Blake and Rollins had arrived at Damian Williams' house in Upper Manhattan, and the blonde could tell that Blake was once again distracted, most likely by the case instead of the run-in with the ADA. His eyes were darker than usual and his breathing was heavy. What had happened to Lily Romanov had no doubt irked him badly, and he was desperately trying to keep his emotions in check.
"You okay?" Rollins asked, glancing at Blake worriedly.
"Trying to stay calm," Blake replied, taking a few deep breaths. "If Damian Williams is truly responsible for this-"
"You can't think like that," Rollins reminded Blake pointedly. "Thinking like that will cloud your judgment, and any evidence that we may find will be tossed in court."
"...I'm sorry," Blake sighed. "I just want to get justice for Lily, y'know?"
"I know," Rollins nodded. "Alright… are you ready?"
"Yeah," Blake replied softly. He exited Rollins' Interceptor without a word, his hand resting on his glock. His mind was racing with questions. Why might Damian resort to rape to get revenge on Lily for ending their relationship? Why would someone decide that rape/sexual assault is the only option? Shaking his head, he followed Rollins to the door, his hand still resting on his glock. He nodded at her, and she knocked on the door.
"Damian Williams, NYPD! Open the door!" She heard a crash behind the door. "Dammit!" She backed up and kicked down the door, holding her glock aloft.
Blake spotted Damian and raised his weapon. "NYPD! Stop where you're at and show me your hands!" His orders went unnoticed, and he followed Damian out of the side door and into the side yard. Hell be damned if you get away from me, kid! He let out a snarl as Damian hopped over the fence. Fuck! Blake leaped over the fence with extreme ease with Rollins hot on his heels. Dammit, why do they always run?!
It didn't take long for the pair to catch Damian and simultaneously clothesline him. "This could've been avoided if you'd stopped," Blake grunted as he placed handcuffs on Damian.
"I didn't do anything!" Damian spat. "Get the fuck off of me!"
"Really? Then why'd you run?" Rollins questioned, keeping her weapon pointed at Damian.
Damian merely glared. "I'd rather run than talk to your kind…"
"Yeah, get in line," Blake huffed before pulling the teen to his feet. He escorted the sixteen year old to the Interceptor and pressed him up against the side of the car. "Stand still."
Damian let out a sigh as Blake carefully patted the boy down. The handsome detective felt the unmistakable shape of a gun handle tucked into his waistband. "What's this now?" He stood behind the teen and gently lifted the back of his sweatshirt, adamant about ensuring that his privacy was respected. His caramel eyes narrowed when he saw a glock tucked into the waistband of his jeans. He motioned for Rollins to remove the weapon, his heart pounding as he was reminded of his numerous joint investigations with the gang unit back in LA leading to teenage gangbangers. "Carrying a gun, huh? Are you scared of something, or someone?"
"Man, fuck you," Damian spat. "You cops are always planting evidence."
"You won't be saying that when we find your fingerprints on it, kid," Blake smirked before pulling Damian around to the backseat of the car. "Damian Williams, you're under arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney; if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"
"Yeah, Detective Dumbass, I understand," Damian sneered as he plopped down in the seat and turned to face the front of the car. "When we get back, I want a lawyer."
"Fine by us," Blake shrugged before closing the door and turning to Rollins. "I'll call Liv and let her know that we're on our way back."
Blake found himself staring at Damian through the two way glass into the interrogation room an hour later, hoping that his lawyer would arrive sooner rather than later so that someone could question him. The teen's calm demeanor set off alarm bells in Blake's head, and he didn't like it. He spent all of the time on the ride over being all erratic, and now he's calm? What the hell is going on? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door behind him swinging open. "He's still waiting on his attorney…"
"I figured as much," Olivia responded, closely observing the teenager through the glass. "He seems oddly calm for a kid that got chased down, clotheslined, and caught with a gun…"
"He really does, and I don't like it," Blake agreed. "If he's not the one responsible for what happened to Lily, then maybe he can point us to the person that is, and face time for the gun possession…"
"Not likely if he knows the suspect personally," Olivia pointed out. "Kids don't like to 'snitch' on each other, especially if one of their friends is involved."
"So we mention Lilly and see how he reacts to her name," Blake suggested. "Most people still freak out when they find out that their ex has been assaulted, especially if they'd had a fight about anything pertaining to sex." He heard the door open but chose to remain focused on Damian, studying the teen's eerie calmness. His caramel colored orbs widened when he saw the teen look up at the glass, smirk, and begin tapping his fingers. "Hey, you see that?"
Olivia observed Damian closely and quickly noticed what Blake had been hinting at. "The finger tapping? Yeah, what about it?"
"I think that's Morse Code…" Blake trailed off, his focus now solely on the teen's movements.
"He invoked his rights to counsel," Olivia reminded Blake. "Why use Morse Code if he lawyered up?"
"Either to taunt us, or to send a message to a question that his lawyer wouldn't let him answer…" His eyes narrowed when he deciphered the first word: Lily.
"Liv, he just spelled out her name," Blake pointed out. "He might be trying to tell us something about her."
Olivia stared Blake dead in the eye. "She's his ex, so why would he want to tell us anything about her?"
"Because he's backed into a corner," Blake explained. "He might've found out something about what happened to her and wants to tell us, but he won't because he knows that his lawyer would advise against telling us anything related to her to avoid suspicion."
"Or he's taunting us," Olivia countered. "Think about it - a rape suspect gets caught with a gun on him, and without evidence tying him to the rape, he knows that he'll get off with a slap on the wrist for the gun possession."
"But few civilians know Morse Code," Blake pointed out. "It could be a cry for help." He turned his gaze away from the glass and grabbed his jacket. "I'll be right back..."
"Blake, you can't talk to him until his lawyer gets here!" Olivia reminded the newbie pointedly. "If you do that, he walks free on the weapons charge!"
"I'm not gonna go in there," Blake vowed. "I'm going to go make some calls." He disappeared back into the squad room, leaving Olivia in utter disbelief.
You've gotta be kidding me. Olivia turned her attention back to the teenager, still astounded at his supposed use of Morse Code. "What the hell are you trying to tell us, Damian?"
"Seems like I missed the party," Casey smirked from the doorway, her voice briefly startling Olivia. "So, what do we know?"
"Well, for one, his attorney hasn't arrived yet," Olivia explained. "Two, according to Blake, he - the suspect – is using Morse Code to spell out the victim's name. But until the lawyer gets here, we can't talk to him."
"That could be something to throw us off," Casey supplied. "You know how suspects will do almost anything to prove innocence, or deflect the blame on someone else."
"Even then, Blake might actually be on to something with this…" She turned her attention back to Damian and felt her eyes widen when she noticed the shift in the pattern of his tapping. Wait, Cameron might be right. She turned back to Casey. "I'll be right back, Casey. I'm gonna go grab Blake and have him bring in a notepad and paper."
"I don't think that's necessary, Liv. The kid's just tapping his fingers, and it could be him making a music beat," Casey reminded Olivia. "We should wait for his lawyer first, and then-"
"Just sit tight." Olivia bolted out the door to the squad room, leaving Casey alone to her thoughts.
Dammit, Liv, Casey's subconscious cursed, forcing her to pinch the bridge of her nose. She was pulled from her thoughts when Olivia returned to the observation room with Blake. His sheer size and good looks stopped Casey in her tracks, causing her mouth to dry up and her eyebrow to briefly shift upwards.
"Blake, Casey, I'm sure you've already met," Oliva stated curtly.
"Yes," Blake and Casey stated simultaneously. The pair shared a look before Blake turned his attention back to Damian.
Blake felt Casey's gaze on him and bit his lip. Focus. He pulled up the Morse Code alphabet on his phone. "You said he changed the tapping patterns?"
"Yes, right after you left," Olivia confirmed. "I remember you said that the first word was 'Lily.'"
"Yeah, it was," Blake nodded, closely observing Damian's movements. "Hold on…" He tapped "we are listening" in Morse Code against the two way glass before him.
"Blake, that's not a smart thing to do," Casey advised. "If his lawyer finds out, then we won't be able to get him on the weapons charges."
Blake ignored the redhead's words and studied Damian's movements intently. He felt himself freeze when he deciphered Damian's next word:
Danger.
Blake jotted the word down on his notepad and tapped go on against the surface of the glass, feeling as if he was alone in the room with the boy, speaking a language that only the two of them understood.
Help.
Blake's eyes went wide and relayed the three words back to Damian in Morse Code. Danger - help Lily?
Damian signaled "yes," his brow now furrowed in what the two detectives and ADA had guessed to be a look of worry.
"What's he saying?" Olivia asked, only to have Blake show her his notepad. "He's saying that Lily's in danger?"
"Yes," Blake whispered, his eyes never once leaving the teen's figure. "Hold on, he's signaling more…"
Olivia said nothing and observed her newest detective communicating with their suspect in a way that she'd never seen before. After what had seemed like hours, she received Blake's notepad and read the message:
Danger – help Lilly. Her previous ex, Paul de Luca, is part of organized crime, and he wants her dead. I had the piece to protect her.
Olivia's eyes met Blake's, and she almost fell over when she noticed a spark of conviction in his caramel colored orbs. "Blake, what is going on?"
"I'd know that name anywhere," Blake answered darkly. "Paul de Luca is the nephew of a notoriously violent organized crime boss." He opened up a new tab on his phone's browser and showed Olivia and Casey a photo of a man with dark hair and gray eyes that practically screamed evil. "That's his uncle, Tommy 'il diavolo' de Luca. He was nailed in Minnesota for a laundry list of federal crimes back in September, and is due to be sentenced next month."
"I heard about that one. But how does he tie into our case?" Olivia inquired.
"A DEA agent linked Tommy de Luca to a weapons smuggling ring in the Midwest four years back," Blake explained. "Supposedly, Paul had been dating the agent's daughter, and just a few months later, he put two and two together and contacted someone. The agent was found dead two weeks after that. Once word got out that de Luca was identified as the agent's killer, the girl was sent to live with her aunt and uncle to protect her."
"She's the daughter of the late Agent Dmitri Romanova, right?" Casey inquired. "Ilya's brother?"
"Yeah, but here's the thing… Ilya's not Ilya, and Lily's not Lily," Blake stated dryly. "Her real name is Sonja Isaacs, her father's name is Nick Isaacs, and her uncle's a military man named Marcus Isaacs. Tommy de Luca got ahold of her once and held her captive before she was rescued by Lieutenant Sean Willis' team in Burnsville, Minnesota. When they found her…" He couldn't help but wince as the photos danced across his mind once again. "Tommy de Luca is connected to this somehow, and not because he's related to her ex."
"Oh my God…" Olivia trailed off.
"We gotta tell the team, and get the feds on the phone," Casey interjected. "Il diavolo was tried and convicted in federal court. Minnesota BCA, ATF, DEA, and FBI were all over that guy!"
"Even then, I don't think that we should call the feds yet," Blake advised. "Lemme get a hold of a contact of mine back home and see if she can forward her info to us." He took note of Casey and Olivia's pointed looks. "Trust me, this is the one person that you'll wanna talk to before you call the feds into this."
"If you say so," Casey shrugged. "I'm going to head back to my office. Call me if you find anything."
Note: "il diavolo" is Italian for "the devil." In future chapters, you will find out more details on how the guy got the nickname.
Anyway, feel free to review!