Unlawful Imprisonment

by Tracey Higgins

  “Where’s her parents?”

  “They went to get a few things.”

  Frank stood up. “Michael, Nicole is alive. I’m sure of it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She is the victim of the guy that’s been on the news.”

  Michael screamed. “WHAT?”

  “We have to question all of your parolees.” “My parolees?”

  “Is there anyone who wants to hurt you? Anyone you put away and is out?”

  “Jesus Christ!”

  Johnwent to Michael. “It’s a game to him Michael. If he wanted her dead he would have done it already.” “Those girls were found dead.”

  “He held them for a month, except for one. The only reason she died was because of her asthma.”

  “What do I do Frank?”

  “Is there anyone in particular you had a problem with?”

  “Just my entire fucking case load!”

  “Alright.” John tried to calm him down.

  “This is my fault.”

  “No its not.”

  “Somebody went after my wife to get to me and I probably know who it is. That’s just great!”

  John never saw Michael so infuriated.

  “If I find…”

  “Let Frank do his job. We will be questioning your parolees so I need you to stay away from them.” Michael nodded. He cringed when he heard Nicole’s parent’s car pull up.

  Andrea was finally getting to go see her parolees. However, at John’s insistence he would supervise David. It was frustrating to know that while her life was getting back to normal, Michael’s’ was in ruins and there was nothing she could do. Andrea called Michael before playing catch up. Her stomach was queasy not knowing what to say.

  “Hello?” She could hear the panic in his voice.

  “Hi it’s me.”

  “How are you?”

  “Fine. How are you holding up?”

  “I just can’t sit here.”

  “Michael, let the detectives do their job.”

  “I should be out there. I’m a professional for Christ’s sake!”

  “I know.”

  “John told me about Brandon.”

  “Let’s not waste any energy on him.”

  “What am I going to do?”

  “Please don’t interfere. Frank’s the best.”

  “I know. Tell Tony I appreciate him keeping in touch with him for me.”

  “I will. Call if you need anything. I’m going back to my apartment tonight.”

  “Thanks.”

  Andrea hoped he wouldn’t do anything he might regret. She didn’t know how Frank deals with these cases. She felt sick thinking about what those women were going through.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Frank showed up at the Reese home after he broke the news to Michael.

  “May I help you?” Louise was in a black dress as if she were going to a funeral. She reminded Frank of a school teacher he used to have that everyone called stone face.

  He took out his badge. “Detective Riser, I need to see Aaron Reese.”

  “Aaron?”

  “Yes, is he in?”

  “No. What’s this about?”

  “When will he be home?”

  Louise was becoming inpatient. “What do you want? Are you people tired of attacking my other son?”

  “Mrs. Reese I need to see him immediately.” Frank was in no mood to be civil. “When did he leave?”

  “About an hour ago.”

  Frank left without saying anything. He called the office to have the police find his car. Maybe Aaron would lead them to the women. Frank had a gut feeling that there wasn’t much time left.

  David came to Andrew’s office unannounced. Andrew was surprised to see him.

  “David?”

  “I’m sorry to barge in.”

  “Come in.”

  David sat down. “I did it, didn’t I? What’s wrong with me?”

  “Is that an admission?” David looked down. “David, tell me what happened.”

  “I went to the bar and I met her. She was flirting with me. I don’t remember how we got on the subject but it was clear we were into the same thing.”

  “Which is?” David’s face turned red. “It’s okay David, tell me.”

  “She liked to be dominated. She told me in detail what she wanted me to do. We went to my apartment and…and…”

  “You engaged in sadomasochism.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why would she say it was rape?”

  “She was high.”

  “Did you know she was high when you took her home?”

  “She may seem a little out of it.”

  “But you took her home anyway.”

  “Yes.”

  “What was wrong with that David?” David hated when shrinks did that. They already knew what the answer was so why the hell did they always ask?

  “I was so happy that this was my chance.”

  “To live out the fantasy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it possible that you were so excited you ignored her cries?” David nodded. “You need to say it David.”

  “It’s possible.”

  “I want you to tell me what your parents taught you about sex.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Where did you learn about S&M?”

  “My parents.”

  “How?”

  “I saw them.”

  “Did you ever tell anyone?”

  “No.”

  “Did you ever enjoy sex without s&m?”

  “Yeah, but not as much.”

  “Ever have a girlfriend?”

  “Once, Mandy. We met through a personal add and were together for four months.”

  “What happened?”

  “She got tired of the games and I didn’t.”

  “How did you handle the breakup?”

  “It took awhile. It’s not easy to find a willing partner.”

  “Did your parents ever know that you saw them?”

  David was shaking. “My…father. He saw me once.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He smiled at me.”

  “Did he ever say anything about it?”

  “No.”

  “That must have confused you.”

  “Is that my excuse?”

  “No. There is no excuse.”

  “I know. I was being sarcastic.” David got up and started pacing. “I hate what I have become.” He put his hands to his face and cried. “God help me! I raped that woman!”

  Andrew let David cry it out. He couldn’t believe it. This was a major breakthrough. Andrew has never seen anything like it. He only hoped that this would be the beginning to a new life, and not the end. He debated on letting David leave the office. “David that was a big step.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that I am a rapist.” He was sobbing.

  “In the past. Not the future.”

  “I just want to ….”

  “Die?”

  “YES!” David grabbed the back of the chair. His grip was strong. Andrew saw his knuckles turn white.

  “David, I don’t think you should go home.”

  “I should be in prison.”

  “I’m going to take you to the hospital.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “David I’m afraid you might hurt yourself.”

  He fell to the floor and cried. Andrew called for an ambulance. “I don’t want to go home. I don’t ever want to go to that place again. “

  “Why? What happened there?”

  “My father was a prick and I was happy when he died. So was my brother.”

  “How did he die?”

  “He had a heart attack. He had a heart attack when he was in bed with my mother. I looked through the keyhole and saw her call an ambulance. You know what she did then?”

  “What?”

  “She was hiding the handcuffs. She didn’t pump his chest, or breath into his mouth.
She was concerned with being embarrassed.”

  “Does she know you saw that?”

  “No.”

  “Does your brother?”

  “No.”

  “That’s a lot to be carrying around David.”

  David cried until the ambulance arrived. He was so exhausted that he went willingly and passed out on the way.

  Chris went to thelast house on Michael’s block and walked up to the man sitting on the stoop. “Excuse me, my name is Christopher McDonald, I’m a detective. You may have heard Mrs. Amalfitano…”

  “Yes I know, it’s horrible.”

  “Have you seen anything unusual in the past few days Mr…”

  “Stern. I’m sorry I can’t help you.” He removed his sunglasses.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be, it happens all the time.” Mr. Stern stood up with a white cane. “I wish I could help you. They are always very helpful to me.”

  “Does anyone live with you who might have any information?”

  “My brother but he’s away for two weeks. There’s a center that helps me out when I’m alone, but I get along fine.”

  “Thank you. Again, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  ‘Jackass’, Chris thought to himself walking to his car. He got back to the office but Frank was still out. Mueller came up to him at his desk.

  “I thought you were going to follow David Reese.”

  “I’m going. I went to question the neighbors at Michael’s. Nobody saw anything unusual. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse I walked up to a blind man and said, excuse me sir, have you seen anything unusual in the past few days?”

  “Jesus.”

  “I know I know. What’s going on here?”

  “Frank put a trace out on Aaron’s car.”

  “Good, I’m going out to follow David.”

  “Too late.” Frank came in. “They’re both gone.”

  “Shit!” Mueller pounded his hand on the desk. “Two detectives! You think one of you could stay on these assholes!”

  Chris was getting defensive. “I had to check out the neighbor.”

  “You should have done that the first day!”

  Frank’s phone went off and broke the tension. “It’s the cop whose looking for Aaron’s car.” While he was dialing Chris’s face turned red. He felt like a school kid who was being reprimanded in front of the class. “Okay thanks. He’s at a movie theatre.”

  Mueller was still fuming. “Chris get there and wait. Make sure you keep up on him. Think you can handle that?”

  He walked away before Chris could say anything. “I’ll bet your loving this aren’t you?”

  Frank was shocked. “Do you really think I give a shit? You getting your feelings hurt is the last thing I’m concerned with.” Frank walked out to go and see if David’s car was there. He called Andrea from the car for any information where David might be. If he was at work or a meeting she would know.

  John came to the office to find a message that David was in the hospital and a letter of resignation on his desk. He felt like he was hit with a brick. “This shit never ends.” He said to himself as he called Andrew Duran. “Hi. This is John Healy.”

  “Hello. I guess this is the last thing you needed.”

  “You got it. So what happened?”

  “It was actually very good. He came to see me on his own. We got very far in his therapy which is unusual. He had a bad panic attack and they are going to keep him here overnight to keep an eye on him. I’ve already called his family.”

  “Okay. Please call me tomorrow for his status.”

  “I will.”

  He hung up the phone and called Tabitha into his office. As if his life wasn’t complicated enough he was now loosing an officer.

  Tabitha came in looking past John. This was the moment she had been dreading. “Hi John.”

  “Have a seat.” He was sitting on the corner of his desk. “Tabitha, we all know this isn’t an easy job.”

  “I know…”

  “Please let me finish. I don’t want you rushing into a decision you’ll regret. Maybe you just need some time off.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I’ll stay for a month but that’s it. I can’t do this job. I don’t have it anymore John.”

  “Don’t have what?”

  “The rush of making an arrest. The powerful feeling of having someone to watch. I’m just going through the motions. I don’t want my life on the line for these people anymore.”

  “There’s nothing I can o?”

  “No. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We’ll miss you.”

  “Thanks.” She was tearing up as she left the office.

  Andrea saw Tabitha leave and went to John. “She quit?”

  “Yeah. I got a message from David’s counselor. He’s in the hospital.”

  “What happened?”

  “He had a panic attack in the office during a session. Apparently, Andrew thinks this is a good step for David. Maybe you were right about him.”

  “Maybe.” Her phone.went off. “It’s Frank, what’s up?”

  “I need David Reese’s schedule. My partner seems to think he and his brother may be involved.”

  “I doubt it. David’s in the hospital.”

  “Shit. How’s Michael holding up?”

  “Not good.”

  “I figured. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  ‘Bye.”

  “They thought David and Aaron were involved with Nicole.”

  makes me women.”

  “Understandable but I doubt it.”

  “Well, I hope they have another lead. It sick to my stomach thinking about those

  “I know. At least when he’s caught, he’ll never get out and come to us.”

  “I hope not. He will have his cable television, gym access and hell, maybe he can get a degree.”

  John raised his eyebrows. “You’re starting to sound like Tony.”

  She smiled. “Scary, isn’t it? See you later.” Andrew saw David the following morning while he was getting ready to leave thehospital. “David, how ya doin’?”

  “I feel sick.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be leaving.”

  “I want to go home.”

  “Okay.” Andrew pulled up a chair. “That was a big moment.”

  “Yeah it was great.”

  “Listen, I know you don’t like the group sessions. If you want,I’ll make a recommendation for private counseling with me.”

  “Why do you do this job?” David snapped back. “Why would someone want to be with people like me day after day?”

  “Because, like you, once in a while someone can be helped.”

  David sat on the bed. “I raped her.”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t deserve to be out.”

  “Well you are. This is your chance to start over, so take advantage of it.”

  “Can I see you after work tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Aaron walked in and Andrew excused himself. Aaron managed to convince Louise to stay home. When he saw him, David looked like a different person. He was very withdrawn.

  “Hey, how do you feel?”

  “Alright I guess. Let’s go.”

  “Don’t you want to talk about it?”

  “No, not now. I’ll be fine.”

  The ride home was quiet. When they got home David threw himself on the sofa and tried to fall asleep. His mother ran up and hugged him.

  “Are you alright sweetie?”

  “Mom, please.”

  “David?” She glanced at Aaron.

  “Just let him rest.”

  “I want to know what happened.”

  “It’s over, don’t worry about it.” David mumbled through the pillow.

  “Don’t worry about it?” She was pushing. Aaron tried to get her to back off.

  “Mom, we can talk later.”

  “Well, I’m sorry for being concerned.”
She was raising her voice to keep the tears back.

  “Mom…”

  “What? Your brother and I bend over backwards to help you and you’re just going to keep me in the dark?”

  “Are you kidding me?” David was letting loose. “You’re the one who left me in the dark.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you have any clue to what Aaron and I went through with Dad? How could you let him treat us like that? How could you let him treat you like that?” He stared at her. “Answer me!” David started walking towards her.

  “I regret that.”

  “Oh good, I’m glad.”

  Aaron wasshocked. “Dave, maybe this isn’t the time…”

  “I think it’s the perfect time. I saw you that night Mom.”

  “Saw what?”

  “When Dad died. I saw you take the handcuffs from the bed.”

  “David!”

  “How could you let him treat you like a whore?”

  “Stop it! You have no idea what I went through!”

  “You want to know what happened?” David was up in her face. “I had a therapy session and I confessed.”

  “I’m not listening to this.”

  “I did it Mom. Your son is a rapist. You think Dad would be proud?”

  Aaron couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Dave, please, let’s go out and talk.”

  “I should have known when was high, but I took her to my apartment anyway.”

  She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “I don’t want to hear anymore.”

  “Why not? You said you wanted to know what happened. I didn’t plan what happened, but I should have known she wasn’t well. I’m going to pay for it the rest of my life.” He grabbed his coat. “I’m going out.” David slammed the door and took off in Aaron’s car.

  “Take my car and go after him.”

  “No, just let him cool off.” Aaron sat and lit a cigarette. “Is it true what he said about that night?”

  She was flushed.

  “Come on, it’s all out now.”

  “Yes.” Louise ran upstairs crying. Aaron was amazed and hurt that David never told him about that. God knows what else he saw.

  Chapter 87

  John caught Andrea on her way in. He was wearing sunglasses to hide the bloodshot eyes.

  “Long night?”

  “Long month. I’m going to the hospital. Our friend is being arrested.”

  ”See you later.”

  Everyone wanted to be there. It was a relief to have Brandon gone, and worth the extra work everybody would have. When John got to his room Brandon was handcuffed to the bed rail. His face turned red when he saw John.