| Subject: Re: Full Circle C2/6 |
Author:
fananicfan
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 15:28:10 08/17/07 Fri
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "Full Circle...Next in the series" on 17:55:08 08/16/07 Thu
Chapter Two – A Child Withheld
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
SAN DIEGO
I've been on edge since Ms. LeMoine called last week about the report that may cause us to lose Tyler. Neither Harm nor I have come up with a solid defense against the concerns that the psychologist's report presents. I've sent a letter to Ms. LeMoine, outlining why I think the points that the doctor is trying to make shouldn’t bear much weight with the committee. Harm’s stationed overseas, and his visits will be when his schedule allows.
I stated in my letter that, though Harm hasn't been able to see him at regular intervals to date, that may change in the future. I pointed out that Harm and Tyler had a day at the park without ‘maternal influence,’ which Mrs. Potter can attest to. He sent Tyler a note with the pictures that Tyler took of him during their outing. Harm has mailed him postcards from London, Naples, and the carrier to keep in touch. Harm spoke to Tyler during the Saturday call when we were in Virginia and has since called him every Wednesday evening, the day and time which was set by Mrs. Potter. Tyler would be living the kind of life that most military children do: a parent deployed or stationed too far away to see them on a regular basis.
What else could I have said in my letter to tilt the odds back in our favor? A knock on my door interrupts my search for the answer. “Enter,” I bark, perturbed at the interruption.
“Ma’am, I hate to disturb you, but I need to talk to you about a problem that a friend of mine has,” Petty Officer Coates says with a distinct look of concern on her face.
“Have a seat, Jennifer. Is your friend’s problem legal or personal?” I ask, skeptical that it's about a friend.
"Both, ma'am."
"It might be better if your friend talks to me directly. As a lawyer, there'd be laywer/client privilege that would keep anything that we discuss confidential." I hope to get Jennifer to tell me that she's the one asking for help, but I'm surprised when she reveals information that makes me believe that there is really another person.
"Ma'am, she can’t come to see you because she’s in the hospital.”
“Okay, Jennifer, let me hear as much of the story as you know. We'll see if what you know gives me enough information to give you any advice."
"My friend lives in my apartment building. Last week, I heard some commotion in her apartment. Her apartment door was open when I reached it. She told me that she and her husband had been arguing and that it had escalated. He'd hit her and stormed out of their apartment. She was surprised that I hadn’t seen him in the hall on my way in. She said that he’d never hit her before and she was shocked by his actions. Since he'd left and he'd never hit her before, she didn't want to call the police. I stayed on her couch that night, but he didn’t come back while I was there. The next evening after work, I went to check on her. She said that he’d called just after I'd left that morning to say that he was sorry. He was going to stay at his mother's for a few days to think over why he'd lost his temper and then he’d come home. He just needed to sort through some things. Since, during the call, he’d acknowledged that he'd lost his temper, and she thought that truly abusive men never saw it as a weakness in them, but rather in the other person, that it would never happen again. She didn't know what was wrong, but was eager to talk it over with him when he returned in a few days."
I'm impatient, so I try to sum up what I've heard and make an effort to move the story forward when Jennifer stops talking for a moment to catch her breath or gather her thoughts. "So last week, your neighbor and friend had an argument with her husband, and he hit her. Is her question whether or not to notify someone now?" I wait for the answer to my question so that I can dispense my advice and go back to trying to resolve my own problems, but the next part of the story causes the bile within me to rise and anger to consume me.
Jennifer's voice is low, but not a whisper when she speaks again. "No, ma'am, that isn't the question."
Jennifer takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, but when she speaks again, her voice is stronger. "Ma'am, her husband returned two days ago. This time there was no argument. He just used his key to enter the apartment around dinnertime and he hit her before snatching up their five year old daughter and making a dash for the door. She caught her breath from his blows and ran after him. He could leave her, but she had no intention of letting him leave with their daughter. When she followed him down to the car to get their little girl, he ran into her with the car. She woke up yesterday and gave a statement to the police. I hadn't been home that evening. I'd gone to the movies that evening with Dennis. I didn't hear that she'd been hurt until yesterday morning when another neighbor told me. I went to the hospital to check on her. She was with the police when I arrived. The nurse said that she'd gained consciousness a few hours prior. The San Diego police say that, since it's been more than forty-eight hours since he disappeared with their daughter, the possibility of them finding her aren't very good. My friend wants to know if there's anything that the military can to do to find him and her little girl."
I'm angry, and the thought running through my head is, 'I may not be able to get my son, but I'll be damned if this bastard's going to get away with her child.'
"Is either your friend or her husband in the military, Jennifer?" I ask, able to control the disdain that I feel.
"Yes, ma'am, both actually. She's in the Navy and he's a Marine."
I stand and prepare to leave the office. "Good, then there's no problem with making a case for this office to be involved. Jennifer, I need to talk to your friend. We're going to be investigating the hit and run incident."
I stop by Lt. Graves desk and ask her to get a copy of the police report from two nights ago on a hit and run accident invloving...Jennifer then supplies the name, Petty Officer Linda Vaughn and her address.
A little while later at Balboa Hospital....
Jennifer requests that she be allowed to go in first to explain that she's requested help from someone whom she trusts and is certain can help.
It's only four minutes and thirteen seconds before Jennifer appears in the hall to ask me to come in.
I walk in and see the black eye and bruised face of what I suspect is ordinarily an attractive woman. Jennifer introduces us, and I ask my first question. The young woman doesn't seem interested in speaking with me, but she answers me. I begin to ask the twenty-something woman a series of questions, and I notice Jennifer reassuringly patting the woman's arm during every other question.
After my tenth or so question, the woman comes to life. "How are these questions about where he's stationed, when the last time he was deployed and such have to do with finding my daughter? I don't care if he's ever caught or punished for hurting me. I just want my little girl back."
Jennifer reaches for the woman's hand and squeezes it to get her to focus on her. "I've known Colonel MacKenzie for awhile now, and she's asking questions that may not make sense to you, but they give her the information that she needs. She's a very good lawyer and she'll handle your case so that you'll be able to put Antonio away so that he can't get to you or Peggy again."
With tears in her eyes, Linda says, "Something's wrong with him. He needs help. He doesn't need to be in jail."
"Then we'll see that he gets help, but we have to find him first, Petty Officer Vaughn," I say, more than a little anxious to get back to my questions. I need to proceed in a professional manner, but I want to scream at her that I don't give a damn if her husband is prosecuted or not. I just want to get her daughter back, but I'm trying not to ruin my career at the same time.
It isn't the career that I'm so concerned about. If I get kicked out of the Corps, then I could go to Naples and finally be with Harm. No, the reason for my career concern is because I haven't entirely conceded to defeat in obtaining Tyler, and being forced to leave the Corps would be a second strike in my efforts to do that. I need to control my anger and handle this case by the book. I think of another downside to getting drummed out of the Corps. The admiral always said that his job was more about politics than anything else, and I spent enough time in Washington to know that wrecking my career would taint the opinions of the powers that be and hurt my captain husband's chances of someday becoming the next Judge Advocate General, a post that I may once have wanted myself, but now it no longer holds the appeal that it once did. My priorities have changed. Not turning my career into a laughing stock is important to me, but having a family and becoming a mother in particular is much more imporant to me than being the JAG.
The time that it took me to pull my emotions together has given Linda Vaughn the same chance, and she's ready to continue now.
Having obtained information about her husband's duty station from his wife, I told Petty Officer Coates that our next stop was Camp Pendleton. I want to know if Staff Sargent Antonio Vaughn has been reporting for duty or not.
Later in the day, Camp Pendleton...
At SSgt. Vaughn's command, we found out that he'd been reporting for duty until yesterday. He'd shown up carrying his daughter in his arms, saying that he needed emergency leave to care for his wife and child. His wife had been struck by a car the previous afternoon in front of their child, and the child had been pretty shaken. In fact, the child had been so upset that he'd said that a nurse had told him that children's Benadryal would get her to sleep. After a call to Balboa to verify that his wife had been hospitalized, he'd been granted fourteen days emergency leave.
My next set of questions were about the few weeks prior to his appearance yesterday. Had he been acting any differently? Had he talked about hurting himself or someone else?
Lt. Graves had called while we were in route to Camp Pendleton to tell us that she had a copy of the police report. At that time, I asked Lt. Graves to get me a copy of the sergeant's service record and to get it ASAP.
Having gathered a lot of information, it was time to head back. At the office, I could read the report, look over his service record and, hopefully, see what I needed to in order to find this child who was being withheld from her mother.
Back at the office...
Lt. Graves informs me that I've missed a lot of calls. I sort through the messages to see if there are any that I have to return now. No, nothing that can't wait. I tell Lt. Graves to join us in my office with the police report and service record.
The lieutenant, Jennifer and myself look over the reports and the service record. There's a lot of ground to cover. His parents live in La Jolla, not too far from Harm's parents and myself. He has an uncle in up state New York and one in Ensenada, Mexico.
The sergeant speaks three languages, one of which is Spanish, so it's possible that he's at his uncle's in Mexico. As a rule, the MP's don't usually venture past Tijuana when they search for wayward military men and women whose drunken outings have caused them to lose their bearings and miss the border.
The police report says that they called the uncle in New York and spoke with his parents. They had no probable cause to search his parents' home, so he could've been there with the child. His parents are civilians, and I have no right to invade their home either, but I want to talk to them. The uncle in Mexico has no phone, so I'm leaning towards that being where he's headed or hiding out.
It's an hour past quitting time, and I dismiss my two helpers, but neither of them move. Jennifer says that she'd asked for my help, but had never expected me to do it alone. Lt. Graves was equally as headstrong. She didn't want to quit until we had the little girl back.
I phoned Frank first and called upon him once again to take Mattie to the gallery for work in the morning, and probably bring her home as well. When Frank asked and I explained that I was working on a missing child case, he told me to call Mattie and tell her that he was on his way over to get her. She'd be staying with them until I wrapped up the case.
After Frank and I finished our call, I called Mattie and told her to put some of her things together because Frank was on his way over to pick her up. She'd be staying with her grandparents for a while. When Mattie asked what was going on, I told her about our search for the missing girl. Mattie then asked how long she'd be staying with Trish and Frank, and I told Mattie...until we find her.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 