The Advocate's Justice

by Teresa Burrell

  As she read the report, Sabre turned to Bob. “It says the father’s whereabouts are unknown. Does the mother know where he is?”

  “No. He left her shortly after the third girl was born to go ‘find himself.’ She thinks he found himself with a young waitress from Denny’s. The mother hasn’t heard from him since.”

  “How did your client manage to find not one, but two sick guys who wanted to take nude photos of her kids?”

  “Just unlucky, I guess.”

  “Or she’s sending out some kind of vibe that attracts them.” Sabre read further. “It looks like she’s getting them from a dating website.”

  “I know several people who have used online dating. It must be tough sorting through the crazies.” Bob gave a small smile. “I have a good friend who found his wife that way, but he had some wild stories to tell before he met her.”

  “The problem is those photos will be on the internet forever,” Sabre said.

  “Unless some computer genius comes up with a way to wipe them out.”

  “That’s not likely. The cops shut down these sites all the time and remove what they can. But the perverts copy the photos and use them and pass them on to their buddies. They could be anywhere in the world on thousands of sites and individual hard drives that no one can trace.” Sabre sighed. “And this guy, they don’t even know who he is. They have no way of figuring out where the photos went unless they can find him.”

  The bailiff walked over to Sabre and Bob. “Are you two ready?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “You know I’m going to have to argue return to my client,” Bob said, as they walked up to the counsel table.

  “And I’ll ask for supervised visits. I need to find out what’s going on before she can have those kids alone.”

  “I know that.”

  “And I plan to ask that the paternal aunt’s home be evaluated for possible detention.”

  “I know that too,” Bob said. “I’ve already told the mother that Heidi, her sister-in-law, was the most likely place for the girls.”

  “Does she object?”

  “She doesn’t like that woman. I surmised as much when she kept calling her that woman instead of by her name. The mother wants the girls kept together, but I’m not sure she wants it enough to have them detained with Heidi.”

  Bob left the courtroom to speak with his client. He returned in a few minutes with Laura Standish, and they took a seat at the counsel table. Everything went as expected. The judge ordered supervised visits for the mother, a home evaluation on Heidi with discretion to detain with Sabre’s approval, and for the social worker to look for other possible placements with relatives.

  When the judge finished his orders, Sabre noticed that Laura was staring into space. All of a sudden, her legs and arms started jerking. Sabre poked Bob and nodded toward Laura. “Look.”

  Bob jumped up and stood behind his client. “Help me get her to the floor.” Sabre took one side and Bob the other, and they lowered the shaking woman while the bailiff grabbed the chairs and pulled them out of the way.

  “Stand back,” Bob commanded. “Let her breathe.”

  By then, several marshals had entered the room. “Paramedics are on the way,” one said. Bob and Sabre stepped aside and let the officials take over.

  “I didn’t see anything in the report about Laura having seizures,” Sabre said. “Did you know?”

  “She never said anything. Maybe this was her first.”

  “I was shocked when it happened, but you jumped right in, as if you knew what you were doing.”

  “You learn some things when you grow up with a doctor for a father. Besides, I had an uncle who had seizures. The best you can do is make sure they don’t hit anything when they’re flailing around.”

  “Good to know.”

  “We can’t do anything more here,” Bob said. “Let’s go eat.”

  Chapter 12

  The Standish girls—Riley, Ella, and Avery—were still in Polinsky Receiving Home when Sabre went to visit them. Their social worker was trying to find an appropriate family member or a foster home that could take all three together. Sabre always tried to keep siblings together when she could. She had asked for, and received, a court order that DSS make a reasonable effort to do so.

  Riley was brought into the interview room first. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and seemed younger than her seven years. She must have favored her father because she didn’t resemble her mother. Sabre felt her face redden when she thought about the sicko taking photos of this little girl.

  After getting to know her a little and trying to make her comfortable, Sabre had to ask some tough questions. “Do you know who Bill Nesbitt is?”

  “He’s my mom’s boyfriend.” The girl said the words slowly.

  “Did he ever take photos of you?”

  “Yes, we played model. He would let me use my mom’s makeup. Mom didn’t know we were using her makeup or I would’ve been in trouble.”

  “Did he put the makeup on you?”

  “Mostly I did it myself. But sometimes he’d say I took too long, and then he’d do it.”

  “What kind of makeup?”

  “Eye shadow, eye liner, and lipstick. Oh, and mascara. One time he put false eyelashes on me. Those weren’t my mom’s. I don’t know where he got those.”

  “What did you do after the makeup session?”

  “Bill would be the photographer, and I would model. He’d take some pictures, and then we’d have a tea party and he’d take some more.”

  “Did he have you do anything unusual or anything you didn’t like when he took the photos?”

  “He would have me lay on the bed hugging my teddy bear, or on my knees, saying my prayers. Stuff like that.”

  “And what would you be wearing?”

  Riley started to rock back and forth, tugging at her hair. “Different stuff.”

  “Like what?”

  “My pajamas, or my regular school clothes. Sometimes he would have special clothes for me. One time, he had me put on a plaid skirt and white blouse.” She tugged at her hair again.

  “What else?” Sabre asked.

  “I would always get real tired after the tea party, and he made me take my clothes off before I could lay down.”

  “How many of these modeling games did you play?”

  “We played three times, but I told Bill I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said it was okay for now.” She paused. “I think he started playing them with Ella after that.”

  “Did he take more pictures after you took your clothes off?”

  “I don’t know. I would fall asleep, but when I’d wake up, I’d be dressed again.”

  “Riley, has anyone talked to you about bad touching?”

  “Yes, the nurse at school.”

  “Did Bill ever touch you inappropriately?”

  The girl shook her head. “No.”

  Sabre wondered if Bill had done things other than snap photos when Riley was asleep. She didn’t know which was worse, the pedophiles or the mercenaries who benefited from their sickness, but both made her stomach queasy.

  “Did you ever tell your mother what Bill was doing?”

  “Bill told me not to tell her anything or I would get in a lot of trouble for using her makeup.”

  “Riley, do you know what a seizure is?”

  “Yes. My mom has them sometimes. Not very often though, and we know what to do.”

  “What do you do?”

  “Ella writes down the time from the digital clock. There’s one in every room so Ella can do it. I clear sharp objects and things away from her so Mom doesn’t get hurt. Ella watches the time, and if it goes more than three minutes, she calls 9-1-1.”

  “Wow. You do know what to do.”

  “It doesn’t happen very often, but we have seizure drills sometimes. We’ve practiced more than we’ve had to actually do it.”

&nb
sp; “How many times has your mom had a seizure when you were there?”

  “Only twice. I worry about her being alone.” Riley looked at Sabre with moist eyes. “Will we be able to go home soon?”

  “I don’t know yet. The courts can be kind of slow, and we need to make sure you girls are safe.”

  “It’s my mom who’s not safe living alone.”

  Sabre’s heart pounded with empathy, and her voice cracked as she started to speak. She cleared her throat. “How well do you know your Aunt Heidi?”

  “She takes us places sometimes, and she always brings us gifts on our birthday and Christmas. She would probably come more, but Mom doesn’t like her.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Mom says stuff all the time to her friends about how ‘that woman’ thinks she’s better than everybody else. That’s what she says, but I know she’s talking about Aunt Heidi. She’s kinda rich, I think. She has a big house with a swimming pool. Sometimes she takes us there to play.”

  Sabre sent Riley back to her room, and a worker brought Ella and then Avery in to see her.

  Ella, with copper-colored hair and green eyes, looked more like her mother but with an angelic face. She told a story similar to Riley’s, but with less detail. Four-year-old Avery just said Bill took lots of pictures, gave her candy, and had tea parties with her.

  After the girls returned to their rooms, Sabre called the social worker and said, “I think these girls may have been drugged before the nude photos were taken.”

  Chapter 13

  Between the internet and his deputy friend, JP was able to gather quite a bit of information about Judd Soper. The man had an extensive criminal record, but he’d never done any hard time. Several drunk-and-disorderly arrests, unpaid parking tickets, and a vandalism charge when he was nineteen were all part of his record, but he had no violent crimes. Soper’s friend, Andy Rankin, was often present during the incidents and was a known associate in Soper’s criminal record. Rankin had even been arrested on the same vandalism charge with Soper nearly thirty years ago.

  When JP researched Rankin, he discovered the associate had a violent past. Rankin had served time in a state prison in Lancaster, California for aggravated assault and assault on a police officer when he was twenty-three. Rankin had been raising a ruckus in a bar, and when the police came he punched one of them. Eight years later, he was charged with domestic violence and served a year in county jail. He clearly had anger management problems. JP didn’t know if Rankin was the same Andy who was at the party that night, but it seemed likely. He had mugshots, but he would have to have them identified.

  JP was writing down the last known addresses for both men when Sabre and Morgan returned with packages in both arms. Morgan was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Did you have a good time?” JP asked.

  “It was so much fun,” Morgan said. “Sabre bought all kinds of really neat stuff for my new room. And she bought me some new clothes and shoes—two new pairs of shoes. I’ve never had two at the same time.”

  “Sabre does like to shoe shop.”

  “Let’s put these things in your room and unload the rest from the car,” Sabre said.

  “There’s more?” JP asked.

  “Oh yeah, there’s more. She was having so much fun, I couldn’t stop.”

  “I’ll get the rest,” JP said. “Why don’t you help her set up her room.”

  JP made three trips to the car, then helped the girls hang pictures of unicorns and fairies on the walls. When they were done, Morgan stood back and looked around the room.

  She sighed. “It’s all so p….” She couldn’t seem to come up with the correct word.

  “Pretty?” Sabre asked.

  “Pink?” JP guessed.

  “Perfect,” Morgan said. “Thank you.”

  Sabre and JP both smiled at her.

  “Now, all I need is my brother here. What are you going to do about that, Uncle Johnny?”

  JP suddenly realized how much he liked it when she called him “Uncle Johnny.” He wondered how Gene had raised such a remarkable child. “I was working on that when you came in. Maybe you can help me.”

  “Sure. I’d be elated.”

  Elated? “You sure use some big words for such a little girl. Where do you learn them?”

  “I look them up in the dictionary. I find a word I like, and then I use it for a few days. I call it my word of the day, even though I don’t do one every day. But after a few days, I have it down pretty well. Sometimes I misuse it, and someone tells me, then I have to look it up again and make sure. Sometimes, they’re wrong, and sometimes I didn’t quite get the connotation of the word.”

  “Was connotation one of the words you learned?”

  “Yeah, I like that one. It’s a good word. My dad gave me that word. He’s the one who got me started doing this. He said I needed to have a better vocabulary than him so when I spoke, adults would listen. I don’t think adults listened to him when he was a kid.”

  An uncomfortable guilt landed in the pit of his stomach as JP flashed back to their childhood. “You’re right, Morgan. Adults didn’t listen to Gene when he was a kid.” And I didn’t either, he thought. “You ready to help me with Conner’s case?”

  “Yes.” Morgan nodded sternly.

  “I’m going to ask you a few things, but if anything makes you uncomfortable, you let me know.”

  “I’ll do anything to help”—she paused—“to assist my brother. That’s today’s word: assist.”

  “I would be pleased if you assisted me with this case,” JP said. “I need to know who’s been in your house the past few months. Let’s start with the party the night before Bullet left. Do you remember who was there?”

  Morgan looked pensive. “Mom, Grandma, Judd, Andy, and Bullet. Oh, and Derek.”

  “Tell me what happened the day Bullet left your house.”

  “I went to the kitchen and saw Grandma and Bullet fighting. The next thing I knew, Conner grabbed me and took me to my room. He left, and I waited for the fighting to stop, then I went back to the kitchen. Everyone was gone except my mom.”

  “What was she doing?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “When did Conner come home?”

  “In the afternoon.”

  “Did anyone else come back that day?”

  “Grandma was back just before dark, and the rest didn’t come back.”

  “Did any of them come back any time before Conner was arrested?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Do you know Andy’s last name?”

  “No.”

  “Can you describe him?”

  “He’s a big guy, tall and muscular, and his left arm is covered with tats. He has long brown hair that he wears in a ponytail most of the time.”

  JP waited for the man’s image to load on his monitor. “Dang, this piece of junk is getting slower every day.” When he finally had the photo, JP showed it to Morgan. “Does that look like the same guy?”

  “That’s him.”

  JP also showed her a picture of Judd Soper, even though he was pretty certain he had the right guy.

  Morgan confirmed it. “I just remembered, you asked if anyone came back after the party. Soper came one day and talked to my grandma.”

  “Thank you,” JP said. “Do you remember if anyone else came to your house after Bullet was shot?”

  “Emily, Conner’s girlfriend, was there a couple of times.”

  JP checked his notes. “What can you tell me about Derek?”

  “He’s a friend of my dad’s. He looks a little scary when you first see him, but he’s pretty nice. He only comes around when my dad’s there. He never goes to mom’s sex parties, but she doesn’t have them when my dad’s there. I like it a lot better when my dad’s home. I miss him.”

  JP wasn’t sure what to say. He was so angry at Gene for putting his kids in this terrible position, but he was also starting to think Gene really cared about them in his own
twisted way.

  “Do you know Derek’s last name?”

  Morgan thought for a second, then shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “But I know where he lives if that would help.” She smirked.

  “Do you know the address?”

  “No, but I know how to get there. I’ve been to his house a couple of times. Daddy told me if I couldn’t get you to do anything, I should go to Derek. It’s kind of a rough neighborhood, so he didn’t want me to go there unless you refused to cooperate.” Morgan chose her words carefully. “I don’t think he was real sure you would.”

  Her diplomacy made him smile. “Your father and I haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything over the years, but I promise I will always be here for you and Conner.” JP hesitated. “And for Gene, if he needs me.” JP wished he’d been there sooner and chastised himself for being so stubborn and not making a greater effort to know his brother. He hadn’t seen much of his younger brother, Troy, lately either. He decided to remedy that soon.

  “You ready?” JP asked.

  “For what?” Morgan looked surprised.

  “To take me to Derek’s house.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” Sabre asked.

  “Why don’t you go with us? I just want Morgan to show me where he lives, then I’ll go back later.” He turned to Morgan and then to Sabre. “You both okay with that?”

  They both agreed.

  The girl stared at him for a few seconds, then asked, “Did you protect my dad when you were young?”

  JP thought about the many times Gene had gotten into fights so JP didn’t have to. Then his mind went back to when he was eight years old. It was the middle of the night. A gunshot blasted, and he heard the little boy inside him scream. He saw Gene holding a gun and their father struggling with him, and then the dead body lying in front of them. He bit his lip and forced a half smile. “He’s my older brother,” JP said. “Mostly, he protected me.”

  Chapter 14