Unconsciously she touched his face as she always did when she saw him. And it was then that she noticed the bullet wound in his head. She touched that wound, carefully tracing around it with her index finger. Then all in one motion she pulled the cover back to fully see him. She wanted to see what these animals had done to her baby boy, her only son, the son that she had fought so long and hard for. The son that she prayed and cried for. Her only son.
She looked down at the wound in his chest where she used to lay her head as they hugged closely. She looked at the wounds in his side and his stomach and she ached for him. All at once she felt the pain that her son must have felt as these monsters ripped him from her life. She felt the pain as if it were her body that they shot so violently. Without even realizing it she was falling. She felt Luke’s arms around her but she didn’t know how she got there. She
steadied herself and walked from the morgue without saying a word.
Luke took one more look at his son before following his wife. He touched his shoulder while saying aloud, “Don’t worry my son. Those that are responsible for this will pay. I can promise you that they will pay.”
And with those words said he covered LJ up and pushed his body back into freezer. He rushed to catch up with Lela and found her sitting on the bench by the elevator. She said nothing as she stood up as he approached. He placed his arm around her and pushed the elevator button that would take them to the ICU floor, where she would go to see her godson fighting for his life. He wondered if she would eventually say something. It wasn’t like her to not show emotion.
They exited the elevator and walked to Lucian’s room. When they walked in Luke noticed nothing had changed, he still lay there completely still, which was the opposite of the young man he knew so well. Ever since he’d known Lucian, he’d been an active, careful boy. In his adulthood those traits had been carefully preserved as he went through life with ease and confidence. Seeing him laying here with tubes assisting his breathing was no different than seeing his son in the morgue. It was an unbelievable feeling that crept over him. These young men shouldn’t be in this situation. They had done everything that they were supposed to do to make sure they were never in this type of situation. They stayed in church and hung out with the right crowd of people. They stayed active in the local youth community and worked hard in their fields of choice. Yet here they both were in the same hospital, one laying lifeless on a metal slab and one laying close to death on a bed only a floor above the man he lovingly called brother.
As they entered the room they noticed that Tami and Lee Lee weren’t there. They didn’t have to wait long to find out why. Lee Lee
walked in shortly afterward carrying a cup of water and graham crackers with peanut butter. Tami followed, still wiping her hands with the paper towel she used after washing her hands. Seeing Lela they immediately went to her and they all embraced lovingly. To Tami, Lela was like her sister, her best friend for over thirty years. To Lee Lee, Lela was another mother. And she knew that if she was here then she had already been told what happened and had already been down to view LJ. They could tell from the look in her eyes that she was fighting to control her emotions, the same emotions that she usually let flow so freely. This was a situation that none of them were prepared for and none of them knew how they should be feeling or how they should respond. They all had the same thoughts about what had happened and for most of them wondered what really happened and who was responsible; all except for Lelone.
Yes, she wondered why it happened. Yes, she wondered why they had to be placed in this situation. But she wasn’t feeling the loss quite yet, she was feeling rage toward the act that caused this. She wasn’t wondering who was responsible because she knew and they would soon know just how much rage she felt. But now was not the time. She had waited around knowing that LJ’s parents would be there soon to sit with her mother as they always had. Lela was always there when they needed her, as if it were her personal duty to do so. She came and never faltered on anything that they may have needed. And even in this situation it was no different. Here she was holding in her tears so that she could try to be strong for Tami and Lelone in their time of need. Here she was standing with them as her son lay dead just one floor below.
As they hugged each other Luke went and got more chairs from the waiting room so that they all would be able to sit down. Lelone refused because she wouldn’t be staying long. She had some research that she needed to do. She had only waited at the hospital long enough to see Lela and let her know that she was there for her
and that she would be there until those revenge was done. She said none of this, of course, but her presence was enough to make that known. Everyone in that room knew that Lelone standing there meant that she wouldn’t be going home anytime soon.
Lela and Tami sat side by side next to the bed, holding each other’s hand, neither wanted to break contact because they didn’t know how much more they would be able to handle separately. They sat there silently for a long while. Both thinking about their situation and all that would have to be done in the next few days, both thinking about the twins and how the whole family was coming into town to celebrate their birth. Both trying to hold onto hope that Lucian would pull through and they wouldn’t have to bury them both.
Luke stood propped against the wall watching the women sit there mirroring the same solemn expression. It hurt his heart to see them like that knowing that he could do nothing to change how they felt. He knew that Della was probably at home with the same expression on her face as she continued to try to be the best mother possible for her twin girls.
The silence was ended by the sound of his phone ringing. It was his partner, Blake, trying to figure out where he was. Luke had told no one of why he’d left the police station so abruptly. There was a case that needed their attention and it wasn’t like him to leave without giving a reason. He stepped out to take the call without disturbing everyone else.
Clearing his throat so the emotion he felt wouldn’t reveal itself he picked up, “Hello?”
“Hey man what happened to you? I thought I saw you talking to Laws and the next minute you shot out of here without saying anything. Is everything okay? Where are you?”
“Hey Blake. Um sorry about that man um something important came up. I’m sitting here at Hillside Hospital in the ICU.”
ICU! What the hell? What happened? Who’s in the hospital? You know what never mind I’m on my way. I’ll see you in a few.”
The line went dead before he could tell him there was no need and that it was okay. Before he could tell him the news that he still hadn’t quite processed in his own head.
Blake arrived at the hospital in ten minutes, ten minutes faster than it should have taken him to get there. He raced there trying to match the speed of his own thoughts. What happened? Who’s in ICU? What’s their condition? Will they make it? He and Luke had been partners for over thirty years ever since he joined the police force. They made Detective at the same time and were placed on both the Crime and the SVU divisions. He looked at Luke’s family as he would his own. So hearing that someone was in ICU hit him just as hard as it would if it were someone in his own family.
When Blake entered the hospital he didn’t even bother to take the elevator. Instead he took the stairs to the ICU floor two at a time. He didn’t want to waste any time trying to get there, especially when he was already late to begin with. When he walked through the doors of the ICU he immediately noticed them in the room. He saw Luke and Lee Lee first. He knew that if Lee Lee was there then whatever had happened wasn’t good. As he got closer he saw Lela and Tami sitting next to the bed. It wasn’t until he got to the door that he saw who was lying in it; Lucian. The sight rocked him to the core. Lucian wasn’t the type to do anything that would make someone want to harm him, so seeing it without hearing about it first was odd to him. He greeted the women first with hugs and then pulled Luke out to walk with him and get some understanding of what happened.
&
nbsp; “Luke, man, what happened? How the hell didn’t we know about this?”
Luke looked at his partner understanding all of his emotions but unable to find the words to tell him it was much worse than he thought. “I don’t know and that’s what bothers me. Lee Lee came to visit me and told me that he was here. Tami had called her to let her know that Lucian was here. Apparently he was brought here by some local fisherman that saw him being thrown into the river where they were fishing.”
“What the hell? Did they see who did it?” “No.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“Well, he has great brain activity so they think he should wake up soon which is a good thing. He has four broken ribs as well as a broken arm and leg. But the odds are good so far.”
“Oh okay. Well that’s good news at least. But I still don’t see why someone wasn’t called down here to find out what happened. It’s hospital protocol in a situation like this.”
Luke said nothing. He only nodded his head in agreement because his partner was right. Usually in cases like this the hospital would have called, except in this particular situation there were officers who were already there who probably spoke with them about it and said nothing. This made him even more curious about the cops that brought his son in but never made a statement about it.
Looking at Luke’s face, Blake could tell his mind was working a mile a minute. He wondered what else was going on that he
wasn’t aware of. From the look on his partner’s face there was something much worse that occurred than someone nearly killing Lucian and for some reason he couldn’t form the words to tell him, which was unlike his usually blunt partner.
“Um, Luke. Man what else is going on? I can tell from the look on your face that there’s more than what you’re telling me.”
Detective Farmouth didn’t respond, because he couldn’t. He just pushed the button to the elevator so he could show him instead. They took the walk to the morgue, while Blake wore a look of confusion and concern. As Luke entered the morgue for the third time that day he said nothing. Heather already knew what he was there for and she could tell in the way he was walking that he couldn’t bare to open the freezer again to see his son laying there. So she walked ahead of them quietly leading the way with Blake following behind her and Luke in the rear.
She stopped at the freezer and slowly opened it as Blake stood confused and Lucas stood a few steps behind him. Blake watched Heather open the drawer and remove the cover. It was then that the look on his partner’s face made complete sense. It was far worse than he could have imagined. Not only was his godson Lucian, laying in the ICU fighting for his life but his only son was laying on a cold slab in a morgue.
He couldn’t bring himself to try to understand what he was seeing. He glanced at the wounds there on his exposed body and instantly grew angry. What had happened to these young men? He turned around to find his partner standing there shaking his head while fighting to hold back his tears. Blake said nothing as he walked to his partner and embraced him. He could only imagine what he was feeling. This was not something that he could easily hold in and ignore. This was his son, his only son. This was the son that was considered a blessing to him and his wife after four
miscarriages and three failed rounds of IVF. This was the son that they were denied the first time around when they tried to adopt. This was the son that he was proud enough to not only adopt but give him his name.
“Heather? How did he get here? Who brought him in? I heard nothing about this at the station?”
“Like I told Detective Farmouth earlier, two officers that brought him in. I don’t remember their names except for the fact that they both began with “Mc.” That’s all I can really remember. They told me that they didn’t know who he was and that they didn’t want me to allow anyone to identify the body until they gave me the clearance. They said that they also didn’t want Dr. Ross to examine him and that they would have the body transferred to one of their people because this body was part of an investigation. They brought his body in around midnight which was around the same time the guy that was found by the fisherman was brought in. You had to hear about that at least right?”
“No, actually I knew nothing of either case. I also don’t know what case would involve a supposed John Doe.” Blake was silent for a moment, going over the things that Heather had just told him in his head. “Okay thanks Heather. Dr. Ross should be back soon right?”
“Yes, he will be back tomorrow.”
“Okay great. Let him know that we will be taking over this case and that he should only speak directly to me or Detective Farmouth. If anyone else comes in about this victim make sure you call me at this number with their names.” He handed her his card and she took it without hesitation and while nodding in understanding.
Luke and Blake walked out of the morgue and headed directly to Bill, the Head of Security’s office.
When they walked into Bill’s office he could tell immediately that something was wrong. He knew and worked with them often and they very rarely showed emotion, yet here they both were walking into his office both wearing an expression that meant business.
“Hello Detectives. How can I help you today?”
“Hey Bill. We are working on a case and we need to see the surveillance video from late last night if that’s okay with you,” Blake said without hesitation.
Frowning slightly Bill responded, “Okay… sure, that won’t be a problem. Are you looking for a certain camera in particular?”
“Yeah, I need the video from the camera by the morgue starting around twelve last night.”
Detective Farmouth stood staring closely at the screen. Rage began to build in his chest when the video was blown up into full view on Bill’s computer screen. Though he couldn’t see their faces, he could easily recognize the officers from the station. They were the same ones that were standing by his office when he left with Lelone. He didn’t know much about them right now, but he was damn sure going to find out.
Chapter 7
Demons Identified
Luke tore out of the security office and headed straight for ICU. He had to let his wife know that he was leaving before he got to work on finding out more about the officers that brought his dead son to the morgue and tried to keep him ever being there a secret.
He skipped the elevator and instead took the stairs. When Lelone saw his face she knew that he had found out more about the cops that brought LJ to the hospital. He walked into the room where Lela and Tami were still sitting how he left them, neither seemed to have moved an inch since.
When they entered the nurse came to check Lucian’s vitals noticing nothing had changed with his condition. Once she left the women broke into tears. They released all the tears that they had been holding in and in that moment the words came just as freely.
“My boy is gone. I’m sitting in this hospital with my godson who’s fighting for his life and where my only son is laying in a morgue because someone thought so little of his life that they decided to take him from me, to take him from his family. His daughters will never get to truly know the father they had because someone took him from us.”
Detective Farmouth said nothing. He knew that his wife didn’t need him to say anything. That she was trying to find a way to make sense of all that was going on at that very moment. He couldn’t say anything to help her through that process not at this
moment, simply because he couldn’t understand it any more than she could. Lucas had never been the type of boy that was in any trouble or one to have many enemies. In fact everyone who knew him loved and respected him for the man that he was. They couldn’t have had a better son. It was then, while watching these women break into tears from the pain they could no longer hold inside, did his rage begin to show.
“Honey, I’m going back to the office for a few. I’ll be back afterward okay. Tami keep me posted if anything changes with his condition.”
Both women nodded. As Luke walked out L
elone grabbed his arm and said, “I know what you found out. Let me help you.”
Rage Unleashed Page 5