Searching for Sera

by Dallas E Tucker

  After clearing the bedroom, we made it to the final door. I took a breath, then opened it.

  A sense of disappointment came over me. It was nothing more than a bathroom. The tub was full of cardboard boxes and more garbage bags piled on top. The toilet was overflowing with human feces. The stench was unbearable. It was evident that Casper wasn’t here, and I was pissed.

  After clearing the place, I called Rene and told her to bring her team up. I had a security team staged at the bottom of the road to watch for anyone coming. I released air ops and thanked them for their help. I told the team to clear out of the house, stating that Rene and her team were on their way.

  I made one more walkthrough of the house, then stood by the perimeter as security in case anyone showed up.

  The team and I stood by for hours, while Rene and her team collected evidence. During the entire time I was there, I thought about Casper. I wondered where he was hiding. I tried to figure out when and where we were going to meet.

  Was it going to be a long drawn out vehicle chase? Was I going to catch him hiding in another house somewhere? Was I going to surprise him when he least expected it? I didn't know for sure. All I knew was that I couldn’t wait for it to happen.

  When Rene was finally finished, she had collected over 50 items of evidence. In the bedroom, Rene had found photographs of Sera being tortured and sexually assaulted. After looking at the photos, she was able to identify the items that Casper used. During her search, she was able to find all of the items. They included a pair of pliers, a leather whip, a butcher knife, a soldering iron, and a few sex toys.

  The thought of what Sera went through was horrific. How could someone do that to another human being? The only explanation was that Casper was a monster. A demon. A sick, sadistic, son of a bitch.

  After all of the items of evidence were loaded into her van, Rene approached me.

  “You look like shit,” she said, smiling at me.

  I smiled back at her and said, "Thanks a lot."

  “You should go home and get some sleep. I will take the items and log everything into evidence."

  “I might just take you up on that. But, I’m not going to sleep. I’m going to go find this piece of shit.”

  ◆◆◆

  Back at my office, I updated the Lieutenant on the case. I told him I had a team stationed near the cabin in case Casper showed up. I knew that once Casper got wind of us being at his cabin, he was going to either run or hide.

  I spoke with the gang commander, who gave me addresses for other SCS members. He said he had some of his detectives watching the locations, in case Casper was hiding there.

  I tried to think of something else that I could do to help find Casper. I wandered around for a minute feeling lost. All of Casper’s known locations were covered, and I had nothing to do.

  I went to my office to make sure everything was in order. I was caught up on my paperwork, and all of the attachments were in the case file. This case was big and it had a lot of moving parts. The file had numerous pages of narratives, search warrants, photographs, criminal histories, and recorded interviews. It was about five inches thick at this point, and there was still more to come.

  I put the file on the desk and I sat down in my chair. I put my feet up and stared at the wall.

  I looked around at my office, my accomplishments on display. There were multiple awards, plaques, and letters of commendation hanging on the walls. There were photographs of my partners and me posing with large amounts of drugs, guns, and cash. "Hero shots" as we referred to them.

  There were photographs of Allie and the girls, at different stages in their lives. There were pieces of artwork that the girls made for me when they were about eight years old. I proudly displayed them for everyone to see.

  As I sat and looked at my life, I thought about the job, and how my perspective had changed. The job wasn’t like it was when I first started. The laws had changed, society had changed, and the justice system had changed.

  Budgets for law enforcement had slowly decreased, while criminals and their activities had quickly increased. A few law enforcement divisions within the state dissolved, and no longer existed. The prisons and jails were overcrowded, and the courts were continuously backlogged. The ever-increasing scrutiny by the media and radical left-wing groups was getting tiresome.

  I knew I was young in the eyes of retirement, but I was in a position where it was possible. Allie had a great job, with great benefits for the family. I had a sizable deferred compensation plan, in addition to my pension. I knew I wouldn’t get my pension until I was fifty, but I had other ways of making money in the meantime. We had the means for me to retire, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was whether or not I could give up the job.

  Since I was five years old, I knew I was going to be a cop. I use to run around the house and pretend to kick in doors and arrest bad guys. I would dress up in my police uniform and carry around my cap gun. I'm sure I drove my mother crazy, as I constantly told her to "Freeze" while I tried to handcuff her. I remember sitting and listening to my grandfather tell me stories about his career as a police officer. He worked for the Oakland Police Department and had more stories than you could ever imagine.

  Somewhere along the way, I felt like my love for the job had diminished. In all honesty, I think I was just downright tired. Not in a physical sense, but emotionally and mentally. I was tired of seeing society at its worst. I was tired of seeing the anger and the pain in people. I was tired of the disrespect and scrutiny that I faced daily. I was tired of feeling disconnected, jaded and unsympathetic.

  On top of all of that, I was tired of missing out on my family. I was tired of working days on end without seeing them. I was tired of missing my girls' sporting events and school activities. I was tired of missing out on holidays, birthdays and family gatherings. I was tired of spending my days off stuck in a courtroom, or at mandatory training.

  In all reality, the thing I was tired of the most was dealing with evil. My views on humanity had changed to the point where I didn't trust anyone. There were so many horrible things that I had seen over my career. The dead bodies, the rape victims, the beaten wives, the hurt children, and the destroyed families. They were all things I could never unsee. Their stories and images were burned into my memory. Their cries for help, and their questions of "why" will forever haunt me.

  I had worked with officers that held onto the job for too long. If they had known what was best for them, they would have left several years earlier. Instead, they crossed the point of no return. They were never able to get their personalities or identities back. It pushed them to the point of losing their marriages, losing their relationships with their kids, and some even took their own lives. All because they were so tired of everything.

  Years ago I promised myself that I would never get to that point. I would never let the evil take over and get me to start doubting the good. But unfortunately, that had already happened. The darkness had snuck in and taken that from me.

  That's how I knew it was time for me to go. I knew I needed to distance myself from evil. I needed to get back to the good in my life. I had done my time in hell, and I was ready to move on.

  As I sat looking around my office, the decision that seemed so hard, was suddenly so clear. As soon as I finished this case, I knew I was done. I was going to give my two weeks notice. I was going to retire.

  I knew Allie would be excited about the decision and I couldn't wait to tell her. I knew she worried about me all the time and hopefully, this would bring her some comfort. I would be able to start a new life in a sense; a life after law enforcement. The thought of it was weird to me, but I imagined all the things I could do.

  I thought about how my stress and anger would slowly melt away. I thought about how it would make me a better husband and a better father. Both Allie and the kids deserved that, and I was going to give it to them.

  After sitting and having my epiphany, I needed to get back to work. I
decided to go to Rene’s office and look at the evidence she had collected.

  When I got there, I printed out all of the photographs that she took. I sifted through the images wondering what I would see. I examined the pictures carefully. Several of them showed females clothing covered in blood stains. I was pretty sure they belonged to Sera. Other photographs were of the items Casper used to torture Sera. I then saw an image of a stack of papers. One of the documents had Casper's name on it. I studied the photograph and asked Rene to look at it. She came over, and I showed it to her.

  "Did you collect this as evidence?" I asked as I pointed at the photograph.

  "Yes, it's in the bag over there," she answered, wondering why I wanted to see it.

  I quickly retrieved the items from the bag. It was a rental receipt issued to Charles Crain. The receipt was for unit 88 at Safeway Storage. I wrote down the address and the phone number and told Rene I had to check on something.

  Could this be the storage unit Goose had told me about? Did Casper rent the unit for Tyson to sell his drugs out of? I wasn’t sure at this point, but I needed to find out.

  I went to the county jail and spoke with Tyson. I asked Tyson about the storage unit. Tyson told me it belonged to Casper, but Tyson used it when he sold drugs. Tyson further explained that when he was selling, he could leave the dope inside the unit and not have it on him. That way if the cops showed up, he could close the door to the unit and tell them it wasn’t his.

  “Did Casper ever visited the storage unit?” I asked.

  "Yeah, periodically I guess. He would stop by once in a while and put some items in or take some items out."

  “What type of things does Casper keep in the storage unit?”

  Tyson thought for a moment.

  "The unit is set up like a bedroom. There is a bed and a dresser, along with a stereo and a lamp. There are boxes of clothes and other items, like ice chests and a mini-fridge. I think he even has a couple of lawn chairs set up next to a table."

  “Did Casper ever stay at the unit?”

  “I’m not sure, but it is set up like he might.”

  ◆◆◆

  After leaving the jail, I headed to the storage unit. I was going to do a quick drive by and see if there was any sign of Casper. It was after business hours, so I expected it to be closed. I arrived at the storage unit to find the front gate shut. There was a keypad positioned near the gate.

  I called dispatch and gave them my location. I asked if they had the code to the gate. I knew that patrol officers did security checks of businesses and often the department would have the codes to access specific properties.

  Dispatch checked the records and said it was 7113#. I entered the numbers and hit the pound button. The gate came to life and slowly started to open.

  I told dispatch the code worked and that I was doing a security check of the business. I entered the facility and drove down the long narrow path between the storage units. I searched for unit 88 and eventually found it. I looked around for any vehicles, but didn't see any. I checked the latch and saw a heavy padlock that secured the unit. Well, Casper definitely isn't in there, I thought to myself.

  I finished driving around the facility and then left.

  I had nothing else to do, so I drove down the road to another business and parked. I positioned my vehicle to where I could see the entrance of the storage facility. I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb, so I tucked my car behind some bushes.

  I turned on the radio and began checking the stations.

  What was I in the mood to listen to, I thought to myself. Was it country, top 40, 80's rock….Nah. I continued through the stations until I landed on the comedy channel. That's what I needed, a good laugh.

  I got comfortable and tilted my seat back a little bit. I rolled down my window and turned the volume up, just enough so I could hear it. I listened as the comedians told their jokes and punchlines. Several times I laughed out loud as if I was in the audience.

  After several hours of sitting, I had only seen a few cars. All of them had passed by, none of them stopping at the storage facility. I looked at my watch and saw it was after midnight. Another day had come and gone; another day of not seeing my family. I got sad thinking about it, but I knew they understood.

  I figured Allie was busy at work and the girls were probably fast asleep. I pulled out my cell phone and sent Allie a text. I told her I loved her and missed her. I added a heart and a kissy face emoji, to spice things up. I knew she liked getting those sorts of things from me.

  I waited a little bit, but didn’t get a response. The ER was always busy, and I knew it could be a while before Allie had a chance to check her messages. I hoped she knew I was thinking about her. Actually, I hoped she was thinking about me too.

  A few minutes later, I felt my phone vibrating on my leg. It was Allie texting me back. She asked if I was nearby and said she was taking her lunch break in about 15 minutes. I quickly texted her, saying I was on my way.

  ◆◆◆

  I drove to a nearby McDonald’s and grabbed a Coke for me and Dr. Pepper for Allie. She loved Dr. Pepper, almost as much as I loved Coke. I sped to the hospital and pulled around back and parked next to the ambulance bay. I sent her a text, letting her know I was outside.

  I patiently waited, as I continued to listen to the comedy channel. After a few minutes, the sliding doors opened, and Allie came walking out. She looked at me and smiled. As she walked towards me, I just stared at her beauty.

  My memory immediately flashed back to the first time I saw her. I was a rookie officer, working the night shift. It was a slow night, and my partners and I went to the ER. We would stop every once in a while to have some coffee and chat with the staff.

  I walked through the doors, and I saw Allie standing at the nurse's station. She was busy filling out some paperwork. She was wearing purple scrubs and had her hair up in a ponytail. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I walked past her and got a cup of coffee. Then I walked over to her and said hi. I introduced myself and asked her if she wanted some coffee. She graciously declined and told me she was almost done with her shift, adding that she wanted to be able to fall asleep. I laughed and told her I knew exactly what she meant. I kept her company for a little while until she finished her paperwork. She thanked me for talking with her and said her shift was over.

  Over the next couple of weeks, I went to the ER as much as I could. We formed a friendship, which over time, transpired into something more. Choosing to talk to her, was the best decision I ever made.

  I snapped out of it, as Allie got close to my car. I got out and gave her a hug and a kiss. I handed her the drink, and I held mine. We leaned against the hood of my car and talked to one another.

  I updated her on my work, and she updated me on hers. We then talked about the girls and went over the list of their scheduled events for the week. I held Allie’s hand and rubbed it gently.

  “Do you remember the first time I talked to you?” I asked as I gazed into her eyes.

  “Of course I do. You kept me company while I did paperwork.”

  Allie looked at me and then laughed to herself.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “I’ve never told you this, but I got in trouble and reprimanded by my supervisor the following night.”

  “How come?”

  "She wanted to know why I had an hour of overtime. I told her I forgot to clock out. I didn't think she would be too happy if I said I was interested in a guy, and talked to him for an hour after my shift ended."

  She giggled, causing me to laugh as well.

  After all these years she had never shared that story with me. We sat there in silence for a minute, as we held hands. Both of us reliving that moment, deep in our hearts.

  "Ok, I've got one for you," Allie said, with a cocky look on her face.

  “Go ahead. I'm ready.”

  “When was the first time we kissed?”

  “Is that all you go
t? That’s an easy one baby," I said, confident as ever.

  "You were driving up French Street, and I was behind you in my patrol car. I turned on my red and blue lights and pulled you over. When I walked up to the car, you were relieved to see it was me, but you were also a little mad because I scared you. You got out of your car, and we stood on the side of the road. We talked and then I told you I was in love with you. I grabbed you, pulled you close to me, and then gave you a long, passionate kiss."

  As we sat there, Allie squeezed my hand. She turned my direction, us locking eyes.

  "That was the most amazing kiss. I had never been kissed like that before. It gave me butterflies, and every time I think about it, I still get them."

  It felt amazing to hear Allie say those words. For some reason, God had blessed me. He had brought Allie into my life. I didn't know why, but I knew I was never giving her back.

  Before we knew it, her lunch break was over, and she needed to get back inside. We hugged each other tightly and had a passionate kiss goodbye. Allie walked back towards the door and waited for it to open. While she was waiting, I yelled out to her.

  “You look so sexy in those purple scrubs.”

  Allie blushed and gave me a silly look.

  The door opened, and she started to walk in. I yelled for her again. Allie stopped and held the door from shutting. She looked in my direction, smiling as usual.

  "I love you, baby. Thank you for lunch."

  Allie giggled and shook her head like she expected nothing less from me.

  She gazed into my eyes. Her look was mesmerizing.

  “I love you to the moon and back," she said, as she blew me kiss.

  I caught it and held it next to my heart.

  ◆◆◆

  I returned to the business parking lot, so I could continue to watch the storage units. I parked my car in the same spot and got comfortable. Sitting in my car like this, reminded me of when I worked narcotics. I would spend days watching targets, trying to build a case. It was tough at times not to get bored. But, when something good happened, it was always worth it.