Episode 1

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             " ONE MOMENT IS ALL IT TAKES TO CHANGE A LIFE "

 Thursday August 29TH 2024

Hyattsville , Maryland

Sheriff's Deputy Faith Lane stood in her and Pamela's Takoma Park apartment , staring in amazement at the simply penned note Pamela had written and left for her on the coffee table. It said merely " Goodbye ". 

She pulled out her cell phone and turned it on to text the woman who had emptied her entire presence from their home. Then she saw all the missed calls and text messages on her phone that night. Most from her brother DuBuis and Pamela. 

" Shit ! , " she said as she began to read the text messages. 

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Nigel Hawthorne - Cyrus heard the other car slamming into his driver's side of his roommate Marco Martinez's car before he saw it. The massive impact sent him flying forward in his seat belted position and hitting directly the steering wheel which activated the air bag device. The last thing he heard was Richard Norland's voice through his Bluetooth asking with great concern if he was alright. Then everything faded to complete blackness for Nigel Hawthorne - Cyrus. 

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After  running the red light and hitting Nigel's car Pamela Perkins was also  knocked unconscious while still inside her own car. Her last thought was of Faith Lane. And Melinda Velez. 

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Richard Norland heard what sounded like the horrible sound of metal hitting metal over his cell phone as he talked to Nigel. His chest suddenly clenched with worry and concern unlike any he had ever experienced in his entire forty two years. His classically handsome face paled beneath his tan. " Nigel ? Are you still there ? Are you alright ? ," he demanded. " Damn it ! Nigel , talk to me ! "  Suddenly he felt very dizzy and he would have fallen to the tiled floor of the hospital waiting room floor if he was not immediately grabbed by his brother in law DuBuis Lane who asked if he was ok. 

Richard looked at the man's concerned and strained dark brown handsome face and he didn't know how to answer. All he could think about was that terrible sound he had just heard over the phone line and that Nigel had yet to respond to him. Nigel...... His hand quickly went up to his chest which suddenly felt too tight and he began to slide downwards to the floor almost against his own will. 

DuBuis tried to hold him back up , yelling out to his colleagues , " Get me a wheelchair ! Now ! " 

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Luci Moore and Sol Klein sat across from each other in the basement hospital cafeteria.  They weren't talking. Luci  was still crying. And Sol was holding her hand. 

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" Nothing happened , " Spencer whispered from where he reclined on the stretcher in the ER triage room. He didn't have his chair. He didn't have his glasses or his back up pair which were on the nightstand in his and DuBuis' bedroom. He remembered that Skip had ripped his glasses off his face , threw them on the carpeted living room floor of his once safe and secure home and stepped on them with a loud vicious crunch. After he had threw Spencer's useless body onto the floor...... Before he had....... He was alone. 

Where was DuBuis ? 

Where was Richard ? 

Faith ? Luci ?

" Dr. Norland - Lane , you need to talk to us , " said a brisk but oddly compassionate voice from  the side of him. 

No. He was not completely alone , he realized as he tried to focus his vision blurred blue eyes on the tall stocky built Black woman who stood next to him. Who was she ? , he thought with alarm. Then he suddenly remembered with a rush of panic. She was Detective Nita Browne. Of Sex Crimes. He suddenly wanted to run. But he couldn't. He couldn't. He didn't even have his chair so he could roll away. 

He also remembered Skip's words to him as he had left him brutalized and sobbing on the floor. 

( " Don't tell anyone what happened between us today , " Skip had threatened. " Or I will kill your husband and your odd kid. Hell. I'll even throw in your arrogant brother for kicks and giggles. Don't forget. " ) 

Detective Browne said gently , " I understand. Rape victims often feel this way. " 

No. No. No. 

Spencer swallowed harshly. " Nothing happened to me. I'm..... nothing happened. I want to go home. " 

    



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