| A Matter of Trust |
| Lennie sighed heavily as he sank down into the passenger seat, rubbing his face with his hands. Rey glanced over at his partner, concerned. McCoy's outburst had pretty much convinced him the attorney was holding something back, and he knew it was going to be hard for Lennie to deal with this case. It seemed strange to him to think about a gay man being a rape victim. But then, the legal difference always came down to consent. Just because a woman accepted some men in some situations, didn't mean she accepted all men all the time. He guessed the same thing applied here. And anyway, they always said rape was a crime of violence, not sex. He tried to imagine how it would feel to be the victim of such a brutal attack, being violated in such a personal way. Taking something you normally enjoyed and turning it into torture and pain and humiliation. Women who had been raped had a difficult time recovering even though it was socially acceptable for them to express their emotions. How hard would it be for a man like Jack McCoy to even admit this had happened, let alone deal with it? He truly hoped Lennie's hunch turned out to be wrong, but at the moment that didn't look very likely. Lennie didn't say anything as they drove in to the precinct. His thoughts were turning around much the same path as Rey's. But to him, Jack wasn't just a victim. He wanted so desperately to help his friend, wanted to provide support. But he had ruined that friendship, and now Jack was alone, facing this by himself. It didn't seem right. When they got to their desks, they found a folder from CSU with all the details found at the crime scene. It also contained a photo of the victim, taken at the hospital. Sandhu was 50-ish, salt and pepper hair. He might have been handsome if not for the bruises covering his face. Lennie was struck by how much that wounded face reminded him of Jack. They spent some time sorting through the reports which basically found nothing. There was no sign of a fight at the scene, so it appeared that the attack had occurred elsewhere, and the victim apparently walked to the point when he fell, unable to go on. "So he picks his mark up at the bar, takes him home, gets his rocks off, and sends them packing." Lennie shook his head sadly. "They got more than they bargained for." Rey glanced at his watch. "Think it's late enough to find anybody at the Palace?" Lennie nodded. "Yeah, might as well head over there." Twenty minutes later, Lennie knocked on the locked door of the bar. He could see signs of life inside as the staff was getting the place ready to open. He knocked again, holding up his badge. Finally, the door was opened by Damian himself. A brilliant smile lit his face. "Lennie! How good to see you again!" His enthusiasm was dampened somewhat when he saw the detective's expression, and even more when he noticed Curtis standing behind his partner. "Oh no � I�m guessing this isn't a social call?" Lennie nodded, reaching in to his jacket pocket for the photo of the victim. "Damian, you remember my partner, Rey Curtis?" The two nodded at each other. "Do you recognize this man?" Lennie handed Damian the photo as the three of them sat at one of the tables. "Oh, no. Daniel! Is he �?" "He's still alive, barely. He was found not far from here, and we found a napkin from here in his pocket, Damian. Was he here last night?" "Yes. We chatted for a few minutes. He's one of our 'regulars.' So much like your friend Jack � works too hard, not interested in relationships." "Did you happen to see who he left with last night?" Jade thought for a moment. "Young man, dark hair. White, or very light Hispanic. Muscular. Haven't seen him around much." "What time did they leave?" "Oh, around midnight, I'd guess." "He was found a little after 2AM. Guess his 'date' had plenty of time to work him over." Damian's face was pained. "I can't believe this happened! Was he � raped?" Lennie couldn't answer, so Rey jumped in. "Yeah, the doctor said it looked that way. Like maybe it started consensual but got way out of hand." Damian shuddered at the thought. "Mr. Jade, do you think you could come down to the precinct and work with one of our sketch artists?" "Oh, yes, Detective Curtis. Anything I can do to help! If we can get a drawing, I'll post it here to warn my clients and keep him away!" "Did he pay by credit card, by any chance?" Damian shook his head. "I think Daniel bought him a drink, but I don�t think he bought one on his own. I can ask the bartender when he gets in tonight." Lennie sighed, shaking himself out of his stasis. "Damian, there's something else. Last weekend, when we � uh, when we were talking." Lennie's face was getting red, but he kept going. "I think Jack was here. He said he was mugged on the way home, but I'm wondering �" Damian's eyes filled with concern. "You're afraid he was a victim of the same man?" Lennie nodded. "Well, of course I didn't see him, I was with you. But maybe Tony remembers." "Tony?" "My bartender. I was going to ask him tonight about Daniel, but if you want, I can call him and see if he remembers anything about your friend. He should be up by now." Lennie sighed. "I'd appreciate that, Damian. If we have a serial rapist on our hands �" Damian shuddered again and nodded. He got up and went behind the bar to use the phone. "You know, Lennie, if it is the same guy � he must have a place near here where he does them. Sandhu was found on 98th street. Where was Jack found?" "94th." Curtis raised his eyebrow. Another fact pointing to a connection. Just then Damian returned to the table, laying a hand on Lennie's shoulder. "Tony remembers your friend because he was watching us, Lennie. In fact, he was a little nervous, almost came over to tell me, but we left before he could." Despite his concern for McCoy, Rey had to bite back a grin at the confirmation that Lennie and Damian had done more than hang out in the bar. Lennie looked uncomfortable enough without Rey pushing the issue. "He's pretty sure not long after that he hooked up with somebody and left. Same basic description. He's willing to meet us at your precinct to talk to a sketch artist too if you want?" Lennie sighed. If the two drawings were similar, they'd have their connection. He looked at Curtis, who nodded. "Yeah, Damian. That would help." Damian could see the tension radiating from Lennie's body. Even though things weren't going well, he knew Jack was still important to Lennie. This was going to be very difficult for them both. He turned to Curtis. "Detective Curtis, may I have a few minutes with your partner?" "Uh, sure. I'll be out in the car �" Damian watched Curtis leave, then turned to Lennie, taking his hand. "How are you holding up?" "Me? It's Jack I�m worried about." "Yes, but he's your friend, even if he claims he doesn't want your friendship. You care about him. And I'm guessing he's still pushing you away. That must be hard." Lennie shrugged. "Don't give up on him, Lennie. If he was raped, he's going to need help to get through this." Shaking his head, Lennie replied, "Jack doesn't let people help him. Maybe if we hadn't broken up, but now � " "All the more reason to stick by him. It will be hard, but he needs to know that somebody cares." Lennie sighed and nodded. Damian leaned over and hugged him. "And if you need someone to care, I'm here." The soft words tugged at Lennie's heart; for a moment there was a sting of tears behind his eyes. He held tightly for a moment, then let go. "Thanks, Damian �" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back at the 2-7, Lennie stayed with Damian as he worked with a sketch artist. Rey and Tony the bartender went into another room with another artist. An hour later, they had two work-ups. There was no question � it was the same man. He'd left the Palace last night with Sandhu, and a week ago, had left with Jack. Lennie felt his stomach churning as he looked at the two pictures. Another half hour of combined work created a single portrait that both Damian and Tony agreed was the guy. Rey got Damian and Tony into a cab, and came back to find Lennie staring at the portrait. Coming up behind his partner, he gently laid his hand on the tense shoulder. Lennie looked up and managed to quirk one side of his mouth into a half smile. "So how do we get him to talk, Lennie?" Lennie shook his head. "WE don't. I do." "What makes you think you'll even get in the front door?" Lennie held up the sketch. "This." Rey shook his head. "I don't like you going over there alone, Lennie." "Rey, trust me. He won't open up with you there. Guaranteed." Curtis sighed. "So, you going now?" "Might as well. Go on home, Rey. I'll call you if I need you." Rey just nodded. "Good luck." Lennie went out to his car and got in, trying not to think about what he was about to do. He knew he'd have to push Jack pretty hard. To the breaking point. He didn't want to hurt the man, but he'd seen enough rape victims to know that you had to admit it happened before you could even hope to begin to recover. He knew McCoy had a temper, and he had to be ready to have it unleashed directly on him. He just hoped he could do this � ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had taken the better part of two hours, but Jack McCoy had finally calmed down from the morning�s confrontation with Briscoe and Curtis. Briscoe was such a pain in the ass � the man couldn�t leave well enough alone. He�d all but forced himself into Jack�s life after the tragedy of Martin Travers� murder. Before then, Jack had been safe, no ties, nobody could hurt him. // And no friends, nobody to care, either � // He quickly pushed that thought aside. Why did the detective have to insist there was some connection between what happened to him last week and that poor man who had been attacked � raped � last night? // You know why // That train of thought was getting his anger up again; just thinking about the incident raised his blood pressure. Which was why he spent so much time trying to forget it. But no, his �good buddy� the cop wasn�t going to let him forget it, was he? Briscoe kept throwing it in his face. Well, not any more. It was time he stopped wallowing in this anxiety. He dressed in jeans and a light long sleeved shirt, then started rummaging in the closet for his helmet. A nice long ride to clear his mind �. No. The bike was gone. Stolen, last weekend. �Fuck!� He slammed the closet wall with his fist in a fit of anger. Just then, he heard a knock on the door. Instead of checking first, in his anger he just grabbed the door open and shouted �What?� Lennie hadn�t really expected him to open the door, so he took advantage of Jack�s startled reaction and shoved right past him. Jack realized what just happened and spun around to stare at Briscoe, now standing in the middle of his living room. �Get the hell out of here!� Lennie shook his head, and very quietly said, �Jack, close the door. Please.� McCoy was livid. �Detective, I WILL get a restraining order if you won�t leave me alone. I knew it was a mistake getting involved with you!� Lennie took a deep breath and swallowed hard. He opened the manila envelope he was carrying and withdrew the artist�s sketch of Jack�s attacker, holding it up for Jack to see. The attorney�s face went white as he looked into the face that haunted his nightmares. Lennie walked over to the door, shutting it quietly, then turned to Jack. �Don�t try to tell me you don�t recognize that face. The face of the man you told the officers you couldn�t remember. But it�s burned into your consciousness, isn�t it?� Lennie withdrew the other item from the envelope, the hospital photo of Sandhu. �You don�t recognize him, of course. He�s last night�s victim. The one who might still die. An attack which might have been prevented if you�d identified THIS guy!� Lennie shoved the sketch in his face again. �Jack, this could have been YOU! Don�t you realize how close you came? We�ve got a maniac out there. You can identify him, tell us where he took you. Press charges. We can put this bastard away if you would just tell the truth about what happened!� �No � NOTHING HAPPENED!� Lennie reached out to grab Jack�s shoulders, as if to shake some sense into him. The dark eyes filled with panic as McCoy pulled away, practically running to the other side of the room, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. �Then why are you afraid to let anyone touch you, Jack?� Suddenly, Lennie�s voice had gotten soft and soothing as he moved to stand just behind Jack, close but not touching. A shudder ran through the tall, slender form. Suddenly he spun around and slapped Briscoe�s face as hard as he could. �Damn you, Lennie! It�s all your fault �� A strangled sob escaped his throat. The words hurt almost as much as the slap had, but Lennie stood still. �I wouldn�t have been there if you hadn�t gotten too attached. And then you went off with Damian � it hurt so much, god I didn�t want it to but it did. Why�d you do it, Lennie? I thought � I thought you wanted me?� �You were the one who walked out, Jack.� Lennie�s voice was soft, and almost infinitely sad. Looking up into the cop�s eyes, it all came crashing down on Jack. // It really is all my fault � // �Oh, god!� His knees gave out and he collapsed down to the floor, sobbing. Lennie closed his eyes for a moment. He didn�t want to see Jack like this, the proud, self-confident prosecutor reduced to this. For Jack�s sake, he forced himself to go on, moving to kneel beside the trembling man, intending to offer what comfort he could. But as his hand gently landed on the heaving back, McCoy flinched and pulled away. He was so deeply scarred he couldn�t even accept the simplest touch. It tore Lennie�s heart out. �Jack, please, let me help you. I know we took a wrong turn back a ways, but I do care. I want to help you �� Jack looked up into eyes full of compassion and sadness. �Can�t. God. Lennie, he � what he did to me �� Lennie nodded, speaking very softly. �He raped you, Jack.� All Jack could do was nod and bow his head in shame, trying to curl into a fetal position. Lennie wanted desperately to reach out to him, to hold him, but knew right now that would just make things worse. Instead he sat on the floor beside his friend and spoke softly to him. �It�s ok, Jack. It�s not your fault. I know you�re hurting, but I promise you everything is going to be ok. You�ve got to pull it together and help us get this bastard, Jack, so he can�t ever do this to anybody again. I�ll be right here beside you the whole time, I promise. I�m still your friend, Jack. I care about you. You�re not alone.� Lennie lost track of how long they sat there, but finally Jack took a deep, shuddering breath and sat up. He looked at the man sitting on the floor beside him, his face a study in confusion. �Why, Lennie? Why do you give a damn? You�re right, I was the one who walked out �� // He really doesn�t understand.// Lennie took a risk and reached out to lay his hand over Jack�s. He could feel the sub-conscious flinch, but this time Jack met his eyes and forced himself to leave the hand where it was. Lennie smiled softly. �Because that�s what friends do, Jack.� McCoy stared at him, a mixture of confusion and gratitude in his eyes. �Thank you.� Lennie gently squeezed the fingers beneath his own. �Jack, can you tell me what happened?� The attorney took a deep breath and shifted around to lean against the sofa, letting go of Lennie�s hand. �I went to the bar Saturday night, and I guess I was pretty surprised to see you there, talking to Damian. It � it got to me.� // Was Adam right? // �When the two of you left, I just wanted find someone to take my mind off it. I turned around and spotted this guy, the one in the sketch. He said his name was Dave. We � negotiated, I paid for his drink, and we left. I offered a ride on the Yamaha; he directed me to an apartment about 5 blocks from the bar.� �You think you could find it again?� �I � I�m not sure �� �OK, that�s all right. Go on.� �The place was pretty much vacant, it didn�t look lived-in, just a table and a couple of chairs. I started to get nervous. I tried to leave, but before I knew it, he started hitting me �� McCoy�s voice faded out as he relived the awful experience � // Dave followed Jack into the room. Suddenly worried, Jack tried to turn around and leave. �Look, man, this isn�t my scene. Sorry for the mistake �� He didn�t get any further before a fist smacked into his face. �Oh no you don�t! You thought you�d pick up some young tough and show him who�s boss? You got another thing coming, �daddy!�� He said it with a sneer. The force of the blow sent Jack reeling, stumbling backwards into the wall. Before he could regain his equilibrium, Dave was back, his fist again connecting with Jack�s face. Jack tried to fight back, but he was no match for the younger, stronger man. Blow after blow landed, leaving him dazed and confused. He had no idea how long Dave kept it up, screaming epithets about showing his �daddy� who was really in charge. His legs were kicked apart like some punk being frisked, and he fell backwards, landing on the table. Suddenly, the blows stopped, as a hand grabbed between his legs, squeezing painfully. �What, you�re not hard yet? Don�t like it so much on the receiving end, do you, �daddy?� Maybe you need something else �� For a frightening few minutes, nothing happened. Jack couldn�t see much between the bruises on his face and his hair hanging down over his eyes. Blood from his cheek was also now running into his eyes. He felt hands at his waist as Dave unfastened his belt and unzipped his jeans, then pulled the belt off. He tried to sit up, only to be grabbed and rolled over, slammed face down into the table. Rough hands jerked his jeans downward, pulling them and his shorts down, exposing his ass. As he tried to stand up, he was pushed back down. Moments later, he heard the sharp slap of leather as his belt came crashing down over his buttocks. He cried out at the unexpected pain. Dave laughed. �That�s it, daddy. Sing for me �� Again and again, the belt struck his backside. He struggled to stand, to run, but he just didn't have the strength. He tried not to cry out, but couldn't hold back for long. Suddenly, Dave was pressed tight up against him; he could feel the man�s cock through the heavy denim, grinding against his tender ass. �You know you want it, daddy. You ready for me?� Dave came around to the side of the table where Jack could see him and began opening his own pants, revealing a huge, hard cock. He laughed at the look of fear that filled his victim�s dark eyes. �Oh, you�re gonna take it all, daddy. Take it hard �.� He came around behind the table and roughly spread Jack�s cheeks. Without any lubrication, he just shoved in. The force of the thrust also pinched Jack�s limp cock against the side of the table. Jack couldn�t help screaming in agony as he was violated. Dave pounded him for what felt like an eternity before he finally shot his load. Finished, he pulled out and leaned against the wall, panting. After a bit, he came around and pulled Jack up from the table. �Get dressed and get out of here. You disgust me �� Jack wanted desperately to collapse onto the floor, but seeing the look in those eyes he knew he didn�t dare. Somehow he found the strength to retrieve his pants, dress, and stagger out of the apartment. Fumbling in his pocket, he realized the keys to his Yamaha were gone. He could see Dave watching him; fear pushed him to continue down the street until he couldn�t see that terrifying face anymore. Only then did he finally collapse. He was vaguely aware of the sound of his motorcycle tearing off down the street, intentionally spraying the slime from a puddle on him as Dave roared past, laughing hysterically. // Lennie sat quietly, listening to Jack�s story. The attorney�s voice was cold, distant, as if he was describing something that had happened to someone else. He sat on the floor, his arms wrapped around the tucked-up legs, head resting on his knees. His whole body rocked gently. Lennie could see the tremor that had started to overcome the suddenly frail-looking body. He reached out to touch the bent shoulder, but Jack flinched away at the touch. "Just leave me alone!" The pain in that voice cut deep into Lennie's heart. "Jack, please, let me help you." McCoy sat up, red-rimmed eyes alive with pain and anger. "I said get out!" // He's not going to let me help �// Lennie wasn't sure what to do. He was afraid to leave Jack alone, but didn't want to cause him any more pain. The look in his eyes finally convinced Lennie that there was nothing he could do now. Sadly, he crawled up from the floor and left. Continue on to Chapter 20 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 19 |