Rampage

by Roy A. Teel, Jr.

  Jim was sitting in his office with two other deputies, giving them instructions with regard to picking up Jerry, Alan, Mark, and Tim for questioning in the Donaldson murder. He had decided to do it himself rather than have LAPD involved. It was quarter to four when the two deputies left to pick up the boys, and Jim called John and said, “Okay…so I’m the bad guy here. I sent two of my high ranking deputies out to pick up the kids. What do you want to tell the parents when they come flying in after us?”

  “The truth. They are persons of interest in a homicide.” John’s voice resonated over the speakerphone, and Jim slammed his fist down on his desk and yelled, “They are not persons of interest in a fuckin’ homicide, you dumbass. They are persons of interest to you, to the FBI, not to me…so when these boys get picked up and brought in, you and your protégé better be prepared to be in my office for the interrogation.”

  “We will be. We will be watching you work your magic from the other side of the one way glass.” “Fuck you, John…shit, fuck you!” Jim slammed his fist down on the office phone sending it to the floor and getting a look of disapproval from his office staff outside the open office door. He walked over to the window, picked up the pack of cigarettes, and plopped one into his left hand. He put it in his mouth, lit it, and stood blowing the smoke out the window, muttering to himself.

  There was a light tap on Karen’s office door, and Sara, being closer to it than Karen, opened it to see Vickie Delgato standing in the doorway. Sara invited her in. Karen was sitting at her desk and stood up to greet the teen. Vickie looked at the two women and put her hand out to Sara and said, “I’m Vickie Delgato, Dr. Faber. We spoke on the phone earlier.” A smile broke out across Sara’s face, and she said, “My name is Dr. Swenson, Vickie. Dr. Faber is the one standing behind the desk.” Vickie looked hard at Karen and said, “You’re a doctor?” Karen nodded slowly, and Vickie blurted out, “How the hell old are you?”

  Karen walked around her desk and reached out her hand in a gesture to shake hands and said, “I don’t know that that is really your business at this moment, Ms. Delgato. You called me from my patient’s cell phone, telling me she is in danger and asking to speak to me. I think before we go much farther I need to get an understanding of who you are and what you are doing here.” Sara excused herself, but Karen asked her to stay. She pointed to an over-stuffed leather chair in a corner of her office and asked Vickie to sit. Sara took a seat opposite Vickie, and Karen sat down in an office chair that she used for patient sessions.

  Vickie sat down, and Karen pulled out a tablet and asked, “So…Ms. Delgato, what is the emergency that you seem to so urgently need to speak to me about that pertains to my patient?” Vickie looked at Sara and let out a little laugh and asked, “Is she really a doctor? A psychiatrist?” Sara nodded, and Vickie said, “But, but…she can’t be much older than me.” Karen asked, “How old are you, Ms. Delgato?” “Eighteen, two months ago.” Karen smiled and said, “I turned eighteen a few weeks ago. I am a doctor, and I’m a board certified psychiatrist. Now, how can I help you?” Vickie sat back in the chair, her breasts busting out of her skimpy top.

  She said, “My friend is in trouble.” “Your friend Debbie Atwater?” She nodded. “What kind of trouble?” Vickie squirmed a little in her seat, and Sara asked, “Would you like us to refer you to another doctor? Dr. Faber could have a conflict here as she cannot treat you and your friend.” “I’m not here for treatment. I’m here to see if this ‘doctor’ that Debbie has told me so much about can help to save her from prison and possibly death.” Sara sat back, and Karen said, “I don’t know. What’s the crisis? What is going on with Debbie? You mentioned prison, so it’s not health related, is it?”

  “It will be if she keeps going down the road she’s heading down.” Vickie went to stand, and Karen said, “Where are you going?” “I made a mistake. I should never have called you. I should never have come here. I need the police. I need to talk to the police.” She was only partially up and then fell back in the chair and began to cry. Sara asked, “Why do you need the police? You need to give us more information if we are going to guide you in the right direction either way.” Vickie sat sobbing and said, “People are going to die. People have already died. It’s going to get worse, much worse.” Karen asked, “Who has died?”

  “Brian Donaldson.” “And who is Brian Donaldson?” Karen asked. Sara chimed in and asked Vickie, “Brian Donaldson who was found murdered at Rosedo High School the other night?” Vickie nodded. “Do you know who killed him?” Vicki nodded again. Sara looked at Karen and then asked Vickie, “Did your friend, Debbie, kill Brian?” Vickie got an indignant look on her face and said, “No…she had nothing to do with his death.” Karen asked, “But you know who did kill him?” Vickie nodded and said, “Yeah…yeah, I know.”

  Karen said, “This is a matter for the police. We need to contact them immediately.” Karen stood up, and Vickie cried out, “Wait…there is another murder that’s going to happen tonight, and I know the kid who thinks he’s going to commit it, but most likely in the end is going to be the victim.” Sara said, “Before you say anything more, I want you to sit still. You are talking about criminal offenses that you claim to have knowledge of. Those admissions are not protected by doctor-patient confidentiality. Dr. Faber and I are required by law to notify law enforcement immediately.” “The cops can’t save anyone. It’s too late. Things are happening right now even as we speak.”

  Sara asked, “What’s happening?” “I don’t know the details. All I know is that Brian is dead, and so are Rocky and his friends as well as two of my girls friends from school. Debbie has warned me to stay away from school for homecoming, and one of my friends who’s gay and has been the victim of some cruel people is going to end up being brutalized again because he thinks he has all of the answers.” Sara stood up and pulled out her cell phone. Karen sat still and asked Vickie to do the same. She looked at Karen and asked, “Who is she calling?” “Her husband, I imagine. He is an FBI agent. If anyone can sort out what you know, it’s him.” Vickie started to hyperventilate and said, “Oh God…Oh God…they are going to kill ME! If they find out what I’ve done, they will kill me.” Sara had the phone to her ear, and she looked at Vickie and said in a firm yet soothing voice, “No one is going to kill you…the man I’m calling will make sure of that.”

  John’s cell phone was ringing on the other end of the line as Sara spoke. “Swenson.” “Honey…I need you here at the hospital immediately. We have a young woman in Karen’s office who claims she knows about a lot of things that have happened in the last forty-eight hours, namely who killed Brian Donaldson.” “I’m on my way. Don’t let her leave.” “No problem.” Sara hung up the line and looked at her watch. It was half past five.

  “You are going to stay here with me and Dr. Faber until my husband gets here. He will take care of you from there.” “Who is your husband?” “He is the head of the FBI here in Los Angeles, and he will protect you. However, you will have to tell him everything that you know about the killings and any other plots to kill others.” Vickie nodded, and Sara said, “You can’t lie to him, Vickie. If you are lying about any of this, one, you will go to jail and, two, there will be no way my husband can protect you.”

  “I swear to God I will tell him the truth. I will tell him everything I know. I just want to stay alive and help keep my friends alive if I can.” Sara nodded as the three women sat in silence waiting for John.

  The two story rebuild at the corner of Wynne Avenue and Domino Street in Reseda had been constructed after the nineteen ninety-four Northridge earthquake. The house sat on a beautifully manicured corner lot. Brad and Margo Dell had purchased the home just before the quake and, fortunately, had earthquake insurance, which built them a much better home than the one they originally purchased. Brad was a meticulous landscaper and kept an immaculate home. It was one of the perks of the relationship. She was a practicing up and coming young
lawyer with no time to cook and clean, and Brad’s life as a teacher left him with summers off and weekends, evenings, and holidays to care for both of their needs.

  Brad was standing at the sink rinsing vegetables for dinner when his cell phone rang. He dried his hands and answered it. “Hi baby, it’s me. Are you looking forward to tonight?” Brad smiled as he walked back over to the sink and started to cut and chop and said, “Am I? Where to begin…it’s been a while. Are you ready for tonight?” “Oh, you know it. I can’t wait to feel you inside of me, pumping and grinding…oh I’m creaming myself just thinking about it.” Brad had an erection growing in his gray sweat pants, and he said, “Don’t start the dirty talk now…I will end up having to hit the couch and beat off before you get here…I have one stuck in the chamber. It’s just for you.” “Okay, well, I just wanted to call and, stroke, I mean stoke the fire a bit for you. I will have you in my mouth really, really soon. Love you.” Brad was rubbing his crotch as he talked and said, “I can’t wait for you to take me in your mouth. Love you, too.” He hung up the phone and continued fixing dinner.

  Mark hung up, and the look on Tim and Jerry’s faces was priceless. He laughed and said, “You wanted me to ‘stroke’ the man and make sure we are on. Well, we’re on.” Jerry said, “I love you? Really? You love the guy?” Mark didn’t say anything. He just undressed and walked into Tim’s bathroom to take a shower. He spoke as the water ran over his body. “Yes…in my own way I do love him. I’m sad for Brad. He can’t come out, and he will end up dying in a love triangle, or what we have made look like a love triangle between his wife and his boss.”

  Tim was sitting on the floor with his laptop open, working in the deep web. He was typing away and asking Mark questions until he got what he was looking for. “Got it!” Tim said. “Got what?” asked Mark. “I have the video feed from Brad’s security cameras in his house. Now, we can watch the whole thing ‘blow by blow.’” Tim and Jerry heard the water shut off, and Mark came walking bare ass into the room. He had a raging hard on, and Jerry said, “Damn, man, you look like your cock is about to explode.” “It is. I like getting fucked up the ass. I like sucking cock. I’m not ashamed of it. It’s who I am. I’m comfortable with my sexuality. You two morons don’t know how good it feels to take it up the ass, so don’t judge me. Just throw me my bag, so I can get dressed and try to get this woody down before I do explode all over this room.”

  Tim grabbed the bag off the bed and said, “Jerry knows what it’s like, and he doesn’t like it, neither do I. Unless you forgot…the rape started this mess.” “You guys are just a bunch of pussies. So, you had a new sexual encounter. Chalk it up to experience and move on, man.” Tim got up and walked up to Mark and got in really close to his face then whispered, “When I was killing Rocky, I reminded him what he did to me, how he humiliated me. I don’t know what Jerry told Brian, but I told Rocky just how I felt. I’m not a queer. You’re a queer. Just remember what Brad helped the others do to you in that school bathroom several months ago. Was that love, man? Is that how that dude loves you? Letting four guys shove bottles and pipes up your ass? That’s your idea of fun? Two weeks spent in the hospital telling no one who did that to you? If that was fun, then you don’t need to deal with Brad, I will. Your understanding of love is fucked up.”

  Mark pulled away, his erection gone, and said, “No…what they helped those guys do to me was not love…it was brutal, and it hurt, and I’m lucky to have survived it.” Tim pulled away and went back to his sitting position with his laptop. He looked up at Mark who was putting on a black shirt and said, “We are not going to watch you getting ass banged or giving this sicko head. We will tune in at ten for the killings, that’s all.” Mark nodded as he finished dressing. Tim and Jerry talked about some work they were doing on the deep web while Mark finished getting ready. Jerry asked when Alan was coming by, and Tim told him he didn’t know.

  Jerry asked if he had heard from Alan, and Tim told him he was online with him as they spoke in a deep web chat room about the killings they were planning. Jerry leaned back and said, “I have a night with Vickie, so I’m going to split. She wants a romantic dinner in exchange for letting me play out my sexual fantasies.” Tim shook his head and said, “Man, don’t hurt her like you did a while back. She’s a messed up kid. You really literally and figuratively fucked her up. And on that note, does she know that she is your half sister?”

  Jerry shook his head and said, “I don’t see any reason to tell her. She doesn’t know that my old man knocked up my mom and her sister and that’s how Vickie was born.” Tim looked down into his laptop and said, “Your father was a sick fuck…he fucked your mom, raped her sister, who was married to that Delgato guy, and no one ever talked about it. The best thing your old man did for that family was off himself last year.” Jerry stood up and said, “I still don’t buy the suicide by cop deal…I read the note, and I read the reports, but I still don’t think my old man wanted to die.”

  “Yeah…well…he’s dead, and I think you should tell Vickie the truth. Your mom and her mom don’t know about you two fucking, do they?” “Nope…and they aren’t going to…it’s not like we are getting married or having kids, man, shit…we are just having some fun. I will tell her eventually but not while I am able to bust a nut in her daily.” Mark was finishing dressing and said, “Well, just remember, dude…she might be on birth control, but that shit’s not a hundred percent at stopping babies…me and my sister are living fuckin’ proof of that. My mom got pregnant while on the pill twice.” Jerry shrugged and said, “Yeah, that was back in the stone ages of birth control. They’ve come a long way. I’m not worried about it, and besides, if she gets pregnant, she would abort. We’ve talked about it, and she also has a stockpile of morning after pills that Tim’s mom got her. It’s all good.”

  Mark buttoned the front of his shirt and said, “Yeah…it’s all good, you incest fuckin’ porn freak. And you call me names. You’re fucking your damn sister…that’s just downright creepy.” Jerry walked over to Tim’s bed and grabbed his own laptop and logged on, not saying another word.

  John pulled into police parking at Northridge Hospital just before six p.m. He and Chris jumped out of the car and ran for Karen’s office. John had said nothing to Chris the whole way over, so he had no idea what they were walking into. Karen and Sara were sitting in desk chairs silent when they walked in. Sara walked John over to Vickie’s chair and said, “Special Agent John Swenson, this is Ms. Vickie Delgato. She has quite a story to tell you about the events of the past few days at her high school.”

  John sat down across from her, and Chris followed. John pulled out his tablet and said, “Vickie? May I call you Vickie?” She nodded with tears in her eyes. “This is my partner Agent Mantel. Before I ask you any questions, I am required by law to read you your rights. Okay?” She nodded. He read Vickie her rights, and she acknowledged that she understood them and then spent the next hour explaining as best she could the things that had happened, and the things that she was warned were going to happen as John and Chris listened carefully while recording the interview with their tablets. When she had finished telling them everything, John asked for a moment alone with her.

  Chris walked Karen and Sara out of the office, and John waited for the door to close. When it did, he asked, “Your friend, Mark, is going to his coach’s house to have sex tonight?” “Yes, sir.” “What time?” Vickie looked over at the clock on the wall. It was half past six. “Well, I think he’s probably there or on his way there right now. Mark is gay, Agent Swenson. He really thinks that Coach Brad loves him, even though he’s married. I have known Mark my whole life, and I don’t think he has it in him to hurt anyone. If anything, he will end up telling Coach Dell the plot, and he will end up getting killed himself. Brad has a bad temper, and he’s a real asshole.”

  John nodded and typed Dell’s address information into his tablet. He wasn’t surprised that Dell had a rap sheet, but h
e was surprised that he had multiple child sex charges over the past twenty years and was a coach at a major high school. Vickie was watching his face and could see the intensity on his face. She said, “Coach Dell’s a bad man, isn’t he?” John nodded as a tear rolled down Vickie’s cheek. “Can you save Mark, Agent Swenson?” “I will do my best. I am going to have Agent Mantel take you with him into protective custody for the time being.”

  Vickie shot up out of the chair and said, “No, Agent Swenson, you can’t do that. If I disappear now, everyone will know that I ratted them out, and who knows what they will do. I’m having dinner with Jerry Pinskey tonight and then sex. If I stand him up, all hell will break loose. You don’t know the type of temper Jerry has. You have to let me go home. I have to keep up appearances.” John sat looking at the girl’s face and then his tablet. He called for Chris and said, “Listen, you are in charge of protecting Ms. Delgato. She has a date with one of the killers tonight. I want you to make sure she makes her date and then keep an eye on her.”

  John looked at Vickie and said, “You will go on your date, and when you are finished you will meet Agent Mantel at a location that he directs you to, and you will be in protective custody from there. Are we clear?” Vickie nodded her head slowly as John rose from the chair. Vickie looked up at him in awe and said, “I have never seen someone so big and muscular.” John shook his head and said, “Don’t flirt with me, kid. It isn’t going to help you. You just do what you are told, and I will see about saving your young friend.” She nodded and walked over to Chris. John called out to Sara and asked, “Can Chris borrow your car? I have to take care of some business, and he needs to take care of Ms. Delgato.” Sara threw Chris her keys and said that she would get a ride home from Karen.