| A Matter of Trust |
| He woke up, feeling disoriented. Not hung over, but there was a similar fuzziness wrapped around his brain. Looking around, he realized he was in his own bed, but something wasn't quite right. He sat up and blinked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Glancing at the clock, he was surprised to see it was 10AM. It really wasn't like him to sleep this late. Unless he had been up very late the night before � Suddenly it all came back to him in a rush. Falling asleep in the recliner. Jamie's call, going to the 2-7. Facing the man who had raped him. A shudder ran down his spine. But then � Lennie. That's what was wrong. He had fallen asleep out on the couch, safe in Lennie's arms. Now it was coming clearer. He had awakened in the early dawn, surprised to find Lennie's arms still around him, the cop's long legs propped up on an ottoman. The lights were still on as Briscoe snored softly. He had been deeply moved by his friend's devotion. Part of him wanted to stay there, safely wrapped in the long arms forever. But his back was less than happy with the position, and he knew Lennie would be stiff as a board when he woke. So he had reluctantly slipped out of that tender embrace, careful not to wake the sleeper. He padded quietly back to the bathroom and relieved himself, then rummaged in a closet and found a spare pillow and blanket. Coming back to the living room, he gently eased Lennie into a more comfortable position and covered him with the blanket. Kneeling by the couch, tucking in the sleeping man, he'd been overcome with gratitude for Lennie's late night appearance. Haltingly, he reached out one hand to gently brush back a stray lock of hair. He knelt there watching his friend sleep, a maelstrom of emotions tangling around his heart. Finally he'd gotten up, turned out the lights, and gone alone to his bed. And now he woke up here alone. He had always prided himself on not needing others in his life, but he was finally realizing that that was a lie. Part of him wished desperately that Lennie was here beside him. And yet he was still afraid. Now that he had finally accepted his need for emotional intimacy, the sheer brutality of the rape left him terrified of physical intimacy. He knew it would be quite a while before he could even think about sex again without being gripped by the terrible fear. But he had felt so safe when Lennie held him. His feelings a jumble of hope, fear, and gratitude, he crawled out of bed, wondering if Briscoe was still out there on the couch. He reached for his robe, pulling it tightly around his body as he quietly made his way out to the living room. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the lanky detective sitting up and running a hand through his own tousled hair. What to say? How to act? Everything was so confusing right now. Lennie heard him coming down the hallway, turned to see him coming into the living room. It was a strangely awkward moment as their eyes met. He could see Jack's hesitation and confusion, and decided to divert any serious conversation. "Please tell me you've got some coffee around here? I'm getting too damned old to sleep on couches." He gave an exaggerated stretch that actually felt really good. It worked. Jack chuckled and turned toward the kitchen. "One pot of coffee, coming up." Lennie got up and wandered down the hall Jack had come from, looking for the bathroom. The face in the mirror looked strange to him until he realized that there was still a fair amount of the talc in his hair, making him look older � or more accurately, look his actual age. He sighed and splashed some cold water on his face. Once finished in the bathroom, he headed back down the hall and followed the smell of coffee brewing into the kitchen. Jack was rummaging in the freezer, and eventually emerged with a package of frozen bagels. "It's not much, but �" Lennie shrugged. "Don't need much. Never been much of a breakfast person, anyway." Jack busied himself with slicing the bagels and stuffing them into the toaster, keeping his back to Lennie. His thoughts and emotions were too confusing right now; he was glad Lennie seemed willing to focus on the mundane issues of breakfast rather than why he was there in the first place. The coffee finished brewing and Lennie poured it into the two waiting mugs. He carried them over to the kitchen table and sat down to fix his with cream and a little sugar. His eyes followed Jack as his host dug out the cream cheese and a knife, deposited them on the table, then turned to get plates for the bagels. Finally they sat opposite each other, sipping coffee while Jack nervously fidgeted with spreading cream cheese on his bagel. When he finally put down the knife, Lennie reached out and touched his hand. "Jack, would you rather I leave now?" Startled, Jack looked up into the heavy-lidded eyes and swallowed hard. "I � I don't know �" Lennie smiled softly at him. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Somehow, the very fact that Lennie wasn't pushing made him all the more willing to talk. "No �I � I don't know how to thank you for last night �" Lennie gently squeezed his fingers. "Just looking out for my friend, Jack. When Van Buren told me you knew, I had a feeling you'd be worried. Couldn't leave you hanging like that." Jack smiled, realizing that Lennie was giving him an out. "I appreciate it. But that's not all �" Lennie nodded. "I'm just glad you could finally let me in, Jack." Jack stared at his bagel for a while. Finally he spoke. "Lennie, what do you want from me?" Lennie finished his bagel and washed it down with a swig of coffee, giving Jack a long, appraising look. What did he want to hear? "Nothing, Jack. I just want to help you get through this." Jack shook his head. "I mean � are we � do you want to go back to � to what we had? Or is it too late?" Lennie looked confused. "Too late? What are you talking about?" Jack looked at him with fear in his eyes. "You and Damian Jade." Lennie sighed. "Jack, first of all, you're not ready for anything like that yet. You've been through hell, and there's more to come with the trial. I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, I'm not even remotely interested in a physical relationship right now. But I swear to you, I'll be beside you all the way, Jack. The next month isn't going to be easy, but we'll get through it � together. OK?" Some part of Jack's mind was aware that Lennie hadn't actually answered the question, but for the moment he didn't care. Lennie was right � he wasn't anywhere close to being ready for that, but he did desperately need his friend. He managed a shaky smile as he nodded at Lennie, who squeezed his hand reassuringly in return before letting go. "Tell you what, Jack. I want to head home and grab a shower and change, but how about later we catch a movie or something?" "Thanks � that sounds great." They got up from the table and headed toward the apartment door. Lennie paused before reaching for the doorknob to lay his hand on Jack's shoulder. He was pleased that there wasn't even a hint of a flinch now. They looked at each other for a long moment and suddenly both moved at the same moment, coming together in a tight embrace. Lennie heard the soft voice whispering into his ear. "Thanks, Lennie." He answered by holding on just a little longer before letting go and heading out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monday morning brought the arraignment of one David Blaise. Jamie had to fight hard to keep her voice even as she pressed the state's case for remand. "Your honor, he brutally assaulted and raped two men, one of whom is still unconscious and may not recover. If he dies, we'll be amending the charges to include Murder II." Blake's lawyer countered. "Rough consensual sex isn't assault, your honor. We're very sorry for the man in the hospital, but someone else must have assaulted him after he and my client parted ways." "Save it for the Jury, Mr. Donaldson. Ms. Ross, IF the victim dies you can amend the charges. For now, bail is set at $200,000." The bang of the gavel ended the proceeding ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few days later, Jamie sat in the office of EADA Liz Donnelly, who handled a lot of sex-related crimes. Obviously Jack couldn't prosecute since he was the victim; but Jamie wasn't looking forward to working with Donnelly. She had a reputation of being a bit of a hard ass. Now, she glared at Jamie from across her desk. "Ms. Ross, I understand you usually 2nd chair for McCoy. Do you think it's wise for you to be prosecuting this case?" Jamie glared right back at her. "Ms. Donnelly, I understand that if we make a mistake Jack's assailant could go free. Believe me, I'm not going to let that happen." Donnelly gave her a once-over and nodded. If she had been a shrinking violet like that Kincade woman McCoy was supposed to have been in love with, she'd never have been able to stand up to the pressure. Donnelly's expression changed to one of confusion. "I still can't believe Jack McCoy is gay." Jamie's glare became even more intense. "I don�t see what that has to do with anything, Ms. Donnelly. You don't think he invited this?" The hard-assed EADA was back. "Ms. Ross, what I think is irrelevant. However, it's apparent that you want to protect him. You'd better prepare yourself � and Mr. McCoy � for the fact that his name is going to be dragged through the mud on this one. Sexual assault cases frequently blame the victim. This will get ugly." Jamie sighed. "He knows, Ms. Donnelly. He's determined to see it through; how else could he ever ask another victim to speak up if he didn't?" Donnelly gave her another long look and nodded. "All right, Ms. Ross. Now, where do we stand?" The two women spent the next hour going over the case. Unfortunately, there was good news and there was bad news. The worst news was that due to a technical malfunction, the tape made from the wire Lennie had been wearing was useless. They had Lennie's testimony of course, but even if the defense didn't know about Briscoe's relationship with the victim, they were sure to claim collusion between the police and the ADA's office. Also, Blaise was admitting to having had sex with both 'victims,' but was claiming it was consensual. The fact that Jack hadn't reported it as a rape until AFTER the second victim didn't look good. The defense would say that he had consented at the time, and only changed his mind after seeing Sandhu, perhaps in a ploy to entrap Blaise. They now had the cleaning service records showing how Blaise had found the locations for his rendezvous, but again he was claiming it was consensual sex. The one good thing was that the motorcycle taken into impound that night WAS Jack's, illegally re-titled in New Jersey. Jamie smiled at that; Jack would be glad to get it back, at least. So they had him on Grand Theft Auto at the very least. Their best hope was that Sandhu would wake up and be able to tell his story, and hopefully it would be very similar to Jack's. "Do we know for sure that Blaise was the one who raped Sandhu? I presume the hospital did a rape kit?" Donnelly asked. Jamie shrugged. "Blaise doesn't dispute that he had sex with them. And according to Briscoe's notes, the intern at the hospital said it looked like it could have been consensual sex gone too far, aside from the beating." ` Donnelly shook her head. "I don't want him to claim later when Blaise wakes up that he's not the one. Let's file a motion to get him to provide a sample to confirm whether or not he's the one." Jamie nodded, making a note to do it later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Judge Daniel Feldman stared at the court documents in front of him. It was almost unthinkable. The victim in this case was one John James McCoy. Could it be the EADA? McCoy had agued some cases in his courtroom, he knew the man to see him in the courthouse, but other than that knew nothing about him. But McCoy's status, if it was indeed him, would make for a media frenzy. Most judges disliked the media, but Feldman wanted the attention. He was an ambitious man, and several people had begun talking to him about possibly running against Adam Schiff in next year's primary. The old man had been in office too long, it was long past time for some new blood in the DA's office. This could be an important case � Feldman looked up at the knock on his door. Liz Donnelly entered, followed by a young woman with short dark hair who Feldman didn't recognize. She nodded at him. "Judge Feldman? Have you met Ms. Ross?" "Haven't had the pleasure." He stood and shook her hand. // Well, well, McCoy's newest assistant. Working with Donnelly. It's him! // Before Jamie could answer, Donaldson was ushered into the room. "Kevin Donaldson, representing David Blaise, Your Honor. I really must protest this motion. The protection from self incrimination is one of the most basic fundamentals of the Constitution!" Donnelly leaned forward. "Of course, sir, however we routinely fingerprint all suspects when they are arrested for comparison to evidence found at the scene. I suggest if Mr. Blaise was concerned with self-incrimination, he should have used a condom to prevent leaving his genetic 'fingerprints' at the scene for us to compare to. We simply want to know for certain that he IS the person who had sex with Daniel Sandhu." "He doesn't contest that, Ms. Donnelly." "Now he doesn't. But when Mr. Sandhu wakes up, he may change his story. I simply want to get the facts straight, from the beginning." Feldman nodded. "I agree. The prosecution is not 'fishing' here; merely seeking confirmation. Blaise is ordered to provide a blood and semen sample for comparison." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jamie was working in her office when the courier brought the lab results. She eagerly opened the envelope, finding the expected confirmation that Blaise was indeed the source of the semen samples recovered from Sandhu's body. But there was something else on the page. No, it couldn't be � Her hand was shaking as she knocked on the door to Adam Schiff's office. At his call, she entered and handed him the paper. "I think you'd better handle this, sir." The tone of her voice made Adam look up. Jamie Ross was usually unaffected by even the worst offenses they prosecuted. What could make her look so frightened? His eyes scanned the document. "Oh, no �" As he looked up at her, Jamie realized she had never seen this man show any fear. He was as old school as they got, stern and unreachable. And yet she swore there were tears trying to form in his eyes. She nodded in sympathy. He reached a trembling hand to the phone, waving for her to stay put. "Jack? Come down to my office, will you?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although he couldn't prosecute this case, Jack had begged Adam to let him come back to work. He needed something else to think about all day or he'd go crazy. So although he was technically on an administrative leave, he still came into the office and did research, or worked on special projects, anything to keep busy. It was almost like being a law clerk again, but it was enough to occupy his mind. He was surprised when Adam called, summoning him to the office. There was something in his friend's voice which made him wary. This wasn't going to be good news. Walking into the dark, richly furnished office, his worry escalated at the sight of the two faces who waited for him. "What's wrong?" Adam came out from behind the desk and poured three glasses of scotch. Jamie took one as he handed one to Jack and urged him to sit. Adam took the chair beside him. "Jack, there's no easy way to tell you this. We got the medical report back on Blaise. He is the one who raped Sandhu. And he is HIV Positive." Continue on to Chapter 25 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 24 |