Faithfulness in the Center

Part 2

Running across the parking lot, Peter saw Kermit round the corner after Martin. He heard the first gunshot and knew immediately that Kermit was in danger. Then he heard the report of the Desert Eagle, its sound so distinctive. He could also feel Mary Margaret's presence, knowing instinctively that she was following close behind.

Peter ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He could feel Griffin's pain, both physical and emotional. Something was terribly wrong. Reaching the corner, gun held at its ready, Peter came to an abrupt stop. Despite the urgency of the situation, his cop training had taught him not to burst out into the open before seeing what would be waiting for him. Breathing heavily from exertion, Skalaney stopped behind him, ready to back him up.

Peter glanced around the corner and could immediately tell that the crisis was over. Kermit stood before a dark, unmoving mass which was lying on the sidewalk. Two others, a man and woman, were kneeling beside the still form, the woman wailing uncontrollably.

Peter rounded the corner and walked up to his partner. Kermit stared, unblinking at the form which lay at his feet. He held the Desert Eagle loosely in his right hand, which hung limply at his side.

"You got him?" Peter asked his partner.

Kermit said nothing, simply stared down at the ground. Peter followed his gaze and immediately saw what Kermit was staring at. A young girl, no more than seven years old, was lying on top of the still form of Samuel Martin. Blood spread across the murderer's chest and leaked into the white sweatshirt the girl was wearing. Peter kneeled next to the child and felt for a pulse. . .there was none. Confused, he pushed down his rising emotions and did a quick inventory of the girl. Then he saw what had happened. There was a small hole on the left side of her head, just above her ear. An exit wound leaked blood out the back of her head. He looked at the woman who was watching him touch the child. He shook his head slowly, his heart breaking at the mournful look on the woman's face. The woman, clearly the child's mother, pushed Peter away from her daughter and grabbed the young girl in her arms, "Oh my God, not my baby. . .not my baby." The woman repeated the words softly, whispering into the girl's unhearing ear. "Stephanie, you'll be all right, come back to Momma." Her husband, who had been silent, reached out for his wife and pulled her and his dead daughter into a tight hug, rocking them slowly back and forth.

Peter looked at Mary Margaret and nodded. She knew immediately what he wanted her to do. She walked to the couple and reached out, placing one hand on each of their shoulders. "Come with me," she whispered to the distraught parents. They ignored her and continued to hold their child closely, trying to will her back to life. "Please, come back with me. We need to secure the area." Skalaney's voice finally broke through to the father, who rose, bringing his sobbing wife up with him. She turned to her husband and threw herself into his arms, then suddenly collapsed. He took hold of his wife and carried her a few feet away, and with Skalaney's help, lowered her to the ground.

Peter looked up at Kermit. The sunglasses were still staring at the two bodies. He had not moved since Peter had arrived on the scene. The Shaolin detective heard footsteps approaching and could feel that Simms, Blake, Jody and Chin were now on the scene.

The Captain came around the corner cautiously, followed by the others and approached Griffin and Peter. She looked at the two bodies lying on the ground, covered in blood, and then at the woman who was lying on the ground a few feet away, surrounded by Mary Margaret and a man. She called out to Powell, "Get an ambulance here, now."

Simms leaned over Martin and felt for a pulse, while she looked a Peter for confirmation on the girl. He shook his head, "They're both dead."

Jody, who had obediently pulled out her cell phone and dialed for assistance, added that a coroner's wagon should be sent to the scene. Before she had disconnected the call, sirens could be heard approaching in the background. Apparently bystanders on the streets had heard the gun shots and also called for help.

"What happened," the Captain asked her detectives. Peter shrugged silently and looked up at Kermit, for the first time noticing a glistening wet stain on his left shoulder.

He stood up and approached his friend, "Hey Kermit, you took a hit." He reached forward and could feel the heat rising from the wound. It didn't look serious and Kermit didn't flinch when Peter made contact with it. He moved so he was able to look at Kermit's face, which also happened to interfere with the older cop's view of the body. As if waking from a trance, Kermit looked up at his friend. Peter reached down and took Kermit's gun from his hand. The man did not resist.

He said nothing at first, and then with a voice that could barely be heard over the oncoming sirens, he whispered, "I killed her."

Simms overheard the statement and turned, reluctantly, back to Jody. "Call in to dispatch. Tell them we have an officer-involved shooting. I want three additional units to secure the area. We're going to have the press here soon and I don't want a circus."

Peter looked at the two bodies and back at his friend, "What happened?"

"I killed her," he repeated.

Peter grabbed Kermit by his uninjured shoulder and shook him slightly, "Kermit, snap out of it. What happened?"

Peter's voice finally made contact with Kermit's brain. The man cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I was in pursuit of the suspect, but lost sight of him when he rounded the corner. I could hear shouting, but couldn't make out what was going on. I came around the corner with my gun drawn and saw Martin and. . ." he pointed to the grieving parents, "those two shouting at each other. Martin's back was towards me. I told him not to move. He turned around and fired at me." Kermit glanced at his left shoulder, realizing for the first time that it was burning. "He hit me," his voice sounding startled at the realization. "I returned fire. I. . ." Kermit's voice became suddenly silent.

"Kermit, what happened with the girl?" Peter pushed, with the Captain listening to the story unfold.

"I didn't see her. All I saw was Martin. He must have been holding on to her with his other hand when he spun around. The next thing I knew, Martin and the girl were lying on the ground."

"I only heard your gun go off once, Kermit. Did you only fire only once?" Peter asked.

Kermit nodded, "Yeah. I must've. . .I must've hit her and the bullet went through and hit him." The man's face was pale, even in the dark of night. He wove slightly, as if becoming light-headed.

Peter grabbed his friend around the waist and led him to a spot against one of the buildings. He eased the man down to a sitting position and then kneeled in front of him. Kermit leaned his head back against the wall, a blank look on his face.

The sirens stopped and two police cars appeared at the intersection. Four officers climbed out and surveyed the situation. Peter watched the Captain approach the backup, pointing to both ends of the block. Two of the officers returned to their car and eased the vehicle down the street, so as to block off traffic from the other end. Each patrol car turned its front end so that it was pointing into the alley, the headlights lighting the scene.

The Captain walked back to the parents of the girl. The mother was now sitting up and crying softly in her husband's arms. Mary Margaret was still with the two. Periodically, Simms saw the man nod and point. Skalaney must have been doing her best to piece together the horrible events that had taken place.

She approached the brunette detective. Mary Margaret looked at her Captain and then placed a comforting hand on the father's shoulder. "I'll be back in a second," she said softly. The man nodded at her and then bent down to kiss his wife on the top of the head.

"What did they say?" Karen asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"The parents names are Michael and Amanda Porter. They were walking back to their car after eating at a restaurant a couple of blocks from here. Stephanie, that's the little girl, had apparently been walking ahead of them. Martin came around the corner and ran into her, knocking her over. He picked her up off the ground and then apparently grabbed her to use as a hostage. Before they could react, Kermit came around the corner and told Martin to stop. Martin turned and fired, but he was still holding onto Stephanie. Apparently, Kermit shot back and Stephanie was hit."

Before Karen could continue, an ambulance pulled around the corner and cut its siren. Two attendants exited the vehicle and looked at the bodies lying on the ground, somewhat confused as to who should be helped first. Karen met them and pointed to Kermit Griffin and Amanda Porter. "My detective was shot in the shoulder. The woman over there fainted. These two are dead." She pointed to Martin and Stephanie. One attendant made a beeline to the two unmoving bodies to confirm that there was no sign of life in either. The other attendant moved to assist Kermit. After assuring herself that there was nothing that could be done to help the hit man and the child, she moved to Amanda's side.

The attendant helping Kermit had removed his jacket and was carefully cutting away the shirt underneath. Karen approached, kneeling down next to them. "I'm going to need your gun, Kermit. It's SOP" Kermit, surprisingly, simply nodded. Peter stood and removed it from the back of his waistband. "I have it," he said as he handed the heavy weapon to the Captain.

"As soon as you have been treated I want you to make a formal statement about what happened here tonight, Detective. I want to get a handle on this before the press blows it all out of proportion." As if on demand, a van pulled up to the patrol car which was blocking the street and Sandra Mason exited the vehicle with her cameraman. Simms shook her head. "Absolutely amazing," she muttered. "She beat the coroner here."

Sandra Mason tried to push her way past the officers, but they wouldn't permit her access to the scene. So instead she opted to set up a camera just beyond the patrol car, using the gruesome scene as a backdrop.

A dark black van eased its way past the officer standing guard. The lettering on the side said "Medical Examiner." A man climbed out of the driver's seat and walked over to the Captain. She pointed to the bodies of the man and girl. The M.E. walked to the back of the van, opened the door and pulled out two black plastic coverings.

The ambulance attendant examined Kermit's shoulder. "It looks like it just grazed you, but we'd better take you in for stitches. You are probably gonna want some good painkillers, too."

The attendant stood to retrieve sterilized gauze from his medical kit. Kermit watched him and then turned to Peter, who had never left his side, "There aren't enough painkillers in existence to help me now," he whispered.

Peter nodded his head, knowing the terrible torment his friend was suffering. A few years ago, Peter had felt the same way, when he accidentally shot the woman at the grocery store. He remembered being filled with such guilt and hurting so bad that he didn't think he could stand it. . .and that woman had lived. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been had the woman died, or had it been a child who was injured.

The attendant came back with the bandage and light-weight sling. He pressed the gauze gently against the wound and fit the sling around Kermit's neck and injured arm. "Okay, let's transport you," he said to the wounded man. Kermit shook his head "no."

Peter laid his hand on Kermit's forearm, "You need to have a doctor take a look at that. You don’t want it getting infected."

"I don't need an ambulance," he responded stubbornly.

"Okay, I'll take you there," Peter conceded. Peter looked at the two attendants. "I'll make sure he gets it examined. Thanks for your help." The ambulance driver nodded and left the two men sitting on the sidewalk against the building.

Kermit brought his legs underneath his body and started to push himself to a standing position. Peter hopped to his feet quickly and offered a hand to the injured man. Kermit ignored the gesture and unsteadily eased himself upright. He started walking to the crying parents, who were now sitting in the back of the ambulance.

The mother looked up at Kermit, but said nothing. Kermit had expected some outburst from the parents, some sign that they hated him for what he had done. . .rage for having taken their daughter's life. But there was nothing. The father looked at Kermit, his eyes red from the tears cried.

Kermit opened his mouth to speak. He didn't know what to say. Everything he could think of sounded so staged and contrived. The words that came forth were the only words he could muster, though, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was there. I didn't mean to. . ." his words caught in his throat. He felt Peter's hand on his right shoulder, offering him comfort and support.

Michael Porter shook his head at the man. "We can't. . .we don't want to talk about it right now." Kermit looked down at his feet and nodded meekly. He turned away from the parents and found himself facing Peter. He muttered at his friend through clinched teeth, "Get me out of here. Now. . .please."

Peter took his friend by the uninjured arm and guided him away from the bloody scene.

End Part 2