Chapter 04: What They Don’t Know

“23-year-old Monica Dalton was the only child of a devoutly religious family and had just started her own business. She was a cherished member of the Jamestown Charity Center, an organization that works off of charitable contributions from the community to support underprivileged families. Monica had her entire life ahead of her until her desecrated body was found in the alley behind her office late Monday afternoon across from where Mike Burns teaches history at Pinehurst Middle school. Your Honor, given the abhorrent nature of this crime we request that the defendant be remanded without bail,” Alexa argued as she stood before the court during arraignment.

“Your Honor, Mike Burns is a beloved member of his community, a dedicated teacher to disadvantaged children and a mentor to countless abandoned teens. He also cares for his ailing father who just went through his third round of chemo, has two motherless kids of his own and coaches little league baseball in his spare time. My client has no previous criminal record and we ask that he be released to care for his family.”

“Court does not regard the defendant to be a flight risk; bail is set at $200,000,” Judge Priscilla David cracked her gavel on the block before calling for the next case.

“Tough break,” Tobias whispered over Alexa’s shoulder as she gathered up her personal belongings to exit the court. “I thought you had him there for a second.”

“Actually, I didn’t expect the judge to rule in favor of holding him. Like the defense stated he has no previous record and a family to care for.” She pushed through the gate and out the door, hurrying through the hallway with Tobias trailing after her.

“Then why ask for remand? It paints you as a novice; you’re showing your inexperience up there. And Priscilla David is an unyielding judge; you ask for too much up front and she’s likely to cut you off at the knees.”

Alexa stopped in her tracks and turned to face the seasoned attorney who flashed his signature smile before rubbing his beard with a sigh. “You read the case, Tobias. You saw what that man did to that poor woman. If you can seriously stand here and ask me why I wanted that depraved psycho off the streets, you’ve clearly been doing this job for way too long; any novice could see that.” She started to leave and Tobias caught her arm, turning her back to face him.

“Hey wait, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry. I only meant…”

“Why are you here?” she asked abruptly, yanking her arm from his grasp and toying with the strap of the bag in her hand.

“Won my case; jilted lover stabbed her husband with a pair of pruning shears when he threatened to divorce her for a younger woman. She got forty years for 2^nd degree murder. Her lawyer tried to get her off with the temporary insanity defense,” he snickered and Alexa looked away impatiently. “Anyway, Travis asked me to second chair for you since it’s your first time out. I caught the end of your arraignment.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“What? Come on don’t look at it like that. Think of it as a mutually beneficial relationship. I can help you win and also do my bit of the research and fact finding necessary to get a conviction and you’ll have me at your side. I’m well known in those courtrooms and Judge David is one of my biggest fans.”

Alexa rolled her eyes and started again down the steps of the court house. “So you’re my second?”

“I’m here for whatever you need.”

“Well then, this should be fun.” 

“Indeed, it should. Do you need a ride back to the office?” Tobias asked, stepping a foot closer with a smile on his face.

“That’s ok,” Alexa smirked, taking her keys in hand and pressing the button for her alarm. The Charger beeped once and Tobias turned to take in the impressive vehicle. “I have one.”

“This is yours? Nice wheels!” he whistled low and circled around the muscle car, lightly running his fingers over the curves and edges of the body.

“Hey!” she squealed, folding her arms into her chest. “Hands off!”

“Sorry. I just can’t help myself,” he smiled and stepped back on the curb beside her. “I see a beautiful body and my hands have a hard time playing by the rules.” He winked and Alexa rolled her eyes before starting for the driver’s side.

“I’ll see you back at the office.”

“Cameras. There are security cameras on the corners of the building across from hers facing in the direction where the rape took place. We could sequester the footage,” Tobias suggested. They’d been going over medical reports, police reports and witness testimonies for the better part of the night and both were mentally exhausted.

“No good. First officer on scene spoke with the building manager. They’d just had them installed but haven’t had time to set them up to record yet. He was hoping that just their presence would scare off any would-be criminal.”

“Yeah but, we could use that to scare Burns into confessing.”

“Won’t work. The police already tried. They informed him of the possibility when they brought him in for questioning. Burns’ attorney told the cops that if they had the damning evidence then to arrest him. They let him go so…”

“So he knows it was a bluff. Alright, so where does that leave us?” he asked refilling her glass of red wine.”

“Motive.”

“Right, motive,” he repeated and settled onto the couch beside her, taking a sip from his glass. “Ok, so, what do we know about this guy so far?” 

“You mean other than the fact that he’s a psychotic murderer?”

“Well, yeah,” Tobias smiled and took a bite of his California roll, “That’s exactly what I meant.”

“Mike Burns was obsessed with Monica Dalton. He bombarded her with phone calls and attention. Sent flowers to her office, chocolates on a few occasions and even followed her home one night. Monica reported him to the security guards at her place of employment and his name was placed on a watch list. She supposedly tried to take out a restraining order on him but…”

“Police refused,” Tobias interrupted with a nod. “Citing insufficient evidence to support her claims and basically they would have to wait until a crime was committed. Yeah, happens all the time. So, he stalks her…”

“Sexually assaults and strangles her, leaving her body in an alley 10 feet away from her office window. There was skin cells and saliva on her breast that, according to Burns, is the result of him ‘brushing a piece of lint off her blouse.’ And to explain away the saliva, he goes on to say ‘I spit a lot when I talk’ quote, unquote.”

Tobias flipped the pages back on the folder in his lap as he read over police reports and depositions from witnesses, friends and family. “We have a witness who places them both in the alley around the time of the murder. This should be open and shut.”

“Yes, except for the fact that his attorney explains away everything. His 12 and 15 year old children claim he was home at the time of death. We can’t prove the sex. Parents say she was a virgin, friends corroborate. And while the hymen was torn, there was no genital trauma and no semen so no way of proving it was him or that she was raped. At best we have postmortem wounds but no way to prove where they came from, it doesn’t appear as though she struggled. So even if we prove he had sex, he can always claim it was consensual. Forensics is our weakest link.”

“No semen? Maybe he was impotent? I mean he wouldn’t be the first rapist who had trouble getting it up, killed her in a rage.”

“Yeah. I requested his medical history; haven’t seen it yet. His attorney’s dragging his feet with that.”

“I’ll check into it for you. I have contacts at the hospital,” Tobias winked before taking a sip from his glass.

“Thanks, Tobias.”

“It’s my pleasure, Hannah.”

“Ok,” she sighed and began collecting the folders into a pile. “That’s enough for tonight. It’s getting late and I’m tired. I think I’m gonna go home and take a nice, relaxing bath.” Alexa stretched and leaned back against the sofa cushions.

“That sounds good,” Tobias smiled and slid closer toward her. “So, Hannah, what are we going to do about this?”

“Put the files away for now and come back to it with fresh eyes in the morning. This guy is dirty and he’s going away for what he did.”

“Not that, I meant this sexual tension between us.”

“Tobias, I don’t know what drugs you’re smoking but I assure you, there is no sexual tension between us.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked, slipping to his knees beside her as he leaned closer into her body. “Because I’ve seen the way you undress me with your eyes. And you think I don’t notice the seductive glances and the way you make sure I have the perfect view of your body. The way you dress, bend over to pick up ‘accidentally’ dropped papers, it’s all rather cute but you don’t have to be so coy.” His hand slowly skirted up her thigh and he held her back as she tried to pull away.

Quickly pushing him away, Alexa hopped to her feet and took a few steps back. “If you ever touch me again, you’ll lose that hand.”

Tobias laughed and crossed one leg over the other as he stared up at her. “Come on now. You don’t have to pretend anymore, Hannah. I know you want to act on your desires. We’re here, together and alone. It can’t get any better than that; unless, of course, you think you’d be more comfortable back at my place.”

Alexa felt the anger rising in the back of her throat. Like bile from the pit of her stomach it burned, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. What she wouldn’t give to rush across the room and rip that smug look off his face; leave him crying and writhing in pain at her feet. But no matter how satisfying that would be, it would also call too much attention to herself and that’s not something she was looking to do this early in the game. 

Taking a calming breath, she talked herself off the ledge and decided to play the harassment card. “I’m not interested in anything you have to offer. I doubt any woman in her right mind would be. We’re co-workers and that’s as far as our relationship will ever go. Now, collect your things and leave or else I’ll report your ass for sexual harassment. I’m sure Mr. Stark would be saddened to learn about the way you’ve just propositioned me.”

“Hannah, really? Let’s be smart about this, we’re both lawyers. It would be your word against mine. And if you think for a second Travis would believe some wet behind the ear piece of ass that has yet to prove her worth over his long-established litigator with an unblemished track record, you’re fooling yourself. He’s working toward greater things and can’t afford a scandal right now. You would be quickly swept under the rug.” 

His words resonated in her head and Alexa started thinking about just how many women this man had made advances toward and then bullied into keeping quiet. Taking him out might not be such a bad thing after all. She’d be doing the public a service. The thought made her smile a little but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on the cocksucker in front of her. Tobias stood and moved toward her with an arrogant smirk on his face. “I can be your greatest ally or your worst nightmare, Hannah. It’s up to you to decide which.” 

His lips lightly grazed her cheek and without thinking, Alexa swiftly brought her knee up into his crotch. Pain exploded immediately, hot and electric as it spread through every nerve in his lower body. Tobias buckled to the floor, winded and in tremendous agony. Stars dazedly danced in front of his eyes as he reeled from the blinding ache and struggled to take a breath. The initial throbbing seemed to dull as it settled in his abdomen. 

It felt like his insides were being crushed and twisted with a simultaneously sensation of shitting himself and an extreme need to vomit. “You…bitch!” Tobias groaned as he finally took a breath. He continued to hold himself as the pain slowly subsided and the intense pressure in his head released.

Alexa grabbed up her belongings and looked down at him with a satisfied grin on her face. “I hope I’ve made myself clear!” she smiled and stepped over his crumpled body toward the exit.

Alexa waited outside Gavin’s apartment, listening for any sounds of movement. It was almost midnight but he said he was a night owl. Anxiously she twirled her thumb and chewed on her bottom lip as she finally heard the chain pull away from the cylinder. “Hannah?” he asked, glancing at the bright green clock on the microwave door. “It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”

“Well, I figured turnabout is fair play,” she smiled uneasily and Gavin stepped to the side to let her in. “Uh, actually I um…I came with a specific purpose,” she sighed and paced the small area of his living room. “I may have done something stupid.”

Gavin rubbed the sleep from his eyes and moved beside her toward the couch. Patting the spot near him, he waited for Alexa to take a seat before motioning for her to continue. “I just came from the office. Tobias and I were going over our strategy for this case and…he came on to me…aggressively.” Gavin’s eyes narrowed and he appeared to sober up quickly.

“What? That son of a bitch!” Gavin exclaimed, jumping from the couch. “Did he force himself…?”

“No, it didn’t get that far. He touched me, tried to hold me down beneath him but I got away. And when I told him I would report his behavior he got angry; threatened to make my life a living hell. So, I kneed him in the crotch and left.”

“That motherfucker. I’m gonna kill him,” he growled, grabbing a pair of pants.

“No please, don’t.” Alexa stood and moved toward Gavin. “I don’t want to make this into a thing. I just needed to tell someone.”

“My Dad…”

“No. Tobias said that your dad is too much in the spotlight and he’s right. Any scandal, even the smallest hint of one could derail his aspirations and I don’t want to do that.”

“Hannah, my dad’s not like that. He would never put his career goals over the safety of someone’s life. Just, let me talk to him and I’ll get things handled. Alright? You came to me for a reason. Let me do this for you.”

Alexa nodded. There was a hidden smile on her face as she leaned forward to hug Gavin. It wasn’t the way she wanted it but thanks to Tobias, he may have opened a much-needed door for her to establish herself in the Starks’ lives.

“Bertram.”

“It’s me. I need you to do something.”

“Again? Look man, I did my time. When is this little arrangement of ours gonna be done?”

“It’s done when I fucking tell you it’s done! Don’t forget I still have the evidence that can send your scrawny little ass to a federal pen for the rest of your pathetic life.”

“Alright dude, chill. What do you need?”

“Information. Get me everything you can on Hannah Taylor. I wanna know where she’s from, who her friends are, where she eats, when she lost her virginity, if she’s a natural blonde. Hell, I wanna know if she sleeps with a goddamn teddy bear at night.”

“Alright but it’s gonna take some time to get all that together.”

“You have 72 hours!” Tobias angrily slammed the phone to his desk as his mind wandered to earlier events and he growled. “If that bitch wants to fight, she’s in for one hell of a war!”

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