They found something on Daniels computer."

The Computer Forensics lab wasn't all that big – or lab like. It had state of the art computers dotted around the room, along with stations covered in various half deconstructed or reconstructed computer parts. The station that Fowler and Diaz headed straight towards was occupied by Mei Wong and the Senior Lab Technician, Alexis Agnovic.

"What's been found?" Diaz asked, straight to business in a way that both her and Fowler knew the lab technicians and forensic teams preferred over pleasantries and dithering around.

"We found a video, hidden pretty deep in his harddrive. It wouldn't even show up on a regular search. I only found it because I was looking for anything untoward." Alexis explained, her eyes flickering down as she spoke. "It's...a pretty intense video."

"Of West?"

"No." Mei shook her head and looked at the Detectives. "I can't be sure but I think...I'm almost 100% sure it's Tori Vega."

Diaz and Fowlers eyes met. Tori Vega?! Her name kept getting brought up, again and again. And now there was an apparent video of her? On Ryder Daniels computer?!

"I know it's not exactly relevant to this case but...I'm pretty sure it speaks loudly of the character of Ryder Daniels." Mei looked down and pressed play on the video.

It caused both Fowler and Diaz's stomach to drop. Because on the screen was a pretty latina, with a long brown hair and a slim frame. The latter of which was obvious...due to her utter lack of clothes. The girl lay naked on a bed, eyes almost fully shut and mouth gaping open a little, her head tilted to one side as the camera panned up and down her frame, sniggering being heard behind the camera.

"Not so high and mighty now, Princess, are you?" A muffled boyish voice came from behind the camera, sick humour laced into his words. "You ruined my life you little bitch. That damn song you sang and humiliated me with. I don't see why people go crazy over you. You're an ugly freak." There was a rustle of fabric before a hand came into frame and pulled one bear leg away from the other, the camera angle showing the filmer moving to position themselves between her legs. "Don't worry. I won't be thinking of of you while this is happening. I'll be thinking of a real woman, not a stick figure like you."

Fowler glanced away as the video continued, showing the quick yet graphic rape of a girl who was almost 100% Victoria 'Tori' Vega, by someone who was most likely Ryder Daniels. Tori's state of consciousness...most likely attributed to the Rohypnol found in Ryders room. The 'real' woman? Most likely Jade.

"Who else knows about this." Diaz asked blankly, trying to push down the sick feeling in her stomach once the video finally ended.

"No one. I called you two directly and haven't reported it to the Captain yet." Alexis replied.

"OK. We need to let the Captain know but...please. Keep it quiet. Officer Vega...this would kill him. We all know it can't be kept from him but...he deserves to be told respectfully. Not due to gossiping around the coffee pot in the break room." Diaz ordered (despite the fact that Mei was above both detectives in ranking, technically) and both women nodded, along with Fowler giving a single tilt of his head in agreement.

The pair sat in the evidence room not much later, pulling out the contents from Ryders room and giving everything another solid looking over.

"Is it...wrong that I'm not sad about this assholes death, do you think?" Diaz asked as she examined the junior high bra, keeping it in the evidence bag.

"...Just because we're detectives doesn't mean we're saints. This Ryder Daniels seems to have been a horrible boy. If it was a choice between Jade or Ryder, I think almost everyone would have chosen Jade. It's not wrong to not mourn the death of a rapist and stalker." Fowler replied. They hadn't spoken like this about the case before. There was still a hint of doubt floating around, just the smallest sliver. But now? After that video? There could be no doubt anymore. That video was a perfect example of proof of character. And proof of character alone had condemned Ryder Daniels, even in death.

So...this one got dark. I didn't go into detail about the video because I'm not comfortable writing graphic sex scenes, and especially not comfortable writing rape scenes at all, and doubt I ever will be; and I'm fine with that. But we now have a bit more of a background on what could have pushed Tori to commit suicide - although that's not the whole story, there is more to it.

As usual, I adore some Father/Daughter vibes in the West household because it warms my little Grinch heart (two sizes too small and whatnot).

Winding down to a close of the first arc of this story. After the next chapter, I think we'll be moving on to Arc 2, which is in Jade's POV about how things went down prior to the attack and the night of the attack itself.