A Child's Cry-a Loss of Innocence
By DeeDee_McCall
Prologue
I've been sitting here, just thinking about what has
happened in the last few months. For some strange
reason, it feels like an eternity since things have
changed. It seems like nothing ever stays the same,
but rather things are always changing. Sometimes, the
changes are for the better. Even though it doesn't
look that way in the beginning, in the end things have
a way of working themselves out just fine. That's how
this whole thing started. At first I thought things
couldn't get any worse, or any better for that fact,
but life has proven me wrong, once again. I know that
things won't be the same for anyone involved, but
maybe it's just as well. I've learned that much over
the course of my life. Maybe all of this was a part of
a destiny. I've said it before, its not the tune the
fiddle plays, but rather it's the one playing the
tune. Even though we have a great amount of control
over where our lives take us, there are some things we
just can't predict.
Part 1
It was nearly 6:30pm on a Monday afternoon. My partner
and I had been working on a case for the past two
weeks and had finally wrapped it up, and were
contemplating going somewhere for dinner. I was
driving my beat up clunker of a car, when the call
came through over the radio.
"Any available units in the vicinity of Wilshire Blvd.
and 8th Ave. we have a domestic dispute and possible
homicide at 3648 Wilshire."
The call sounded again. I kept my eyes on the road and
noticed out of the corner of my eye, my partner who
was trying to hide her uneasiness. My partner picked
up the mike and responded. "L56 to dispatch. We'll
take it."
"I guess this cancels out dinner." I was trying my
hand at humor, which had no effect on my partner. She
just rolled her eyes at me and turned on the flashing
lights.
Her bruised and battered form lay sprawled across a
kitchen chair. The kitchen was an absolute wreck.
Broken glass was strewn all over the floor, the
remaining pieces of the table, and then there was the
other woman. The kid looked to be still alive, but the
woman lying on her stomach didn't look to be all right
at all. I've seen so many horrific things in my many
years as a cop, but this is one of the worst sights.
There isn't much gore, but just the sight of a
six-year old child lying over a chair like that is
enough to make anyone's stomach turn. The abuse and
all it's horrors is bad enough when it's an adult. But
a child, well that's an entirely different story. Now
I'm not trying to say that when the victim is a child
the case becomes more important than that of an adult.
Just the sight of abuse is enough to break anyone's
heart, especially those of us who deal with it almost
on a daily basis.
She looked so frightened, but wouldn't move when
anyone went near her. My partner, as smart as she was,
was still human and wanted to go over to help the
little girl and see if she was all right. I approached
my partner and pulled her aside.
"McCall, I think we should let someone else handle the
little girl. I don't think..."
She looked at me and scowled. "That's a problem of
yours, Hunter, you don't think. There's no way we can
just let that little girl go with some officers who
have no experience with children. Especially this type
of case. Now come on. You've taken care of a kid
before, how difficult can it be?"
"We don't have much experience either. And besides, I
took care of a two-year old toddler for one night.
We're homicide cops, not babysitters. But you're
right. Let's get her out of here." I said. My partner
saw what had changed my attitude and headed for the
child. I watched my partner head for the child and
seeing that it might help if I came along too, I
headed in that direction.
When I reached the area of the room where the girl lay
across the chair, I could see my partner reaching out
to help the child up. I gently stretched out a hand
and helped lift the girl from the chair. Her shirt was
stained with dark red spots. There was glass in her
hair and several small cuts on her arms, face, hands,
and legs. We both took notice of the handprints on her
face and the marks on her arms, probably from being
grabbed. My partner decided it was time to talk to the
kid.
"Hi. I'm DeeDee. What's your name?" No response. But
this didn't affect my partner. She seemed to have a
knack for this type of thing. I thought she was pretty
good for not having much experience with kids. Seeing
that the little girl was staring intently at the ring
on DeeDee's right hand, my partner chose this topic of
conversation.
"You like this? It's pretty isn't it? It was my
mom's."
"Did...she...give it to you?" I noticed how hesitantly
the girl spoke. DeeDee nodded and continued talking to
the child.
"It was my mom's wedding ring. She gave it to me when
I got married."
"Where's your wedding ring?" Boy. Once this kid
started asking questions she didn't quit did she? I
thought it was cute in a weird sort of way. I guess
not having any kids of my own makes me think how cute
all these other kids are.
"I don't wear it anymore."
Just then I heard Terwiliger's grating voice cut the
air around the three of us. "Well well well, if it
isn't the department's dynamic duo. I'll take it from
here, seeing as how I've had more experience with
kids."
He made as if to reach for the little girl, but she
cringed backward. "Nooo!"
The child's shriek sent Terwiliger reeling back for a
second. I stepped in front of my partner and the
child and looked at Bernie.
"It's okay, Bernie, I think we can handle this." This
didn't sit too well with the department's top ass
kisser, but he didn't look like he wanted to deal with
a screaming kid, and it appeared that she didn't have
too much of a fondness for him either.
"I hope you two are planning on handing this kid over
to child welfare. You know the rules, and if either of
you screws this case up I'll make sure the chief has
your badges for it."
The kid started to cry and tried to get away from
everyone around her. She backed away another step and
almost fell backwards over a piece of a broken chair.
My partner caught her as she slipped.
"Now look what you did, Bernie, you scared this little
girl. You should be ashamed of yourself." McCall said
as she lifted the girl up and put her on her shoulder.
"McCall, why don't you take the kid outside and wait
by the car for me. I'll be out in a minute." I said.
DeeDee did a quick examination to make sure the girl
didn't require immediate medical attention and then
disappeared out the door. I watched as my partner
exited the crime scene with the kid perched on her
shoulder. I couldn't help but notice how much like a
natural she looked holding the kid. But that wasn't my
main focus at that particular moment. I turned to face
Terwiliger. Several minutes later I exited the crime
scene and found my partner and the little girl sitting
in the front seat. She had ceased crying for the
moment and was contentedly sitting in DeeDee's lap
while my partner had begun the task of removing the
glass from her hair. I stood there watching my partner
and the little girl just as I caught sight of Captain
DeVane heading in my direction.
"Hunter!" he barked. "Just so you know I'm not pleased
that you and your partner are on this case, but since
I don't have anyone else to give it to at the moment,
and the fact that the little girl has become attached
to you two, I'll let you take it. Juvie is still
reeling from the last time you took a kid. You've got
other cases on the books now, but I can spread some of
the more pressing ones between Henderson and Navarro.
But either keep the kid in protective custody or hand
her over to child welfare. The person who did this
hasn't been caught, and maybe we can get something
from the kid."
"He hurt my mommy. He hurt Mommy and me." DeeDee had
almost finished pulling the glass from the child's
hair.
"Who hurt your mommy, honey? Who did this to you?"
The kid looked from DeeDee to me and then at the
captain. Then without warning she began to cry
uncontrollably. I suddenly realized why. She had seen
the captain's gun in his holster. She was afraid of
the gun.
"My daddy," she said between sobs. "Daddy hurt mommy
and me."
The captain backed a considerable distance away from
the little girl's line of vision. "Hunter, if the
father did this, then he'll be looking for her. If he
knows she's alive then he'll want to get rid of her so
she can't talk."
I agreed and then said that we'd keep her in
protective custody until child welfare was able to
take care of her or we found a family member willing
to take on the responsibility. Charlie looked at me
for a moment and then said quietly, "Even I wouldn't
have let Terwiliger take the kid."
After making sure it was all right with the captain if
we left, I climbed in the driver's side of the car and
took off with my partner and our little charge.
"Hey. I'll bet you're hungry," DeeDee said. "What do
you say we go get you something else to wear and then
get some dinner? Sound good to you?"
I couldn't help but notice how the little girl's eyes
widened at the suggestion. I figured that maybe she
hadn't gotten to go out and get anything new for a
while. Not if there was an abusive father around.
"By the way, what's your name, honey? That's DeeDee
and I'm Rick." I said. I didn't know how to approach
the kid without scaring her.
"Chrissy."
I drove to a local shopping center and parked in a
space near the front entrance. DeeDee and Chrissy got
out. Chrissy pointed at me and looked at McCall. She
gave me one of those long questioning looks.
"Come on, Hunter. Come with us." I protested but
Chrissy looked at me and for a second I thought she
would start crying again. I got out and locked the
car.
Once inside the store we headed for the kids' section.
Chrissy saw all the colorful clothing displayed and
was immediately in heaven. I couldn't help but smile
at the sight of those cute designs on the kids'
clothing. I noticed she especially liked the Rug Rats
shirts and accessories.
"Babies! Like on TV." DeeDee smiled.
"Is that what you want, Chrissy?" She nodded.
An hour later, the three of us emerged from the store
with two large shopping bags filled with kids'
clothing. We had bought everything from Rug Rats to
Blue's Clues. When I saw the amount we were spending
on these items I gave DeeDee a quick sideways glance.
"Tax write off," she mumbled.
Chrissy was in heaven at McDonalds. She loved the
happy meal with the little toy she got. I took a look
at it and decided that it had to be a girl's toy.
"It's a barby." Chrissy said confidently. "I used to
have one until Daddy broke it. He threw it away. Then
he hurt Mommy because she got it for me."
I could see the sadness in her face and hear it in her
voice as well. But somehow she didn't dwell on it. One
minute she was talking about her mother and father and
the barby, and the next she was happily devouring her
dinner.
After the meal we went back to DeeDee's apartment.
Since my apartment had little more than a bed, couch,
and coffee table we decided that McCall's place would
be the best choice. Everything was going fine until
DeeDee tucked the little girl into her bed and started
walking out. She started crying. She wouldn't let go
of DeeDee's shirt.
"No! Don't leave me. I'm scared." My partner
immediately sat down on the bed beside the little
girl. I watched as DeeDee reached out and gently began
to stroke the little girl's hair.
DeeDee motioned me into the room. "I think you'd
better get some paper. I think she's starting to
realize what's just happened." she mouthed the words
to me rapidly. She sat down on the bed beside the
child as she spoke to her.
"Why are you so scared? What are you so afraid of,
huh?"
I got my notebook and pen out of my jacket pocket. I
turned back to face McCall and the little girl.
"I'm afraid. Daddy hurt Mommy. You didn't arrest him
and make him go away. He's gonna get me isn't he?" The
tears ran down her face in a long and steady stream.
"Nooo. Chrissy, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you.
Your daddy won't get you. I promise. Rick and I won't
let that happen okay? You're going to stay with Rick
and me until your daddy is caught and put in jail."
I watched as my partner's words had a soothing effect
on the child. She began to calm down. In a few minutes
she was asleep. DeeDee covered her up and left the
room.
Part 2
In less than ten minutes, my partner was pacing the
living room and staring at the bedroom door. I could
see she was distracted, but thought better of saying
anything. She would talk when she was ready.
"Hunter, this kid's scared. We've got to ask her some
really tough questions when she gets up in the
morning. It's got to be done. But how is this little
girl going to handle telling us the information."
I looked at my partner and noticed how this case was
taking its toll on her. Something inside me wished
that for one moment, I could just make it all go away
for both McCall and the kid. The kid was too young to
have to deal with a situation of this sort. Then there
was McCall. She wouldn't come right out and say it,
but I could tell this case was bothering her more than
she was willing to let on.
"I don't know, McCall. I just don't know. This kid's
scared. She quite possibly saw her father murder her
mother and came damn close to being killed herself. I
just don't know about this one." Something didn't seem
right. My partner finally said something that I had
completely forgotten about.
"Hunter, would you run down to the station and see
what you can find out on the case? We're the ones
working it and it's not like the information's just
gonna fall in our laps."
I wished it would but didn't say it out loud. I went
to the phone and called the precinct. After requesting
a line to the captain's office, I got some information
I hadn't known about earlier.
The girl's name was Chrissy Drake, daughter of Martin
and Connie Drake. According to hospital records,
Chrissy wasn't the only child of the Drakes. They had
an older child, a girl named Kathy. We hadn't stayed
long enough to find out that the older sister had been
found in her room with a gunshot wound to her chest
and slash marks on her wrists. Chrissy's mother had
been literally beaten to death, but what had been the
cause of her death was a broken neck. The coroner's
report had shown that Mrs. Drake's neck had been
nearly snapped in two. However, that wasn't the only
startling revelation about the Drake family. Chrissy's
father had been in and out of trouble with the law for
several years with everything from speeding, to
driving while intoxicated, to being jailed for thirty
days for starting a bar-room brawl, and on and on and
on.
After I related this to McCall, I asked: "So do you
want to talk about it?"
"What?"
"The reason this case has you so side tracked. And
don't tell me it's just the kid and her situation,
because I know better."
"Sorry, Hunter. Don't know what you're talking about."
She was trying to blow me off, but she wasn't going to
get away with it. Not this time.
"Come on, McCall. We've been partners for a while now.
I think I know you better than that." However, our
conversation went no further. Just as I finished my
sentence we both distinctly heard a small crying sound
coming from the bedroom.
We flew into the room, my partner to the bed and me to
the wall nearby just in case the little girl didn't
want me near her.
"He killed her! He killed my mommy! He hurt her and
then me. I saw him. I saw it." Chrissy began sobbing
uncontrollably. DeeDee held her and I kept my
distance. I watched my partner, who always said she
wanted kids, holding the frightened six-year old girl
in her arms. Chrissy didn't calm down right away this
time. It took her a while to realize that she was
safe. DeeDee held her until her cries had ceased and
she appeared to be drifting back into sleep.
"DeeDee," came the timid little voice. "I know what
happened. I saw my Daddy hurt Mommy. Then he hurt me
when he saw me in the doorway. He turned Mommy's neck.
Kathy heard it too and came out."
"Shh. It's all going to be all right, Chrissy.
Everything's going to be okay." My partner kept this
up for a while, but Chrissy wasn't calming down. The
rest of the story came pouring out in between
intermittent periods of sobbing, shaking, or just
little cries. This kid was seriously aware of what had
happened, and no amount of reassurance would help calm
her. Within a period of about four hours, Chrissy had
fallen asleep in DeeDee's arms. I helped her shift the
little girl under the blankets and made sure she was
covered up. I kept the light on and let DeeDee go out
ahead of me. Then I closed the door tightly. I hoped
Chrissy wouldn't wake up again. She'd been through so
much. She needed to sleep, but more importantly, she
needed to stay protected until her father was caught
and put in jail.
DeeDee and I both decided it was time we too got some
much-needed sleep. I opted that DeeDee take the guest
room, but she said no on that note. She suggested we
share the guest room, arguing that the couch wasn't
the most comfortable piece of furniture in the world,
and that I would end up doing irreparable damage to my
back.
"After all Hunter we're both mature adults and
partners for god's sake. And besides, you're going to
need all the sleep you can get. You're baby-sitting
tomorrow."
"Okay, Sergeant, make my night." I knew retaliation
was coming and ducked as the pillow sailed across the
room at my head.
"Just for that, you're doing the paperwork on this
one. Now it's time we both got some shut eye." She
relaxed beside me and I soon found myself sound
asleep.
Part 3
I awoke to find that it was just near eight in the
morning. I could hear DeeDee already up doing what I
figured was dishes. I got up, threw on my shirt and
headed out to the kitchen. The sight I saw was
unbelievable. I saw Chrissy sitting in DeeDee's
kitchen eating breakfast and smiling. She seemed like
such a different child now compared to last night. I
looked at DeeDee who flashed me a grin that said:
"Don't knock it."
"How are you doing this morning Chrissy?" I asked her.
She looked at me, then at the plate of scrambled eggs,
to DeeDee, and back at me.
"Okay. DeeDee says you're gonna stay with me today.
She's gonna go catch my daddy."
I couldn't help but smile. For a six-year old, she
certainly seems so much more understanding of the way
things work in the world around her. I looked at
Chrissy for a moment and then at my partner.
"You wait right there, honey. I've got to talk to
DeeDee for a minute. It's a surprise."
Once in the other room, I looked at my partner and
scowled. "I'm not that great with kids. Besides, last
night I thought you were joking about the whole
baby-sitting thing. I don't know about this."
"Hunter, don't argue with me on this one. I'm just
going out to find some more information on her father.
We already know his criminal record, and besides,
there's nobody else to take the fieldwork. The captain
said himself he didn't have anymore manpower to spare
on this case."
I hated it when she got me with that logic and woman's
intuition of hers. "All right. By the way what type of
surprise do you think we should come up with?"
"You're the one who opened your mouth. You figure it
out."
So, two-and-a half hours later, Chrissy and I were
walking together in a toy store. Chrissy needed
something to play with, and since DeeDee had bought
her the clothes, I'd get the toys. My theory was that
the best course of action would be to let her pick out
the toys she wanted. I wasn't exactly your average
father figure, nor was I Mr. Rogers. First she spotted
a doll she took a liking to instantly. Next came a few
coloring books, crayons, colorful construction paper,
kid friendly scissors, a squishy ball, a stuffed dog,
and finally a few cartoons on video.
I almost died from shock when the cashier rang up the
total. And even if I couldn't get them as a tax write
off, then at least the kid had something to keep her
mind busy. I was thankful though, that she steered
clear of the water pistols or those little toy cap
guns that kids like to play with nowadays.
After the toy store, something came over me. It was
like I was this kid's father or something, and I was
thinking of what she needed now, rather than what she
wanted.
"Just one more stop and then we'll go get some lunch.
How's that sound?"
"Where we goin'?"
"The shoe store. You need a new pair of shoes." After
we'd accomplished the task of fitting Chrissy with a
brand-new pair of sneakers, it was time for some
lunch. I decided that we would stop off at the station
and see if DeeDee wanted to join us. Chrissy liked the
station. To her, it was a whole new place just waiting
to be explored.
We entered the building and headed for the homicide
division. I wasn't about to let Chrissy hear any of
the gruesome details of what had happened at her house
just one day before. Seeing it was bad enough, and
having to live with those images for the rest of her
life would be terrifying. So, my first stop after
entering my division was to Captain DeVane's office. I
figured I could put her in there for a moment while I
talked to my partner about the case. To my surprise,
the captain was perfectly agreeable to the idea of
watching her for a few minutes while I went and found
out what information had been gathered since last
night.
I soon found my partner sitting at her desk with her
nose buried in a file and an untouched cup of coffee,
cold no doubt, by her right hand. I asked her if she'd
found anything out yet and she shook her head.
"Nothing on the father, but you're not going to like
this. No next of kin. Mother was a victim of the child
welfare system, and the father, as it turns out, was
in homes for juveniles since the age of twelve. I got
a court order to release his file from before he
turned eighteen. His mother was murdered right in
front of him when he was just six years old, same age
as Chrissy."
"Well, isn't that just wonderful. He sees his mother
killed at age six, and then kills his own wife when
his youngest daughter is just six. But something isn't
right here partner. Why not do it when the other girl
Kathy was just six? Why wait until the second child?"
She handed me the file she'd been reading. I scanned
it quickly and found the answer to my question. "Mrs.
Drake was pregnant with Chrissy when Kathy was six.
"Oh, and by the way McCall, another reason we stopped
by was to see if you wanted to join us for lunch."
She shook her head. "I can't. I'm going to check out a
few of the places he used to hang out at and see what
I can turn up. How's Chrissy doing?"
I told her about the trip to the toy store and the
shoe store. DeeDee said I was spoiling the kid, but
what could I do? I couldn't help it. She was just so
sweet and lovable. When I returned to the captain's
office I found a smiling, giggling little girl waiting
for me. The captain motioned me to come over to his
desk and handed me an envelope.
"Take the kid to lunch and somewhere else afterwards.
Oh, and Hunter, whatever you and your partner have
already spent on her, write down the amount. I'll see
that you're reimbursed."
Chrissy bounded over to the captain. "Show him the
picture I made you." The captain got up and proudly
retrieved a colored piece of paper from a shelf. "It's
a policeman's uniform." Chrissy said proudly. "He
doesn't have to carry the big belt with the loud thing
on it."
Both the captain and I knew what she meant. There was
no doubt in either of our minds that she had heard the
struggle between her father and sister shortly before
he shot and killed her. But did she know her sister's
wrists had been slashed? I didn't think so, and for
her sake I hoped she never found out.
"Come on, honey, time to go get some lunch. Say
good-bye to the captain, and tell him thank you for
letting you stay here for a few minutes."
"Bye. Thank you, Captain." DeVane smiled and laughed.
He waved to us as we left the office.
We went to a Friendly's restaurant for lunch, and
afterwards Chrissy said she wanted to go home. At
first I thought she meant DeeDee's place, but when she
saw the street her house was on she pointed that way.
"I'm sorry, sweety, you can't go there. That's not
home anymore. Your daddy might think you're there, and
I promised DeeDee I'd keep you safe. Your daddy won't
get you, but you can't go back there. Okay?" She
seemed to understand, and after I got back to DeeDee's
I put a video in for her to watch and that was the end
of the going home discussion.
Chrissy seemed to be interested in the video. I
figured she would at least be occupied for a while, so
I found myself sitting at the kitchen table with the
phone book and phone nearby. I began looking through
the yellow pages for phone numbers to most of the bars
in and around the general area where Chrissy lived.
The first few bars I tried said that Drake had been
seen frequenting the bars, but none had seen him in
the last few days. At about the time I had almost run
out of bar listings to check, Chrissy came bounding
into the kitchen holding a big book.
"Would you read a story out of this to me?"
I took the book from her little hands and saw that it
was an encyclopedia. I explained that it wasn't a
storybook, but that I was sure I could find something
to read to her. "I just need a few minutes to finish
some work and then I'll come find something to read to
you."
She seemed satisfied with this answer and wandered out
of the room. I reached for the phone to dial the final
number, hoping for a response, but expecting none. The
listing was for a Jack's Bar And Grill.
"Jacks!" Why did these guys have to scream so loud
into the phone? Okay, the music and customers were
pretty loud, but not loud enough to not hear a
bartender over the phone.
"Is Martin Drake there?"
I listened to the bartender partially cover the
mouthpiece and call out the name I'd given. There was
a long pause of silence and then, "Yeah. He's here.
Just a second."
I dropped the phone quickly and quietly onto its
cradle. I lifted the phone again and dialed the
station. Once patched through to my partner I began
talking quickly. "McCall. I found Martin Drake. He's
at Jack's Bar and Grill. It's on..."
"I know where it is. Thanks. Hey, how's Chrissy
doing?"
I told her that the kid was fine and explained about
the discussion on going home. She said she would go
over to the bar and take care of Drake.
"Okay I'll stay right here."
Part 4
I knew my partner was more than capable of handling
this. I figured that it was about time I started doing
something with the kid rather than just leaving her to
the videos and toys. I headed into the living room and
found Chrissy curled up on the couch with a coloring
book and one of McCall's highlighters.
She saw me and smiled. I smiled back at her and went
over to sit down near her. "Chrissy I don't think
you're supposed to be playing with that."
She gave me one of those cute questioning looks. I
didn't know just what to say to her, but I knew I had
to say something.
"It's not like a crayon or pencil. If it gets on your
hands it's hard to get off." On that note I took a
quick inspection of the six-year old's little hands.
Too late. She had permanent marker all over her
wrists, palms, and fingertips. "I painted my nails."
Chrissy announced proudly.
"I can see that." I gave her a small grin, but quickly
replaced it with a serious look. "You really should
have asked before you did that though."
DeeDee would have a field day with me if the kid had
gotten marker on anything else in the house. I started
looking around the room to see if I could see any
marks.
"Did you paint anything else?" I asked. She pointed to
her earlobes. "Anything else?" I asked with a very
small grin.
Chrissy shook her head no. Then she looked at me with
one of those cat that swallowed the canary
expressions. "You mad?"
"No. Just don't take something like this without
asking first, okay?" She nodded and looked back at her
hands. I reached out and took the highlighter from her
and started to head out of the room.
"Come on into the kitchen. I've got to get this stuff
off your hands before DeeDee gets home."
It took me over twenty minutes to get the marker off
her hands, and then to get the little marker splotches
off her earlobes. By the time I'd finished, it was
nearly 4:30pm. DeeDee was due home soon, but I wasn't
too sure of exactly when she would be arriving.
I decided it was cruel to make her eat take out two
days in a row. I called my mother and asked her to
make some lasagna. She had no problem doing it, and
told me she would drop it off in a little while.
"You just like my cooking don't you, Ricky?" I had to
laugh at my mother's comment. It was true I loved her
cooking, but in reality I didn't get to see her as
much as I'd like to. Being a cop sometimes had its
disadvantages.
At 7:30 DeeDee came through the door. Chrissy was busy
with another video and her coloring book with a box of
crayons this time. I greeted her as soon as she
entered the apartment, and gave her the once over. She
looked as though she'd just been in a fight. My
partner's usually neat outfit was uncharacteristicly
wrinkled and I could see that she had one or two red
marks maring her wrists.
"So what does the other guy look like?" I teased.
"Our friend Martin Drake is now sitting behind bars
for the night. He completely denied killing his wife
and daughter, but we got him for assaulting a police
officer."
"Who'd you take for backup?"
"I had to take Terwilligger with me. Everyone else was
jammed up. Navarro was busy on the Harris file, and
O'Hern was running down leads for the Bensen case.
Bernie was the only one free to help."
"Terwiliger? I hope he didn't give you too much
trouble."
"Drake assaulted Terwiliger. Both the captain and I
spoke to Terwiliger about this case, and the severity
of how dangerous Drake is. But do you think he
listened to a word either of us said? Not a chance. He
goes into the bar like gangbusters, gun in hand and
demands that every guy in the place get up against the
wall. Drake takes this opportunity to try to take him
out. Bernie's got a few bruises, but he'll live."
DeeDee looked so tired. All I wanted to do was to wrap
my arms around her and help her release some of that
tension she'd kept in all day at the station.
"So how's Captain DeVane taking it, our keeping the
kid again?"
"He's okay with it, but first thing tomorrow we've got
to bring Chrissy down to see if she recognizes her
father. We've also got to sit her down in front of the
captain and get her to tell him what she told us the
other night. It isn't going to be easy, but she's got
to. She's our only witness to a double homicide."
I thought about that for a moment. "But, McCall,
that's where we're going to have to be careful. She
most likely saw her father murder her mother, but she
probably doesn't even know her sister is dead."
We decided to leave it at that for the moment and get
some dinner. I told DeeDee that I had dinner sitting
out on the table for the three of us. DeeDee went in
to get Chrissy and I went to set the plates out on
DeeDee's table. A few minutes later the two of them
came into the kitchen.
"What's that?" Chrissy asked pointing to the pan of
lasagna.
"It's lasagna," I said. "Have you ever had this
before?"
That was something else that had occurred to me. I
didn't know what this kid would eat except for
pancakes and fast food.
"Mommy made something with the noodles in it one
time." She sat down and started picking at the food on
her plate.
In a few minutes Chrissy was eating just as much as
the rest of us. She had consumed two helpings and was
looking for a third when DeeDee got her attention with
something else.
"Don't you want dessert afterward?" DeeDee's dessert,
as it turned out to be, was a box of peanut butter
cookies. When Chrissy had finished her dinner she was
given three cookies and a large glass of milk. The kid
seemed to enjoy them and remembered her manners.
The rest of the night went smoothly. We all sat and
watched a cartoon together, and then DeeDee put her to
bed. She went down without any trouble, but we were
both convinced she would most certainly have a
nightmare or something later on.
We decided that the sensible thing to do would be to
get some sleep. I turned out the light and slipped
into the double bed beside my partner. If only my
partner really knew how much restraint I had to use to
keep from reaching over and kissing her goodnight.
"Hunter," I heard DeeDee's voice say my name and
turned to look at her.
"What?"
"Have you ever thought about having some little ones
someday?" I tried not to be sarcastic, wasn't sure if
it would work or not.
"Yeah, sometimes, why? You're not thinking about
gaining custody of Chrissy are you?"
"Well, to be honest, I have thought about it. We both
know that Drake isn't one to cave when it comes to his
kids. For God's Sake, he killed his wife and one child
and damn near beat the other one to death as well. I
was just wondering what you thought on the subject."
I suddenly knew what she was trying to say in a round
about way. She was trying to ask for my help, but not
trying to all at once. She was too proud to ask for
help. She would ask for my advice on the matter, and
then do what she thought was best. I looked at her
fully and completely, and in that moment I knew the
time was either now or never.
"DeeDee," I began. "I think there's something I have
to tell you first before we continue this discussion.
I love you. I've loved you ever since the day I met
you. But I never said anything because I was afraid it
would ruin our partnership as well as our friendship."
I tried to read a reaction, but didn't see one at
first. Then the woman I'd worked with for so long a
time did something that shocked me more than I thought
it would.
"To be honest with you I've felt the same about you
too. You were there for me after the rape, and later
when I was attacked again. I don't know if you
realized it at the time, but as much as I wanted to
tell you what was going on, I couldn't. I was afraid
you'd think there was something wrong with me. I was
also very embarrassed for letting this happen a second
time."
I finally decided that the time was now. I reached out
and gently pulled her to me. We began kissing; slowly
at first and then it grew more passionate and intense
as it stretched into many long moments. I had finally
told her. She finally knew the truth of my feelings
for her. But most importantly, I now knew what her
feelings towards me were.
Eventually things intensified even further, and soon I
found myself in her arms, just as she was in mine. I
cradled her in my arms and began to rub her back. I
remembered that the door to the other bedroom had been
shut, and was reassured when I saw that the door to
this room was shut as well. More time passed, and we
soon found ourselves making love to one another. I
wasn't sure if this was what she really wanted at
first, but she gave me a look and a nod when she
caught on to where this was going. I didn't want to do
anything to cause regrets after the fact. I suddenly
understood all those wise-ass comments we'd been
making back and forth to one another over the years.
Part 4
But all too soon the night of bliss ended with the
ringing of the phone. I sat up with a jolt and looked
at the clock on DeeDee's bedside table. The clock read
five-thirty. "Damn." I thought. "Why can't these
people let us sleep in long enough to enjoy this?"
"My sentiments exactly, but one of us had better get
the phone before it wakes Chrissy." DeeDee rolled onto
her side and faced me. After a quick kiss I grabbed
the phone from the table.
"Holiday Inn, how may I help you?"
"Can the jokes, Hunter." DeVane's voice cut through my
little speech. "We've got a problem. Martin Drake, the
one your partner brought in for assault on an officer
and questioning in the murders of his wife and eldest
daughter,"
"Yeah, what about the guy? Don't tell me he's
confessed and wants to make it easy for Chrissy."
"No he hasn't confessed. He hasn't said anything to
anybody since he was brought in last night. But what
is happening is that we've got a woman down here
claiming she's his sister and that she wants the kid.
Like now."
"Well, that's not going to happen. We've ruled out the
possibility of any surviving family members. She's
probably some girl he hooked up with at some point who
he convinced to get the kid for him."
"I think I know where you're going with this, Hunter,
and if what you say is true about there being no
surviving family members, then the kid either stays
with you two until the whole thing is over or we find
a suitable placement for her in the system."
This wasn't something I hadn't heard before. The only
person who didn't know what was going on around her
was Chrissy. Next DeVane told me to make sure we all
came down there by nine to go over Chrissy's statement
with him. He also said that the District Attorney
would be present for this meeting. We ended our
conversation and hung up. I relaxed again beside
DeeDee's warmth. I could feel that it was beginning
again, but slower this time, with just a little kiss
here or there.
"So what's the deal?" She asked as she ran her fingers
through my short hair. I gave her the rundown and
waited for her response.
"So what you're saying, Hunter, is that it looks like
we've got ourselves a little family for the time
being. You okay with that?" DeeDee asked. "I know you
wanted kids someday. So do I, it's just shes getting
attached to us and we're becoming attached to her."
"I think I can manage," I said. "but I want to know if
you can handle me and everything else that's going
on."
She smiled and gently nudged me with her elbow in the
ribs. "You know I can. If I've handled you for all
these years, I think I can handle you now."
By nine that morning the three of us all trooped into
the captain's office. We could see a female assistant
of the district attorney's sitting with him. Chrissy
looked at the woman and shrank back between DeeDee and
me.
I tried to stop her, but my partner gave me a look
that said: "Don't try pushing anything." I watched as
DeeDee turned around and scooped Chrissy up in her
arms. She crossed over to the other side of the room,
away from the captain and the assistant DA
"It's okay, Chrissy. You remember the captain don't
you?" The little girl's nod was barely visible. "Good.
Well this is a friend of his. He just wants you to
tell him and his friend what you told Rick and me. Can
you do that?"
"I don't want to. Daddy will get me."
The captain got up from his seat and approached McCall
and Chrissy. "Honey, I'm not going to let that happen,
and neither is Michelle." He pointed at the assistant
DA "She's really nice. How would you like to meet
her?"
Chrissy started to let go of DeeDee's neck. My partner
bent down and gently put the small girl on her feet.
She stepped back a few feet and turned towards the
woman still seated near Charlie's desk.
Chrissy went running back for DeeDee, and this time it
was my turn to step in. "Give me a minute with her
guys." I said. DeeDee and I took Chrissy out of the
office and into an empty interrogation room.
I picked Chrissy up and held her at eye level with me.
I turned toward the one-way mirror so she couldn't see
Charlie and the assistant DA entering the room behind
my partner.
"Okay, Chrissy. I know you're scared to talk about
what happened to your mother, but you've got to. I
promise that nothing will happen to you."
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Charlie
inching his way over to me. Then Chrissy spotted him.
"When Daddy's in jail can I stay with them?" She
pointed a finger at me and another at McCall. Charlie
looked at us, his eyes blazing. He couldn't chew us
out here and now, not in front of Chrissy. But then I
saw something in his face that I had seen many times
when those wheels in his head were spinning.
"We'll see. I can't make any promises, but we will try
and figure something out." Charlie said to her. "You
like them an awful lot don't you?"
"Yes. They're nice to me. Not like Daddy was. He hit
me and Mommy and Kathy. He made us cry."
"How would you like to come back to my office, and
I'll get you an icecream cone. Will you tell me and
Michelle about what happened the night Rick and DeeDee
came and got you?"
Chrissy seemed to ponder this offer suspiciously. I
could tell she was taken in with the icecream idea,
but aside from that she wasn't too sure what to make
of the whole situation. I could see the indecision
written into her little face. She looked first to
DeeDee and then back at me.
"Okay. Can they come too?"
Charlie, figuring she meant us, said it was all right
if we came along too. Then he mumbled to McCall as we
all exited the room.
"You two aren't going to ask for icecream cones now
are you?"
We headed back into the office and sat down. Chrissy
told Charlie what she'd told us. Next came the hard
part. We had to get her to identify her father.
Charlie motioned for the assistant District Attorney
and myself to follow him out into the hallway. "Rather
than go through what we just went through, why don't
we show her pictures of the guys in the lineup. Would
your office take that as an acceptable form of
identification?" Charlie inquired of Michelle.
"I wish it were that simple. But unfortunately we
can't accept identification through a photograph.
We're going to have to put her through a lineup. I'm
sorry." She looked no more unprofessional than did
Charlie, but I could read compassion in her face.
Next Charlie turned his attention to me. "Hunter do
you think you and McCall can calm her down enough to
get her to look through the glass and point to her
father?"
"We'll do our best, but you know as well as I do
Charlie, McCall and I will not be permitted to enter
the viewing room with the kid. Its going to have to be
you and the assistant District Attorney."
If only we'd known how easy that would be, compared to
how everything else had gone. All Captain DeVane had
to tell Chrissy was that she'd have to look through a
window and point to her father. He explained that the
people on the other side couldn't see her. While
Charlie took Chrissy in the room to identify her
father, McCall and I decided to go out to our desks
and see what was on our voicemail. The only thing on
our desks was a note from Kitty O'Hern. She told us
that she'd gotten a break in the Bensen case, and that
she'd been able to track down a witness we'd been
trying to find for three weeks.
An hour later we exited the precinct and headed for
home. DeeDee held a folder with all the necessary
forms petitioning the courts to make the two of us
legal guardians for Chrissy indefinitely. After
Chrissy told the assistant District Attorney and the
captain what she had told DeeDee and myself, my
partner took her out of the office so I could talk to
DeVane and the woman without little ears being
present. DeVane had said that the woman claiming to be
Chrissy's aunt had split when DeVane told her that the
girl was in protective custody pending the outcome of
a murder trial. He also advised her that if she wanted
the kid now he would have to call child wellfare and
that they would be checking into her background. In a
lot of ways I was glad that we got to keep her for a
while longer. It gave me the sense that I had a family
for a little while, and it gave Chrissy the stability
and security she needed right now.
Part 5
It had been almost a month since the night we first
met Chrissy. We had been staying in DeeDee's
apartment, Chrissy in the spare bedroom and DeeDee and
myself in the other room. We hadn't been getting too
carried away with our newfound relationship, but we
had been giving it a chance to develop into something.
I was seriously considering asking DeeDee if she
wanted to make the move permanent, but I wanted to
find out what was going to happen with Chrissy first.
It wasn't as if we had to have Chrissy in order to
keep this relationship going. But it would be nice if
we could keep her and make the guardianship permanent.
We had been taking turns going into the station to do
some of the work on other cases, but we had also
invested in a hightech computer system so one of us
could do the searches at home too. We checked into
different schools around the area for Chrissy and
finally made a decision to enroll her in a private
school near the apartment. We had taken her shopping
for school supplies and a few more toys and things
three days before the start of school. Then the big
day arrived. It was a warm september morning when
DeeDee and I walked into the main office of the
school. We met the principal and Chrissy's teacher
there, who reassured us that Chrissy would be all
right there.
"Don't worry about a thing Mr. Hunter. Chrissy will be
just fine. Believe me you aren't the first parents who
were a nervous wreck when their little one went off to
school for the first time." Chrissy's principal agreed
to keep an eye on her for the first few weeks, at
least until we were certain that she wouldadjust well.
"I understand how it is. She is only allowed to leave
with either you or your wife. Anyone else tries to
pick her up from here then we'll call the police."
DeeDee gave the woman the direct number into Captain
DeVane's office. "This is the number for Captain
Charles DeVane who is our boss. If neither of us is
able to pick her up call him and he will do it."
I didn't know whether DeeDee had talked to the captain
about that, but I was sure he would go for it. He
seemed to like Chrissy so I was pretty certain it
would be okay. After giving Chrissy a quick hug and
telling her to be a good girl, DeeDee and I left the
school.
We headed off for the station and our captain's
office. "Time to tell him what we told the principal,"
I thought as I pulled into the parking lot in front of
the station. I took a look at DeeDee and realized that
she hadn't said a word to me since we left Chrissy at
the school.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Oh nothing. I was just thinking about what my first
day at school was like for me. I hope Chrissy has fun
there."
"I'm sure she's going to have a great time there."
After giving the captain a brief summary of what had
been mentioned to Chrissy's principal, DeVane smiled.
"Any time you need a hand just give me a shout. By the
way I've got something for you two. It's a summons for
the two of you to appear in front of the judge this
morning at ten. I think it's about your petition to
adopt her. Child wellfare isn't going to be a problem.
Her father is in jail awaiting a trial, and there are
no other living family members."
DeeDee looked at the captain thoughtfully and then
asked, "Captain what if they decide that we can't keep
her? Will we have to give her up right away or do we
get a chance to appeal?"
I spoke up. "McCall if we don't get her this morning
then I'm going to every family court judge until I get
the okay for us to keep her. It takes months sometimes
for child protective services to find suitable foster
homes for kids. Besides, you've got to think
positively about this."
We left the captain's office and headed out to our
desks. I spotted a woman heading in our direction and
motioned for my partner to look in the woman's
direction. She was a medium-sized woman with greying
hair, brown eyes, and a dress made out of some form of
material I was sure had gone out of style somewhere
around 1975.
"Are you Sergeant Rick Hunter?" I nodded and motioned
for her to come over to our desks.
"Sergeant Hunter my name is Grace Flanders. I used to
be a neighbor of the Drake family. Well I think I
might have some information for you." I took out my
notebook and began writing down the woman's name and
address. She continued speaking. "The night of the
murder, I heard Mr. Drake tell Mrs. Drake that he was
going to make sure she never left him. She tried once
or twice before, but he found out and beat her up
pretty badly. I used to go over when he wasn't there
and help her with the girls. I'm too old to take care
of the youngest, otherwise I would have filed a
petition long before now. But I've seen her with you
two since then and I figure you and your partner are a
better choice than an old lady with a bad hip. But you
see Sergeants, I'm here today to help you out. I have
photographs of all three of them. I have photos of
Mrs. Drake's face with two black eyes, hand marks and
bruizes, of her oldest girl Kathy with a broken arm
and some bumps and bruizes, and of the little one with
a whole bunch of bruises and other marks on her body
from her father."
"Mrs. Flanders," I questioned, "why is it that you
didn't come to speak with us before now?"
She looked down at the floor and then back at my
partner and me. "Sergeant, I know I should've reported
what I know sooner. But I've been under an awful lot
of pressure from a few people in my neighbrhood not to
get involved. It's not that the people aren't caring
or sympathetic, they're just afraid of retaliation."
DeeDee asked Mrs. Flanders if she would sign a
statement to that effect, to which she readily agreed.
I typed up everything she said and handed it over to
her to read before she signed it. After she signed the
statement, I looked at the clock.
"McCall, we've got to be in court in fifteen minutes."
We thanked Mrs. Flanders for coming down and talking
to us and then left the building.
One of the family court judges was waiting for us when
we arrived at the courthouse. He explained that in
order for this petition to be accepted, a social
worker would have to come and investigate the
conditions of DeeDee's apartment.
"Sergeant Hunter, as I understand it you still keep
your apartment here in the city. Yet you've been
staying with your partner at her residence. Why is
this?"
"I've kept the apartment for several reasons. First of
all we weren't sure if we would ever get this far into
the adoption proceedure, and second, I have a lot of
things still in the apartment that I haven't put into
storage or sold yet."
"Well I like what I've seen so far. Now what you have
to do is to bring the child in so I can talk to her
and ask her a few questions. I'm going to sign this
petition and get in touch with child protective
services. You should be hearing something from them in
a few days either at your home or at the station. Now
I'm sure you heard this from your captain already, but
I'm going to stress this to you loud and clear. If
there is a relationship between you two, either cool
your relationship, or one of you has to transfer. You
know what will happen if IA gets a hold on something
like this."
"I think this calls for a celebration." DeeDee
commented as we exited the courthouse. "What do you
say we all go out for dinner tonight?"
"I think that's a great idea. I also think it would be
a good idea to fill Chrissy in on our plans to gain
custody of her."
Part 6
Chrissy seemed to understand the concept of what we
were saying to her. At first I thought she wouldn't
get it right away, but then once she found that she
could ask questions things went easier. DeeDee and I
explained the situation with the foster home. In the
end, Chrissy determined that she wouldn't have to
leave DeeDee's apartment and that she was staying
right where she wanted to be. It wasn't until a week
later that we got the call from the department of
social services.
Cindy Dawson, the case worker assigned to oversee this
case, came knocking at the front door on a Friday
evening. DeeDee and I were in the kitchen cleaning up
the dinner dishes, and Chrissy was in the living room
watching a cartoon. I answered the door, dish rag in
hand. At first glance, she looked more like a
teenager. She was nearly five-feet-five inches tall,
with brown eyes, wavy dark brown hair, and little
dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. I looked a
little skeptical, but she smiled warmly and spoke up.
"My name is Cindy Dawson, and I'm with Social
Services. I'm looking for Detectives Richard Hunter
and DeeDee McCall."
I introduced myself and explained that my partner and
the child were here at this time. She looked at me
with the dish towel in my hand and then tried to peer
around me into the area behind the door. It wasn't
easy for her since she was at least a foot shorter
than myself.
"Please come in. DeeDee's in the kitchen and Chrissy
is in the living room watching some television." I
stepped aside and allowed her to pass me and enter.
She headed straight for the kitchen and DeeDee. After
introductions were made, she explained the reason for
her visit.
"As I'm sure you're well aware," she began, "it's
standard proceedure for social workers to visit the
homes of those requesting permission for long-term
custody of a minor. We're also obligated to oversee
not only the living conditions in which the child is
currently in, but also the child's history: medical,
family, you name it."
After about ten minutes of talking to us, she asked to
see Chrissy. I pointed in the direction of the
livingroom, and DeeDee proceeded to follow Ms. Dawson
in.
"I need to speak with her alone for a few minutes.
I'll call you when you can come in." I sat down at the
kitchen table beside DeeDee and let out a long sigh. I
could see a look of worry creeping into her face, but
damned if she was going to let that worry show.
"Don't worry." I took her hand and squeezed it
tightly. "I'm sure there won't be any reason for Ms.
Dawson to remove Chrissy from our custody. I wouldn't
be surprised if she pushes the paperwork through a
little faster."
DeeDee looked a little nervous, at least to me. I knew
that deep down in her heart she was praying this
wouldn't turn out like the last time she had tried to
gain custody of a child. The mother had been shot, and
listed as a Jane Doe. Once it had been determined that
Jane Doe was pregnant, DeeDee had fought tooth and
nail to keep her on life support. DeeDee had
volunteered to take custody of the baby once it was
born, until either the mother regained consciousness,
or a next of kin could be found. Finally, the baby was
delivered. I'd found my partner at the window of the
nursery, just gazing at how beautiful the baby was. I
had to tell her that a next of kin had been located. I
remember it had been difficult on her, but she put on
a brave face and dealt with it.
She looked at me, and for a moment I thought she would
start crying.
"It's not that I think we're going to lose her now,
but what if somewhere along the line, they do find a
next of kin for Chrissy?"
"We'll fight it. Seeing as how we have nothing on
either her maternal or paternal grandparents, I don't
see how there could be a problem. I think the only
thing we need to really keep in mind now, is whether
or not I should move in altogether or whether or not I
should keep going back to my apartment on occasion for
certain things."
Our conversation was interrupted when a little voice
came from the livingroom. "Rick, DeeDee; you can come
in. Ms. Dawson says it's okay now."
We both entered the livingroom and stood just beyond
the doorway. We could see Chrissy sitting on the couch
with Cindy sitting beside her. Chrissy had a coloring
book on her lap and she was pointing to a page.
Looking at the picture upside-down, I saw what I
thought to be a family standing by a house. The family
members were all stick figures, of course, and the
house itself was a box with a peaked top.
"Chrissy drew a picture of the family she wants to
stay with. She also drew a picture of her other
family, the one she says she doesn't have anymore."
Cindy Dawson held up another piece of paper. On it
DeeDee and I could see four figures: two larger ones
and two shorter ones. One of the larger ones was
trying to hit the other figures in the picture. Cindy
continued speaking as she removed the picture Chrissy
held on her lap. "This one is of the family she wants
to be with." We saw three stick figures standing by
the stick house. The larger figures had circles on
their chests and the smaller one held a stick doll in
one hand and a book in the other.
"I asked her if it was okay if I stay here and she
said it was. I told her about school and how you don't
hit me or yell at each other. And I told her about
Daddy and what he did to me and Mommy and Kathy."
Cindy stood up from the couch. "I need to go and talk
with Rick and DeeDee for a minute, but when I'm done
I'll come and say good-bye to you." She ruffled
Chrissy's hair a little, and then followed us out of
the room.
Once in the kitchen she began speaking. "I don't see
any reason she should be removed from your home and
placed in another. But I do feel, both professionally
and personally, that this little girl will need
counciling and some therapy to help her deal with the
trauma she suffered for the past six years. She's very
honest about what has happened to her. She doesn't
hesitate to answer questions, and that's a good thing.
I'm going to recommend that you be made her legal
guardians indefinitely, and I'm also going to be
getting you in touch with a list of councilors and
therapists who deal specifically in this particular
field. I also think you make a great family together,
and if you don't mind my saying so, if you are able to
adopt her, you might want to think about which name
you'll adopt her under. I noticed you aren't exactly
married or anything, but I'm sure that's something you
two will have to figure out on your own. But I do have
a question for the both of you. Have either of you
discussed her sister's death with her?"
"No. Chrissy brings up the events of the night her
mother was murdered, but she hasn't asked about her
sister yet. As far as we can tell, Chrissy has no idea
her sister is dead." I looked between the two women in
the room.
"Well, either that or she knows in her subconscious,
but isn't able to accept the fact just yet. Well, like
I said before," the social worker continued. "I'm
going to recommend that you both be named as her legal
guardians. Congratulations, Sgts."
DeeDee was the first to speak. "Thank you very much
Ms. Dawson. This means the world to us. I wish you
could have seen the way she took to Hunter the first
day he was with her. It was as if he was the perfect
father figure."
"Okay okay enough. You make a better mother than I
would. You know more about the scraped knees and bad
dreams than I do." I had to stop her. I could almost
see myself in an apron baking cupcakes and DeeDee
outside mowing the lawn and repairing something like
the fuel pump of an automobile. Cindy laughed. She
said she would be in touch and soon after, she left.
Part 7
One week after Cindy Dawson visited the house, Charlie
called us into his office. when he motioned for the
door to be closed, we knew that whatever the reason
for this visit, it had to be serious. We tried reading
his facial expression, but it didn't work.
"Hunter, McCall," he began. "I've got something to say
to the both of you, and it needs to be said now. I got
a call from the District Attorney's office this
morning, and also one from Deputy Chief Wyler. We're
going to have to put Chrissy on the stand to testify
against her father."
"But why? This kid is scared to death of her father
Charlie. There's no way she'll be able to stand there
in a courtroom and testify to what she saw her father
do to her mother, not if her father's right in the
room with her." DeeDee interjected. "She's scared of
him. "It took us weeks to get her to sleep without
having at least one or two nightmares a night. Just
imagine what this will do to her."
I looked at my partner and friend, and then I looked
at our captain. Of course he knew about the
nightmares. He hadn't said anything to either DeeDee
or myself when either of us were in late the next
morning after a particularly bad night.
"What if Chrissy were to testify on video tape? I know
they only allow it for sexual abuse cases, but this is
a six-year old child we're talking about. She suffered
abuse at the hands of her father for six years before
anything could've been done about it."
Charlie looked at the two of us for a moment and then
said, "Okay. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
get on the horn to the District Attorney's office and
to Deputy Chief Wyler, and I'm going to throw the idea
of testifying via video tape. I hope they'll go for
it."
No sooner did we leave the captain's office, than the
phone on my desk rang. I went to retrieve it and
signaled for my partner to stay near by.
"Homicide, Hunter here."
"Detective Hunter this is the principal over at the
elementary school. We have a slight problem here with
Chrissy Drake."
"What's wrong?" I could see my partner's features
tighten with increasing worry.
"Well, we have a woman here in the office claiming to
be Chrissy's aunt. She approached the child on the
playground at recess and tried to convince her to go
with her. Fortunately Chrissy's teacher was nearby and
saw the whole thing."
It took us five minutes to reach the school. I don't
think we stopped for any lights, and I'm almost
certain my partner hit the siren and lights. When we
arrived at the school we made a mad dash for the
principal's office. Upon entering we saw Chrissy, her
teacher, the school's principal, a security officer,
and a strange woman. DeeDee made her way over to
Chrissy and took her hand.
"I'm taking her home for the rest of the day. She will
be needing any missed work."
I watched as she led the little girl away and then
turned angry eyes on the stranger. She wasn't too
incredibly attractive, but she did have a prettiness
about her. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid
behind her back, and she wore one of those dresses
which was probably sold at the salvation army for
twenty-five dollars. I could tell something wasn't
right with her, but I wasn't going to be able to
figure anything out until I got this conversation
rolling.
"Okay. I want some answers and I want them now. Just
who are you, and why are you just now laying any sort
of claim on this little girl?"
"My name is Sharon Lennix. My brother's name is Martin
Drake, and I'm here to collect my niece, Chrissy
Drake. When I went up to her on the playground I was
just going to talk to her and tell her who I was. I
fully intended to take her to the principal's office
and explain the situation."
"Bull! Chrissy Drake has no living family. Her father
has no syblings. That's because her father was
abandoned after his mother was murdered. You're no
relation of Connie Drake either. She had no family at
all. So Ms. Lennix, I'm only going to ask you just
this once. How much did Drake pay you to come in and
take the kid?" I knew I'd hit a nerve, because she got
defensive awfully quick. I also noticed how she kept
one hand on her jacket pocket. I made my way toward
her and proceeded to check her pocket. In it I found a
very fat envelope. "What's this? It looks like it's
payoff money. My guess is you're the same woman who
showed up at the precinct a few weeks ago claiming to
be the girl's aunt. And I know just how to prove it."
I reached for my cellphone. After dialing my captain
and requesting he make an appearance at the school, I
put it back in my pocket. Charlie entered in less than
ten minutes.
When he entered the office he looked at me and then
Sharon Lennix. "Hunter where's your partner and the
kid?"
"McCall took the kid home for the rest of the day.
Captain we have a woman here who claims she's
Chrissy's aunt. She says her name is Sharon Lenix, and
that she's Martin Drake's sister. I found this in her
left-hand jacket pocket."
"Yeah, I've seen this woman before. She showed up at
the precinct early one morning. In fact it was the
morning Chrissy came in and gave her statement. Let's
book her on attempted kidnapping and see what comes
out of it. We're also going to run her prints and find
out what's in this envelope."
I went to put the cuffs on her and Charlie stopped me.
"I'll book her and do the leg work for the rest of the
afternoon. I'll drop by later on and see how the kid
is. In the meantime, you go home and help your partner
with that little girl."
"Thanks Captain."
Upon entering the apartment I noticed it was too
quiet. I went into the bedroom DeeDee and I shared and
saw DeeDee and Chrissy curled up on the bed. It looked
as though both of them were out cold, but when I
entered and made my way toward the bed DeeDee slowly
sat up. She slipped off the bed, and covered Chrissy
with a quilt. We headed out into the livingroom and
sat on the couch.
"It took me forever to get her calmed down. She was
terrified. So what's up? How come you're here?"
"Charlie identified our mysterious woman from a few
weeks ago. She's being booked on an attempted
kidnapping charge. We also found a very thick envelope
in the woman's left jacket pocket."
I took DeeDee's hand in mine and just held it. I could
easily forget I was a cop and seek revenge against
Martin Drake. But my feelings for my partner and this
little girl who had brought us together outweighed my
anger and hatred for this man who had beaten his wife
and children for years. At that moment all I wanted to
do was take DeeDee in my arms and just hold her and
keep Chrissy from having to testify and keep her safe
from people like Sharon Lennix.
"I think we both need this time to ourselves, just the
three of us. Christmas break is coming up soon. What
would you say we plan a little vacation for the three
of us and we go somewhere special?" I could see a
glint of something hopeful in DeeDee's eyes, but
wasn't sure how to answer her. I just sat there with
her beside me, and our new daughter sleeping in the
next room.
"DeeDee I think it's a wonderful idea, but there is
one other thing we need to consider. How are we going
to get a full week or two weeks off from work? Besides
that fact we've got the Drake trial to worry about. I
don't know if now is the right time to start making
vacation plans."
"Rick, you weren't here. You didn't see the fear in
that child's face when I took her out of the school.
She's deathly afraid of someone taking her away from
her new family. And there is something else. I just
want her to know she's in a safe place and that we're
not about to let anything happen to her."
I looked at her. One of the hardest things I had ever
done was tell her exactly how I felt about her. It
wasn't as easy as I'd orriginally thought. I had only
experienced something slightly similar to it when I
almost proposed to Terry Barns, an old flame. It
wasn't something I just went and did naturally like
doing the laundry or arresting a particularly hostile
suspect.
"How does this sound? We wait and see what Charlie
digs up on this Sharon Lennix. Then we find out if we
have to bring Chrissy into court to testify against
her father. After that we can make all the vacation
plans we want to and I don't think Charlie will have a
problem with it in the slightest. He really has become
quite attached to Chrissy. You should've seen him the
first day we had her."
"I remember. You left her with him for a few minutes
when you came out to talk to me about the case."
DeeDee wrapped one arm around my shoulders and leaned
her head against my chest. She looked so peaceful, but
I couldn't resist the urge to lean down and kiss her.
The kiss was soft and tender. I had no second thoughts
or conflicting emotions about what was happening
between us. I knew how we felt for one another, and I
also knew how hurt DeeDee had been over the years I'd
known her. Her husband's death had been hell on her,
and then there was the rape. That had brought her to a
point in her life at which she had seriously
considered quitting her job on the force.
We were suddenly pulled from our own world by the
sound of knocking on the front door. I stretched and
went to answer it.
Charlie greeted me with a half smile. "Well what do we
have here?" Charlie teased. "And I thought partners
weren't supposed to get that close."
"If only you knew the truth." I thought as I stepped
aside to allow him entrance. "So what's on your mind
this glorious afternoon Charlie?"
"I've got some information for you and McCall on
Sharon Lennix. Her real name is Karla Demsy. She's a
high priced working girl out of the Beverly Hills
Hotel. She's also wanted in San Diego in connection
with several scams. We figure Drake headed out to
Beverly Hills and hooked up with her somewhere along
the line. But where he got the means to pay her off I
have no idea."
As he spoke he reached into his briefcase and pulled
out a thick folder containing all the pertinent
information on Karla Demsy, aka Sharon Lenix, aka
Jackie Tate, aka Loran Thomas, and about half a dozen
other names. DeeDee came in and added her two cents
worth into the conversation.
"You know what I think, I don't think it was Drake who
paid Demsy to take the girl. You said she's a call
girl, so isn't it fair to assume she could have made
the money turning tricks? Drake isn't exactly the
wealthiest man in his neighborhood you know. I mean
take a look at his attorney. Michael Snoweis one of
the city's sleeziest criminal attorneys. He'd take
anyone's case if he thought he could win, and even
some he knew he would eventually lose."
Both Charlie and I had to admit that she was right. We
had been going up against Michael Snowe for years, and
we had a pretty good track record when it came time to
beat him at his own game. But there were cases that we
had lost due to slight technicalities. Charlie looked
at the two of us. I peered at my partner out of the
corner of one eye. Her hair was almost neatly pulled
back from her face, except there was one thing. It
looked as though it had been pulled back rather
hastily. I hoped he wouldn't take notice of it, but
then again Charles DeVane was a great cop and a damn
good captain. If anything was out of place, the guy
picked up on it.
He pointed toward the two bedrooms. "So where's that
beautiful little angel of yours hiding?"
"Sound asleep. It took me almost an hour to calm her
down after we left the school." DeeDee relaxed a
little. "She was afraid of someone else who might try
to take her away. But I'm enjoying being a mother
figure. And I'm sure he's enjoying being a father
figure." She jabbed a finger at me and smirked.
"Yeah, well, I'd think very long and hard about what
you want out of this you two. I'm giving you this
advice as a friend, not as your captain. What I will
say is this. If you're both serious about adopting
her, you might want to make plans for new partners.
The department frowns heavily on partners becoming
romantically involved with one another. If Caine ever
caught wind of something like that, you'd both be
investigated and probably transfered as well as split
up. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't want to lose
the two best detectives in my department."
McCall and I nodded our understanding. I could almost
swear I saw a glint of something resembling a grin on
the captain's face. He knew how much we both cared
about one another as partners, and maybe he had his
suspicions about the two of us. If he did though, he
never voiced them.
"So what do you want to do about this whole Lennix
Drake thing? She's been booked on attempted kidnapping
charges, and she'll likely be transfered to San Diego
for the other charges. But do you think we can tie her
to Drake in any way the DA would find acceptable?"
DeeDee looked at Charlie and then at the folder I
held.
"When we searched her at the station, we found over
one thousand dollars in cash on her. We also found an
unsigned note giving her your address, the Drake
residence, and a list of elementary schools in the Los
Angeles area. If we can get a writing sample from
Drake, and if it matches, we can charge her with being
an accessory to murder after the fact. Two counts
should just about do it."
"Yes, but Charlie there's also that little thing of
actually obtaining the writing sample from Drake. He
knows what you and McCall look like. Let me in there
with him for five minutes and you'll get your writing
sample." Charlie gave me a look that said: "What the
hell do you think I am, suicidal or what?"
"Hunter if I let you in there you've got to promise me
that you won't lay one hand on him. We don't want this
case getting thrown out on any technicalities, and
Michael Snowe would use it to create a strong case. He
might even say the writing sample was forced. If he
doesn't volunteer it, we get a court order."
"I promise I won't lay a hand on the guy. Besides
that, I haven't had my rabies vaccination yet this
year."
A moment later the bedroom door opened and Chrissy
came out. She looked like she'd just woken up, hair
all in tangles, eyes half opened, and the slowness of
her walk gave even more weight to the theory. She
looked at the three of us and then went over to
DeeDee.
"Hey. Look who's awake." DeeDee lifted he little girl
up and onto her shoulder. Chrissy looked at Charlie
and then at me.
"Is she going to come back? Is she going to try and
take me away again? I don't want to go away."
She pointed to me and motioned for DeeDee to put her
down. My partner complied and she came bounding over
to me. She gave no sign of wanting to be picked up,
but instead she nuzzled her head into my ribs.
"No honey she's not going to come and take you away.
She's in jail like your father is. DeeDee and I won't
let anything happen to you."
"Chrissy I promise nothing's going to happen to you
okay sweet heart?"
Charlie seemed like he was good with kids. I made a
mental note of asking him someday if he had ever had
any experience with working with kids. Chrissy looked
at me and pointed up. I bent down and picked her up
off the floor. She seemed so light and tiny in my
arms, that I had to keep looking at her to make sure
she was still there. Charlie stood there looking at
the scene before him. I don't think he ever expected
to see me holding a child in my arms, or that he
expected this little girl to come running to a man
when she had been abused and beaten by her own father
for so many years. In fact, I'd have thought she would
run to McCall before ever trusting me. She turned her
head and stared at Charlie standing there in his
uniform.
He turned and made as if to leave, when Chrissy
pointed to his belt. "He's not wearing the loud
thing!"
Charlie laughed and turned to face her. "That's right.
I promise you I won't wear it around you if you're
scared of it. But I want you to promise me that you're
going to come back in and draw me another picture
sometime real soon." Chrissy smiled, nodded, and
watched as Charlie left the apartment.
The next day It was decided that I would go in to see
Martin Drake and get that writing sample. I even gave
Charlie the opportunity to sit in the room and watch
to make sure I did everything by the book. He refused,
saying he would do his watching through the one-way
mirror in the interigation room.
I entered the room and sat down across from Drake. His
hands were still in handcuffs, but I wasn't too
worried. If he got out of line all I had to do was
knock him cold and put him back in his cell. Drake
gave me his best intimidation look, which had no
affect on me at all. I withdrew a pen and slip of
paper and set them in front of Drake.
"I need a writing sample from you Mr. Drake."
"You ain't gonna get no writing sample from me. You're
not charging me with writing to my wife and daughter,
just their murder. By the way, where is my other kid
Chrissy? My sister pick her up yet?"
"You will be giving me that sample one way or the
other. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, it's
your choice. Oh, and as for your little girl Chrissy,
she's not with your sister because you don't have a
sister. You just had some con artist show up and try
to kidnap your daughter. And just in case you didn't
know, Karla Demsy is being charged with attempted
kidnapping charges as we speak."
"I don't know no Karla Demsy or who ever the hell she
is. My sister's name is Sharon Lennix. She's married
and lives in Beverly Hills."
This guy was starting to annoy me. Did he really
consider cops to be that stupid, or was he really that
dense to believe his own fabrications? I glared at him
and waited for him to pick up the pen. "I want that
writing sample Drake. Start writing or I'll get a
court order to make you give me a writing sample."
He lifted the pen and wrote something. I took the
paper and read it quickly.
"You wanted a writing sample and now you've got one.
So just leave me alone."
I rose from my chair and approached him. I'd promised
Charlie I wouldn't lay a hand on this guy, but he was
really starting to piss me off.
"Let me tell you something Drake. I would much rather
you write out a confession of how you murdered your
own wife and daughter and how you convinced Karla
Demsy, also known as Sharon Lennix, to come down here
and kidnap your daughter. But somehow I don't think
that's going to happen, so here's what I want you to
write. I want you to write down a full sentence using
the name of a school here in Los Angeles, your
daughter Chrissy's name, and the word "please"; now do
you think you can manage that? Or do I have to go get
a court order? Now if I have to do that I'm not going
to be in a good mood when I come back here."
"Go to hell Pig." Drake grinned at the piece of paper
in my hand. I glared at him and finally turned my back
to him.
"Oh and just one more thing Drake, you're not my type.
However, I will recomend you see someone about that
problem of yours."
I picked up the pen and signaled for someone to come
and collect Mr. Drake and return him to his cell.
Charlie met me at my desk.
"You did good in there. You didn't touch the guy even
though I could see you really wanted to. By the way,
what did he write on that piece of paper?"
I handed Charlie the slip of paper and watched him
read it. "Let me guess." Charlie began. "Drake's not
your first choice is he?"
"No he isn't." I answered and walked away.
Part 8
Another week passed before we heard anything about the
Drake case. Charlie telephoned us late one evening
shortly after we had put Chrissy to bed. We hoped for
the best, but we expected the worst. Charlie explained
that the District Attorney had convinced the judge to
allow Chrissy to testify on video tape. We were
thrilled about that response. We didn't want her to
testify period, but it was something she had to do. If
we were going to put her father away, then the DA's
office needed her testimony not in the form of a
statement.
The next day we booked off work and kept Chrissy home
from school. We were going to spend the whole day with
her, and eventually try to make her understand the
whole testifying thing. It wasn't going to be easy on
any of us, but DeeDee and I had decided to take
Chrissy away on a vacation after this whole mess was
solved.
We started the day out by making a big breakfast. As
usual, DeeDee made all the wrong foods, but Chrissy
seemed to like them. I ate a healthy breakfast,
complete with a banana, fruit juice, and a bowl of
Grape Nuts cereal. After the breakfast dishes had been
cleared, I went into DeeDee's bedroom and retrieved a
small package. I headed into the livingroom where I
found Chrissy cuddled in McCall's lap in an
overstuffed armchair.
"Hey honey I've got something for you." I said handing
her the package. She slowly opened the paper and
pulled out a little book.
"What's this?"
"It's a diary. You write in it when you don't want
anyone else to know things: like when you're happy
about something, or if you're sad about something."
"You mean like Mommy and Kathy? I can write about them
in here?" I nodded. Then DeeDee explained that she
kept a diary too when she was about Chrissy's age.
After that we began to explain to her about what would
be happening in the next few months. Between the two
of us, we told her that her father would be put on
trial for the murder of both her mother and sister.
Now came the hard part.
"Chrissy," I began, "what we need now is your help. We
need you to come into the captain's office and answer
some questions. We need you to tell some people what
happened, and they're going to have a video camera on
while you're talking."
"I already told you what happened. Daddy hurt Mommy
till she couldn't get up. He hurt her."
Now she began to cry uncontrolably. DeeDee wrapped her
arms around the child's sobbing form and just sat
there holding her. She gently began stroking Chrissy's
golden colored hair until she was calm again.
"It's all right. It's all going to be okay. You
remember last time right? Well this time is going to
be just like that, and just like last time we'll be
there with you." DeeDee was making a very good attempt
to get Chrissy to calm down.
"That's right honey. We'll be there and so will
Charlie. None of us will let anything bad happen to
you. We promised you. Do you remember that promise?"
Chrissy nodded her little head slowly.
Once we arrived at the station, Charlie met us at the
door to his office. He saw how upset Chrissy looked
and reached out a hand to her. She took his hand
tentatively and he led her into the office. He reached
onto his desk and gave her a large pad of paper and a
box of brightly colored crayons.
"I've been waiting for you to come back and draw me a
new picture. I hung your other one right over here."
He pointed to the wall beside his desk. Chrissy's
earlier picture hung proudly on it by a piece of tape.
With in a few minutes, Chrissy was busily drawing
away.
"Chrissy," DeeDee said. "Charlie needs to talk to Rick
and me. We're going to be just outside the door. Wait
right here, and don't go anywhere. If you need us come
to the door and knock."
Once outside the office, we explained the situation to
Charlie. "I don't think it'll be a problem. I have a
video camera here in the building and I'm pretty sure
I can get the prosecuting and defense lawyers down
here in a minute."
It only took about twenty minutes to get the video
camera and the lawyers into one room. Among those
assembled was a trial court judge. In fact, she was
the same judge who we would later meet at the trial.
She sat to the right of DeeDee. Charlie sat between
Michael Snowe and myself. Michelle Peterson sat on
Michael Snowe's other side. Michael Snowe took one
look at Chrissy and frowned. Assistant District
Attorney Michelle Peterson sat across from Chrissy,
notebook and pen both in hand. McCall and I took the
chair on either side of her and waited. Michelle
signaled for the camera to be turned on and looked
straight at the camera's lens.
"October sixteenth, 1988, Assistant District Attorney
Michelle Peterson in case number 25903, State of
California Vs. Martin Drake." She positioned herself
so she could look at Chrissy and the camera both at
the same time during questioning. She flipped through
the pages in her notebook and began asking her
questions.
"Chrissy who are you staying with?"
"Rick and DeeDee. They don't yell or fight at all."
"Do you like it there with Rick and DeeDee?"
"Yes. They tell me stories and play with me and don't
do anything to make me cry. DeeDee cooks good and
sometimes we get pizza. I don't like the other food we
get sometimes, but Rick says that vegetables will make
me big."
"When did you go to stay with Rick and DeeDee?
"After Mommy died. They came to the house with the man
who yells."
I smiled and laughed to myself. We all knew she was
talking about Terwilligger, but nobody said anything.
Michelle continued.
"Why did the man yell?"
"He doesn't like Rick and DeeDee very much. He's a
mean person. I don't like people who yell. Daddy did
that a lot."
"Chrissy can you tell me what happened to you the
night Rick and DeeDee found you?" Chrissy's face
tightened but she didn't cry.
"My mommy and daddy were fighting. Daddy was yelling
at Mommy and he hit her hard."
"How hard did he hit your mommy?"
"Really hard. She fel and didn't get up. She was
crying. I was scared for Mommy 'cause Daddy hurts
Mommy a lot." Everyone watched intently as Michelle
jotted down things in her notebook, and as Michael
Snowe did the same in his.
"How did you see all of this? Where were you when your
dad pushed your mom down?"
"I was in the kitchen with Mommy and Daddy. I was
helping Mommy with dinner when Daddy came in screaming
and yelling at Mommy and Kathy."
"How old is Kathy?"
"She's real big; bigger than me. She yelled back at
Daddy too and he got really mad."
"Did your dad ever hurt you or your mother and your
sister before the night Rick and DeeDee found you?"
"Lots of times. He broke Kathy's arm once and pushed
Mommy into the table once too. He hurt her face an
awful lot. Sometimes she had booboos all over her face
and arms. He hit me too. He even made my eye hurt one
time."
"Chrissy, what happened after your dad knocked your
mother down and made her cry? Did he come after you?"
"No. He kept hitting her and hitting her over and over
again. I saw her bleeding from her face and I heard
something else breaking."
"What broke Chrissy?"
"He had dishes in his hands and then he was breaking
the chairs. Kathy came out and tried to stop him but
he kept on breaking things. Kathy tried to push me out
of the room but Daddy grabbed her before she could."
"What happened next?"
"Daddy hit Kathy like he hit Mommy. He wouldn't stop,
he just kept hurting them. Kathy ran into her room
when he let go of her and shut the door. Then Daddy
came after me. He grabbed me and pushed me over hard.
I fell on something sharp and got a booboo from it. He
slapped me and told me that I was just like Mommy. He
said that it was our falt he couldn't get a better job
and that he hit us."
"What happened after he hit you?"
"He picked me up and threw me onto a chair. Then I
heard him kick in Kathy's door. He was screaming at
her. He called her a really bad word. He called her a
lot of really bad words."
"I know you're not supposed to say those words
Chrissy, but I need to know what your daddy called
Kathy."
Chrissy froze. I thought for a minute it would pass,
but she looked at everyone in the room.
"I don't know. I don't say bad words. My mommy always
said that I was a good girl if I didn't say any bad
words. Won't Mommy be mad at me?"
Michelle looked as if she wanted to reach out and hug
Chrissy. Instead she reached out and took her hand and
squeezed gently. "I don't think your mom would be mad.
I think she would be proud of her brave little girl."
"Okay then. Daddy called Kathy a bitch, a slut, a
tramp, and a another word I can't remember it though."
"What happened when he was done yelling at Kathy and
calling her names?"
"He came out of her room and went into the livingroom.
He always had a big loud thing. I think mommy said it
was a gun. She always said I wasn't supposed to go
near it. She said it would hurt me very badly."
"What happened after that?"
"He went back into Kathy's room. Kathy screamed really
loud and then there was a big bang. He came in the
kitchen and waved it at me."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"He said if I said anything about it he would get me
like Mommy and Kathy. Where's Kathy? I want to see
Kathy. DeeDee where's Kathy staying? She with another
police officer?"
McCall looked first at the camera, then from Michelle
to Chrissy. Michelle nodded and motioned for DeeDee to
get Chrissy's attention. "When you heard that big bang
that meant your dad did something really bad. You know
how he hurt your mother right?"
Chrissy nodded. "He made Mommy die. I hate him."
DeeDee continued. "Well honey, your dad did the same
thing to Kathy. Kathy isn't with another police
officer, she's in heaven with your mom. Do you
understand what I'm saying to you Chrissy?"
The little girl nodded, and then with tearfilled eyes
she asked, "Is he gonna get me too? Is he gonna hurt
me like he did Kathy and Mommy?"
"No sweety; he's not going to get you or anyone else
ever again."
Michelle looked back to Chrissy. "I'm done asking my
questions. Now Michael needs to ask you some
questions. Is that okay?"
Chrissy looked like she was holding up pretty well. I
figured everyone else thought the same thing, but I
didn't know how Michael Snowe was going to deal with
this little girl. He had a reputation for chewing up
grown men and women. How was he going to counter the
prosecuting attorney's questions? He seemed to read
our thoughts and began.
"Chrissy, you said before that your dad hit you and
your mother and sister an awful lot right?"
"Yes."
"Do you know the difference between the truth and a
lie Chrissy?" She nodded and he continued. "Tell me
what it means when someone tells the truth."
"When you tell the truth you tell something that's
real. And when you tell a lie you say something that
didn't happen like Peter. He said there was a wolf by
his sheep and people thought it was true, but he said
it too many times. Then when it really did happen
nobody wanted to listen."
Michael Snowe looked like he was about to crack a
smile right there in front of everyone! In all my
years as a cop, and after the numerous times I've
dealt with the man, I had never once seen him with a
look of pure contentment.
"Who told you the story of Peter and the wolf,
Chrissy?"
"Mommy. She said that Peter made a mistake, and that I
was a good girl, and that I shouldn't say things that
aren't true."
Snowe smiled broadly, surprising not only myself but
even DeVane. "Okay. So if I told you Rick and DeeDee
weren't police officers would that be true or would it
be a lie?" Chrissy gave him a look that said "how dum
do you think I am" and said: "That would be a lie.
Rick and DeeDee are real policemen. If they weren't
then I couldn't live with them."
"Why do you like living with Rick and DeeDee,
Chrissy?"
"They're nice to me. They sit with me when I have a
bad dream and can't sleep. DeeDee stopped me from
being kidnapped. She took a nap with me when we went
back home and Rick put the bad lady in jail."
"Do you have any aunts or uncles Chrissy?" She shook
her head. Snowe grinned and then said: "You can't
shake your head. You have to say "yes" or "no."
"No I don't have any aunts or uncles."
"Are you sure your father killed your mother?"
"Yes. He killed her and sent her away from me."
"Okay, Chrissy. I just have one more question for you.
Did your father ever tell you or your sister or your
mother that he would kill you?"
Chrissy froze. She didn't look at anyone, but instead
she stared blankly at the wall. I could see DeeDee
tense a little at the question. I could almost feel
the breath that several of us in the room were holding
while we waited for Chrissy to answer Snow's question.
Snowenoticed Chrissy's frozen stare and repeated the
question.
Did your father ever tell you or your sister or your
mother that he would kill you?"
At first no response, and then, "He did one time when
Mommy tried to take Kathy and me away from him. He
said we'd never leave alive and that if she tried it
again he'd kill us all."
Michael Snowe then looked at the camera and clearly
stated that he had no more questions for this witness.
He rose from his chair and came around to Chrissy's
side of the table.
"You did a great job today. I think your mom would be
proud of you."
"Are we done here guys? I think we've got a little one
who is really tired of answering questions and who
wants to go home." Charlie smiled at Chrissy as he
addressed the lawyers.
The judge rose from her chair and made her way toward
me. "Yes. I think you are finished for now. But first
I think I need to say something to Chrissy." She
placed a gentle hand under Chrissy's chin and brought
her drooping head upward for a moment. "I think you're
a brave little girl. Not a lot of kids can do what you
just did today. I also think you're a very smart girl.
You remember a lot of things don't you?"
"I remember what Daddy did because of my bad dreams.
Sometimes they scare me a lot but when I wake up
DeeDee tells me it's gonna be okay. She says she won't
let anything happen to me."
As we left, we could hear the lawyers making their
closing remarks on the video camera. I distinctly
heard Michael Snowe remark, "And I, as acting council
for the defense, hereby remove myself from this case."
Eppilogue
Over the next three months we all went through
changes. Martin Drake was convicted of two counts of
first degree murder, one count of attempted first
degree murder, an accessory to an attempted
kidnapping, and assult on a police officer. He was
sentenced to prison for life with out the possibility
of being paroled.
I asked DeeDee to marry me, and she accepted. The
adoption papers went through without a hitch, and
DeeDee made up her mind to transfer out to Juvenile
Services. I'm still working as a detective in the
Homicide division under the direction of Captain
Charles DeVane. And one more thing. Chrissy started
going through therapy to help her deal with everything
that had happened to her. She has been doing quite
well in therapy and hasn't had anymore nightmares
since.
Now, I'm just sitting here reflecting on how all our
lives have changed from this. I've got a wife, a
beautiful daughter, and a wonderful life ahead of all
of us. I here something outside and get up to look out
the window. DeeDee has just returned home, and she
looks incredibly happy. I wonder what could cause her
to have such a happy glow to her face.
The end
(Please, send feedback and let me know if I should
write a sequal. Any and all comments welcomed at
deedee_mccall@yahoo.com)
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