Return to Innocence

Part 18

Peter rang the doorbell again. No one had answered the first time, but by the cars in the driveway, he knew that Kathy and her family were in the house. There was no response to the second chime of the doorbell as well. Peter peered through the window next to the door and saw the movement of a man approaching. He returned to the door and waited to be invited into the home.

As the door cracked open, Peter saw a tall, graying man in the entryway. A frown lined the width of his face. "You shouldn't be here," he growled.

Peter was taken aback, "Excuse me?"

"Kathy doesn't want to see you." The man started to push the door closed in Peter's face, but Peter blocked it by slipping his foot between the door and the frame.

"Why? What's wrong?" Peter pushed, clearly not understanding the cold response he was receiving.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by the sound of Kathy's voice behind him. "Dad. . .I'll talk to him." Michael's wife appeared at her father's side. She laid a gentle hand on the older man's arm and pushed him gently back into the house. She then looked at Peter, her red-rimmed eyes displaying a mixture of pain, anger, sadness and disappointment. "Why, Peter?" was all she said to Michael's ex-partner.

"Kathy?" Peter shook his head, eyes narrowing. 'What's happened?"

Kathy shook her head, "Peter, how could you? How could you do this to Michael?"

Peter looked at his feet. "Barnes talked to you, didn't he?" It was a rhetorical question, one that needed no answer.

Kathy wiped away a tear which was rolling down her cheek. "I don't understand, Peter. Make me understand."

Peter looked at Kathy's father, who was standing protectively behind his daughter, prepared to defend her from the newfound enemy at the door. "Is there somewhere we can talk. . .in private."

Kathy didn't respond at first, then she nodded. Her father, hearing Peter's question and seeing his child's response, interrupted, "Kathy, I don't think you should. You don't need someone like him in your life right now."

Kathy turned to her father, "Dad, I'm okay. I want to talk to him. . .I need to talk to him." She turned her back on her parent and walked out onto the porch, shutting the front door behind her. "Let's go to the back."

She led Peter to a bench near a flower garden in the backyard. Peter waited for her to sit and then joined her. "I'm sorry, Kathy." It was a weak way to break the ice, but it was all Peter could think to say.

Kathy shook her head, "I don't want an apology, Peter. I want an explanation."

Peter looked at his hands folded in his lap. "What did Barnes tell you?"

Kathy looked at the roses blooming nearby, a small, sarcastic laugh rising from her throat. "He said that you're helping to defend Michael's killer."

Peter closed his eyes. He wanted desperately to dispute the assertion, but it was true. So he said nothing.

"I didn't believe him. I told him that there was no way you would betray me. . .Michael like that. But then he made me go to the courtroom this morning. I saw you sitting behind that attorney who was defending Watson. I saw you talk to her after the hearing. It's true isn't it? You are helping the defense."

Peter took a deep breath, knowing that no matter how much it hurt Kathy. . .no matter how much it hurt Peter to tell Kathy, she deserved to know the truth. "Kathy, please believe me, I am not trying to get Watson off for Michael's death. But there are things which have been reported about the shooting that are. . ." Peter searched for the right word, "incorrect. These errors are the basis for the DA seeking the death penalty for what happened."

Kathy turned, eyes flaring with anger, "He deserves to die. He killed my husband; he killed Elizabeth's father."

Peter nodded, "Yes, he did. But he didn't intend to do it."

Kathy shook her head, "Didn't intend to do it? How can you say that? The man took a gun, aimed it at my husband, shot him and killed him. . .and you say he didn't mean to? That it was all an accident? That he accidentally picked up a loaded gun. . .accidentally pulled the trigger. . .accidentally committed murder?" Her voice raised with each question. Peter cringed, knowing that these were the same words he had used with is father just two days before and the words still made sense to him. Despite knowing that the accusation against Watson was based on a lie, the fact remained that the man had killed Michael.

"No, Kathy. That's not what I meant." He reached out and placed a hand on her forearm. She flinched slightly at the touch, but didn't pull away. "The charges that have been made against Teddy Watson say that he planned and intended to kill a police officer when he fired the gun. But there was no way that he knew that we were at his door." Peter saw the confusion in her eyes, "Kathy, I was there. When we raided Watson's apartment, no one on our team said that we were the police. No one. When we knocked down the door, Watson didn't know who we were."

"So he just shoots at anyone who comes to his door?" Kathy spat out bitterly.

"No Kathy. He doesn't. Teddy claims he was being harassed by local drug dealers. He thought they intended to hurt him. When he heard his door being knocked down, he thought they were coming for him. He fired out of fear."

Kathy slowly shook her head in denial. "No. He fired with the intent to kill. And that's what he did. He killed. He killed a cop. . .my husband. And he should pay for that crime."

Peter tried desperately to keep his words calm and rational, "I don't disagree with you Kathy. I think he should pay too, but not for a crime he didn't commit. He didn't commit capital murder. . .he doesn't deserve to be executed." Kathy turned away, still fighting the words. "Think about it. What would you do. . .what would Michael have done if you had been in your bed, sound asleep, and someone began to knock down your door. Would you protect yourself? Would Michael?"

Kathy turned back to Peter, eyes now filled with rage, "How dare you use Michael against me. That's dirty, Peter. Get out! Get out of here, NOW! And don't come back!"

She stood and stormed her way to the sliding glass door at the back of the house, not surprised to find her father standing at the door, watching the exchange between the two people on the bench. Her father opened the door for her. Kathy looked into his eyes and collapsed into his arms, uncontrollably weeping. The man gave Peter a murderous look. Peter turned away, shoulders slumping, knowing that he had failed to do the one thing Michael had asked of him. He had asked Peter to take care of his wife and child. Instead, all Peter had succeeded in doing was pushing them away.

 

 

End Part 18

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