Chapter 10

Returning back to Jack's empty living room, Tom explained that a week had now passed since Kate had moved in with Jack. They were starting to fall into a comfortable routine with Jack returning to work and Kate, trying to keep her mind off her legal problems, started working on fixing up Jack's backyard planting and gardening.

Meanwhile Jack had convinced Kate, with much argument, that he wanted her to meet and talk with his friend, Mark Silverman, who's a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Kate, not one to trust law enforcement, refused at first but Jack explained Mark was his closest friend and could be trusted. This would be strictly off the record. Jack wanted to see if there was anything Mark could do with keeping Kate out of jail permanently. Kate finally gave in and agreed to have him over for dinner.

"You're kidding me, "Kate commented to Tom. "I'm having dinner with a cop?"

On cue the doorbell rang and Jack came out of the kitchen to let Mark in.

"Hey man good to see you." Mark greeted Jack with their usual handshake – something they carried over from their childhood.

"Glad you could make it." Jack led him into the living room.

"Yeah, well a dinner invitation at your house that doesn't include pizza and beer is a rare treat. How could I say no?" The blonde haired man joked.

"Never heard you complaining." Jack replied.

"Smells good." Mark commented as he put down his day planner on the coffee table.

"Baked chicken."

"Cool. I brought some wine for dinner." He handed Jack the bottle. "So… where is she?"

"In the kitchen. Hey Kate!" Jack called out.

A few seconds later Kate came out of the kitchen nervously smiling. She removed her apron to revel an emerald green top, which complemented her eyes, worn over blank jeans. Her curls worn down and loose. Mark was instantly smitten.

"Kate Austin meet Mark Silverman." Jack made the introductions.

Kate nervously put her hand out and Mark took it. "Hi" she said quietly. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Mark replied glancing briefly to Jack before turning back to Kate. "Jack said you were beautiful, he wasn't kidding."

Kate turned quickly and looked at Jack who was blushing slightly. "Did he?" she smiled trying to catch his glance.

"Yeah" Mark slowly released her hand. "Several times."

"Thanks Mark." Jack chuckled before giving Kate a quick smile. She returned his smile and mouthed the words 'Thank you'

Glancing back between the two Mark cleared his throat slightly. "Dinner smells good."

"Thanks" Kate replied quickly. "Ahum…it's almost ready. Can you set the table, Jack?"

Conversation during dinner was kept light with Jack and Mark telling Kate about growing up together. She enjoyed hearing about how Jack the boy was still very much like Jack the man.

But after dinner Mark pulled out his day planner and the three sat down to discuss her situation. Even though Mark didn't have any jurisdiction in her crimes he did have various law enforcement connections that could help. Plus his investigative experience would help assess her what she was facing.

"So Kate" Mark started, "Jack told me some general stuff about your case along with what was in the wanted bulletin, but it's probably a good idea to start at the beginning and explain what happened and why."

Kate looked over at Jack for a moment still not completely comfortable telling her story to a person she had just met and wasn't sure about trusting. Jack reached over and squeezed her hand trying to reassure her. He remembered how hard it had been for Kate when she told him the first time about her past. She took a deep breath and started slowly.

"My parents divorced when I was about 11 years old. My little sister Eva and I stayed with our mom in Iowa. My father was in the military and he was stationed in Texas for awhile before going to England. My mom married this guy Ted Payton when I was about 13. Eva and I never really liked him but mom seemed really happy and she wasn't struggling to put food on the table anymore.

"So, then what happened?" Mark asked.

"He…ahum…he started coming into my room at night." She swallowed hard.

"He was molesting you?"

She nodded slowly. "The first couple of times he just touched me and I…ahum… I pretended I was asleep. I didn't know what else to do."

"Did you tell your mom?"

"No. I was too scared to tell anybody." Kate looked over at Jack and Mark could guess she was trying to get her strength from him.

"After those couple of times did things progress?" he asked gently.

She nodded her head. "Ah huh, he would wake me up and make me…make me do things to him and he would do things to me. He…ahum…he told me that if I told anybody he would hurt my mom and my sister and it would be my fault. " Kate sniffed back her tears trying hard not to start crying.

"You two had sex?" Mark probed. "I don't mean to be graphic but it could explain your actions."

She nodded but didn't answer out loud. A brief scene from her childhood flashed in her mind and she shuttered at the memory. "I tried running away but the cops would always bring me back. I even tried to tell the cops but when they asked my mom, she told them nothing was going on that I was lying for attention."

"They didn't do a medical exam?"

"My mom wouldn't file a complaint and Tom told them he had caught me having sex with one of the guys in my class and that was why I was saying all this – to get back at him." She said slowly. "It wasn't a big town and I don't think the cops really wanted to pursue this." She took a long drink of water before continuing. "He left me alone for awhile but then when he figured everything had died down he started coming back. I tried to stop him but I was scared that he would hurt my sister and my mom."

"How long did it go on?"

"Until I was about to graduate from high school. I wanted to get out of there so bad I went to summer school to graduate a semester early. I was going to leave and never look back." She took a couple of deep breaths. "I had a job and when I wasn't working I stayed at the library to study. I use to stay out as late as I could or I'd sneak out and go stay at my friend's house. Anything not to be at the house." Her eyes watered up as she continued through the memories.

"What led to the shooting?" Mark continued to probe gently sensing Kate was trying to keep control of her emotions. He didn't want her to shut down and stop talking.

She took a deep breath and squeezed Jack's hand again. "Take your time." Jack told her quietly. "It's okay."

"When I was close to finishing high school he stopped coming to my room. He stopped paying extra attention to me so I thought it was over. But it wasn't. It wasn't over. He just decided to go after Eva. She was only 12 years old!" Kate spit out. "I came home late one night and I saw the son of a bitch coming out of her room just like he used to do with me. I couldn't believe it and I couldn't let him do that to her. Eva wasn't going to go through what I went through. So I went to her and I made her tell me what he was doing to her. She didn't want to at first, he had threatened her like he had me. But she finally told me what he was doing."

"Did you tell your mom?"

Kate's eyes grew hard at the question. "No, I knew she would think that we were lying, that I had put Eva up to this. Ted had my mom so turned around and so scared of leaving her that she wouldn't have done anything against him. But I told Eva I would stop him from hurting her. I promised her he wouldn't keep coming to her room, so I got the gun my dad had left us and I waited for him in her room the next night."

"Eva wasn't there?"

"No," Kate shook her head. "I sent her to sleep in my room."

"So, was the plan to shoot him?" Mark asked.

Kate looked away from the two men as she slowly shook her head again. "No, I just wanted to scare him. I wanted to show him that we weren't defenseless anymore. I wanted to get him to leave Eva alone."

"What did he say?"

"He tried to deny he was doing anything to her. He kept telling me it was different with me. I was special. When that didn't work he started to get angry and he tried to take the gun away. He pushed me and the gun fell under the bed, and that's when he hit across the face. I fell and I grabbed the gun and when he started to come towards me again I pulled the trigger. I don't really remember pulling it, it all happened so fast. But I shot him in the groin. Ironic huh?" she continued after a second. "He was laying on the floor and there was blood all over him and that's when my mom came running in."

"She saw you with the gun still in your hand?"

"Yeah, she kept yelling, 'What did you do, Katie? What did you do?' "

"That's when you ran?" Mark surmised.

"Yeah, my mind just went blank and I just ran. I didn't mean to shoot him. I just wanted him to stop, to leave us alone. But I figured they'd never believe me, so I left before the cops got there."

"Did anyone else know what really happened?" he asked.

"Only my friend Tom. He kept telling me that I should turn myself in, but I couldn't. I just wanted to leave. Tom gave me some money and he snuck me out of town on a bus."

"Tom? Is that Tom Brennon, the guy that got killed that day outside the hospital in Iowa?" Mark looked down at this notes.

Kate's eyes watered up again. "Ah huh, he was only trying to help me see my mom, she was in the hospital, he was only trying to help and I got him killed." She whispered.

Jack squeezed her hand again and placed his other hand on top. "You didn't kill him, Kate." He said and turned to his friend. "I think she's had enough for tonight, Mark."

The young man nodded his head but then asked. "Can I just ask one more thing and that'll be it?"

"Mark, I don't think that's a good idea." Jack said assuming his role as Kate's protector. "She's had enough."

Taking a deep breath Kate nodded, "That's okay, go ahead Mark"

"The bank robbery, why didn't you take any of the money?"

"It was never about the money," she replied. "It was about something more valuable."

"She took a toy airplane that belonged to Tom when he was a child." Jack explained. "She was hoping to give it to his son someday."

Mark looked over at the emotionally drawn woman. A toy airplane? She commits a felony to retrieve a toy? Unbelievable.

"Why don't we call it a night?" Jack suggested standing up. Mark nodded and joined him standing while Kate remained sitting lost in thoughts.

Jack bent down and gently caressed her shoulder to get her attention. "I'm gonna walk Mark out and be right back."

She didn't answer but nodded telling him she had heard him.

Mark and Jack walked silently to front door. "So what do you think?" Jack asked Mark as they stepped outside and he closed the door.

Mark took a deep breath. "Well, she sure went through a lot as a kid, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she had it pretty rough."

"It could be a good argument for the shooting. All those years of abuse and then seeing the guy doing it to her little sister. But she has a lot of other stuff with the bank robbery and the running to overcome."

"Yeah, but doesn't it help that she didn't take the money?"

"It might, but she did shoot three men during the robbery." Mark pointed out.

"She did that to keep them from killing the bank manager. And it's not like she killed them. She shoot them in the legs."

Mark looked over at the man he had known since childhood. Probably the one guy who knew him better than even his own family and let out a small laugh. "You really got it bad, don't you?"

"What?" Jack asked.

"Kate…you really got it bad for her." He replied.

Jack blushed. "Mark…"

"You're standing herer justifying her shooting 4 guys." His friend replied.

"She had reason." Jack argued.

"Ok."

"Look, I'm not trying to excuse what she did – I know she broke the law, but was pushed into it. She's not this evil cold hearted killer, Mark. She's a warm and compassionate person and she cares about people, I saw that on the island. She put herself out there for others and…"

"Yup, you've got it bad." Mark laughed.

Jack looked at his friend not sure what to say next. Finally he just smiled. "Are you going to help or not?" he asked.

Mark didn't answer for a moment giving Jack the impression he was thinking about it. "Yeah, I'm gonna see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises."

"I know." Jack smiled widely and hugged Mark. "But thanks for at least wanting to try."

"How can I not?" Mark returned the brief hug and pulled back. "She's the one, isn't she?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Because, you never looked at any woman, including Sarah, the way you looked at Kate tonight." Mark explained. "I'll do what I can to help you keep her out of jail."

Kate listened quietly to their conversation as Tom watched her. She hadn't said anything since the start of the dinner. Tom knew what she was feeling – the pain she had gone through was not gone and probably would never completely leave her. But she needed to get past that pain and get past the guilt to be able to put together a life and be able to be happy. Tom wanted to tell her that he hoped that she would eventually understand that the answers she was searching for are right in front of her – if she allows herself to see them. Instead he reached over and put a hand on her shoulder and left her to her thoughts.