Fatal Series 00 - Fatal Destiny

gave you a black eye,” she said in a teasing tone, hoping to coax a grin out of him.
    The comment earned her another scowl. “Only you would compare a basketball injury to getting shot at.”
    “Love you,” she said, flashing her cheesiest grin.
    Rolling his eyes, he bent to kiss her. “If I have to swaddle you in bubble wrap to get you to that church in one piece, I’ll do it.”
    Sam reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Don’t worry.”
    “Right. Don’t worry. What do I have to worry about?”
    She urged him into another kiss. “Nothing at all. I promise.”
     
    “Gardner lawyered up,” Detective Tommy “Gonzo” Gonzales informed Freddie when he arrived at HQ. “Won’t say a word.”
    “Figures. The guilty ones always lawyer up right away. Where is he?”
    “Back in holding until they arraign him in the morning.”
    “What about Simmons?”
    “He caught wind of what we wanted to talk to him about and produced travel documents that show he was in New Orleans visiting his family for the holidays when Skip was shot.”
    “Crap.”
    “How do we find out where Gardner was?”
    “We’re running his credit cards now, seeing what we can find out about his activity that week.”
    “Sam wants us to talk to the woman he raped. She refused to testify when it happened, but Sam thinks because she’s older now…” Freddie shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
    “Let’s go.”
    They found Leticia Nixon working at a daycare center in Washington Heights. Oblivious to their presence, she sang with animated hand gestures as she entertained a classroom full of three-year-olds. Laughing, she looked up and saw them watching her. The smile fled from her face, and the animated young woman transformed into a scared child right before their eyes.
    Freddie signaled to her, asking for a minute of her time.
    She turned her class over to the second teacher in the room and made her way to the back of the room. “What do you want?”
    “I’m Detective Cruz. This is Detective Gonzales. We wondered if we could speak to you outside.”
    She pushed through the double doors and led them through the foyer to the parking lot out front. “Is this about Gardner?”
    “How did you know?” Gonzo asked.
    Leticia shrugged. “No other reason cops would want to talk to me. What’d he do this time?”
    “He shot at me and my partner this morning,” Freddie said.
    “Doesn’t surprise me.”
    “We know he threatened you to keep you from testifying,” Gonzo said.
    Her eyes flashed with anger and then defeat. “You don’t know the half of what he did to me.”
    “We’ve got him, Leticia,” Freddie said. “He’ll do hard time for shooting at cops.”
    “So what do you want with me?”
    “This is your chance for justice. This is your chance to see him pay for what he did to you.”
    She bit her lip and shook her head. “I’ve got nothing to say.”
    “You’re willing to let him get away with it?” Freddie asked.
    She eyed him with disdain. “He’s gotten away with it for more than two years. He gets away with it every time I’m afraid to step foot out my front door and every time I refuse to go out with another guy for fear of it happening again. He won the second he took my virginity from me and filled my mind with violent images that are with me every second of every day.”
    “Let us help you,” Gonzo said.
    “Thank you, but I’m fine knowing he’s off the streets and behind bars. That’s enough for me.”
    “Did you ever hear him brag about shooting a cop?” Freddie asked.
    “Not that I can recall.”
    “You’re sure of that?”
    “I try not to think about that time in my life.”
    Freddie handed her his card. “The father of our lieutenant was left a quadriplegic in that shooting. If you remember anything that might help our investigation, please give me a call.”
    Taking the card, she said, “I need to get back to work.” She walked away and disappeared into the cheerful-looking building.
    “Well, that was unproductive,” Gonzo said.
    “You never know. She might come around.” Freddie checked his watch. “I have something I need to take care of. I’ll meet you back at HQ.”
    “Want me to drop you somewhere?”
    “Nah, I’ll take the Metro.”
    “See you back at the house.”
    Long after Gonzo drove off, Freddie stood there thinking over what Sam had said that morning. Getting shot at—again—had helped to bring things into