Joe pulled into the apartment complex. He got out of his SUV and walked over to the apartment that had yellow crime scene tape placed in an x pattern across the front door. Antoine was leaning on the wall by the door.
"I don't know why you dragged me out of bed on my off day. I don't think anyone has been inside since I last closed up." Antoine told him.
"Just humor me." Joe told him.
"You given any more thought on what I asked you?" Antoine asked as he pulled the key from his pocket and opened the front door.
"Yeah, you want to start working with the feds. Have at it, I'll put a word in for you, I'm tired of their bullshit." Joe told him as he ripped down the crime scene tape and walked into the apartment.
Antoine followed him, "If you are so tired of their bullshit why are you here? You told me this morning Shiropolli is sitting in a cell."
He shouldn't be here, Antoine shouldn't be here. He knew Ranger had Alex. Nothing had felt right about this case. Joe hated it when in the back of his mind he knew there was still missing pieces to a puzzle. This case had huge gaping holes. They had stacks of cold cases where someone had jumped the gun to early on a homicide. He didn't want to see this one go into that cold case storage. To many cold cases involved kids, he didn't want to see Alex become a statistic.
"He is, but not by my choice, they pulled rank and yanked his chain." Joe told him.
"You going to let me in on this now or what?" Antoine asked. "We aren't even supposed to be here. The feds pulled this homicide from me, I just conveniently forgot I had an extra key here. This doesn't feel right."
Joe was walking room from room with Antoine following. "I normally work alone, but I'm going to make sure I'm transferred back to homicide and out of vice for awhile. I'll speak to the chief and get you moved to vice." Morelli looked at Antoine, "I get what I want, you want vice, I'll take homicide."
"He wouldn't pull me off the cases I have open." Antoine said as he followed Joe into Alex's bedroom.
"He will if I ask for it, explain what the feds did. He'll do it." Joe stopped and looked at the pictures on Alex's dresser. He picked them up one by one, examining each of them. He was looking at the one where Alex was being hugged by James the owner of the karate school. Joe saw Alex holding a black belt in her right hand with gold stitching spelling out Ramono, she also had a watch in her hand. James had his left hand on her right hip, his right hand was out of sight but for the tips of his fingers which were showing through her hair just on the top of the swell of her bottom. Antoine came up behind him and looked at the picture Joe was holding.
"Awfully friendly." Antoine commented, then picked up the watch on the dresser.
"Not what I would call quite appropriate." Joe stated.
Antoine looked from the watch to the picture, "Maybe you ought to read the engraving on the back."
Joe put the picture down and took the watch. On the back of the inside face of the watch Joe read. To Alex, From James, Mentor and Surrogate Father, I love you Baby. Joe looked back to the picture. "I don't like the feeling I'm getting from this."
"I don't think he took his surrogate father role seriously. If I was mentoring a kid, I wouldn't put my hand on her ass, that's for sure." Antoine said.
"When I talked to him, I only got the feeling he was her boss and instructor," Joe said setting the watch back down.
"He gave off the same vibe to me, but that picture says something else." Antoine said.
"We could be wrong," Joe turned and leaned against the dresser, he looked at the family portrait on the wall.
"We could be, but if anything happened between them, it would fuck with her head." Antoine said as he moved over towards the trophies.
Joe crossed his arms, he looked at Victoria Ramono, he knew of her, she was two years behind him in school. Brown hair, brown eyes, very Italian. He glanced at Michael next, black hair, brown eyes, dark skin. Alex was between them, her black hair fell in waves across her shoulders, she didn't look no more than nine or ten in the portrait. She had shocking blue eyes even then.
"Son of a bitch!" Joe moved from the dresser and went to the portrait. "How the fuck did she end up with blue eyes."
"Come again?" Antoine asked placing a trophy back on the floor.
"Two brown eye'd people can't make a blue eye'd child." Joe looked over to Antoine, "it's a genetic lottery. The probability is less than two percent for blue eyes."
"Her mother is still at the mortuary, we hurry, we can pull DNA." Antoine told him.
Joe looked back at the portrait. Who are you, little girl?
Lester and Ranger both watched Alex. Ranger glanced in the review mirror every now and then while he drove. She had yet to say another word since leaving the rest stop. Alex had gone from angry and argumentative to sullen and withdrawn. Lester sat beside her in the back seat. Her forehead was resting on the window. The reflection on the inside showing the vacant stare she had for the past half hour.
I don't know what I said that would throw her into this, Ranger thought. I almost wish we had the angry girl back with us. Ranger pulled the SUV into Vinnie's driveway and parked. He opened his door. The sound made Alex jump and sit up straight. "Not too aware of your surroundings right now. Are you?"
Alex glared at him then turned to get out but stopped short when she saw Lester hadn't moved.
"You want to talk about it?" Lester asked.
From what Ranger said earlier, it sounds like he's a cop. Cops do those things. I don't like cops, never have. Ranger said he was worried about me, right! He's worried about Shiropolli, worried about fucking up and losing his case. He's not worried about who I am, he doesn't even fucking know. Alex thought.
"Why? It's not like I'm gonna have a choice to my life anymore." Alex told him.
"You always have a choice," Lester ran his hands over his short buzz cut. "Life is full of choices. No one is out to control your life."
Alex gave a disbelieving laugh, "Like I'm gonna have a choice how I want to live my life with pig cop as a father." She turned to look at Ranger, "I'm right, he's a cop, isn't he?"
Trust issues, authority issues, damn who fucked up this kids life. Ranger thought.
"Don't judge him by what his job is, it's a classification. It's not who he is, that is just what he does. You can't compare him to the other cops you've had in your life." Ranger told her and got out of the SUV and shut the door.
Alex looked back at Lester. "Are you getting out?"
Lester closed his eyes then let out a slow breath and opened the door. It's like arguing with a brick wall. She's not letting anyone in. Lester thought. He stepped out of the SUV and offered her his hand, she stopped before getting out and looked at it. He could see her brows knit in confusion. "I'm not going to hurt you, I wouldn't hurt you Baby."
Alex's head snapped up, she looked Lester in the eyes. Don't call me that, he always called me that, father always called me that. Then James, James was a mistake, he never hit me, never, James was just a mistake. Alex thought. Lester could see the tension in her face, her jaw set, and the slight reverse move she made on the seat.
Baby? That's twice she's had that look when I called her that. Lester thought.
"Come on Baby." Lester said softly.
Alex moved further back into the SUV. Why did he have to call me that? Not like that, not that sickly soft sweet voice. That's when all the pain starts, that's when you get the shit beat out of you. That sweet serpent tongue that strikes like a viper with venom that poisons. Alex thought. Alex had her right foot up, waiting for a power stomp if she had to use it.
Lester put down his hand and leaned back into the SUV warily watching her foot, "Alex, it's okay. I'm not him."
Ranger had walked over to the passenger side of the SUV, he watched how Alex had backed away from Lester. Morelli is not going to like this. She is wound up so tight. The only outlet she knows is fight and flight. Damn. Ranger thought. He saw her leg cock further back in.
"Lester, change the tone of your voice." Ranger told him.
"Alex," Lester said with more force behind it this time, he dropped the soft quality he had kept his voice even. "No one is going to hurt you. I'm not him." He moved back out of the SUV when he saw her foot come down but not strike.
Alex watched warily as Lester went out of the SUV and then turned and gave his back to her stepping away from the door. She took a deep breath as her heart rate started slowing its pace and she moved out of the SUV putting the five feet back in between Lester and herself.
"Give her more space," Ranger told Lester.
Lester reached down and changed the receiver to give her fifty feet. He shut the door to the SUV and followed Ranger to Vinnie's door. Ranger looked back and saw Alex watching them both. He leaned over to Lester, so only he could hear as Alex was staying further back.
"Someone's played with her head in a soft voice. From the way she's reacting, I bet whoever it is beat the shit out of her while he did it." Ranger told Lester.
"The way she reacted earlier with me it was like a fresh wound, not like this." Lester whispered back as they reached the door.
Ranger looked over his shoulder, Alex was staying about twenty feet from them. He picked the lock on the door and opened it up. "We have her out of her element right now," Ranger told him. He went through the doorway. "She can react anyway right now, lets give her some time and see what she does."
Lester nodded his head in agreement.
Alex saw them enter the house, she turned around and looked out towards the sounds of the ocean beating against the shore. The surf and salt air filling her lungs. The summer sun felt warm, but Alex covered her arms across her chest. She didn't know how much room he gave her, but she didn't want to get shocked again. Alex made her way to the door. She stuck her head inside and looked around at the foyer. A small table stood by the door with a porcelain goat on top of it. The horns pointing up in the air instead of rounding down by the head. She took a step inside and walked about two feet in and shut the door.
She could hear Lester and Ranger looking in the room off to her left, she stuck her head around the corner and saw them looking closely around a red and black room. Posters of animals and naked people were in various sexual positions covered the walls. Alex's stomach started churning and she turned her head away from the room. Who the hell lives here?
Walking across the hall to the room directly opposite, she entered a dining room. A deep mahogany table that had a glass tabletop. She moved closer to peer at the table and saw carvings etched into the wood. The design of men riding men from behind all around the edge. Alex moved her head back away from the table and noticed the chair posts were designed to look like penises.
Lester and Ranger came out of the red and black room and crossed to the dining room. Alex backed away towards the side of the room moving further from Ranger and closer to Lester. Once they passed into the room, Alex skirted past Lester with a deep blush on her cheeks. Lester saw the chairs and grinned, Vinnie had dropped some money to make his animal porn bachelor haven the way he wanted it.
Ranger waited till Alex was out of the room, "Vinnie is a sick bastard."
Lester chuckled, "Yes he is, I don't think Alex likes this house."
"Who would? Other than Vinnie and every other sick sadomasochism freaks." Ranger said.
Lester stuck his head out of the room and saw Alex moving down the hall, he looked down at the receiver and put another hundred feet on. She wanted to prowl the house, he would let her. He shook his head and started looking for clues.
Alex opened a door at the end of the hall, stepping inside she saw zebra print couches. Studio spot lights in the room pointing down to them. On one wall she saw a movie print of Babe the movie, on another wall she saw other movie prints, titles she hadn't heard of, but from the nature of it, was blatantly sexual. At one end she saw a tripod for a camera the movie kind and still frame cameras. She walked further in the room and reached out for the couch but stopped herself short. Sex with animals, sex with men. I don't think I should touch this couch, Alex thought. It looks soft, I'll assume it is.
She walked around the room. Looking at the various things here and there. Turning to leave she noticed the white corner of what appeared to be a picture partly coming from under the edge of the couch. She went closer and squatted down. Do I even want to touch this? But what if it is one of the clues? What if it isn't? What if it is some guy trying to ride a hippo? Damn, too many what ifs? So not good. Alex thought. She stood up and put her new sneaker on the edge and started scooting it out. Once she had it out she squatted back down and looked at the picture after she tilted her head in the right direction.
It was a guy in a dress, a pink dress with a white boa of feathers hanging around his neck. She looked closer and remembered he had been in the apartment with Ranger and them when they first took her. The military buzz cut stood out against the back drop of what looked like an orgy going on behind him. Alex looked around the room, she hadn't seen that. She looked back at the picture. Bobby was just overly developed for that dress. Alex started laughing. She stood up and walked out into the hall laughing, she wasn't picking that picture up.
She found Ranger and Lester in the kitchen off the dining room. She walked in still laughing holding her ribs from the pain and laughter.
Lester and Ranger both stared at her as she came back in.
"What's so funny?" Lester asked her.
"Bobby in a dress." Alex leaned up against the wall for support and slid down it laughing.
Ranger and Lester looked at each other and looked back at Alex. "Where is Bobby in a dress?" Ranger asked.
"Studio, down the hall." Alex got out through the laughter. "Pink and white are not his color."
Lester started laughing, Ranger was chuckling. They both headed out of the kitchen. They found the studio room, and the picture.
"Bobby is probably so pissed." Lester said through the pain in his stomach for laughing so hard.
Ranger couldn't help it and laughed with Lester. Babe! What am I going to do with you? I never want to piss you off this bad.