Chapter 21
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The police department soon confirmed that Marissa's gun was the same used to murder Michael, Ryan, Greenlee, and JR. When Erica was questioned about this, she seemed as surprised as anyone. Erica had thought the killer was Bianca and/or Kendall, she confessed to protect her daughters. Marissa had motive, opportunity, but she was caught in her own vengeance. She could have confessed, served time in prison, and try to readjust after and move on with her life. But her sense of retributive justice didn't allow her to forgive herself. Erica was no longer charged with murder, but the district attorney was considering charging her with obstruction of justice for her false confession. David and Krystal took this news especially hard. Krystal had suspected that Marissa might be the killer, she would have gone to the electric chair to protect her child. Now it was too late, Marissa was gone. There was no longer any official reason for Gary Fredo to be in Pine Valley, but David had been a friend to him and Leita, so Gary called his wife and they came to an agreement. Leita came up to Pine Valley so that she and Gary could help to comfort David and Krystal, both of whom really needed a friend right now.
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November 23rd 2023: Thanksgiving
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Erica Kane and her attorney were trying to work out a plea bargain for her obstruction of justice charge. This might be the last thanksgiving she spent with her family for awhile, so of course she went big. This particular feast had some new guests, including detective Fredo and his wife Leita. Anna, David, and Krystal were all here. Krystal and David held no particular I'll will towards Gary, they mostly blamed themselves for being unable to help Marissa, to convince her to forgive herself for her sister's death. It was hard, but they were holding up as well as could be expected. Bianca and Kendall were here, Erica was coming around to accept Kendall as her daughter. And while Erica still wasn't thrilled about Bianca having Michael's baby, she was beginning to accept that Bianca had chosen to have this child. Perhaps when Erica got out of prison she would be willing to accept this child as her grandchild. This was an unusual mixture of family, but Gary had learned that even an unusual family was better than no family at all. Family helped each other through the worst of times, as some of them were going through now. And right now, they needed all the help they could get.