They didn't have to be at the courthouse until 9:00 that morning. So, Peter lay in his bed a little longer than usual for a Monday morning. He hadn't slept that well all night. This was most likely due to the $20,000 under his pillow, combined with the news that his father was out of a job. He knew now that he had gotten to the Judge. The Judge had really believed that he wouldn't accept the bribe. But he also knew how much Peter cared about his family.

Which was why Peter hadn't turned the money over to the authorities or back to the Judge.

He had thought about it long into the night, and now that about it again as he stared up at the ceiling that morning. Was it still a sin, even if you were doing it to help those you loved? If he kept this money and took the other $20,000 for not testifying, was he wrong? Was he doing the right thing?

He couldn't come up with a straight answer. Logically, keeping the money would be wrong. But emotionally, keeping the money would be right. Peter went back and forth with it. One moment, he decided that he would keep it, but the thought tore at him. So, the next moment, he would turn back to saying that he would turn it over to Lt. Cooper. But the thought of denying his family $40,000 tore at him too. At breakfast, he barely touched his food and just stared off into space. His family dismissed it has just nerves before the trial. Paul looked thoughtful himself.

Then, it was suddenly timed to go.

Marie had her boys dress somewhat nicer than usual. They had to wear slacks and a dress shirt, much to their dismay. But she insisted that they look presentable for sitting on a witness stand. Peter barely registered what he was wearing, the money tucked into his pants. He couldn't bear the thought of just leaving it around.

When they arrived at the courthouse, Peter let a deep breath out. He made his decision. He was keeping this money. He had to.

Inside, they greeted Andrew and Jimmy and their families. Then, Lt. Cooper led the boys to the front row behind the railing and behind where he would be sitting on the courtroom floor. There were a good deal of people there. Peter recognized a lot of kids from his school, some sitting behind him and other sitting behind Mark and his family. Peter recognized some local politicians; all people he had pretty much ignored up until now.

He was beginning to think more deeply. What wheels would he turn with his decision? How many people were going to be affected? How deep did the corruption go? Someone was going to hate him after this trial.

"All rise," called the bailiff.

A young judge, a woman, walked out to her post and sat down, striking the gavel to the wood and calling the court into session. Everyone was seated.

It wasn't like the movies, thought Peter. First, the Christopher Winters was put on the stand. He gave his alibi, saying that he had actually been having drinks with Judge Bardwell at the time of the shootings. To confirm his story, Judge Bardwell himself was brought to the stand to tell about his evening with Winters. He explained how the man had come over for dinner. Also there to confirm the story was a cook who worked for Bardwell and Mrs. Bardwell, who apparently had had dinner with them. An attorney from the police department cross-analyzed each of them, but nothing seemed to be uncovered.

Then, a recess was called before Lt. Cooper's witnesses would come to stand. Outside in the hall, they gathered together, pulling at their collars which were uncomfortable in the summer, even indoors. Cooper came over to them.

"How we doing boys," he asked.

"I'm ready to get this over with," said Jimmy. "I feel like we've been here for days."

"It's only been an hour," said Cooper with a smile. "Don't worry. Just go up there and say exactly what you told me. Our attorney will be asking you the questions first. Afterwards, Winters' attorney will cross-analyze. Don't be intimidated by him. Just answer truthfully, and everything will be fine."

The bailiff called for everyone to return to the courtroom. Cooper gave them another encouraging smile. He patted Peter on the shoulder and Peter felt guilt stab him in the heart. He looked back at Cooper and the Lt. saw that he was troubled.

"What's wrong, Peter," he asked.

"Nothing. Just nerves is all," Peter lied quickly. "I can barely talk in front of my class at school."

Cooper chuckled. "Don't worry. Just act like you're talking to the attorney who is questioning you. You don't have to look at anyone else."

Peter nodded. "Okay."

He took his seat beside Paul and the show went on.

Paul was first and then Andrew. They gave their accounts of what they had seen from their bikes down the street. Winters' attorney had no questions for them. Then, Jimmy went up, slightly limping, for he had discarded his crutch the day before. He also gave his account. (Fortunately, he left out the part about the possum and the mean nurse). This time, Winters' attorney came to question him, but it was brief.

"You say the car stopped directly in front of you," he asked Jimmy.

"Yessir."

"Did you look to the front window? The windshield?"

"Yessir."

"But you were unable to see anyone in the car?"

"No sir. The car lights were right in my eyes and there was a glare. I couldn't see anything."

"Okay, son, that's all."

Then, Peter was called up. It took him a moment to move. Paul nudged him and he stood up. One of the police officers opened the little gate for him and he stepped out onto the floor and walked over to the witness stand. His hands were sweating as he swore over the Bible to tell the truth.

He felt like the envelope with the money was burning his skin where it was tucked into his pants underneath his shirt. In fact, he realized just how much he was sweating. He licked his lips as the police attorney walked over to begin questioning.

First, he was required to give his account of events. When he came to the part where he had to say who he had seen in the car, his voice faltered. He coughed in an attempt to blow it off. The Judge offered him some water and he said yes. The water was fetched.

From behind the railing, Paul narrowed his eyes at his brother's odd behavior.

"Something's not right," he whispered.

Andrew and Jimmy looked at him. "What do you mean," asked Andrew.

"Look at him," said Paul, still staring at Peter. "It's like he's trying to make a decision or something." Paul noticed Peter staring intently across the courtroom and he followed his brother's gaze. He was looking right at Judge Bardwell, who leaned forward to whisper something in Winters' ear. Paul narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Lt. Cooper turned around and looked at Paul. "Is Peter okay?"

"Something's not right," repeated Paul. "Something has him worried." He again looked at Judge Bardwell. "Is there anything you can do to let us talk to him?"

"No, not while he's on the stand," answered Cooper. "He'd have to have some kind of breakdown."

Paul sighed, knowing that was very unlikely. No matter what his brother was dealing with he would never allow himself to breakdown in front of everyone. He would deal with it silently, all alone, letting it fester so that he would be battling whatever it was by himself.

"Come on Peter," murmured Paul to himself. "Whatever happened to being in this together?"

But Paul knew what had happened. The moment Peter believed his family was being threatened, he had decided to take it on alone.

Peter drank his water and looked at the judge sheepishly. "Sorry."

"That's quite all right," she replied calmly. "Now go on with your account."

Peter looked back. Judge Bardwell and Winters were smiling. He looked at Paul, Andrew, and Jimmy. They were watching with bated breath. Lt. Cooper was trying to give him an encouraging expression. His mother was sitting there, so very calm, prepared to love him no matter what. And his father…his father sat there, his hand over his wife's watching his son. He sat up straight and respectable. One leg was folded over the other with his hat resting on his knee. He was looking right at his son and Peter remembered the lecture John had given his sons that first night, nearly three weeks ago.

Peter sighed.

"When I looked up, I saw two men in the car," he said in a firm voice. "I recognized one of them. It was Christopher Winters. He was the passenger and when he saw me, he raised a gun. But then my brother yelled out and they sped away. That's when they hit Jimmy."

He looked right at Winters. He looked right at Judge Bardwell. Both looked very surprised. Peter felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest, but his stomach was still mush as he realized what he had just done. But he wasn't finished yet.

The attorney explained the jury the process of Peter identifying the two men, and he showed them pictures of Winters and the other man, Terry Dixon. Peter was shown the pictures as well, and he confirmed that those were the men he had seen in the car.

Peter continued to steal glances in Winters' and Judge Bardwell's direction. They looked worried, but were keeping it to themselves. Peter was starting to get squirmy under their scrutiny.

After the attorney was finished explaining everything to the jury, he looked at Peter and asked, "Is there anything you would like to add? Anything you might have left out?"

"Objection, Your Honor," said Winters' attorney. "The boy already made his statement."

"Overruled," replied the judge. "Questioning is not through. You will get your turn."

The attorney looked back at Peter.

Peter swallowed. Now or never. "Yessir." He saw Cooper and the other boys frown in confusion. "Yesterday, the diner I work at called me because they were shorthanded. I went in. When I got there, Judge Bardwell and another man I didn't recognize were there waiting for me. The Judge made my boss and the two cooks leave the kitchen. The other man left too—to keep them from coming back in while Judge Bardwell talked to me privately. And the Judge, he tried to bribe me. He didn't want me to testify…to protect Christopher Winters."

The room was completely silent.

Now Judge Bardwell and Winters looked completely livid. They had not been expecting this.

The attorney took a step forward. "How much did he bribe you with?"

"He gave me $20,000 yesterday," replied Peter. "And he said if I didn't testify, I would get another $20,000."

"Son," said the attorney. "You're telling me, and everyone in this room, that Judge Bardwell, that man right over there, offered you $40,000 not to testify?"

"Yessir," replied Peter, his throat dry. "I swear it." He started un-tucking his shirt.

"What are you doing," asked the attorney.

"I have it here," said Peter. He pulled out the envelope. "That's all of it, sir. I counted it last night when I got home. He handed it to me in the kitchen of the diner. I swear it."

The attorney stared at the envelope and the $100 bills that had spilled out of it on the stand. Peter looked him right in the eyes. "Sir, I swear it. He didn't want me to testify today, so he bribed me." It was as if Peter couldn't say it enough. He wanted everyone to hear.

The attorney just nodded at Peter. "Yessir, you did son. You swore on the Holy Bible that you would tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God. I believe you."

Judge Bardwell jumped up. "That is an absolute lie! That boy could've gotten $20,000 anywhere—"

The judge pounded her gavel hard. "Sir, sit down or I will have you removed from the courtroom."

But now Peter jumped up. "I'm not the one lying! Lt. Cooper, you run his prints on this envelope. You can ask my boss and the cooks. The Judge was there!"

The judge pounded her gavel again. "The witness will also sit down or he will be removed from—".

She was cut off by Judge Bardwell. "I would never do such a thing. If Christopher Winters here is guilty, than he is guilty, friend or no friend—".

Winters jumped up. "You backstabbing son of a bitch!"

"Order! Order!" The judge continued to beat her gavel, but she had lost all order.

"You just wanted to protect me because of all your deals," shouted Winters.

Judge Bardwell gasped and the yelling match went on.

Security swarmed the area and the men were dragged away, the judge calling for Judge Bardwell to be arrested and his Miranda rights read so that he come to trial for bribery. People were talking loudly about what had just occurred. Cooper walked over to where Peter was sitting down on the witness stand, leaning against the back of the chair, as if he had just run a marathon. Cooper smiled at him.

"Now see what you did," he joked. "You've opened up a whole new case."

Peter shrugged. "Just doing my job as an honorable citizen of Cayuga Heights."

Cooper just shook his head. "Why didn't you tell anyone about the money?"

"My father lost his job yesterday," said Peter. "Right after I had the conversation with the Judge. The Judge had been telling me that $40,000 would help my family a lot. And it would." He sighed. "When I learned that my father had lost his job, I couldn't get myself to let go of it. I was actually considering keeping it." He closed his eyes. "But, when I thought about it up here, all I knew was that my father had worked so hard and was doing what he did because he was an honest man. He raised me to be honest and I couldn't break his heart with lying up here. Not to mention, I would let down Paul and Andrew and Jimmy…and you Lt. You were all depending on me to tell the truth, so that we wouldn't all lose." He paused. "I don't know. Maybe we'll all die poor, but at least we'll all die honest."

Cooper clapped a strong hand on Peter's shoulder. "You're a good kid. Come on; let's get out of this place before there's a fight. I'll take you and your friends out for some pizza. Sound good?"

Peter smiled.

"Sounds great."

()()()()()()

Neal was leaning forward, his chin resting on his arms, which were on the table as he watched Peter, across from him, tell his story.

"Okay," said Neal. "So you told on the Judge, who ditched Winters, who then snitched on the Judge and now the Judge was going down?"

"Right," said Peter. He looked down at the album. The clipping there read: Judge Bardwell Accused of Offering a Bribe to Witness Peter Burke.

Peter flipped the page for the next day. There were two stories there: Christopher Winters Cutting Deal with Inside Stories and Judge Bardwell Accused of Funding a Drug Ring and Drug Ring Led by Terry Dixon, Driver in Shootings.

Neal shook his head and whistled. "It's like a giant snowball. Everyone is found guilty and now they're tripping over their feet to make deals."

"Yep," said Peter, sighing deeply. "It was quite a time. Long story short, Lt. Cooper put both of them behind bars as well as people they gave up in being connected to that drug ring. The two men who had been shot that night were rival drug dealers. It seems that this guy, Terry Dixon, was really upping his game and had come to find new territory in Cayuga Heights and Ithaca. The Judge was funding it and also getting a cut out of it. Christopher Winters, being the Judge's campaign financial advisor, was in on it as well. Needless to say, a lot of damage was done to eth drug ring and it dissipated. It just wasn't big enough to take a blow like that and then stick around. It was the case that made Lt. Cooper's career. There was another trial for the Judge, which I once again had to testify in about the bribe. But, I didn't have any trouble nailing his hide to the wall that time. In fact there wasn't any trouble."

"So it was over," said Neal.

Peter shook his head. "We thought it was."

"But you got shot," said Neal. "Revenge?"

"Yeah," said Peter. "It happened two weeks later, on the day of Paul's eighteenth birthday…"