by Erin R Flynn
Yeah, I felt the same, having seen it from both sides.
I rode in the SUV with only security as I pulled out my phone and called Haton. “I want to float an idea by you to maybe help some progress and get the right kind of attention.”
“I’m listening.”
I told her what had been going on and where we were at. I even added what I’d said to the dean and what I expected to make this call.
“I’m not sure what your idea is.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I would like to shine a light on this and make it clear that the shifter slut shaming isn’t allowed and is punishable even if we don’t have the reach or ability to handle it all over yet. I want to make an example that there are repercussions, people will be held accountable. But we have to do it right and not just ship them off, as these are popular college kids.”
She was quiet several moments. “What if we sent a team lead to question them there instead of secured transport to here? You could help, but also there is a new wave of unrest that we don’t have oversight and what we’re allowed to do.”
“You want to make public the interrogations?” I asked, shocked she would go there.
“Yes, as a form of punishment. I want the parents to sign off on that so they hear what their children have been doing and people understand what we go through when outed. I see it as the first step in their rehabilitation like AA where you admit what you’ve done and ask for forgiveness. These are bullies and little shits who need a program, and I feel this could help more than supe women.”
“Agreed. I think this might work depending on their parents. You’d have to send the right person and not like Barry the sexist bear.”
“No, not him,” she chuckled. “I will speak with the other councilwomen and get back to you if they agree and who we will send.”
“Good because I would think it won’t be long until parents descend upon us.”
Oh boy, was I right on that one. Not even twenty minutes after we arrived at the office did the first parent show up. Just to be fair, I called in the parents of the supes who were involved as well. By the time I headed to the lobby, there were over a dozen adults.
“I want my son released now,” one guy seethed as he stormed over to me. He tried to use his height and girth to intimidate me, and I simply stared up at him, letting him see I wasn’t affected at all.
“So I see where your son gets his education in bullying and how to behave towards women, but let me make it clear that pissing me off will not help your child who is an adult and in serious trouble.” I bit back a growl when he opened his mouth to argue. “Step back or I’ll shift and then I’ll tower over you, and I promise, I’m much scarier.”
“Chief, you’ve got a call from the council,” Shaw told me as she stuck her head out.
I nodded, focused on the parents. “Your adult children committed crimes and were arrested. I can’t just release them, as this is the FBI, not the school. However, as Alpha, I put in a call to see if we could figure out something other than prison, as the school should have gotten involved before it reached this point.”
I gave them a second to let that sink in.
“But they are guilty as sin, so I suggest you all start taking this seriously. I don’t give a crap they are college athletes or whatever other idiocy they’ve been spouting at me like they didn’t rape anyone so they didn’t do anything wrong.” I stared down the guy who finally took a step back. “So realize this is serious and start figuring out what lengths you’re willing to go to make this right, not dismiss it.”
“I want to talk to these girls,” he shot back.
“Why? So you can demand they drop the charges or try to bully them as you did me?” I snapped. “I’m not subjecting them to that. Your son is very convinced he didn’t do anything wrong, and what does it matter that they’re just slut shifters? I wonder where he got that sort of attitude towards women from?”
No, I really didn’t.
“Is he the dad of the one who was grabbing Ashley?” Freddie demanded, his voice more a growl. “Molesting my virgin daughter while saying he was going to strip her naked and show off how she was a slut?”
“Freddie, Freddie, you gotta chill, man,” Milo cut in, moving in front of Freddie. I’d called him and a few of his guys in to help given there were several Betas and enforcers involved.
“They were plotting to rape them in the locker room, and the girls heard it,” Freddie bellowed. “That’s my child, and your son was bitching she was too full of herself for ignoring his degrading advances. You are lucky Chief Thomas handled this before I found out more.”
“Let them see a feed of the girls telling what happened,” Jessica suggested, her head calmer as she moved to block Freddie too. “There’s no world in which an adult man should get to question the victims of their son’s crimes, but if it was a school issue still, they might let them all sit in a room to argue it out. I won’t agree to that, but let them hear from their mouths what they endured.”
“Maybe, if they agree,” I said after a moment, not wanting the parents to be in charge of this. I glanced at Mr. Collins, who was the parent of the loudest douche when we’d gone to arrest them. “One is underage. Your son was grabbing the breasts of a minor. We have witnesses. I suggest you lose your attitude and fast or he is looking at prison time. Career over. College done. You get me?”
“I get you,” he bit out, adjusting his neck. “It shouldn’t have gotten to this level.”
“I agree, but that’s the school’s fault and your son’s fault for his actions. This isn’t on the girls or us as law enforcement. Should I have waited until this was rape?”
Jessica snorted. “Ashley would have clawed them all up if they even tried, and then they’d know exactly what we go through as shifters, as he couldn’t play college basketball or the pros anymore.”
Mr. Collins went a bit pale at that.
The council approved my idea, already sending out an interrogator, one who was very good at following the rules and seasoned so nothing would shake them. Awesome.
I moved the parents from both sides into the conference room, as they were all there now. I glanced around and was about to open my mouth when Mrs. Parker jumped from her chair and rushed out of the room. I wasn’t sure what was going on until I saw Jesse Parker there being led to one of the interrogation rooms now that we had an answer.
“I’m gonna beat you dead,” she shouted, smacking him over and over again. “You were touching girls? What is wrong with you? You disrespecting women and think that okay?”
“Ma, Ma, quit it—I’m sorry,” he said back.
“Don’t talk back to me. You better be saying sorry to them. I raised you better than this.”
“Ma’am, you can’t hit anyone we have in custody,” Shaw said, moving Jesse now that she’d moved past the shock we were all feeling. “He’s restrained and in our care.”
“I brought him into this world, and I will take him out of it if he mistreats another girl again!”
“Well, I’m not against her getting involved instead of prison,” Jessica said, sharing a look with Freddie. I knew she was saying it more for the other parents so they took this seriously and tried to find the right punishment for their kids instead of just get out of it, and it worked, several realizing if one parent on their side broke and yelled at their kid, they were screwed.
Yeah, that was normally how it went. People always thought if they stuck together, nothing would happen or pushed forward. Assholes.
Mrs. Parker came back in and let out a huff. “I apologize, Chief Thomas. I shouldn’t have done that.” She glanced at the other parents. “I’m sorry my son hurt your daughters. I raised him better than that. I’ve never seen him treat any girl in high school with an ounce of disrespect. I don’t care if they’re shifters or aliens. They are women, and I won’t stand for him behaving badly.”
I nodded as they did, and she took her seat again. “The Shifter Council has agr
eed to not ship them off to their facility, willing to give them a chance after I said the school should have gotten involved sooner and some of their teachers were involved in the harassment. They’re sending one of their interrogators here, but they were clear that if they uncover other crimes, they will pull the plug.”
“What plug?” Mr. Collins demanded. “Due process and fair trial? This is bullshit.”
“No, what’s bullshit is your son committed crimes while jeering there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it,” Freddie snapped. “They targeted our daughters because they honestly thought no one would protect them. I think he should be apologizing to every minority for that, don’t you? I was alive during the civil rights movement, human then, and I fought for equality. Why aren’t you?”
That was one hell of a shot he took at a black man, and it landed from the way he flinched.
“The Shifter Council wants to make these interrogations public,” I explained, going back to the topic. “As Mr. Collins just said, he assumes there’s no due process or fairness. That is not true. These are real laws, and my office and the AG’s office review all the interrogations and cases.” I met his gaze. “But we can tell when people lie to us. That is about as fair as it gets, as no one innocent is sentenced.”
“You will shame our sons,” Mr. Phillips muttered, pressing his lips in a firm line. “You make this public, and they’ll be the laughing stocks of the school and more.”
“Better than prison,” Freddie snapped. “And they did that to our daughters. Everywhere Ashley goes they are getting harassed and called the basketball team’s new bitches and worse. Others are asking if they get them next. This has spun out of control and fast, so it’s not one thing, but the mentality and culture. Our daughter has just as much promise as your son does, and it’s being destroyed.”
“Our daughter scored a thirty-five on her ACT and just as well on her SATs and received scholarship offers all over, but we kept her local because we have to put up with this sort of bullshit as shifters,” Maggie Perry interjected. “And we can’t just drop everything and fly out to another city if there’s a problem, not without permission from the local wolves, so don’t tell us about fair or due process!”
“What are you talking about?” Mrs. Parker asked, giving us confused looks.
“The US government adds extra layers, rules, and restrictions on supes for their leaders to keep order as they were not capable of at the time we were all found out,” I explained. “And in return, they would implement harsher punishments for certain crimes, like against endangered shifter species or children of the Alpha because they’re ridiculously targeted. Also to integrate procedures with the Shifter Council on crimes.”
“No one knows this,” Mr. Collins snapped.
“Actually, lots do,” I drawled. “Lots do. And if you haven’t educated yourself to the laws, that’s not the victims’ faults. He shouldn’t have done this to human girls either. And it was publicized all over the place when it happened. The government doesn’t send out all the laws. You have to look them up or read them to learn them. You ignored them because you thought it was shifter or supe stuff, right?”
Shaw stuck her head in the conference room, interrupting my lecture. “Chief, the DA’s on the phone, and he asked if you were in a good mood.”
“Well, I was in a better mood before hearing he’s obviously going to piss me off,” I grumbled, getting to my feet. “Got any good news, Shaw?”
“No, Chief, I work for the FBI, not the good news witch,” she grumbled as she ducked back out.
I snorted. “Ain’t that the damn truth.” I glanced around at the people, focusing on Freddie. “I expect no one mauled when I get back no matter what anyone says.”
He gave a swift nod, crossing his arms over his chest. He sighed when I waved for him to go ahead. “I should have been told sooner. She didn’t come to us.”
“She’s an adult, Freddie. She was afraid you’d pull the plug on them going to college if this was how bad things got at a liberal college. She also did what she should and went to the damn school. You’re two seconds from shredding the little shits. She didn’t want that on her head even if you did it to defend her. She can fight her own battles. That’s the whole damn point of this.”
“I know, but I don’t have to like it,” he growled, several of the others snorting.
Including parents on the other side. Maybe there was hope for this meeting after all.
13
The call with the DA didn’t go well. The attorney for the shooter last night had already finagled an evidence presentation and dismissal hearing. How when we’d caught him red handed made me not hopeful about the amount of dirt on the situation. Corruption was one of the hardest cases to build and make go anywhere, and I was tired of it being one I kept tripping into.
So my Monday morning was now booked. Awesome.
I went and talked to the girls who were all in one of the interrogation rooms. They agreed to answer questions while the parents watched from the viewing room but nothing more.
“We don’t owe them anything,” Ashley said firmly. “In no world do their parents deserve to speak to us, much less question us, but if it will help this along, we can speak with the council person coming and tell them, right?”
“I think that would help, but you don’t have to.”
They had one stipulation… They didn’t want their parents to hear. Oh, sure, that would be a fun pitch to hear.
“So the victims have agreed to allow the council interrogator to question them too—even though that’s not required—as long as their parents don’t listen in to the details.” I sighed when I saw how that wasn’t going to fly. “Come on, guys, you—it was horrible for me to tell Alena when I went through what I did with that councilman, and she’s just my adoptive mom. Don’t make them go through that.”
“She’s right,” Jessica interjected. “Maybe one day when they’ve settled with it.” She worried her lower lip. “Do you think Phobie should speak to them?”
“I think we should get a therapist who specializes in sexual crimes trauma. That’s not Phobie’s specialty, but it is a good idea, yes. I also told them to start thinking of what they would consider as acceptable punishment besides prison and fines.”
“I think they need therapy,” Freddie snapped. “Not every man touches or treats women that way. I’ve never just grabbed someone’s breast. I think once I smacked a woman’s ass when I was drinking and I thought it was my girlfriend at the time. I deserved the punch her date gave me.”
“Or some sort of sensitivity training for the basketball team where they realize how not funny this all is and maybe hear from victims and what they go through,” Jessica added.
“Assuming any of them care enough where that would work,” I drawled. I nodded to Mr. Collins. “His son made it clear the girls had it coming and they were lucky it wasn’t worse given they were full of themselves and rejected his advances. His head is so big thinking he’s like an NBA baller or something he wasn’t hearing us that even if he was, he’s not allowed to do whatever he wants.”
Every parent there gave Mr. Collins a disgusted look, and finally he lost some of his bravado.
It was a few hours’ flight from the Shifter Council facility and then drive in from the airport, so I let them order lunch as long as they paid for it themselves and a few of the agents picked it all up. I did pay for their food to pick it up since my order was in there too, plus I paid for the girls’.
I didn’t for the guys. Screw them. They were lucky I was willing to feed them at all when they should already have been shipped off and out of my hair, and I made sure to tell them that was how I felt.
We had just finished up when a put together and very professional looking woman came with Shaw. I headed right for her, extending my hand and introducing myself, not shocked when it was a quick, firm shake.
“Louisa. Thank you for your commitment to progress and equality, Chief Thomas,” she sa
id, her tone serious, but I could see in her eyes she meant it and was happy to be a part of it.
“How do you want to play this?”
“With your permission, I would speak with the parents first, as they are the ones who would get in front of the media or file lawsuits.”
I agreed, nodding. “Right this way.” I led her to the conference room, noting how she quickly took in everyone there. The Chicago shifters immediately stood and bared their necks to her, feeling her power.
“Thank you, but I’m not here for an official visit but in my role with the council as an interrogator. And humans lean towards feeling our cultural greetings as favoritism, so handshakes are fine,” she replied, moving to the head of the table once they all sat back down. “I am Louisa, sent by the Global Shifter Council to conduct an on scene interrogation which is—”
“What’s your last name?” Mr. Collins demanded.
She locked on him with a swift head turn, making me feel as if I was watching a bird glance around. I sniffed the air. Yes, she was some sort of bird shifter but powerful, as she could dampen her energy and even scent like I could. “Why would you need my last name? Does it matter?”
“How can we look into you?”
“You can’t,” she answered, blinking at him as if debating if she should use smaller words in the future. “Unlike the government’s prosecutors and DAs who are threatened because people can find them, we skip that counterintuitive step, and there is nothing you can find on me.”
“It holds people accountable when we know who they are,” he snapped.
Again she blinked at him and made me think of a bird, but not prey. “Yes, and as the father of a confirmed criminal, I should absolutely be held accountable by you. I am over seven hundred years old and have almost a hundred years’ experience in interrogating criminals, but please, stand in judgement of me and watch me not care.”
I wasn’t the only one who covered a snicker or laugh with a cough.