a/n: Dickson and his troop…they're my little bastards from ch 2. Spoilers in this one for 'blind spot'. We're getting close to the end, thank you to everyone who has r&r. y'all are the best
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
High Maintenance
Chapter Nine
Through The Looking Glass
Goren leaned his back against the two-way mirror. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, listening via the intercom as Millward told Nichols his story.
"So Cameron Dickson is your brother," Nichols said taking a seat.
"He's my half-brother. So were Grant and Tiny. Anderson and Stevens were cousins." Millward sighed. "I miss Tiny the most. He was such an ass but he could lay on the innocence at the drop of a hat. It was so hard to pull that trigger."
"You killed Tiny?"
"Yeah," he scoffed and leaned his cuffed hands on the table. "See, we had an agreement. We couldn't risk anyone getting caught by the police, spilling information that would get the rest of us arrested. In order to save the family business, anyone caught by the cops had to take a leap of faith. Grant and Stevens, they didn't die in a shoot-out like the reports state, they shot each other."
"They knew there was no way to get away from the police."
"Right. And Anderson, he took care of himself. But, Tiny…The cops already had him in cuffs. He didn't have the opportunity. Everyone was running around, it was a mad house. No one saw me take the shot."
"You allowed yourself to be arrested."
"Yes, but I was part of the plan to avenge everyone's deaths. When Cameron was arrested, he got word to me to keep tabs on Goren. One day, Cameron would be a free man and he would show Goren the pain he caused our family. It was no change of heart that got Cameron talking. He dumped all of the information he had on the other drug rings to facilitate his parole." Millward sat back in his chair and frowned. "They would all be alive right now if it wasn't for Goren."
"Detective Goren didn't take them away from you. He didn't force any of them to…take their leap of faith."
"He was the detective that worked the case. He just wouldn't back off. For four years, FOUR YEARS he hunted my family."
"What does all of this have to do with Detective Eames?" Nichols asked taking a deep breath and sitting back in his chair.
Goren cringed, knowing the answer Millward word give.
"I've been following Goren for twelve years. He's really a boring man." Millward shrugged. "I know his mother is dead. So is his brother. Father's been out of the picture for a long time now." He paused. "Detective Eames is all he has left. She was just in the right place at the right time."
Goren heard the door open and though he turned his head in the door's direction, he kept his eyes closed.
"Eames apartment is empty, as you said it would be," Ross started, moving to Goren's side. "There are signs of a struggle in the living room. No sign of her car."
"Neighbors?"
"No one's home." Goren sighed and opened his eyes. "Her purse and side arm were found on the coffee table," Ross continued. "There was only one credit card in her purse, a debit card, no cash."
"She only has one credit card…for, for emergencies. And she doesn't carry cash. She always uses the debit card."
"There was a dollar's worth of change next to her weapon."
"The change…The change is her Skittles fund…for the vending machine. She keeps it in her pants' pocket." Goren turned and stared at Millward through the glass.
"So imagine my surprise, my excitement when Reverend Hale muttered Goren's filthy name. It was the perfect opportunity to get Goren's attention. I had to wait seven years to do it, but… I called my cousin, he's a lawyer, Cameron's lawyer, and he gathered all the information he could on Connie's arrest. I knew Goren would pin Connie for the Hales' murders." Millward looked to his hands. "I was really careful not to leave any finger prints, anything behind that would give Goren reason to doubt his initial conclusion. When Cameron was released, he told me when to kill them, what to do if Connie came home. Mrs. Letner was…an unfortunate accident."
"Where is Eames, Millward?"
"No, no. You're the great detectives from Major Case. You guys find her." Nichols left Interrogation.
"Everything but what we really need to know," Ross muttered as Nichols joined them.
"We've been here before…With Jo." Goren turned to Ross. "Remember?"
"I do," Ross said quietly.
"We were lucky." Goren turned back to the glass. Nichols looked to Ross, silently seeking an explanation.
"We thought Jo was the next target. We had her in protective custody before we found out she was the perp." He looked to Goren. "After Eames was abducted but before Jo had a chance to hurt her."
0-0-0-0
Eames slowly opened her eyes, head pounding from Dickson's attack. She could taste the blood in her mouth. Her arms were bound above her head, hands sticky with blood as she felt the wire that painfully held her in place. Eames curled her sore legs closer to her body, sitting up a little straighter, alleviating the pressure on her wrists from the weight of her body.
Eames looked around her dimly lit surroundings. The room was unfinished, enclosed only by drywall and a plywood floor. The windows were boarded over. In the far corner, a camping light sat atop a card table, the only thing in the room.
"Hey." She turned her head towards the voice from the doorway. "You're awake."
0-0-0-0
"Goren, maybe we should take you off this case."
"Excuse me, Captain, if I may over step here." Ross gave Nichols a look. "Dickson wants Goren. If he is removed from the case now, we risk Dickson killing Eames before we know her location."
"He's right," Goren said, still facing the glass. "If Dickson thinks we're not playing along, he won't hesitate to hurt her." Goren left the observation room, Ross and Nichols following. Goren looked to the two armed guards in the hallway. "I have one more question, then he's all yours." The guards nodded as he entered Interrogation.
0-0-0-0
"How are you feeling?" Dickson asked, sitting on the floor next to Eames. "Cause I gotta say, you look like shit," he chuckled. "Are you hungry? I have food." Jumping to his feet he crossed the room to the table. He grabbed a plate and returned to the floor. "It's a chicken salad sandwich. I haven't had one of these in years." He took a bite then held the sandwich up to Eames' mouth. She stared at him, unmoving. "Suit yourself," he shrugged, taking another bite.
0-0-0-0
"Detective Goren," Millward smiled. "It's about time you came to see me."
"Where did you get Eames' keys?"
"From her apartment. I needed to make a copy for Cameron." Millward laughed. "It was so easy, too. I broke in through the front window. All those damned red flowers in the way," he frowned. "You know, one would think a Major Case detective smart enough to lock her windows."
Goren stormed into the hallway. He collected his coat and binder from his desk.
"You knew about the window," Nichols stated, grabbing his coat. Goren stopped his movements and nodded. "Let's go. Tell me about in on the way there."
0-0-0-0
Goren took a deep breath as he neared Eames' apartment. Every moment of Jo's abduction of Eames flashed through his mind as he relived the fear of not knowing if his partner was dead or alive. He stepped carefully through the front door. Couch cushions lay on the floor, throw pillows tossed about the room. Several pictures had been knocked off the mantel, littering the carpet with small shards of glass.
Nichols entered after Goren, immediately heading to the window. The curtain rod, removed from one of its brackets, hung awkwardly across the glass. Nichols pulled back the curtain, searching for the dirt trail.
"Is this what you found?" he asked, motioning Goren to join him.
"Yeah."
"Don't blame yourself. This could have been anything."
"Yeah." Goren ventured farther into the living room. "Could've been, but wasn't." He bent down, picking up a blanket from the floor. It was the blanket he used as he slept on Eames' couch that morning; the one he used to cover Eames after their fight. 'He grabbed me – like you did last night.'
0-0-0-0
"Oh, I can't wait until Goren joins us!" Dickson laughed. "I am crawling out of my skin with anticipation. I've just waited so long. I left Goren a present at your apartment. Just a little something for him to keep to remember you." Dickson sat in front of Eames. "Can you hear the thunder, Alexandra?"
0-0-0-0
"Goren," Ross moved towards his detective. "This was found in the mail box." Ross handed Goren a yellow mailing envelop. Goren turned it over, finding his name scrawled across the front in black marker. He dropped the blanket and moved to the coffee table. Kneeling, he ripped open the package and dumped out the contents: Eames' badge and a hunting knife.
"That looks a lot like the knife Millward used to kill the Hales," Nichols offered. Goren stood and again picked up the blanket.
"Goren…" Ross was stopped by Nichols' hand on his arm.
"Wait," Nichols said quietly.
"Her dreams…" Goren mumbled to himself as he lifted the corner of the blanket, wrapping his fingers around it as Eames had done during her nightmare. "He hit her…Bound her wrists…She had…had marks."
"Who hit her? What marks?" Ross asked.
"I don't…" Goren was overtaken with the memory of the first time he and Eames visited the Hales' house. He remember Eames staring at the house, hand on her shoulder. 'I've been…' Goren shook his head, clearing his mind of all other thoughts, trying to hear what she had said. 'I've been…' "Here. I've been here." He dropped the blanket and turned to Ross and Nichols. "The farmhouse. We have to get to the Hales' house."
0-0-0-0
"It's too bad that you have to be involved in this, Alexandra. I really hate having to kill the pretty women." Dickson ran his fingers down Eames cheek. "You and I could've had a little fun." Eames pulled herself from Dickson's touch. He roughly grabbed her chin, forcing her face back to his. "Twelve years is a long time to go without a woman's touch." Dickson smiled. "But we don't have time for that right now. There are three cop cars out front. Your partner will be here soon."
0-0-0-0
"They can't approach the house. No one goes in until we are there and give the orders," Goren said over his shoulder to Ross. Ross closed his cell phone, tightly gripping the edge of his seat as Goren swerved the SUV through traffic.
"The team's in position. They have orders not to approach." He looked out the front window, then out the back, seeing the two squad cars in either direction stuck in the flow of vehicles.
"Must go faster," Nichols muttered holding the dash board as the vehicle lurched to the left. Goren smacked the flashing red light on the dash.
"Come on, people! Clear the way!"