Chapter Forty-Six



Eli's POV

I can't believe Dani made such an admission to me, and so freely as well. The intensity of our exchange is keeping me awake. She freely admitted she'd be hurt if I think badly of her. I know that I will look at her differently, but it won't be out of disgust. It may be out of pity or whatever, but never out of disgust. I think if I let the medication do its thing and take the pressure off a little, Dani may actually trust me a bit more. I think she wants to, she's just battling with her head and her heart. I make sure my guns are by my side before I close my eyes.

It's been a rather restless night. Dani has been awake quite a lot, the nightmares plaguing her again. It feels like I've just blinked and it's already time to get ready for work. Dani is sleeping right now. I don't want to wake her, but I know she'll panic if she wakes up and I'm not here. I wash, dress up and have breakfast before I go back in to Dani's room. I want her to get as much sleep as possible. I stand at the end of the bed and whisper, “Dani?”

It takes her a minute or so to realize what's going on and she quickly sits up, breathing heavily. I don't know if I scared her or if she thinks there's something wrong. I don't ask, I just apologize and let her know I'm leaving.

“Ok sir. Thank you for letting me know.”

“You'll lock the door behind me, right?”

“Yes sir. Have a good day.”

I can't bring myself to tell her we're sorting out this Paul mess, so I just shoot her a quick smile and tell her to get some rest. As I head for the door, I say, “I'll be back at noon to give you your medication.”

“Ok.”

I hear the locks slide back across the door before I walk away. I'm preoccupied as I walk into the precinct. I don't even notice that Ash and Cain are waiting at the elevator. My head clears when I hear Ash say, “Ramirez. How's it going?”

“Hey guys. It's going.”

Ash sends me a sad smile at my answer, I know he's going to catch me later to get a real one.

“Anderson. Thanks for doing this. Is your Cap ok with you being here today?”

“Yeah. Cap Michaels cleared it with him on Friday. Feels like an age ago, right?”

“You have no idea.”

Cain asks, “How is Dani doing?”

I shrug. I don't want to give any information away and I think they know this because they don't question me anymore about it.

“Scott, I need you to run through the last few days with me. Get me up to speed on everything. Anderson, I'll need to speak with you before you talk to Paul. Give me 20?”

“Yes sir. I'll go find the Cap.”

I nod in acknowledgement and head to the locker room with Ash. Dani's station is empty, but there's a stack of files on her desk. It's a mess, exactly as it was when we left that night. Ash snaps me out of my thoughts as he starts filling me in on what's been going on. He briefs me for about 10 minutes and then I find the Cap. His first question is regarding Dani. He wants to know how she is.

“And don't give me a cop out answer. I want the truth, Eli.”

So I give it to him pretty straight. “She's better than she was. I had to call my dad. He had to sedate her so she spent 2 days sleeping. We're trying out a medication to stop her mind from being so active. Hopefully it'll work, but we just have to wait and see.”

“So your dad thinks he can help her?”

“He's trying. Dani is a special case. With her drug history, we're limited in what she can take, so it's just a case of trial and error I think.”

“Ok. Well, at least there's something positive. You need to brief Cain before he steps into the interview room.”

“On it. I'm heading there after we've finished. What's on the agenda for today?”

“You sure you're ok to be out in the field?”

“Yes sir. I need to work.”

“Ok. We've got a routine security detail and the baseball field needs to be checked over again. There's a game this evening, so it needs to be cleared by 5pm.”

“Got it. Any threats that we're aware of?”

“Not as yet. The guys need some training though. Target practice as well.”

“Sure thing.”

I run into Cain on the way out of the Cap's office, so I take him to the briefing room. We both grab a cup of coffee on the way through. We're silent for a minute or two, probably thinking about the last time we were in here. The tables sure have turned. I shake those thoughts away because I can't afford to get angry with Cain now. He's trying to help me out and I have to remember that instead.

“Ok, so you're going to go in there making out you're on his side, right?”

“Yes sir. I think I'll play the card that you guys wronged me and put me into rehab, made my life a misery and I don't want you to do the same to him. I'll see if that sparks his interest. Am I supposed to mention the video?”

I think for a few seconds before I say, “Play that one by ear. If it seems like he's not biting, or if he lays the blame solely on Dani, then mention it. See if that changes his mind. If he takes your help in the first place, don't say anything. He hasn't asked for an attorney, so I'm guessing he thinks he can represent himself and scare Dani into saying whatever he wants.”

“That's not going to happen. I can promise you that.”

That does make me smile. His loyalty to myself and my team is still strong.

“Eli, I know I was wrong. I freely admit that now. I wasn't myself and if I had caught myself doing that I'd have hurt me way worse than you did. I just want to try to make up for my wrongs.”

“Thank you. Let's just get this piece of trash to flip, yeah?”

“Yes sir. Ash is bringing him up soon. I don't want him to see that you've been talking to me.”

“No, of course not. You should walk in at the same time probably. It'll make it look like you've just arrived.”

I hate how we have to pander to Paul. It's not right. He's the one who is in the wrong, but we have to play the game if we want to prevent a court case.

Cain leaves the briefing room before me and I just sit for a minute, drinking my coffee. I keep wondering if Dani is ok and I fight the urge to call her to check. I mutter to myself, “She'll be fine. You know she won't open the door or answer the phone, so she'll be just fine. Stop worrying you pansy.”

Ash appears in the doorway, “Yeah, stop being a pansy...”

He shoots me a dazzling smile and chuckles at my expression. “Dude, your face is a picture right now. What's going on?”

“The Cap wants us to train and do target practice but I want to watch the interview...”

“You sure that's a good idea? I mean, you don't need to be getting all riled up again and you really don't need to be bursting in there. That'll ruin everything.”

“I know. I'm not going bursting in there. I don't want to jeopardize everything. I'll be fine. I just need to see for myself how Paul reacts. I need to do this.”

“Sure. I'll set the guys up with a training session and you can check the stats after, yeah?”

“Thanks man. I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“You'd be a crying ball on the floor...”

I chuckle at him, ever the joker Ash is.

“Sure I would.”

“Don't deny it. I'm your sanity don't you know.”

“You and sane in the same sentence? Have you lost your mind?”

Ash laughs at my pun and slaps me on the back.

“It's good to have you back Ramirez.”

“It's good to be back. Let's get to it.”

“Yes sir.”

He mock salutes me as he goes to round up the guys. I quickly fill the guys in on what's happening during the day.

Hawkins looks over at Dani's station and asks, “Sir, is Dani ok? She hasn't been in for a few days.”

“She's taking some time off.”

“We know it has something to do with the shrink. We've seen him in holding.”

“Trust me guys, you're better off not knowing. Just know that we're dealing with it. You need to keep your head in the game. We've got to clear the baseball field before the game tonight. Bomb squad will join us down there. You'll be assigned a bomb squad officer each and we'll clear the whole stadium, as usual. Got it?”

I get a round of 'yes sirs' and then I say, “Good. Scott is going to run your training while I sort some other stuff out. I will be checking your stats, so no slacking. Right?”

Another round of 'yes sirs' before I dismiss them. Just as they are heading into the locker room to change into sweats, Ash brings Paul to the interview room. I busy myself with something so I don't have to look at him, but I hear Cain enter the floor because he greets the Cap like he's just arrived. I keep my tone clipped when I say, “Anderson.”

He does the same short tone, “Ramirez.”

We have to make it seem like there's a lot of animosity still there. Ash leaves Paul in the interview room and lets him sit there for a few minutes. I slip into the viewing room next to the interview room and I see Cain enter the interview room shortly after that. Paul looks surprised to see Cain in there and he voices it, “No Elijah? I assumed he'd be in here first chance he got.”

“Nope. You've got me instead.”

Paul's eyes narrow as he questions, “Why you? You don't even work in this precinct.”

“Nope, but I was there. I saw what happened. Plus, I'm detached from the situation. I've got no reason to hide anything or help anyone out.”

“So why are you here? You could have turned it down.”

“True, but I wanted to see if I could help you out a bit. I know what it's like being on your end of things. I remember what they did to me...”

“You were addicted to drugs, Cain. We're nothing alike.”

“I agree, we're not alike, except I know what they can and will do to you. They're going to throw the book at you...”

“You've spoken to them about it?”

This seems to spark Paul's interest. Like he wants to know our reaction on this.

“Captain Michaels, he won't have a dirty house. Those were his words. He will do whatever it takes to prevent something like this from happening again. If that means making an example out of you, then that's what he's going to do.”

“So how are you going to help me? If he's intent on throwing me under a bus, how are you going to stop him?”

Cain pauses for a minute, looking through the file. He doesn't really need to read it, he's just playing the game. I've got to admit, I kind of miss having Cain on my team. He's a good cop.

“Well, that mostly depends on you really. It depends on how badly you want to continue practicing, doc. It all hinges on how badly you want to minimize the damage to your reputation and to your record.”

“What are you offering me?”

“Well, if you plead guilty to assault then we can get the District Attorney to cut a deal. You may not even have to serve time.”

“How do I know you're not working with these guys just to make things easier for them?”

“Are you kidding me? They hung me out to dry, man. If it wasn't for your help getting into that rehab place and sorting out my issues, then I'd be out of a job right now. The least I can do is try to return the favor. Besides, you think I'm going to help out the guys that ruined everything for me? I got shot for these people and they just ship me off to other precinct. All for a girl that's been here what, a couple of months? Seriously doc?”

Man, he's good. I don't actually know if any of those things are true, but he's certainly selling it like they are.

“What makes you think I won't be found not guilty in court?”

“You really want to risk that? I mean, whether or not you are found guilty won't really matter if your reputation is tainted. I'm sure the department won't be able to hire you any more and a private practice won't do too well if you even have a whiff of an assault case under your belt. I'm not telling you what to do, doc. I just think you should be careful how you proceed. If I walk away, then you'll have a hard time getting Captain Michaels to go easy on you.”

“Maybe I should take my chances...”

“Sure, if that's how you feel. I can't tell you what to do. Let's just run through what happened that night.”

“Well, I was waiting for you to finish talking to the Captain, so Miss Romanov and I were chatting. I was sitting on her desk while she did some filing. Next thing I know she's running her hand up my arm, basically giving me the green light. It's not the first time she's flirted with me, you know?”

Cain shows no emotion or any reaction to that statement; good man. “Then what happened?”

“She kissed me and I responded in kind. We backed up against the filing cabinets. Things got a bit heated, her hands were everywhere and then you shoved me off of her. I tried to throw you off but you pinned me down and slapped cuffs on me. No one even let me explain. I mean, you can't go around shoving every guy that's kissing a girl, can you?”

“You sure that's how it happened?”

“Yes. I've said all of this before.”

My blood is boiling. He's really going to put the blame on Dani? Does he even know her at all? Anyone who has met her will know she would never do anything like that. She's known me for a long time and I can barely hold her hand or hug her. What a piece of trash Paul is. Cain's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

“I'd like you to go through it from the end to the beginning. Backwards, please.”

Nice! Just like I taught him. Often times, a person who is lying has practiced what happened front ways so much that they don't stop to think about repeating it backwards. This means they stumble when asked to tell it back to front.

Paul eyes Cain suspiciously but pauses before stumbling through his story. He gives a very vague outline of what happened, so Cain asks, “Could you be more specific, doc? They'll rip your statement to shreds in court so I need to make sure it's air tight before we even get there. I know you're representing yourself, so you need to think about these things.”

Paul attempts to fill in more details, but Cain keeps making him start from the end of the events every time he stumbles. Cain wants the actual full details, not a vague account of what happened. This throws Paul's thought trail and makes him stumble even more. For someone who is supposed to be intelligent and a psychiatrist, he's not doing very well right now. I think Cain has got under his skin more than Paul wants to let on.

“I'm sorry doc, but it's not believable backwards. I have to be honest with you because I don't want you going into court looking like that. They'll say you're guilty just by your testimony alone. Sorry.”

“That's a cop's opinion. You're not an attorney.”

“No, I'm not. But I've had a heck of a lot more experience in court than you have, I'm sure.”

“You're desperately trying to get me to stay out of court. I wonder why that could be? Are you trying to prevent Miss Romanov from having to testify?”

Cain doesn't answer straight away, I'm guessing it's so he doesn't look too eager to cover it up. That's what I'd do.

“You can believe that if you wish, although I thought we'd cleared up the fact that I don't want to help Miss Romanov or Captain Michaels. You can take your chances in court, but I have to warn you that this recording will be used and the jury will hear your attempt of convincing me what happened. It doesn't really matter if I believe you, because it's not me you have to convince. I'll give you a little while to think it through. I do have to warn you that there is new evidence that strongly suggests your account of things isn't quite how it happened. I'll leave you to think about it. Would you like some water or coffee?”

Paul absentmindedly asks for coffee as he thinks about what Cain just said.

Cain appears at my side. The first thing he says is, “Sorry sir. I had to give him something to think about. I don't know if he's going for this. He's definitely being difficult about it. I thought he'd jump on the chance to have an easy out.”

“It's cool. You're doing good in there. He's going to want to know what evidence though. You'll have to tell him. You need to tell him that the video has been analyzed by an independent source to ensure its genuine. If he still doesn't bite, tell him we've got video from the last few months as well. So far I don't know what Ash has come up with, but something tells me giving Paul that bit of info might spook him into taking a deal.”

“Sure thing. I'll go get his coffee.”

So Cain does as I said and he gives Paul the information. I can see the panic in Paul's eyes before he manages to cover it up. He tries to be smart and asks how long he has to think about it.

Cain replies, “Well, my Cap needs me back tomorrow, so you have until I go home. That gives you a couple hours I suppose.”

Paul won't need that long. He'll take it, he just doesn't want to look like he's lost the power in this situation.

“I'll have someone take you back to holding. Just get the guard to call up when you've made a decision. Doc? My advice is that you take whatever deal you're given. If you do, you'll get to practice psychiatry again. Based on what you've said and the evidence, I wouldn't want to take the chance in court. Theres' too high of a risk that you'll be found guilty. If that happens, you'll almost certainly do time and you'll be out of a career. Just think carefully about your choice.”

Cain waits until Paul has left the floor before coming in to see me. “What do you think, Eli?”

“He'll take it. He panicked when you mentioned the other tapes. I'm guessing whatever is on there will only make him look more guilty. Give it an hour or so and he'll get someone to call up. He just doesn't want to lose power or face by deciding too quickly.”

“We've been in there for 3 hours. I'd hardly say that's quick.”

“No, but he's a control freak. He needs to feel like he's chosen this rather than you forcing him to choose. It's all part of the game.”

“I suppose you're going to check the tapes?”

“Probably.”

“I doubt you'll get that info out of Dani. If she hasn't told you by now, it's likely that she never will.”

“You're probably right. I need to get to my team. Thanks man, I appreciate your help.”

“It's the least I could do. Tell Dani I send my regards.”

I nod, not knowing how she'll take that piece of info. We haven't really spoken about Cain since the incident months ago. I'll have to tell her, because I need to let her know he helped with this situation. I also want to gauge her reaction.

I catch the Cap at 11:30 and let him know I have to pop to Dani's so I can give her the medication.

“Sure thing. She called me earlier...”

This surprises me, “Really?”

“Yeah. She just wanted to check in and to ask if some work could be sent home. She's bored, Eli.”

“I know. I knew it would happen. What do you want me to take? What's safe to leave the building?”

“There's a stack of files on her desk. I had a check through them and they're all ok to take. It should take her a few hours at least.”

“Ok. I won't be long. I'll do target practice with the team when I get back.”

I grab the files and head to Dani's house. She looks disheveled when she opens the door and it only takes a quick look around the room figure out why. She's been on a cleaning spree. I drop the files on the breakfast bar and take a look around. The place looks amazing. She's rearranged everything and cleaned the kitchen and living room.

“This place looks amazing, sweetheart. You've been busy then.”

“Yes sir.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Ok.”

“How's your brain feeling?”

She shrugs and then says, “A little quieter maybe. It's hard to tell.”

“The fact that you aren't sure must be a positive sign. Right?”

“I think so.”

“Good. The Cap asked me to bring these files here. He said you called.”

“I was bored.”

“I figured. Just try to get some rest as well. Ok?”

“Yes sir.”

“Shall we get your meds out of the way? I need to get back to the precinct.”

“Yes sir. What have you been doing today?”

“Training mostly. Catching up on stuff. We've got target practice, a security detail and we have to clear the baseball stadium. I should be home around 7 I think.”

“Ok.”

“Do you want me to do this again?”

She thinks for a few seconds and then she says, “Yes sir.”

I let her roll her sleeve up and administer the meds. It seems to be getting a bit easier for her and me. I slide her sleeve back down and she says, “I made you some lunch. You can take it with you.”

I smile at her consideration and thank her for the food. “Has everything been quiet here?”

I see a frown form on her brow so I ask, “What? Is everything ok?”

“Should I be worried? Has something happened that will affect me here?”

“No. Sorry, I shouldn't have made you worry. I was just checking everything had been ok. It's all been fine at the precinct. You don't need to worry about that.”

She lets out a sigh and puts my lunch on the breakfast bar. I take a peek inside the bag and I find a sandwich, some chips and some cut up vegetables. “Thank you sweetheart. I'll eat when I get back. You sure you're ok?”

“Yes sir. You don't need to worry about me.”

“I will always worry about you, but it's only because I care. I'll call before I leave the precinct tonight."



I wait to hear the door lock before I leave.