Laurencia Carlton wasted no time. She called the Chief of Police and
requested a meeting. It was granted immediately. After this meeting,
she touched bases with the DA's office and two friendly reporters at
the "Trib'." Just before reaching home, at seven that evening, she
called an old friend. "Ola, Graciela. ?Como estas?" Graciela
Montenegro headed a large coalition of neighborhood empowerment
groups. She had a network of connections that provided her with
valuable information on all kinds of issues. Both women were self-
made millionaires thanks to a great deal of drive and enough
determination to stop a freight train.*
"Listen, amiga. I need some discrete surveillance work done."
Laurencia said. "Can I meet you for breakfast? Muy Bien, gracias."
Laurencia grinned as she rode the elevator to her spacious
condominium. Her husband, David, greeted her affectionately then
poured cocktails for them both. She described her visit to County in
detail and was not surprised when her husband offered his assistance
in the search. Laurencia accepted immediately. David's accounting
firm was large and successful; providing services to some very
important members of Chicago's elite.
The following morning, Graciela and Laurencia sipped Virgin Marys and
made their plans. "I need to know what's really going on in the
Robert Carter household. David can probably get a line on their
recent financial transactions; you know, checking to see if they've
made any large cash withdrawals---evidence they've paid a ransom---
but I need to know what's happening on the home front."
"That's easy. Several members of the coalition are employed there."
Graciela smiled. "I'll pass the word. It's amazing the how many
people assume our preference for speaking Spanish is due to a lack of
skill en Ingles. May their ignorance continue."
"Amen." Laurencia agreed. "Although the reason in my people's case is
different. White folks automatically assume we're either too stupid
or too lazy to be bothered to listen to them make plans to cheat on
their spouses, put the screws to business rivals, or any other little
thing that comes to their tiny minds. Thank God for complacency and
ignorance." The two women finished their power breakfasts and went to
work.
Three more weeks passed with no new information. The police had moved
the case to their back-burners. With no corpse or any other tangible
evidence to go on, they ceased their all-out investigation,
preferring to wait upon tips from informants that never came.
Although the Carter's holding company wasn't publicly traded, David
still managed to hack his way into their financial network. There was
nothing out of the ordinary to be found anywhere.
Senora Montenegro was the only one to mention something unusual. The
staff at the mansion reported almost at once, that the son and
daughter-in-law were out of the country. So far, so good: they
travelled constantly. However, none of the staff had overheard them
being told their son was missing. What was even more odd, the
grandparents did not talk about it at all. They got the impression
that Mrs. Carter genuinely didn't know her grandson had disappeared
and that the old man was keeping this news from her.
"Dr. Kovac. I'm sorry to say, I've been able to learn nothing. There
is no information to be found. I really think it's time we went to
Plan B." Luka had begun to enjoy Laurencia's daily phone calls. He
sighed heavily.
"You want to bring the media into this."
"I think we have to. If no one besides a handful of people know he's
missing, potential witnesses have no reason to say anything. He
disappeared in broad daylight on a major commuting artery. Someone,
must have seen something. Right now, some hard-working plumber is
probably wondering what ever happened to the guy he saw being mugged,
or shoved into another car, or whatever." She explained. "Let's give
these folks a chance to come forward."
"What do you have in mind?" Luka's hopes rose inspite of himself.
"I've got some friends at Channel 6. They will be more than willing
to break the story of the year if you consent to be interviewed."
"And tell them everything?" Luka was reluctant to "out" John to such
a wide audience without his permission.
"Everything. Listen, I know you're concerned about the homophobes'
reactions but even that can be a blessing in disguise." Laurencia
changed her normally light soprano voice into a baritone rumble. "'I
don't hold with no queer guys anyways; and if that was him I saw on X
Street on the umpteenth of Joo-Vember, serve him right.' See what I
mean? Even the bigots could lead us to something."
Luka made up his mind. "I'll do it. I want him home."
"Great! I'll pick you up at 5:30 tomorrow morning." She hung up.
Luka stretched out on the couch. He'd been sleeping there ever since
John had vanished. The bedroom held too many memories. He showered
and shaved at work. The bathroom also held memories that were now
painful. Luka was nervous about exposing his private feelings on
tomorrow's taping but he was terrified at the thought of never seeing
John again or ever finding out what happened to him. To prevent that,
he would walk naked down State Street at noon.
The taping was not the ordeal he'd thought it would be. Unbeknownst
to him, Laurencia had briefed the two anchorpersons so the questions
were phrased more sensitively than otherwise. The spectre of Robert
Carter's battery of lawyers laying siege to the TV station was enough
to give anyone pause. Kerry had provided a photograph of her and John
taken at softball game prior to the stabbing incident. It had been
blown-up and digitally enhanced, and it was a major surprise to
Millicent Carter as she ate her breakfast, when an image of John
appeared on the screen.
"For over six months, this young man's whereabouts have been unknown.
Last March..." The senior anchor's voice reported.
Millicent dropped her coffee cup and ran to the house
telephone. "Robert, turn on Channel 6 then get down here!"
"Dr. Kovac, you and Dr. Carter had been living together for almost
eight months when he disappeared?"
"Yes."
"Did anyone know about your relationship at that time?"
"Only our supervisor. We didn't think it was anyone else's business."
Millicent watched, her mouth open in disbelief. On Luka's left hand
was a ring identical to the one she'd seen John wearing that Sunday
at brunch.
"Would you like to say something to John? He may be able to see
this." The male anchor offered.
Luka smiled wanly. He'd never considered this possibility. "Yes...
Janaskja, I love you very much. I always will. I pray God He will let
you come home to me..." They went to commercial over a close-up of
Luka's ravaged face, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry you had to see that Millie." Robert Carter stood just
inside the doorway. "I was trying to spare you, and my good
intentions back-fired. Don't believe everything you see on
television. I've known about that slimy European almost from the
beginning. I had him investigated. It seems he likes to beat up on
his boyfriends. I showed the evidence to John and he took it badly. I
think he blames me. Actually, I *know* he does. He's left the
country. He said living the gay lifestyle is easier in Europe and he
won't be back. I should have told you sooner, but I was hoping he'd
change his mind. Don't let that bastard's crocodile tears fool you.
He was abusing John. Things are better as they are now. I'm sorry I
lied to you before." Robert patted Millie's shoulder and left the
room.**
Millicent Carter collapsed into a chair, her mind racing. She'd just
seen two men give Academy Award-calibre performances. She closed her
eyes, recalling the image of Dr. Kovac looking into the camera;
looking right at her, trying to appear as if his heart hadn't been
torn out of his body. Robert had never once looked her in the face.
It was no contest. The Best Actor award was going to be won by a
foreigner. Something was terribly wrong, and it wasn't her grandson's
relationship with Dr. Kovac.
* * * * *
"All right!" Dave high-fived Yoshi. They were coming off duty and had
watched Luka on the TV in the lounge. "Now, we'll see some action!"
The two men grinned. Like the rest of Carter's friends, they believed
John's family had put their collective heads up their asses. If no
one knew he was missing, how could anyone volunteer pertinent
information?
"I'm glad to see my staff has so much energy left at the end of a
shift." Robert Romano bounced into the room. Are you two volunteering
to pull a double?"
"No way." Malucci said. I was just leaving."
Yoshi shook his head. "We were watching Dr. Kovac on 'Wake-Up,
Chicago'.", he explained in his cultured voice.
"And his grief is a cause for celebration. You've been working under
me too long." Romano's expression was grim, but his eyes twinkled.
"We were just hoping that since now everyone knows about Dr. Carter,
some leads will turn up."
"I see. Sorry, I missed it." Romano headed back to his office
thinking that Yoshi was right. He nearly jumped out of his skin when
Malucci tugged on his elbow.
"Dr. Romano? Can I talk to you for a minute?" His face was troubled.
"Don't tell me, now that witnesses will be coming forward, you want
to confess. Come up to my office." The cocky surgeon took the stairs
two at a time. When they reached Romano's office, Dave repeated the
theory he shared with Jing-Mei, colorful metaphors and all, then
waited for Romano to tell him he was insane.
Instead, Rocket sat thinking for a few minutes. "Have you told this
to anyone else?"
"Only Dr. Chen. She thinks I'm nuts."
"Well she's right about that, but that doesn't mean your idea is
equally crazy."
"Really?!" Dave squeaked.
"Let's just say, I have observed families like the Carters under
similar circumstances. What I saw wasn't very pretty." I think I know
someone who will be interested in your theory. Now, get out of here."
***
Romano picked up the phone. "Shirley, get me Alderman Carlton's
office."
Ten minutes later, Shirley connected him with Laurencia Carlton.
Robert Romano repeated Dave's supposition.
"That fits with what I've been able to learn so far. I just got off
the phone with an excellent source who informed me there was the blue-
blooded equivalent of a knock-down-drag-out fight at the Carter
mansion right after Dr. Kovac spoke his piece. It seems somebody's
been lying to Ma Carter. She hadn't been told about John's
disappearance."
"Who won?"
"Ten rounds, no decision. But if there's a re-match, my money's on
Mrs. C. She may not be the most effusive woman I've ever met, but she
loves her grandson. She also doesn't take kindly to being played for
a fool. If I were dear old grand-dad, I'd start circling the wagons."
That same afternoon, a homeless woman walked into the 4th Precinct.
At first, her appearance and demeanor drew the usual reactions and
she was told to wait until someone could take her statement. Five
hours later, the night shift desk clerk asked her why she was hanging
around. When she told him, he immediately called the Captain.
"Would you mind repeating what you told Officer Jenkins?"
"Not at all. That young man whose picture was on TV this morning.
I've seen him before. The first time, he gave me stitches after some
young guys beat me up. He was real nice, even offered to get me a
place to stay." She smiled.
"And most recently?"
"It was about six or seven months ago. He'd found out where I was
sleeping and used to come by sometimes to see if I was Ok. That
morning, he got out of one of those cars that look like dressed up
Army Jeeps and two guys jumped him, shoved him into their van and
drove off. It was a blue van, bright blue."
"Why didn't you tell anyone about this before now?"
"I did. Nobody believed me. But when I saw him on the news, I thought
I'd better try again."
The two officers took down a description of the men, the van, and
most importantly, noted the location where the victim had been last
seen. If one person had witnessed this, surely there were others.
When the woman left, Captain Gregson called Alderman Carlton at home.
"Laurencia, I think you might be interested in a lead that just
turned up." He repeated the homeless woman's story. "We'll probably
be able to corroborate this by tomorrow. When we do, you know what
that means..."
"Kidnapping. We can call the FBI."
"Bingo."
"Why wait? I've got a few friends in their Chicago office. They can
begin investigating quietly while your staff gets the corroborative
evidence. Enough time's been wasted as it is."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you Laurencia."
"Remember that on Election Day, Michael." She hung up, jumped up, and
did an impromptu jig before calling the Chicago field office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Author's Notes:
* Si, Senoras y Senors. I know that first question mark should be
upside down. You try porting a non-ASCII character into this forum.
Good luck! (You'll need it.)
** I believe giving credit where credit is due. Check out Cathy and
Michelle's story, "Tag, You're It" to see where my inspiration for
Robert Carter's (Boo, Hiss) whopping great lie orginated. A lovely,
angsty, sexy read awaits you.
*** Thank you again, Invicta. Readers, if you haven't taken the time
to enjoy "Hail to the Chief", it's just a double click (or two) away.
For those of you interested in "real life" accuracy, I have changed
the nature of Chicago's municipal government. In *my* Chicago, there
is a strong council of Aldermen and Alderwomen and a rubber-stamp
mayor. I offer my abject apologies to citizens of the "city of big
shoulders".
Copyright Footer', 'This site is not affiliated in any way with "ER", its writers or production company, or NBC, and makes no profit from the show. The ERROS skin is by Brihana. The script is eFiction version 3.4.2© Tammy Keefer, http://efiction.org\r\n