Truth or Lies?

by A. Gomez

  “Isabel, I have to admit, yes, I’m disappointed we didn’t have sex, but I respect your decision to wait.” He looked unseeingly out the window. “It does make me want you that much more,” he muttered.

  5

  It was still early so I took my time getting ready. I decided to call Mrs. Martin and explain everything so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Her voicemail picked up—she must have been picking up her annoying little dogs from the vet. I left her a message explaining who Josh was and a brief explanation as to why he needed to be here with me.

  I could hear Josh getting out of the guest bathroom shower and rummaging around in the bedroom.

  “When can I possibly get my car back?” I yelled while trying to walk out of my bedroom and zip up my dress at the same time. I must have been grunting loudly, trying to zip up, because Josh peeked around the door and gave me a bewildered look. He had a toothbrush in his mouth. Huh, I didn’t know I had extra toothbrushes.

  “It’s back,” he said, pointing with his chin out the window while he continued dressing and brushing his teeth. “And it’s all fixed up,” he said through a mouthful of toothpaste before retreating back into the bedroom.

  “Wow! I guess you really do work for the FBI.”

  He chuckled. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded, “uh, before we go, I need us to be on the same page, okay?”

  “Er... okay? What does that mean?” One of his eyebrows was raised.

  “Well, when employees at the hospital ask who you are, please say you’re my boyfriend,” I stated. “I can’t have everyone knowing who you really are and why you’re with me all the time. I’m a child abuse psychologist and I don’t want the parents or guardians getting so worried that they stop bringing their children to therapy for fear of a shooting or whatever.” I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. “The other psychologists in my department will probably know but the rest of the employees won’t.”

  “Sure.” He smiled. “That works well for me, in fact. I don’t think others should know since this is such a high-profile case.” He paused, rubbing his chin. “Does that mean I get to hold your hand in public?”

  “Sure, whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “Oh, and try to keep your weapon out of sight if you can. It may make some patients nervous.”

  “What do you mean? I always have it secure and out of sight,” he glanced at himself in the mirror.

  “Yes, you do for the most part, just try to make it less visible while you’re with me at work. We have kids and parents going through our department all day and I don’t want a lot of questions or concerned looks,” I said.

  It was a quiet car ride to work. Neither of us wanted to talk about what happened. Our stomachs were growling loudly. We laughed at the noise. Josh mentioned he would get us something to eat as soon as we got settled. I was enjoying the ride, listening to the talk show radio and looking out the window. I was relaxed and enjoying the view. Chicago’s skyline was pretty amazing.

  “So, when we get there,” his voice sounded sultry, bedroom like and inviting, “I want you to show me around your office, the parts of the hospital you go to, introduce me to your friends and co-workers. Make it look like you’re just showing me around.”

  I turned my head to gaze at Adonis, nodding impassively. He took my hand and planted kisses in the palm of my hand trailing up my wrist. Butterflies took flight in my stomach as he did it. That was so damn hot, heat and desire went straight to my sex. I got wet just gazing at him. I turned my head to look out the window so I could think clearly. There was something that kept bothering me about my victim’s case. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The rest of my notes on this case were in my office. I wanted Josh to hurry so I could just get there. Could he go any slower? For goodness sake! My grandmother drives faster than this.

  “What?” Josh said loudly.

  He startled me. “What do you mean, ‘what’?”

  “You just let out a loud huff. What’s the matter?” he demanded.

  “Nothing really,” I lied. “Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s something about this case that keeps gnawing at me and I just can’t seem to piece it together. Yet.”

  “I’m sure it’ll come to you. You seem like an intelligent girl.” He smirked at me.

  “Um, thank you?” I said.

  At last we made it to the hospital. I directed Josh to my parking space. His giant truck barely fit but he seemed to make it work. I was gathering my things and was stepping out of his truck when I looked up and he was right there holding the door helping me out. He took my bag and held my hand. I shut the door and the truck beeped, indicating it was locked. I felt awkward and self-conscious. People were going to stare at us as soon as we walk out of the elevator. Well, really just stare at Mr. Greek God. I wasn’t mentally ready for this. I still had feelings for Dr. David Summers. I was still hopeful, stupidly, like a teenage girl. I really didn’t get to see him that often, only when I got called down to the ER for a consult or referral, but surely word would get to him that I had a boyfriend. We were in the elevator going up fifteen stories. Snap out of it, Isabel! I yelled in my head. This was your idea to begin with and it’s a good idea. Think of the kids you help and their parents and guardians. How would they react if they knew you needed protection? They wouldn’t want to put their children in any sort of precarious situations. Their imaginations would get the better of them so they would just stop coming for help or worse, I would lose the good rapport I have with the parents and guardians and possibly lose the kids’ trust. The elevator dinged and the doors started to open.

  “Smile, Isabel, you look scared.”

  “Do I?” I exhaled, not realizing I was holding my breath.

  I tried my best to look casual and not like a scared schoolgirl walking to my classroom on the first day of school. No one really paid us too much attention. Just a few women looking up from what they were doing to ogle over Josh, which I expected would happen. The other two psychologists in my department were either at court because they were subpoenaed or they were in one of the therapy rooms with a child. Pam, our director, didn’t always see patients. She only took the more high-profile cases. So, that made a total of four of us in this small department. When we got to my office, I put my things on my desk and Josh helped me with my coat. He closed the door and walked around my office assessing everything. He took one of my business cards off my desk and read it out loud, “Dr. Isabel G. Langley.” He placed it in his suit jacket pocket. He ambled toward the windows and stood there for a long moment, making a mental note of everything, I imagined. He then turned to my play therapy area, picking things up and moving furniture around. My office was pretty spacious considering this was Cook County Hospital. I think I just got lucky with the office space. I had a loveseat with two chairs and a coffee table that fit nicely in there, yet still had plenty of room for the play therapy table and chairs for the younger kids. I even had my own restroom. The other two psychologists had to use the restroom down the hall. Pam had her own as well. I smiled inwardly about that. Josh was still walking around moving things around. I wondered if all this was really crucial. He was acting as if I were some sort of important governmental figure. I rolled my eyes.

  “I can feel you rolling your eyes, Isabel.” He turned to look at me with a smirk.

  “How do you…” he didn’t let me finish my question.

  “You’re huffing and puffing. Your huffs are beginning to remind me of earlier this morning.” He was gazing at me, still smirking.

  I cleared my throat. “Yes, well, I know you want me to show you around, but before we do that, I need you to meet my boss, the director of the psychology department here,” I informed him. “Her name is Dr. Pam Hobbson and she emailed me letting me know she’s abreast of the situation so she’d like to meet you first thing.”

  “Yep, got a text from my supervisor about that,” he said, not sounding surprised.

  He took my hand as we walked out the door and headed
for Pam’s office. No more boyish grin on his face. He looked serious, almost intimidating. Gulp! Here we go.

  Pam’s door was open so I lightly knocked as we walked in. Josh still had my hand in his. Pam was on the phone with what sounded like Josh’s boss. She held up one finger indicating to give her a minute. The handholding caught her eye. She raised her eyebrows.

  “They’re here now. I’ll fill them in.” She hung up the phone, looking surprised. “Isabel?” was all she could ask while looking at our hands.

  “Yes, ma’am, this is Special Agent Joshua Rockwall and he’s been assigned to me.” I was trying to sound as professional as possible. “I thought it best he act as my pseudo-boyfriend so none of the parents get alarmed at the thought of my needing protection from an unknown killer that may or may not want to murder me and/or Jill.”

  Pam sat quiet for a moment taking all this in. I let go of Josh’s hand and folded my hands in front of me. Josh placed his in his pockets. She was looking at our body language, I assumed. Please just say something, I yelled in my head.

  She inhaled deeply and said, “All right, it sounds like you’ve thought this through, so I agree.” She stood up to shake Josh’s hand. “Very nice to meet you, Agent Rockwall. I just got off the phone with your supervisor.” She paused, sitting back down. “He was updating me on the case and when the next court date is. The trial is now set for the second week of December, so you two will have just a couple weeks of your pseudo relationship.” Pam laughed at her own joke and Josh did a weird cough-chuckle.

  Pam was an older woman, probably in her mid-fifties. She was a tall, striking brunette. Her husband was an alcoholic so she was always at work and never really wanted to go home for that reason. Why she didn’t leave him, I didn’t know. Pam was the sort of boss you didn’t want to let down. She was very good at her job and enjoyed doing it. I wanted to show her I was equal to the task and I could handle any case she gave me.

  “Pam, I’m going to show Agent Rockwall around so he can familiarize himself with our floor and other parts of the hospital. Is there anywhere in particular you want me to make sure he sees?” I asked.

  “Has Agent Rockwall met Dr. Summers?” She half smiled.

  “Not yet. I don’t think that section of the hospital is as important as our floor right now, or the therapy areas. I’ll save that for last,” I said, giving her a pointed look.

  “Yes, of course, you would know best.” She had a slightly bigger grin. “I would start with all the exits and entrances we have,” she added.

  I nodded as we made our way to the door. Josh closed her door behind him and then grabbed my arm to stop me from walking ahead of him.

  “Hey, what was that about?” he wondered. “You know, the looks you two gave each other.”

  “Oh, it was nothing important. Just Pam being Pam.” I smiled nervously. “Let’s start with the main entrance to our floor and then I’ll show you three different entrances and exits that are not so obvious.” I quickly changed the subject but I could tell he wasn’t sold on my answer.

  We walked the entire floor, even going into the ladies’ room and men’s room together. However, I think the highlight of my tour was the play therapy room since it was full of boy and girl toys and lots of jars of all sorts of candy. We also had a small sitting area for teenagers to play video games or board games. It was a very bright and colorful room so it’s hard for anyone not to enjoy it. The other two rooms were geared more toward teenagers.

  “This is it!” I exclaimed. “I think you’ve seen everything and all of the restrooms too.”

  “Not quite,” he responded. “What about meeting Dr. Summers?

  “Well…um…he’s in the ER, he’s an ER doctor and that’s on the first floor…and we really don’t interact with him or them a whole lot because he’s an MD and we’re PhDs…we only go down there if they call us for a consult or if they have a child abuse case.” I was rambling and wringing my hands.

  Josh was motionless, eyeing me with his hands in his pockets. “Isabel,” Josh said calmly, “You don’t have to take me now. We can go whenever you’re ready.”

  I exhaled and gave him a thankful smile. “We’ll go, just let me get my day started and I can take you down there later this afternoon.” Later, when I’m not a nervous wreck, I thought.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he answered, satisfied.

  6

  We walked back to my office without talking. It felt like Josh was lost in his own thoughts. I really wanted to resolve this nagging feeling I had that something was odd about the case. I sat at my desk looking for all my notes and files I had on my victim and Tori. I had completely forgotten Josh was in the room with me until I heard his stomach growl again. I peeked up at him. He was gazing out onto our floor, scanning it and inputting something in his phone. He seemed very pensive.

  “Are you hungry?” I inquired. “Because I am. You said you would grab us something once we got settled.”

  “As a matter of fact, I am.” He put his phone away and turned to look at me. “Why don’t I go get us breakfast? You stay here and work while I do that, since I also have to get a few things to take to your house.” I noticed the emphasis he had put on “stay here” and it kind of irked me. Honestly, all this fuss was really not necessary.

  “Yes, yes,” I replied, feeling irritated. “I won’t go anywhere, I promise!” And I rolled my eyes at him. He wasn’t amused. He gave me a long hard stare and walked out my door, calling someone, probably to get a fill-in babysitter while he was otherwise occupied. I didn’t care. I was busy trying to piece together this puzzle from my case. I noticed the defendant had only men with him in court. And they were all Asian. I leaned back on my chair pondering this and thinking back to that day in the courtroom. This case seemed awfully familiar. In fact, it seemed a lot like a particular case I had observed while I was still in grad school. I picked up the phone to call Jill. I had a theory and it wasn’t good.

  Agent Davis walked in as I was dialing. I knew it! Fill-in babysitter. He stood at the doorway looking out onto the floor and nodded politely since I was on the phone.

  “Jill! I have a theory on who and what this defendant may be. If you have pictures of him and his entourage, get them out and tell me if you see any of them with a tattoo of what looks like a red dragon encircled by a red circle.”

  “Does it look kind of like a serpent?” she asked.

  “Yes, that’s it!” I answered excitedly.

  “They all have it. Why?” she wondered.

  “I think this guy is not just another child sex offender but a part of something bigger, something more horrific. I think he may be a member of a secret society called the Chinese Triads.”

  She didn’t respond right away. “I don’t understand. So what, a lot of men are a part of these secret societies. What does that have to do with it?”

  “The Triads are one of the largest international criminal organizations in Asia. They are notorious for sex trafficking and many other illegal activities. Didn’t you notice all those men with the perpetrator were Asian? And in the pictures you have, are all those men Asian, too? Plus, you said they all have the same tattoo. That’s their call sign, if you will. They have control of local markets for drugs, gambling, prostitution and sex trafficking. They work like the mafia where each Triad group is in control of all the criminal activity in a certain area.” I was excited, thinking I was on the right track.

  “Okaay. Are you sure?” Her question came out slowly, sounding puzzled.

  “Send your investigator to check out my theory. If I’m wrong, then no harm, no foul. But if I’m not, then that would explain Tori’s murder, hence giving the FBI a bigger problem to deal with than the perp just crossing state lines.”

  “Okay, whatever, I’ll send him, but meet me at the courthouse in twenty minutes. I have a hearing and I’d like you to explain this better once I’m done here. And bring all the information you have on this, please.” She sounded distracted and rushed.


  We hung up and I started to gather what little information I had on the topic. Most of my books on this were at my house and it would take too long to go home and fetch them. I looked a few key things up online and printed them out. I placed all the papers in a folder, shoved the one book I had in my bag along with the folder, got my coat and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Agent Davis. Crap! I had forgotten about my sitter.

  “Dr. Langley, Agent Rockwall instructed me to make sure you stayed put until he returned.”

  “Yes, Davis, I did forget about that and thank you for reminding me, but I’m sure you could call him and let him know that you will be escorting me to the courthouse so I can meet with the Assistant District Attorney.” I tried not to sound irritated.

  He thought it over for a moment. “All right, let me see if I can get ahold of him and then we can go.”

  I stood in front of Agent Davis, impatiently waiting while he called Josh. I caught myself rocking back and forth on my heels while he made the call. I was trying not to be rude. Apparently, I wasn’t doing a very good job since he kept peeking up at me through his eyelashes. He inhaled deeply, ending the call and trying again. He looked at me apologetically. I just nodded and gave him a stiff smile.

  “Doctor Langley, I’m sorry but Agent Rockwall isn’t picking up. We’ll just have to wait until he calls me back or returns.”

  “Agent Davis, I think you heard me on the phone, did you not?” I was curt with him.

  “Yes, ma’am, I did.”

  “So, then you understand why it’s imperative I get to the courthouse now rather than later?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I do but I have my orders.” He was still blocking my exit. “If I take you without informing Rockwall I won’t get reprimanded or in trouble, no, that won’t happen. Rockwall is not my boss or supervisor. I will just be acting in a way where none of the other agents in the bureau will be able to trust me or want to work with me. You, being a psychologist can understand how important trust is, especially in my field, can’t you, Doctor Langley?” He was very good.