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When Lisa got back to the station, Winston and Dee were huddling at Dee’s computer.
Lisa reclined in her chair and tossed a cinnamon roll on the desk.
“What’s wrong with you?” Dee asked.
“Huh?” Lisa’s mind remained on Jake and Rayne. “Nothing.”
“Since when do you abandon a cinnamon roll?” Winston asked.
“It’s not important.”
“Hold on.” Dee slid beside Lisa in her rolling chair. “If you’re upset then it’s important. You want to talk about it?”
“You don’t need to hear my little problems with what you’re going through. Anything new to report?”
“I wish there was.” Dee rolled back to her desk. “I haven’t heard from the site owner yet.”
Lisa stretched. “Do a cease and desist or have a lawyer contact them.”
“I was going to, but thought I should give the person more time.”
“They might be ignoring you,” Winston said. “Lisa’s lawyer idea is your best bet.”
“I’ll get in touch with a lawyer immediately,” Dee said. “I got three prank calls when you were gone.”
“Three?” Lisa shook her head. “You think it’s Armando? You said he was acting weird when you talked to him earlier.”
“When is he not weird?” Dee sipped from her cup. “We need to see his phone, but I can’t do that without a warrant, and I don’t have enough evidence to get one.”
“Don’t give up on Grayson.” Winston stood, stretching.
“I hope it’s not Grayson.” Lisa rocked. “But it happens more than you know when couples break up. I read about this woman who did a sex tape with her husband and when they divorced he put it on the Internet with her address and number. She had tons of men popping up at her place.”
“They can pop up at my place if they want to.” Dee got her gun from her belt. “I got something waiting on their ass.”
“Don’t take this lightly,” Lisa said. “Cop or no cop you don’t know how dangerous the men who visit that site are. Could be murderers and rapists.”
She put her gun back in the holster. “Thanks for contacting some of the women on the site, Leece. I gave the rest to Officer Fitzpatrick so she can follow up too.”
Winston’s cell phone rang, and he checked it. “I’ll be right back.” He walked off.
“He’s gone now,” Dee lowered her voice as officers passed her desk. “What’s going on?”
“I went to Jake’s.”
Dee sat back, grinning. “To spy on him and Rayne?”
“It wasn’t spying.”
Dee stared at her.
“Okay it was spying but can you blame me? Something is wrong with that chick, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Lisa crossed her legs. “She’s manipulating him. Why are men so stupid?”
Dee stroked her long tresses. “Ah, Leece that’s like asking why water is wet.”
“He had the nerve to get upset with me, but he was sitting up there naked.”
“If you trust Jake then you wouldn’t be this wound up.”
Lisa tapped her keyboard, sighing. “It’s hard to trust your man when a woman as beautiful as Rayne is around.”
A female, uniformed officer walked up. “Dee? Captain Salinger wants to see you.”
Dee stood, holding her chair. “Wonder what this is about.”
****
Ten minutes later, Lisa approached Captain Salinger’s officer just as Dee walked out.
“Lisa.” She sobbed, covering her mouth. “Lisa, he got a picture.”
“What?”
“Someone sent Salinger one of those pictures.” She wailed into her palms.
“My god.” Lisa hugged her. “Don’t be upset. He already knows what’s going on.”
“That’s not the point.” Dee moved from her. “You can’t imagine how embarrassing this is. I don’t want the whole station to know.” She sniffled. “Who knows who this person will send this to next? Might be my Dad. Can you imagine that? Why is this happening?” Dee beat the wall. “Why?”
“You didn’t tell your father about this?”
“No,” Dee howled. “How do you tell your father his daughter’s naked on a sex site even if it’s not true? And you know how my father is. I don’t want him to get worked up over this. I gotta handle this before anyone else finds out.”
Lisa rubbed Dee’s back. “We’re gonna catch who’s doing this.”
Dee leaned against the wall, facing her. “Salinger’s gonna try to contact the site and see if he can pull strings for me to get a warrant for Armando’s phone but I won’t have my hopes up.”
“At least he’s gonna try.” Lisa moved Dee’s hair from her face. “That’s all we got for now.”
Something beeped from Dee’s pocket.
“Oh, no.” She got her phone and checked the text.
“What is it?”
“Look.” Dee held the screen to Lisa.
Unknown Caller: Did your superior like the photo? I bet that’s authority he’s never seen you take.
“That son of a bitch,” Lisa said.
“Could it be a cop?” Dee glanced down the hall. “So far he’s sent this to Winston and Salinger.”
“I don’t think it’s a cop. We’ve worked with these people for years.”
“But how did this asshole get Salinger and Winston’s number?”
Lisa stroked Dee’s hair, moving it off her shoulder. “Blame Google.”
“What does he want?” Dee whispered. “Is it money? Is it something else? I can’t take this shit anymore.”
“Let’s hope Fitzpatrick finds out something when she talks to the other women. If their photos are there without their consent then that’s a start. We could find a link that connects you.”
“It’s gotta be Armando.” Dee wobbled, touching her forehead. “We need to get his phone. I can’t wait on a damn warrant.”
“What do you wanna do?”
“This is something that could get us in trouble but the only way we can find out if Armando is making these calls.”
“Yeah?” Lisa leaned into her.
“I gotta see Armando’s phone, and I need your help to do it.”
“I’m down for you.” Lisa raised her hand, pledging loyalty. “What’s the plan?”
****
That evening, Rayne sat on her floral couch reading over the last, cryptic letter she’d gotten from her mother years ago. She’d read it a million times, and each time forced another dagger through her heart.
You are my child, but I can’t say that what I feel for you is love. A mother is supposed to be invincible but I’m not. It kills me to write this letter, to admit I’ve given up. No mother should give up on her child, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to keep going with you.
Rayne’s lips trembled.
I can’t look at you without heartache. You can’t imagine how much that kills me. But, this is my final goodbye. I don’t know how to love you anymore.
“Bitch.” Rayne’s tears dampened the letters and photos she’d collected since being exiled from her family. “You’re supposed to love me!” She tore up the letter. “You bitch! You fuckin’ bitch!”
The photo of a sweet, little blonde girl slid from underneath the pile.
It was her favorite picture of her sister when she was a child.
Rayne picked it up and touched her sister’s beaming face. “You were the only one who cared, sis.” She kissed the photo. “I wish you were here to hold me and tell me everything is gonna be okay.”
The front door unlocked. “Hey, Babe.” Brandon Whitney shuffled in wearing an oily jumpsuit, corroding the living room with the stench of gasoline. “What’s going on, beautiful?”
“Brandon.” She gestured to the rug in front of the door. “How many times do I have to tell you to put your boots and jumpsuit outside? You’re gonna mess up the carpet and you stink.”
“My bad.” He stood on the porch and took off his boots and jumpsuit. “You happy?” He came back in, running his hands through his coal-black hair. His pale hands covered with black smudges from grime and oil. “Can I get a kiss?” He trudged toward her in gray socks.
“Your hands are filthy.” She scrunched up her face. “Go wash your hands and I’ll think about kissing you.”
He chuckled. “This is the treatment I get after a hard day’s work?” He pounced on her and kissed her.
“Brandon.” She struggled in his arms. “Stop. You’re gonna get oil on the couch and who’s gonna clean it?”
“What’s wrong?” he whispered against her cheek. “Why you so mean today?” He gestured to her photos and letters. “Why do you keep torturing yourself?” He stood erect. “You gotta let this go.”
“It’s my business.” She stared at another photo of her sister.
“It’s our business and this stuff only upsets you.”
“It’s easy for you to say let it go. You don’t care about your family.”
“That’s right.” His sea-blue eyes flickered. “Our families didn’t want us so fuck ‘em. What’s crying over it going to do?”
“Just because I hate them doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” She held up a piece of her mother’s letter she’d torn. “She gave up on me, Brandon. How can a mother give up on her child because she has issues? A mother’s love is supposed to be unconditional.”
“Yeah well not where we’re concerned.” He walked across the beige carpet and into the tiny, adjoining kitchen. “We got dealt a bad hand.” He squeezed lemon-scented dishwashing liquid on his hands and washed them. “Accept it.”
Rayne unfolded a letter from her sister. “Why should people get away with how they treat you?”
He dried his hands and got a beer out the fridge. “I thought this was our fresh beginning.” He sipped from the can, leaning over the island. “We’re never gonna have a real life if we don’t move on. Remember what Dr. Crosby said?”
“I don’t wanna hear that man’s name.” She tightened up. “I wanna forget everyone from that place.”
“It’s a part of our history and that won’t change.” He came into the room. “Don’t see it as something to be ashamed of. It helped us, Rayne. If it weren’t for being in the institution, we’d never have met.” He sat on the coffee table in front of her. “All the bad shit I’ve been through in my life led me to you, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
She took his big, lemon-scented hand. Just touching him was what she needed. “I love you, Brandon. Besides my sister you’re the only one who’s cared about me.”
“Our families don’t deserve us.”
“I know, but isn’t there a part of you that wishes you had your family in your life?”
“They gave up on me, Rayne,” he growled. “Stuck me in an institution when I was fifteen because they didn’t care enough to deal with what was going on. I spent my entire life in and out of hell because of them. No. I do not want them in my life. They’re dead to me, and that’s how you should see your family.”
“I’m not sure I can’t let it go.”
“Do you want to be happy?” He squinted. “Do you want to get married and have children? We’re in our thirties now, Rayne. It’s time for us to live our lives by our rules.” He kissed her forehead. “It’s just us against the world, Babe. We’re the only people we need.”
“Getting married.” She smiled, daydreaming of her and Brandon sitting in front of a two-story home with a white picket fence.
“And being a mother too.” He patted her stomach. “I want us to have a baby and have everything folks said we couldn’t have.” He gave her a huge smack on her lips. “We can rule this world, Babe.”
She laughed.
He pointed to his pronounced pecks. “The only ones holding us back is us.”