by Jet MacLeod
“I wonder what all that was about,” Danica stated.
“I have no idea, but it worries me,” Grace added.
“I just hope that this detective is as good as your Captain Davis claims she is.”
“We’re about to see,” Grace replied, as they all looked down the hall way to see the good Captain Davis coming back to where they were waiting.
“She’s out, right now. I’ll send her down to you as soon as she gets back. I promise Danica. She is the best at this,” Davis told them.
“Fine, Davis, we’ll be in our squad room. Just have her report to me whenever she checks back in with you. I need to get this done as soon as possible,” Danica replied.
“Will do.”
“Is it just me or does he not seem so sincere about helping us?” Reagan asked.
“Davis is a prick,” Danica added.
“Well, you know why. And, no, it isn’t just because he is a geek. It is because no one in the police force believes that computer crimes are a big deal. Yeah, they exist. But, people are more worried about big crimes like murder, theft and rape. Computer crimes are more like identity theft and hacking. Not everyone understands that rapes can involve computers or other crimes either. He is upset. Computer crimes is a new and upcoming department in the force,” Grace replied, “It would do the bureau of detectives good if everyone came to Davis for some lessons and became a little more computer savvy.”
“Well, I sure as hell know that they are real crimes. I have to be better than the hackers and other techies. If I don’t, then my clients suffer. If they suffer, I lose too.”
“Understandable,” Danica stated, “I just hope that he comes through for us.”
“Me, too.”
“Yeah,” Catherine said.
They all looked at her and laughed. It broke the tension that had been building since they left the computer crimes department. Danica was touched at the scene between Catherine and Grace. Grace scooped her up and carried Catherine to her desk.
“So, Catie, it looks like we are going to have to wait to take that picture,” Reagan said.
“Okay, Mommy,” Catherine replied.
“What do you want to do now, Catie?” Grace questioned.
“I dunno.”
“I have an idea of what we can do,” Reagan said.
“What’s that, Mommy?”
“Let’s go get some lunch and maybe some ice cream,” Reagan replied.
“Ice cream?” Grace inquired.
“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice Cream!!!”
“Okay, let’s go,” Reagan said, smiling at Grace.
“Good luck with the sugar rush kid, Grace. I’ll text you as soon as Davis sends the computer chick our way. Go and have fun,” Danica told them.
“Thanks,” Grace said, picking up the extremely ecstatic Catherine.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Grace and French were pouring over the case, just like they did every day. Danica watched them every day and wondered when they were going to catch a break. French stood up and went to the case board. Danica wondered what he had now he was studying the pictures of the last two crime scenes again.
Danica was glad that there hadn’t been anymore murder/rapes. She couldn’t wait to see what French had for her and the case. Grace noticed that French was at the board and that Danica was watching them both.
“Whatcha got, Frenchy?” Grace asked, as Danica came out of her office.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Danica asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” he answered.
“Think you did?” Grace questioned.
“Nope,” French stated.
“Then, what’s up?” Danica inquired.
“I’m done.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m through. I’ve had enough. Remember when I told you the burn out rate, Grace. Well, I’ve hit my limit. I can’t deal with this shit anymore. I just want to deal with normal murders and thefts, again. I can’t take the brutalization and mess that follows sexual crimes.”
“French, what are you saying?” Danica asked.
“I need a transfer. I can’t do this anymore. I am sorry, but this is going to be my last case. I want to go to sleep and not see their faces anymore. I need this, Cap, I’m sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry for,” Danica told him.
“Frenchy? You gonna leave me?” Grace asked.
“Sorry, Gracie, but I can’t do this anymore,” he told her.
“I understand, Frenchy. I am just giving you shit, old man. It’s gonna be hell without you here with me, but I guess I’ll move on somehow. I know that being a detective is in your blood, so I know that you will do well wherever you are in the force,” Grace stated.
“Thanks.”
“Have you put in your transfer request? Or, are you waiting for me to do it for you? What do you need me to do for you, French?” Danica asked.
“I don’t know, yet. I just know that I can’t do this anymore. I have to transfer to another department. Vice could be nice. Right now, I don’t really care. I’ll take traffic, even. I just can’t handle anymore sexual crimes.”
“It’s okay, French. Go ahead and go home. I’ll make some calls. See what I can find for you. Don’t worry, this will be your last case,” Danica told him.
They both watched him walk back to his desk and get his coat. He was out the door in no time. He looked sad, but he had to know that they understood. SVU was a hard assignment and it took its toll on detectives every year. They were both surprised that he had lasted this long.
“So, what are we going to do, now?” Grace asked Danica.
“I guess I’ll have to talk to the major that heads the bureau of detectives and find out who is up for promotion,” Danica said.
“Up for promotion? That sounds wonderful. Yeah, let’s break some newbie in as a detective in the SVU squad, that is the best idea I’ve heard today,” Grace said, sarcastically.
“O’Shea!”
“What?!?”
“I can’t keep a promotable out of the department just because they don’t have experience and we both know it. But, I can however ask that the major moves some people around so that we get someone who wants to be here and possibly has a decent amount of experience. I do have a little bit of pull with him. Just let me see what I can do first, before you go off,” Danica stated.
“Fine, but I don’t have to like it or them,” Grace said.
“Neither do I.”
Grace sat at her desk. Danica went back to her office. They both reviewed the case on their own.
Danica knew that it was going to be hard to find someone and quickly. She knew that French would want to transfer as soon as the case was over. She wouldn’t keep him any longer than he wanted to be there. She knew that she would have to pull strings for him to get him something. She wondered if she could talk to the major into promoting Frenchy to captain and giving him his own station department of detectives.
Danica went to her files and pulled French’s jacket. She read over his profile. He has been awarded many commendations. He has a seventy-five percent conviction rate on his solo cases. She had glowing recommendations from every captain he has ever worked for in the Sheriff’s Department. She hoped that it would be enough to help French out.
She was going to miss him and his wisdom. She decided to go ahead and call the major and see what she could find out for Frenchy. Danica didn’t know what else she could do for him. He’d asked and she would deliver for him. He had done the same for her over the years.
Danica picked up the phone to call Major George Sutton and when she was about to dial the major’s number, she heard a voice on the line. It was Davis. He was calling hopefully because his hotshot computer detective had decided to finally check back in and he was going to send her to them so they could work on the case.
“Davis?” Danica asked.
“Hey, finally got Photoshop here and I am going to send her to your
substation.”
“Good, when can I see her? We need to catch this guy. I need her to get here as soon as she can. I have to coordinate her work with victims and other detectives. When will she be here? So, I can make other calls that I need to,” Danica told him.
“Why don’t you look out your window, then?” Davis replied.
She did. She dropped the phone on to her desk. She now knew who the “Photoshop” detective was. She could only wonder if Davis had set this up or if “Photoshop” did. There was no way that she could mistake that Fire Engine Red 2007 Corvette. It couldn’t be anyone else and now she wondered if “Photoshop” knew who she was about to report to for this case.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Danica called Grace into her office. She knew that Grace and she should go outside to meet the “Photoshop” girl. Danica was a little apprehensive about going out there to meet her. She was glad that Grace was going with her.
“What’s up, Cap?”
“I think that the computer crimes detective is here,” Danica told her.
“Really? Where is she? Is she here?”
“Outside. I guess we should go out there and meet her. I’m afraid that this might be more complicated than I thought. We’ll meet with her and then I guess we can call Reagan and Catherine to come up here to meet with her as well,” Danica said.
“Okay, Cap, let’s go see this detective and then we can make more plans. I am sure that everything will be okay, Cap. What is it about this detective that is getting you all worked up? I mean, Danica, is there something that you need to tell me about her?” Grace asked as they walked outside the substation and towards the red Corvette.
“Yeah, there is,” Danica replied.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Hello, Mother,” “Photoshop” said.
Gracie looked at Danica. She saw the answer there. Danica was worked up because of the detective was her daughter. Grace looked back at the detective.
“Hello detective, I’m Lieutenant Grace O’Shea, SVU. Would you like to come inside and we can discuss the case? I need your help on this one,” Grace said, introducing herself.
“Sounds good,” she replied.
“When did you join the force?” Danica asked her.
“I think that we could discuss this later and inside.”
“Fine, let’s go inside. We’ll discuss us later. Right now, I need your help on this case. We can deal with our problems later. I’ll give you a desk so you can set up whatever you need to so we can do this,” Danica replied.
Grace led the way in and to the empty desk next to French’s and hers. Danica went back to her office, leaving Grace and her daughter together to discuss things. They all knew that the case was more important than their personal business.
“So, you can set up there. I am going to have to call someone in so we can do this. Did Davis explain what we want you to do?” Grace asked.
“Not really, but he did tell me that it had to do with an SVU case. He smirked really big. I should have known that my mother was the captain here. It is Davis’ way at getting back at me and her, I guess,” she said, shaking her head and setting up her computer on desk.
“I guess I really don’t want to know about that,” Gracie said, “I’ve already had my share of family drama this year. I’m just going to make that call.”
“Ok…by the way, I’m Sergeant Samantha Wannamaker. But, I’m sure you know that I’m a Wannamaker. There was no intention of mine to make things difficult here. I am just here to help you with your case,” Sam told her.
“I believe you, Sam. I just need to make that call and get a victim to come in. We need your Photoshop expertise. Davis recommended you to the case. It is a kinda specialized thing that we are asking you to do,” Grace told her walking back to her desk to call Reagan.
Grace left Sam to set up her stuff. Grace went back to her desk and picked up her desk phone to call Reagan. It had been almost a week before the computer crimes detective came to the squad. She wondered when Reagan would be able to get to the squad and when she would be able to get to the squad with Catherine, since Reagan’s grandmother was Catie’s primary caregiver. She dialed the number from memory to Knight Tech.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Knightley’s office, how can I help you?” Mrs. Bentley asked.
“Hi, Mrs. Bentley, it’s Lieutenant O’Shea. Is Reagan there? I need to talk to her, please,” Gracie told her.
“I’ll see if she is available, Officer.”
“Thank you,” Grace replied
Grace held the phone to her ear and listened to the music on the line, while she was on hold. She hummed along as she watched Sam set up her massive computer and stuff. Grace shook her head. She was glad that she had techs in the department that could do this kind of stuff. She was glad she only needed her computer to type up notes, fill in forms and look at reports and pictures for each case. She couldn’t even guess what Sam’s computer was capable of doing for the department, but she was glad that Sam was here to do that kind of stuff.
“She’s available for you, Officer O’Shea. I’ll connect you. Have a good day, and thank you for calling Knight Tech for all your technological needs,” Mrs. Bentley said.
“Thanks, Mrs. Bentley,” Grace replied.
“This is Reagan Knightley, how can I help you?”
“Hey, baby.”
“Gracie, what’s wrong? What’s going on? Did I forget to get something?”
“No, Baby, I was just calling to see how you were doing,” Grace replied.
“I’m fine, but what’s going on? You don’t just call me out of the blue in the middle of the day unless something is going on. What’s going on?” Reagan questioned.
“Nothing, I promise. The computer crime detective is finally here. I was wondering when you could come in for the composite session. I’ll be here. We can do yours first and bring Catie in whenever you can schedule it. I’m leaving it up to you. I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to do. I want you to do this at your pace,” Gracie explained.
“Today is fine, darling. I just need to go get Catie from Grandma’s. It shouldn’t take me long. I am glad to get this over with. Is there anything else I need to do?” Reagan asked.
“Sam, do you need anything besides the victims?” Grace asked, putting her hand over the mouth piece of the phone.
“If they have any family photos, parents, grandparents, from different angles, that would be helpful in pulling out stuff,” Sam answered, not looking up but setting up configures and programs on her giant computer.
“Okay, well, baby, she needs whatever pictures you have of your parents and grandparents so she can do stuff,” Grace relayed.
“Okay, darling, that makes sense. Thanks for being there for me and being there to help me through this besides working on my case. I love you, baby,” Reagan said.
“I love you, too, baby. I’ll see you later. Tell Catie we’ll go out somewhere she wants if she is good for Sam,” Grace replied.
“You know that means Chuck E. Cheese’s.”
“That’s fine, baby. Love you. See ya when you get here,” Grace said, ringing off.
Grace went back to Sam and the desk where she was setting up her computer, scanners and other hardware.
“So, are we good for today?” Sam asked, continuing to work on her programs.
“Yeah, she’ll be in soon, with her daughter.”
“Daughter?”
“Yes, she is the product of the rape. That is why we really need you to help us. We need you to help us make a composite of the child’s father. He raped the mother and they had a child. She is the closest thing to a witness that we have to make a composite of the perp,” Grace said.
“Well, I guess I have my work cut out for me on this one. Reverse composites are the most unreliable. They are only what we can do with what we have. We can only use what we have and then I have to make a male suspect from a child by discounting her mother and her mother’s line. It
isn’t going to be easy and the computer software is going to guess a lot about what the guy looks like. Are you sure that you want to do this?” Sam asked.
“Yes. I know that it may be a long shot. We all know that it might not work, but we have to at least try to get something. Something is always better than nothing,” Grace replied.
“Agreed. I’m just warning you that we may end up with a whole lot of nothing. But, I do understand the need to try for something. But, I have to ask: what do you hope to accomplish with this composite?” Sam asked Grace.
“That my girlfriend can finally see her attacker and maybe she’ll be able to identify him from the picture that you are going to help in creating,” Grace told her.
“Girlfriend? Wow, you are really deeply involved with this case, aren’t you? I am sure that Mother knows about this. This could be a very interesting case. I might ask to stay on to see this one through, if that is okay with you and Mother,” Sam stated.
“I don’t have a problem with it, but you have to ask your Mom yourself,” Grace said.
Reagan pulled into the sheriff’s station parking lot. She parked her car on the side where Grace was based out of to make it easier on Catie and meeting Grace. She didn’t want Catie to upset with so many people that she didn’t know. She figured with it being Grace and Sam asking them both questions that it was going to be hard enough for Catie without having to deal with the rest of the substation.
Grace saw Reagan and Catie walking up to the back door and the detectives’ entrance. She went outside to get them because she knew that they would need her id card in order to get into the building. She was waiting for them, when they got to the door. Catie was smiling at Gracie almost as big as Gracie was smiling at Reagan.
“Gracie!” Catie said as they got to the door.
Grace reached down and picked up the girl. Reagan was smiling at them both. She was still amazed at how fast Catie took to Grace and vice versa.
“Yes, my darling little one, how are you?” Grace asked the child.