Teri Woods - True To The Game III

Galvani leaned back in his chair. “You looked into his file? How did you get access to an Internal Affairs detective’s file?”

“I have this friend who works for…”

Galvani lifted his hand silencing him. He didn’t want to know. That way if the shit hit the fan, he could say he didn’t know and at least that would be the truth.

“Sir, something’s off, just hear me out. Cornell Cleaver has been reassigned, investigated, reprimanded, and transferred more than any officer in the history of the department. Someone just keeps sweeping his shit under the rug. That tells me that he’s probably got someone higher up looking out for him, probably just as corrupt.”

Galvani shook his head. “Keep it focused, Josh. Don’t worry about any higher-ups. We’ll just keep them out of the loop on this one. So, how do you plan on pursuing this one?”

“I don’t think going undercover is necessary.”

“You want me to get you assigned to a case with this guy?”

Josh nodded. “That would be great, sir. If you could do that, I could bring this asshole down. But in the meantime, I want to do a little snooping around. I noticed that he associates only with certain officers and only one from Internal Affairs. The others are from various other departments and precincts.”

“And?”

“Well, it’s weird, sir. These Internal Affairs guys are pariahs. No one wants to hang with the guy charged with investigating them and possibly getting them fired or sent to prison. Yet, there’s a whole clique that he is rumored to be tight with, and they’re all detectives. These Internal Affairs guys usually hang together, because nobody else wants to hang with them.”

“Be careful on this one, Josh. No wild and loose stunts.”

Josh smiled. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“I want to be kept in the loop, too. I want to know what you’re up to at all times.”

Josh nodded. “Will do. I’m just going to do a little snooping around and see what I can come up with.”

Galvani nodded. “Good luck and happy hunting.”

Josh rose. “I’m going to bag this crooked bastard and everybody down with him. You can bet your ass on this.”

Galvani nodded, and Josh exited the room.

It must have taken Gena three hours before she caught a cab. She realized she was definitely in the suburbs. The neighborhood was nothing but grass, trees, and monstrous million-dollar homes. I’ll never get a cab out here. Tired, hungry and still not 100 percent, she felt weak and faint standing on her feet. Every few minutes she would stop and rest by sitting on the curb or leaning against parked cars. Finally, she saw a cab heading up the street toward her. Thank God it stopped.

“Where to, lady?”

For a few seconds Gena didn’t know where she was going. She thought quickly and then gave the cabbie instructions. Gena had the cab drop her off at the corner of her old block, at Fifty-second and Chancellor Street. She wished she still had her old apartment, but wishing would get her nowhere. Had she not moved in with Quadir, her uncle Michael would still be renting the place for her. She walked down the block unnoticed and up the steps to Markita’s door. She rang the bell and waited.

“Who?”

“It’s me, Gena.”

“Gena, girl, everybody and they momma been calling here looking for you. Where the hell have you been? Something done happened to your grandma. They said some man attacked her and shot Gary up and he’s in critical condition.”

“What?” asked Gena, confused.

“Girl, it’s bad; it’s been on the news and everything. The police are looking for the man and everything; they got a bulletin out and his picture. You know how they do the drawings? You better call somebody. You better call home.”

Gena picked up the receiver of Markita’s phone and dialed her cousin Bria’s cell phone. There was no answer, so Gena hung up and dialed again. On the second ring Bria answered the phone.

“Bria, it’s me, Gena. What’s going on?”

“Gena, some man came up in Gah Git’s house looking for you. But Gah Git told him she ain’t know where you was and he beat her and Gary tried to stop him, but he beat Gary then shot him in the stomach and then he…” her voice faded out and Gena couldn’t hear her.

“And then what, what happened?”

“Then he raped Gah Git.”

“What? Oh my God,” said Gena, as she began to unravel.

“She’s in the hospital at Temple and Gary’s there too. Gena, it’s bad. Aunt Paula, Uncle Michael, and Aunt Gwendolyn are all at the hospital, and they saying Gary’s not gonna make it. He’s on life support, Gena,” said Bria as she started crying.

“Okay, okay, I’m on my way. I’m on my way!” said Gena, before placing the phone in its cradle.

“What happened?” Markita asked.

“It’s just like you said, Gah Git and Gary is in the hospital. Some man went to Gah Git’s house looking for me. He beat Gary and shot him and beat Gah Git and raped her.”

“Oh, my God, Gena, no!”

“That’s just the half of it,” said Gena, thinking of Quadir. She wished she could tell her friend, but she knew that would just make matters worse. Instead, she decided to keep the news of Quadir to herself. She bent her head and began to cry. Her entire world was falling apart and there was nothing she could do to make it better.

Markita placed her hand on Gena’s head and tried to comfort her friend.

“Come on, it’s gonna be okay. Come on, I’ll go with you to the hospital.”

Gena stood just outside the hospital door, afraid to open it, afraid to step inside, afraid to see her grandmother. She blamed herself for what happened to Gah Git. If only I had been there, then maybe none of this would have happened. Oh, Gah Git, I’m so sorry. Gena couldn’t help but think that all this had something to do with Quadir’s money. Since she had taken the money from Quadir’s hidden apartment, her entire world had begun to go downhill. Nothing was right anymore. I wish I had never found that apartment or that money. Even though the attacker didn’t ask for money, and only asked for her, it didn’t matter. Gena had heard the saying “money is the root of all evil,” and she was beginning to take the saying seriously. What kind of monster would rape an old woman? Who is he? What does he want with me? Nothing good, that’s for sure. He probably would have done the same to me or worse. Gena started to think about everything that had happened. Like a bolt of lighting it hit her. Quadir, oh, my God. He wants his money! He sent that guy to find me and look what he did. She reached down and felt her stomach. Why would that guy do that to Gah Git? She had so many unanswered questions; nothing made sense. But here she was today, standing outside a hospital room, scared to see her grandmother.

Gena slowly pushed open the door to the room and stepped inside. Gah Git was lying in bed with tubes protruding from various parts of her body. She was bandaged and bruised all over. Because of her age, the doctors were uncertain about the full extent of her recovery or if she would ever fully recover at all. As a result of being beaten and raped, Gah Git had required four separate surgeries to stop her internal bleeding. Gah Git’s heart was sturdy-that was the good news. She had suffered several skull fractures from being struck with the handgun, and her bones were brittle because of her age. Healing was a coin toss. But they were going to do everything in their power to get the job done.

The doctors and the police had done the best they could to keep the incident out of the media, because an assault on an old woman would draw unbelievable media coverage, and perhaps cause even more deaths. These types of crimes often caused a chain reaction. Copycat killers sometimes come out of the woodwork on cases such as these. However, the efforts were worthless. The news spread through the city like wildfire. Other elderly people barricaded themselves indoors behind locks and chains, some refusing to go out even to get medical attention. Crimes like this reverberated across the community for months. And even though the detectives were upset about how the case was being handled in the media, they refused to comment. Their main reason was clear; they all had grandmothers and mothers, and something like this was inconceivable, inhuman even. A crime like this was done out of pure evil. Brutally beating and raping an old woman… no, they were going to lay this sick bastard to rest. When they caught him, his judge, his jury, and his sentence would be given to him inside a holding cell in a precinct house.