After a moment, we separated.
I reached for the door handle. “You ready?”
She shook her head. “No. But let’s do this. Let’s go get him.”
We held each other’s gazes for a moment. Then she nodded.
And I opened the door.
Going into an LPO’s office had never been particularly scary for me. MA1 Gutiérrez was a pretty chill guy most of the time, and anyway, I didn’t get in trouble so I was rarely getting chewed out.
This time, I was scared shitless. I knew the rules and regulations, and I knew I was in the right. But I also knew how much power and influence someone like Stanton had, and how little I had.
The fact that Reese didn’t trust Gutiérrez anymore—especially after they’d been tight for so many years—didn’t help. And if he couldn’t or wouldn’t help us . . .
Well, I’d cross that bridge when I got there.
We stepped into Gutiérrez’s office. He’d been going over paperwork—when wasn’t he, the poor bastard—and he looked up as we came in. When his gaze shifted to Reese, his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “MA2. MA3. What can I do for you?”
“We need to talk to you.” Reese gestured at me. “Or, well, she does.”
Nothing registered on his face. “All right. Close the door and have a seat.”
Reese closed the door with a quiet click, and we sat down in front of our boss’s desk. She turned to me and nodded.
I pulled in a deep breath. This was it.
“I want to make a statement.” I glanced at Reese, and when she nodded again, I faced Gutiérrez. “Against Lieutenant Stanton.”
Gutiérrez’s eyes widened. “For what?”
I swallowed. “Sexual assault.”
As soon as the words were out, I knew this was a mistake.
“I see.” One eyebrow rose, arching to ask if I was fucking serious, and then his eyes darted toward Reese. “In that case, I should get you in touch with the Sexual Assault Response—”
“I don’t trust him.”
He blinked. “Why not?”
“Because he plays golf with the man who raped me,” I growled.
“Oh. Uh.” He sat back in his chair, elbow on the armrest and a loose fist beneath his chin. “All right. When exactly did this happen?”
I moistened my lips. “Senior Chief O’Leary’s retirement party.” Cheeks burning, I wrung my hands in my lap. “I wasn’t going to report it. I was hoping it would just go away, but then I found out I was pregnant. And I couldn’t ignore it anymore.”
He regarded me for a painfully long moment, eyes occasionally darting toward Reese.
Then he took a deep breath and sat up, folding his arms behind his keyboard. “I need you to tell me everything that happened, MA3. From the beginning.”
I hesitated. “Do you want to write it down?”
He shook his head. “No. I want to find out what happened first. We’ll proceed from there with statements.”
I bristled. Beside me, Reese fidgeted but didn’t speak. Facing Gutiérrez, I said, “So I have to tell you, and then if you believe me, tell you all over again?”
He chewed his lip for a moment. Finally, he reached into his desk and pulled out the familiar forms. “All right. Write everything down. Everything you remember. Date, time, witnesses, everything.”
I resisted the urge to snark back that I was well aware how statements were handled. It didn’t matter if he’d deliberately insulted my intelligence or not—at least he wasn’t stopping me from giving the statement.
Neither of them spoke while I wrote everything down. By the time I’d finished, I was sweating bullets, and when I handed the form back, my hand was shaking a little.
Then there was more silence as Gutiérrez read my statement and I tried to read him. Was he just concentrating? Or did those creases in his forehead mean he was ready to raise the bullshit flag?
Eventually, he set the report down. “Why haven’t you reported it until now? I get that you waited until you found out you were pregnant, but even that was quite a while ago.”
I shifted in my chair. “Because I was scared.”
“Of . . .?” He leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk. “Retaliation?”
“Yeah. I mean, like I said, he plays golf with the SARC. And the Captain.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because Stanton told me.”
“He told . . .” Gutiérrez’s eyes flicked back and forth between us. “Did he know you were planning to make the accusation?”
I nodded. “He made sure to threaten me with everything from his connections to the baby to my lack of credibility.”
“Lack of credibility? How so?”
“He insists I have none because of my reputation for sleeping around.”
He held my gaze, a mix of confusion and disbelief in his eyes.
“She’s not a slut,” Reese said, breaking her long silence. “Even if she was, that doesn’t excuse anything, but if Stanton wants to use her sexual behavior to try to excuse it, then the burden of proof is on him. And the fact is, he has no proof.”
“Neither do you,” Gutiérrez said quietly to me.
I sat up. “Find me one single man on this island who’ll swear under oath he’s ever had sex with me, and I’ll drop this. In fact, any man. Anywhere. Navy or not. Find one, and I’ll never bring it up again.”
He eyed me. Though he didn’t say it, the skepticism was etched into the creases on his forehead.
“It doesn’t make a difference,” Reese growled. “Even if she were as promiscuous as everyone says she is, that doesn’t give him the right to—”
“I’m aware of the law.” Gutiérrez looked at me. “Where are you going with this?”
I forced myself to hold his gaze. “You’ll never find any man who’ll swear under oath they’ve slept with me because I’m a lesbian.”
He blinked. “You are?”
“Yes. I’ve never even had sex with a man. Except . . .” I shuddered.
“I see. And you said he tried to threaten you with the baby?”
I nodded. “He coerced me into getting an abortion. Or, well, he tried to.”
Gutiérrez watched me for a moment. “That’s why you went to Hawaii, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
His gaze shifted to Reese. “And you went there to . . .?”
“She needed support.” Reese took my hand, and MA1 didn’t seem at all surprised by that. “Which I gave her. And ultimately, she decided against the abortion.”
“I see.” He glanced at our hands, then me. “Unofficially, it was my understanding that you and Stanton had agreed that abortion was the best option.” He ran his thumbnail along his lower lip. “What changed your mind?”
“It was never my decision in the first place. Stanton . . . he told me there was no other choice.” I exhaled hard, my heart pounding. “He said if I didn’t get the abortion, he wouldn’t consent to giving the baby up for adoption unless I didn’t press charges. And if I do press charges, and he forces me to keep it, he’s going to demand visitation. No jury will ever convict him, so when he gets off, he’ll make my life a living hell.”
Gutiérrez’s eyes were huge. He sank back against his chair. “This is a tough spot, MA3. We can prove you and Stanton had sex—”
I clenched my teeth, barely keeping myself from vomiting.
His eyebrows rose a little. “We can prove that much, but we can’t prove that there was no consent.”
“So it’s just his word against mine. I don’t have any injuries or scars, and no one saw me trying to stop him, so . . . that’s it.”
He sighed. “You’re a cop, MA3. You know what position I’m in here.”
“With all due respect, what I don’t know is if you’re in that position because it’s a hard case to prove or because you’re taking his word over mine.”
His posture stiffened. “Look, I’m in this to protect my Sailors. If someone’s done any of y
ou wrong, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t objective about the situation.”
“Are you being objective about it?” Reese asked.
Their eyes met, and the temperature in the room plummeted.
“Listen,” I broke in before they could start arguing, “I’m not doing this for fun, okay? I don’t want to risk my career or fuck myself over. All I want is to be a cop and to be in the Navy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m not going to jeopardize that just to have a fling with an officer, and I’m not going to throw it away over a false statement.” I sat up straighter and held MA1’s gaze. “I’m doing this because if I don’t press charges against him, then sooner or later, he’s going to do it again. This won’t change what happened to me, but maybe I’ll be able to sleep at night if I know he won’t do it to someone else. And judging by what his wife said to me today, I think he’s done it before.”
“Wait, what?” Gutiérrez leaned forward. “His wife?”
I nodded. “She came into Pass & ID to warn me against filing charges. She said he’s cheated before, but he’s not a rapist. And it occurred to me that if he’s cheated before, there’s a good chance O’Leary’s retirement wasn’t his first time doing it without consent.”
Reese squeezed my hand, and we exchanged glances.
Gutiérrez turned to Reese. “Now, you say you’ve known about this?”
She hesitated but nodded.
“For how long?”
“Since . . .” She set her shoulders back, as if steeling herself. “Since the day you asked me to take her to medical.”
His eyebrows rose. “And you didn’t say anything? Even though you’re—”
“A mandated reporter. I know.” She took a breath. “I’ll accept full responsibility for that part. If you want to hem me up for dereliction of duty, fine. I only did it because I knew she needed someone, and she didn’t have anyone else on this island.” Reese swallowed hard, eyes locked on Gutiérrez. “And there was a time when I would have killed for someone who’d listen to me and believe me.”
Gutiérrez’s lips parted and his eyes widened. “You . . .”
“I’ve been there,” Reese whispered. “And after she’s looked me in the eye and told me what Stanton did to her, I believe her beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
Gutiérrez exhaled slowly. His eyes darted back and forth between us.
“And Stanton hasn’t just threatened Lockhoff.”
“What?” Gutiérrez and I both said.
Reese fidgeted, looking down at her wringing hands. “He pulled me into his office earlier.” She glanced at me. “A little while before you got here. And he . . . Basically, he said that if she filed a report, he’d make sure I was strung up for fraternization and allowing an E4 to live off-base. And he kind of . . .” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “He caught me off guard and got me to admit I knew about the allegation.” She looked across the desk at Gutiérrez. “And if Kim reported it, then he was going to charge me with dereliction of duty and failure to report an assault.”
“Are you serious?” Gutiérrez breathed.
Barely whispering, she said, “Yes.”
Gutiérrez sat back. His gaze moved from the statement, to our joined hands, to Reese, to me, to the statement. The silence went on and on and on. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like my entire world was hanging in the balance, my future tucked into the crevices between his eyebrows.
All at once, he slammed his fist down on the desk so hard, Reese and I both jumped and the keyboard bounced. “That son of a bitch.” Facing me, he leaned forward. “MA3, look me in the eye and tell me everything you’ve stated and everything in this”—he tapped my statement—“is true.”
I looked right at him. “Everything is true. Lieutenant Stanton raped me, and he’s the father of my baby.” I swallowed the nausea trying to rise in my throat. “And he tried to coerce me into an abortion and threatened me if I reported him.”
Gutiérrez chewed his thumbnail for a moment, then met my eyes. “If you ladies will give me a second, I need to make a phone call.”
My throat tightened. I glanced at Reese, and when she nodded, I said, “Uh, okay.”
Gutiérrez picked up the phone. “This is MA1 Gutiérrez. May I speak with Captain Falk, please? I’ll hold.”
My heart was going crazy now. I felt around until my fingers met Reese’s. She grabbed on, her palm sweaty, and squeezed gently.
Gutiérrez glanced at our hands again. Then his eyes lost focus. “Sir, this is MA1 Gutiérrez. I’m calling to inform you that I’m placing Lieutenant Stanton under arrest.”
My jaw fell open. Reese gripped my hand tighter, and we exchanged stunned glances.
A second later, Gutiérrez set the phone down. “All right. Let’s do this.” He rose, withdrawing a set of handcuffs from his police belt. He glanced at them, then at me. “Since you’re a cop, I’d let you do this, but you’re also the victim so I can’t.”
“I know.” Why was I shaking so badly?
Gutiérrez turned to Reese. “You want to do the honors?”
She hesitated. “But he threatened me—”
“That’ll come out during questioning.” He dangled the cuffs off his thumb and grinned. “Doesn’t mean I knew about it when I sent you in to arrest the fucker for assaulting her.”
Reese glanced at me. Then she returned his grin and held out her hand. “I would love to.”
I had never been so thrilled to be at Lieutenant Stanton’s door.
I knocked sharply.
“Now’s not a good time,” came the terse response.
“Sir, I need you to open the door.”
Other voices murmured inside the office. Familiar ones, though quiet enough I couldn’t immediately place them.
“Sir, please open the door or I’ll open it.”
The men on the other side laughed.
“I’m in a meeting, MA2.” He sounded so damned condescending, I could almost feel him rolling his eyes and gesturing at the door as if to say, Can you believe this?
Beside me, Alejandro grumbled something. Kim shifted her weight—I could only imagine how this situation made her feel.
And I wasn’t interested in dragging it out any longer.
I turned the knob and stepped into the room. Senior Chief Brighton and Chief Wolcott were sitting in front of his desk, but I didn’t hesitate. “Lieutenant Stanton, I need you to stand up, turn around, and put your hands behind your head.”
“I beg your pardon?” Stanton laughed, and he didn’t move.
“What in the world is this about?” Senior Chief asked. “This is—”
“Lieutenant Stanton.” I held up the cuffs. “Turn around. Put your hands behind your head.”
He looked past me. “MA1, what the hell are—” His eyes narrowed. “You’re behind all of this, aren’t you, MA3?”
“I’m not going to ask again,” I said coolly. “Turn around—”
He snorted. “I don’t take orders from second-class petty officers.”
A sharp metallic thunk turned my head, and I glanced back to see that Alejandro had taken out and extended his baton. He held it by his leg, opening and closing his fingers menacingly. “She’s not going to ask you again, Sir, and neither am I.”
Stanton was about to speak, but Senior Chief beat him to it. “Uh, Sir, why don’t you cooperate, and we’ll see if this can’t be sorted out peacefully?” He shot Alejandro a Won’t we? look.
I took a step toward Stanton. He glared at me but then cursed under his breath and turned around.
“Hands behind your head, Sir.”
“MA2, we’ve talked about—”
“Hands behind your head now, Sir.”
He pushed out a huff of breath but wisely laced his fingers behind his head. I grabbed his arm, brought it down to the small of his back, and closed the first cuff around his wrist.
And Stanton lost his shit.
He jerked away from me and spun around. His fist came out of nowhere, connect
ing with my face and sending me back a step.
Everyone else in the room lunged forward—whether to restrain me or him, I couldn’t be sure—but I was faster. I shoved Stanton back against the wall hard enough to make him grunt. While he was still off-balance, I spun him around, slammed him chest first into the wall, and twisted his arm behind him.
“You done?” I growled in his ear.
“Fuck you,” he snarled, just loud enough for me and no one else.
I twisted his arm harder, driving another grunt out of him. “That’s not exactly conduct becoming an officer and a gentleman, is it?”
He swore and struggled between my body and the wall, but I just cranked his arm harder.
“You really want to add resisting arrest to your—”
His heel connected with my shin, and in the split second that I was startled, he tried to jerk his arm free, but I gripped it tighter, twisted it harder, and shoved him against the wall again. Before he could recover from that, I jerked him back toward me and kicked his knee out from under him. He went down. I went with him. His kneecap cracked loudly on the hard floor, and he cried out in pain as I shoved him forward onto his face.
I put my knee between his shoulder blades and leaned over him. “Are we done here, Sir?”
He didn’t speak, but he also didn’t struggle. He touched his forehead to the floor, and I could feel the fight leaving him. He’d been a cop during his enlisted days—he knew as well as I did that he’d lose if he tried anything now.
I jerked his other arm back and cuffed it. As I helped him to his feet, I recited his Miranda rights. “You’re under arrest for Article 120, sexual assault. Article—”
“Sexual assault?” He glared at Kim. “Oh, spare me. You’d have given it up sooner or later, you fucking whore.”
Everyone in the room froze. Chief and Senior Chief glanced at each other.
“Come on, asshole.” Alejandro grabbed Stanton’s arm. To me, he said, “You two meet me in my office.” Then he started toward the door with Stanton. “Lieutenant Joel Stanton, you are under arrest for violations of Article 133 of the Military Rules of Evidence, unlawful command influence and coercion. Article 120 of the UCMJ, sexual assault. Article 120 again, assault on a police officer. Article 134, adultery . . .”
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