AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That’s the funny thing about working criminal investigations. Detectives usually have a lot of help. And before the day was over, Webb’s help came walking through the door with her mother.
She was a lovely young lady, no more than eighteen years old. She had a short pixie cut hairdo that had been colored lavender, and it was striking against her brown skin. She looked terrified. Her mother did most of the talking.
“I went to the police about this, but since she was 17 at the time, they said we’d need to take it up with his employer. Which we did. But they’ve just been giving us the runaround.”
Webb nodded. “So what made you come see me, Ms. Young?”
“The news. When I saw that boy shot himself, I just knew he had something to do with it.”
“You think he killed his son?”
“Well no, not like that. I mean…emotionally. Or maybe psychologically. He’s a manipulator, you know what I mean? She’ll tell you,” she said, gesturing to her daughter. “Venus, tell him.”
Venus looked as if she wanted to fall through the floor. Webb cleared his throat. “It’s okay. If you want, I have a female officer you can talk to. Would you prefer that?”
Venus nodded and crossed her arms in front of her as if she was hugging herself for comfort. Webb nodded and left his seat to walk over to Officer Long’s desk. “I have a scared girl over here that needs to talk about some things. Can you take her statement?”
Long was always down to help women. She was new. Webb gave it six months before she was just as jaded and apathetic as everyone else. He went into the conference room and waited while Long did her thing. She returned within 30 minutes waving the statement in her hands.
“You didn’t tell me I was walking into a soap opera,” she announced as she entered his cubicle. “I’m shook.”
Webb sat up and leaned toward her. “What happened?”
She took her seat and cleared her throat. “Alright, so this girl Venus was in Gordon’s class. Played the flute or something. Anyway, he started coming onto her about two years ago. She says he was real smooth with it, treating her like a grown woman, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She said he made her feel special.”
“Yeah, yeah, they all do. What else?”
Long hesitated. “It’sweird. Apparently, they started having sex about three months after he first started grooming her. But get this: he made her wear a prosthetic belly. During.”
Webb blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You know, like when an actress needs to look pregnant and they put one of those fake bellies on her? He had one of those and made her wear it.”
Webb sat back in disbelief. “Fuck.We saw it. In his house. We found it when we executed the search warrant.”
“Apparently it’s his thing. She said he begged her to let him get her pregnant. She told him no for a long time, and then he finally wore her down. She got pregnant last year and gave birth this past June. She told her mom it was some boy at school.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the worst part. He wanted a…I don’t even know what word to use to describe it. Like, a pregnancy cult. Or harem, I don’t know. He enjoyed having these girls pregnant at the same time.”
Webb’s mouth fell open. “Girls? Are there more?”
“She wouldn’t say. I think she just didn’t wanna get any other girls in trouble. My guess is yes.”
“My victim wasn’t pregnant when she died though. And the DNA matched the son. This isn’t adding up.”
“Can’t we charge this nasty piece of shit with something? Anything?”
“I’ll have to talk to Lincoln, but probably just sexual misconduct. I want him on something bigger, though. I just haven’t been able to connect it yet.”
“Well, good luck,” she said as she pushed the tape recorder and paper statement toward him. “The sooner he’s off the streets, the better.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“We’reheretofigureout where we go from here. As a group, as a family, and as a source of support for the Gordon family. Dr. Gordon, thank you for being here today,” Marcus said.
They had gathered in the Lane living room, just as they had done so many times before. The tone of this meeting was sad and contemplative, but it was necessary if they were going to move forward.
