The Road to Lazarus (The First book in the diaries of Lazarus House)

by Patrick T. McAlister

  Leaning forward slightly, Dennis folded his arms on the table and began to speak...“Their “Pops” and I worked together for several years in our time together we closed more Homicide cases than any other active detective team in LAPD. The man was driven to be the best detective the world had ever seen, he worked harder than any man I have ever known. It is from him that I have become the detective and man I am today. I remember our last case was screwed up by the politics of civilians being involved in what cops do. We were constantly betrayed by members of our own department. To the point that one of the detectives trying to make a name for himself went so far as to call the media and tell them info about the case.” Shaking his head with a look of disgust on his face he continued.

  “This later cost the lives of two more victims. Their pops was pissed to say the least. He had been ambushed several times in his career. He was wounded in the line of duty more than once. None of that compared to what was being done to him by his own department. One day back in the early eighties he walked in and resigned right on the spot. I tried to talk with him, but he was seasoned way beyond me. He wouldn’t listen to any of my pleas for him to stay and finish the case. He was done. I didn’t know it at the time but he had been changing from the inside. He had started questioning who God was. How the bible fit into his life and the life of his family. From the department he went in to Seminary. He studied and became a Biblical Counselor; he has been doing that ever since. People think that there is such a huge difference from being a cop to being a counselor. Actually Raven there isn’t much difference at all. Where we solve cases to put bad guys away, he sits with people and solves the crime from inside their heart to bring them to a place of freedom. I am honored to have worked with him and still golf with him when he has time. The story of his boys is much different.”

  “They are not really his kids” he said. “M is one of his former counsels. They are brother though. Michael is his real name. G is short for Gabriel. They are both Marines. They were both also cops but left when the bad guys had more rights than the victims. Like their pops they are counselors. However, they are not by any means conventional.

  Both have lived lives that if you knew the whole story would make even you as a cop blush. The little boy with them is their actual nephew; their older sister married a man that on the surface was a good man. He was an officer in the Military, a Major or Lt. Col, I believe. The family blew off his behavior as just ‘controlling’ until one day their sister decided she was done and wanted a divorce. The husband changed quickly.

  Control became abuse. He would humiliate her publicly. From what I’ve heard from the brothers they got her out one night when she was laying beaten in a hospital bed. Her skull fractured and six ribs broken. When she healed she filed the proper paper work for the restraining order, she even had him served with divorce papers while he was taking over a new command at a base down south somewhere.

  All thought she was safe and going to have a new life with her son. A few months went by and no one had heard anything from the husband. He contested nothing in the divorce, he didn’t even bother showing up in court. The judge granted her the divorce. The family all lived fairly close together. The guy on the slab this past weekend is the youngest in that family. Fred, my old partner took the whole family in, so to speak, as they had something different from anything he had seen in years...” Dennis’s eyes had a tired look to them as he continued his tale.

  “Well, one night their sister went home from work. She was smiling and happy when she picked up the little guy from the baby sitter. Two hours later she was dead. Like the boy said, his dad had come into town and managed to get her address from a friend of hers that had no clue about the restraining order. Then he laid in wait for her. The friend had actually thought she was doing the sister a favor because the guy was cute in her eyes.” He shook his head. “The murder happened up by your place in Ventura County. It made national news at the time because that area is constantly rated one of the safest places in America to live.”

  “When Gabriel and Michael were notified by Police up there they knew exactly who did it. They gave the name to the detectives working the case. However, the detective had spent years in church with the husband and wouldn’t pursue things. The brothers got pissed and went to their friends in the department hoping to get the case transferred to no avail. The husband was being protected by his rank and friends in the department.” The longer Dennis talked, the harder his expression became. Raven listened silently, hanging on his every word.

  “Well, these boys are the kind you really don’t want to push. Michael is a world class shooter especially with a long rifle as well as downright mean brawler. Gabriel is a little more personal in the way he goes about dealing with the enemy. Both are decorated with Navy Crosses for their time in the Corps. Both, when together, working for the same purpose are pretty much unstoppable.

  They are smarter than anyone could imagine, when just looking that them. They play dumb most of the time. It is just their way of self-protection. Anyhow, I don’t have all the details about what happened. I do know that they went after their brother-in-law in a way that was medieval. He was found dead in his office. They made it through every security block on the base, passing by surveillance cameras, as well as roving patrols. From what Fred told me they handed the guy his ass, LITERALLY!!! They took their ancestry out on the guy. When the government went to file charges against them they had no case. They left no trace of anything. Nothing!!!” A look of amazement crossed his face as he spoke.

  “Since that time the boys and the younger brother have started an organization that gets battered women out before they meet the fate of their sister. The case we are looking at will not be solved by us. When I saw the tattoo on the victims arm I knew we would just go through the motions.” He leaned closer across the table, looking her right in the eye. “Raven, this isn’t our case. Play along like it is; just know there will be no jail cell for the person that killed their brother. Raven do you understand?” “Yes!” she replied.

  Dennis looked at her intently for a few moments. “I guess you have something in common with those two men. You just took care of your own business.” Raven looked back at Dennis and finally asked him why he never asked for the details of what happened to her. When all hell broke loose in her old West Hills home, or why he didn’t bring it up in the months that had passed? he replied “I did, right before I told you the story of those two boys that just walked out of here.” Confused, she asked “What?”

  Dennis stood to leave. The day had turned evening while he had told the story. He glanced at his watch to see it was almost six o’clock. He turns back to her, “What do you believe about God, Raven?” With that last cryptic comment he walks out the door. She sat a few more minutes before walking out to her car, already dreading the drive in rush hour traffic back to her apartment out in the Conejo Valley.

  The day just seems to be a continuation of the night before she thought to herself. She still felt off balance as she drove down the 118 freeway on her way home. As she nears Topanga Blvd. she gets off the freeway driving by her old home.

  She hasn't gone near this place since the horrible night her husband found out she was six months pregnant. This is the place where the jagged scar would always take her back. That day her husband had come home early from work, she had been in a rush to leave for work and had forgotten to hide the picture of the ultrasound she had from the day before. The image of the life inside of her showed she would have a son. She was glad that she could wear street clothes to work and that her husband hadn’t been looking for sex from her.

  She knew that life was going to get better that day. The baby was healthy. She was healthy. That all changed the minute she came home that night. He had found the ultrasound image when he got home. She pieced together that he became enraged at the image. He destroyed their wedding photos, vases and other pieces of glass in their bedroom. Then he went and drank himself into a cold calculating st
upor. She remembered how she had walked in the front door and could feel the tension in the air. Before she could even get her briefcase down he attacked her. By the time she got her faculties he had almost beaten her to death. He had taken a knife out and was slicing at her neck when she finally found enough strength to break free. As he approached her he landed another kick to her womb she knew it was all over. She and the baby would soon be dead.

  She took out her back-up weapon and emptied two clip in to his groin and abdomen. She remembers watching the life drain from him as the life she carried within her died. She had gone through all this in therapy with the department shrinks. It was just the past, no way too change it. That night, she watched life die in her and her husband. She remembers that she cursed God that night. How she had screaming at him because he let this all happen to her.

  The question Dennis asked was now right in the front of her mind. She could hear his voice as clearly as if he sat in the car with her. “What do you believe about God, Raven?” What did she believe? She asks herself.

  Raven drove away from the house thinking about her answer. She took Topanga down to the 101 freeway and drove west to her apartment. The whole time asking herself what did she believe about God? For the moment, she thought bitterly all she believed was that he was this puppet master that took more pleasure in watching people suffer than he did in reaching out to help them.

  Chapter 4

  She walked into her apartment, throwing her stuff on the couch on her way to the kitchen. She stomped to the cabinet, taking down the bottle of Cabo Wabo Tequila and a shot glass. Without slowing, she poured a full shot and slammed it down her throat, then immediately poured another tossing that one down just as fast. Setting the shot glass on the counter she rummaged through her fridge for some food. She shook her head as she realized all she has is some bread and cheese. Grilled cheese it is. She quickly grills the sandwich grabbing the bottle and the shot glass and went to sit at the table. Raven ate and had a couple of more shots of the tequila, her mind cluttered with all that she had heard today, yet somehow blank at the same time. It was all so much to take in. Standing up, she put the dishes in the sink and turned to go watch TV. Suddenly she felt the presence again. “Oh Shit, not tonight. I am so not in the mood for this!!” She shouted. Yet as she spoke she felt the warmth in her scar again. “Whatever” she exclaimed! She decided she wanted a shower tonight that way she wouldn’t fall asleep like she did in the tub last night.

  Ravens mind wanders to the fantasy of the previous night thinking about it made blood rush through her exhausted body. “What is going on with me she wondered? Is this normal? Why do I find such pleasure from eyes and an obscured image of a man that won’t even let me touch him after he pleases me? Was he a queer or something?” All the thoughts raced through her mind as she walked into the bedroom. Undressing down to her bra and panties she walked into the bath room and stopped dead in her tracks. In front of her burned three of the deepest red candles she has ever seen, the scent is musky with a hint of jasmine or some other delicate flower. Whatever the scent was, it is quite intoxicating to her. The candles were starting to scare her!! Why three candles now?

  She looked into the flames, remembering how the ice and the wax felt on her body in the fantasy. She shutters with delight as her body remembers the stimulation of the fire and ice. She is really tired from the day, the hours of looking into the eyes of a man she sees as completely dangerous but gentle at the same time.

  Just like the man and the eyes she sees when she falls into this fantasy world of hers. “Where is this coming from, why now? Is there more that I don’t understand?” She says out loud.

  Raven puts the thought away and opens the glass door to her shower. As she turns on the water the warmth touches her hand again. Then her scar becomes warmer. Looking over her shoulder the candles seem to be burning brighter. As the shower warms up she undresses completely. In the mirror she notices that she still has a little wax on her chest and belly. What?? Am I crazy? How? I didn’t even see that this morning. Baffled, she turns and steps into the shower. As she ducks under the rainwater stream shower head she rinses her hair and body.

  She shampoos her hair. Lathers her body and shaves. As she rinses off she hears a male voice. Sliding back the glass door she looks around but sees no one. The candles are still burning but no steam appears on the mirror. Again she hears the voice. “Raven, where can I take you tonight, are you up for a journey that will yet again bring you pleasure?” She looks around, searching for this voice but sees no one. Suddenly she feels a cold sensation upon her neck, then as if human hands have come to rest on her waist. In her ear a voice whispers “I got this, just close your eyes and I will meet you there.”

  Breathing deeply again she closes her eyes, finding herself instantly in a room full of mirrors, her hands are bound above her head, her legs spread slightly, a pair of black stiletto pumps are the only thing she has on. She looks at the binding holding her arms up. It is white silky material soft and gentle to her skin. When she was tied by her husband it was always so shameful, and demeaning.

  This was different, she moved her hands and realized she could get out of the knot rather quickly if need be. What was going to happen? She looks around the room and realizes she is in the center of a room that has only a chair, a paddle that looks like it is leather on one side and velvet on the other, and something she can’t quite make out. As she looks at it she is sure she has never seen anything like it before.

  She hears the voice and turns back to see the eyes right in front of her, his face still obscured. ”Are you ready to go further than you ever have before?” For the next few hours she was taken away again in a fantasy filled with things she couldn’t imagine, when she finally came out of the world ruled by her sexual desire. She is spent.

  As she gets out of the shower she looks down at her right breast and there is a bite mark. She starts to feel dizzy when she sees it.

  A few deep breaths later she finishes rubbing lotion into her skin and is ready for sleep. She looks at the clock, shocked to see it was midnight. She had been in the shower for close to four hours. As she turned to blow out the three candles she sees a long stemmed red rose. She is somehow comfortable with what is there. She smiles as she smells the rose. It smells like a mix between her body bath oil and the scent of the man with those emerald eyes.

  As she settles between the sheets sleep comes quickly. “Tomorrow I can work on the case from home” she thinks as she drifts off. The smell from the rose still lingered in her nostrils.

  Chapter 5

  Sunlight filtered through the bedroom blinds as Raven woke from her slumber. This will be her uninterrupted research day. She lays in the bed a moment longer gathering herself and organizing her thoughts for the day ahead.

  She throws off the comfort and warmth of her covers, and walks over to the dresser pulling her favorite sweats from the middle drawer and puts them on. Barefoot, she walks to her kitchen just as she does every morning to start the coffee maker. While the machine makes its comforting gurgling noises she goes to her home office to power up her computers and monitors. As she places her Bluetooth ear piece in she notices a text message was received. She had no recollection of the phone making a sound during the night. Then again, she slept so sound a Mac truck could have driven through her room and she would have still slept. She brings up the messaging folder on her blackberry to read the message. It reads: “I am enjoying getting to know you.” There is no reply number or e-mail address, just the message. She stands there a moment, thinking about all that has happened. It is really starting to become too much for her. She takes a few deep breaths while pulling her hair into a pony tail.

  Hearing the continued noises from the kitchen as the coffee maker continues to brew away, she sits at her desk remotely logging into her desktop at RHD. She begins her data-mining by going into the archives of cases worked by Dennis. Her curiosity about who this Fred guy is foremost in her thoughts. Actually,
to be honest, she was really more curious about Gabriel. As she searches she comes across the notes from the RHD Captain that had brought Fred in. Fred is from Kansas City. He had been forced to move to Cali when the mob put a hit out on him. She read the file from the Captain with reverence. Dennis wasn’t bull shitting her when he said this guy was trying to be super cop. From what she has just read he was just that. From the Chief to the Captain, his tactics were known far and wide it seemed. His reputation as the most “outside of the normal, conventional” way of doing Police work they had ever witnessed was well documented. However, they clearly appreciated the fact that when no one else could get the job done. Fred and Dennis had a way of closing the case.

  Raven noticed the silence from the kitchen, and went to get herself the first cup of coffee for the day. Walking toward the kitchen she feels her scar warm again. She giggles softly, “Thanks for joining me today!! I am beginning to like this journey,” she says to the empty room. She knows the presence is there. She also knows it has something to do with this case. She is also coming to understand that Gabriel and Michael are involved way beyond what Dennis was telling. She just has to fit all the puzzle pieces together. That was why she was a detective wasn’t it? To put all the pieces together to solve a crime? At least that is what every other detective has said about their job that she knew. She takes her first sip of coffee thinking about what is coming together. This puzzle, at the moment, is scattered about in her mind. As she looks at her monitor another piece falls into place, in the file is a hyper link curious she clicks the link. It takes her to a website for what Fred had been doing since retirement.