Apex Predator (21 page)

Lynch had been around the block, however, and he knew that the political value of a televised trial with all the world watching was worth millions if not billions to too many people up for reelection, so the likelihood that they would be willing to give up their day in court and the opportunity to grandstand and come in as the knight in shining armor rescuing New York from this monster was slim indeed.

Harvey Lynch was a smart and competent, if somewhat uptight attorney and one of the things that made him smart and competent was knowing that there was no way in hell his small law office would be able to shoulder the weight this case carried with it. He had already put out half a dozen calls to high-profile litigators that might be willing to partner with him when this thing went to trial. So far, only three had been willing to talk and only after negotiating extremely favorable financial terms for themselves. Lynch didn’t care, after hearing what he had heard from his client, all he wanted was to have this thing over with as soon as possible so he could begin the counseling and recovery process he knew he would need after this.

Felix Garcia headed straight down to the precinct. It had been a few days now since the arrest and he had kept his reporting low-key and to the point, all in the hope that Grady would give him 20 minutes where he wouldn’t hold anything back. He understood that the first couple of days after the arrest had been a madhouse of forensic evidence, public information, coordination of involved agencies and all the rest, but now he felt there was enough of a lull in the action that Grady could give him 20 minutes of his time.

He headed down to the precinct not willing to take no for an answer. He would wait hours if he had to, but he had held up his bargain with Grady and now wanted some reciprocity. He walked in and as usual said hello to the watch sergeant and asked for Grady, and as usual he was told Detective Grady was busy, but if he wanted to leave a note or a message, the watch sergeant would be more than happy to relay it to him.

Felix finally lost his patience, “C’mon, Sarge, you know me and you know Grady and I have a working relationship, so how about you let him know I’m here and that I just need twenty minutes of his time.”

The watch sergeant, an old hand at dealing with reporters, said, “I know, I know, trust me, Felix I know, but you’ve seen what it’s like around here, we’ve got guys that haven’t been home in two days, Grady being one of them. If I let you through, you know he’ll have my ass.”

Felix answered, “I get it and I don’t want to be a nuisance, but he and I came to an understanding and I’ve held up my end of that understanding. If I can’t get just a few minutes with him, I’m going to have to go with whatever sources I can dig up, right or wrong.

“You know all the bullshit that’s being floated out there about the NYPD not doing their job and about how this guy should have been stopped much sooner.”

Garcia knew he was pushing the right buttons because an expression of indignation came over the sergeant’s face, “What the fuck did they want us to do, go knocking doors down? And if we had, we’d have some fucking liberal group crying about civil rights and all that other bullshit.”

Felix was nodding, “Exactly and I just want to get things right, my paper wants to make sure everyone knows everything that could have been done was done. That’s what I want to talk to Detective Grady about and it won’t take more than 20 minutes of his time.”

Watch Sergeant Simms thought about it for a beat and said, “Just wait right here.”

He went to an office in the back, picked up a phone and dialed. After what seemed to be an animated conversation, he came back. “Alright, you have 10 minutes and not a second more.”

Garcia picked up his briefcase and made his way to Bob Grady’s office. He knocked on the door and came in at the same time, “Hello, detective.”

Grady looked up from his desk, “What’s up, Garcia? As you can see, we’re a little busy around here, so make it quick.”

Garcia sat down without being invited, “You and I had a conversation, and if I remember correctly, we had a tacit understanding that I’d keep my pieces low-key and to the point and you’d share more with me when you got something.”

Grady stopped shuffling papers and looked up incredulous, “Are you fucking serious? Look around, Felix, this place is a madhouse, I can’t remember the last time I got more than three hours of consecutive sleep. I’ve been dealing with the task force, the media, the DA and some of your colleagues from the tabloid rags, and you expect me to come find you with every piece of new information?”

Garcia answered, “No, I don’t, but I do expect that you send me an email or call in response to mine even if it just to tell me you can’t get together now. I just need five minutes of your time; you know there is a whole bunch of information out on this already. I know most of it is bullshit, but there is enough there for me to put together a story. I just wanted to see if there’s anything out there that’s just blatantly wrong or made up. I still want to keep my pieces low-key and factual. I’m staying away from the sensationalistic angle all together. There’s plenty of that out there already. I just thought you might help me keep it that way.”

Grady looked at him for a few seconds and let a hint of a smile creep across his face, “Alright, alright, you made your point. What is it you’re looking for?”

Garcia pulled out his computer and began, “Can you tie Riche to all the disappearances in New York?”

Grady answered him, “Yes, at this point we have enough forensic evidence to tie him to all the disappearances of the girls that went missing that fit the profile.”

Felix went on, “Any indication whether there may be more victims out there?”

Grady, now looking down at his paperwork, said “We haven’t had a chance to interview Riche. He lawyered up when we went to his house, and we haven’t been able to interview him without his attorney. No way to know. If I were a betting man, though, I’d bet there are a lot more victims.”

Garcia was typing into his computer and Grady looked up from what he was doing, “You know you can’t print that, right? That’s just my opinion.”

Felix smiled, “Aw, c’mon, you know I know better than that, besides you’d have to be pretty slow to think these nine were his first or would have been his last. Don’t worry, I won’t print that. We’ll just go with the standard ‘At this point it is unknown whether Riche can be tied to other missing girls cases around the country’ or something to that effect.”

Grady knew he liked the kid for a reason. He wasn’t pushy and had the common sense that could only be acquired from the world he came from, he was also a good strategic reporter, opting to go for the exclusives and the more serious and real side of a story rather than the knee-jerk reaction of someone who just wanted to sell papers by writing about blood.

“Anything else, Felix? As you can see, I got a shitload of paperwork to deal with, not to mention the goddamned Mayor’s office calling every 20 minutes to find out what is going on.”

Felix had thought about it for a while, and he was at conflict with himself because he couldn’t get past that it might just be morbid curiosity rather than journalistic acumen that prompted him to ask the next question.

In the end he had to compromise a bit of both, “Is there any chance that I could look at some of the crime scene photographs?”

Grady looked up and looked at him intensely, without blinking.

He liked the kid and wanted to help him, but what he was asking for might derail what to Grady seemed to be a promising career, “Listen, Felix, in this line of work, you better than anybody know that the things we see, the things we deal with, are a reflection of what humanity has to offer. We in the force ask all the time how some of the things that we see can ever come to pass. If you are religious, it is enough to make you question your faith. I imagine that given the things you cover, you also ask those questions from time to time and that’s part of the game, that’s part of what we signed on for, and so we develop leather skin and look at it as part of the world we chose for ourselves.

“This is different. You know how long I’ve been at this and you know the things I’ve seen and the people I’ve had to deal with. And none of it, and I mean
none
of it, in more than 20 years prepared me for this. We have first responders that are being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder, we have three beat cops that resigned the day after we found the warehouse.

“You’re a good reporter and I know you want to get as much of the actual facts as you can, but son, this is one that will change you forever. So you have to decide whether you are willing to cover the stories you need to cover with an objective eye, with the cold and fact-based way of a reporter, or whether you want to bring your soul into this.

“I’ll show you the pictures. You’ve been square with me and I will be square with you, but I just thought that I had to warn you that once you ring a bell it can’t be unrung.”

Felix Garcia sat in complete silence. Of all the responses he could have anticipated Grady giving him, this was not in the realm of possibility. He was willing to share, but Felix could see Grady had genuine concern about doing it. Concern for
him.
As a human being, he was definitely leaning to not looking at the pictures. As a reporter, though, he couldn’t let something like this pass him by, “Duly noted, detective, but you know I have to see them. I have to have some perspective when I write what I write, and there is so much speculation and bullshit out there that I need to ground my work in what actually happened, as hard as that might be to look at.”

Grady looked at him for a couple more seconds and slid a legal-sized envelope across the desk to Garcia. He didn’t say a word. Felix took the envelope and began sifting through the photographs and as he did so he started to question his judgment. The color drained completely from his face. He knew what he was looking at didn’t add any journalistic value to anything he might write, and he now knew that whatever he might have imagined in his head did not come close to what he was looking at.

Grady was right, he wasn’t a greenhorn whose biggest shock had been a bad car accident. Felix Garcia had been around a bit and had seen some of the most brutal crimes one human could commit against another, but this, this was different. This was far beyond what the human imagination, even one that had been exposed to the worst in man, could come up with.

He finished looking at the pictures and all he could manage was, “Jesus Christ…”

Grady took the envelope back from him and looked at him again. The kid was young and still learning, and Grady was willing to bet that this had been one of the most profound lessons that Felix Garcia had gotten in his young career.

Tracy Loomis’s service had been a small private affair. Even the media respected the service, staying at least a few hundred yards from the family and guests. Relatives that were able to make it to New York on short notice had been present as well as some of the families with which the Loomis family had had a relationship through the girls. Marybeth had gone through the whole process in a near-catatonic state, and Steven knew he needed to get her out of New York as soon as possible. As promised, his in-laws had made arrangements for her and the kids to go back with them for as long as it was necessary.

The day after the service, as everyone was packing and getting ready to leave, his mother-in-law caught him staring out the living room window in contemplation. “Steven, we are almost ready to head out.”

He turned around and smiled at her, “Thank you, Lucy, thank you so much. In all of this chaos, the one thing that I have been able to count on has been you and Tom, and I can’t tell you what that means to me. Take care of Marybeth, she needs it more than anyone right now, and slowly try to get the kids to understand what happened.”

Lucy grabbed both of his hands, “You know we will, you don’t have to worry about them, they will be well taken care of. What about you, Steven, what are you going to do?”

Steven looked out over the city before answering, “I’m going to try to get back to work, to get my mind occupied with something else and to try to figure out how to move forward from here.”

Lucy squeezed his hands and let go, “Well, if you ever need to just disconnect, to deal with this on your own terms, you know our home will always be open to you. Your family will be waiting there, when you’re ready.”

Steven put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, “I know it. Thank you and Tom for everything.”

Lucy turned and left the living room and Steven went on looking over the city. He didn’t want to seem as if he too was falling apart. He wanted to seem as though he was going to try to get back to his normal routine, go through the grieving process that was sure to come and eventually join his family. The reality, however, was much different. In the past three days, Steven Loomis had gone through a deep introspection trying to find what felt right to him. From the beginning he knew he would have to do something about this and had been trying to decide exactly what that would be. He had thought about coordinating with the DA and NYPD and making the resources of his company available to them, but the political angle had shot that idea out of the water almost immediately. He had considered forming a group of the parents of the victims, but as he thought about it more and more, that would not address what he felt needed to be addressed the most. It had not been until 2 o’clock the previous morning that he had come to a final decision as to what he would do. It wasn’t a decision made out of anger or desperation, it was a decision he had carefully considered and one that he knew would be the only one to bring him peace, perhaps not immediately, but eventually.

As he watched his family packing to leave and said goodbye to his children and wife, Steven Loomis felt the most at peace since this whole ordeal had started. Beth was still in a haze, something he knew would be the case for some time. He didn’t want to push her, so he just simply let her know he was there and would be there when she was ready.