Witness Ch. 03

It was not the first time Elliot had seen her dressed this way but he was still astounded by how professional she looked.

"First time I've seen you out of a cooch cooler honey, you don't look half bad," Brett pointed to the chair he had set up in front of the camera.

Poppy sat on the chair and demurely pulled down the hem of her tight pencil skirt whilst the ADA explained to her what he was going to do.

Brett started filming and had Elliot hold the bible while he swore her in. He gave a preamble to the camera, stating the case number, the charges against Luca Tattaglia and the reason he was recording the testimony.

"You are legally known as Paul Evesham but you identify as Penelope Evesham is that correct?" Brett asked.

Brett had warned her that her gender identity and her occupation would be difficult for the jury to deal with and challenged by the Napolitano lawyers so his strategy was to get it out front and deal with it.

"That's correct, I was born male but identify as female," Poppy kept her head up and Elliot was proud of her.

"And you were on the second floor of the Metropole Hotel on the night in question?" Brett was allowed some latitude with the recorded testimony and in any event there was no one there to object that he was leading the witness.

Poppy answered in the affirmative.

"What were you doing there Miss Evesham?" Brett got straight to the point.

"I was there with a customer. A man later identified as Robert Farragut," Poppy replied.

"What were you and Mr Farragut doing at the Metropole hotel?" Brett nodded at Poppy to answer frankly.

"We were having sex. More specifically he was paying me for sex," Poppy answered but she couldn't help blushing.

"So let's get it out there Miss Evesham... you are a transsexual prostitute, is that correct?" Brett said gravely.

"That is correct Mr Mendelsohn," Poppy replied and couldn't help cast a guilty look at Elliot.

Elliot nodded at her and smiled, letting her know that she was doing well and that he understood her embarrassment.

Brett Mendelsohn then led Poppy through her testimony including having her positively identify Luca Tattaglia in a photograph as the man who had shot and killed Pussy Raggio and George Basso.

After her testimony Poppy was craving for a cigarette and she cadged one from Brett Mendelsohn.

"You can smoke that shit in the laundry," Elliot scowled.

"The cooze cleans up pretty good. If she didn't have a pistol in her panties I'd give her one. You ever tempted?" Brett said to Elliot who was glad that Brett was busy packing up his gear and couldn't see the guilty look on Elliot's face.

"Never mind about the cooze, shouldn't we be ramping up security now that we know that the Napolitanos are going to come after her hard?" Elliot asked.

"If I bring in backup they're more likely to sell you out to the mob than to protect you, you know how corrupt things are down at Police Plaza and City Hall. Anyway, I have her testimony now so if they come for her, just duck or use her as a shield," Brett joked.

Elliot was not amused but he followed the ADA outside and helped him load the equipment in the van.

"Look the cooze ain't all that bad. She's got a kid brother she's putting through boarding school, that's the only reason she's hooking," Elliot felt the need to defend Poppy.

Brett stopped what he was doing and gave Elliot a serious look.

"You're not sweet on her are you Elliot? You know that would be dumb. Look, you got her all to yourself out here, she's pretty and she's got killer legs, a fine ass and great tits, if you want to give her one up the wazoo or get some head go crazy, but don't let that thing get under your skin. When the trial is over we'll toss her back on the street and she'll be dead before she sucks her first cock," Brett said dourly, shrugging his shoulders.

Elliot was barely able to contain his anger but he put on his poker face.

"I never wanted this assignment anyway. As soon as you've finished with her I can throw her under the bus and get back to doing some real detective work," Elliot sniggered.

"That's the spirit. You're only gonna have to bird-dog the tranny slit for another couple of weeks. The trial date is set. Just keep your head down if the Napolitanos come looking for her," Brett winked at him and slammed the doors closed on the van.

Elliot decided that he hated Brett more than he thought he did.

He went back inside, locked the place up and set the alarm. Poppy was just coming out of the laundry when Elliot grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. Even the reek of her recently smoked cigarette didn't spoil the pleasure he took from kissing her.

"Well that was a pleasant surprise," Poppy smiled up at him.

"Is this suit better than the cheap American hooker look I was wearing before?" Poppy teased him.

"Can I watch you take it off?" Elliot teased her back.

"Sure you can, come this way," Poppy took his hand and led him to her bedroom.

She just managed to get out of the skirt before Elliot pounced on her.

*****

For appearances sake Elliot and Poppy kept their separate bedrooms but Poppy slept in Elliot's bed every night. Elliot became more comfortable with Poppy's gender and less sheepish about touching her genitals. He joked about her inability to fake an orgasm like a cisgender woman could. That joke cost him an evening in the doghouse but they were mostly inseparable.

And it wasn't just the sex. Elliot became more infatuated with Poppy's character, individuality, intelligence and warmth and Poppy came to realised that under his hard cool exterior Elliot was in fact a considerate and thoughtful man. Neither of them raised the question as to what would happen to their relationship after the trial. For the moment they were content to live together just like any other couple.

Elliot helped Poppy study for her law degree and they settled into a pleasant routine. Elliot traced the scars on her body with his fingertips but he never asked her how she had come by them. She would tell him when she was ready. The raised burn scars forming the letter R on her shoulder was particularly repulsive and Elliot thought that he would like some time alone with Ray-Ray.

It was visiting day and Poppy changed into her business suit to visit her brother at The Grosvenor School having to continually slap away Elliot's hands. She loved that he couldn't keep his hands off her but it annoyed her when she was busy doing things that she needed to do.

They chatted amiably during the drive to the school unlike the stony silence the last time they had visited. Poppy had to keep reminding Elliot to keep his eyes on the road not on her thighs as her pencil skirt kept riding up. Elliot reminded Poppy what he was going to do to her when he got her home and for the first time in a long time she actually blushed.

They parked in the same car park but this time Robert didn't come bounding across the lawn to hug his big sister. A Lincoln Continental town car screeched into the car park parking diagonally behind Elliot, effectively blocking in his car. Elliot reached under his jacket for his weapon but it was too late. The doors of the Town Car were open before it had even stopped and two large men stood on either side of driver and passenger doors of Elliot's car with their pistols drawn.

One of the men made a motion to indicate that they should roll down their windows and before Elliot could stop Poppy from doing so, she complied. The man reached across Poppy and aimed his gun at Elliot.

"Roll down the window and drop your weapon on the ground. Don't do anything stupid or the bitch gets it," the man moved his weapon and pointed it point blank at Poppy's head.

Elliot carefully engaged the safety on his semi-automatic and then held it in two fingers and tossed it out the window. Poppy stared straight ahead; all she could think about was where was Robert?

Elliot's police training kicked in. The first thing he thought of was that they were not going to kill him unless they really had to. The Mob had a strict rule that law enforcement officers were not to be harmed under any circumstances without permission from the Commission and then permission was usually only granted if the police officer concerned was corrupt.

He felt guilty about thinking about his own skin but secondly and more importantly to him was the realisation that they hadn't killed Poppy. It would be a simple thing for these men to shoot her dead and then simply drive away. Something else was going on here.

"Come on toots, we're going for a ride," the man standing next to Poppy's door opened it and waved his pistol at her.

The man standing next to Elliot's door put his pistol to Elliot's head.

"Don't do anything stupid. The tranny cooze ain't worth it," the man pressed the muzzle into Elliot's temple.

The other man dragged Poppy from the car. She wasn't really resisting, she was just unable to move because she was so scared.

"Don't fuck me around toots. Look over at the car," the gangster pointed his pistol at the Lincoln

Robert's terrified face was framed in the rear near side window. Poppy yelped and bolted towards the Lincoln but the gangster held her by her arm.

"Take it easy, lets behave in a nice orderly fashion," the man holstered his weapon and led Poppy towards the Lincoln, holding her by her upper arm.

"Keys," the other gangster took the pistol from Elliot's temple but kept it trained on his head.

Elliot removed the keys from the ignition and handed them to the gangster.

"Drop them and keep your hands inside the car," the gangster was having Elliot's hands nowhere near him.

Elliot did as he was told and the gangster bobbed down quickly and picked up the keys.

"This is a simple transaction. We're going to talk to the tranny cooze for a while. So long as she plays along the kid will be safe and so will the cooze. She does anything stupid and she watches the kid die and you don't wanna know what we're going to do to her before we take her out," the gangster explained.

"You tell anyone or do anything that upsets our little plan, we take out the kid and we do it hard. Then we take out the cooze and we do it hard. We'll send you some pictures so you can see what they got."

"You go back to your little beach house and wait and we'll bring you back your little boy-toy in one piece. You know that we're gonna know if you fuck this up. We found you, the cooze and the kid, so we got our resources. You gonna play along? Just say yes or no," the man waggled his gun at Elliot.

"Yes," Elliot hissed through gritted teeth.

The gangster tossed Elliot's car keys into a copse of thick bushes across from the car park and slowly backed away from the car, keeping the gun on Elliot. The other man opened the back door of the Lincoln and Poppy scrambled into the car and hugged her brother, kissing the top of his head and repeatedly asked him if he had been hurt.

The gangster pushed her across the seat and got in beside her while the other man who had his gun trained on Elliot backed into the front passenger seat. As soon as he was inside the car the driver sped off, spraying gravel across the car park.

"Put this on bitch!" the man in the back seat gave Poppy a blindfold which she dutifully put on.

She wondered why they hadn't made Robert put on a blindfold but there were too many thoughts spinning around in her brain for her to concentrate on one in particular.

Elliot got out of his car and picked up his pistol. His hand was shaking, not with fear but with rage. While he searched for his car keys his thoughts were running in circles. He knew that he needed to get control of his emotions and think this through rationally. He found his keys and went back to his car and sat in the driver's seat, he put his hands on the wheel and forced himself to take a series of deep breaths.

He asked himself a number of questions: How did they know about Robert and where to find him? How did they know about Poppy's recorded testimony? How did they know about the safe house?

Poppy's testimony had only been recorded last week so the mob didn't know where she was until then otherwise they would have tried to take her out before the recording could be made. That also meant that whoever had leaked the information to the Mob had only done so recently. The ADA would have had to file a copy of the transcript of Poppy's testimony with the court so the leak had likely come from someone in the judicial system rather than the police, but that couldn't be ruled out either. Everyone talked.

Elliot looked around and saw that everyone in his field of view seemed to be going around conducting business as usual. Although it had seemed to take for ever Poppy's abduction it had taken less than a minute.

He started the car and put it in reverse. He would have plenty of time during the return journey to contemplate how the Napolitano Family had got their information but all he could think about was that they had Poppy. He smashed his fist against the steering wheel in anger and drove off.

The three gangsters said very little during the drive. Robert clung to Poppy. He told her that the man beside her had approached him while he was sitting on the bench waiting for her. Robert knew not to talk to strangers but he was inside the school grounds and he figured the nice man in the suit was either visiting his kid or was a school official. It was only when the man had put his big hand over Robert's mouth and carried him away that Robert realised that he was being abducted. The man had told him to behave and he would soon see his sister so Robert had sat in the back of the car and behaved.

The man sitting beside Poppy was uncomfortably close and she scooted over as close as she could to Robert who was pressed against the car door. The driver had activated the door locks so even if they wanted to they couldn't jump out of moving vehicle.

The man followed her across the seat and pressed against her.

"You look pretty good for a hooker. Is it true you got something special under that skirt? You look like a real woman to me," the man whispered in her ear.

He put his hand under her skirt and pawed her thighs. Poppy squirmed but she kept Robert shielded so that he couldn't see what the man was doing to his sister. The gangster's fingernails laddered her L'eggs and then he found her panties and fumbled around.

"I can't feel a braciole in those cooch-covers but I can't feel no bernarda neither," the man fumbled at the front of her panties.

"Leave the travestita alone. We got plenty of time to play with her when we get to the place," the driver was watching them in the rear vision mirror.

The goon reluctantly withdrew his hand from under Poppy's skirt.

Poppy held Robert close and comforted him, telling him that everything was going to be ok. The car left the highway and turned onto a secondary road and finally turned onto a road that was little more than track that wound through the forest and ended at a small cabin.

The man sitting beside Poppy pulled his gun and pointed it at her when the driver popped the door locks. He took off her blindfold and indicated for Poppy and Robert to get out, which they did, Robert clinging to his sister. Poppy stumbled on the gravel path in her high-heels as she made her way to the cabin.

The driver led the way and unlocked the door to the cabin and held it open while Poppy and Robert went inside followed by the other two mobsters.

"Take the kid into the room," the driver told the man who had sat in the front passenger seat.

"No! No! No!" Robert clung to Poppy and refused to move, even when the man pulled on his arm.

"Fuck this. Do what you're told kid or your sister gets it," the other man put his pistol to Poppy's head.

Robert wasn't mature enough to understand that the men could have killed Poppy any time they wanted but he certainly knew they could hurt her so he let go and complied. He was taken to another room and locked inside leaving Poppy alone with the three men.

"Sit!" the driver pulled a wooden chair out from a wooden kitchen table.

The main room of the small cabin was a combined kitchen, diner and family room. The place wasn't connected to the power grid but it seemed to be well maintained.

Poppy sat in the chair, primly pulling down the hem of her skirt, the three men circled her menacingly.

"You can imagine what we can do to your brother. We're keeping him until after the trial; he's our insurance. We know about the recorded testimony, you're lucky the ADA did that toots otherwise you'd be dead now but we need you to recant your testimony," the driver explained.

"Let Robert go. I'll tell the police and the ADA that I didn't see the man who did the shooting. I'll say the police coerced me and made me say it was him, that they threatened me. I'll say anything you want, just let Robert go," Poppy beseeched them.

"Do you know what guys will say to save their asses? I've had guys offer me money, their wives, their daughters, anything to spare them. It doesn't matter, we've heard it all before," the man said matter-of-factly.

"So we're keeping the kid until the charges against Luca Tattaglia are dismissed with prejudice or he's found not guilty. You're going to retract all of your testimony and if they put you on the stand you're going to recant... get it?" the man pulled out a chair and put his foot on it.

Poppy nodded her head.

"Don't hurt him," Poppy begged.

"He'll be fine. He'll be well looked after and after all this has gone away we will release him. He and you will be of no further interest to us," the man wiped his hands figuratively.

"I'll do it! I'll do anything," Poppy cried.

"Well that's that then. Easy peasey Japanesey," the man grinned evilly at her.

"We'll take you back to your safe house and you tell your bodyguard that you are going to take back your testimony. Tell him that you'll refuse to testify and if they use the recorded testimony that you will take the stand and say it's all lies," the gangster put his foot back down on the floor.

"Of course we're all going to fuck you first," he said clinically.

Poppy paled.

"Oh come on honey, you're a hooker for god's sake, this shouldn't be something you haven't done before," the big guy who had sat next to her in the car said.

Poppy started to tear up.

"Cut that shit. We can do this two ways. You either take us on willingly or we bring out the kid to watch his sister being fucked against her will. What's it going to be?"

Poppy just shook her head, composed herself and prepared to do what she needed to do.

She stood up and unbuttoned her jacket and hung it over the chair.

"What are you doing?" the big guy asked.

"I'm getting undressed," Poppy replied, beginning to unbutton her blouse.

"Fuck that! We ain't got the time," he slapped her hands away from her blouse and pulled her to him.

His breath tasted of garlic and cigarettes but Poppy didn't complain. As soon as he started to kiss her she opened her mouth and returned the kiss, her little brother's life was at stake. She tried to put her arms around the big man but he was just too big so she clung to his shoulders as he kissed her and pawed at her blouse, ripping off the buttons.

The big man continued to kiss her whilst he pulled down the cups of her brassiere and groped her breasts. She felt one of the other men move in behind her and hike up her skirt, his hands squeezed her buttocks cruelly then he yanked at her panties and pulled them down to her ankles. Poppy obligingly kicked them away.

"Hey Frankie, let me get at her ass," the man behind her whined.

Frankie, the big man, broke the kiss and pushed down on her back, forcing Poppy to bend over. He pushed her face into his crotch while he fumbled with his flies.