Superbia (Book One of the Superbia Series) (16 page)

“What time is
it?” Vic moaned.
 

“Nine AM.”
 

Vic cursed and
sat up.
 
“I don’t think I really got any
sleep anyway.”
 
He rubbed his eyes and
cleared his throat.
 
He saw Frank holding
up the large cup coffee in the dim light coming through the open office
door.
 
“You are my hero,” Vic said.

“Any word on Paris?”

“Dez texted me at
three in the morning to tell me the house was still empty.
 
We’ll probably hear more about it a week
after they arrest the guy and give a press conference.”

“Do we need to do
anything else with it at this point?”

Vic kicked his
feet up on the desk and leaned back.
 
“Nope.
 
If the Feebs want to sit
in a car all day and night staring at an empty house, let them.”
 
He closed his eyes and settled down in his
chair, “Listen, give me another hour.
 
Do
you mind?”

“I’d love
to.
 
Unfortunately, we’ve got another
child sexual assault.”

Vic’s head
snapped forward, “Bullshit.”

“They’re sitting
upstairs right now.
 
Looks like a mom and
dad and a ten year old little girl.”
 

Vic put his head
in his hands and leaned forward on the desk.
 
He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.
 
Frank waved his hand at him and said, “Listen.
 
I’ve got this.
 
When you wake up, I’ll fill you in, and you
can give me a hand.”
 

“I’d love that,
really, Frank.
 
But you’ll just fuck it
up too.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Vic stood up,
hunchbacked, trying to straighten out the kinks in his back from sleeping in
the chair.
 
“You’re learning,
though.
 
Pretty soon, I’ll be asking you
for advice.”

***

The little girl fingered
through the stack of pamphlets in the lobby, reading about DUI prevention and
Elderly Abuse.
 
The mother sat by her
side, stroking the child’s hair.
 
The
father was seated one seat down, arms folded, staring straight ahead.
 

Vic opened the
office door and said, “Good morning, folks.
 
I’m Detective Ajax and this is my partner.
 
How are you doing, kiddo?”

The little girl
looked up at him and smiled.
 
“I’m
fine.
 
How are you?”

“Good.
 
What’s your name?”

“We’re here to
report something regarding our daughter,” the father said.

Vic turned to him
without speaking.
 
He looked back at the
little girl.
 
“What’s your name, hon?”

“Beth Lamia.”

“I’m Vic,” he
said.
 
He looked at the two parents, “I
need to bring Beth back with me, but I’d like one of you to come with her.”

“Can’t we both
come?” the mother said.

“No.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you
can’t.”

The parents
looked at one another, and finally the mother said, “I guess I should go.”
 
The father still had his arms folded.
 

Vic held the door
open and asked them to come inside.
 
He
led them to an interview room and held out the chairs for them.
 
“What brings us in here today?”

Mrs. Lamia spoke
first, “My daughter told me this morning that someone has been touching
her.”
 
Her jaw stared to quiver and she jammed
her fist against her mouth. The little girl reached over and squeezed her
mother’s leg and told her it would be all right.

Vic bent low on
the table, nearly putting his chin on the wooden surface, bringing himself to Beth’s
eye level.
 
“Has somebody been doing
that, Beth?”

“Yes,” she
said.
 
“Uncle Petey.”

“On your mom’s
side or your dad’s?”

“He’s her Great
Uncle on my husband’s side.
 
This man
raised
my husband after his father died,”
Mrs. Lamia said.
 
Tears were starting to
stream down her face and she dug in her purse for tissues.
 
“I didn’t tell him who it was.”
 

“Where does he
touch you?” Vic said.
 

“On my…what do
you want me to call it?” she asked her mother.

“Call it what you
normally do,” Vic said.
 
“There’s no bad
words in here, okay?
 
Say whatever is
easiest.”

“He touches my privates
when I sleep over there and he comes in to tuck me in at night.
 
He tells my Aunt he’s reading me a story, but
then he comes in and touches me.”

“Outside of your
underwear or inside?”

Beth looked at
her mother, who had her eyes squeezed shut.
 
“I’m sorry.”

“No, honey,” the
mother said, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
 
She grabbed her daughter’s hand and held it
firm.
 
“This is going to kill my husband,
Detectives, but
nobody
is allowed to
hurt my little girl.”

“There you go,” Vic
said.
 
He looked back at Beth , “I’m
going to ask you some questions that might seem a little yucky, okay, but I
need to know so I know what to do.
 
All
right?”

Beth nodded.
 

“Does he touch
you inside your privates or outside?”

“Inside.”

“Okay,” Vic
said.
 
He glanced at Frank, who was
staring straight at the ground without blinking.
 
“Does he do anything else besides that?”

Beth did not
respond.

Vic folded his hands
on the table and laid his chin down on top of them, putting himself even lower
than Beth was.
 
“I promise it’s okay if
you tell me.
 
I just want to make sure
nobody can hurt you anymore.”

“He pulls down
his pants and makes me kiss it.”

Vic felt Frank’s
leg shaking next to his.
 
He stepped on
Frank’s foot gently.
 
“Here comes another
one of those yucky things, okay?
 
By
it
do you mean his penis?”

Beth nodded and
her mother’s head collapsed into her folded arms.

***

Vic brought Mr. Lamia
back and asked him to sit down.
 
His wife
had collected her thoughts and Beth remained motionless, watching her father’s
every movement.
 
“Now will someone please
tell me what’s going on?”

“Your daughter is
reporting that Uncle Petey has been molesting her over a period of two years.”

“What?” he looked
back and forth between his wife and Beth .
 
“But that’s…when?
 
What happened?”

“When she sleeps
over at their house, he’s been doing things to her and making her do things to
him,” Vic said.

Mr. Lamia’s mouth
opened and closed several times like a fish lying on the bottom of a boat;
nothing came out of him except small bursts of air.
 
“Oh my God,” he moaned.
 
“Oh my GOD!”
 
He covered his face with his hands and sobbed.
 

Beth’s lip
quivered and she reached out for her father’s hand, “I’m sorry, daddy,” she
said.
 
“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,
honey,” he said.
 
He pulled his hand away
and wiped his eyes with his shirt.
 
“I’m
just worried about Uncle Petey.
 
That’s
all.”

***

“I’m gonna take
that motherfucker and throw him headfirst down the fucking stairs!”

Vic held up his
hands and said, “Lower your voice, or they’ll hear you.”

“Fuck that piece
of shit!
 
He’s worried about Pedophile Petey?”

“Listen to me!” Vic
said.
 
“I know it’s ridiculous, but we
need to stay focused here.
 
Do you want
to yell at the dad, or lock up the scumbag that hurt the kid?”

Frank put his
hands on his hips and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
 
“All right.
 
What do we need to do?”

Vic peered around
the corner to look into the room.
 
The
family was sitting quietly, not talking.
 
“I need to get the kid consentualized for a wire so we can call Uncle
Petey.
 
If we get him on tape, he’ll be
in jail by tonight.”

“Let’s do it.”

Frank started for
the room but Vic stopped him.
 
“I can’t have
dad involved with the wire.
 
I don’t
trust him.”

“So what’s to
stop him from just calling this guy and tipping him off while we’re setting it
up?”

“Somebody has to
keep him talking,” Vic said.
 
“Somebody
who can set their personal feelings aside and put the job first.”

Frank
sighed.
 
“Working with you really sucks.”

“Don’t I know it.”

***

They went back
into the room and Vic said, “Mrs. Lamia?
 
I need you and Beth to come with me so we can make arrangements to get
her immediate treatment.”

Mr. Lamia stood
up and said, “Wait a second.
 
I think I’d
like to call an attorney first.”

“An
attorney?
 
For what?”

“To see what my
legal rights are.”

Vic took a step
closer to him, “Your legal rights aren’t coming into question here, sir.
 
Your daughter is the victim of a terrible
crime and it’s our responsibility to protect her.”

“I just think
things are moving a little fast and I’d like to speak to my wife in private
before we do anything.”

Vic looked back
and forth from the little girl to her father, trying to think on the fly.
 
“Don’t you want your daughter to be looked at
by a doctor just in case something did happen?”

“Of course, but—”

“Then let me go
set that up while Officer O’Ryan asks you for some information about your
Uncle.
 
We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“I want us to all
stay together,” Mr. Lamia said.
 
“Things
are moving way too fast here.”
  

“I hear what
you’re saying,” Vic said in a soothing voice.
 
He put his arm around Mr. Lamia’s shoulder and whispered, “There’s some
questions my partner has to ask you that I don’t think you want your wife and
little girl to hear about, okay?
 
I’m
trying to be a little discreet here.”

Mr. Lamia’s eyes
widened, “Questions about what?”

“Private things.”
 
He pointed at Mrs. Lamia and waved her toward
the door, “You two come with me.”
 
Mr. Lamia
started to protest but Frank moved in front of him to block his way while Vic
hustled Beth and her mother into the hallway and closed the door behind
him.
 

Mrs. Lamia
grabbed Beth’s hand and hurried down the hallway after him.
 
“What hospital are we going to?”
  

Vic turned toward
her at the top of the stairs and said, “We’re not.
 
I lied.
 
Time to decide, Mrs. Lamia.
 
Good
wife or good mom.”
 

Beth looked up at
her mother and Mrs. Lamia said, “Easy choice.
 
Let’s go.”

***

Vic held his desk
phone’s receiver up so that Mrs. Lamia and Beth could both hear the Assistant
District Attorney say, “And no one has promised you anything or threatened you
in any way to cooperate with this investigation?”

“No,” they both said.
 

“Vic?
 
You guys are good to go.”

Vic hung up the
phone and pushed a yellow notepad across the desk toward Beth .
 
“I wrote down some things I want you to
say.
 
The most important part is to let
him talk.
 
I’ll be listening to the
conversation, so if I write anything down or signal you, it’s probably
important.”

“Okay,” she said.

Vic looked at
Mrs. Lamia, “And no matter what is said, you need to keep completely
quiet.
 
Can you do that?”

Mrs. Lamia put
her hand over her mouth and nodded several times.
 

Vic stuck the
micro-recorder onto the cellphone’s earpiece and plugged his headphones into
the trapping device.
 
He gave her the
thumbs up and said, “Placing the call.”

The phone
rang.
 

“Hello?”

“Aunt Eris?”

“Who’s this?
 
Beth?”

“Hi.
 
Is Uncle Petey there?”

“Let me check.
 
Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.
 
I just need to talk to him for a second.”

“What’s wrong?”

Vic held up his
hand and shook his finger at her.
 

“Nothing.
 
I just wanted to ask him something.”

Vic gave her the
thumbs-up.

“Hang on and I’ll get him.
 
Pete?”

There was static
on the phone and dim voices in Vic’s headphones.
 
A man picked up the phone,
“Hello?”