| A Matter of Trust |
| Something was making noise, dragging Lennie Briscoe out of a sound sleep. The phone kept ringing, and he just knew that if he ignored it, they�d just call right back. So he rolled over and fumbled on the nightstand, finally finding the receiver. �Yeah?� he barked into it. His bleary eyes focused on the clock � 2:11 AM. // Hell. Never make it through a whole day now � // �Detective Briscoe? Sorry to wake you sir, but we�ve got an attempted homicide over on 98th street, and you�re on call tonight.� Lennie groaned. �You call Curtis yet?� �As soon as I get off the phone with you.� �OK, tell him to meet me there.� Lennie wrote down the address, hung up the phone and blearily stumbled into the bathroom. Somehow, every time he was �on call� that damned phone rang at a godawful hour of the morning. Times like this, retirement was starting to look pretty damned good. Then he remembered the last late night call he'd gotten, the one that had started everything with Jack. It had gone down just like this. It was way too early for a shower, and besides, he hoped he�d be able to hand off the crime scene to CSU and crawl back into his bed before the sun came up. Instead, he just splashed some cold water on his face and got dressed. A quick stop at the all-night diner provided a caffeine hit. He pulled up at the crime scene and got out of the car, carrying his coffee with him. CSU techs were already there, documenting all the physical evidence they could find. He spotted a couple of uniforms off to the side. �You guys find the victim?� �Yeah, hanging on by a thread. Looked like he�d been beat up real good. Somebody wanted him to hurt, that�s for sure.� Rey Curtis pulled up and got out of his car. Lennie took a perverse pleasure in noting that �Mr. Perfect� actually looked rumpled this time. �Look what the cat dragged in!� Rey just glared at him. Lennie laughed and slapped his back. �Come on, let�s see what we�ve got.� According to the uni�s, the victim was a male, mid-50s. ID said he was Daniel Sandhu, the address was on Long Island. Unconscious, the victim had been rushed to the hospital. Since there was very little to be seen here, the detectives left the scene to CSU and headed over to the hospital. A nurse informed them that the patient was in surgery, but the intern who�d logged the case in could talk to them in a few minutes. They cooled their heels in the waiting area for about 15 minutes before a young woman in hospital scrubs came up to them. �Detectives? You wanted to see me?� Lennie nodded. �Yeah. Guy came in about an hour ago, beat up, unconscious.� She nodded. �Yeah, I got that one. Somebody beat the guy practically to a pulp. And detectives � I think he was raped.� Lennie felt a chill run through his veins. He and Rey glanced at each other, not saying anything. Finally Lennie found his voice. "You're sure about that?" She shrugged. "There were signs of rough sex; welts on his back and buttocks; it looked like his wrists had been cuffed. I think maybe it started consensual but got out of control. He lost a lot of blood." "Is he going to make it?" "Who knows? He's in surgery now." Rey handed her his card. "Can somebody notify us when you know more?" "Of course, detective." �Can we get his personal effects?� �Sure.� She led them to a storage area. The detectives donned latex gloves as the clothing was covered with blood � most likely the victim�s, but with a little luck forensics would find some of the attacker�s as well. Curtis was turning out the contents of the pants pockets, digging through his wallet. �License, credit cards, money still here. Wasn�t a robbery. Hmm, corporate Amex, company is 'Gordon & Steinhart.' No photos, nothing personal.� Lennie sighed as he turned out the other pants pocket. �Oh, shit.� Rey looked up to see Lennie holding a cocktail napkin. �Well, well, well. Look what we�ve got here. Your favorite bar, Lennie.� It was from the Jade Palace. Lennie sighed and shook his head. �It�ll be noon before Damian opens the place up again. There�s nothing else here; I�m headed back to my place to grab a few more hours of shuteye.� Curtis nodded. �Yeah, nothing more we can do until the rest of the world gets up.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lennie watched as if from a distance. A body, beaten and bloody, the handsome face brutally mauled. And other injuries, less visible ones. Injuries to body and soul; a body brutally violated. And a motorcycle roaring off into the night. He sat up, crying out, �Jack! No!� Panting, Lennie realized he�d been dreaming, and was now sitting up in his bed. He glanced at the clock � it was almost 8AM. His subconscious was starting to put together the puzzle that had been nagging him all week. And he was terribly afraid that it was going to tie in with this new case. He called Curtis and asked his partner to meet him at the diner where he got his late night coffee. An hour later, the two cops sat in a booth. �OK, Lennie. What is it?� Lennie shook himself, took a drink of his coffee. �Rey, what if this wasn�t an isolated incident? What if he�s done this before? Just not taken it quite this far?� �What are you getting at, Lennie?� �What if this is the same guy that attacked Jack last week on his way home from the Palace?� Rey blinked. �He said he was mugged.� �And since when did we believe that? It never added up in the first place. And the way he acted when I tried to touch him � and then Jamie. He�s acting like a rape victim. Denying it happened. But terrified of being touched. Christ, why didn�t I see it?� Lennie was visibly agitated at the thought of what Jack might have been through. Rey shook his head. �Lennie, you�ve got no evidence that the incidents are related.� �Except the link through the bar. And this guy was about Jack�s age. And I looked up Gordon & Steinhart in the phone book � it's a law firm. Rey, I�ve just got a really bad feeling about this. I want to talk to Jack. If he was attacked by the same guy, maybe he can give us more to go on.� Curtis shook his head. �I don�t know, Lennie. If he�s in denial, he�s not going to tell us anything. And it�s not like the two of you are best friends anymore �� Rey regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. The look of pain and sadness in Lennie�s eyes hit him like a ton of bricks. �Lennie, I�m sorry �� Briscoe took a deep breath and shook his head. �You�re right, Rey. But part of me still cares, whether Jack wants me to or not. And if this bastard is the one who hurt him, I damned well want to put him away for a good long time. Besides, the only other leads we've got are his employer, and the bar. You ever met a law firm open on the weekend? And nobody's going to be up and around over at the Palace much before noon. But Jack's a morning person." Curtis just nodded. As much as the EADA annoyed him, he wouldn�t wish this on anyone. �OK. Into the lion�s den, then?� Lennie managed a small smile at Rey�s hint that this wouldn�t be easy. �Yeah, let�s go.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Somebody was using a jackhammer on his skull. That was the first thing that popped into Jack McCoy�s head when he woke up Saturday morning. He tried to sit up and immediately changed his mind as his stomach heaved. Instead, he managed to roll out of bed, his legs almost not supporting him as they found the floor. He somehow pushed himself upright and staggered into the bathroom. For a moment, he thought his stomach was going to heave again, but it settled into an uneasy truce. He turned on the shower and simply stood there under the steaming hot spray for a good 10 minutes. Without even reaching for soap or shampoo, he just shut the water off and grabbed a towel. He threw on an old terrycloth bathrobe and downed a couple of aspirin, then stumbled toward the kitchen. Maybe some coffee would help. He didn�t even think about why he�d dug out the old robe; his nice new wine-colored silk one was buried in a corner somewhere � A knock at the door just as he�d taken his first sip of coffee was about the last thing he wanted or expected to hear that morning. With a groan, he shuffled over to the door and peered out the peep hole. Briscoe and Curtis. // What the hell are they doing here? // Irritated, he unchained the door and opened it enough to stare out at the two cops. �What?� he asked tersely. Jack�s face was healing from the beating he�d taken, but the bruises were still visible as was the line of stitches down his cheek. Add the effects of the hangover, and the man looked little better than the current victim. Lennie couldn�t quite keep the look of dismay off his face. �Jack, we need to talk to you about a case �� Jack groaned. This time, he WAS on call for the weekend; Jamie had taken her daughter away on a weekend trip to one of the big amusement parks. Reluctantly, he opened the door and waved them in. He pulled the robe tighter around him, self-consciously not wanting any of the other bruises to accidentally be seen. He had seen the look in Briscoe�s eyes, and wanted none of his sympathy. As Lennie waked in, he spotted the empty bottle of scotch and forced himself not to sigh. The haggard face and tentative motions clearly told him Jack was hung over. // Hiding from the memories of what happened? // Knowing Jack�s antipathy toward Lennie at the moment, they�d decided that Curtis would start the discussion. �We�ve got an attempted murder. The victim is Daniel Sandhu, works over at Gordon and Steinhart, he�s been very badly beaten, almost to death. The attack occurred not far from the Jade Palace, and he had a napkin from there in his pocket.� McCoy stared at them as it sunk in that he was once again not acting as a prosecutor here. �What are you saying, detective?� The cops looked at each other; Lennie took over. �Jack, we think it might be the same guy who attacked you last week. The victim is your age and works for a law firm; our perp might be somebody who had a thing for rich �daddies.�� Jack scowled. �I told you, detective, my bike was stolen, that�s all.� Lennie shook his head. �Jack, there�s more to it than that, you know it. The uniforms who found you said it didn�t make sense �� �What the hell were you doing talking to the cops who found me?� McCoy cut Briscoe off almost in mid-word, his fury plainly evident. �I was worried about you! Damnit, Jack, I�m a cop, I can tell when somebody isn�t telling the whole story!� �Well, it�s none of your damned business, detective! I don�t need you to play mother hen!� Lennie was getting good and pissed off now. �If it�s the same guy, it IS my business now! Jack, last night�s victim was beaten within an inch of his life and raped. If you know anything about it, we need to know!� McCoy�s face, flushed with anger, suddenly paled. �Rape?� His anger kept him going. �Well, that�s it then. I�ll say it one more time, detective, my bike was stolen. These cases are NOT related! Now get the hell out of here!� Curtis grabbed his partner�s elbow and urged Lennie out the door. McCoy slammed it behind them, then fell against the door and slid down to the floor as his knees would no longer hold him. He huddled there against the door, trembling. Continue on to Chapter 19 Send me some Feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 18 |