here, but I really must insist that this child not leave this facility.”
“We have the signature of the boy’s father—”
“To do the exam. But I have the signature of the boy’s father, albeit years back, to take care of this child the best way I can and to ensure his safety and continued health—mental as well as physical. I can get our resident doctor and resident psychologist to attest to the fact that a trip to the ER will not be in this child’s best interest.”
“Officer Gannon” beat “Joe Friday” to the punch and had already called in to the precinct. He quickly got permission for Stevie to stay here for the exam. They were arranging for a doctor to come as soon as possible, but the matter of the exam itself remained.
“Sara…,” I pleaded.
Dottie knew where I was going with this. If I said anything else that looked like I didn’t want the test, it would supposedly prove I did something horrible to Stevie. It wouldn’t look good for the case—great, I’m a case now—and the officers would simply dismiss any argument from me anyway. So Dottie stepped in.
“Sirs, can’t Stevie be sedated before the exam? He really wouldn’t tolerate the invasive procedure very well.”
“That’s not my decision,” “Sergeant Friday” started.
The other officer finished. “We can ask the doctor when he gets here if there’s any medical reason why the child couldn’t be sedated first. I can’t really see how it would affect the gathering of evidence.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly. I had to get myself together. Stevie was becoming more and more agitated by all this. He’d started pulling at his shirt and slapping his ears by turns. I needed to clamp down on my own emotions so I could help him.
I knelt back down to talk to Stevie. “Sport….”
The first officer jerked me back up again and started putting the cuffs on me.
“This isn’t necessary. I’ll come with you. Just let me calm Stevie down first.”
“Mr. McKinnon, we are not in the habit of letting pedophiles scare the crap out of their victims in our presence. You’re no doubt going to say something to the boy that will seem innocuous to us, but he will know it’s a threat because you’ve prompted that response during one of your, um, sessions.”
“ What ?” Okay, I lost it. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve never had any ‘um, sessions’ with Stevie. That’s sick, man. I would never hurt Stevie.”
Stevie had started crying as soon as the handcuffs came out, and was on the floor, completely inconsolable at this point, rocking and banging his head. Drew looked at Dottie, signaling her to take over with Stevie. He came to where I now stood with hands cuffed behind my back, being strong-armed by the quiet officer while I yelled at the other one.
“Jesse,” Drew said quietly, putting his hands on my face to get me to focus on him, not the officers. “Stevie’s taking his cue from you on this. Remember we talked about you possibly sending empathic waves or something? You’re upset and spitting mad—with due reason—but he doesn’t understand any of this and—”
“Drew, I don’t understand any of this. What evidence could they have for something that didn’t happen?”
“I don’t know, Jess.” He kept his voice quiet, and thankfully the officers were allowing this much interaction. “But you’ve got to get it together for Stevie, man.”
God, he was right, but how on Earth was I supposed to calm him down if they wouldn’t let me even talk to him, much less touch him. Touch always worked best for Stevie.
I sighed and turned toward the officer as Drew sank back to the floor to be with Stevie. “I apologize for my outburst. That was inappropriate. But please let me talk to him. Just talk. You can take down every word I say. Analyze it later for any hidden threat. Please ! I can’t leave him like this.” If there was any chance I was projecting emotion to Stevie, it
“We have the signature of the boy’s father—”
“To do the exam. But I have the signature of the boy’s father, albeit years back, to take care of this child the best way I can and to ensure his safety and continued health—mental as well as physical. I can get our resident doctor and resident psychologist to attest to the fact that a trip to the ER will not be in this child’s best interest.”
“Officer Gannon” beat “Joe Friday” to the punch and had already called in to the precinct. He quickly got permission for Stevie to stay here for the exam. They were arranging for a doctor to come as soon as possible, but the matter of the exam itself remained.
“Sara…,” I pleaded.
Dottie knew where I was going with this. If I said anything else that looked like I didn’t want the test, it would supposedly prove I did something horrible to Stevie. It wouldn’t look good for the case—great, I’m a case now—and the officers would simply dismiss any argument from me anyway. So Dottie stepped in.
“Sirs, can’t Stevie be sedated before the exam? He really wouldn’t tolerate the invasive procedure very well.”
“That’s not my decision,” “Sergeant Friday” started.
The other officer finished. “We can ask the doctor when he gets here if there’s any medical reason why the child couldn’t be sedated first. I can’t really see how it would affect the gathering of evidence.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly. I had to get myself together. Stevie was becoming more and more agitated by all this. He’d started pulling at his shirt and slapping his ears by turns. I needed to clamp down on my own emotions so I could help him.
I knelt back down to talk to Stevie. “Sport….”
The first officer jerked me back up again and started putting the cuffs on me.
“This isn’t necessary. I’ll come with you. Just let me calm Stevie down first.”
“Mr. McKinnon, we are not in the habit of letting pedophiles scare the crap out of their victims in our presence. You’re no doubt going to say something to the boy that will seem innocuous to us, but he will know it’s a threat because you’ve prompted that response during one of your, um, sessions.”
“ What ?” Okay, I lost it. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve never had any ‘um, sessions’ with Stevie. That’s sick, man. I would never hurt Stevie.”
Stevie had started crying as soon as the handcuffs came out, and was on the floor, completely inconsolable at this point, rocking and banging his head. Drew looked at Dottie, signaling her to take over with Stevie. He came to where I now stood with hands cuffed behind my back, being strong-armed by the quiet officer while I yelled at the other one.
“Jesse,” Drew said quietly, putting his hands on my face to get me to focus on him, not the officers. “Stevie’s taking his cue from you on this. Remember we talked about you possibly sending empathic waves or something? You’re upset and spitting mad—with due reason—but he doesn’t understand any of this and—”
“Drew, I don’t understand any of this. What evidence could they have for something that didn’t happen?”
“I don’t know, Jess.” He kept his voice quiet, and thankfully the officers were allowing this much interaction. “But you’ve got to get it together for Stevie, man.”
God, he was right, but how on Earth was I supposed to calm him down if they wouldn’t let me even talk to him, much less touch him. Touch always worked best for Stevie.
I sighed and turned toward the officer as Drew sank back to the floor to be with Stevie. “I apologize for my outburst. That was inappropriate. But please let me talk to him. Just talk. You can take down every word I say. Analyze it later for any hidden threat. Please ! I can’t leave him like this.” If there was any chance I was projecting emotion to Stevie, it
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