Part 21

The sound of paper crackling under his foot startled Harry as he settled into the driver's seat of his sedan. "What the..." His breath caught as he retrieved a familiar plain brown envelope from the floorboard. "Dammit! He found out about the camera. Why else would this be here instead of the office like the others?" Harry turned his eyes to his passenger, who had remained uncharacteristically silent.

Cassy stared straight ahead, not looking at the envelope or her captain. "How the hell did he know, Harry? The number of people who knew about it makes a very short list. After you scratch my name and yours, who's left? Who else knew?" She finally turned to look Harry in the eye at the last question.

"Pearson installed the camera, but he's been a good friend of Tom's since he joined the force. Along with his expertise, it's one of the reasons I picked him. He'd never help Stein. That's it. No one else knew." Harry stared at the unopened envelope, almost mesmerized, during his explanation to Cassy.

Cassy stubbornly refused to fall back into the victim's role by allowing her eyes to follow Harry's gaze to the envelope. "I agree with you about Pearson. It has to be someone else. Are you certain that no one else knew?"

Harry answered, his eyes never leaving the envelope. "I didn't tell anyone else. I wanted to make sure he didn't find out. I...I guess...I failed again..."

Cassy was quick to cut off his self-recrimination. "Harry, don't. You've got to stay focused here. Wallowing in self-pity isn't going to accomplish anything. There has to be someone else. Could anyone have overheard you and Pearson?"

Harry finally shifted his gaze from the unopened envelope to the detective beside him. "No. There's no way that could have happened. I called him into my office and told him to bring the file on the Larson case. I had him shut the door. There is no way anyone could have known what we discussed or overheard us without my knowing."

Changing tactics, Cassy pushed Harry for answers. "Okay, so you didn't tell anyone and no one overheard you talking about it. That leaves us with only one other possibility. What was on the tape? Did it show anyone poking around who could have found it? Was anyone in the office at all last night?"

Harry's eyes had returned to the envelope during Cassy's questioning. They remained there as he answered. "There was nothing on the tape. The only person in the office all night was the janitor. He just went about his cleaning and left. He didn't find the camera."

Taking a deep breath, he turned the envelope over. "Guess it's time to find out what's in here." Another photo and letter fell into Harry's handkerchief-covered hand when he turned the envelope upside down. He briefly inspected the photo before laying it on the seat between them. He read the note aloud, knowing Cassy was anxious to find out what it said. "Lipschitz, Your son's time on this earth is nearly at an end. If God smiles on you, you may get to say good bye before he dies. If not, you will have to say your good byes at the morgue. You'd better start praying real hard, right away. Signed, George Stein."

Harry's eyes drifted down to the photo that Cassy was staring at. The fresh bruises on Tom's throat showed the perfect impression of the hand that had inflicted them. He was thankfully unable to detect any other fresh injuries.

Cassy suddenly lifted her eyes. Her expression had quickly changed from pain and anguish to one of curiosity. "How are they getting these developed? These aren't the kind of photos you can drop off at the local discount store for processing. They have to be doing it themselves. According to the records, photography was one of Dr. Leonard's hobbies. I'll start checking the local supply stores. Someone had to sell them the equipment."

"Let's get these to the lab. Then we can both look into those photo supply stores." Harry exited the vehicle, envelope and contents in hand. Together he and Cassy reentered the building.

Neither one noticed the janitor who had left the building and now sat in his car watching them. He sneered as he watched the door close on the pair. "You are so damn predictable, Lipschitz. Your incompetence is truly astounding." George started the car and pulled out of the lot.

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Cassy and Harry exited the lab and turned to head back to the squad room. Harry stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway. "Oh, my God. That's it. That's how he did it." He gestured to the woman ahead of them pushing the cleaning cart down the corridor. He turned to face Cassy, a look of determined recognition on his face. "The only one in the office last night was the janitor. They only clean the office when I'm out for dinner or gone for the day."

"Of course! No one would think twice about the janitor going into your office. What better way to smuggle in an envelope than in a cleaning cart? Let's go find out who was working last night. That will be our delivery guy, I'm sure of it."

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His breath came in short gasps as Tom waited for the door to slam shut. He was able to grab hold of only one thought among the many that spun in his head. How could George's presence really be any worse than the perverted doctor's?

He was brought out of the daze by fingers that gently stroked his cheek while a repulsive voice whispered to him. "Don't worry Tommy, I won't let him hurt you. I promised, remember?" Tom swallowed hard as another kiss was placed on his forehead.

George slammed the door and moved into the center of the room. He stood there with his arms crossed as he sneered at the helpless prisoner. "Well now, isn't this special. Such a tender scene I seem to have so rudely interrupted. So tell me now, Son. Are you enjoying the Doc's attentions by now? I just knew the minute I saw you that the two of you would be perfect for each other. I went straight home and I called my old buddy. I told him to come right down here and check you out. After he got here, old Doc just knew from the first moment he saw you that he had to have you. He has quite the photo gallery, you know. He's got a whole damn wall filled with your pictures in his room. It's quite a shrine he's built there for you. You really should be flattered."

George's words hit Tom like a physical blow. He stifled the scream of outrage that threatened to escape. The bastard had known all along, had even planned for Dr. Leonard to do those things to him. He struggled to remain completely motionless, determined not to give George the satisfaction of seeing his pain. He concentrated with limited success on keeping his breathing even, not willing to allow any sign of his inner turmoil to show through. He kept his eyes open and stared at a spot on the ceiling where the paint had begun to peel. He desperately tried to focus all of his attention to the imperfection and ignore the words from the man sitting beside him.

An animated smile lit the pervert's face at the revelation from his partner. "Oh Tommy! I wish you could see it! You would be so pleased. You really are so photogenic. I so loved every minute that I followed you and watched you. That's when I took all those wonderful pictures of you. Georgie was so nice about it. He always let me keep them after he finished looking at them. I didn't like taking pictures of the others, but Georgie needed them, so I did it. I was always so happy when I could go back to following you, though. I could tell right away that you were the special one. Everybody thinks so. You can tell by the way that they all look at you. It's all there in the pictures. Especially that Cassy person. She tries to hide it, but she really thinks you're very special."

A frown crossed the doctor's face as he continued. "She wants to have you for herself, you know. But she won't ever get you. I won't allow it. You and I belong together and I won't ever let you go, Tommy. I promise I won't, not ever."

George walked over to stand in front of the doctor and gestured to the basin still sitting on the chair. "Why don't you finish discussing this later? There are things that have to be done now. Get this stuff out of here. It's almost time for you to leave."

Dr. Leonard's protest was quickly cut off before it began. "We have to stick to the plan, Doc. You promised to help me in exchange for your prize here. I told you what I'd do if you tried to back out on me. Do you really want to back out on me?"

Tears filled the doctor's eyes as he reached to stroke the side of Tom's face. "I'm sorry, Tommy, but I have to do this. It's for us, so that we can be together forever. I won't be long. George has promised not to hurt you anymore while I'm gone. Please, Tommy, don't do anything to upset him while I'm gone. Just do exactly what he says and you'll be okay. I swear you will. When I get back, we can go away together, just the two of us. It will be wonderful, you'll see." He paused to wait for a response from Tom, but none came.

As the pervert leaned forward, Tom turned his head away. The pleading whine started immediately. "Please don't be mad, Tommy. I have to do this for us. I have to. Bye, Tommy. I'll see you very soon." Tom groaned as the doctor pulled him back to face forward. Squeezing the throbbing jaw, Dr. Leonard spoke in the familiar menacing tone. "Say good-bye, Tommy. I have to leave now." Receiving no response, he applied more pressure.

Tom finally choked out a weak sounding farewell. The pressure on the jaw lessened slightly as the twisted healer leaned down, stopping within an inch of Tom's face. "That's much better, Tommy. I'm glad to see you are learning." With that the repulsive man kissed Tom full on the lips. "Good-bye, my sweet Tommy. I'll be back real soon."

Tom's stomach again threatened to empty when the revolting lips touched his. Shock and terror mingled with his sense of dread at the doctor's apparent expectations concerning the future. His chest heaved as he desperately gulped air. He furtively prayed that the man would just leave. Finally, the hand released his jaw and began to gather the items from the chair. The doctor paused at the door to bid a final farewell. "I'll see you very soon, Tommy. Then we'll be together forever. It will just be a little while longer. You'll see." The next sound Tom heard was the door closing. He wanted to bask in the relief, but apprehension took hold.

He was now alone with George.

End Part 21

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