Return to Innocence

Part 3

Within an hour after he had left Capt. Barnes' office, Peter found himself pulling into the Blaisdell driveway. He hadn't consciously decided to come here. His car just seemed to head towards the house on its own. Then he realized that he had a very good reason to be there.

It was curious that Paul had never mentioned Barnes to him. He thought he knew all of Paul's police co-workers. . .his friends. While it was true that Paul rarely talked about his mysterious past before the police force, he had always been more than open about his life as a cop.

There could only be one reason that Paul never mentioned the Captain to Peter. He didn't consider him to be a co-worker. . .or a friend. ''Why' was the real question. And the only person who could provide an answer to that question in Paul's absence was Annie.

Peter saw Kelly's car in the driveway and pulled next to it. It dawned on him how long it had been since he had seen his mother, and he suddenly felt ashamed. He slowly climbed from the car and thought about what reasons he would give for his inattentiveness. Then he realized that made him feel more ashamed. There were no good reasons. He had been negligent in his duties as her foster son. He had to fight the sudden urge to climb back into the Stealth and speed away. But before he could turn to make the move, the door to the house opened and Annie ran out the door, "Peter!"

Surprised, Peter turned and found that he was in the warm embrace of his mother. Her grip squeezed the air from his lungs. "Hi Mom," he squeaked out with the last of his air.

Annie's hands moved from his chest to his face and she pulled him forward so as to plant a tender kiss on his cheek. "Oh Peter, I'm so glad you came by. We haven't seen you in weeks."

"I know. . .I'm sorry. I should've come by, but I've been. . ." he started to stumble for an excuse.

"No Peter, that's okay." Her hand moved to his lips to silence the excuse. "I realize you have a life of your own. . .obligations to meet. I'm just glad you're here now."

Peter looked into the sunglasses that hid her eyes, knowing that while they could not see the physical world, she saw more than most. She could see into his heart. "Thanks, Mom. I'm glad I'm here, too."

"Hey, big brother," Kelly walked out onto the porch. "Missed ya." She walked to his side and also gave him a quick kiss. "It's been awhile. You been out of town or something?"

Peter shook his head. "Come on in, Peter. You'll stay for dinner, won't you? I was just getting ready to put on a pot of spaghetti."

"Sounds wonderful. I can't remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal," Peter commented.

Annie's arm went around his waist as they walked back inside. "I can tell. You aren't eating well. You're too thin."

Peter leaned down and kissed his mother on the top of the head, "I'm eating, Mom. I promise."

Annie looked at her son, her face showing her doubt at his statement. "Yeah, right. You can't fool me, Peter. This blind chick knows these things."

Peter chuckled. She let loose of him and made her way to the kitchen. Peter and Kelly followed. While Annie worked on the dinner preparations, her two children set the table.

"So how's life at the precinct?" Kelly asked her brother.

"Well, things have been pretty busy lately. But, as of today, I've been temporarily transferred to another unit."

"What?" Annie turned, the surprise evident in her voice.

"Yeah. Simms has assigned me to the Anti-Crime Task Force for a few weeks. They are short staffed right now and need additional manpower."

"The Task Force?" Annie asked, suddenly concerned. "Isn't Barnes heading that up now."

"How'd you know that?" Peter asked, amazed at his mother's knowledge of the city's police department.

"Peter, I've been married to a cop for over 20 years. I know what goes on there," Annie said flatly.

"Yeah, but. . ." Peter stumbled.

Kelly laughed, "What did you think, Peter? That just because Dad left, Annie lost all connections to his world?"

"Well, I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way before," Peter shrugged.

"Big surprise there, my big brother didn't think." Kelly kidded and had to duck when Peter reached out to give her a dutch rub. "Hey. . .stop that," she laughed.

Annie, while enjoying the banter between the two siblings, was now more worried than usual about her son. "Peter, why did Simms assign you to the unit?"

"I'm not sure. She says it's because I'm in good physical condition and because of my. . ." he paused for a moment. He was still uncomfortable talking about his Shaolin heritage, "because of my Shaolin training," he finally completed.

Annie nodded, but didn't lose the concerned look. Peter noticed this immediately. "What's wrong, Mom."

"Oh. . .it's nothing, Honey," she responded, trying lighten the mood.

"Actually, Mom, that was the reason I came out here. I was hoping you could clear up a few things for me. . .about Paul and Captain Barnes."

Annie stirred the pot of spaghetti, trying not to look uncomfortable about the subject matter, "What things?"

"Barnes said that he and Paul were partners right after Paul joined the force."

Annie said nothing at first, then she nodded, "Yes, they were. . .for a short time."

"I thought I knew all of Paul's partners. I don't remember him ever talking about Barnes." Peter shook his head. He looked at Kelly to see if the name meant anything to her. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She too had heard of Paul's police stories, and at no time that she could remember had her father ever mentioned partnering with Barnes.

"Paul didn't talk about Barnes because Paul. . .disliked him, shall we say," Annie tried to phrase it as diplomatically as possible.

"Disliked him?" Peter asked, not understanding.

Annie turned the fire down on the pasta and turned towards her children, "Okay, 'dislike' isn't the right term. Paul hated the man."

"Hated him?" Kelly asked. There were few people at the police department that she knew her father hated. In fact, Kelly could only think of two off the top of her head, Bartlett Stiles and ex-Commissioner Cooper. And those two men had tried to kill him. That thought made Kelly shudder. What had Barnes done?

Peter looked at his sister and could tell she was thinking the same thing he was. Barnes had to have done something pretty bad for Paul to have held contempt for the man. He looked at his mother and knew that she held the truth.

"Mom? What was it that Barnes did?" Peter pressed.

Annie was silent for a moment. "Paul's first assignment after the Academy was at the 53rd."

Peter nodded. He remembered Paul talking about starting out at the 53rd. Annie's voice broke his thoughts, "He was partnered with Barnes. Barnes had been on the force for a couple of years. Paul was new, but, as you know, had quite a bit of equivalent experience. Barnes was very loud. . .very aggressive. Paul picked up on that immediately. He didn't like it, but he tolerated it.

"A few weeks after they were partnered, Paul saw the true nature of Barnes. They were on patrol at night. A call came in that an alarm had sounded at a local grocery store. Some kid, seventeen years old, had broken into the store. The store was closed. No one was there. The kid tripped the alarm on the building. Paul and Barnes pulled up behind the store and saw the kid running away. They took up the chase on foot. At some point, Paul tripped. Barnes kept going. The next thing Paul knew, he heard gunshots. When he found Barnes, Barnes was standing over the kid, his gun out. He'd shot him. . .in the back. The kid died at the scene."

"What?" Peter was incredulous. "Was he armed?"

Annie nodded, "With a knife."

Peter shook his head, "I can't believe that IA didn't kick Barnes off the force for that."

"Barnes said that he had told the kid to assume the position and the kid refused. Next thing Barnes knew, the kid had pulled a weapon. Barnes said he thought it was a gun. He fired. IA bought his story."

"But Paul didn't." Peter knew instinctively that his father had seen the truth of what had happened.

"No. He told me that he had no doubt that Barnes had shot the kid for no reason other than he had committed a crime and tried to escape arrest. He called Barnes a loose canon." Annie turned back to the food on the stove. "Paul was so upset about Barnes actions that he put in for an immediate transfer."

Peter thought about his conversation with Barnes earlier that day. Something told him that Barnes hadn't changed. He was still a loose canon who would shoot first and ask questions later. Peter felt a knot in his stomach beginning to grow.

"Honey, I really don't like the fact that you are going to be working for that man." Annie said, the concern in her voice evident.

"I'm with Mom, Peter. Can't you refuse the transfer. . .stay at the 101st." Kelly asked.

Peter shook his head, "No. I'm more sure now than I was before that there is a reason for me to be on that Task Force."

"What do you mean, Peter?" Annie crossed the kitchen to place a loving hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know, Mom. But I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen and I think I need to be in the unit to help." Peter said softly. Annie closed her eyes and said a prayer for her son's safety.

End Part 3

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