Chapter 1

Ming hesitantly climbed the large marble stairs, stopped briefly to look at the tall, menacing building, then once again advanced with trepidation. She swallowed hard, trying to catch her breath, which felt stuck in her throat. With a deep sigh, she resumed her trek feeling her legs shake as her knees seemed to buckle beneath her with each step. Her stomach felt queasy and the bile in her stomach insisted on forcing its way into her throat. Just having to remember the horrible event was giving her another panic attack. This wasn’t going to be easy.

It had been exactly one week since that terrible night and she had mixed feeling when she received the call from the detective earlier in the day. His monotone voice and professional speech gave no clue as to why he asked her to come down to the police station, but it sounded important. They must have caught the guy. Why else would he have her go there after class?

The heavy glass door resisted her attempts to open as the petite girl tugged as hard as she could on it. Using all the strength that her 89-pound body could muster, it slowly opened but only slightly before slamming firmly shut once again. When the two officers came up from behind her, she gasped and took a few steps back to move out of their way.

“Need help, young lady?” the tallest officer asked smiling down at her. He was very tall, much taller than four-foot eleven frame. She quickly turned her gaze to the floor as it wasn’t proper for her to make eye contact with someone she did not know, especially a man. He effortlessly pulled open the door and stepped aside to give her space to enter.

“After you, miss,” he motioned with a wavy of his hand. She was frozen with fear and couldn’t move. “Need help with anything?” He added which encouraged her movement.

“I am, um, looking for Lieutenant Walton,” she squeaked hardly audible to the man as she entered the building’s threshold without making eye contact with either of them.

“Walton, eh? He’s on the second floor, just take the elevator up, exit to the right and you’ll see the door for detectives about halfway down to the left.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied bowing slightly and clutching her backpack closer to her chest. She could feel their stares even as she walked away and felt the chill run down her spine.

She was nervous, more so than usual and it’s been a very difficult week. She missed two classes and couldn’t seem to concentrate in the others. She’s had trouble sleeping and felt uneasy whenever a male stood too close or looked her way. She had never felt that way before last week. With restless apprehension, she stood waiting for the elevator to arrive and felt anxious when a large man came closer and stood beside her. She didn’t want to look at him, couldn’t look at him but she felt his stare boring into her like an angry drill. Nervously she hugged her backpack tighter to her chest and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

The bell chimed and the doors slowly opened. Three men exited the elevator, adding to her anxiety as she stepped far to the side to avoid making any physical contact with them. She felt a little better when a woman joined her in the elevator and smiled at her as she turned to face the doors. Another man entered the small elevator before the doors closed. This was much harder than she anticipated.

As soon as the doors opened to the second floor, Ming rushed out so quickly she forgot which way the policeman told her and headed in the wrong direction. Seeing an older woman behind a counter at the end of the hall she felt a little better about asking for directions as there were no men around.

“Excuse me, ma’am, could you please direct me to Lieutenant Walton?”

“Go back down the hallway you came in, past the elevators and it’s to the left. Big glass door with ‘detectives division’ stenciled on it. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” she smiled customarily bowed to the older woman. She walked until she saw the name on the opaque glass door and took a deep breath before reaching for the handle.

“Please have good news,” she whispered to no one. “Please tell me you caught the monster.”

The door creaked opened, giving an ominous feel to the hazy room, which heightened her anxiety even more. There were a few people in the room, most of which were men, making her feel even more awkward about being there. There were men everywhere she looked and she felt her breath catch in her throat. Smoothing out her dress, she approached one of the only two women there.

“I am looking for Lieutenant Walton,” she said not looking at the woman above the waist. In her country it is considered impolite and disrespectful to make direct eye contact, especially an elder person.

“He’s over in the corner office, sweetie,” she replied pointing over her shoulder.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ming responded and bowed again before she slowly made her way to the corner.

With a light tap on the door frame, she stood at the entrance for permission to enter the room. He was on the phone and waved for her to enter and she stood near his desk while he finished his conversation. Once completed, he smiled at her, making her feel a little better and moved a few files off to the side of his desk.

“Sit, Miss Wong,” he said motioning to the chair in front of his desk. Meekly she sat on the front edge, hardly contacting the seat. Leaning back into his chair the big man stared at her silently for what seemed like several uncomfortable minutes with his fingers laced behind his head.

“Why have you asked me here, Detective?” Ming asked not looking above the name plate on his desk. “Have you caught the man who raped me?”

“How long have you lived here?” he asked and caused her to become confused.

“Excuse me?”

“How long have you been in the US? Are you a citizen?”

“I am here on a student visa, sir, and this is my second semester.”

“You speak English very well for being here less than a year.”

“I studied English before coming here to help me do better in school.”

“According to your file, you’re eighteen, right?”

“Yes sir, I will be nineteen in three months but I do not understand what this has to do with what happened.”

“I’ll get to that in a minute. Do you have a boyfriend? Do you date much?”

“NO SIR!” She responded adamantly with a raised voice. “I would never do that! My parents have worked very hard for me to come here to get a good education. I take my studies very seriously and only go to school and study. I do not have time for anything else!”

“I see,” he replied looking through the file. “Have you contacted your parents to let them know about the alleged rape?”

“No sir I cannot do that. It would bring my family great shame and my father has congenital heart disease. He has suffered two heart attacks already and such news would surely kill him. I cannot take that risk.”

“Well can you tell me again what happened that night?”

“Detective, I already gave my statement.”

“It’s Lieutenant and I’ve got it here, but I want you to tell me again. Just to make sure I have all the facts straight and maybe you might remember something else, something you forgot to report last week.”

“Um, well I was walking back to the dorms from the library when a man came up from behind me and pushed me into the bushes and, uh, did that terrible thing to me.”

“That’s a very vague description.”

“I wrote more last week. Please do not make me repeat what it was that he did to me. It has brought me much shame and fear.”

Sam sighed and reached for a pen, scribbling a few words in his notes.

“How many men raped you?”

“There was only one.”

“What time of the night was this?”

“About 10 o’clock. The library closes at ten on Fridays and I left just before they closed.”

“Did anyone see you there? Any students, the librarian ... the janitor? Anyone?”

“I do not think so. I study by myself and very few people were there that night.”

“So, no one actually saw you at the library that night?”

“I do not think so, why do you ask?”

“You see, Miss Wong, er, can I call you Ming?”

“Yes sir, please.”

“You see Ming, the rape kit came back but we didn’t find a DNA match. What we did find was three DNA samples inside of you.”

“THREE?!? What does that mean?”

“It means you had semen from three different men, not one.”

“How is that possible?”

“You tell me. You said only one man raped you and yet there were three semen samples found. Are you sure there was just the one?”

“Yes sir, I am positive.”

“In your statement you said while it was happening to you that you, let’s see, you wrote that you ‘blacked out’ for a few minutes. Is it possible you blacked out and two other men raped you?”

“No sir, I am positive there was only one.”

“Were you a virgin?”

“EXCUSE ME?!?!”

“It’s a valid question. Prior to that night had you had sexual intercourse before?”

“I do not see how that will matter.”

“Look, Ming, I’m trying to help you and I can’t do that if you’re withholding information. Please answer the question.”

“I had a boyfriend back in Taiwan but that was more than a year ago.”

“So, you had sex prior to last Friday night?”

“Yes sir, maybe four or five times, but like I said it was over...”

“That’s all I needed to know, Ming,” he said writing something in the file.

“How much did you drink that night?”

“I did not drink anything. I do not drink. I was studying in the library.”

“The nurse who examined you noted that you smelled of alcohol.”

“The man poured something on me when he was finished doing what he did to me.”

“You didn’t mention that in your statement.”

“I must have forgot about that. I was not thinking correctly after what happened.”

“What else did you forget?”

“I do not understand.”

“Did you forget to report that you had sex with two other men before the third man raped you?”

“NO! I did NOT have sex with anyone that night! That man forced himself on me and did it to me! I did not have sex with him or anyone else!”

“Okay, calm down, I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this. Now after the alleged rape, what did you do?”

“I went to back to the dorm and Stacy took me to the hospital.”

“Stacy?”

“Stacy Garrison, my roommate.”

“Did you tell her what happened?”

“Yes, that is why she took me, why are you asking me these questions and not trying to find the man who did this to me?”

“I am trying to help you so please stop being so defensive. The more you help me the more I can help you. Now can I continue?” Ming nodded.

“Besides the four men you mentioned, how many other men have you had sex with?”

“WHAT?!?! I have ONLY had one lover in my life, Detective, ur, Lieutenant Walton and that is all!”

“Well, you said there was only one man that raped you and yet they found three semen samples inside of you. For all I know there were others. Maybe the others wore condoms.”

“WHAT?!? No one wore condoms!”

“So, you’re admitting to having unprotected sex with three men that night?”

“NO LIEUTENANT! I had sex with no one that night! I was RAPED, why do you not believe me?!”

“I’m sorry, Ming, but it’s just not adding up. He didn’t use a weapon, you didn’t have any cuts or scrapes and the only bruises found were around the genital region and that could have been caused by aggressive sex, especially with three men. Aside from that there wasn’t much in the form of trauma to your vagina. You’re very petite, Ming and if someone forcibly raped you there should have been more physical evidence in addition to the semen from the three different men. I’m beginning to wonder if it was actually a rape.”

“Do you think I made this all up? Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, maybe you’re afraid of your parents finding out that you’re sexually active so you cried rape to cover it up?”

Ming’s mouth dropped open with shock. Did he really just say that?

“‘Cried rape?’ Lieutenant Walton I WAS raped that night and you’re not doing anything to find who did it!”

“Which one, Ming? Huh? Which one do I charge with rape? I have three different DNA samples of which you say only one of those raped you. You claim that you didn’t see his face...”

“He was wearing a mask! That is in my statement!”

“Like I was saying, if you didn’t see his face and we DO happen find one of the men you had sex with, you couldn’t identify him as your rapist. His attorney would have a field day with this and he’d walk out a free man, wasting a lot of taxpayer’s money and a lot of MY time,” he panted and wiped the sweat away from his brow with a folded handkerchief. Ming returned her attention to his nameplate.

“What would you like for me to do, Detective?”

“Get your story straight and help us to help you or stop wasting my time.”

“My story is straight and I AM trying to help. I want this man found before he does it again to me or someone else!” Sam slowly released a deep breath of air as he stared across the desk at the diminutive college student.

“You know what I think happened that night? You willingly had sex with two different men and when third man wanted to have sex with you, you turned him down for whatever reason. He may or may not have forced you to have sex, that I don’t know, but the evidence doesn’t lie, Ming, and I do know that you had sex with at least three different men that night. The problem is you’re saying only one had sex with you and denying the other two. Why is that?”

“I did not have sex with anyone that night, I was raped and by only one man!”

“Look, Ming, why don’t you go home, think about it over the weekend and when you’re ready to be honest come and see me, otherwise I’m shelving this case.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m not wasting any more of my time on your bullshit,” he spat placing the file on top of the stack behind him.

“Look at this, Ming, do you see all of these?” he asked lifting a large stack of files he had moved earlier. “These are all active cases that I’m working on and all of these are good, legitimate cases with clear facts which will make my job easier!” he growled dropping them back onto his desk.

“Do you know why your file isn’t among them? Because you’re not cooperating, which will make it impossible to solve. If you were truly raped and decide to take this seriously, give me a call and I will help you,” he said extending his hand holding a business card.

“My direct line in on it.”

“You are not going to try to find him?”

“How? Huh? How do you suggest I do that? Even if just one of those samples had a hit in CODIS we couldn’t make an arrest because of the other two samples. If you would tell us who the other two men were that you had sex with that night, we could take samples from them and eliminated them from our suspect list.”

“I did not have sex with anyone; I already told you that, Detective!”

“Well, Ming, I guess our meeting is over then. Have a nice day,” he huffed reaching for his reading glasses.

Ming sat there stunned, not believing what had just happened. She stared at the crumpled red tie dangling haphazardly from his neck. The yellow mustard stain seemed fresh, giving her a hint of what he had for lunch. He was older than her father and a little overweight which gave his balding head a shiny, rounded look.

“I have a lot of work to do, Miss Wong,” he grumbled while looking at her from over the rim of his thick glasses.

Disgruntled she reached for her backpack and stormed out of the office, accidentally bumping into one of the detectives waiting just outside of the doorway. Grabbing her by the arms to keep from knocking her over, he smiled down at her while his eyes roamed her petite form.

“Whoa, slow down, sweetheart!” he mumbled feeling her recoil from his grasp. Silently she pulled away from him and hurried for the exit. She felt ashamed and humiliated and couldn’t wait to get back to her dorm room.

“What did you do to her? She ran outta here like a scared little bunny being chased by a coyote!” Dan Jackson called through the opened door with a smile.

“I didn’t do anything,” he grumbled while reading over the top file on his desk.

“Who is she?”

“Just some college girl who bit off more than she could chew and wants me to clean up her mess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Apparently she had sex with a couple of guys and when another one wanted some action, she told him no but he had sex with her anyway and now she’s crying rape.”

“Damn don’t you just hate bitches like that? Tease guys all night long and when it’s time to put out they get all Mother Theresa on your ass! Like I always say, if you can’t walk the walk, don’t talk the talk!”

“Amen to that, brother,” Sam said smirking over his glasses.

“She’s a real cutie though,” he said smiling. “You said she goes to the university? How old is she?”

“Eighteen.”

“Wow doesn’t look a day over thirteen. Gotta name?”

“Ming Wong, she’s staying in the dorms at Fremont, let’s see,” he said reaching behind him for her file. “Cook building, room 5-B. Has a roommate named Stacy Garrison.”

“Hum, mind if I follow up on this case next week? Just to see how she’s doing?” Dan smirked with a wink.

“I know how you are, Dan, so be careful that she doesn’t cry rape again.”

“Don’t worry about that, Lieutenant, I have a feeling she won’t ever report another rape!” Both men laughed as he left and Sam returned his attention to the top file on the stack.

“What the fuck, Ming!” Stacy shouted as the slamming door startled her and she glared at her shaken roommate.

“Are you alright? What the hell happened? How did it go down at the police station?”

Ming threw herself onto her bed and sobbed uncontrollably.

“It went ... terrible!” she managed to snivel out between gasps after several minutes of heavy crying. “He all but called me a slut!”

“What do you mean? You were raped!”

“They found semen from three men inside of me and they think that I had sex with three different guys and I made up the rape story so my parents would not find out.”

“WHAT!?!? Are you fuckin’ serious? That’s bullshit!”

“I know, but I do not know what to do now.”

“I thought you said only one guy raped you. How did you get the cum from three guys inside of your pussy?”

“Stacy please stop using words like that. I do not like them. They are dirty and make me embarrassed.”

“Sorry, Ming, I forgot you were so pure and innocent! How did the other semen get inside of you?”

“I do not know.”

“Are you sure that you didn’t have sex with someone first? I mean it’s cool if you did, I’m not going to judge you. Hell, I fuck three guys in one day all the time!”

“That is you, Stacy, because you ARE a slut but I am not. I am not like you; I am a good girl and only had one boyfriend my entire life and that was back in Taiwan. We only made love about five times!”

“Wow, one guy in your whole life? Damn! Well, I guess it’s four now huh?”

“There was only one and I do not count the rape as having sex!”

“Guess not. But wasn’t it the very least bit exciting? I mean didn’t it feel good even a little?”

“WHAT!?!? NO!! It was painful and awkward and the worst experience of my life! I felt helpless and weak. I was scared and it shamed me that I was so defenseless. I no longer like crowds and whenever I see a strange man, I get nervous and it is very hard for me to breathe. After I got home from the hospital, I showered for an hour trying to scrub the dirty feelings but it did not help.”

“Ming, it wasn’t your fault. That guy took sex from you without your consent, I understand that and I understand how powerless you were and how helpless you must feel. If you want this to end, what you need to do is take the power back.” Ming stared at her much bigger friend with confusion.

“I do not understand. What do you mean?”

“I mean he took your power from you and you need to take it back. You’ll feel better, you’ll get your confidence back and no longer feel weak and afraid.”

“How do I do that?”

“I’ve got an idea. It was one week ago today that he raped you, right?” Ming nodded. “What you need to do is go back to the library and do exactly what you did that night. Leave at 9:45, walk the same way home and do exactly everything that you did that night.”

“Why? Would that not encourage him to rape me again?”

“Exactly! I’ve got a can of pepper spray that you can use. When he jumps out and grabs you, hit him with the pepper spray, kick him as hard as you can in the balls and run like hell! You’ll feel better, he’ll be blind, talk like a girl for a few hours, AND he’ll think twice before raping anyone else in the future!”

“I cannot do that!”

“You’re gunna have to if you want to get your confidence back. Get your life back. He took that away from you and you’re letting him keep control over you. You have to do something if you want to live a normal life again. You can’t keep living like this you know. You jump at every sound and want to run away anytime some guy looks at you. You’re driving ME crazy!”

“There must be another way.”

“I can’t think of any. Besides you already know that the police aren’t going to help you. They think you’re a slut so don’t look to them for support.”

“I do not think this will work.”

“Got any other ideas? I’ve seen the change in you, Ming, you’re not the same girl who moved in here nine months ago. You’re even more withdrawn than before and you freak out anytime I bring a guy back to the room. This just isn’t for you, girlfriend, it’s for both of us! Hell, it’s for ALL the women in the world. For too long men have controlled us and we need to take back our lives and take back our power! You can do this, Ming, for women everywhere!”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Will you come with me?”

“Wish I could but if he sees two of us, he may not try anything and the night will be wasted. Besides I have a party to go to and I don’t wanna miss it!”

“You go to parties all the time, Stacy that is why people say bad things about you. Perhaps you can miss this one and watch out for me?”

“You can do this, Ming, and besides you’re trying to get YOUR power back so it won’t help if I’m with you. This is something you need to do on your own.”

“I do not know if I can do it.”

“Yes, you can. Now let’s pick out what you should wear.”

“I only have dresses and skirts.”

“What’s the shortest skirt you have?”

“I do not have short skirts. They all go past my knees. It is not proper to be any shorter.”

“Fuck proper, you’re on a mission here, Ming. I’ll hem up one of your skirts to make you more appealing.”

“I am not trying to get raped again, Stacy.”

“Uh, yea you are, girlfriend! We’re just not gunna let the asshole do it again! Put out the bait, hook the fish, and reel the motha-fucker in for his punishment! Simple and effective!”

“Is there no other way?”

“Not if you want to get even with the son-of-a-bitch and your life back! You’ll feel better, trust me.”

“I do not know if this is the best thing for me to do.”

“I do, Ming” Stacy said hugging her tightly, crushing her face between her buxom cleavage.

“I...”

“Just do it and get it over with. I’ll sneak away from the party around 11 to check on you. Meet me back here at the dorm after you’ve kicked his ass and tell me all about it. Believe me you’ll feel so much better once you do this and he’ll never rape another woman as long as he lives!” Stacy’s beaming smile gave her comfort.

“I do believe you, Stacy. You’ve been a good friend to me since it happened and I really appreciate all that you have done for me.”

“Hey, that’s what roomies are for, right? Come on, let’s get you looking sexy and punish the motha fucker!”

Working on Ming’s appearance for two hours, Stacy styled her long, jet black hair and adjusted her clothes, revealing just a little too much skin for Ming’s comfort. She trusted Stacy, after all, she knew a lot of worldly things that Ming didn’t. Stacy has a lot of experience dealing with guys and she knew how they thought. She only hoped that she could do it if the time came.

“I think if we used a heavy eyeliner, it would make your almond eyes really pop, what do you think?” Stacy asked applying a dark line well past the edges of her eyes. “And blue eye shadow will bring out your brown eyes and some rouge will highlight your high cheek bones,” she added standing back to see the finished work.

“Wow, Ming, you look amazing! Like one of those Japanese whores, what are they called? Ginsengs?”

“I think you mean a Geisha and I look like a cheap prostitute! Please take off some of the makeup.”

“Whatever, but anyway you’re TRYING to look desirable so that the creep will try to rape you again. That’s the trap! He’ll want you even more and then WHAM! You drop the hammer right on his balls with all your might!”

Ming stared at herself in the mirror. Her delicate Asian features were transformed into an elegant, but sexy young woman. Gone was the adolescent-looking young schoolgirl. Stacy even stuffed her bra with tissue, altering her training bra-size breasts into a much large appearance.

“This is going to fuckin’ work!” Stacy mumbled stepping back to look at her. “WOW, girlfriend, you are fucking hot as fuck!”

“I do not feel right dressed like this. I was never allowed to wear makeup and it doesn’t feel right to wear such clothes.”

“Everyone dresses like this in America, Ming, just relax and go with it. Look, it’s almost 8 O’clock so get going or you’ll miss your chance to nail this stupid motha fucker. I need to get ready for my party too so goodbye and good luck.”

“What about the pepper spray?”

“Oh, yea, here,” Stacy said reaching into her purse for the small metal tube. “Just aim the sprayer at the asshole’s face and press this button on top. Seconds later he’ll be rolling on the ground and screaming in pain like a little cry baby!”

Ming was still unsure about doing this but had faith in her roommate. If she felt this would work then she must go through with it. Stacy was right that she hasn’t been acting like herself since the rape and this may be just what she needed to get her self-confidence back. Hopefully.

Stacy walked her to the door and shut it behind her with a smile. She waited a full minute before reaching for her cell phone to call her boyfriend.

“Hey Babe,’ his masculine voice rang through the earpiece. He played football and was a big hulky guy, just the way she liked her guys.

“Hey, Mitch. It’s all set. Are your guys ready?”

“Yea, but what happened at the police station?”

“They didn’t believe her and according to Ming, they all but called her a slut! That’s classic!”

“Great news, Babe. Are you really sure about going through with this though?”

“You’re not getting cold feet now, are you?”

“Naw, but I just want to be sure this is what you want.”

“Do you know how fuckin’ sick and tired of hearing her calling me a slut and lecturing to me about sex and that damn condescending look she’s always giving me. I hate that fuckin’ little bitch and her ‘holier than thou’ attitude! Fuck yea I wanna do this shit!”

“Yea I get it, Babe, but isn’t this kinda harsh?”

“She deserves it, trust me. It’s time we open up little miss ‘goody-two-shoes’ for the team, if you know what I mean.”

“Trust me, once we’re done, she’ll be wide opened!” Mitch said with a chuckle.

“Who are the guys that going to fuck her this time?”

“Jerome, Mark and Tony.”

“Sweet. What about the donors?”

“Randy, Scott, Phil, Brian and Chuck.”

“They know what to do, right?”

“Yes Stacy, I’ve explained it to them several times. They’ll each take turns fucking her and then dump the cum from the others into her pussy to contaminate the evidence, just like before.”

“Make sure they know to bring the bottle of alcohol to pour INTO her ass. Idiot Martin poured it on her and not inside of her last time. Shove it up her ass and fill her up, got it?”

“Yea, Babe, I got it. What time?”

“She’ll leave the library around 9:45 and head toward the dorms. Catch her in the same place and remind them not to leave a mark on her. We want the cops to think she did this voluntarily.”

“We’ll take care of her, don’t you worry, Babe.”

“Oh, and I gave her a can of pepper spray so tell your boys to be careful. That’s her courage and she’s planning on using it. Have one of them take it away from her but don’t use it on her; we don’t want the cops thinking she was raped. Oh, and I need the spray back.”