Free Reprisal by Christa Lynn Page B

never arrived at their house and had not called.
    Immediately, Mrs. DeCarlo set out on foot in the neighborhood along with her other children to look for her. After three hours, Mrs. DeCarlo contacted the Lincoln Park Police and a search party was dispatched.
    The search party located a pink tennis shoe belonging to Sydney and foul play was then suspected. The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Illinois Bureau of Investigations were called to the residence.
    A tracking device was installed on the DeCarlo telephone and detectives were placed at the residence. The exterior search continued, but detectives had reason to believe that a possible kidnapping had taken place.
    Detectives had reason to believe the incident stemmed from an outside source. The family’s financial status and social status were investigated. The family was comfortable, but not overly wealthy and it did not appear that any family member had any known enemies.
    Approximately seventy -two hours later a call came in to dispatch of gunshots fired at an empty house on South Halsted Street in Chicago.
    Once officers arrived on the scene they located Sydney DeCarlo naked, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the neck and throat area. Her bare skin exposing bruises, cuts and dried blood. In her right hand was a .22 Calibre Ruger revolver. Her ankles bound to a metal chair laying on its side.
    As detectives inspected the area, the body of a man, approximately thirty-five years old was discovered lying on the ground, a single gunshot to his head. EMT’s and rescue personnel examined the male body and pronounced him dead at nineteen hundred hours.
    Rescue personnel examined Miss DeCarlo and treated her wounds accordingly, quickly loading her in to an ambulance.
    The Chicago-Cook County Coroner arrived and loaded the male body in to a hearse and transported him to the coroner’s office for an autopsy and identification. The entire face and head had been damaged by the single bullet that visual ID was not possible. The left eye socket and nasal cavity completely shattered.
    Jesus, this youn g girl was subjected to so much that I can’t even read anymore. I make my way to the kitchen and grab another beer, enjoying the cold malt as it travels down my parched throat. My mind disappears to the house where this happened and I envision being the one to discover the scene. I’ve seen some gruesome things in my tenure as a cop and even more so as a detective, but the vision in my head is horrendous. I glance at the clock and realize its ten o’clock and I have to be back at HQ by nine, so I have a little more time to delve into these files.
    The crime scene was scoured and the following evidence collected:
    Wire cutters
    Six rolls of duct tape
    Approximately sixty-five feet of barbed wire
    Sixteen discharged medical syringes
    Twenty four unused syringes
    Fourteen bottles of Chloroform
    Three blankets - sent to the crime lab
    Seven Automotive rags - sent to the crime lab
    Two old mattresses
    Approximately sixty- five feet of nylon rope
    Various pieces of torn clothing - sent to the crime lab
    Hair samples - sent to the crime lab
    I sit here shaking my head. He tortured her. He beat her and raped her, his own flesh and blood. She was thirteen vulnerable years old. In anger, I throw my beer bottle across the room, the glass shattering against the wall. I stare at the hole now in the sheetrock and that makes me angrier. Suddenly , I have the urge to see what this man looks like, so I can memorize his face. I plan to go to Heaven one day, but in case I end up in Hell - I want to make sure I kill him again.
    I shuffle through the stack of photos and come across a photo of Sydney, after the attack.
    Her face is swollen and bruised, the skin cr acked in places and a zig zagged, bloody line across her neck. No wonder she freaked out when Chuck mentioned the wire, I probably would have too.
    I scan the Medical Report for Sydney and take in all of the information there.