Ch 12

A/N: See, I'm finally making head way, yay! Okay, so I know I could technically end it here, but there will be one more chapter. Hopefully it will be in the next few days, but I make no promises. Warning- this chapter is much darker, but hopefully you like it.


Kat walked into the lab the next morning, noticing three figures already illuminated in the cube. One being Ben, who was standing as if he was a statue in one corner looking to the couple who were seated at the table. Looking closer she recognized the pair as Pete's "parents", Gene and Betsy Smith. The man was slouching in his chair with his arms crossed in front of him, a permanent scowl on his face, his jaw set, and his dark eyes, almost black behind his glasses, cold. The woman, looked much more nervous. Her eyes kept glancing from her husband to Ben, her foot was tapping a fast rhythm on the floor and she was sucking on her lip.

Kat tore her gaze away from the cube momentarily as she walked up to Eli who was sitting in front of the large computer monitors, and Gillian standing next to him her arms crossed in front of her studying the couple. "So, how are we doing this?" Kat asked, not even wasting time with the customary morning salutations.

Gillian looked at her, her face partially in shadow so that Kat couldn't see her eyes, "That's up to you. I would like you to do the interview, but if you would like one of us with you…"

Kat nodded, glancing back up to the couple. Fear coursed through her veins at the thought of going into that cube, rightly so after her last encounter with a known criminal landed her in the hospital with a gunshot wound. Taking a deep breath and sighing, she steeled herself, "I'll do it." She turned on her heel without a look back at Gillian or Eli, but feeling their eyes boring holes into her.

Taking another steadying breath before she opened the door to the cube, knowing that once she was in there she couldn't show the fear, she opened the door and took a seat in front of the couple. The man looked up at her as she sat down, scoffing, "You've got to be shitting me."

"Excuse me?" Kat asked, silently noticing Ben taking the few steps across the cube to stand behind her.

"You're that waitress. The nosy one." He shifted in his chair.

"You're right Mr. Smith. I'm Kat, I was a waitress, but I also work here at the Lightman Group."

Scoffing again he remained silent, his eyes glued to a scratch in the metal of the table in front of him.

"I would like to ask you some questions about a boy that we believe that you had living with you." Kat said, watching their response. The woman looked anywhere but at Kat, while the man looked straight at her, daring her to ask. "This boy was not your son. How did he come to live with you?" Not really expecting an answer she went on, "Okay, so we all know you took him, but the real question is why?" She asked, knowing that the man was still looking at her, but choosing not to look at him, instead she kept her eyes on the woman who was now on the verge of tears.

Kat shook her head, standing and walking back to the door, before she could open it she heard a voice from behind her, "Have you seen the boy?"

Her head shot back around, the woman was looking at her, almost pleading with her, "Yes." Kat answered not saying anything else walking back out of the cube.

"Gillian I can't get anything with that man in there. I know she's ready to crack, but with her husband in the room I can't get anything." Kat sighed walking back over to Gillian and Eli.

Nodding Gillian said, "You're right. Ok let's get him out of there and try again." Gillian walked into the cube, whispering to Ben, Kat watched as he took the larger man and led him out of the room. Gillian walked out behind them, not even giving the woman a glance. Giving Kat a gentle smile, "You're on."

Kat sighed again, steeling herself once more she walked into the cube again and sat across from the woman. She looked at the woman for a moment, waiting to see if she would speak first. Betsy Smith couldn't have been more than ten years older than Kat, but they couldn't have been more different. Her long blonde hair was feathered back, Farrah Fawcett style, a deep tan only seemed to accentuate the lines around her ice blue eyes. Her hand twitched as if an invisible cigarette was held in her fingers. Finally growing tired of the silence Kat asked, "So Betsy right?"

"Yes," she answered in a breathy voice just above a whisper.

"Betsy, how did this boy come to live with you?" Kat asked, folding her hands in front of her.

Her brow furrowing slightly she answered, "I don't know what you're talking about. Pete is my son."

"Okay, Pete may be your son, but the boy you had up until a few days ago, that boy was not your son."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." She said nervously, raking a hand through her hair.

"I think you do." Kat said, opening the folder in front of her she pulled out a picture of a small boy, only two years old. It was a post mortem picture, the boy's small body laying in a pool of blood, his arms and legs pointing out at odd angles. Bruises covered one side of his face, and a shoe lace around his neck. "This is Pete Smith." Kat said placing the picture in front of her.

Betsy didn't look down at the picture for a few moments, choosing a spot on the window behind Kat, "I… I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Betsy," Kat said lightly, finally getting the woman to look her in the eye, Kat pointed at the picture, "this is your son isn't it?"

Her eyes finally casting a glance down at the picture, she broke down into heavy sobs. Kat waited patiently, placing her hand over the inconsolable woman's. After a moment she regained her composure for a moment, "I can't believe he did this."

"Your husband did this."

Nodding, she sniffled, "I came home one night and he was gone." Shaking her head she sobbed again, "I was only gone for a few minutes. All he had to do was watch him for ten minutes. He said he woke up and wouldn't stop crying."

"What did you do?" Kat asked, taking the picture back, sliding it into the folder. "I couldn't look at him, at either of them. I called the cops."

"Then what?"

"They came and took Gene away. I don't know how he did it, but he convinced them that Pete fell out of his crib."

Kat tried to absorb this without showing anything, "So he didn't go to jail. What did you do when he got back to the house?"

Taking a shaky breath she continued, "I couldn't look at him for weeks. I knew I had to get out of there so I got a job. I was a babysitter at one of those agencies. It was my first job when I saw him. I swear that boy looked just like my Pete." Her eyes shone for a moment as she looked up at Kat, "I don't know what happened, I just… lost it. I called Gene and we just took him."

"They never found you? The people who were looking for their son?" Kat asked, anger boiling inside of her, but still not able to show anything.

Betsy smiled for the first time since she'd been in the cube, "I used my maiden name when I applied for the job."

"Okay, so you have this boy, everything is going okay, so why did you call his birth parents years later to give him back?"

"That wasn't my choice," she nearly spat, "when we learned that Pete… wasn't right Gene got mad. He said he wouldn't have a freak in the house so he called the parents and was going to give him back. When they never showed up Gene thought that they knew the boy wasn't right. That's when he started kicking him out of the car and trying to leave him places. He was determined to get rid of him any way possible."

"Weren't you worried about him? Did you ever try to stop him?"

"I was worried about him every day. The last time I tried to stop him I got this," she said pulling her hair back from her face Kat could see a deep purple bruise across her neck. "He tried to choke me for saying that we should go back and get him. When he didn't come home that night I got really worried. After Gene fell asleep I snuck out of the house. I went back to where we left him at, but he wasn't there. I pulled the gun out of the glove box that Gene always had there and walked into the gas station. I only wanted to ask them if they'd seen him, but they thought that I was trying to rob them. The cops came a few minutes later and Gene and I have been in jail since."

Kat leaned in and summoned all of her strength not to hurt the woman, instead saying, "Thank you Betsy. I really appreciate that you would talk to me." Getting up from her seat she walked over to the door, before she opened it she looked back at Betsy, "Just so you know, he is okay. I found him that night, he's back with his real mom." Her head snapped up to look at Kat as she walked out of the room.

Gillian waited outside, still standing next to Eli as they watched her walk back to them, "You did great." Gillian smiled, pulling her in for a hug.

Kat held onto her as if she were holding on for dear life. "I still don't know how I did it," she answered honestly.

"What matters is that you did. And that we have a full confession." Eli smiled up at the pair.

Shaking her head again Kat straightened up, "No what matters is that Pete is back where he should be. With the person that really loves him."