Its been a while I know but I just wanted to make sure I had my ideas all laid out before I continued. I like to make an outline of the chapters before I actually sit down and write the chapters up. Sometimes it takes a while but know that chapters will be on their way as soon as I finish typing them up.

After lunch I walked Casey back to the DA's office and it was a nice warm summer day. Once I left Casey in her office I headed back to the neighborhood where the Smith's live. I walked passed their house and knocked on the neighbor's door. I stood there for a minute before someone came to the door. It was a younger woman.

"Can I help you?"

I smiled and flashed my badge

"I'm detective Shepherd. I was just wondering about your neighbors?"

She seemed to tense up but nodded

"Mark and Karen are wonderful neighbors, it's a shame what happen to Karen."

"Is there anything that seems off about them, like do you ever hear them fighting or see Mrs. Smith appear with bruises that she can't explain?"

She tensed up and began to be defensive and retreating

"They're a wonderful and happy couple, they are also very good parents. If you'll excuse me detective, I have to get back to my son."

With that the door was slammed in my face. I looked around and saw an older woman sitting on her porch drinking a glass of lemonade. I walked over and made my way up the porch steps.

"Hello ma'am, I am detective Matt Shepherd and I'd like to talk with you about your neighbors that live across the street from you."

She smiled and motioned for me to sit in the chair next to her and then poured me a glass of lemonade before she said anything. I smiled and took a drink of from the glass.

"I'm Maybelle Thomas. Karen is a sweet young girl. Always making sure to stop by at least twice a week. She reminds me a little of my daughter. It's a real tragedy what happened to that poor girl."

I nodded

"And what can you tell me about Mr. Smith?"

She frowned and I knew something was off.

"Marcus is terrible to her. He tries to make it seem like they are the perfect couple but he is a monster. I'm almost sure that he beats her. It's hard to think that he might be doing the same thing to Sammy."

"Sammy?"

"yes, he's their son. Thankfully he is off at summer camp and didn't see what happened."

I nodded and with that I helped her carry the glasses and pitcher into the kitchen and when we were done talking I left my card and told her to call me if she could think of anything else that might be helpful.

I made my way back to the squad room. As I made my way over to Olivia's office and knocked on her door. I saw her look up at me.

"What's up Matt?"

"Liv, Rollins and I had a theory that Karen Smith might be a battered wife. She could be lying about when her attack happened. Her husband could have been the one who attacked her and she just told us that he was at work."

Olivia just looked at me but could tell that I peeked her interest but she wasn't totally bought into my theory just yet.

"What kind of proof do you have of this theory you two have come up with?"

"Well after I was done over at the DA's office I went to Karen Smith's neighborhood. The first neighbor I talked to knew something but didn't say anything but the second neighbor I talked to, Maybelle Thomas, told me that she believes that Marcus Smith was abusing his wife. She said Karen appeared at her house multiple times with unexplained bruises and marks with excuses like she walked into a door. She also told me that the couple has a kid, Sammy, who is away at camp. He gets back tomorrow."

She sat there and sighed

"Liv, I really believe that this guy is abusing his wife and we have to do something about it before she ends up dead."

She took off her glasses and looked up at me

"We can't do anything unless Karen wants to give a statement. Until then, go home and get some rest. You have court in the morning and after that you can go and see if Karen is willing to say anything."

With that I left and headed home. I entered my apartment and made my way over to the fridge. I grabbed a beer and stood by the counter. I took a swig as I thought about the case. I thought about Karen and how she could be out of her mind scared of Marcus and that's why she lied. I also found my thoughts slipping to the horrible idea of Marcus abusing his son and that's when my mind slipped to my own memories. I made my way into the bathroom and turned the shower on. I stepped into the shower and my mind slipped off. I thought of my life before the age of 7. I remember my life before it became the life any normal person has their entire life.

I was coming home from a ball game. I was a right fielder and caught the final out of the game. My team had one and my dad was having a good day. Everything was fine until he started to yell. I made my way down the stairs. I saw him standing there screaming at my mom and then he slapped her. She was crying and as I made my way down the stairs he began to beat her. I ran down the rest of the stairs and I pushed him off of my mother. I saw her just lying there and not moving. I tried to get to her but felt a fist go across my face. I hit the ground hard. I saw the blood trickling down my face. I stood up and turned to face him. He mocked me.

"Oh so you're a big man now. You're not gonna do anything to me boy. You're not man enough to do anything."

He hit me again and shoved me against the wall.

"You're not tough enough, you are just a little wuss."

He screamed that last part at me while he repeatedly kicked me. He would kick me and scream wuss. He kicked me and repeatedly kicked me. The next thing that I remember was waking up in the hospital. I was officially a ward of the state. I went into the foster system.

I remember the couple that adopted me became mom and dad to me. They were a nice couple. They were a couple that had their own business and it way taking off. They lived on a ranch and that became my home. Their family became my family. It had been one of the hardest thigs to transition to. I eventually got comfortable enough to except that this was my life now and after my real dad was in jail, enjoyed the rest of my childhood. The only thing I have left to remember the horrible years I had with him was a that was left on the left side of my chest.

I was standing in front of mirror as I just looked at the scar. It's the one scar on my body that stands out. I had wounds from war but the scar on my chest is something that haunts me to this day. I shook the thought out of my head as I brushed my teeth and dried my brown hair and then I headed into my bedroom and just threw on a pair of gym shorts and headed to bed. I laid there in the dark and just listened to the sounds of the city. I slowly drifted to sleep but the memory of that day plagued my nightmares to this day.

I woke up the next day and I put on a suit. I always fumbled with my tie but eventually I got it tied and I headed down to the courthouse. When I got there I saw Casey heading up the stairs. I jogged up the stairs to catch up with her.

"Hey Casey."

She looked over at me and smiled at me.

"Hey, you clean up nicely."

"Well thanks, I thought I'd look my best for my big day."

She laughed

"Well you look great. Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah I'm ready to put this guy in prison."

After a long morning in court I headed out of the courthouse with Casey.

"Congrats on the guilty verdict counselor."

"Well the Sullivan case was one of the easier cases I have had. I mean we had all of the evidence we needed to put the guy away."

"Well it's all in a days work Case, I'll see you later."

I started to walk away but I felt her catch my arm.

"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch with me?"

I looked at her and I sighed

"Sorry Casey, I can't. I have to go and talk with Karen Smith about something."

I saw the smile on her face drop a little but she quickly fixed it.

"No don't worry about it, I'll just head back to my office it's no big deal."

"but hey, how about I buy you dinner some time?"

She gave a genuine smile this time.

"Sure, how about Friday night?"

"Definitely it's a date."

I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Yeah, it's a date. I'll see you soon Matt."

With that I headed off to Smith residence. I pulled my car up and saw Mrs. Smith standing outside. I got out of the car and walked up to here.

"Hi, Mrs. Smith, I'm detective Shepherd with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Do you mind if I have a word with you?"

She looked at me and I saw fear flash in her eyes. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry but I told the other detectives what actually happened."

"Mrs. Smith, I know you must be scared but if there is anything that you didn't tell us or anything that you lied about its ok. You can tell me and I can keep you and your son safe."

She just shook her head

"If you are insinuating that my husband did this to me then you are off your rocker. He loves me."

"Karen, he doesn't love you if he is doing this stuff to you or your son. If you don't do anything to stop him then he's gonna keep doing this to you guys."

That seemed to upset set her even more.

"You're sick you know that."

Behind me a car pulled up and I saw that it was Mr. Smith. I turned back and saw the same look of fear I saw earlier.

"Look I can't tell you what's not true now please leave me alone."

With that she rushed inside. I turned back and saw Mr. Smith walking up behind me. He gave me a dirty look before heading into the house. I walked over to my car and I was getting to get into my car when I saw a kid riding up on his bike. I walked over to him and showed him my badge.

"Hey, I'm a police officer. My name is Matt, what's your name?"

He looked at me and then at my badge.

"I'm Sam. I have to go inside but do you want me to get my dad?"

I took out one of my cards and handed it to him.

"No but I need you to call me if you ever feel unsafe or if your dad ever does anything that makes you feel unsafe ok Sam."

He nodded and then headed inside. With that I was off and headed back to the precinct. As I was heading back I thought back to my own childhood. I couldn't shake these memories since I found out about the kid. Sitting there in my car on the way back to the precinct I knew that this case was going to a very hard case for me. It was going to make me relive things that I hadn't dealt with in years.

Here is the new chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if there is anything that you need answered because I would be happy to answer any questions that you have. I'll put up another chapter as soon as I can. Thanks in advance for reading my story.