The Road Not Taken

Chapter 30

June 20, 1974

Sam found his sister sitting on the porch swing. He sat down beside her, concerned about the look on her face that showed she was in some distress. With all the things that had been happening lately, he wanted to know the cause of it. "A penny for your thoughts, Sis."

Katie looked up at him, her forehead creased. "I left it at the house, Sam," she answered cryptically.

Sam tilted his head, confused. "You left what at what house?"

Katie sighed. "Grandma Nettie's china tea cup." The look on her face showed how upset she was that she no longer had the prized possession in her care.

"The one with the flowers on it?" Sam knew that Katie only remembered their grandmother through the stories that others had told through the years. She'd simply been too young when the woman who had been so close to he and Tom had passed on. The tea cup had always been the connection to her for his sister.

Katie nodded, a sadness crossing her face. "Yeah. When we packed up the day I left the house, I forgot I had it on the top of the armoire in the bedroom. I hid it there because Chuck didn't want me to keep it." Her voice grew softer, almost a whisper, as if telling a great secret that no one should know. "I told him I'd thrown it away, but I hadn't."

Sam he knew this was something he couldn't just let go. Grandma Nettie had left the cup and saucer to Katie when she had passed on. It was a delicate antique and Katie had loved it. "We can still get it, Katie. We can go in when he's not there."

She looked unsure, but hopeful. "You think we can? You'll go with me?" A spark of the sister Sam remembered lit up her eyes.

He nodded. "That's the only way I'll let you go back in that house," he said with a slight grin. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys. "We can go now if you want."

Katie nodded. "Yeah. He's probably having lunch right now, but he'll be going back to work soon."

They headed out, parking not far from the house, in an alleyway that had a view of the house. They waited until they saw Chuck pass by in his car and then pulled into the driveway of Katie's former home. Sam noticed that the yard wasn't quite as nice as the first day he'd seen the house. The walk wasn't swept and the flowers didn't look as if they'd been cared for.

Katie put the key in the lock of the hastily repaired door. She could imagine how upset Chuck had been when he'd returned home to find the door broken. A chill went down her spine as she realized how he would have beaten her for allowing it to happen. Turning the key, she felt relief that it still worked and she and Sam stepped into the room that no longer was in immaculate order. Knowing how particular Chuck was about her housekeeping, she was surprised.

"I'll just be a moment, Sam." she said, pulling a chair from the dinette set and taking it with her into the bedroom. Setting it close to the rear of the armoire, she stood on it, reaching across the back of the tall piece of furniture, and smiled as her hand touched the treasured object. The cup was still there.

Carefully removing the cup and saucer from its hidden position, she held it close to her. "I've got it, Sam." She handled the heirloom to him as she climbed down, retrieving it from him once she was on the floor again.

He smiled at her as he returned it to her, glad to see her smile as she looked at the cup, brushing the dust from it. "Is there anything else you left, Katie?" He didn't want to have to make this trip again. Standing in the location that had held so much pain for his sister upset him.

As she walked out into the living room, holding the cup and saucer in her hands carefully she answered, "No, there's nothing in the house that I want anymore." She started heading towards the front door when she stopped suddenly, her eyes widening with fear.

"What is it, Katie," asked Sam, confused and concerned with her change in demeanor.

He body began to shake to match the fear in her eyes. With a whisper she answered, "Chuck just pulled up."

Immediately, Sam tensed. "How do you know it's him? He shouldn't be back for hours."

She nodded towards the door. "His car has a particular sound. You hear that knocking sound?" She looked around as if seeking a place to hide. "Oh, God, Sam. What am I going to do?"

Sam took her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, calming her. "You're going to do nothing. You're just picking up your property from what was your house. He's the one with a restraining order against him." He realized that it probably didn't cover her now as they had entered Chuck's house, but Katie didn't need to know that.

A moment later the door opened and Chuck Parnell swaggered in. A cruel smile curled on his face. "Well lookie here. My wife has come to her senses and come back home."

Katie started to shake and her voice was unsteady as she answered, "No Chuck. I just came back to get my grandmother's teacup."

A derisive laugh left him and he pointed to the pieces of porcelain in her hands. "That piece of junk? I thought you'd thrown it away."

Katie's voice tinged with anger. "It's not junk, Chuck. It's all I have left from Grandmother Nettie."

Chuck shook his head. "I told you that you need to forget about the Beckett side of your family." He looked into her eyes, "They aren't necessary."

Sam spoke up then, "The Becketts take care of their own, Chuck." He reached over and took Katie's upper arm gently; ready to guide her out of the house. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be leaving now." He started to take a step towards the front door when he stopped in his tracks as Chuck pulled out a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson that he'd been carrying concealed under his denim jacket. He aimed it at Sam's chest.

Chuck's voice held deep malice towards Sam, his words backed up in his mind with the firepower in his hand. "You talk big but I wonder how big you are now."

Katie's face went white as the blood drained from her face. Surely Chuck wouldn't hurt Sam. He must be bluffing. Her voice was shaking as she whimpered, "Chuck, put down the gun."

Chuck turned to her, the gun still raised but his focus on her. "Your brother needs to stay out of our business, Katie. Your whole family is out to convince you to leave me." His voice suddenly got soft and his words honeyed. "Come on, Katie. You know you're my girl. I want you to stay here in our home with me. I know I hurt you and I promise, I'll change. I promise I'll never hurt you again if you just come home."

Katie again started to falter. Chuck's actions said one thing but his words were what she wanted to hear. Maybe he was just doing this to get her to listen, using extreme measures to do so. "Could it really be like that, Chuck?" She asked, hope in her voice.

Sam watched this interchange in disbelief. It was as if his sister had been mesmerized by his words. "Katie! You can't believe him! Don't you…"

Before Sam could finish his sentence, Chuck turned sharply towards him. "Stop your meddling or I'm going to stop it for you." He again raised the gun at Sam's chest.

"No, Chuck!" Katie screamed at him but Chuck didn't care. This meddling brother was going to be stopped, even if he had to do it. He'd put half-jacket hollow point rounds his cousin had obtained for him into the gun. They were just waiting for him to use them.

Katie rushed between Chuck and Sam figuring that Chuck wouldn't harm her, at least not with a gun. He might hit her, but that was different. She was sure of it.

Chuck, though, had already started to pull the trigger. In less than a blink of an eye, the round left the barrel and instead of blowing apart in the chest of the meddling brother, it contacted with his wife's head. For an instant, her eyes flew wide then they simply ceased to exist. The legacy from her grandmother left her hands, hitting the floor and shattering into a thousand shards, forming the nest into which her body slid

Sam felt something warm and moist fly into him seconds before Katie's body dropped to the floor. He registered the soft red, hard white and chunky gray mix that had landed on his face and chest. As he realized what was covering him, he lost all conscious thought red haze becoming his entire world. All he could feel was rage, his body moving forward, his hands and feet moving automatically and mechanically. His martial arts training came to the fore, but without the discipline that normally accompanied the moves.

When Sam came to his senses again, Chuck was on the floor, bloodied and grabbing at his throat. A part of Sam's mind registered that he'd probably crushed his windpipe. Chuck's face was turning blue as he struggled for the air his lungs needed for life. Sam didn't care. The man had just violently killed his little sister and he simply didn't care what happened to him.

Sam turned to Katie's body. What was left of her head held nothing that looked like his sister. The white of bone peeked out from a bloody mass. There was so much blood. Sam dropped to the floor and took her in his arms gently rocking her; rhythmically moving back and forth; crying and telling her how sorry he was that he'd let this happen. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that cradling the body of his sister but the next thing he vaguely remembered was seeing two deputies from the county Sheriff's office breaking into the room.

The scene they found was a carnage seldom seen in Elk Ridge, Indiana. Of the three people in the room, one was certainly dead, the second was likely so, and the third was incoherent and covered with blood.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell happened here?" one of the deputies yelled.

They checked the male victim, knowing the female was already dead. One couldn't sustain a head wound of that magnitude and live. Checking the male's pulse, they found none and realized that he indeed was dead. While the coroner would be required to fully determine the cause of death, it was obvious that the man had been brutally beaten.

One of the deputies approached Sam, still holding his sister and covered in her blood and other evidence of her violent end. The Deputy pried her from the arms of the sobbing young man. Roughly, he pulled Sam to a standing position and pushed him against the wall. As he patted him down, he recited his Miranda rights, a rote soliloquy. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

Sam's head bobbed, not in understanding but in shocked answer to the question. He felt the handcuffs tightly applied to his wrists behind his back. A nightmare! This can only be a nightmare! I lost Tom to Vietnam and if this isn't a nightmare, I've just lost Katie to that bastard husband of hers! It just can't be true! Why can't I wake up!

He looked down at his chest seeing the mix of blood, bone, and brains that had once been his sister's head attached to the fabric of his shirt and drying into a sickening layer. This was real. He suddenly pitched forward and retched. The police officer that held his arms grimaced at the sight.

Sam tasted the sour bile that lingered in his mouth. Oh God! This isn't a nightmare I'll ever wake up from! This is a nightmare that will haunt me the rest of my life."

He barely felt himself being lead out the door and down to the waiting patrol car. He was pushed into the back seat behind the steel mesh that separated him from the driver. He was numb, simply numb. A moment later, the car started forward and Sam knew without a doubt that life would never again be the same.