CROSSFIRE: Ex-CIA JON BRADLEY Thriller Series (TERROR BLOODLINE Book 1)

by Paul Rodricks

  After some thinking, he called Elaine at her apartment. He hoped to catch her there if she hadn’t already left on a date. The time was 6.45 PM.

  He got her on the second ring. “Hello.”

  “Hi Elaine, it’s me here.”

  “Hi there, Jonathan.”

  “Elaine, are you by any chance free this evening?”

  “If you mean going out on a date? No. “

  Did he notice there in her voice a tinge of subtle sadness?

  “Think I will catch up with my lessons.”

  “I want to speak to you about Samantha. It’s important. Could I please take you to dinner tonight? Promise not keep you out for long.”

  “Certainly, Jonathan. I’d love to come.” he heard her tone uplift from the earlier low.

  “Thanks, Elaine. Is half past seven OK for you?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Alright, I will pick you up at the boulevard below your apartment.”

  ***

  Elaine was dressed up elegantly and looked like a younger version of Samantha when he saw her standing by the pavement as he drove up to her. Then he remembered Samantha telling him Elaine had once opted for a career in fashion designing.

  “You look beautiful, young lady,” complimented Jonathan.

  “Thanks. You are no less handsome, yourself,” she said almost coyly, as he opened the front passenger door to let her step into the car.

  After he had returned to the driver’s seat, Bradley turned to Elaine, “Do you like Italian food? I know of a family restaurant in the Madison Square Park, not far from here.”

  “Why, yes, Jonathan… I love the taste of Italian food.”

  “This restaurant serves the best homemade lasagna, chicken and pasta. They store some good homemade wine too, but that’s a secret known to only a few.”

  “The way you say it, I can hardly wait.” Elaine made a show of eagerness.

  “The time’s just right,” Jonathan put the car into gears and soon they were heading towards the Madison Square Park.

  “I guess, you and Samantha have gone to this restaurant before” she said with some curiosity.

  “Yes, we’ve been there. But she has this penchant for exotic cuisine. So, we try a change of menu or the restaurant every time we desire to celebrate. For me, it is Italian or Mediterranean type of food.”

  “Samantha tells me you have the old sea-faring Portuguese blood in you.”

  “My family ancestors were Portuguese before migrating to New Jersey.”

  “You work for the government?”

  “Did Samantha tell you that?”

  “No. Knowing that she worked for the District Attorney’s Office, I assumed you did too.”

  “You are in your final year of law, aren’t you? Maybe you’d later want to work for the Justice Dept.”

  “Seriously, Jonathan, I haven’t decided which way to go. If I don’t do well in my final year of law, I have the option of doing the next thing I like best and, that is, fashion designing – which is more glamorous than dishing out justice.”

  “Speaking for now, I can vouch for your fashion instincts and skills from the way you are dressed tonight. You will have plenty of heads turning your way.”

  “Thank you. I already have a boyfriend…” She paused abruptly, and he thought she sounded a bit reluctant to continue.

  “If I am not too inquisitive, what is he into? Or is he also finishing law school?”

  “No. He is a professional basketball player for the NBA.”

  “Wow! Samantha did tell me that you have a boyfriend, but I did not know he played in the NBA league. I envy him. Who wouldn’t? I myself, dreamt of becoming a professional during my school and college days. You must be out watching those exciting NBA matches. Which team does he play for?

  “I know that at one time he played for the Brooklyn Nets. I haven’t been out with him for some time now.” Again the same reluctance when talking about her boyfriend.

  “Well, you could at least tell me his name. The Brooklyn Nets players are all celebrity guys.”

  “James Wainsford.”

  Might have heard that name. Jamie Wainsford, did you mean?’

  “Yes. This season he might graduate to the starters list from being a bencher last two seasons. He plays the positions Point Guard and Shooting Guard.”

  “Then he ought to be real good.”

  Jonathan shifted into low gears to slow down the Ford, “I see we have arrived. Have you been here before, Elaine?”

  “No, not on this side of the downtown. It looks like a crowded neighborhood.”

  “It is. You will like the food, anyways.”

  Jonathan parked the Ford in the parking zone and they walked the few steps to the family restaurant. Quite a few of the tables were occupied amid the buzz of the conversations inside.

  The Italian owner fifty plus something recognized Bradley, and came forward to greet them, “Benvenuto, Signore Bradley e

  Signora.”

  “Di niente prego, Angelo. You’re welcome, Angelo.”

  Then Angelo looked at Elaine, smiled and whispered “Ciao bella,” winkingat Jonathan and saying, “Come, I take you to the best table,” as he led them quickly to an interior reserved table away from the rest.

  “Angelo is a romantic guy. Most Italians are. He thinks you are my new girlfriend. Let’s humor him.”

  As they sipped the good old home wine and waited to be served, Jonathan, sensing that the earlier talk about her boyfriend had dampened her spirits, brought up the subject of Samantha’s recovery.

  “Elaine, when you last visited Samantha at her sister’s place, how did you find her? Did you notice any changes in her?

  “Certainly. She told me she had been seeing a psychiatrist and the therapy was helping her. I could see the changes as we talked. Her sister’s family also hinted at it.

  “I think, Jonathan, you should call her now. She may be waiting for you to do just that.”

  “I have just come from visiting her Doctor. Samantha has had two special sessions during the past week, thereby making considerable progress.

  “And, I have news for you, Elaine. I called Samantha this evening, and we shall be spending the whole of Sunday tomorrow together trying to catch up with the lost time.”

  “I am really happy for you two, Jonathan. The past weeks were really trying ones for both of you. Well, happy days are here again,’ she concluded cheerfully.

  Midway their dinner, it was Elaine who brought up the talk subject of basketball again.

  “Jonathan, you played basketball on your school and college teams. To go that far, you must have been an outstanding player. What made you stop going professional?”

  “Playing basketball was never my sole passion. It was kind of a secondary interest. My first love was climbing up the rungs of the Justice Department, and perhaps becoming a Supreme Judge someday. Lofty dreams, you’d say. But fate worked differently for me.”

  “Jamie is so different from you. He seems addicted to playing basketball and thinks of nothing else at all. On free days, he trains juvenile groups in Brooklyn and Bronx. Says the teens are as bad as they come. Believes, he can change some of them.”

  “Well, at least he is doing what he knows best.

  “You know, a few months back, I tried catching up with my practice at the basketball courts in the Greenview Park. I still do sometimes. Come to think of it, we are quite a group of oldies there stretching up our shriveling muscles. But it feels good, you know?”

  “Would be fun to watch you guys fall over each other to make your throws.”

  “Have you been to the Greenview Park after Samantha’s incident?”

  “No, Jonathan. The very thought of going there after what happened to poor Samantha gives me the shivers.”

  They were eating the dessert, when Jonathan took the opportunity to inform Elaine, “I invited you to this dinner as a token of our appreciation for being supportive of Samantha and also helping me unde
rstand her plight better in those difficult days.

  “This October season when the Brooklyn Nets play, it’d be our pleasure to join you watch your Jamie play.”

  “I hope we remain in touch till then because Samantha and I are giving up the Crossley Apartment by this month end. Samantha will not be returning to it. She will travel to work from her sister’s place, which is really not very far from her D.A.’s office. I am moving to a smaller apartment in Manhattan until I finish my final year exams.”

  “Well, we shall surely miss you, Elaine. But, let’s try to stay in touch. I am sure Samantha would want that.

  “And, remember, we are always there for you in case you are ever… “

  “I am in trouble?,” she said it for him. “From what I have assumed from Samantha, I guess you are the “Man Friday”

  “A trouble-shooter, really, Elaine,” Jonathan added to her wit, mischievously.’

  After the dinner, they walked along the boulevard, making small talk and enjoying the late evening cool, pleasant temperature of the April month.

  It was around 10.00 PM when Jonathan dropped Elaine on the street below the Crossley Apartments building.

  Before himself heading home, he drove to the Greenview Park and was there for about an hour.

  He spent the time in there briefly passing through the sports courts, watching the volleyball and basketball games being played; seeing and waving at some familiar faces; then walking the jogging track a few times, and finally coming to rest on a bench beneath the tree-lined area, to review his observations.

  Jonathan wanted a fresh mind before he studied the NYPD investigation reports on Samantha’s rape case.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  New York City - 2006

  Sunday – 10.30 AM

  Jonathan first called Samantha from his apartment, and arrived at her sister’s house to meet with them; the latter for the first time.

  After the exchange of pleasantries with her sister’s family, she and Jonathan were left alone left to spend private moments together after several weeks of separation.

  He saw that she had lost weight, and appeared nervous and self-conscious on seeing him.

  He put his hand around her, holding her close, as he kissed her lightly trying to comfort and reassure her.

  Afterwards, he led her gently to the car, where they again sat holding each other close for a few moments.

  “I missed you, Sam.”

  “I missed you too, Jon. I was naive, you know. Forgive me, please.”

  “Hey, hey. You did nothing wrong. That’d happen to anyone in your situation. We’re past it now.”

  Then changing the subject, “We love each other no less, and that’s all that matters. Where do you want to go for an early lunch?”

  He saw her natural color slowly return to the counters of her face.

  “Sesame Moe's, on Manhattan Beach. My favorite Greek cuisine,” she said brightly.

  “After that, how about catching the matinee show of “Love Actually” playing at the Sheepshead Bay Stadium. It’s a British Christmas-themed romantic comedy. I got the tickets,” he patted at his coat pocket, “Knew you’d like the film.”

  “So thoughtful of you, Jon.”

  “Always at your service, ma’am,” he said lightly.

  In their conversation during the lunch, Samantha mentioned to him that she would be going back to work, hopefully by the June that year, from her sister’s place until she felt confident to stay by herself.

  “Why not stay with me at my apartment or anywhere you want to?”

  “Then, who’d baby-sit me? I know how busy you are and also your government work keeps you away sometimes for weeks together. Let’s give it some time, Jon.”

  “Alright. Tell me when you are ready.”

  “I am sorry, Jonathan. Hope, I didn’t hurt you by saying that?”

  “Don’t be foolish, Sam. You know that’s not true. Elaine tells me she is moving away too.

  “Incidentally,” he just remembered, I took Elaine out for dinner last evening, you know?” He was watching her for a reaction.

  “Oh… really?” she wasn’t amused or at least showed not to be.

  “Nothing odd about that, Sam. We three have been out before. I did it to show our appreciation to her for being there for you and helping me stay in touch with the situation.”

  “That’s okay by me, unless you have had other motives… “ She was kidding him.

  “I plead not guilty, Your Highness.”

  “The jury and the judge absolve you this time.

  “By the way, do you know she has a boyfriend playing in the NBA league?”

  “Yes, she has told me about him. Jamie Wainsford, but that name doesn’t sound very familiar to me.”

  “I haven’t myself seen him play. Elaine says he has a promising career ahead,” but Samantha’s voice did not sound quite right to Bradley.

  “What’s bothering you, Sam?”

  “Nothing really. It seems to me odd that after her boyfriend visited our apartment once, he’d call me during her absence.

  “At one time, he said he wanted me and Elaine to join him at a friend’s birthday party, and another time he invited just me to a late-night dinner with his NBA team guys.

  “I did go with Elaine the first time, but politely refused the second invite. The other guys had their girls come over too. It was getting to be kind of a wild partying. So, Elaine and myself left before the party ended. Anyway, you’d know I am not much of a basketball fan.” She grinned, adding, “This was just after we’d met for the first time, but hadn’t yet gotten into a relationship.”

  “Did you tell Elaine about his calling you? How did he get your personal number?”

  “No, I didn’t do so but merely to avoid any misunderstanding between the two. As for my cellphone number, Elaine must have given it to him since we shared the apartment, and also in the event of any emergency. Moreover, she hadn’t ever complained to me about him.”

  “Last evening, Elaine sounded to me as if she was undecided about their relationship. But it is possible I may have guessed that wrong,” Bradley said.

  “Jon, let it pass. We have to catch up with our own lives; there is so much that we have missed already.”

  After they came out of the theatre from watching the film feeling lighter in mood and very much in love, Jonathan brought up her attack incident.

  “Sam, I asked the NYPD detective to let me help in finding the perpetrator. In fact, tomorrow I am going to the Detective Bureau to study the case folder.

  “I may need to ask you a few invasive questions which would mean trying to make you remember the traumatic events. Trust me, Sammy, this would be necessary to give you justice and stop the vicious assailant from committing further such crimes.”

  She leaned protectively against him as she replied, “I’ve faith in my man. Dr. Victoria put me under two hypnotic sessions and that made me feel much better.

  “I now realize, however, traumatic it may seem, if I have to get rid of the false sense of guilt, I have to relive some of the awful moments to ease the pain of my experience.

  “Great. That’s my woman!” he commended her as he pressed her closer to him.

  “But let’s not talk about it today. Today is just for us, Jon.”

  Afterwards, they had coffee and went for a walk on the Manhattan Beach. It was past 6.00 PM by then, and the weather was breezy heading for a colder sundown at 7.19 PM, with the hint of rain in the night.

  Snuggling her head on Jonathan’s chest, Samantha said, “Dinner’s my choice, right?”

  “Right. Lead the way…” mimicked Bradley bowing with an extended hand.

  Not wanting to separate herself from Jonathan, she said in a singsong voice “Let’s think we are sailing over foreign shores… to the Anyway Café… “

  "Vive la France," Jonathan stole the show from her.

  “So macho-like, Jon.” She gave him a wicked smile.

  “Regardless
, I know French cuisine’s one of your favorites. It’s my treat to you.”

  “Commie vous voulez, mademoiselle.”

  “Soyez la bienvenue, m'amour.”

  Two hours later, they kissed goodnight as he accompanied Samantha at the door of her sister’s house and lingered there until she was gone from view before driving to his apartment.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  NYPD Special Victims Div. - 2006

  Monday - 8.45 AM

  Just as Jonathan Bradley stepped into the office of Detective Liza Quadros’ of the newly created Special Victims Division, in this instance, the sub-division investigating victims of aggravated sexual abuse, he found her getting ready to go to the D.A. Prosecutor’s office relating to the indictment of another offender of sexual assault.

  “You are rather early, Mr. Bradley.”

  “I’ve to be present at my FBI workplace for an important conference at 11.30 AM. Thought I’d go through case file, meantime.”

  “Detective Randy Nogart will bring over the folder to you. You can use my office to study the case up to date, and we can later compare notes. But you will need to call me beforehand.”

  “Suits me fine. Thanks.”

  Ten minutes after the Detective had

  left, Officer Randy arrived and went and brought out the case folder. He made Jonathan sign on the dotted line of a form for accepting custody of the folder and to return it intact after perusal. It was not to leave the office.

  They are playing it safe, he thought.

  The very first thing he did was to

  study the photographic evidence of the rape victim. He winced inside as he looked at the Samantha’s bruised mouth and face and the battered body, particularly the lower part, and the photos of her torn and dirty clothes. He read the detailed Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner’s forensic report which confirmed that the victim was a subject of sexual abuse (rape) and aggravated sexual abuse.

  Of particular interest to him was a photo showing the slight bruise on the back of the victim’s neck connecting the head.

  He thoroughly checked the backdrop of

  the park and the particular bench area where Samantha was seated before she was attacked.