Julio – The Growing Years

 by: Miguel Sanchez

© 2006-2008 by the author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Again he shook his head then Rolando popped his cork. “Since you’re not willing to tell us, you have exactly 1 minute to get off of The Foundation’s property. You’re now on notice. If you return and fail to give a valid reason for being here you will be arrested and charged with trespassing. If you really piss me off, I might add 1 count of attempted kidnapping for each of the children here.”

The cop turned to leave but stopped. “Who is the owner?”

Steven opened the door. “That would be my father, Dr. Miguel Sanchez. You can find him at the hospital but he’s busy with a patient.”

Chapter 74 

By now, Andrea’s contractions were coming every 90 seconds. Dean examined her and had his delivery questions answered. “Miguel, she’s going to need a C-section. She’s fully dilated and completely afaced. Don’t push Andrea.”

The anesthesiologist was paged and when he arrived he gave Andrea more medication through her epidural then Dean prepared her for her C-section. Andrea looked over at me and reached her hand out. “Papa, I can’t watch.”

I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “We can put a drape up so you won’t have to love.”

Once the drape was up Andrea relaxed and Dean delivered a beautiful 6 lb 5oz baby boy named Juan Luiz. Mother and baby were doing fine and the grandparents were out of their minds with happiness and joy. Once Andrea had a chance to rest, I snuck Felix inside so he could see his baby brother. Andrea was breast feeding Juan when we came in. “Andwea, what are you doing?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m feeding him.”

Since Felix was adopted, Brianna bottle fed him and this was something new. Once Juan had been fed and burped she let Felix hold him. He sat down in a chair then I passed the little guy over. He wasn’t in Felix’s arms a minute when Juan got a smile on his face. “Looky, he likes me. He’s smiling at me.”

I left the new family so I could get back to the home and get some much needed sleep. I had just finished changing out of my scrubs when I heard a page letting me know I had a phone call. I went to the nearest phone then had the call transferred to me and it was Steven on the line. “Hey Dad, there’s some cop wanting to talk with Joey.”

It was a good thing I was sitting because I’d have fallen down. “Why, what’s going on son?”

“I don’t know Dad; he was being a jerk and not telling us anything. Danny told him he had to explain why he wanted to but he just said it was none of our business. Danny also told him he’d have to talk with you before anything happened. I told him that you were with a patient so I think he might be on his way over.”

‘Damn, I didn’t need this shit right now.’ I thought.

“OK son, I’ll handle this and look, under no circumstances is he or anyone to talk with the children unless by some miracle they happen to have a court order. By the way, did you call Paulo?”

“Yes Dad, Guillermo did that. Rolando also told him if he returns again and is not prepared to tell us why he wants to see Joey, he’ll be arrested.”

I was fading fast and I didn’t need this right now. “Alright son, if he comes here, I’ll take care of it.”

I hung up the phone then got a cup of coffee. I was almost finished with it when I heard another page. I called the operator and was told I had a visitor down in the lobby. When I got downstairs, I had the operator point out who was waiting to see me then headed over. “I’m Dr. Sanchez.”

The man pulled out his ID. “I’m Inspector Diaz with the Federal Police. I’ve been told I need to clear it with you so I can speak with Joey Peña.”

I nodded my head. “Before that happens you’re going to have to tell me why.”

He tried the same thing he pulled on the others. “I’m afraid I’m…”

“Cut the crap Inspector, I’m in no mood for it. Either you tell me or I will have you arrested if you return to the home.”

“You do realize I can obtain a Federal warrant for him.”

I nodded, “I know but not without proving probable cause. What Federal crime has he allegedly committed?”

He shook his head, “None that I’m aware of.”

Now I was furious. “You have no grounds for any warrant but you won’t explain yourself? You have exactly 1 minute to start talking or I’ll be calling our lawyer AND Judge Javier Romero.”

“All I can say is that he was implicated in a crime.”

“Implicated in a crime? By who and when did this alleged crime happen?”

He shook his head. “I can’t…”

“You can and you will or you WILL be explaining yourself to Judge Romero.”

I could see him mulling this over in his mind. “A woman here…”

“Some woman on staff has accused him of a crime?”

He shook his head. “No, umm…”

I turned to head over to the operator. “Since you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll have to find out for myself.”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “I can’t allow you to do that.”

I spun around and got nose to nose with him. “YOU CAN’T STOP ME!” I shouted.

I turned my shoulder releasing his hand then headed for the Emergency Room. I took my ID card and swiped it through the lock then started to enter. The cop was right on my heels and before the door closed, I spotted Danny. He saw me and the cop then all but ran to get over. “What’s going on now Miguel?”

“He said some patient here accused Joey of a crime and I’m about to find out who it is. Come on Danny.”

The cop tried to follow but Danny put his hand out. “You’ll have to wait here.”

“Now just one minute.” He said with a definite attitude.

I shook my head then smiled. “Since you won’t talk you can just wait here, let’s go Danny.”

He knew he was in a real bind now, “Alright, alright. I don’t know her name because she passed out on me.”

I looked at Danny then back to him. “Alright then, show us the room she’s in.”

We stepped out of the way then followed him as he took us into a private room. When we went inside, the curtain was closed so I picked up the chart. I didn’t get any answers there as the name said Jane Doe. I looked inside and got the shock of my life. “Danny, you better take a look here.”

He stuck his head inside. “This has to be some kind of a sick joke.”

Now it was that cop’s turn to be confused. “Do you people know her?”

“Oh yeah,” Danny said. “If she was the one who made the accusations against Joey, she has a real credibility problem.”

I took a look at her chart and saw she’d been sedated so talking to her would not be possible right now. I thought for a moment then motioned everyone outside. “Let’s go down to the cafeteria. She’s going to be out for a few more hours at least and inspector, you better get ready to do some explaining.”

We went over to the cafeteria and I got everyone some coffee. Danny looked at the cop who looked like he was trying to formulate what to say. “OK man, what gives?”

The cop thought then fired back. “Why does she have a credibility problem?”

“You first, you’ve been acting like Joey is a public enemy or something.”

“Well, first off look at her injuries.”

I shot back, “You think a 15 year old boy could do that?”

“Maybe with a weapon,” he countered.

“What time did this alleged take place?”

He shook his head. “She hasn’t said, all she did was give me the kid’s name and then pass out.”

Danny countered. “What time did she get into here and what time were you called? Better yet, why were you called? Why didn’t you notify us, you don’t have jurisdiction here.”

“I got an anonymous call around 7:30 this morning. When I got here her doctor said she was found outside about 7.”

This was getting us no where. “Who called you?

He shook his head. “I don’t know, it was a male.”

I was gob smacked, “A male?”

He nodded his head, “Yeah.”

Danny was really angry now. “Damn it, I should arrest you for obstruction of justice. Now you better start talking or else I will, cop or no cop.”

The cop just sat there until Danny stood up reaching for his cuffs. “OK you win.”

Danny sat back down then I started asking questions. “What all did she say? I don’t think she just said Joey Peña did this.”

He shook his head. “No, there was more. She said Joey called her and said he wanted to talk to her.”

I knew this was total bullshit. “What else did she say?”

“She said when they met, they started talking then all of a sudden he hit her over and over then raped her.”

“OK, I’m going to talk with her doctor. I want to know if she was examined and if they managed to recover fluids from inside her body.”

The cop puffed his chest out. “If there is, that’s all the proof I need to arrest him.”

Danny blew up. “Now you listen and listen well, this is not a federal case so I’m putting you on notice right here and now, step any further here and you’ll be having a new address. Do we understand each other?”

“Why does it seem you’re trying to protect this suspect?”

“You got a lot to learn,” I replied. “That woman has been on a crusade trying to concoct evidence to put that boy in jail.”

The man was sitting there with his mouth hanging open. “How does she know him?”

“I’ll fill you in on that later,” I said getting up and heading for the door.

I hurried to the ER and found her doctor. “Well, hello Miguel, what brings you here?”

I knew the doctor on duty. “Hi Esteban, did you do a pelvic on that Jane Doe?”

“I sure did,” he replied pulling her chart. “I was able to collect a lot of fluids and a sample was sent up to the lab to get a blood type on the semen. What has you involved?”

I reached out for the chart and he handed it to me. “Well, she made an accusation against one of the kids at my group home as to who did this and personally I don’t believe her. Do you know if she’s awake yet?”

Esteban nodded his head. “Yes she is, I just came from her room.”

I took her chart then proceeded to go see Jane Doe. I saw Danny and the inspector standing outside her room. Danny met me just before I got to the door. “Is she awake?”

I nodded my head then entered. The curtain was still closed so I opened it and sat down. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I wondered how long it would take you to get here. But this time that brat won’t be getting off.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked in a calm voice.

“I’m quite sure Dr. Sanchez. I was raped and had the hell beat out of me but I managed to see my attacker.”

“What else did you manage to see?” The inspector asked.

She looked over at him. “Who are you?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID. “I’m Inspector Ernesto Diaz with the Federal Police and who might you be?”

I was waiting for this. She just laid there and I watched as her face got redder and redder. “Aren’t you going to answer him?”

She decided to ignore me. “How did you get brought in on this?”

“I was called and given an anonymous tip. Please continue and tell us what happened.”

“I was out for the evening. When I returned, I took a shower then went to bed. I’m not sure what time it was but I was awakened by my bed shaking. I saw Joey Peña naked crawling up onto my bed and he was telling me all what he had planned. Then he began striking me over and over. He hit me at least a dozen times before I finally passed out. The one this I can tell you is he had a rubber on.”

I had to stop her. “You mean his penis was erect all this time while he was physically assaulting you?”

She nodded her head. “That’s what I said.”

I looked at Danny then back to Victoria. “Well, I hate to break this to you but the doctor who did the pelvic exam on you found fluids inside and they took a sample.”

Her eyes got big. “WHAT? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!”

I shook my head, “Nope, not impossible. Now, would you like to tell us the truth?”

“I AM TELLNG YOU THE TRUTH, DAMN IT!”

I fought to keep from laughing because I knew where Joey was last night, all night long. “We’ll soon know when the lab analyzes the semen taken from you because the hospital has a record of Joey’s blood type. If it matches, it could be him but if it’s different, you know what that means.”

She glared at me. “And you’ll forge those reports…”

Danny had heard enough. “Inspector, this woman here is a FORMER District Attorney and a FORMER social worker. Her name is Victoria Ruiz.”

Ernesto’s mouth was hanging open. “Why was she fired?”

I looked over at Victoria. “Why don’t you tell him?”

I could see her face getting redder the madder she got. She was about to speak when she went limp and her eyes rolled upward. I pushed the call button and when a nurse answered I shouted, “Code Blue! Danny, you and the inspector will have to leave now.”

A team came in to work on her and there were too many people in there even for me so I left the area. Danny and Ernesto were out in the hall when I came out. “How is she?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know Danny, her heart rate took off on the monitor but what else is happening, I haven’t a clue.”

We walked out of the department and back into the waiting area. The 3 of us found a place to sit out of the way and started talking. I could tell Ernesto had a million questions. “OK Doc, just who the hell is that woman?”

Danny giggled. “She was an ADA here first of all. She’d tried on several occasions to have Joey locked up, one time was over a simple assault. Now don’t get me wrong, Joey should not have hit him but the guy had been baiting him. Another time, she tried to accuse him of molesting one of the other boys there at the group home and the final time was when she tried to accuse him of rape. I’m not going to go into the shit she pulled when she was working for social services.”

I looked at Diaz. “Now, can you really believe anything she says?”

He shook his head. “I do see what you mean about her having credibility issues but she was raped.”

“Oh no doubt,” Danny replied just as a man came into the waiting area.

I looked at him but could not see his face. He then turned and I had to cover my mouth to keep from gasping out loud. I leaned over real close to Danny. “Danny look, you see that man there in the red plaid shirt? Look at that tattoo.”

The man turned a little more and then Danny had a good view of it, “Oh my god Miguel, that’s Ruben Peña.”

Danny eased his weapon out of his holster as the man turned and saw the 3 of us. Danny stood and aimed right his chest. “Ruben Peña, you’re under arrest.”

Just then a family with a little boy came in and Ruben grabbed him holding the child as a shield. “I don’t think so now put the gun down or I’ll break this kid’s neck.”

The inspector tried to put his hand on Danny’s weapon. “Do like he says sheriff.”

Danny batted the cop’s hand away. “Not on your life, now step aside. Let the boy go Peña, you don’t want to add murder.”

The man laughed. “I’ll do anything I have to. Maybe you’d like to watch me have some fun with him, huh?”

He was one sick individual and this pissed me off. “If you touch him Ruben I’ll take your miserable life myself, that’s a promise.”

“My, my, such words from a man who’s supposed to save lives, not take them.”

He turned so his back was towards the door giving Danny a harder shot if he had to. “Just let the boy go Peña and we can end this without anyone getting hurt.”

“Oh yeah, someone’s gonna get hurt all right,” he said as he reached around and started undoing the little boy’s shorts. “I think I’m going to get me a piece of this little boy’s tight virgin ass hole.”

I moved a little to my right. “Don’t you dare,” I shouted.

Just then the boy started wiggling in Peña’s arm to the point where he was able to get loose. Diaz then did something that totally surprised me. He grabbed the end of Danny’s pistol and raised it up then reached inside his coat and pulled his own out tossing it to Ruben. Peña caught the gun then pointed it at us. “Thanks pal. Now sheriff, I think it’s time for me to leave but not before you and the good Dr. Sanchez die.”

To be continued...

Posted: 10/10/08