Chapter 6 –

Bishop got a call from Nelson in the morning that brightened his whole day. “We set up surveillance cameras on the hacienda after our recent visit. Last night, the hacienda was broken into and ransacked. Nothing major. Some minor thefts. We got photos of the perps doing it. License numbers, etc. We inspected the hacienda today and found all the equipment for surveillance had been removed as well as the dish. In addition, we found evidence that chlorine was flushed down each toilet, sink, bar sink, and in the laundry rooms. So, Mr. Jack thinks he has won.”

“Did you find the guys that did it?”

“No need. They are known associates of a cartel that is working near the border of Texas near El Paso, Texas. This means that Mr. Jack has done work for a cartel.”

“Thanks. I will pass that along to an investigator in California.”

Artemis heard his door bell ring. A Fed-Ex driver handed him a package and he signed for it. He took the package over to his dinning room table and he opened it. He picked up his cell phone and called Bishop. “Hey Bishop. I got it. What exactly is it?”

“A skull printed on a 3D printer. It is the skull of our live victim. It is how they were able to examine the marks on her skull and determine the technique used. You should be able to use it to talk with Dr. Elliot.”

“Creepy, but helpful.”

“I thought so too. But, it should help you with Dr. Elliot. There might be something in the tool marks that show him something. If it helps, I have information that our surgeon may have done work for a Mexican cartel. There is also an indication that he has done work in third world countries. If that is the case, then I think they would have been interested in techniques of facial reconstruction in order to change the appearance of their cartel members.”

A little while later in Dr. Elliot’s office, Artemis handed him the skull. “Yes, it is my rig all right. I can see the bore holes here in the chin and the back of the skull too for registering the rig. You see it isn’t really a technique. It is a tool that I developed with the Trifecta Medical Equipment corporation. It is a rig that fits around the patients skull and locks down. Then, I can carefully place the tool in the rig to do delicate work on certain parts of the skull. I can reshape parts of the forehead, nose, and other parts with a high degree of accuracy and safety. I was testing it officially about five years ago for the FDA.”

“Did you have test rigs made?”

“Yes, the prototypes were developed in a lab down in Hermosillo, Mexico, per my plans and patents.”

“Can you get me the info on who was in on the creation of the prototype?”

“Sure.”

***
“Mr. and Mrs. Laignaux, good to meet you. Please come in and sit down.”

“Doctor Angstrom, have you had the chance to evaluate Camille?”

“Yes, I have. As the court appointed psychiatrist and medical expert who first handled Jean, we investigated a full range of indicators, backgrounds, tests, and many other measures including preliminary interviews with your daughter to determine what was done to her, how she would be able to handle it, and what kind of future we could help her have.”

“And what is your conclusion?”

“I am fairly certain that she is transgender. No, I know she is transgender without a doubt.”

“Then Mr. Jack was right in what he did?” said Cam shaking his head.

“No. Most certainly not. He was lucky. Most children who are initially diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder grow out of it. For those whom the identity disorder persists past three years, it is another story. However, medical science is torn currently on the best approach on helping children transition. There are those who believe that a course of puberty blockers will insure that the child has the best options. Then there are those who feel that is best to wait until the child is past puberty.”

“Where do you lean on the issue?”

“Myself. I guess I think it best to wait myself. Not just because the child isn’t mature enough emotionally to make that serious a choice about the amputation of their sex organs, but because I don’t think we fully understand what puberty blockers really do to a child yet. There are long term consequences that we just don’t fully understand yet because the technology is just so new. You just have to turn on your television and see the lawyer ads for a drug’s bad effects that years earlier was being advertised on television as a wonder drug for a medical condition. We don’t have any controls to compare our results with. Worse still, because of the political nature of the country right now, it is politically incorrect to ask these important medical questions.”

Dr. Angstrom got up and walked over to a white board and began to write. “Here. These are the issues that we don’t know about that concern me. 1. Bone density. 2. Circulatory system. 3. Organs.”

“Each one of these three basic items involves understanding what the long term affects will be. At the age of fifty, for example, Camille could become susceptible to bone fracture. Or, at the age of thirty five, she could become asthmatic. Or, by the age of sixty, she could develop any number of heart and lung conditions.”

“What I am saying is that I am, for the most part, cautious. My instincts tell me allowing her to have gone through a male puberty or partial male puberty before she was reassigned could help her to avoid many health problems down the road.”

“How about physically right now?”

“There is no doubt that Camille is in good physical health. Mr. Jack saw to that. But, she still has some benefits from being XY. Her heart is a different size than a normal girl of her age. It is bigger which could give her a stamina advantage even though she has been receiving hormones since the age of eight. Her heart rate is also lower than a normal girl her age.”

“Then there is her breast development. Your family is small breasted Mrs. Laignaux. That meant she was a candidate in Mr. Jack’s mind for a breast implant. I think she was too young and he should have waited. We could remove them now, but that would have an impact on her mental state. So, in good conscious, I wouldn’t recommend that now. But, it was wrong to have done it in the first place.”

“How about her condition mentally if she is outed?”

“That has yet to be seen. She is a passive fighter. So, if she is outed, will she lose that fight? That is the greatest concern I have. Mr. Jack is going to out her at some point if we don’t get him first. I have grave concerns about her being able to handle the rejection of her classmates, her new found friends, and family. And then, the media attention would be harmful too.”

Dr. Angstrom continued, “I need you to understand that I am fully on board with helping the Transgender. I only object to the puberty blockers as I believe they can harm a developing child. That being said, there is likely 75,000 children under eighteen in the county right now who would be classified transgender according to the statisticians. 39.5 million students are in school making it about 39,500 students who are transgendered in school at any time. That may sound like a high number. It isn’t. It is a very low number. How low? Well, there are over 150,000 public elementary, junior, and high schools in the United States. That translates to less than one possible transgendered student per two schools. Many of these students aren’t diagnosed until the graduate, meaning that she likely wouldn’t know another transgendered student at all.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I am saying that regardless of whether or not Camille is truly transgender, which I know she is, the odds of another student in any of the schools she attends being transgender is so remote that she will likely go through school being the only transgender student in the school district. Pragmatically, if she hadn’t had the sexual reassignment surgery, she would be still having difficulties anyway due to a lack of a good support group. Which means that her family, you, has to be there for her.”

“So, is it best to take the child away from the parents like Mr. Jack wants?”

“No. Of course not! But it does make the deck stacked against the transgendered student regardless of which side of the debate you are on. They are such a small minority that just focusing on bathroom rights or other rights pales in comparison to their genuine overall needs. I talked to one of my patients, who has given me his permission to talk about his story, and about his experience. He realized that he was transgender by age eleven back in the late 60s, early 70s. All the signs were there. He loved shopping with his mom and choosing clothes for her. His friends were mostly girls. And more. He also realized once he got older that he was likely the only transgendered student in the district he was in. He has also said that in his lifetime, even though he has lived in two areas of the country known for LGBT freedoms before he moved here, he has only ever met one transwoman personally in his daily dealings. But, he says, he has met and has known may gay individuals both as good friends and acquaintances.”

“Over the years, in his youth, as he came to understand his dilemma, he also understood that the possible outcomes of his future with transitioning and becoming a woman would marginalize him for the rest of his life's goals of having a family, friends, career, etc. In the end, my patient knew his only chance to have children was to remain as he was. So he bit the bullet.”

“I called him to chat with him in private because I was curious about what his reaction was about Caitlyn Jenner when she came out. Mostly disappointment because of her being in a reality program that he considered vapid. But, ironically, he wasn’t surprised that she was transgender.”

“I was startled. I asked him why. It turns out that he is a big ‘Murder, She Wrote’ fan. He remembered watching an episode in which Bruce Jenner appeared playing a coach. At the end of the episode, Jenner’s character hears the news that his daughter is getting all the stock of the football team Mrs. Fletcher owns and he smiles. He said at that moment, he saw something in Jenner as an actor that he saw in himself and wondered. He said he filed it away because it was a look the role didn’t ask for him to play.”

“My patient went on to say that while the world is changing, the suicide rate for transgenders coming out is so high that he fears that the popularity of being transgender in the media masks the harsh reality for a student coming out. In the end, he said, there are really no good answers for the kind of support a transgender child needs, only best attitudes of acceptance and love by those surrounding them. The condition is so rare as to make it difficult for the individual no matter what road they take.”

“So, we would be faced with hard choices whether or not she was kidnapped and forced to change by Mr. Jack?”

“Yes. The best answer for your daughter right now is to let her be her without anyone knowing. At least, for the time being. But, if this hadn’t happened, who is to say what we would be discussing now. I would like to believe it would be us discussing how to help her to transition just after high school. And knowing you both, she would have had awesome parents who would have helped her.”

“Would you have given us a prescription for puberty blockers if we asked?”

“I don’t know. I just may have even though I feel it is wrong.”

***
“Don’t worry. I’m safe. He used a condom.” Alice was recounting her liaison with Charles Bedford.

“Under the bleachers? With everyone nearby who could hear? You are so wicked.” Teresa giggled.

"It made me climax harder to know we could be heard." Alice added.

Jean concentrated on eating her lunch. This was a side of being around the girls she didn’t expect. Still, the details of Alice’s tryst enthralled her and she had to listen to every detail. She began to think about what it would be like to be kissed by a boy and then feel him inside her. She knew she had to change the subject because she began to feel funny in a weird sort of way.

“Maria, can I ask you a question about softball in the spring?”

“Sure, Ginger Ann.”

Jean smirked. She was beginning to like the nickname. “I know I am just a freshman, but what should I do about joining. Maybe not this year since I have a lot to learn, but I would enjoy becoming part of the team.”

Maria enjoyed hearing the question. “Well, we need a ball girl. Someone who maintains the bats and equipment for us. It would give you a chance to learn about the game and see if you are softball material.”

After lunch, she headed off to the bathroom before heading to her French class. Lifting up her skirt to sit down and then pulling her panties down to her knees, she noticed that there was a little wet spot on her panties. For a second, she wondered if her bladder was leaking and then she realized from the smell that she had gotten wet thinking about having sex. A warm feeling of pride came over her as she emptied her bladder that she felt that way about having sex with a boy. She reached down and wiped front to back.

Using an emergency pair of underwear she kept in her purse – her mother’s idea – she exchanged pairs before leaving the stall. Before leaving the rest room too, she washed the pair she soiled quickly in the sink, put it in a plastic ziplock bag and placed it back in her purse. She was happy that she was able to do it all by herself with no one seeing her do it. She made sure she washed her hands to get rid of the strong smell.

In French class, the immersion method was familiar to her. “Bonjour Classe. Comment t’allez vous?” said Madame Renaud.

Madame Renaud asked Jean, “Comment dit-on, ‘I don’t know?”

Jean smiled and said, “No tengo ni idea.”

Madame Renaud said with a wink and a laugh, “Tsk, tsk. On parle francais ici, Madmoiselle Laignaux. Classe, on dit, ‘je ne sais pas.’”

***
Jason Mandrake had worked all weekend on an expose on a theft ring robbing tourists visiting the many resorts in Arkansas. He wanted to relax and his boss was letting him relax by giving him a fluff piece on the Komen Race for the Cure scheduled for the first of October. An email popped up on his screen at his desk with the subject header, “I have information on a kidnapping.” Opening the email, the writer of the email said, “I have information of the kidnapping of Camille Laignaux from five years ago. Are you interested?” signed by a I. B. Anonymous.

Jason looked over the email and responded, “Give me something to prove you are for real” and hit send.

***
Bishop’s plane arrived in Oklahoma City. He snickered that their airport was named after a famous comedian and political satirist who died in a plane crash. ‘Oh, the irony!’ he thought. He rented a car and headed west of town to the local federal facility.

Jesus Patron was brought into a conference room. “It is okay. You can remove the cuffs.”

“Do you speak English?”

“Yes, a little. I speak English.” Nevertheless, the rest of the conversation was aided via an interpreter who was in the room.

“Jesus, I am not here about your legal problem. That is why no lawyer is needed. But, I can tell you that if you help me with my problem, I will be able to help you with yours and have all charges dropped.”

“What is your problem senor?”

“We took your DNA and it shows that you are an uncle of someone who may have kidnapped a child here in the USA and taken the child to Mexico.”

“I am listening. I cannot promise anything. I am loyal to my family.”

“The man is in his late forties.”

“That is impossible. I come from a large family. But, my oldest sister has only girls who are old enough to be my mother. It is rumored that she did have a boy and the boy was taken from her to be raised by another family as payment of a debt. It could be that boy.”

“Do you think you can find out who that family is?”

“No. But they have to be powerfully strong. No mother in her right mind would give up a boy. When I asked my sister about it one day, she said to never talk about it. She had fear when she said that, not anger, in her eyes.”

“Where in Columbia are you from?”

“I am from Turbo.”

“Okay. Thank you very much. I think you have given me far more than I expected. I will recommend they drop the charges. I may need to keep you here in the states as a material witness in fact. I will make arrangements to have you transferred to Texas to the witness protection program.”

The two men shook hands and Bishop left. He messaged Nelson. ‘Our instincts are right to find other DNA. I believe the DNA at the crime scene five years ago was a plant.’

A few minutes later, Nelson texted back, “The DNA is being processed in Tucson. I will check on its progress.”

***
Paul thought carefully about what he needed to send as proof. He pulled a digital photo that he took of Camille he took of her dressed the last time as a boy in front of an adobe wall at the hacienda. It was clear who he was. He took it in order to have a baseline for his facial surgeries. Now, it would serve a different purpose. He scrubbed the photo of the meta data, photoshopped it into a scene of a market in Mexico with an adobe wall, and sent it off in an email. “Camille is alive. Here he is shortly after he was kidnapped. I was taking photos and realized this was the boy who was kidnapped only later.”

Back at the newspaper office, Jason looked at the photo. The boy looked like the one photo that was passed around the town five years earlier. He looked scared.

Jason emailed back asking, “I’m listening. Tell me more.”

After he sent that, a pang of conscious hit his soul, Jason picked up the phone and contacted a friend in the Little Rock police department. He got Bishop’s number and called him. “Hello, Officer Bishop. This is Jason Mandrake from the Little Rock Hearld. I just wanted to interview you about an old case.”

“Yes. How can I help you? Please make it quick. I am about to board a flight to DFW.”

“Not a problem. I will contact you when you get back.” Jason hated himself. Now the pangs of reporter’s remorse were kicking in. He realized that a story of major significance had fallen into his lap and he wasn’t going to waste it.

“I will be back tomorrow. Give me a call around 11:00 am.”

“Sure thing.”

Bishop hung up and brought up a text message on his phone from an officer in the police department. “Jason Mandrake will be contacting you about Laignaux case. Gave him your number per your instructions.”

Bishop then called the District Attorney Norm Stevenson. “Hey Norm, I need a couple of special wire taps placed on a reporter. Jason Mandrake. See me tonight when I get back at my place. Around 10:30.”

***
“Mom, can we talk alone?”

“Sure, honey.” Looking at Jean and seeing the need in her eyes, she added, “Maybe we should go for a walk?”

After they left the front door, Mrs. Laignaux turned to Jean and asked, “Okay Sweetie, what is the problem?”

“One of the girls at school was bragging about having sex with a boy. And, I kinda got ...”

“In trouble for telling her she shouldn't?”

“Not exactly. I just listened that’s all. But, I didn’t realize that I, well ...”

Mrs. Laignaux thought for a second as they walked along and chuckled as she realized what Jean was trying to communicate. “Found out that you were a little excited, did we?”

“Yeah.”

“And a wet spot formed ...”

“Yeah.”

“Glad I had you carry a spare pair of underwear?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, your emotions are all over the place now. Just so you know, they would have been even if you had been born a girl in the beginning. Now, if this were Suzanne, I might be talking birth control or a chastity belt. But you can’t get pregnant. At the same time, you know what the doctor said. If you get sexually active, you will have to let your partner know that blood could be a sign of a fistula. That could give away what you were and are now.”

“I guess I should wait. I don’t want to be found out.”

“You ought to wait anyway. But, what concerns me is the pressure from the girls at school to lose your virginity will be enormous. I don’t think it makes sense to lose it in order to become accepted. What is more important is that you stand for yourself and what you want.”

“Well, thinking about getting kissed by a boy was something I really wanted today.”

Mrs. Laignaux laughed. “It was spin the bottle when I was a kid. You would spin the bottle and you had to kiss the boy whom it pointed to when it came to a stop. I couldn’t wait to do it, even though I complained.”

“Was it fun?”

“Well, hell yes. I really enjoyed it. So, I have been there myself.”

“When did you lose your virginity?” she winced once she asked her mom the question. This was her mom, after all, she thought. Moms don’t have sex. They reproduce spontaneously.

Mrs. Laignaux put her arm around Jean. “It’s okay to ask. Sadly, I lost mine at my junior prom in high school. Everyone was expected to do it. Harlan Thompson wasn’t bad. It just was empty. Something you had to do or else he would be hurt by all the boys in his clique. I felt sorry for him, so I did it with him. I wish I hadn’t. I was bummed afterwards.”

Jean looked at her mom who had a tear in her eye, hugged her, and said, “Thank you for being so honest. I want my first time to be special. I am sorry yours wasn’t.”

“Well, you will have a first time. Just don’t feel you have to make someone happy if you aren’t. Sex is supposed to make both of you happy. So, you have started to notice boys. Anyone in particular?”

“Well, there is this one boy in my French class who is kind of cute. He is a bit shy. And he has these dreamy puppy dog eyes.”

“What’s his name?”

“Hank.”

“Is he a ninth grader?”

“No, he is a tenth grader. Foreign language doesn’t start until tenth grade I am told. So, I am the only ninth grader in the class which makes me popular with the boys.”

“Yes, I forgot about the tenth grade requirement. They told me they would accept you because you had learned Spanish so well as an older child. So, tell me more about Hank.”

“When Hank smiles at me, I get weak in the knees. I get all flustered trying to say something in French too. I think the teacher has noticed. She just smiles and gently corrects me.”

“I bet you blush too.” Jean turned a beet red at her mom’s observation.

Mrs. Laignaux just smiled and shook her head. She started to sing, “And they call it puppy loooveee.”

Jean rolled her eyes and said, “Mom! I don’t love him. At least, I don’t think I love him.”

Mrs. Laignaux chortled, “I know, but my little girl has her first crush. And, I am so happy for her.” Jean couldn’t help but giggle too and twirled around flouncing her skirt.

As they progressed down the street, Mrs. Laignaux came back to earth and inquired, “How is your wardrobe for school? Do you think you look okay in school? Do you need new clothes?”

“I suppose I may. The kids notice I like to dress up. I think out of every one hundred girls, only three wear a dress, and I am one of those three. In fact, I just ordered online this cute dress for school. It is a long sleeve A line black top with a long brown knit skirt with a black belt and large black buttons on the front of the skirt. The skirt drops below my knees. It meets dress code and is stunning. I can’t wait to wear it to school. It is very French looking and so cute. I can wear nice black shoes with it too. It will go very well with my auburn hair. I may get a beret to go with it.”

“I can’t believe what I just heard! You used a computer to buy a dress?”

“Yes, I know. But Jessica had to give me a lot of help though. She showed me how. We spent hours last night looking at all sorts of outfits on her computer. And then she helped me use the pre-paid card Dad gave me to purchase the dress. Then, I helped her get an outfit too. I found her a marvelous party dress for the holidays that is so pretty and sweet. Jessica was so happy.”

“Oh, thank you! I have been having the hardest time getting that girl interested in shopping with me. I guess it is because I am too opinionated or just an old fart.”

“Mom, I can’t believe you just said that.”

“I told you about losing my virginity, didn’t I?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jean blushed.

As they began to walk back to the house hand in hand chatting away about boys and fashion, a solitary figure hidden behind some trees at the corner was watching them.

He scribbled a couple of notes on a small pad and walked down to a Subaru, got in, and drove off.

Copyright © 2017 by AuP reviner