The Grandpa Killer (A Luca Mystery Book 10) by Dan Petrosini

Author:Dan Petrosini [Petrosini, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

My mind was consumed with rage. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t get to the place Dr. Bruno wanted me to act from. Hearing what this woman said about her encounter with Brian Vape made me fear for all women, especially my daughter.

Ms. Fields had been at The Parrot Bar and Grill with a girlfriend when Vape began chatting her up. He bought her a drink, and she thought he seemed nice. Her friend saw they were having a good time and took an Uber to another nightspot. Within an hour of her friend’s departure, and though she had just two drinks, Fields started feeling drunk.

She didn’t recall leaving the bar nor going to Vape’s home, where she woke up on his couch, naked. I didn’t press, and Fields didn’t offer details, but I knew what had happened. Vape had drugged and raped her.

What didn’t make sense was the absence of any other complaints against him. Rare is the rapist who does it once. That didn’t mean there weren’t other victims. Many women, including this one, decided testifying wasn’t worth the embarrassment and kept the violation to themselves. I understood the reluctance to relive the devastation, but as a cop, it was frustrating to lose a critical witness.

“Derrick, do me a favor and run a check for civil complaints against Vape.”

“I’m on it.”

“There was nothing criminal, but maybe a woman filed a lawsuit against him. I’m going up to see how Mary Ann is doing.”

“Say hello for me.”

Mary Ann was doing good. It was me who needed a break. Vape wasn’t home or at work, and until I spoke to him, I had to remain distracted. A quick visit would help. Mary Ann was giving me a hard time on the retirement question.

I knew it was a tough call, and we needed the money. Everyone we spoke with said she’d qualify for disability. That would replace a chunk of her earnings and we’d be fine. The issue was walking away from a career she not only loved but was good at.

Mary Ann had transitioned to a desk job after Jessie was born, and with the danger of being in the streets removed, had planned on another ten years in uniform. I thought she’d be happy to stay home with Jessie, and she wanted to.

The problem was it wasn’t on her terms. She didn’t say it exactly, but I knew I’d react the same way. I needed to make the important decisions in my life. Having something forced on me was distasteful.

The Sex Crimes Unit was deserted. After being told they were in a meeting, I trudged back downstairs. In the hallway to our office, a janitor was cleaning up water that had flowed in from a backed-up toilet. He didn’t look anything like Porter, but my mind settled on the Palm Shores maintenance man.

As Derrick said, there weren’t any civil suits with Vape as a defendant, so I began a search into Ben Porter’s son. I hit pay dirt with a couple of keystrokes.

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