Thanks to Black Angus for some inspiration and to her and Rangerbaldwin for help with a point.
Edie Hart started out feeling confident that it was just a terrible mistake. Anyone in their right mind would know that Peter Gunn was not a bank robber or a cold blooded murderer. She remembered reading somewhere that every person in the world had a doppelganger, a twin that looked just like them. There had been a chapter in the book about a woman who lived with another woman's husband for five years and he never knew it. Pete had laughed at her and said she was his silly, Silly.
The blonde smiled as the memory of the moment came back, the two of them on the couch, her head in his lap, his hands playing with her hair. She had bopped him when he said that and he tried to grab the book. It ended up under the knick-knack stand across the room when she had dropped it while they had made hot, crazy love.
The fine had been $2.00 when she took the book back to the library; it had taken that long to find it.
On the first visiting day, Pete had only been in jail two days. Despite the terrible gray of the prison uniform he still looked good, hopeful. They were allowed to talk through a glass partition by way of an intercom system. It didn't allow much privacy but at least they could carry on a conversation. Because he was accused of murder a guard accompanied him at all times gun ready in case the detective should try something. She stayed as long as they allowed her to, leaving exactly at 5:00. Before leaving, Edie placed her hand on the glass and told him she loved him always no matter what and he did the same, they both meant it more than anything.
Mother asked if she wanted to take some time off but she said work kept her sane and asked Emmett if he had any new songs she could learn. The pianist came up with several and all the guys were more than happy to help her in anything she needed.
Sherlock seemed to know that she needed his comfort and he didn't even try to get out of the apartment, as was his habit. He seemed to miss Pete as much as she did and searched the apartment for him. Sleep came in waves and so did the tears. Too often she woke up from a dream she didn't remember, the other side of the bed cold and lonely, his odor of tobacco and Royal Lyme vanishing from the rooms. She took to wearing his robe over her bare skin when she was home, curling up on the couch wondering what he was doing at that moment and praying he'd be with her soon.
One night about two weeks into Pete's sentence Edie asked Emmett to let her out at St. Stephen's Catholic Church when he was driving her home. "It's 2:00 in the morning Edie." He protested. "Maybe you should come back when it's light outside. Is the church even going to be open?"
She laid a hand on his arm. "You're not Catholic are you?" It was the first smile she had attempted in several days.
He waited while she went to the altar and prayed to the Virgin, then lit a candle leaving some bills in the collection box. "I haven't been to confession in a long time." She remarked as they got back in the car. "I hope it does some good." They made it a bi-weekly ritual after that.
The singer haunted the library looking for Pete's favorite authors and clipped the crossword puzzles from the newspapers her elderly neighbor Mrs. Larkin saved for her. She'd write little notes of things that happened at work, like Barney getting his finger stuck in the bathroom faucet and the drummer breaking his big toe while trying to catch a bird that flew in, in the middle of a performance. She also told him everything she overheard between Jacoby and Davis or who ever from the department was there, which seemed to be a lot. She learned to hide the notes well, knowing each item was checked thoroughly. He thanked her for each, saying he read them over and over.
By the third week, his beard had grown completely in and he was in desperate need of a hair cut. He was a far cry from the suave Peter Gun: Man for Hire that everyone knew. He'd look at her with tired eyes but somehow always managed a smile and a 'I love you.'
She stopped by his apartment every two to three days, watering his plants and checking the mail. The blonde hated to bring it up but he had some bills in his mail box, but he didn't seem concerned. he instructed her to give them to his attorney, saying he'd take care of them. She brought in a heavy envelope one day, showing it to him through the glass. "I don't think I should have opened this one." She apologized. "But it was from the Ambassador Club and I was curious."
"Can't fault you for that." His eyes smiled at her. "Do you like it?"
"I can't believe you bought tickets for Nat "King" Cole for my birthday." And the tears threatened again.
"I knew that's what you wanted."
"Pete." Her voice so full of love.
"Just hold hold on to them, Silly." He said in his old voice. "We can't use them for a couple of months.
She went home, called Mother asking if she minded if she didn't come in, plopped down on the bed and cried herself to sleep.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
It was four weeks to the day he had been incarcerated when she walked in with her usual offering passing them to a guard. She took off her coat; Pete warmed at the cheeriness of her bright red dress and mentioned the fact she was wearing the bracelet from last Christmas.
She asked if he minded if she and Sherlock moved into his place full time. He seemed surprised she wasn't staying there already. "It's your place too; keep the bed warm for me. Now, tell me what's the matter honey?"
"Captain Martin had me come in for questioning two days ago. I don't know why, it was exactly the same kind of things Jacoby has asked and your attorney has asked and every cop on the force just about. Had I seen you the day of the robbery? Why hadn't I? Did I talk to you at all that day? Had you changed any habits prior to that or was your personality any different? Did I know anything about the bank, the money, the plan? There were no sudden deposits in Peter Gunn's account or in yours; do either of you have any other accounts we are not aware of, it's important." She paused, opening her purse to look for a tissue to stop the tears that persisted. A guard standing nearby gave her his handkerchief and she wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
"I'll get it back to you next time." She told him and he nodded amicably.
"I'm sorry honey." Pete said through the speaker. "Please don't cry. "I'll try and talk to Jacoby."
"I don't mean too." Her lips wavered and she wiped away more tears. "And they always ask that damn question. Why was he so distracted at dinner Friday night? Did he knew we were waiting for him at his apartment, is that why he went to yours instead to try and throw us off?" Her hands clutched the handkerchief tighter. "I'm afraid I lost my temper." And an actual giggle escaped which made them both smile. "I told him we thought my apartment was the best choice because sex in the backseat of a Plymouth Fury isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"That's my girl." Pete grinned. "You're quit a kid, you know that?"
"It's going to be all right, isn't it Pete?"
"It will be."
After they said their goodbyes, she walked out into the cold and hailed a taxi for Mother's trying to ignore that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
PPPPPPPPPPPP
"I'm sorry ma'am," it was the same guard who had loaned her his handkerchief, "But Mr. Gunn can no longer receive visitors."
"May I speak to Lieutenant Jacoby please?"
He's very busy."
"I'll wait."
An hour later Jacoby came into the room she'd been escorted to, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry Edie, but the request came from Pete himself, no visitors, not even you."
Mother and Barney affirmed they were told the same thing when they went to visit. "He probably just needs some time to think." The bartender volunteered. Mother gave her a long hug and said Barney was more than likely right and Pete would come around in a few days.
After the third turn away Edie knew what she was going to do. She took a quick shower, changing into an old tee shirt and pair of pajama pants. While the coffee brewed, she feed Sherlock and headed for the phone. Pete never kept an address book, every number and location was kept in its own department in his head so it took a while to locate his father in Gooseneck, Washington.
She had talked to him several times but never called him outright and found herself tripping over her words when he answered. "Is this Edie?" he asked in a voice so like Pete's. "What's the matter honey, tell me what's wrong."
It seemed that the detective had stopped calling him as well and when Samuel Gunn called the jail he was told that Mr. Gunn was no longer accepting phone calls. "He thinks if he pushes us away we won't be hurt anymore, that we'll be safe. He's been like that since he was a boy. He does it because he loves us."
But doesn't he understand that we worry and try to help because we love him?" she wondered where the tears where coming from; surely she had cried herself dry over the last few weeks.
They talked for over an hour, "If you need me I'll be on the next plane." He assured her. "You know, Pete was right about you. You really are something."
He called her at least once a week following their conversation, "just to check on things." She hoped he knew how much she appreciated it.
PPPP
Edie continued to go to the jail at the appointed time, taking books, writing paper and magazines; anything she could think Pete might need or want. At the apartment she cleaned every inch even though it was already spotless, rearranged the kitchen, added to the bar and had his chimney cleaned.
One night she found the insurance papers that named her his only beneficiary and a diary of sorts where he had jotted down his thoughts, mostly impressions he had from various cases. It also contained tickets stubs for various events—movies, concerts, a couple of charity dinners and two tickets paper clipped together for the first concert he had taken her to three weeks after they met. On the back of one ticket written in his fine hand were the words 'she's the one.'
PPPP
Jacoby came to see her the day before the trial began and asked if she could give him a suit and tie for Pete to wear to court. Edie gathered what he asked for along with clean under things, his toiletries bag and a new pair of shoes she found in the closet. At the last minute she slipped a pair of cufflinks his father had sent him for his birthday the year before into the bag. The cop thanked her for the help.
"Where is the trial being held?" she asked but the lieutenant shook his head. "He doesn't want you to be there, you have to understand Edie how hard this is on him."
"And you both need to understand how hard this is on me! I haven't seen the man I love for a month. I need to know if he's all right."
"1:00, Room C, main courthouse but I'm not promising they will let you in."
"I'll be there."
PPPPPPPPPPPPPP
She took a seat near the door, hoping if she were still no one would notice her. There were armed policeman everywhere it seemed and she wondered how things had gotten this crazy. Pete was sitting in the front with his attorney and she could see the back of her loved one's head, his hair back to its old style. Edie sat remembering running her fingers through that hair, the feel of his skin against her hand, the taste of his mouth when she kissed it and the small bumps on his face that were hardly noticeable except when she ran a finger down his jaw line.
When he got up and testified on his own behalf their eyes caught for a moment and he gave a half smile. Edie returned it and then watched as he answered every question put before him.
Sure enough his lawyer called her the next day informing her, her presence was not welcome in the court room. "My client doesn't need the distraction."
Her song that night was 'Someone to Watch Over Me.' and she wasn't sure how she got through it, especially multiple times. When the knock on her dressing room turned out to be Jacoby she let him in, not sure how to read his face. "Pete was convicted." He told her gently. "He's to be executed on July 19th."
Her knees went weak and she wanted to lash back at the man who could tell this news so calmly. But she knew he was hurting as well. Determined not to cry the blonde clenched her fists and looked at the cop. "No thanks to you."
"Edie," he took his hat off and looked her square in the eyes. "I was talking to Pete before they were waiting to take him to the state prison and he got away."
She bit her lips, trying to appear calm but her heart was beating so fast she thought she might faint. Pete had gotten away! 'But oh Pete what have you done' she couldn't help but think.
"It's your duty as a citizen to tell me if you see him. He's an escaped criminal running on borrowed time, do you understand that?"
"I understand the words." She nodded.
"This is serious business. If he comes here and you don't report it you can be arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal. You must call me the minute you see him."
What makes you think he'll come here?"
"Let's just hope he doesn't."
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Pete surprised her when she heard her name called low in the darkness. She had been standing outside, smoking a cigarette battling with what Jacoby had told her and what she knew she would do. But surely Pete wouldn't come here. And then she heard her name.
"Pete you've got to leave." She didn't dare look down at him, although her heart yearned to do just that. "Jacoby says if I see you, I have to turn you in and you know I can't do that." She took another drag on her cigarette and tried to stay steady. How many of these things had she smoked in the last eight weeks? More than in her entire life she was sure.
"They won't think I'm fool enough to come back here." He said, looking up at her in the black of the night. He repeated again what he needed her to do and she nodded. "Golden age club, forty-five minutes."
Before he turned to go he half whispered gently, "you know what?"
She shook her head afraid to speak.
"You're pretty."
She held the words close to her heart.
