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Missing Love	By : SisterWine Category: 1 through F > Cold Case Views: 1032 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Lilly Rush and the Cold Case team belong to Meredith Stiehm. I make no money from this nor do I wish any harm or slandre against this series. The OCs, including the ME and Tom Cort, are my own inventions. THIS WORK IS FICTION

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 4
- 5
- 6
Lilly walked through the door, after placing her weapon in the locker, and spotted Scotty sitting at his desk, reading a file. She walked over to her own desk and sat down. "Learn anything new from the old tapes?" She grinned, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
"Taking a break. Decided to put in a call to Daisy Crenshaw's parents, to see if they knew where she might be. Her last known address, after the trial, was with them in an apartment, above their garage. I thought maybe she'd be able to help with how many other victims went in and out of that place." Scotty's sullen demeanour told Lilly more than his words did. He sat back and lifted his head to stare at the top of the window edge.
Lilly took her smile and cheer down a little. "Where is she?" She asked as she leant forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
Scotty sighed. "Suicide. Three years ago. Heard Justin was up for parole. They told me she was in and out of rehab, since she came back. That final blow sent her over the edge." He knew something like that would take a harsh toll on a victim. He half-expected it of all of the victims, even Shannon. Then, he remembered, her parents told him she had had a drug problem, first dabbling, prior to being kidnapped, then, dependent to the point of listlessness and need, afterward. It had been enough of a statement to recall his own brother's daemons and empathise with the parents.
Lilly flinched and shook her head, hanging it low in sorrow for the girl's family. "That leaves us with just Carla who can possibly tell us what happened."
"Where are we for background info on Cory Parker?" Stillman came to stand next to Lilly, from his office, after seeing her come back from the counselour's.
Lilly lifted her head and sat back, looking up at him. "Counselour says he's a stand up guy, at the shelter. He still volunteers there." She shrugged slightly as if she wanted to say that she didn't believe he was involved but, she knew that balances can shift when you least expect it.
Nodding, Stillman waffled with the theory Cory was innocent, as well. With a deep breath and an exhale, he released what his phone conversation had revealed, prior to joining them. "CSU is still working around the Compound. They found two more remains." His voice was usually monotonous but this time, it inherited a slight chill. This was one part of the job he despised. However, he was relieved to be able to tell grieving parents they found their lost loved one. He still had reservations as he had to tell one of them an infant was also found. "Dr. Hiller is taking the remains over to her lab for processing. One of which was, what she surmised, a four-hour-old infant. They're still looking for other victims around the Compound and further out. It's possible victims were buried in other parts of the area."
"So, what do we do now?" Lilly asked, almost tired of the case.
Scotty sighed. "I got tapes to finish." He offered as Lilly glanced at him.
After being stuck in a car for longer than she cared to, with Vera, Kat Miller offered to join Stillman on the ride down to the Pinnacle whilst Vera and Will rode down to the ME's office. Lilly was given the task to talk to Carla, out in West Philly.
~~~
Cedar Park
Carla Rhodes sat at the bar and sipped at her beer, her back to the door. The sparsely crowded room was dark and mostly quiet. Perfect for her to drown her sorrows and read the paper of the latest findings from that god-forsaken compound. "Get me another, Marc." She pushed the empty one away from her and over to the young, dark haired bartendre who came up to her. Her third one in an hour and a half as she stared at the headline and wiped her eyes that clouded with tears of her long lost friend.
"Carla Rhodes?" Lilly asked as the woman glanced over her shoulder at her, unamused. She watched as Carla took another drink of her freshly placed bottle of beer.
Swallowing another gulp, Carla sized Lilly up before answering. "Yeah? Don't tell me it's illegal to drink a beer to an old friend at 11 in the morning." She had guessed the woman was a cop by the way she spoke and stood. Carla had gotten pretty good at picking out the cops from normal people.
Lilly introduced herself before unfolding her notepad and removing her pen from her shirt pocket. "I'm Detective Lilly Rush, Philly Homicide. I'm working an old case and it was noted that you might be able to help. About Vince...." she was cut off as Carla picked up the last name.
"Parker." Carla deadpanned. "There's nothing to talk about, Detective. Go home." Her short black hair had been lightened to blonde and grew to fall midway down her back. Her tan face paled as Lilly said the hated man's first name. She sat hunched over the bar, on a barstool that had lost it's plush padding years ago but she wasn't one to complain.
Lilly sighed and sat down beside the woman. "How about Tessa Bright?" She paused as Carla abruptly turned to look at her. "Her remains were found a few days ago, by his compound. It was mentioned that you spent a lot of time with her, before she disappeared. Do you mind telling me what happened?"
Shaking her head and smiling at her friend's memory, Carla took another drag of her cold beer. "Tess. That kid had 'moxie,' as my dad always said." The once provocative nightclub dancer was now a bartendre/waitress at the bar she now drank at.
"Did you know each other before the compound?" Lilly asked. She shook her head to the bartendre who came up to ask her if she had wanted a drink.
"No. But, I knew her spark the day after Cory let her off the leash." Carla shifted as she leant on her elbows on the bar; her bottle of beer never leaving her hand. With a nervous twitch she noisily spun the partially full bottle, listening to the sound it made on the oak bartop.
Lilly nodded. "What can you tell me about her?"
Carla was silent for a long while, staring at the bottle in her hand.. "She didn't want to be there. None of us did. Every week, we'd do laundry, at this large wash barrel that was set up and she and I would talk. She'd ask about all kinds of things; how long we've been there, do they have a phone, any other cars on the property. That sort." She paused and squinted as she took another drink of her beer. "Daisy and I had to keep her in line. We told her as much as we knew."
"Did anyone else ever find out about her questions? Vince? Cory?"
Scoffing Carla only shook her head. "Vince had his boys all over us, every second of the day. We were lucky if we were allowed to piss without them watchin'. Although, Vince was just dirty enough to want to watch."
Lilly nodded. "Ever see Vince lose his temper?"
Carla scoffed again and laughed as she took another drink, wanting to forget all about the place that robbed her of her innocence and dignity. "Yeah. Vince's temper was no secret. He'd lose his shit faster than dropping a dime. He raised his brats to be just like him."
"Did Cory ever get upset with Tessa?"
"Oh yeah." Carla thought, taking a deep breath. "It was dinner time and 'the wives' had to serve their 'masters' dinner before we could sit down. Tess dumped his whole plate into his lap, then she popped him a good one and he knocked her across the room." She smiled at the memory but dropped the smile as she told the rest of the story. "His sweet-potato and honey act didn't fool me for a second. Those two were always screaming at each other. Of course, Nicholas liked to scream and hit, too." Almost completely numb, she finished her beer and held up the empty bottle for another one. Her hands shook as she knew what was coming next.
Lilly watched her and made a mental note of the unease in Carla's actions. "What can you tell me about Nicholas? What was he like?"
Carla cringed at the question. She hated talking about her time there; to anyone. "He liked them wild and rough." She was grateful that the state had decided to listen to her pleas and kept him behind bars for another five years but she knew her time was running out to keep him there.
"How long had you been with him?" Lilly shifted and turned in her seat to use the table to write on, whilst looking at Carla.
Carla took a long drink of her fresh beer. This time a longer one than she had previously. "Six years. Had five kids from them. One was Vince's, two were Justin's and two were Nicholas'."
Lilly nodded in understanding. "Cory didn't try anything with you?"
"No." Carla smiled but small. "He was too young, thankfully."
Continuing to write their conversation down, Lilly asked her next question without looking up until she finished the last word. "How'd you get along with Shannon?"
Sniffling and wiping a tear that slid down her cheek, Carla cleared her throat and tried to continue as if nothing was wrong. "The wicked bitch of the East? She was just as bad as the rest of them. She'd tell us to 'behave' and let them do that shit to us. Or, they'd beat the hell out of us and she'd just stand there and stare at us. It's like she had no humanity, ya know? Her baby was her prized possession. He could do no wrong in that bitch's eyes." Carla squeezed the bottle she held and took a deep breath before turning to look over at Lilly. "Cory ain't so sweet and innocent as he plays out to be. Erin found that one out, the hard way."
"What happened to Erin?" The name rang a bell and although, Cory only mentioned her, Lilly was still interested in hearing of the woman's demise.
Carla took another sip of her beer. Another long pause before she spoke, shivering at the violence and imagery that played out in her head. "Erin was his second 'wife'. She and her twin sister were inseparable. Vince cured that. Real quick. They were out jogging, one day. They stopped to use the pot at a rest area. Her twin went in and Erin stayed outside. That's when he grabbed her."
~~~
The Parker Compound, 1980
Vince and Justin sat on the large porch, overlooking the middle of the compound centre. It was noon time and Shannon and Carla were helping Daisy birth her fourth child. Nicholas and Cory were busy putting together Cory's wood frame for his bed. Justin's house was further back from view of Vince's larger cabin. Whilst Vince's was to the right, Justin's was to the far left, almost out of sight. Nicholas's cabin was to the left of Justin's and in between Justin's and Cory's.
"Raise it a little more, Cory! Come on, pull!" Nicholas called from the inside of the cabin as Cory hoisted and pushed the other end of the log frame through his bedroom window. It was a cold winter's day but even he was sweating. "More!" They had used a winch and pulley to raise and fit each individual log with the connecting one. His shaggy dirty-blond hair fell into his eyes, dampened by sweat and dirt as he brushed them to one side with his arm. "Alright, stop!" He exhaled loudly as even he, with his brother's help, couldn't budge the heavy log. "Pa! This ain't working! Cory's an idiot!" He called, dropping his end of the cut log and coming outside to call to their father.
"Shut up!" Cory yelled back from the ground as he let go of his end of the log and balled his fists. He turned to also face his father with his retort. "Pa, Nick can't keep 'em straight! I'm pushing them up but the dumb jerk ain't doin' his part!" He huffed from the arduous work he had been putting in, much to his brother's lack of interest.
Vince sat in the chair, facing the two boys. He watched them with mild interest and laughed with his eldest son about the haphazard way they were putting the cabin together. He glared at the sight and sighed, annoyed at the bickering between them. "Knock it off!" He called back before standing up and making his way across the porch, to the five steps down and over to where Cory stood. Smacking the back of Cory's head, he came nose to nose with his youngest and growled at him. "I told you, use your head, boy." He turned and walked into the house, through the kitchen and around the corner to Cory's room. "Push the log through then, get yer ass in here!"
Cory hung his head but did as he was told. "Yes, Pa." Pushing on Vince's mark, Cory shoved the end through the window and turned to look behind him as he heard movement coming from Justin's cabin. "Pa?" He watched as his mother and Carla came out, holding a small, wrapped bundle in Shannon's arms.
Walking back out of the cabin, Vince stopped next to Cory and eyed Shannon. "Go get yer bitch to help you put it together." His voice was low and gravelly as he stared at the baby. "Justin! Come meet yer child."
"Yessir." Cory said quietly and turned to make his way over to the porch where he and Justin passed in the middle. He made his way up the stairs and into Vince's living room, where Erin lay on the floor, a large chain around her waist. Cory undid the chain and called her name to wake her. Grabbing her gruffly by the arm, he pulled her to her feet and hastily made his way back to the door, oblivious to Erin's lethargic walk behind him.
Beautiful brunette, tall and gangly, deftly stumbled through the doorway but livened as the cold air hit her face. She struggled in Cory's grasp, trying to free her arm from his tight grip. "Let go of me!" She screamed and wrenched herself free, falling backwards and landing on the hard wood porch. Dressed only in a long, red flannel shirt, she shivered as her bare arse sat on the cold wood.
Cory stopped and turned back to her, scowling and hiding the shock of her refusal. Raising his hand and backhanding her across the face, he bent over and screamed right back. "Don't you ever backtalk me, again, or so help me, I'll knock you through that floor! Do you hear me?!" He reached up and grabbed a fistful of board straight brown hair and yanked her to her feet before dragging her down the steps and over to his cabin door. He made eye contact with his father as they passed one another and shoved her into the cabin, which earned him a pat on the back from Vince.
Carla didn't bother to look over to see Lilly's reaction as she finished the story. "A couple weeks later, she was dead. I heard she got Cory pretty good though." She chuckled under her breath. "First night on that bed and she kicked him right in the sack. He couldn't sit down for about two days without being in pain." Silently toasting her fallen companion, she finished her last beer.

Continued.
- 4
- 5
- 6
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Missing Love