Disclaimer: Dick Wolf, blah blah blah.
Title: Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 27 – Back to the Future
Characters: Rating: K+
It is late October, fourteen months after the death of Caroline Martin. Ray Martin is logged on to his home computer, checking for emails from his kids. Both are away at college. A new email pops into his in-box. It shows the sender as Fritzie.
Now who the hell would be sending me something using that name?
Caroline's maiden name was Fritz. Her nickname in high school had been Fritzie. Ray had never called her that, but some of her old friends still did. He clicked on the email to open it.
My Dearest Ray-
Through the miracle of electronic greetings you are reading this message that I wrote back in August 2006. It allowed me to select a future date to be sent.
I am sure that by now most of the information has come out. That my cancer returned with a vengeance. That I never told you or anyone else. Why? I refused the typical medical model of a cancer patient's death. I refused to allow you and the kids watch me die slowly, disintegrate before your eyes. And I refused to watch you watch me die. If I told anyone of my plan, that would make them an accessory. I wasn't a cop's wife for thirty years for nothing.
Yes, I staged my suicide to look like an accident. Hopefully, I did a damn good job of it and none of those smart ass detectives they probably assigned to the case were able to figure it out. I am sure they had their suspicions, but no proof. I left the theme song from that Psych TV show on my iPod. Bet it drove them crazy.
It did not mean that I did not love you. I was trying to protect you and the kids. You get to disagree, to be as angry as you want to. In the end, this wasn't about you or the kids. It was only about me. Forgiveness is up to you.
You can read the story of what I did on the fan fiction website. Look for Burn Out by a Milton Ira Crane. (I can see you scribbling to figure out the anagram right now, Ray.) You are free to tell anyone you wish, but I imagine you will keep this secret forever. I suggest deleting this message and then emptying the trash on your email. I take it the Scrubber™ and Window Washer™ programs still run daily on our computers. That will permanently erase our tracks.
Your were the love of my life, Ray Martin. They say that we come back and meet the same people over and over again. I can only hope that is true, because then I have something to look forward to. You.
Please be happy and have a good life.
If love was enough, I'd still be there.
All my love until we meet again,
Caroline
THE END.
I hope you enjoyed Katrina Katayeva as much as I enjoyed writing her.