Blood Moon

by Rose Smith

  ~ Chapter 13 ~

  Gage Sheldon was already sitting at the table when Nalani arrived to the restaurant a couple of minutes before 5 p.m.

  “Hello,” He extended his large hand and gave her a firm hand shake.

  “Nice to see you again. By the way, your pie was delicious.” He said while he pulled out her chair for her.

  “Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “I definitely did.”

  “I hope I can help you with this,” Nalani told Detective Sheldon. “Irene Kokos is a good friend of mine. She told me the Chief had appointed Cranston Stein to the case. I had coffee with her today.” She bit her lip at the thought of what went down at the coffee shop. Her heart still hurt.

  “It’s unfortunate. But, I need someone who is not in the back pocket of the police department,” said Gage. “I’m sure Dr. Stein is a competent dentist, however, when it comes to forensics—I’m not sure he’s up on the latest techniques.”

  “When he was called in on this case, he wasn’t even curious enough to take samples of the saliva we found on the after dinner mint for epithelial cell DNA.”

  “Yes, I’ve already sent it in for analysis,” Nalani confirmed.

  “He didn’t even consider it,” said Detective Sheldon. “I believe Dr. H. left your number for him, but he claims he doesn’t need to determine the DNA evidence of the mint. Thinks it’s irrelevant. Because of the position of the husband and his family—some people in the department want to make sure he’s not considered as someone who could’ve murdered his wife.”

  “And what about the suspect you have in custody?”

  “I’ll be the first to admit—he’s no boy scout, but I’d like someone besides myself since I’m not an odontologist to study the bite mark evidence as soon as possible while we await the DNA report. I’ve studied the mold, and I can’t see the match. Detective Koskos agrees. Jackson Richardson has some teeth crowding on his bottom teeth and….well—I don’t want to shade your opinion.”

  “You won’t Detective Sheldon. I will give you my professional opinion either way.”

  “That’s what I want. I like that. Now, I hope you’ll let me buy you dinner.”

  “Thank you,” said Nalani.

  After the meal, Gage Sheldon stood and helped her out of her chair. As he left the money for the tab, she noticed again how good looking he was.

  She felt better after having dinner with him than she’d felt earlier. She began to relax a little around him. She’d heard through the rumor mill that he was a real ladies man. She was glad he had acted completely professional when he’d assigned her to this case. He didn’t hit on her at all. More and more, Nalani found herself concurring with her friend’s assessment of this good-looking detective. And she liked his easy going manner.

  While Detective Sheldon was taking care of the check and giving their waiter the tip, Nalani received a call on her cell. Her co-worker had to beg off going with her to the vet’s office to help her carry Shredder.

  “What’s up?” Gage Sheldon asked, noticing her disappointment after the call.

  “Oh, it’s my dog, Shredder. I have to drag him to the vet. He’s about 80 pounds and he’s a bear to carry in.”

  “You have to carry him in? Is he sick?”

  “No. Even though he’s huge, he’s scared of the vet,” she chuckled. “I have to bribe someone at the office with Starbucks to get them to help me carry him in.”

  “I’m off. I can help you out if you’d like. I love dogs.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. I’d have one of my own, but I can’t in the building I’m living in. And anyway, it wouldn’t be fair to a poor dog with my detective schedule.”

  “That’d be great if you don’t mind. Can you follow me to my house to get him?”

  “Sure.”

  Gage followed her home and she took him in to meet Shredder. Much to her surprise, he warmed up to Detective Sheldon.

  “I’m sure he smells my dad’s dogs on me,” Gage said as he bent down to pet Shredder. “He has a couple I get to see whenever I go visit.”

  Nalani, didn’t know why—but she found herself taking a mental note while he coaxed Shredder outside and into the back of her car. He’s not allergic to dogs.

  Gage left his car in front of Nalani’s home and rode with her to the vet’s office. He suggested she take some doggie treats with her to help coax Shredder into the vet’s office. It worked fairly well—until Shredder got to the front door. He froze. Sheldon bent down and scooped him up and walked him into the waiting room.

  He sat Shredder down in a vacant seat then sat next to him. Nalani was impressed at how gentle he was with her big baby. He rubbed his head and fed him a couple of treats to keep him comfortable. When the vet called them in for Shredder’s appointment, Sheldon scooped him up and gently placed him on the vet’s table, stroking Shredder’s shivering body.

  Nalani petted Shredder’s head and Gage rubbed his coat until he finally stopped shaking long enough for the vet to examine him. After the vet gave him the all clear, he suggested Nalani consider signing Shredder up to a behavioral class to get him over his fear of other dogs and well, everything else. He told her he felt Shredder would be too nervous at a doggie park and needed to be coaxed into it.

  Nalani drove home and Gage scooped Shredder up once more and placed him safely in her living room.

  “Thanks, for all your help,” she told him while he was still bending down rubbing her puppy’s head.

  “No problem. Feel free to call me anytime you need to take him to the vet. I’m happy to do it. Hey, if you’re thinking of taking him to a behavioral class I have some info from the one my dad took his dogs to. I used to go to the class with my dad and Benji and Cinnamon. I can email it to you.”

  “That’d be great,” said Nalani. She wrote down her email address. They said goodbye and Shredder whined as he watched Gage walk to his car.

  An hour or so later, Nalani got an email alert from Sheldon giving her the information on the dog class. He also told her if she wanted to take the evening class—he’d be available most nights to help her out with Shredder if she needed help. He gave her his cell and asked her to call.

  Even after Gage had sent the email off, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. For the first time since he’d ended his fling with Dr. H, he went to bed with a beautiful woman on his mind.

  After Nalani showered and got ready for bed, she still found herself thinking about the murder. And she thought about how gentle Detective Sheldon was with Shredder.

  Before turning in—her tech watch alerted her that her mom was ringing.

  “Hello, Mom?”

  “It’s not Mom. It’s me, Mikey.”

  “Mikey? What are you doing calling me at this hour? It’s after 10 o’clock. You should be in bed. Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

  “I won’t go back there. I can’t go back.”

  “Go back where, Mikey?” A ball of fear rose up in Nalani’s stomach. He sounded like he’d been crying.

  “I ran away from Mom. Aunt Lane—she—she hurt me.”

  “Where are you Mikey? I’m coming to get you. I’m leaving right now.”

  ~ Chapter 14 ~

  Mikey hid out about a mile from their mom’s house. Nalani drove him to her house after he refused to go home. It took her awhile, but she finally got him to tell her what had happened.

  “Aunt Lane came over drunk again a couple of hours ago. This time though, Mom left to go to the store. That’s when it happened.” Tears ran down his face as he continued. “She started going on about Dad and how much she hated him and she kept drinking. I tried to go to bed, but she told me I couldn’t yet. I got scared and started crying. That’s when she came over and grabbed me.”

  He lifted his sleeve and showed Nalani the purple bruises on his petite arm and the scars. “What are those two dark spots, Mikey?”

  “She burned me with her cigarette,” he cried.

  Blind
ed by her tears, all Nalani could do was grab Mikey and rock him. “We need to take you to the hospital, Mikey.”

  “No, please no. They’ll find out about Auntie Lane. They’ll put me in a foster home. Please. Anyway, I don’t want the police to do anything to Mom.”

  Here he was, a child—still trying to protect the mother who refused to protect him. It made Nalani angry, but she seethed in silence.

  “Ok, Mikey. I’ll put some disinfectant on it,” she spoke calmly. As she tended his wounds she said, “I’ll speak to Mom about this. We have to make sure Aunt Lane never hurts you again. Mom has to listen this time.” Nalani prayed that for once—her mom would listen.

  Nalani had Mikey shower and fed him a snack then put him to bed in her spare room. She called her mom’s home phone and let her know he was safe and she’d bring him home tomorrow and return her cell phone.

  As sleep evaded her, she turned her TV on in her bedroom. Although she almost never had it on at night, she sat there watching the 24 hour news channel, halfway in a daze until she heard the announcer’s words about a mom and stepdad who’d been convicted of murder. Though both were found guilty, the stepfather’s murder charges were being overturned. She turned the TV up and listened:

  “Stephen Casaus (cah sow es), who is being held for the murder of his stepson, nine-year-old Omaree (oh marr ree) Varela (varr rel ah) had his sentence cut in half today. The charge of murder was dropped since he was reported to have been in the bathroom getting high on heroin when the boy’s mother, Synthia Barela-Casaus, kicked and stomped her son to death. The charge of murder has been dropped because prosecutors could not prove that Stephen Casuas, who failed to call 911 for over an hour could not be blamed for the boy’s death. The seriousness of his injuries indicated he was beyond help. Casuas is still being held for child abuse and other serious charges.

  Nalani got out of her bed and went into her home office to search for more details on the Omaree Varela story.

  They left her stunned and shaken. Omaree Varela had been abused by his mom and stepdad for years. He’d reached out for help. He'd told his teacher, he’d even called 911, but time after time, police officers and authorities took the word of the parents and left him in the home.

  The night he’d called 911 and two officers responded, they took the word of the parents and left him there once again. When they got to the precinct, they didn’t even file a report. The only person who’d tried to help him was the 911 operator who told the police officers they needed to listen to the 911 tape. She tried to warn them about the horrendous abuse the boy was getting from the parents.

  Only the officers didn’t listen to the tape. They left him there. Months later he was dead. There was no one to help him when his own mother kicked him to death.

  Casaus was angry because she’d slept with a black man while Casaus was incarcerated. Innocent Omaree was the result of that relationship. Casaus hated the boy so much—he convinced the boy’s own mother to hate him as well. Every fiber of her being filled with venom for her own son. They’d tortured him and abused him until the day she cornered him and kicked and stomped him to death.

  Nalani couldn’t believe what she was reading. And now to add insult to injury, the same justice system who’d failed the helpless little boy, was working for Casaus. Shaving off half of his sentence.

  No wonder they call it the ‘Criminal’ Justice System. Sometimes, it only seems to kick-in to protect criminals—not the innocent. She fumed at the injustice of it all. Working with the police department didn’t shield her from the sometimes unreasonableness of the system.

  A system run by humans. It made her wonder how many of those adults who’d failed to come to his aide were secretly like her Auntie Lane. How many of them held prejudices that ran so deep—they wouldn’t reach out and help that poor helpless child. He had no one. But Mikey did. He had her. Knowing that innocent boy had reached out and had so many let him down—including the justice system—she knew what she had to do.

  ~ Chapter 15 ~

  Nalani took a couple of days off at the dental office. She took Mikey to school the next morning. Then she went to see her mother.

  “I thought you were bringing him home,” her mother queried.

  “I changed my mind. I’m not bringing him home unless you promise to protect him from Aunt Lane. She can never see him again. This is what your own sister—his aunt—did to him, Mom.”

  She showed her the pictures she’d taken of Mikey’s bruises and burn marks. Her mom looked away.

  “No, Mom. You can’t look away. Not anymore. I just heard about a 9 year old boy whose own mother kicked him to death! I can’t let you let Aunt Lane hurt Mikey—or me—anymore. I heard about that boy—Omaree Varela—who lives a world away from us in Albuquerque for a reason. Someone has to stand up to Aunt Lane. If you won’t—I will.”

  Nalani’s mom sat frozen in her chair for a long time. As the tears began rolling down her cheeks, she began sobbing. Nalani realized she’d never seen her stoic mother cry. Not even when her father died.

  “Mom, I love you, and I know you love us in your own way. But, I have to ask you to do something for me. Let me adopt Mikey. I know you can’t stand up to Aunt Lane. I think in my own way I understand.

  “I’ve never been able to stand up to you—until now. If you value your relationship with me and Mikey—you’ve got to do what you know in your heart is right. I won’t let you stand by and let Aunt Lane hurt Mikey anymore. She will never be allowed in my house while Mikey lives with me. If you don’t do this, I swear to God, I’ll call Child Services and press charges against Aunt Lane. I have the proof right here. She pointed at the pictures. “The only reason I haven’t reported this yet is because I don’t want Mikey to get dragged into the foster system. And believe it or not, he begged me not to. He doesn’t want to get you in trouble, Mom.”

  Nalani’s mother’s shoulders began trembling. As if a dam of hurt had burst inside her, tears flooded her face. Her mom looked up at Nalani and sobbed. “Take him! Please God, forgive me, take him!” Nalani’s mom got up and ran into the bathroom, letting her tears flow.

  Nalani went into Mikey’s room and packed one of his suitcases with as much of his clothes as she could. Her mother was still crying in the bathroom. Nalani stood at the door.

  “Thank you, Mom. I know how hard this is for you—and I’m sorry, but I have to protect him. He has no one else. I’ll keep in touch and let Mikey call you later. I love you.”

  Nalani took the suitcase home and unpacked Mikey’s clothes. She straightened up the things in what would now be his bedroom until her tears fogged her view so completely she had to stop.

  ~ Chapter 16 ~

  Jackson Richardson’s thoughts kept hurling back to how close he came to getting away. The more he thought about it, the more he seethed. He punched his pillow, grabbed it, covered his mouth and screamed into it. He sat or the corner of his bed and fumed.

  Sweat dripped off his chin. “Guard! Guard!” He stood and tightened his fists around the bars in his cell. “Guard!”

  “Hold your horses, I’m coming!” The guard yelled from down the hall between bites of his roast beef sandwich. He put it down and went to Jackson Richardson’s prison cell.

  “You ok?” He quizzed, looking alarmed.

  “No,” wheezed Richardson, panting. “Somethin’s happenin,’ my hand’s numb and I feel like I’m gonna throw up. I need help.”

  “Hold on.” The guard radioed for the nurse.

  “Let me in,” the nurse told the guard. He unlocked Richardson’s cell and escorted her inside.

  “Sit here,” she guided Jackson Richardson to the bed. She checked his pulse. His breathing erratic, he continued sweating.

  “Call 911,” ordered the nurse. “I think he’s having a heart attack.”

  The guard called for the ambulance. It arrived in less than four minutes. Two paramedics sped Richardson away on a gurney. One of the attendants drove toward the Hilo Hospital
while the other paramedic tended to the patient. A prison guard also rode in the back of the ambulance.

  “I’m going to start an IV on you.”

  Richardson writhed in agony. The attendant grabbed Richardson’s arm to insert the needle he held in his hand.

  Jackson Richardson snatched the needle out of the paramedic’s hand and stuck him in the thigh with it.

  “Ow!” The attendant grabbed his thigh with both hands.

  Richardson jumped up and clocked the attendant across the jaw with his fist. The prison guard tried to seize his gun but the prisoner dove into him, pushing him into the side of the ambulance, spilling medical equipment everywhere. Jackson Richardson grabbed a steel bedpan and swung it against the officer’s head, knocking him out. He snatched the guard’s gun.

  “Everything ok back there?” Hearing the commotion, the driver opened the communication window. He turned to see the barrel of a gun pointing out of the small window. “Pull over,” the prisoner ordered. The ambulance driver slowed the vehicle, easing it off the road onto the shoulder.

  The prisoner jumped out of the back of the ambulance and raced to the driver side. The attendant had his hands up.

  “Get out!” He ordered. With his hands still up, the ambulance driver exited the vehicle. Richardson left him there, got inside the EMS vehicle and zoomed off.

  Two days later:

  “Isn’t this cute?” Caroline held up the adorable tiny Hawaiian floral shirt and infant size beige shorts.

  “Sure is.” Wolf concurred. “Irene will love it. It’s almost time for Nalani to pick you up, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, are you sure you’ll be ok here by yourself? Sure you don’t want to come to the baby shower?”

  “No. I’ll be fine. I’m gonna watch the game.”

  Caroline’s cell rang. “Hi, Nalani, you here?”

  “Hi Caroline, I’m down in the lobby.”