by Jae
"Laurie," Kade said, her voice softer than Del had ever heard it. The tenderness in her voice had a powerful effect on Del, and she hoped it would work on Laurie too. Kade carefully sat down on the edge of the bed.
The bundled-up form under the blankets moved, and a blond head peeked out. Red-rimmed blue eyes looked from Kade to Del. Laurie was sobbing uncontrollably, not even able to utter a single word of explanation.
Del blinked, startled for a moment. Except for the different hair color, Laurie Matheson was the spitting image of her aunt. She looked like a younger, more vulnerable version of Kade. "Hey," Del said softly. "I'm Lieutenant Vasquez."
The blond head retreated back under her blanket.
"Her name is Del," Kade said. "She's a friend. Can you tell her what happened?"
"I c-can't," Laurie sobbed. "I don't want to talk about it. Send them all away, please, Aunt Kade."
Del met Kade's gaze. It was clear Laurie was too scared to talk to the police.
Kade nodded at the door and mouthed, "Let me try again."
With a sigh, Del retreated from the room.
* * *
Aiden walked up to the young uni. "Where's the perp?" she asked without preamble. She was impatient to get to the bottom of this case. Even though it had turned out that Kade's niece, not Kade, was the victim, this case still hit a little too close to home for her liking.
"Outside, in one of the squad cars," the uni answered eagerly.
"Has he been mirandized?" Aiden asked. Kade wanted this done by the book, making it impossible for her niece's rapist to walk on a technicality.
The uni nodded. "She," he corrected.
"What?" Aiden stared at him. "You mean the perp is a woman?" Aiden wasn't ignorant. She knew better than anyone else that rape was more about exerting power and control than about sexuality. She knew women could be rapists too, but experience had taught her that in ninety-nine percent of the cases, the perp was male.
When the officer nodded, she pushed past him and strode to the squad car parked in the driveway.
A lanky young woman, barely more than a teenager, lounged in the backseat, her arms crossed over her chest, her head defiantly thrown back against the headrest. The look of boredom on her face made Aiden's blood boil.
Aiden jerked the car door open, making the young woman almost fall at her feet because she had casually leaned against the door. She scowled up at Aiden, her dark eyes flashing. "Hey! Watch out, you...!"
"Yes?" Aiden drawled. She hoped the young perp would take her up on it and add insulting a police officer to the list of her charges.
"Ha! You think I'm stupid, huh?" The young woman leaned back again and proceeded to ignore Aiden.
"Did you hear that, Ray?" Aiden asked, glancing back over her shoulder. "Did she just call me stupid?"
Ray stepped closer to stare down at the woman in the backseat. "Nope. She called herself stupid – and she must be because raping the niece of a Multnomah County deputy district attorney is not a clever thing to do."
Only Aiden could see that the smug grin on his face was fake. She knew he was thinking about Kade's niece. She was close in age to his own daughters, and he was probably thinking it could have very well been one of them.
"I didn't rape her, goddamnit!" their perp raged. "I don't need to rape anybody, man! I have enough willing girls throwing themselves at me."
"Yeah, right!" Aiden snorted and shut the door in her face. She wanted the young woman to repeat her bragging and her lies in the more official surroundings of an interview room at the precinct. By the book, she reminded herself, trying to calm her still seething anger.
She pounded on the roof of the car. "Get this piece of work to the precinct!" she shouted at the uni in the driver's seat.
* * *
Ray leaned back against the wall of the interrogation room, watching the stare down taking place in front of him.
Their perp sat behind the small table in the middle of the room, her long legs lazily sprawled out in front of her. She coolly returned Aiden's gaze.
Finally, Aiden threw the wallet with the ID they had taken from Evan Whitfield, their suspect, down at the table. "You don't look like you're nineteen."
Evan Whitfield just shrugged and grinned. "Good genes, I guess. When I'm your age, I'll be thankful to look a few years younger."
For a moment, Ray thought Aiden would jump across the table and strangle the young woman, but she only leaned forward and pinned Evan with a challenging stare. "Why did you sleep with a fifteen-year-old, then?"
"Who says I did?" Evan shot back.
Their suspect was a cocky braggart, but she wasn't stupid. Either she wasn't admitting to anything out of principle, or she knew they could charge her with statutory rape if she admitted to sleeping with a fifteen-year-old.
"Let me tell you what happened," Aiden said, her voice sharp, yet calm. "You conned your way into the bedroom of a young, naïve girl under the pretense of friendship, and when she didn't give you what you wanted, you raped her."
Evan Whitfield stared at her for a moment. This time, she didn't yell or declare her innocence with threats and curses. She just looked at Aiden with a smirk. "Is that a fantasy of yours, Detective?"
Ray quickly moved away from the wall and laid a restraining hand on his partner's shoulder. He knew Evan's remark had hit a nerve, and he didn't want Aiden to do something stupid. "Come on. Let's get a pop while Miss Whitfield thinks of something more original to say." He pulled Aiden up and away from the table.
Aiden jerked out of his grip and stormed out of the room.
Ray followed at a more sedate pace. He found her pounding and kicking at the vending machine in the hallway. "Hey, hey, take it easy! Okada is not gonna be happy if you destroy his steady supply of candy." He reached inside, jerked a few times, and pulled out Aiden's pop. "Here."
"Thanks," Aiden grumbled, looking as if she wanted to have something much stronger than a soft drink.
"Don't let her get to you, Aiden," Ray said. He wasn't sure why this suspect was affecting Aiden so much. Usually, she was a lot more restrained than that. He had seen perps hit her or spit at her without Aiden going off the deep end. Granted, Aiden didn't have the experience with annoying teenagers that he did, so maybe that was part of the reason.
Aiden gulped down her pop. "I have to call Dawn, tell her Kade is okay." She turned away from him and walked a few steps down the hall.
Ray waited, watching her as she paced the hallway with the cell phone pressed to her ear. He couldn't hear what she said, nor did he know what Dawn answered, but after a few minutes, Aiden stopped her agitated pacing and leaned against one of the vending machines, nodding a few times as she listened to what Dawn had to say. Her expression was calmer now, and Ray saw a gentle smile on her face. Oh, yeah. Dawn is really good for her.
He turned away, not wanting to interrupt the private conversation, and used the opportunity to call Kade and get an update on the situation at the Matheson residence.
* * *
"Dawn?" Aiden pressed the cell phone to her ear, pacing the hallway with her back to Ray for a little privacy. "It's Aiden."
"Aiden! How's Kade?"
Aiden could hear Dawn's voice trembling. The situation probably reminded her too much of her rape just six months ago. She took a deep breath, forcing her own churning emotions back. "Kade is fine," she said quickly. "She's not the victim. It's her niece."
Dawn paused for a moment. "The one we met when she was out shopping with Kade?" she asked. "The cute, kind of shy little thing who has a crush on you?"
"What?" Shocked, Aiden stopped her pacing. "Yeah, we met when she was Christmas shopping with Kade, but she doesn't have a crush on me." She shook her head. Sometimes Dawn had an overactive imagination.
"How is she?" Dawn asked. "God, to go through this at fifteen..."
Aiden bit her lip. "I don't know. I haven't seen her yet. We're giving her a little time while we're trying to get a confession from the perp." S
he sighed.
"Are you okay?" Dawn asked, her voice soothing. "You sound a little... agitated."
Aiden sighed and leaned her back against one of the vending machines. "Our perp drives me crazy."
Dawn didn't ask any questions. She never had. She knew Aiden couldn't discuss open cases. "You'll get him," she said, and Aiden could hear the unshakable belief and trust in Dawn's voice. "But it might take a little time. Just take it step by step. I know it's hard when someone you know is the victim."
Aiden swallowed. "Yeah."
"If it gets to be too much, please hand over the case to someone who isn't as emotionally involved," Dawn said softly.
Aiden knew she wouldn't do that, but it was good to hear someone worrying about her emotional well-being nonetheless. She'd never had that in her life before. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Take care. I love you."
A small smile flitted over Aiden's face. "I will. Ditto," she answered, knowing Ray was right behind her and probably listening to every word she said. When she ended the call and returned to Ray's side, he was just putting away his own cell phone.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. Sorry about that." Aiden gestured back to the interrogation room. Normally, she was the one who kept her cool while Ray sometimes had a difficult time controlling his anger when he was with a perp who had hurt a child or teenager. This time, it was the other way around. "It's just... something about her just rubs me the wrong way. A young girl's innocence was destroyed tonight, and that bragging smart-ass is acting like that's something to be proud of!"
Ray nodded and gently patted her shoulder. "Come on, let's swab and fingerprint her. Trying to get a confession can wait until we have something on her."
"Was that Kade?" Aiden asked, pointing to his cell phone.
"Yeah. She's at her brother's, but her niece is still too distraught to talk. We'll wait until tomorrow," Ray said. "By then, we should have some DNA evidence from the crime lab. They're processing the sheets from Laurel Matheson's bed. Kade did have something else for us, though. It looks like Evan Whitfield's got a juvenile record."
Aiden shook her head in frustration. "Juvenile records are sealed. You know that."
"Yeah, but Kade called in some favors. She won't be able to use it in court, but we might find something interesting nonetheless. She's faxing the records over right now." Ray stepped over to the fax machine, waiting impatiently until it spat out the documents they were waiting for.
Aiden was faster. She snatched up the sheet of paper and studied it. "Bingo!"
Ray tried to read over her shoulder.
"She did time in juvie," Aiden read out loud, almost triumphantly. "Shoplifting, auto theft, drug possession, that kind of thing. No history of violent crimes, though."
Ray stared at the piece of paper. "Shit. Look at the date of birth."
Aiden did. "That means she's sixteen. Her ID is fake. Which means we won't get her for statutory rape. We have to prove the sex was nonconsensual, or she walks," she said grimly.
CHAPTER 13
DAWN CLOSED THE last of her patient files. Normally, she tried to take Saturdays off, but she knew Aiden wouldn't leave the station until she got a confession from Laurie Matheson's rapist, so she might as well get some work done too.
She stretched and wandered out into the reception area to get a cup of tea.
Mrs. Phillips was on the phone but motioned for Dawn to wait in front of her desk. She said her good-byes and ended the call. "That was Mrs. LeCroix," she told Dawn. "She called to cancel Evan Whitfield's session on Monday. Evan won't be able to keep her appointment."
Dawn frowned. I thought we'd made some progress. What's going on now? "Did she give a reason?"
"Yes." Mrs. Phillips nodded dramatically. "She got arrested by the police."
Shit! Dawn knew Evan was still hanging around the wrong crowd, but she had begun to see some positive changes in Evan and had hoped she wouldn't do anything to sabotage her own future. "Did Mrs. LeCroix tell you what happened?"
"No. But she was crying, so it can't be good." Mrs. Phillips stared up at Dawn from her place behind the reception desk, obviously waiting for Dawn to work a miracle.
Dawn chewed on her lower lip, then made a decision. She reached across the desk and picked up the phone.
Instead of Jill LeCroix, it was her husband who answered the phone.
Dawn quickly adjusted and told him her name. "I don't know what exactly happened, Mr. LeCroix, but if I can help in any way..."
"It's too late for that," Mr. LeCroix said. His voice was frosty.
God, what did she do? I hope she didn't kill somebody. Dawn hadn't thought Evan capable of committing a violent crime, but obviously they weren't just dealing with a minor offense like shoplifting. "Why? What happened?"
"That good for nothing..." Mr. LeCroix roared, then stopped himself. "She raped a girl! So tell me, Doctor, how can you help with that?"
For long seconds, Dawn couldn't answer. She held the phone in a limp grip, staring at the wall, her thoughts racing. Oh, God! Evan Whitfield is not a rapist... is she? Suddenly, she wasn't so sure anymore. Did I misjudge her so badly? Did I just not want to see it because she reminded me of Aiden?
"...excuse me now," Mr. LeCroix's voice interrupted her tumbling thoughts. "We have to head down to the station."
"Wait!" Dawn said quickly. "Can I come and talk to Evan?" She needed to find out if she really had misjudged Evan so badly.
"Do whatever you want." Mr. LeCroix sighed in resignation. "That girl has me at a point where I just don't care anymore."
* * *
A dozen different emotions churned through Dawn as she entered the squad room. She was still shocked and in a state of disbelief, hardly able to believe that Evan Whitfield could have raped anybody. What if she really did it? Dawn had never wanted to face another rapist, and she wasn't sure she could maintain her objectivity. Her professional and her private life were colliding in more ways than one. There was a good chance this was one of Aiden's cases, but there was no time to talk to her, to give her fair warning.
A uniformed officer opened the door of the interrogation room for them.
Dawn stepped into the room behind Evan's foster parents.
Evan was sitting behind a small table, her pose as rebellious and confrontational as ever. She didn't even look up as they entered.
Dawn looked at Evan's foster parents. Jill was crying, and her husband's jaw was clenched. Both of them looked almost physically unable to utter a single word. Dawn stepped forward. "You know, you take avoiding our sessions a little too far."
Evan's head snapped up. Surprise and something like hope flickered in her eyes when she recognized Dawn, but then the cool, bored expression was back. "Hey, Doc. What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this?" She indicated the sterile interrogation room.
"I should ask you that question," Dawn answered as calmly as possible. "What happened, Evan?" She didn't ask the question the police and her foster parents had probably already asked Evan: what did you do? She knew Evan needed someone to believe in her, to give her the benefit of the doubt, and she was determined to be that person even if she secretly harbored her own doubts.
The door opened again before Evan could answer.
CHAPTER 14
"AND?" AIDEN ASKED urgently as Ray put the phone down.
"DNA results aren't back yet, but Deming promised to have something for us within the next hour," Ray reported. He stood and picked his jacket up from the back of his chair. "Come on. Let's see if our suspect is a little more cooperative today."
A uni waved at them as they headed toward the interview room. "We put your suspect in the bigger interview room," he told them. "She's got company."
Aiden nodded. It wasn't unexpected. "She lawyered up?"
"No. Her parents are with her," the uni said.
Aiden gave another nod. Now that they knew Evan Whitfield was a minor, they were no longer allowed to question her witho
ut her parents present.
"And her shrink," the officer added.
"Her shrink?" Aiden echoed. "Don't tell me she's going for an insanity defense?" Kade won't like that.
The uni shrugged and opened the door to the interrogation room for them.
Aiden immediately zeroed in on Evan Whitfield as she entered the room. The teenager still looked as cocky as ever, even after spending the night in custody. Aiden's gaze wandered over the angry looking bearded man and the crying woman who were probably Whitfield's parents and then landed on... "Dawn? What are you doing here?" She gaped at her lover.
