"I don"t understand how it happened, Arlen." Steven glared at his attorney. Arlen Sumpter rubbed his bald head while contemplating Steven"s words. "All I know is that everything is pointing to me." He glanced around the interrogation room. "I"ve been up all night trying to figure out why, but I can"t. The rapist has to be targeting me specifically. He must know we look alike and that"s giving him all he needs to do his thing. h.e.l.l, whatever that is." He sighed.
Arlen tapped the shiny table. "Steven, I"m trying to understand but I can"t. It makes no sense. Why would he pretend to be you?"
"Arlen, if I knew that, I wouldn"t be here! Look, Commissioner Reynolds won"t give me the benefit of the doubt for a second. And Agent Parsons is the biggest a.s.shole on the planet. He has it in for cops or something. He already has me tried and convicted."
"Yeah, Agent Parsons didn"t exactly strike my fancy, either." Arlen reflected on meeting the agent earlier that morning.
"Arlen, you"re my lawyer aren"t you?"
He sighed. "Steven, I want to be."
"What do you mean, "want to be"? Arlen, you"re one of the best attorneys around. If anyone can get me off, it would be you."
"So you a.s.sume you"ll have to stand trial?"
Steven rubbed his face. "I"m just thinking realistically. The bottom line is, I didn"t rape anyone. I just can"t prove it."
"Well, they don"t have any physical evidence but Aileen"s claim is damaging. It is still your word against hers. You"re a pillar of the community. You have excellent standing in the department. You"ve arrested hundreds of s.e.xual predators and been up for some prestigious awards. You got some good points, Steven."
"I feel a "but" coming on."
"Well, Aileen Andrews seems to be a decent person herself. She"s a housewife with a young daughter and hard-working husband. They"re an educated, young couple trying to make it. The only problem is that she"s the victim in all this. That automatically means trouble for you. People are gonna see this frightened woman and picture how her two year-old stood in the hallway, listening to her mother being raped for about two hours." Steven shook his head. "If we go to trial, that"s what the jury will see in their minds. It"s my job to put that picture out of their heads."
"I don"t want to even think of going to trial right now." Steven sighed.
"Well, you ought to. Steven, I"ve known you for years. I believe in you. No one in the department has ever uttered anything bad about you. You"re a hard-working detective who"s making waves. I don"t think people can easily just call you a rapist and call it a day."
"Commissioner Reynolds and Agent Parsons seem to be doing that easily enough. It"s not easy defending myself when Reynolds keeps looking at me like I"m a member of the Ku Klux Klan." Steven sighed. "And Parsons acts like I f.u.c.ked his wife in another life or something."
"Yeah well, Agent Parsons doesn"t know you. Don"t take him personally. Commissioner Reynolds is a good person, but you gotta see where he"s coming from. He"s getting the bulk of blame for this guy terrorizing the city. The mayor wants answers and he expects Reynolds to give them to him. That"s not good for you because Reynolds is desperate for a suspect, so he won"t let up for a minute."
Arlen shrugged. "The facts have to speak for themselves, Steven. They have no physical evidence against you. They have twenty-five victims, half who refuse to talk. Out of the ones who will talk, the rapist was masked throughout the attack. Cheyenne Wilson and Aileen Andrews are the only ones who saw a face."
"Mine." Steven scoffed.
"So far it looks good to me, Steven. I don"t think Aileen has a case against you. And the part where she says he said his name was "Kemp." That"s flimsy at best. You can easily get around that, Steven."
He sighed. "Arlen, I want to prove I"m innocent but I don"t want the rapist to go free. I don"t want these women dragged through the mud. They"ve been through enough. Besides, I"m still supposed to be the cop on the case."
"I understand."
"I can find this motherf.u.c.ker but I need to be outta here to do it. Can you get me out?"
Agent Parsons and Captain Jersey walked in before Arlen could answer.
"I want my client released. You have no reason to hold him." Arlen stood.
"Only the claim that he raped Aileen Andrews last night." Parsons glared at Steven. "Since when is the victim"s word not enough to hold a rapist?"
"I am not a rapist," Steven growled.
"Aileen says you are. She"s gonna come into the station later to go over her statement. We want Steven to do a lineup. If the man is just a mere lookalike, then she should be able to tell."
"A lineup is not a good idea at this point, Agent Parsons," Arlen insisted. "Mrs. Andrews is distraught. Anyone who looks like the rapist is a target for being accused. I want Steven released. Aileen hasn"t brought official charges against him yet."
Parsons shrugged. "Commissioner Reynolds has granted me precedence over this case. He told me to act as I see fit."
"You cannot hold him like this." Arlen glared. "Aileen hasn"t pressed formal charges. You had no business holding him last night, either!"
"We"ll get Aileen Andrews down here immediately then. Detective Kemp, if you"re so innocent, then you won"t object to waiting to do a lineup. If Aileen doesn"t press formal charges against you, then you"ll be free."
"She won"t because I"m not the rapist. I am confident she"ll be able to tell the difference when she sees me."
Brianna walked in. "Steven?" The others gaped at her.
He smiled. "Pull up a chair, Bree. This is one show you won"t wanna miss."
"I"m glad you find it so entertaining, Detective." Parsons grinned. "Let"s see if you can continue to amuse yourself in the process."
"Morris, did you speak to Aileen Andrews?" Jersey glared.
"Yes. I wanted to tell Steven what she said."
"Why don"t you tell us all?" Parsons grinned.
"Hold your horses, Parsons." Arlen grinned. "You can"t step into their investigation. It"s official police business. They don"t have to discuss what she said in front of you. You want to get something on Steven, then find it yourself."
He chuckled. "Now I remember why I hate lawyers." Arlen grinned. Parsons smiled at Brianna. "I don"t think we"ve been introduced."
"Detective Brianna Morris. I"m Steven"s partner." She shook Parsons"s hand.
"I see. Well, have your little meeting. I"ll be back later." He left with a cloud of smoke behind him.
"Who was that?" Brianna pointed.
"The biggest a.s.shole on the planet," Jersey muttered. They grinned.
"Agent Parsons with Internal Affairs. He"s handling the investigation. And he can"t stand me, but since I hate him too it"s understandable." Steven chuckled.
Brianna sat at the table. "How are you doing, Steven? I can"t believe this. You didn"t rape anyone. How can they even think this?"
"I"ve been wondering the same thing. Anyway, I feel a lot better now that you"re here."
"What did Mrs. Andrews say?" Arlen asked.
"Bree, this is Arlen Sumpter, my attorney." Steven gestured.
"h.e.l.lo." Brianna took his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Detective." Arlen smiled. "Did Aileen Andrews say anything that could help Steven?"
"Well, she said the same thing but she seems to be a little shaky. She still says he said his name was "Kemp."" Brianna shrugged. "Other than that she told me about the rape and that was it."
"Once I do the lineup today, then this should be over with. Even if the guy looks a little like me, Aileen should know the difference. He can"t look that much like me, right?" Steven chuckled.
"No." Brianna smiled. "Anyway, we all know how silly this is." She grinned. "There"s no way anyone would believe you"re a rapist."
"I hope so." Steven took her hand.
Aileen hung up the phone in her den. Sarah and Melody had accompanied her home that evening to help with anything she needed. Melody knew it would take time for Aileen to come to terms with the rape. Yet she hated seeing her friend like this even for a day. She tried to put herself in Aileen"s shoes. When that became impossible, she vowed to just be there for her.
"You all right?" Melody rubbed Aileen"s shoulders. They stared at the phone.
"They want me to come to the station and to do a lineup later. Uh, they want to see if I can identify Steven Kemp as the rapist. Melody, I don"t know if I can." She shook.
"Leen, it"s hard I know, but you gotta do it. If this man is the rapist, you have to do your part."
"Oh, easy for you to say. What in the h.e.l.l do you know about it?" Aileen shook her head. Melody ran her fingers through her hair. "I"m so sorry, Melody. I didn"t mean that." She cried. Melody rocked her. "I can"t even think about what happened to me for dealing with all this other s.h.i.t right now. I mean, the cops and not to mention that exam. It was humiliating, Melody. I felt like I was being raped all over again."
"Shh, it"s okay. Just take it one step at a time. I"ll be here for you as long as you need me to be."
Sarah walked in with a tray of sandwiches and chips. Melody appreciated Sarah"s concern.
"Is everything okay?" Sarah overlooked the touching scene.
"They want Aileen to do a lineup at the station later on."
"Oh well," Sarah sighed. "Uh, are you okay with that, Aileen?"
She sniffed. "No, but I guess I have no choice. All I can think about is how scared I was. How scared I still am. I can"t let another woman go through this. And if this officer is the rapist, he needs to be put away. Look at all the pain he"s caused all of us. If he goes free, he may never stop." She wiped her eyes. "I just gotta be strong, right?"
"And we"ll be there to help you." Melody hugged her.
"We will?" Sarah gaped. Melody looked at her. "Oh sure, we will. We"ll come with you, Aileen."
"Yeah." Melody smiled.
"I don"t know how to thank you guys. Your support is...well, it"s all I could hope for right now. I love you both."
Sarah smiled. "We love you, too."
"They"ll get him, Leen." Melody pushed Aileen"s curly hair behind her ears. "This is just something that has to be done."
Steven followed the officer from his cell. He met up with Brianna and Captain Jersey on the way to the lineup area. In less than twenty minutes, Aileen would forever clear his name. He wasn"t upset. He wasn"t anxious. He was very, very confident.
"Ladies." He smugly followed them down the hall. Jersey and Brianna grinned at each other.
"Well, you"re the first person I"ve seen who looked forward to a lineup, Kemp."
"Oh, I got no worries, Captain." He cracked his knuckles. "I"m not the rapist and soon Mrs. Andrews will prove it. I just can"t wait to see the look on Agent Parsons"s ugly-a.s.s face."
Brianna grinned. "Let"s not get too c.o.c.ky, okay? We want you to be cleared, Steven. But we should all remember Aileen is the true victim in this. We want to help her." They walked down a long hallway.
"Bree, there"s nothing I want more than to find this man. That"s why I got to hurry up and prove I didn"t do it. How can I help them if I"m stuck in here? The entire thing was just ridiculous, anyway. I can"t believe it even got to this point."
"But why did the rapist say he was you?" Jersey glanced at him. "That"s what I want to know."
"I told you he"s using me to benefit him. Like he knew that s.h.i.t about me and Bree being together. Obviously, he"s keeping tabs on the whole d.a.m.n precinct." Brianna nodded. "Who knows what else he"s doing. s.h.i.t, he could be a cop and we don"t know it. He just looks like me."
Brianna sighed. "Hopefully, he doesn"t look so much like you that Aileen can"t tell the difference."
They reached the lineup area. Six cops who resembled Steven sat on a little bench by the door.
"Don"t worry, Bree." Steven winked. "I got this."
She hoped so.
Sarah, Aileen and Melody made their way through the police station. Melody admired Aileen for doing this. Just being in a police station scared the h.e.l.l out of Melody. They came to the room where the lineup would be held. A uniformed cop escorted them into the room. They noticed a small group of people. The group turned around when Aileen approached. A somewhat handsome man extended his hand.
"Mrs. Andrews? I"m Agent Parsons with Internal Affairs. I"m handling the investigation." She nodded. "I just want to say that I"m very sorry for what has happened to you. I"m gonna do my part in making sure the man who raped you is brought to justice." She quietly nodded.
"Aileen, I"m District Attorney Zachary." A tall, attractive brunette held out her hand. "It"s wonderful to meet you, Aileen." Melody recognized the elegant lady from many newspaper articles. "I look forward to doing my part to help you. I hope I can make this easier for you to deal with. That depends on what happens here tonight."
"You mean, this could lead to the actual trial?" Aileen held Melody"s hand.
Zachary nodded. "If you identify Detective Kemp as the rapist, then we"ll definitely start the proceedings. Does that make you uncomfortable, Mrs. Andrews? We want to make this as easy for you as we can."
"I appreciate that." She shook. "These are my friends, Melody and her sister, Sarah." Parsons and Zachary tilted their heads in respect. "I just want this over with." Aileen looked at the gla.s.s. "Will I have to be in the same room with him, at all?"
"Oh no, no, no." Parsons smiled. "Absolutely not. He"ll stay behind that gla.s.s, and he can"t even see you. No need in worrying. We"ll be right here with you the entire time."
"We want you to take your time and try to be as accurate as possible, okay?" Zachary smiled.
"I"ll do my best. It"s just not easy, you know?" Aileen tugged at her clothes. "Just, well, none of this is easy." She looked at Melody.
"We think you"re very brave, Aileen. And we"ll be with you every step of the way. We"re not going to let anyone get away with what he"s done to you ladies. Whether he"s a cop or not." Parsons a.s.sured.
"h.e.l.lo." An older plain-Jane looking lady with red gla.s.ses walked up. Brianna Morris followed with a tall, bald gentleman. "I"m Captain Jersey, Mrs. Andrews. How are you?" Jersey took Aileen"s hand.
"Honestly, I"ve been better."
"I quite understand, and my precinct will do all we can to help."
Melody squinted. "Really?"
"Yes." Jersey smiled. Melody didn"t bother introducing herself. She held a special contempt for anyone in this precinct already. "You remember Detective Morris. This is Arlen Sumpter, Detective Kemp"s attorney."
"h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Andrews. Are you feeling okay?" He smiled.