Irrefutable Read online

  Carmen stared at him through narrowed eyes. “And you have to leave, right?” She threw her hands in the air. “Doesn’t that just figure?”

  Alex reached for her hand, but Carmen slapped it away. “Don’t touch me!” She took a step backwards.

  “I’m sorry. I know how important tonight is to you.”

  “No, I don’t think you do.” Her eyes began to water. “So, I’m supposed to just wait here by myself?” She glared at her father.

  “I’m sorry, but you know how this works. When they call, I have to go.” Alex snatched a tissue from the box on the end table and blotted her eyes.

  “I should be used to it by now.” she pushed his hand away from her face. “You always have to leave. What about me? Why is your job always more important than I am?” Her eyes again, filled with tears. She sat on the edge of the couch and buried her face in her hands.

  “Nothing is more important than you,” Alex knelt in front of her, “but this is my job. It’s what I do. It’s what I have to do. I have responsibilities.”

  “But not to me, right?” Carmen ran to her room and slammed the door.

  Alex followed. “Carmen, I’m sorry.” He pressed his forehead against her door. “I don’t want to go, but I don’t have a choice.”

  There was no response. He knew explaining was pointless. He told himself she would understand someday.

  Alex grabbed his keys from the end table and headed for the front door. He paused for a moment, looking back, hoping she would emerge from her room to say she understood. But, as he expected, her door remained closed. He got in his car and headed for the hospital.

  “She’s right, you know.” Allyson said, sitting in the passenger’s seat.

  Alex tried to ignore her, to tell himself that she wasn’t really there, but he knew she wouldn’t go away until he acknowledged her.

  Allyson sat quietly, waiting for Alex to respond.

  “I know she’s right, but what am I supposed to do? I can’t just blow off a call because it’s inconvenient.”

  “You need to make time for her when you can.” Allyson said. “If you’d spend more time with her when you are available, she wouldn’t resent you so much at times like this.” She waited for a response, but Alex said nothing. “When was the last time you did something together, just the two of you?”

  “It’s been a while,” he admitted.

  “You sure seemed to have time for that other woman.”

  Alex let out a long sigh. “That was a mistake. I broke it off. You know that.”

  “That woman is psychotic.” Allyson folded her arms and stared out the window. “It may be over for you, but I don’t think it is for her.”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Mark my words,” Allyson said, “your little affair will come back to haunt you.”

  “It wasn’t an affair. You had been gone for a year and a half before I started seeing her.”

  Alex had never told Carmen or Rachel of the relationship. It only lasted a couple of months. He didn’t see the need. He made the rest of the ten minute drive in silence.

  _________

  Cypress Village Community Hospital opened its doors four years ago. It is situated on twenty eight acres on the southern edge of town, land that was donated by a group of wealthy alumni from Florida State University, with the agreement that it was to be used as the site for a state-of-the-art medical facility. As it turned out, several of those alumni were physicians who wanted a world class hospital that could cater to the needs and demands of the affluent people who called Cypress Village home. This shining diamond was now a statement in opulence. With three hundred all private rooms it looked and felt more like a five star hotel than a hospital. It offered hotel style concierge and room services. It was the kind of place the well insured flocked to for their healthcare needs or when paying out of pocket for their elective procedures.

  Its glass and steel structure reached seven stories into the Florida sky, sparkling as its windows reflected the last light of the setting sun.

  Alex parked in the physician’s lot, adjacent to the ambulance entrance. He entered 9-1-1, into the keypad beside the sliding glass doors and chuckled at the high level of security as they slid open.

  The ER was busy, but this was not unusual for a Friday evening. Even though Cypress village was a desirable, upscale area, the town still had its share of drunks that somehow always seemed to end up in the ER on Friday or Saturday nights.

  “Hey detective. Long time, no see.” Janet Freeman, the sexual assault nurse examiner, greeted Alex as he made his way to the far end of the nurse’s station.

  Alex had known Janet for a little over four years. He always thought she was an odd sort, but she was good at her job. She was a very outspoken thirty something with a dark past that she felt no need to keep secret. Janet had made a sport of flirting with him, even when his wife was alive. Alex always took it in stride.

  “I got called just as I stepped into the shower. Didn’t even have time to wash my hair.” Janet said. “I feel so dirty.”

  Alex didn’t acknowledge the last remark. He opened his briefcase to retrieve the sexual assault evidence kit and his folding clipboard. “I’m missing my daughter’s prom. She has to wait alone for her date and I feel guilty as hell.” he said without looking at her.

  “You should,” Janet smiled, “but, what can you do?”

  “What indeed?” He handed Janet the evidence kit.

  A uniformed officer approached Alex, a small spiral notepad in hand. “Good evening detective.”

  Alex acknowledged the man with a nod.

  “Victim’s name is Amanda Dixon. She was found by a passer-by, out by the old marina. Says she was attacked while she was jogging and figures she was taken out there and dumped after the attack.”

  Alex looked at Janet and saw the color drain from her face. “Are you okay?”

  “Sorry, I’m fine.”

  “What is it?” Alex asked.

  “Janet leaned close to Alex so only he could hear. “My father used to take me to an old marina in Ohio. It just brought back some bad memories, that’s all.”

  Alex nodded, “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Fine.” Janet forced a smile

  Alex returned his attention to the officer. “Where was she jogging?”

  “McManus Park. It happened last night.”

  “Last night?” Alex raised his eyebrows. He listened as he placed his clipboard on the counter and looked through the stack of forms, finally finding the one he needed.

  “She remembers being pushed down from behind, then waking up, naked, on the ground by the old marina this afternoon. Says she doesn’t remember how she got there.”

  “Maybe she was drugged,” Janet said.

  Alex looked at Janet then back at the officer. “How did the call come in?”

  “The woman who found her called it in,” the officer said.

  “Has anyone talked to her?”

  “Yes sir, we’ve got a statement from her. Says she was driving on Lakeview when she saw the victim walking up the drive, naked, from towards the old marina. Says the woman looked confused. She stopped. The woman told her she thought she’d been raped. She wouldn’t get in the car with her and so she called us.”

  “Did you get a written statement?”

  “Yes sir.” the officer said. “Oh, and Ms. Dixon was worried about her car. She asked if we could check on it. Says she don’t know where her keys are, probably with her clothes. Says she wants it towed to the dealership where she bought it.”

  Alex shook his head. “It could be part of our crime scene. We need forensics to go over it.”

  “We asked her, says she was quite a ways from her car when it happened.”

  Alex considered the request for a minute. “Fine, have it towed.” Alex turned to Janet. “I need to talk to her when you’re finished.”

  “Of course. I’ll let you know what I find.” She softly knocked on the door then d
isappeared into the room.

  Alex was startled by his phone. “Mendez.”

  “Hi Alex, Rachel. Are you busy?”

  “Actually, I am. I’m at the hospital with a rape victim.”

  “Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to let you know, I got a call from Carmen. She asked if I could come over and see her off to the prom, so I’m over here.”

  “Oh, well thank you. I appreciate it.”

  “She’s pretty upset.”

  “I know. She wouldn’t talk to me when I left.” Alex picked up his clipboard and walked outside through the ambulance entrance. “I tried to explain, I don’t have a choice. When I’m called, I have to go.”

  “I explained that to her. I think she understands,” Rachel said. “She just didn’t want to be alone when her date arrived, and I don’t blame her.”

  “I know.” Alex paced back and forth across the covered ambulance driveway.

  “You should have called me. I would have been happy to come over.”

  “I didn’t think of that. Besides, I don’t want to bother anyone with our family issues.”

  “Alex, I practically am family,” Rachel said. “Her mother and I were best friends. I’d do anything for that girl. You know that.”

  “I know you would and I appreciate it. I really do.”

  “Well anyway, Carmen looks beautiful. I’ll get lots of pictures. I think she’ll be able to enjoy the evening.”

  “Good, thanks again for being there. I know it means a lot to her.”

  “Anytime.” Rachel said.

  Alex hung up and looked over his report form as he walked back inside. He had to re-familiarize himself with the form. It had been quite some time since he used one. The last time he could remember was over six months before, and it turned out to be nothing more than a domestic squabble. A woman had filed the report after an argument with her husband, but they later reconciled and she recanted her statement.

  There was a string of rapes four years earlier that kept Alex away from home all too often. It took Alex and his team six months to crack the case. It was a great victory professionally. He was a hero, but it came at a cost; his relationship with Carmen.

  Alex walked to the cafeteria for some badly needed coffee and time to think.

  He replayed the evening’s events. He could still see the look of contempt in Carmen’s eyes. Would she forgive him, or had he completely ruined her evening? Alex tried to push the thoughts out of his head. He refused to let his guilt distract him from his current duty. He poured his coffee and returned to the emergency department to wait.

  Alex passed the time exchanging small talk with a few of the nurses until an ambulance arrived with a cardiac arrest. Alex watched as several firefighters and the EMS crew, one doing chest compressions and the other ventilating the patient, casually greeted the nurses as they walked the stretcher into one of the critical care rooms. It struck Alex as odd that the staff didn’t run beside the gurney with a doctor shouting orders, like on the TV medical dramas. It was more like a routine, just another day at the office. But, then again, his job wasn’t at all like the police dramas either.

  Janet finally emerged from the room two and a half hours after she entered.

  “Well, what did you find?” Alex said.

  “She has some scrapes on her face and hands where she was pushed to the ground from behind. There are bruises that look like possible ligature marks on both wrists. Evidently, at some point, her hands were bound behind her.” Janet handed him the sealed evidence kit. “I looked for a needle mark in all the obvious places, but didn’t see anything.”

  “A needle mark?” Alex said, as he signed the chain of custody form.

  “I figure if she doesn’t remember anything, she must have been either knocked out or drugged. If it was a drug, it would have probably been injected. I think it would be hard to get her to swallow something during an attack.”

  “Do you think?” Alex asked with a note of sarcasm.

  Janet placed her elbow on the counter. “I could see under the UV light that there was semen, but there wasn’t really much evidence of vaginal trauma. I drew blood and did all the swabs. She’s ready for you, if you want to talk to her.”

  “Thanks.” Alex approached the exam room then turned to Janet. “I just need a chaperone, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Janet knocked on the door and slowly opened it. As they entered, the woman on the exam table withdrew, pulling the sheet up around her neck. “Who is he?”

  “It’s okay.” Janet said

  “My name is Detective Sergeant Alex Mendez.” He held his badge in front of him for the woman to see. “I’m with the Cypress Village Police. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  “I already told the nurse everything.” She pointed toward Janet, who had taken a position leaning against the wall.

  “Yes ma’am, I understand, but I need you to tell me.” Alex smiled warmly, as he sat on a stool next to the exam table. Alex understood the need to be on her level. He didn’t want to seem intimidating by towering over her.

  She was, what Alex considered to be, an attractive woman. She looked to be in her mid thirties and was obviously in great physical condition. The scrapes on her face, the running make up and her disheveled blonde hair couldn’t disguise the fact that she took good care of herself.

  She let out a long sigh. “How many times will I have to go over this?”

  “Just this once,” Alex smiled. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  The woman closed her eyes for a moment. “I was jogging on the track out at McMannus Park when someone knocked me to the ground from behind.”

  “And, about what time was that?”

  “It was probably close to eleven.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with a well used tissue. “I run five miles and it usually takes about an hour. I think I was on my last lap, so yea, around eleven.”

  “Did you get a look at the attacker?”

  “No. I landed on my stomach and he was on my back as soon as I hit the ground.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “No…not a word.” The woman furrowed her brow as if she had just realized that this struck her as odd.

  “And, then what happened?”

  “The next thing I remember was waking up on the ground, naked.” A solitary tear ran from the corner of her eye, down her left cheek.

  Alex looked around the room for a box of tissues. Janet pointed toward the small counter by the sink. Alex handed the box to the woman. “You don’t remember how you got there?”

  “No.” she took a tissue and wiped her eyes. “You probably can’t imagine what that felt like.”

  “No ma’am.”

  “The humiliation, the fear. I had no idea where I was or what had happened.” The tears were flowing freely now, her voice quivering. “Do you have any idea how vulnerable you feel when you wake up in a strange place, naked, with no way to cover yourself and no idea why you are even there?”

  Alex started to answer, but realized the question was rhetorical. “Did you notice anyone unusual, following you, acting strangely before the attack?”

  “Not that I recall.” The woman wiped more tears and blew her nose. “Excuse me, I’m sorry.”

  “Not at all,” Alex smiled. “Any strange phone calls or hang-ups?”

  “No.”

  “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

  “Not that I can think of.”

  “Okay Ms. Dixon, I know this has been a difficult experience. I appreciate your time.” Alex stood. “Ms. Freeman here will give you a packet with information about support groups, victim’s rights and such. I’ll leave one of my cards in it. If you think of anything, call me day or night, alright?”

  She nodded, but said nothing. Alex wished her well and they left the room.

  “Well, what do you think?” Janet asked as they approached the nurse’s station.

  “She’s not much help,�
� Alex placed his clipboard on the counter. “Will she be staying tonight?”

  “I don’t know. Dr. Levine saw her when she came in. She’s had a head CT and x-rays, but you’ll have to talk to him to see what he found.”

  “Levine, I haven’t heard that name before. Is he new?”

  “He’s been here a couple of years. I guess it has been a while since you were in here.”

  “I’ve been in here a few times in the last couple of years. I don’t remember the name.”

  Maybe you came in on his off days,” Janet said.

  “Maybe so. Where would I find him?”

  Janet pointed to the far end of the nurse’s station.

  Alex approached the other end of the counter where the doctor was engaged in a heated telephone discussion. Alex assumed it was a personal call when the doctor used the words bitch and attorney in the same sentence. The doctor looked to be in his early fifties. He was a short, plump fellow with a thin line of hair that formed a ring around his head, as if it were sliding down from the top. Alex could tell by his accent that he was from the northeast somewhere, New England, maybe Boston.

  He watched an older man with dementia being led back to his room by a nurse who lightly scolded him for wandering about.

  The doctor acknowledged Alex by holding up one finger then continued his conversation.

  Alex heard something else about a lawyer and a cold day in hell, not that he was listening, but it was hard not to hear. The doctor was speaking quite loudly, evidently oblivious to his surroundings.

  Alex waited patiently as he watched the activity in the ER. Nurses went in and out of rooms. The chatter of EMS and fire crackled from a small two way radio on the back wall. Alex heard something about a car wreck on the north side of town. His pulse quickened for just a moment, but quickly returned to normal. He was sure Carmen was safe at the dance.

  “Sorry you had to hear that.” Dr. Levine said as he finally hung up the phone.

  Alex smiled. He figured everyone in the department heard it.