Chapter 26: On The Case

Rebecca

I couldn't believe how fast Jimmy had locked down the whack job that had been raping little girls in and around Palm Springs. It would have been nice to get an ID but in the long run this was actually better. If I'd had his name I might have been tempted to arrest him and take my chances with the physical evidence we had. This way, I wouldn't be tempted. I'd have the girl staked out and catch the bastard in the act. Well not 'in the act, ' but taking her anyway. That would be enough. With a little careful interrogation, the pictures of the girls' family cars showing that we knew how he worked should be enough to get a confession. Rod was beyond blown away. It was Wednesday morning and we were sitting in his office going over what Jimmy had given me.

"One night! He found him in one night? Just from the case descriptions, no names, just some family pictures, and he nailed him in one night."

"Less than that really, it's hard to say, dream time is very ... different, but it couldn't have been more than a couple hours tops."

He was quiet for a long time. "Rebecca, I know that he's been a great help to us so far, but doesn't some of this scare you just a little bit?"

"No," I said, "In anyone else, yeah, it would probably scare the shit out of me, but I know this boy, I've worked with him for almost a year; spent time with him; met his family. The night I met them Bob and I had to try and convince his parents, especially his mother, to let him continue working with us trying to catch a man who had raped and killed three girls that we knew of. Bob made a very convincing argument: He said that God had given Jimmy a very special gift, out of all the people in the world given it to him specifically. He also suggested that God had placed Jimmy in their care specifically to raise and guide him to become the kind of person that could be trusted with a gift like this. Let me ask you a question, Rod: Can you think of a single person that you would trust with this gift? Bob couldn't, not a one, but especially not anyone affiliated with the government. What about you? Is there anyone you would trust with this?"

I heard the words coming out of my mouth, I even believed them, Jimmy was a good kid. The thought of using his gift for wrong ends was out of his nature. But in the back of my mind I pictured Officer Stephen Mikkelson visiting his shrink because of the nightmares that wouldn't stop, and Raymond Parry lying in a hospital bed dreaming he had killed both of his daughters and an innocent little girl riding her bike to school. Even with these images running silently in the background, I believed what I had said, and sat quietly waiting for Rod to answer.

He was quiet even longer this time.

"Rod? Anyone at all? What about me?"

Finally he shook his head.

"Me either. Rod, I trust Jimmy. His only goal is to help people. He is the only reason Angela Osborne is still alive. Hell, he's the only reason I'm alive. If he hadn't come back for me I would still have been in there when the place blew up. He risked his life to save me; I don't have to tell you that means a lot, but more than that I have never once seen him use his gift for anything even questionable. And since we're on the subject, I was planning to bring this up anyway; he's scared about what's been going on. This thing with the leaks has got him nervous and I can't say I blame him; he wants a safe way out if anything should go wrong, you know, really wrong, for him and his sister. He understands that it takes money to make that happen."

"He..."

I held up my hand, "No, I thought so at first. He doesn't want money from us. He wants to use his gift to work on unsolved cases, specifically those with large rewards attached. That's one of the reasons I took this case to him. He'd just like us to arrange his escape route, not fake ID's but real new identities that will hold up in court. If we can't do it he's asked me to do it through other sources and he'll pay for it. Rod, I understand what he's afraid of, and let's face it, he's got every reason to be afraid."

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll handle it. I have a contact with wit-sec that can get the necessary documentation, record what needs to be recorded to make it hold up. He can leave the photos out so there is no record on file of what they look like. He has full access, fingerprints, dental records, Birth Certificates, the works — he can even give him a credit history. He does deep covers for us when we need it, as well as the CIA, NSA, and probably some groups we don't even want to know about."

"That still means there's a record, a government record, of it somewhere. I don't think that's going to make him feel any better."

"Hampton, who do you think you're talking to here? It's me, okay. If I said I can get it done ... trust me, I can get it handled."

I did a little bow and scrape, "Forgive me oh great one; many apologies, your immenseness."

"Fuck you, now what are you going to need to catch this pervert?"

I laid out my plan for him. I had a tech crew assigned with one of our TNT units. That's Technical and Tactical. It was a van so packed with electronics and firepower that it needed special springs and frame reinforcement to keep it from dragging on the ground. Paul would be my hound, with a driver to handle the van; Henslith and I were going to be spending some quality time together the rest of the week and into the weekend if necessary. Hell, it wasn't like there was anything new going on with our primary case at the moment. Of course, Murphy's Law ... nah, best not to think about it. The last thing I would need is something to happen while we were playing guardian angel to little Lupe.

"Okay, put it together and get rolling, I want you on the road as soon as possible. I'll personally notify you when the tip comes in. Forward your phone to my office, anything else I'll just send to voice mail. Good hunting."

"Thanks boss," I said as I head for the door.

We were just passing through Redlands when I got the call from Rod. Apparently an anonymous tipster had called in with information that he would only share with Special Agent Rebecca Hampton of the FBI. When told that she was unavailable and asked if her boss would do, the information had been given and we were live. The tricky part was getting a trace on Lupe without getting caught. Sorry, can't tell you how I did it, trade secret. That kept her safe for the rest of the day, and when she got home a secret admirer had left a heart-shaped necklace in an envelope with her name on it in the mailbox. Judging from the way it shifted around all night, I'd say she wore it to bed. We did shifts monitoring every movement little Lupe made for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Listening to hours of little girl giggling and fourth grade drama, tensing every time a man's voice sounded within range of the pickup. Saturday afternoon it finally happened.

She was walking home from a friend's house where she had spent the afternoon swimming when a car pulled up and a man's voice spoke urgently.

"Lupe! Thank God I found you. Anise is hurt, your mother is taking her to the hospital, she asked me to come get you and meet them there."

"What happened to Anise?" She asked.

"She was playing with Marta and fell down the stairs, Raul was coming up and caught her so she didn't fall far but they think her leg may be broken, quickly, get in, we have to get you to the hospital right away."

It was a good ploy, the urgency in his voice was contagious, the thought of her sister lying in a hospital bed served to blind her to the obvious question of why it was so urgent for her to get to the hospital, she wasn't the one who was hurt. There was a sound of a car door closing and the lock engaging and we were moving, Paul giving us directions as we moved to intercept them. It didn't take long before Lupe began to question what was happening.

"You're going the wrong way, the hospital is..."

"I know but it's faster if I go this way, I can take the freeway. Don't you trust me? By the way, you look very pretty today." This served to distract her and told us where he was ultimately headed. There were two options for getting onto the I-10 from where he was, and the critical intersection was coming up. If he turned right we'd have him in sight within seconds; left would take a little longer but it was only a matter of time.

"Is that a new bathing suit? I don't think I've seen it before."

"Yes, mama bought it for me because I outgrew my old one."

"Yes, I can see you are becoming a big girl. She'd better take you for a training bra soon or the boys will start to stare."

There was an embarrassed giggle followed by silence.

"Go ahead asshole," I heard Paul whisper; "I'm getting every fucking word on tape."

Suddenly her voice changed, "Hey! What are you ... you're not supposed to touch ... stop that."

"I can't help myself little one, you are just so beautiful..."

Suddenly Paul's voice cut in, "He's not getting on the freeway; he just went by the last access. There's not much else around -- my guess is he's just going for the desert.

The little girl's voice was getting more and more desperate and you could hear her struggling, suddenly there was the sound of tires on gravel and the car slowing down rapidly. A seatbelt released and little hands began trying to open the door but the inside handle was apparently disengaged.

Seat belts strained as I slid the car around the next corner and floored it. It was a straight shot from here to where he was parked with the helpless girl. Fifteen seconds and I had a visual on the car, could see the vague outline of his back as he forced her down onto the seat before him. The audio screamed desperate sounds as I slammed on the brakes; gravel and dust flew as the car skidded sideways to a stop. Henslith was out the door like lightning, I think she actually used the momentum of the stop to propel her forward, popping the seatbelt and opening the door at the perfect moment to allow inertia to carry her out. By the time I cleared my door she was at the door to his car. It was locked and he hadn't realized that we were there yet. Two shots rang out, the back side window exploded, and Henslith screamed for him to get out the car. I rushed to the far side and the girl, my own gun out and pointed between his eyes as I went around. Trapped, he showed us his hands before reaching down and triggering the electric door locks. I holstered my weapon, opened the door and scooped the terrified little girl into my arms, holding her tight to my chest and stroking her hair as she wept.

It happened fast and I'll never be sure if I saw what I think I saw but as she holstered her weapon to cuff the prisoner, Henslith's gun snagged on the edge of her holster and she dropped it. Instinctively she dropped her eyes and tried to catch it. As soon as he felt her move the big man turned and swung at her, catching her across the face with a backhand that spun her around. Rather than fight it she spun with the force of the blow and just for a fleeting instance I could swear I saw a smile on her face before her right foot slammed into his ribcage. I could hear his grunt of pain and as he brought his arms down, reaching instinctively to clutch at the point of impact. Henslith never slowed down, reversing her spin and bringing the leg in tight, only to explode outward like a piston at the exact moment to bring it slamming forward into his solar plexus, the force of the blow driving him back so hard the door buckled and a spider web of cracks appeared in the safety glass side window. Still she didn't let up. Two quick punches and he started to go down, an elbow thrown at his nose sent a fountain of blood into the air and stood him up straight again. I was sure he was out before her foot, coming up in a fast arc caught the left side of his face and sent him spinning down the length of the car to land sprawled in the dirt.