Cleansing

Chapter Two

****
Fuller had given a window period of two hours for Hanson to show up at Jump Street before he decided that there would need to be some investigating of his whereabouts. He called Judy, Ioki, and Doug into his office, sat behind his desk, and waited for them to file in.

“Any news on where he is?” he asked dryly.
“No answer at his apartment,” Harry stated with a shrug.
“His mom hasn’t heard from him either,” Judy added. “I called over to Ridgemont to see if maybe he went there for one more day, but they said he hasn’t showed to any classes.”
“There wasn’t any answer when I went over to his place this morning,” Doug said agitatedly.
“Ok,” Fuller spoke after a pause. “Penhall, Hoffs, I want you two to go check on his apartment again. Ioki, call any place you think he’d turn up at.”

As the three cops exited the office, Judy questioned quietly, “You want to go now, Doug?”
“Fine with me.”

****
The three knocks on the door were followed by silence. Penhall flashed Judy an annoyed look before pounding on the entrance again.

“Not here,” he voiced blandly.
“Do you know if he has a spare key hidden somewhere? Any way we can get in?”
“I don’t know.”

He fumbled with the doorknob, and he frowned from finding it unlocked.

“Weird,” he muttered confusedly.
“Let’s have a look around, shall we?”

The two stepped into the apartment and leisurely started to amble around the area. There were several empty beer cans scattered on the floor, adding more of a mess to the already slightly disorderly space.

“Doesn’t look like he’s here,” Judy said as she made her way to Tom’s bedroom.

There was a damp bath towel lying on the floor, as well as the clothes Tom had worn the day before. The bed was in disarray; sheets were crumpled and hung off the edges, appearing like someone had been rolling around on them wildly. She went closer, and an unpleasant feeling rose within her.

“Doug, come here,” she said loud enough for him to hear her.
He entered a number of seconds later and inquired, “What is it?”
“Look at this.”

She pointed to the sheets, and Doug’s mouth fell open in wonderment.

“What the….?” He drifted off for a moment before speaking once more. “Is that blood?”
“I think so. What happened? Where do you think he’s gone to?”
Penhall shook his head and inhaled a quick breath. “I don’t know.”
“Come on. Let’s get back and see if they’ve found out anything.”

****
Doug and Judy waited patiently while their captain discussed details about a case with another officer. The conversation lasted a couple of minutes longer before they were able to share their findings.

“Well?” Fuller inquired with interest.
“He wasn’t there,” Hoffs voiced with concern. “But there-”
“Coach!” Ioki interrupted as he jogged to the three huddled outside of Fuller’s office. He clutched something in his hand, and as he came to stand in the group, he said, “Take a look at this.”
Fuller took it and read the label on the video tape. “When did you find this?” he asked.
“Just now.”
“Where?”
“Right outside the chapel door. There was no one in sight to guess who may have left it.”
“What is it, Captain?” Penhall questioned; all anger he had directed at Tom had now vanished only to be replaced by extraordinary anxiety. “What’s it say?”
“It says, ‘To Jump Street – Here’s Tom Hanson.’ There’s a piece of paper taped to the back here.” He ripped it off before reading aloud. “Open after watching.”

Saying nothing more, Fuller took the folded notebook paper and tape into his office; the three officers followed, and Ioki shut the door as Fuller pushed the cart with the TV on it from the corner of the room to the center. He inserted the VHS into the VCR, turned on the television and turned up the volume. The recorded material began almost immediately.

A tall, thin male held the camcorder out in front of him to film himself. His face was covered with a black ski mask, obscuring anything that would be able to identify him.

“Hello, Captain Fuller,” he greeted with mockery. “And to any other Jump Street cop present for the fun. Wondering where your precious Officer Tom Hanson is yet? I’m sure you are, so let’s go ahead and check on him, shall we?”

The screen was jumpy as the teenager, Danny, flipped the camera around, revealing that he was in Hanson’s apartment and was now moving toward the bedroom. Upon entering, he panned from covered face to covered face of his four accomplices – Derick, Andrew, Eric, and Travis – before looking down. Tom was lying on his left side on the floor, his wrists in his own handcuffs behind his back and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist that went to just his knees. The half of his visage that was visible was swollen and had serious bruising, the majority of the discoloration encasing his closed eye. There was a trail of blood that showed from his hairline to his nose, where it dribbled onto the floor. His bottom lip was split open and bled a little; the red liquid that had leaked from the wound earlier onto his chin had already dried.

“Oh my god,” Doug whispered, his eyes wide and his expression filled with fury.

Tom let out a small groan and stretched his legs; his left eye opened halfway, which appeared to cause him pain due to the struggle it took to do so.

“Looks like he’s comin’ around,” Travis snickered.
“Get him up.”

One of them crossed to the officer they had beaten to unconsciousness, grabbed a fistful of Tom’s still wet hair, and pulled harshly. Tom whimpered as he was hauled to his feet, resulting in laughter from the other five in the room.

“How is it that this man can get away with murder? Is that fair?” Danny asked.
“It certainly isn’t,” Derick answered from where he stood beside Tom’s dresser.
“So what do we do with him?”
“We should have more fun with him,” Andrew suggested and finally let go of Hanson’s hair. “Treat him like he would be if he was put in prison for the murder he committed, seeing as he would be one of the ‘pretty’ ones.” The five masked men laughed at the comment that made Hanson bow his head from embarrassment and humiliation. “Show him who’s in charge of him now.”
“How would you feel about your pretty officer then, Captain Fuller?” Derick yelled at the camera with a smirk.

Andrew tore the towel away from Hanson’s body, prompting another round of entertained laughter spawned from the mortification written on Tom’s countenance.

Doug could feel his face growing hotter and hotter by the minute as he watched the abuse of his partner. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and he had to control himself from striking the wall.

“Who wants him?” Andrew asked. “Or am I first?” He traced his finger down Tom’s cheek, making the young cop recoil from the contact. The four other captors sniggered and hooted at this. “I’ll just take him.”

He pushed Tom to the bed and shoved him to lay on it. Eric covered the officer’s mouth with duct tape that stretched from Hanson’s right ear to his left. It was evident that Hanson was already thoroughly exhausted, and he could not bring himself to waste his strength on trying to force Andrew off of him.

The camcorder focused on Tom’s battered face, catching every flinch of pain and the utter shame present in his usually lively brown eyes. They were soon shut tightly as he arched upward and practically screamed from Andrew thrusting into him. Several clear tears fell from the corners of his eyes, and he trembled when the man withdrew from his body. A loud moan, which was muffled by the tape, sounded from him as he was penetrated again. A string of whimpers started to come from him as he was defiled, while a new wave of tears overwhelmed him.

“Turn it off,” Doug growled through clenched teeth.

Tom cried out and kept his eyes closed even after Andrew was done and Travis began.

“Turn it off!” Doug shouted madly and stormed to the VCR. He pressed the stop button and then the eject button numerous times as if that would make the tape pop out faster. Before he had a chance to retrieve it – and tear it apart – Fuller removed it and set it on his desk. Judy was staring at the floor, her eyes red and wet from grief. Ioki inhaled a deep breath and put a hand over his mouth for a moment. Not able to contain it any longer, Doug unleashed his rage by kicking the metal filing cabinets and punching the wall as he cursed.

Once he was finished, he collapsed onto the couch, breathing rapidly.

“The note,” Fuller started in a faint voice and picked up the folded piece of paper. “Reads, ‘Like what you saw? Look again tomorrow for more’.” He put it aside and shook his head. “Any ideas who this could’ve come from?”
“Maybe it’s a friend of Tanner’s out for revenge,” Doug said distantly. “Or maybe his brother rounded up some friends to do it. Tom mentioned one of them threatened that he would ‘pay for’ killing Tanner.” With a dejected sigh, he leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “I went over to his place last night. I yelled at him for not being there for the bust, and while I pounded away on the door, he was in there….being raped.” The last word was spoken with hesitancy. “I….I could’ve helped him.”
“It’s not your fault, Penhall,” Fuller said in an effort to ease the guilt Doug had. “We don’t know if he was even there when you went over. They could’ve already taken him. You couldn’t have stopped them. Now, do you know the kid’s name that Hanson was talking about? Or his brother?”
“I know Tanner’s brother for sure.”
“Find him.”

****
Officer Penhall was utterly impatient as he waited on the doorstep in front of the nice, pastel colored house. He rocked back and forth on his heels and continuously mumbled, “Come on, come on.” Ioki was significantly calmer, and he knew he would most likely have to keep Doug from lashing out at the suspect.

The door was finally opened by a woman, and it was obvious that she was not happy with them standing on her porch.

“What the hell do you want?” she demanded.
“Mrs. Benton,” Ioki began in a composed tone of voice. “We’d like to speak with your son for a moment.”
She smirked bitterly. “The one your friend didn’t kill? I don’t think so. He’s done with you and your fellow cops. Leave us alone.”
“We have reason to believe he’s a suspect in the kidnapping and rape of Officer Hanson.”
“This is ridiculous. He wouldn’t be involved in those sorts of heinous, disgusting crimes. He’s still grieving, for god’s sake. He can barely get out of the house for school, much less anything else. Now get out of here and stay away from my son.”

Swiftly, she slammed the door shut. Doug turned around and worked to withhold from breaking in. A thought suddenly hit him, and he started for the car with Ioki close behind.

“I know some places he hangs out at,” he said with determination in his voice.

****
In one quick motion, Penhall threw Tanner’s brother against the wall, out of plain sight from the main part of the dingy bar. He held the teenager there and stared at him vengefully, while Ioki merely observed with little concern for the kid’s well-being.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Danny asked, annoyed.
“I’m sure you have an idea,” Doug hissed maliciously. “My partner? Tom Hanson? He’s missing.”
“So? Why would I care? He deserves whatever’s coming for him.”
Doug gripped Danny’s shirt tighter and pressed against his throat. “I think you had somethin’ to do with it. You and four of your fucking friends.”
A smirk came to the teen’s face. “Why would I do anything to him?”
“You know damn well why. You beat him, raped him, and then took him away. Where is he?”
“Did he enjoy it?” His blue eyes were glittering with malcontent.
“Enjoy what?”
“Being fucked like a prison bitch?”

Doug struck him forcefully before flinging him to the ground and holding him down.

“Where is he?!” Penhall growled dangerously between clenched teeth.
“I don’t know. I had nothing to do with it.”
“I swear to god, if he dies, I will kill you myself and you’ll be no better off than your brother.”

The officer stood, glared at him threateningly, and treaded out of the bar.

“I’m gonna find you, Tommy,” he whispered as tears of frustration filled his eyes.

****
Once they had finished with using his body for their pleasure, Tom had been hit violently until he had passed out. The next time he had opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the back, windowless half of a van still handcuffed and with duct tape still covering his mouth. He had been thankful to discover that he was dressed in a pair of boxers. There was no way of telling where he was or where he was being taken to, and extreme weariness had won out several times, causing him to close his eyes and fall asleep now and then on the way to the destination.

The fourth time he awoke, he was sprawled out on the concrete floor of an unfinished basement in a house. There were a couple of windows around the space that revealed it was daylight outside. The previous night’s events seemed like nothing more than a horrible nightmare, but the grotesque bruises on his body and his incredibly sore backside reminded him that it had indeed all happened. He was no longer handcuffed, though the tape remained. Very slowly, he started to pull it off. He grimaced in pain as it was unhurriedly removed. After a few minutes, he was successful, and he crumpled it and chucked it across the area.

It took a great amount of energy and effort to lift himself to a seating position against the cold, hard wall; he hated feeling entirely worn out. Nonchalantly, he gazed about his surroundings, which were surprisingly rather void of furniture. There was a double-sized bed, a couch, and a bunch of wires everywhere. On the opposite end from where he was, there was a door that went to a small bathroom and another that was shut and locked. As for lighting, there was one fluorescent light overhead and several individual spotlights hanging from the ceiling. Something that caught his attention was the presence of numerous holes in the walls. He looked into one, yet could not tell what was in it. He thought he could see a tiny red light, but it went away, making him believe he had imagined it.

Cautiously as to not cause anymore unneeded pain, he started to get to his feet and was able to after a minute or so. He ached everywhere; it was impossible to take even one step without having some part of his body hurting. Despite this, he started limping to the other side of the spacious area to investigate his new surroundings more thoroughly. He meandered over to the stairs leading up to the above floor and discovered that a door – seemingly made of some type of metal to ensure no escape – was closed, leaving him no chance of going anywhere other than around the dingy space. There was no reason to check if it was unlocked or not; he knew it was bolted securely.

After only a couple of minutes, he collapsed to the floor next to the bed. He let his eyes sweep over the room one more time before at last succumbing to the stress, degradation, and anguish. Quietly, he wept alone, bringing his knees to his chest to embrace. He suddenly felt wholly disgusting and dirty, the vast opposite of how he had felt after giving himself to Doug. The chances of Doug wanting him now, he knew, were extremely slim to none. Then again, he thought shamefully, Penhall did not have to know about him being physically and sexually maltreated. Refusing to reveal any of the details to the older cop – if he was indeed found – would be what he would do, along with ignoring and declining any advances from Penhall if he made them.

As evening rolled in, so did a strong storm. He could hear the wind and rain beating against the house and saw the world outside light up from each vein of lightening. The thunder was occasionally powerful enough to shake the walls above him and loud enough to startle him and make him quake. The lights flickered once before going out entirely, plunging him into complete darkness. The stillness within his confines and total blackness made him begin to breathe rapidly as he panicked. The solitude here was nothing like what he had gone through at the juvenile jail with Doug. He remembered how his partner had lost it due to claustrophobia, and he suddenly knew how Penhall had felt. It was stifling and crushing, and he curled up on the floor as if to escape it. He murmured desperate prayers, asking for the electricity to return incredibly soon. It was not long before he passed out from his intense anxiety.

The lights never came on for him until morning.

****
Doug hardly slept at all; it was an apparent fact by his disheveled hair, tired and dull eyes, and he had not changed out of the outfit he had worn the day before. There was nothing he could concentrate on except for Tom Hanson and what could possibly be happening to the younger officer. He was making himself physically sick from pondering constantly on his partner, and shortly after he arrived at the chapel, he had to run for the bathroom to vomit miserably.

It was his fault. It was his fault that Tom had been kidnapped and raped. If he had just made Tom stay and talk like he had wanted to, or had gone to Hanson’s apartment at least thirty minutes before the bust, Hanson would not be missing.

It took a great deal of energy to trudge back downstairs to his desk. Various reports littered the surface – things he needed to get done – but he could not focus on any of it. Whenever his phone rang, he picked it up hurriedly, hoping to hear Tom’s voice on the other end, but it never was, and his spurt of vitality was snuffed just as quickly as it had come.

The way his friend looked at me….I’ll never forget it. So much anger and hurt. He kept yelling at me, screaming at me: ‘How could you do this? You killed him. You’re a murderer. You’ll pay for this. We’ll get you.’

Doug broke his pencil in half while hearing Hanson speak in his mind. There was no other main suspect that they could find at the moment, and there was not much need to; Doug knew without a doubt that Danny was heavily involved in the crime, though there was no real evidence to pin on him and put him away. And Danny was not going to spill a word of any helpful tips.

“Captain!”

Penhall glanced up to see Judy racing in from outside to Fuller’s office. She went in, and Penhall exchanged a serious look with Ioki before following her. When they entered, she was handing a piece of paper over to their boss, and Doug’s heart thumped painfully, fearfully, from witnessing a tinge of horror in Fuller’s eyes.

Noticing the three officers’ imploring gazes, Fuller cleared his throat and read the note. “Much more on display. Many more viewers. Curious? www.copkiller.com.” He paused before setting the paper down and looking at the three present. “They mean serious business. This wasn’t a random kidnap. I want the three of you to make a list of names of all the kids Hanson’s arrested in the past two months and then find out whether they’ve been released or not and where they went.”
“I still think we should continue going after Danny Benton,” Doug said firmly.
“Fine. You can put your attention to him.”
“Are you going to see what that website is?” Judy asked.

Fuller gave a stiff nod, retreated behind his desk to sit down, and in seconds had the URL typed in. The three cops huddled around to view the screen, all of them feeling exceedingly anxious and worried.

When the webpage loaded, Doug stopped breathing for a second and he felt like throwing up. At the top was the site’s name and below it was a large photo of Hanson’s police badge, showcasing who was to be the victim. A couple of links were on the side that led to a place to post comments and to view more video recordings. Taking up the center area was a video of live feed from a camera positioned close to a bed; it was the featured camera of the day, and the many other angles and shots to watch could be found by clicking the link on the side. The bottom of the page was what was most troubling. It was positioned in the center above a visitor count.

Days, hours, minutes, and seconds were displayed with words above it, stating: “Time until Officer Tom Hanson’s Execution.”

A countdown.

Doug was in shock, as were his co-workers. Had he been shot? No, he was still alive; but he was suddenly feeling as if everything was being drained out of him like blood seeping from a wound. His best friend was going to be murdered. Tom would be dead in thirteen days, nine hours, forty-five minutes, and twenty seconds if they were unable to find him before then.

“Is that him?”

Judy’s voice snapped Doug away from his thoughts, and he stared at the computer screen more intensely.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Harry answered sadly.

Tom had moved directly into the camera’s range by sitting on the floor with his back against the side of the bed. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and extended his legs out in front of him. His skin – the smooth, unmarred, beautiful skin Penhall had tasted and caressed – was terribly discolored by an innumerable amount of bruises and cuts. Penhall swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the memory of claiming Tom’s body, and finally had to look away from his maltreated partner.

“I’m putting ten more people on this case with you three,” Fuller said, hiding his anger and despondency from his tone. “We will find him.”