installment 3/3
by nonniemous
I'm not making any money off this, and I promise not to keep Gary forever. He can go back (if he wants to g>) when Season 3 starts.
Many thanks to my erstwhile beta readers, for managing to stay focused enough to actually edit in the midst of all this ooey-gooey stuff! Your contributions were essential to the final en-goo-ment of this piece of fan fic.
"Turn if you may from battles never done..."
---William Butler Yeats
Part 9
"Afternoon, Gary."
Gary looked up from his perusal of the paper as Marissa slid into the chair next to him. How she always knew who was around never ceased to baffle him. She'd told him once it was the scent of fresh gabardine that gave him away. Now he didn't know what it was, but she was still sharper than most sighted people at discerning who was around her. Dressed in a velvet magenta t-shirt and black slacks, braids pulled back into a bunch at the nape of her neck, Marissa was her usual casually elegant self. With one arm she held her omnipresent braille volume close to her chest; the other hand held a small, wrapped package. Her face wore the pleased expression that Gary associated with Marissa at her most self-satisfied.
The afternoon sun was bright, and the bar quiet. A couple of patrons played a slow game of pool, and Robin checked inventory beneath the front bar, but the rest of the room was empty except for the table Gary and Marissa shared. Looking over the newspaper at her and the package, Gary shifted his booted feet under the table. What was she up to?
"Whose birthday?"
Marissa smiled.
"Oh, this is just something I had Chuck pick up for me earlier today. Something I should have done sooner - much sooner than today." She held the package out in his general direction. "Congratulations, Gary."
Gary did a double take, his eyes moving from the rectangular gift back to Marissa a couple of times before he could bring himself to reach for it. It was a book, he knew that immediately. A small book, probably hardbound. What kind of a book would Marissa buy him? Now, if it was Chuck, well, he'd be worried he'd wind up with a copy of the Karma Sutra, but Marissa wouldn't do that. He held the book for a moment, then put it down to fold the paper and set it aside.
"You, you, you didn't, you didn't have to do that."
Marissa shook her head.
"No, Gary, I should have done this a long time ago. Two weeks ago, when you first told us about you and Kate."
Gary couldn't think of any response to that, so he picked up the book and began carefully removing the wrapping. Marissa waited, chin in one hand.
"A Poet to His Beloved: The Early Love Poetry of William Butler Yeats?" Gary frowned. Yeats? Wasn't that who Kate was always quoting. "Um, thanks. Thanks, Marissa."
Marissa smiled, hearing the hesitation in his gratitude.
"Kate and I had a long talk about Yeats one night when she was waiting here. You were busy with the paper. She really likes him, has a lot of his stuff memorized. And you know, there aren't many girls who can resist a guy who can quote a bit of poetry at the right time. Not that you need that much help with Kate, but it can't hurt to be prepared. Besides, it'll give you something to read to her on your wedding night."
Gary's head shot up, but Marissa was smiling at him. He blushed, then frowned at her, useless as that was. Everyone around here seemed to be entirely too comfortable discussing his and Kate's... relationship. Oh well, at least it wasn't Chuck. He could almost be grateful to Trevor last night for giving Chuck something else to think about when it came to Gary and Kate. Gary turned to back of slim volume, looking for the index. Maybe he could find the poem Kate had quoted on the bridge that first night they'd spent together.
"Did you hear from Kate today?" Marissa tried to be nonchalant, but when Gary glanced up from his perusal of the index something about her tone and the too casual look on her face belied her easy words. She was too attentive, too focused on his answer.
Gary studied his friend for a moment before answering.
"Yeah."
Marissa waited for him to say more, chin still resting in one hand, the other restlessly ruffling the corners of her book's pages. Gary sighed, looking back down at the book in his hand as he answered.
"She called me between classes this morning." Suddenly, his eyes found a line he'd heard before, but not the one he was looking for.
Marissa's eyebrows went up inquiringly, all pretense of indifference forgotten.
"And?"
"We're fine. Everything's fine. I'm meeting her at her apartment this afternoon at four. She wants to get me a ring, so we're gonna go shopping."
The line from the book stared up at him: *I do not know, that know I am afraid, of the hovering thing night brought to me.* Kate had recited that one the night after Trevor's letter arrived. He quickly checked the page, and found the poem, only to have the hair on the back of his neck stand up. AN IMAGE FROM A PAST LIFE. All too appropriate for what had happened here last night.
Marissa nodded, then frowned a bit when he didn't offer any more information.
"And Trevor?"
Gary froze, only his eyes moving as he looked over at his friend. She sensed his unease, he could tell, as she shifted in her own seat. The hand her chin rested on came down to play as well with the pages of the book in front of her as she sat up a bit straighter. His own disquiet about the man had barely been under control all day. The last thing he needed to do now was alarm Marissa.
"W-w-w-what about Trevor?"
"Don't play innocent with me, Gary Hobson. You know I can't see that puppy dog face of yours, no matter how many people tell me you have it. That man is an abusive, violent person. He hurt Kate last night just to pick a fight with you. Is he still out there? Is she okay? Are you okay?" Marissa hesitated, then sat straight up, one hand reaching unerringly for his arm. "What's the paper say?"
"Nothing. There's nothing in the paper about Trevor. As far as I know, he went back to Minnesota today, like he was supposed to." Gary decided he really didn't need this conversation.
Marissa pursed her lips and thought for a moment, her hand heavy on his arm.
"You're sure he left? He seemed pretty upset last night. Did Kate tell you what was wrong with Trevor's papers? Why she didn't want to sign them?"
Gary sighed, staring at the book in his hand for a moment before answering. His gut feelings still insisted that they weren't done yet with Trevor. He'd wanted to escort Kate to school and everything else today, but she had insisted she'd be fine in broad daylight. She'd also drawn an uncomfortable parallel between his attitude towards her in this situation, and hers towards him with the paper. Kate trusted him to exercise judgement and caution while doing what he had to do, without trying to hinder him or protect him more than he wanted her to. She expected the same treatment from him. Every instinct still screaming that the two situations were not comparable, Gary had been forced to concede her point, especially since the paper showed no signs of accommodating his desire to be with Kate. Abruptly, he realized Marissa was still waiting for his answer.
"Um, she just said they didn't look right, she couldn't put her finger on it. The biggest thing was the way he was pressuring her to sign them, not wanting her to look them over, and not giving her any time to have them checked out on her end." Gary grinned, thinking of the solution he had come up with to that while talking with Kate today. "I called Marcia this morning. When Kate gets the papers, we'll take them to her to look over."
Marissa gasped, pulling her hand back before laughing out loud, shaking her head as she did so.
"Well, nothing like getting a little of your own back is there, Gary?" Her voice was dry, amused, but Gary knew she understood.
They sat after that in companionable silence, Gary thumbing through the poetry volume, and Marissa's fingers flowing over her braille. The paper was clear until tonight, and Kate would accuse him of being overprotective again if he followed his gut feeling and showed up at her apartment more than an hour before their date. The clack of pool balls and the clink of bottles as Robin stocked the front bar the only sounds besides the rustle of turning pages in the room. Crumb wasn't due in for a few minutes yet, and Chuck had left to run some errands. He hadn't been specific about where he was going, and Gary was suspicious that it was traffic court - again. Well, at least Chuck couldn't blame it on the paper this time.
Like fingernails squealing across a chalkboard, the yowling of a yellow tabby cat abruptly slashed across the peaceful ambience of the afternoon. The animal landed in one great leap half on the table and half on the book in Gary's hands. Marissa sat up straight again, instinctively pulling her own book back and holding it protectively up to her chest with both hands.
"Hey!" Gary snatched Marissa's gift away, holding it off to one side as he checked for tears in the page, glaring at the cat as he did so. Satisfied there were no rips in the new volume, he turned back to the cat, holding the book in one hand, finger marking his place. He reached for it, planning to take it and dump it outside the front door of McGinty's. The animal clawed his hand.
"Hey!" He frowned at the scratches on his hand, eyes widening in surprise as he noticed they hadn't drawn blood. Ears back and tail twitching, the cat crouched on the paper now, yellow eyes glaring balefully as it yowled at Gary. Gary's eyes widened, as his stomach dropped. This kind of a reaction usually meant something had gone wrong, terribly wro--*Kate!* His stomach clenching now, Gary *knew* it had to be Kate. His gut instinct had been right, he knew it had, and now Kate was paying the price for his ignoring it. He should never have listened to her, never have let her go alone to--
"Gary? What is it?" Voice trembling, Marissa knew the cat well enough to know what such behavior portended.
"I don't know."
Dropping the book he held abruptly on the table, Gary reached for the paper. The cat didn't object as he shoved it aside, frantically scanning the pages until--
Gary slammed his chair back. But as he stood, Marissa stood herself, dropping her book to grab his arm with one hand. Gary tried to pull his arm free, but she held firm.
"Gary! What is it?"
He hesitated, knowing what she would say, what she would want him to do. But, he'd never lied to her yet about the paper, and he wasn't going to start now.
"It's Trevor. He's at Kate's apartment." He spit the words out, quietly though, aware of the curious stares of the two pool players and Robin.
Marissa's eyes and mouth grew round.
"Oh my God, Gary, you've got to call 911, you've got to call Crumb at least you can't go over there by yours--" Marissa's voice rose. Hands shaking, she tried to grab Gary's other arm, missing as he twisted away. "You can't go by yourself," she reiterated, tightening her grip on the arm she still held. "He'll kill you both."
Gary's jaw dropped. How'd she...? Jerking away from Marissa, he turned back to catch her as she stumbled and fell. He made sure she was steady, but he also made sure she couldn't hold him back.
"Yeah, well, if I don't get there in time, there won't be a wedding. So if you'll excuse me..."
Gary ran for the kitchen, ignoring Marissa's frantic pleas for him to wait. If he took the van, he might make it in time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The door was locked. Damn! Paper clenched in one fist, Gary pounded on Kate's door with both hands, his heart pounding in time to his frantic blows.
"Kate! Kate! Open the door! Kate!" That was stupid, he thought angrily. If Trevor was in there, no, not if, he thought, remembering the headline, he *was* in there, and Gary was out here and... he tried the door with his shoulder, but there was no give, none at all. Shit! He'd been grateful before for the sturdiness of the door, never stopping to think that it might not be Trevor it would keep out, but him. Gary froze, for a moment. He heard something from inside the apartment, someone crying out, maybe, and then nothing.
There was a creaking noise behind him. He spun around to find Mrs. D'Amato staring at him from behind her door, open only as far as the chain lock would allow. Wait a minute, didn't Kate say something about having had her neighbor water the plants when she was gone once? Gary turned to her, the hand that didn't hold the paper out in front of him. His face clearly visible in the hall light, the elderly lady quickly removed the lock and opened the door wider, though she stood warily inside her apartment, not venturing into the hall.
"What's wrong, Gary?"
"Th-th-th-the key! Do you still have a key to Kate's apartment?"
"Well, yes, yes I think I do. But why do you need it? What's going on? Are you two having an argument or something?" Mrs. D'Amato looked him up and down, much as his Mom had when she was deciding just how much trouble he'd really gotten into as a child.
"Look, I don't have time to explain. Kate's in trouble, and unless I can get in there to help her - look, please, Mrs. D'Amato, would you just give me the key?" His voice sharp, echoing down the empty hallway, he gestured over his shoulder with the paper towards Kate's apartment as he spoke. Gary advanced toward the elderly lady, hand out again, pleading. "You know me, you've seen me with Kate, you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt her, but she's in trouble right now and--"
"Is that son of a bitch Trevor in town?"
Startled, Gary stared at her for a moment then nodded. She hadn't waited for his answer. He followed her into her apartment, a reverse image of Kate's, overly decorated in soft, plush furniture and with knick knacks everywhere. Kate despised knick knacks. She hated dusting that much stuff. Mrs. D'Amato took a key from a hook on the wall next to her refrigerator.
Gary forced himself to take it gently, but once he had it he yelled back over his shoulder as he ran for Kate's door, "Stay in your apartment, and call the police for me, will ya?" Mrs. D'Amato's answer was lost on him in his hurry to get to Kate.
Swinging the door to Kate's apartment wide, he dropped the paper on the chair by the door. The first thing he noticed was the silence. Gary swallowed, scanning the room quickly. Two things registered simultaneously: Kate's bookbag, on the floor in front of him with books and papers from it sprawled out across the floor. And Kate's bedroom door - closed.
Gary knew the tableau that greeted him as he burst through the door would be seared in his memory forever. A struggling Kate lay sprawled on her back beneath Trevor on the bed. Her green silk shirt ripped off, she clawed uselessly at the one huge hand he pressed over her mouth, pinching her nose between one long finger and thumb. Trevor's other hand was groping beneath her skirt, pulled up almost to her hips, while his mouth roamed over the smooth roundness of her breasts above her brassiere. Fists clenched, Gary's sight narrowed to only the man - no, the animal - abusing the same soft flesh that Gary had caressed so tenderly since that first night he made love with Kate, that first night his touch had begun to heal the raw wounds Trevor had left in her heart and soul.
Gary's own tightly held rage erupted, and he leaped at Trevor, grabbing Trevor's hair with both hands and hauling him off Kate. His fist collided with Trevor's face before Trevor could get his bearings. Gary didn't give him a chance, grabbing him up from the floor and kneeing him in the gut before yanking him out into the living room away from Kate.
"Kate! Get out of here! Kate!!"
Gary caught one glimpse of her, curled over on her side on the bed gasping for breath, before Trevor lunged for him, tackling him down to the floor. He managed to dodge Trevor's fist as it slammed towards his face, taking a glancing blow on the cheek instead. Somehow he got his hands around Trevor's throat. The larger man clawing at Gary's fingers, they rolled over and crashed into the entertainment center. Compact disks and cassette tapes and books showered down around them as they struggled. Trevor's fist connected with Gary's side. He let go of Trevor's neck, instinctively curling around his vulnerable vital organs. Hardly even breathing hard, Trevor slugged him twice more in the kidneys, then reached for Gary's throat. Gary head-butted Trevor, and the other man rolled away, holding his broken nose. Staggering to his feet, Gary looked for Kate. Damn! Where was she? He was certain she hadn't gone past him out into the hall.
Trevor claimed his attention again with a slashing blow to Gary's head. The impact sent the smaller man staggering across the blue rug. Blood pouring from a gash above his eye, he landed half on the floor, half on the overstuffed couch. Trevor was on him as he tried to rise, landing several more body blows before grabbing the back of Gary's shirt. The material ripped loudly as Trevor pulled Gary up, swinging him around and slamming him head first into the wall under the bar.
Gary gasped as little lights suddenly pinwheeled around him, the world behind the lights alternating flashes of dark and light. Trevor hauled him up again and Gary's feet couldn't seem to find the floor. Steadying him upright for a moment, Trevor buried a fist in Gary's stomach. Gary doubled over, gasping for breath. The battle paused. Noises could be heard from the bedroom, the small clicks and rattles oddly loud in the stillness. Holding him up by his shirt and one arm, Trevor bent close to Gary's face, an unholy gleam in his eye.
"You mean to tell me you haven't figured it out yet?" His voice silky smooth, Trevor's fist contracted vise-like around Gary's arm. Gary clawed at the fist with his free hand. His fingernails found some purchase on the skin of Trevor's hand, but not enough. Trevor put his lips next to Gary's ear. "She liked it, Hobson. It turned her on. Why do you think she stayed with me for four years?"
"You, you, you're a lying son of a bitch, Howard!" Gary stammered out, his vision now darkened by fury. He swung wildly at Trevor and missed. Trevor released his shirt, grabbing Gary's arm before he could connect again. His smile oozed out around them.
"I guess I'll just have to demonstrate for you, won't I? Show you what really turns our Kate on," he purred. Trevor dropped Gary's arm, and landed what would have been a solid blow to Gary's jaw. Gary recovered enough to jerk his head aside at the last minute. Still, the blow left his head spinning again, and he fell heavily to the floor as Trevor released his other arm.
Blinking frantically to clear his vision of blood and stars, Gary saw Trevor's foot pull back. He curled again protectively, managing to catch Trevor's foot as it connected with his ribs. Gary yanked with all his strength as Trevor fought for his balance. Somehow managing to fall forward instead of back, Kate's ex-husband landed directly on top of Gary.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Gary and Trevor both jumped, then froze. Kate stood over them, a semi-automatic pistol aimed right at Trevor's head.
Gary stared at Kate in shock. Marred by the angry black prints of Trevor's fingers, her face was hardened in a grimace of cold fury. The green shirt down in pieces around her waist, more bruises could be seen darkening on her arms and chest.
"Get up!" she snarled. Trevor got gingerly to his feet and backed away, hands up. Gary pushed himself up on one elbow, wiping the blood away from his eye with one hand. His chest heaving, he kept a wary eye on both Kate and Trevor as she backed him across the room. Both men were very aware that while Kate herself was shaking, the gun was not.
"Kate..." Trevor pleaded, his eyes huge. Hand up, he licked his lips nervously.
"Just tell me why I shouldn't. Give me one good reason," she hissed. "Why shouldn't I? After all you've done to me, there isn't a jury in this state who would convict me." Her eyes electric with anger and her hair in disarray, Kate looked entirely capable of shooting the trembling man in front of her.
Gary swallowed, grimacing as he sat up, one hand grabbing at his ribs. Kate wouldn't shoot, would she? The article said...the paper! Where had the paper gone? Wiping the blood from the cut above his eye again, he watched Kate carefully for a second or two, before scanning the room for the paper. There! On the chair by the open door. Gary stood and staggered over to the paper. Kate was still speaking, though so low it was hard to hear her.
"...me I was stupid. That it was all my fault. Well, it's a bit different now, isn't it, Mr. Howard? Not quite as much fun to slap me around when I've got something to hit back with, is it? You know the hell you put me through?" Her voice rising, she shook the gun at him. Trevor flinched. Kate smiled thinly. "Yeah, I was stupid. Stupid to stay with you after the first time you hit me. But you know why I did, Trevor? I loved you. I loved the man I could see inside of you, and I thought maybe my love would be enough to help you be that man, forever. But it wasn't. Because you didn't love me in return. Trevor is all that's ever mattered to you. I never did, and that's why you never changed."
Gary carefully shook out the paper, and looked for the article he'd seen on page ten. The article detailing the "love triangle shooting" in Kate's apartment that resulted in both his and Kate's deaths had disappeared, replaced by a story on publicly funded vouchers for private schools. Gary leaned one shoulder against the wall for a moment, heaving a deep sigh of relief.
Kate advanced toward Trevor again, and he took another step back. She smiled as he found himself against the wall in the dining room, with nowhere else to go. Her voice was soft now, almost conversational as she raised the gun a bit higher, and settled her aim. "I've found a better man than you'll ever be, and you're not gonna do anything to screw it up. You're not going to do *anything.* I'm not going to let you hurt me ever again, do you hear?"
Hands out, Trevor gulped loudly. His eyes were open so wide Gary could see the whites all the way around his pupils. He evidently couldn't think of anything to say in answer to Kate.
Kate didn't seem to care. She stopped a safe distance away from Trevor, holding her aim.
"You know what I want from you Trevor? I want an apology. Two apologies. One to me, and one to Gary." Kate's voice was soft, but the gun she held never wavered, never moved. Trevor hesitated, and she fired.
A little puff of dust came out of the wall about a foot from Trevor's head. He looked startled, then caught Gary's eyes.
"You gonna let her get away with this?" he blustered, searching for some of his old arrogance. But Gary's doubts about what Kate was doing had disappeared along with article. Besides, he knew her better than that. She was just trying to get back a little bit of the self-respect this man had taken from her. Wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand again, Gary stood up straight. Outside, sirens wailed and brakes screeched. The rest of the cavalry had arrived.
"Get away with what? Looks to me like she's in complete control. If I were you, I'd do what she wants." Trevor stared at Gary in disbelief as he walked up to stand beside Kate. She didn't look at Gary as she adjusted her aim, lowering it about half way down to the floor from Trevor's head.
"Do I get an apology or not?" Her voice was a silken whisper wrapped around the iron hard demand.
Trevor gulped, and with one anxious look to verify the gun's aim, finally nodded.
"I'm sorry." He sounded like he was going to throw up. Gary took a deep breath and turned to Kate--
"Freeze! Everybody just hold it where you are!" Gary put his hands up as two police officers slowly advanced into the room, guns out. Crumb appeared behind them, turning around with his arms out to block Chuck and Marissa as they crowded through the door behind him.
"Beloved, let your eyes half close and your heart beat
Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast,
Drowning love's lonely hour in deep twilight of rest."
--- William Butler Yeats
Part 10
Kate's bedroom door was closed again, had been since shortly after the second pair of officers had arrived, shortly after they had handcuffed Trevor and taken Kate's gun from her. She'd given it up willingly, leaning shakily against Gary. He quickly shrugged out of his shirt and put it around her, covering her with the material and his own embrace against the incredulous stares of both friends and strangers, unaware that the violence of his own encounter with Trevor could be tracked in the marks across his naked torso.
The police officers moved quickly to separate him from a now listless and subdued Kate, a grim-faced Crumb overriding Gary's protests with a hand on his arm and a gruff "They have to get statements, kid. Let them do their job." Gary stood silently, one hand still half reaching for Kate as they led her away. An officer mumbled on in the background about Trevor's rights, and Gary knew Crumb was only reason he wasn't being hauled out the door in cuffs with Trevor - Trevor who screamed and cursed and lunged at both Gary and Kate as he was led away, and, when Kate cringed away from Trevor's abusive tirade, it was Crumb's abrupt grip again that kept Gary from getting himself in trouble.
Two police detectives arrived, one going directly to the officer with Kate. After a couple of questions and a glance about him, he put a hand on her arm and pulled her towards the bedroom. Kate resisted then, looking around as if searching for someone. Gary told himself it was him as he stepped forward, but his officer was in front of him, pushing him back. He'd started to force his way past anyway when Crumb stopped him with a word. Chuck and Marissa were standing just inside the door, Chuck's arm around her protectively while he watched the goings on wide-eyed. Kate was still pulling back as the two policemen led her into the bedroom. Marissa stepped forward at Crumb's call; the on-duty detective reluctantly allowed her in the room before he closed the door.
Even in the midst of his own interview with the detective, the same man he'd dealt with when Hernandez had taken him and the DA hostage this last winter, Gary kept track of that door. It didn't open; no one went in or came out. Crumb finally halted today's interview with "His story ain't gonna change, Leon." The two men retired to the other side of the room to compare notes, and Gary was left alone to watch as two women entered the apartment. The one with the small black bag, petite with short black hair, was obviously a professional. The other lady was tall and rotund, dressed in a tight black knit top with a pair of khaki breeches. Both women zeroed in on him after a quick glance around the room, glaring at Gary coldly as they held a short conversation with his detective. They turned away then, heading across the living room to be admitted with a knock through the door into Kate's bedroom.
Gary kept his vigil as Chuck brought him a new dishrag to hold against the cut above his eye, one of Kate's good ones, Gary noticed blankly, before turning back to the closed door. Kate's apartment wasn't silent anymore; police officers discussed their lives, their kids' dates and their wives' cooking as they collected and catalogued the evidence. The flash on the police photographer's camera "poofed" each time he took a picture: Kate's book bag and books all over the floor, the imprint Gary's head left in the wall, even Gary himself, front and back. Radios squawked and hissed and the low murmur of voices rose and fell as bullets were dug out of the wall and the ceiling. Hunched on the couch, Gary rocked minutely back and forth, his eyes drawn again and again from the activity around him to the closed door on the other side of the room. It seemed unbelievable that late afternoon sunlight should be streaming through the windows, that it wasn't pitch black night outside. Gary shivered, chilled, then looked up into Chuck's unsmiling face as one of Kate's crocheted afghans dropped around his bare shoulders. Who had she said made these for her? Her grandmother?
Gary nodded once to Chuck, the concern in his friend's eyes vaguely registering, then turned back to his contemplation of the door. The police photographer, a tall, skinny man in wrinkled clothes with hair and scraggly beard reminiscent of Errol Flynn, was admitted to Kate's room next, and Gary strained to see past the figure that opened the door. He could make out nothing except Marissa sitting on the bed next to someone. The sounds in the living room flowed up and engulfed the noise of the bedroom door closing again. Gary sighed, his eyes shutting briefly before opening to find Chuck squatting in front of him, holding the paper out in one hand.
Gary shook his head, clutching at the afghan instead. Chuck, after glancing around warily, carefully stowed the paper in his own back pocket. He reached out hesitantly, laying one hand on Gary's knee.
"Hey, Gar. It's gonna be all right." Gary's gaze flicked briefly to his friend, and then back to the door. He knew Chuck didn't know what to do with him, didn't know how to handle this situation. Pollyanna and Jiminy Cricket were usually Marissa's roles. He knew Chuck was right, that things were going to be okay, but he wanted nothing more right now than to hold Kate - to take her home, away from here, away from what Trevor had almost done to her, almost done to them. If what he'd seen in the paper hadn't been prevented...
Gary shuddered now, eyes snapping shut reflexively as he saw the headline again, "Two dead in love triangle shooting." But it hadn't happened, he'd gotten here in time, and when Kate had finally gotten to her gun, it had been after he got here, not before, not when she was alone and Trevor was still able to overpower her, shooting her with the weapon she'd planned on using to avenge herself. Gary had gotten here in time, not too late, and instead of finding Trevor standing over Kate's lifeless body, instead of being shot himself while he struggled with Trevor for the gun, he and Kate were both alive. Maybe not quite well, but they'd mend, and, if he could just get to Kate, he could hold her and the nightmares would go away and there'd still be a wedding in two weeks.
He didn't realize he'd whispered his thoughts aloud until he heard Chuck's sharp intake of breath. His friend's blue eyes were wide with horror when Gary looked at him.
"That's what you saw? That's what the paper said?" Even in his incredulity Chuck remembered to keep his voice down, remembered the ears they didn't want to hear them, Crumb conversing quietly with the detective - Rob, was it? - in the background, the police officers still gathering their data, their evidence. Gary nodded shortly, not wanting to dwell on the details, not wanting to think about what might have been. He just wanted that door to open and the police to come out, and Kate to be released, set free from this nightmare, excused from reliving it over and over again as they questioned her. Maybe if he said something to Crumb--
The door opened, the police photographer and the shorter of the two women who'd arrived earlier, the one with the black bag, exiting the bedroom. Heading straight for Gary, she pulled the coffee table up and sat her black bag on it. Chuck got to his feet with a flimsy excuse about getting Gary a drink of water or something and headed for somewhere else - somewhere beyond bruises and blood. Introducing herself as Doctor Wu, the woman reached first for the rag Gary had been holding absently to his head for the last twenty minutes.
Some of the dried blood came away as the doctor pulled the rag off, and she spent the next few minutes trying to stop it again, applying several butterfly bandages after finally stanching the flow. Gary shivered as she pulled the afghan aside to poke and prod his bruises, wincing as she probed some of the sorer spots. Relieved when she declared no bones broken or even cracked, he willingly accepted the acetaminophen the doctor handed him. Swallowing the pills without water, he looked up to find the doctor studying him carefully. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she rummaged in her bag again, pulling out a prescription pad and scribbling on it before ripping off the top copy and handing it to him. When he took that copy, she quickly flipped the yellow copy over, and scribbled another prescription, ripping this one off, but not handing it to him. She pointed at the first paper he held.
"That's for a stronger version of ibuprofen than you can get over the counter. You both will probably need that today and tomorrow. Don't be a macho man and not take it. It'll help those bruises heal as well as make you feel better. I gave Kate the same prescription." Gary nodded, then looked questioningly at the other slip of paper the doctor held. She followed his gaze.
"This is for Xanax. For panic attacks. Kate wouldn't take it, but I'm giving it to you, for her. It's not uncommon for someone who's been through what she's been through today and in the past, to have trouble with panic attacks for a few days afterward. Try to convince her to at least take one for the next couple of nights. If nothing else, it will help her sleep." Gary accepted the second piece of paper, gazing at it for a second. Kate might not be the only one who needed these. Looking up, he found the doctor staring at him, her face hard. "I assume from what she said that she'll be going home with you?"
Gary nodded, not sure why the sudden change in attitude.
"Just be aware that your girlfriend is going to be a bit... fragile for the next few days. She'll need a lot of understanding and a listening ear and a lot of positive touch with a minimum of sexual involvement."
His face burning, Gary stared slack-jawed at the woman. What did she think he was, anyway? Gary fought the sudden lump in his throat, forcing the words out.
"She's, she's, she's not my girlfriend, we're getting married - in 10 days." Barely above a whisper, his voice sounded strange, almost hollow, in his own ears.
Doctor Wu harumphed as she closed her bag.
"Just don't forget that prescription, okay?" Looking up, she caught his gaze again, and something of his heartbreak for what Kate had endured must have shown in his eyes. Her own gaze softened somewhat. "Look, believe it or not, you both got off easy. And, from what I can tell, your gir- fiancé," she amended, "is a strong woman, inside and out. Physically she'll be fine in a few days, and if you take good care of her, she'll be fine inside as well."
The door to the bedroom opened then, and the two police men came out, followed by the doctor's companion who, catching Gary's eyes on her, pulled the door abruptly shut behind her. Sentry like, she stood by the door, glaring at Gary. The detective ignored everyone else in the room, heading over to confer with Leon and Crumb by the door. Gary stood, the afghan sliding from his shoulders, watching the conversation. The doctor packed up her bag, and, with a brief nod toward Gary, joined them. She shook her head at the cop's question, stating loudly there was no need for further medical attention.
"Here, give me those."
Gary looked blankly at Chuck, then at the two white slips of paper clutched in his hand. He handed them over mechanically, barely noticing Chuck carefully filing them away in his wallet. One last exchange between the four by the door, and the doctor gestured to her companion. They left, followed by the only two police officers remaining. The two detectives and Crumb approached Gary, the elder one speaking first as Crumb came over to stand beside him.
"We're going to need you to come down to the station to go over and sign your statements, both of you."
Gary frowned.
"Now?"
The younger detective opened his mouth, but Crumb spoke first.
"It's okay, Hobson, it won't take long." He looked at Gary for a minute, then turned to his friend. "Why don't youse guys run along. I'll bring these two down in a bit. You gotta get those statements typed up anyway."
The detective gave Gary a long look, then glanced at Crumb and nodded.
"Okay."
Gary didn't wait, didn't say goodbye, just headed immediately for that door. It opened before he got there, Marissa stepping out first, a small canvas bag in one hand. Kate stood right behind her, clad now in a long-sleeved purple tunic and a pair of jeans. Her hair loose about her shoulders, her eyes were swollen above the fat sausage-like bruises on her face. She held another of his shirts in her hand, offering it to him as he approached, but Gary ignored it, gathering her instead in his arms, carefully, gently, aware of both their bruises. Her head resting on his bare shoulder, he held her close and stroked her hair, the room around them fading away until he was aware of nothing but the beat of her heart against his, the warmth of her in his embrace and against his body.
Marissa's quiet "Is he okay?" fell loudly into the silence, followed by Chuck's uncertain "I think so." Someone cleared his throat at that, and then Crumb's voice said, "We'll be outside when you need us, kid." Gary nodded to let them know he heard, but nothing mattered right now, nothing but the woman in his arms.
It was several minutes later when he released her enough to look in her eyes. Kate brushed her hand softly across the bruise on his cheek. Her eyes dark with sorrow, she took a breath. Gary shook his head.
"No." He pulled her to him again, ignoring the protest of his stiffening muscles. Kate leaned against him for a minute, before stepping back and offering him the shirt once more. Gary shrugged into it this time, then reached for her hand.
"Let's go."
Kate nodded mutely, and they turned and walked out of the apartment without looking back.
"How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face..."
---William Butler Yeats
Part 11
The stairs to the loft were the last obstacle in the hectic day. His watch had said 11:18 as he arrived at Cabrini Green; Gary was sure it must be midnight by now. At least he'd been able to wake the parents in time. The father had stared at him suspiciously, but the mother had taken no chances. She backed away and then ran for the child sleeping soundly in the front bedroom just as the blue Lexus came screeching around the corner. Gary tackled the husband as the first random shots rang out; both men tumbling down into the bushes beside the door. Surprisingly enough, no one was hurt. Well, not seriously hurt.
Rubbing the back of his neck as he slowly ascended the stairs, Gary thought longingly of the Jacuzzi in the Honeymoon cottage at Sand Lake Country Inn. Kate's parents had presented them with a week at the Bed and Breakfast as a wedding gift. Gary was determined he and Kate would return to the little inn on the Oregon coast - soon and often. But in the meantime it was as if the paper had decided he'd had too much of a break, and was trying to get revenge with a heavy slate of daily rescues. They'd only been back a week and a half, and Gary was about ready to trash the darn thing. He kept dropping hints to the cat about how nice the pound was this time of year.
The heavy curtains Kate had hung on the inside of the door couldn't block all the light streaming from the loft. Gary shook his head. He'd told Kate the last time he'd spoken with her not to wait up for him; she had a department meeting early in the morning at the university. The ring on his left hand caught the light as he reached for the doorknob, unable to stop the smile that broke across his face at the thought that his wife had waited up for him. Just as he turned the knob, he stopped short, staring at the stool beside the door.
It was Kate's piano stool, the one she kept in her bookroom at the other apartment. Hand on the doorknob, his gaze traveled up from there to find Kate's three large oak bookshelves lined along the wall. He stepped back for a moment, quietly taking in the neat rows of books - mostly Kate's, he noticed. Well, he'd have to move some of his out here and make room for some of hers inside. Where to put her books had been one of the most pressing problems about moving Kate into the loft. He'd been in her apartment a dozen times before he realized that the extra door in the living room led not to a closet, but another bedroom - a bedroom with no room for a bed because of the stacks and stacks of books that filled it.
Well, hey, this worked. Once they got the outside entrance put in, and eliminated the access to the loft from the kitchen, this would be almost like another room out here in the hall. The shelves had been languishing in McGinty's basement since the two families had packed up all her stuff the week before the wedding. Gary wasn't sure he liked the idea of Kate moving those heavy bookshelves without help - surely she'd gotten someone to do it for her? He shrugged. Kate would do what Kate would do; he'd learned that by now. Come to think of it...he looked the other direction and there by the window at the top of the landing stood several of Kate's larger plants and a big cane chair. They looked like they belonged, Gary decided. Better than the forest the loft had become while the two of them tried to sort out what stayed and what went.
The knob turned silently. Stepping into the loft, Gary's greeting died on his lips and he grinned instead. Book open flat across her chest, Kate was stretched out on the couch, one arm over her eyes and the other draped down onto the floor. Her long legs crossed at the ankle, she wore one of Gary's baseball jerseys and not much else. The cat was curled up in her lap, purring. Music played softly in the background; Gary quickly identified it as the Scott Joplin cd she'd bought in Portland on their honeymoon.
His keys dropped quietly on the table beside the door, along with the cell phone his mother had handed him just before she and his dad left. They'd stayed while Gary and Kate were gone, taking care of the paper and keeping an eye on the remodelers putting a real kitchen in the loft. Gary made Kate promise never to give Chuck the number, but he had to admit the cell phone had been a good idea. But then his mom would say that's what mothers were for.
Something wasn't quite right as he looked around the loft, and he paused for a moment, trying to put his finger on it. Barring the corner where the pinball machine had been, it looked much as it had before Kate moved in. The kitchen was the biggest change, and Kate's desk and computer now filling the corner opposite. Chuck had been more than happy to "store" the pinball machine. Gary figured he'd just tell Chuck it was an early Christmas present or something. Even if he and Kate did get moved out into a bigger house someday, he doubted Chuck would want to give it up.
The boxes! The boxes he and Kate had been wading through for the last two weeks were entirely gone, and the apartment was spotless. Wow, Kate had really been busy today. Gary took a minute to survey the large room. They'd kept his furniture mostly, since it was generally newer than hers. But Kate's table and chairs had replaced his. The flowers he'd brought last night stood in the middle of the table in a Mason jar. The kitchen bar was clear; behind it he could see the floor to ceiling wooden cabinets Kate had picked out shining dimly in the light from the lamp. The brass teapot gleamed from the stove. Most of Kate's fine art prints leaned against the wall next to the door. Those they'd agreed to sort through together. Though if they were going to put books and stuff out in the hall, there was no reason a couple of those couldn't go outside. Kate's taste leaned towards modern art, but Gary wasn't sure he wanted a Salvador Dali print staring at him every morning when he woke up.
The cat raised its head, blinking sleepily as Gary knelt beside Kate. He shot it a hostile look as he gently lifted the book, looking around for a minute before finding her bookmark on the floor by an empty tea cup. Placing the thin paper in the book and closing it on the table, he put one arm on the floor and one arm against the back of the couch as he leaned over and kissed the tip of Kate's nose.
She sighed and stretched a bit before moving her arm away from her eyes. Gary kissed her cheek as Kate shifted, blinking sleepily at him once or twice before his lips found hers and he gathered her up in his arms. Her arms came around him and for the next few minutes there was no sound in the apartment but the lilting Ragtime music - and the disgusted thump of the cat's feet hitting the floor as Kate moved over to make room on the couch for Gary.
Stretching out on the couch with his arms around her, one of Kate's legs draped over him and her head resting on his shoulder, Gary closed his eyes and sighed. This was one of the things he had missed most about being married: simple togetherness, the not-being-alone-ness.
"You got to the family in time?" Kate's query was soft; he knew she knew the answer already.
He tightened his arms around her for a moment and kissed her before answering.
"Yeah. They didn't want to listen to a white guy, at least the dad didn't, but the mother, well, she didn't care what I was. She headed for the kid right after the dad tried to tell her to go call the cops on me. Between her and me, father and son are fine." Gary laid his cheek against her hair. "Funny thing was, after everything calmed down she said she recognized me. Last spring I caught a toddler that fell out of a window there. She remembered me from that."
Kate smiled.
"It's that apple-pie face of yours. Once someone gets a good look at it, they don't forget it."
Gary shook his head.
"You've been talking to Marissa, haven't you? What's she told you?"
Kate shrugged, her fingers toying with the buttons on his shirt.
"Oh, lots of things." She chuckled. "Things I promised not to tell you. She has to have something to hold over you - just in case."
"Wha- just in case what?"
Gary shifted, trying to see Kate's face. The laughter in her blue eyes was a welcome change from the haunted expression they'd had all too often in the last two days, ever since a grim-faced Crumb informed them that Trevor had been extradited back to Minnesota. There he faced assault and battery charges, filed several times over by his second wife. Crumb had apologized to Kate, but couldn't change the fact that the city of Chicago had seen no need to waste their taxpayers' dollars on a trial, not when another jurisdiction was slobbering over trying the lout. Kate hadn't said much, hadn't said anything at all, really, and Gary had been more than a little worried about her.
Trevor's second ex-wife, Gary amended silently. He was sure Trevor's recent divorce was the reason the man had come to see Kate instead of just mailing the paperwork to begin with. That and the fact that Marcia had seen right through his little ploy. Any good lawyer would have. Kate's signature on his paperwork would have forced her to leave her share of the money from the sale of the property in Trevor's hands - for "reinvestment."
Tonight Kate tapped his chest with one finger and smiled enigmatically.
"Well, if I was you, I'd be more worried about what Chuck told me."
Gary did a double take.
"Chu- Chuck? Wha-wha-what'd he say? What'd he tell you?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out." With that ultimatum, Kate sat up, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. She smiled again at Gary's consternation. "Are you hungry?"
Mind racing with possibilities of what his best friend might have said that could incriminate him, Gary nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, I am."
Kate climbed over him, and then he sat up. Mouth open, pointing at her as he thought about what Chuck could have said, Gary suddenly realized he might not want to know. Closing his mouth, he shook his head and grinned, then followed his wife to the kitchen. She had pulled a plate out of the refrigerator and was watching it go around in the microwave when he came up and leaned back against the counter beside her, arms crossed over his chest and one foot crossed over the other.
"You worked hard today."
Kate nodded absently, fingering the hot pad she held, her eyes on the rotating plate of spaghetti.
"Chuck and Marissa helped me. It took most of the day, and Chuck got a couple of the guys from the bar to help with the bookshelves, or we'd never have gotten them in place."
"They were here all day?"
Kate smiled when she looked up, affirming the hope in his voice.
"Yeah. I'd never have finished it if it wasn't for them. Probably would have just called Good Will to come take everything and started over. Marissa is amazing. I have to remind myself she's blind sometimes."
Gary looked out over the apartment. He could almost see the three of them here working together: Chuck wisecracking and complaining, Marissa twitting him about stuff, deflating his ideas and quips as fast as he could sling them. Kate's gentle laughter and dry sense of humor would fit right in, he knew. Shaking the vision away, something inside his heart settled into place. Despite the new beginning after Trevor's attack, Kate and Chuck and Marissa were still very much strangers, united mostly by the paper and their various relationships with him. He'd been hoping they would be able to establish a friendship of their own, outside of him. From the sounds of what went on today, that was beginning to happen.
The microwave dinged, and Kate took the plate out. Gary followed her, pausing to grab some silverware out of the drawer before joining her at the table. His stomach growled suddenly, and he sniffed deeply of the steam rising from the plate. He really was hungry. Kate went back to the fridge, and came back with two glasses and a pitcher of tea.
"It's decaf," she answered his unspoken question, smiling as she did so.
The loft was silent again as he ate, except for the new cd playing in the background. It took Gary a minute to place this one: Rent. Kate was passionately fond of musicals, and he supposed he'd be learning most of them now that she had unpacked her cd collection. Glancing over at her, he paused, then laid his fork down to reach for her hand.
"Kate?"
She looked up from her perusal of the glass of amber tea. Their pupils wide in the dim light, her eyes looked almost black, serious and somber as the unsmiling expression on her face. Gary frowned, and opened his mouth, but Kate shook her head. He closed it as she looked away, back at the glass on the table for a minute, then around the loft before turning back to him. The cat appeared, purring at their feet. It wound around Kate's ankles before settling down next to her chair. Kate took a deep breath.
"I never told you what happened in the apartment... with Trevor." She shivered, and Gary pushed his empty plate aside, reaching for her other hand.
"You don't have to. I read the reports."
Crumb had brought them to him, though he'd done his best to dissuade Gary from reading Kate's. Gary had insisted, though. It was probably a good thing Trevor was behind bars already, or Gary would have joined him there shortly. He fought the rising tide of anger as he remembered the words on the paper, words his wife had said, words that described Trevor's attack, the near rape she had suffered at Trevor's hands.
Kate squeezed his hand, and Gary was drawn back to the present.
"No, this is something I didn't put in the reports, something I didn't tell anyone. I couldn't, I didn't realize it all myself, until today. Until tonight, when I was here alone, thinking about Trevor. I found myself panicking, wanting to lock all the doors and hide because he might come back." She chewed on her lower lip and looked away for a moment, then caught Gary's eyes briefly before looking down at their clasped hands.
"When Trevor came up behind me, when he grabbed me and pushed me into the elevator, I was so scared." She laughed once, mirthlessly. "I was terrified. I knew what he had on his mind, knew what he was going to do. Even if I hadn't known, he was telling me all his plans. Then he started talking about you, started telling me that you didn't really love me, that you were only interested in getting me into bed, and that once he was done with me, you wouldn't want me anymore, wouldn't be attracted to me anymore. Between what he was saying, the pain in my arm where he was squeezing it, and the realization that I had another hour before you were supposed to come pick me up, I was getting more scared by the minute. I didn't even try to stop him when he took my keys."
Gary nodded, frowning a little. That had all been in her report; the verbal threats, the things that bastard had said to her had been part of what had sent him into a rage when he read it. Crumb had insisted on taking Gary out to the park for a long walk afterward, long enough and far enough away for Gary to blow off his steam and make it home without a side trip to the jail. Crumb's words still rang in Gary's ears.
"Youse gonna let that guy turn you into what he is? 'Cause that ain't what Kate needs, another guy who can't control his temper, can't keep himself from blowing up when he gets mad."
Mouth open, Gary had stared at the retired detective in shock. Crumb shook his head at Gary's unspoken protest.
"I know you're mad, and I know you have every right to be. But you gotta get over this, gotta put it behind you. 'Cause Kate needs you to. She needs you to be able to go on with your life, if youse expect her to be able to go on with hers." Crumb's gruff face had softened. "Look, the creep's in jail, gonna be for a long time. I got enough contacts, we'll know if and when he ever gets out." One gnarled finger pointed at Gary's chest. "You gotta put him and what he did to Kate behind you. 'Cause if you can't, you'll wind up just like him. Trust me on this, I seen it before."
Forced to acknowledge the truth in the older man's words, Gary hadn't known what to say in response to them.
Kate's grip on his hand tightened, the echo of Crumb's words fading before her soft voice tonight. It took a minute for what she said to register.
"What I didn't tell anyone was that when we got into the apartment, Cat was there."
Gary stared at her, then at the purring feline at her feet.
"Cat?"
Kate nodded, her gaze following his down to the animal. Cat stood and pawed at her leg. Pulling her hands free from Gary's, Kate picked it up and settled it in her lap, stroking the ginger fur as the cat purred contentedly.
"He was sitting on the back of the couch. I didn't see him at first, I was so freaked out about Trevor. But then Trevor let go of me to shut the door, and Cat sat up and jumped in my arms. That's when I dropped my bookbag, when I was trying to catch him." She shifted uneasily in her chair, glancing up at Gary. Arms on the table, he leaned forward, waiting quietly for her to continue. She looked back at the cat for a moment, considering. She swallowed, and this time her glance was apologetic.
"I always used to just sort of shut down inside when Trevor got violent. He liked it better when I struggled, when I fought him, so if I let him have his way, he'd be done quicker, leave me alone sooner. It didn't hurt as much then, if you didn't think, if you didn't let yourself care it was happening to you." She hesitated, rubbing the cat, unable to meet Gary's eyes. "That's what I was doing that afternoon, shutting down, running away inside myself. I would have...I would have just let him..."
Her voice a mere whisper, she stared blankly at the wall across from them, her hands faltering then ceasing their motion. The cat meowed quietly in protest. Kate shook her head, as if waking from a trance. She began to rub the cat's jaw again, and its delighted purr filled the small silence before she spoke again.
"If, if it hadn't been for Cat, I, I wouldn't have tried to stop him. I honestly didn't think I could survive being with him again, not after being with you, not after we..." She gulped and stopped, staring down at the cat. Gary reached for her shoulder, and she blinked away tears as she met his gaze.
"It's all right. I understand, and I would have understood." His voice was soft, and Kate looked away before looking back at him, her eyes shining. She nodded, and Gary caressed her cheek before claiming one of her hands in his as he waited for her to continue. She swallowed her sobs, and went on, her voice stronger, more confident.
"But when I saw the cat, all of a sudden I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't surrender to Trevor what you and I had shared." Still petting the cat, Kate shook her head, then looked directly at him. "I couldn't let him do that to me - to us. Even if he killed me, I couldn't let him destroy what you had given me. I had too much self respect, too much hope now, to just give up like that. Then the cat looked at me, and I realized that if what Trevor had in mind made the paper, there was a good chance you would see it, and you would get there before--" she swallowed hard, and Gary's hand tightened on hers. "You might even be on your way, and if I fought him, if I didn't just give in, then the chances were even better that nothing serious would happen, that I'd be okay, and you'd be there in time and..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes pleaded with Gary to understand.
Gary stared back at her for a minute. He'd felt guilty about the fact they hadn't waited to sleep together until they were married, had known that Kate felt guilty about it too. But they had both been so lonely, it was like trying to stop the stampede when a thirsty herd finally scented water. He'd given in, and so had Kate. They'd shouldered the guilt, and Gary'd tried hard to ignore the look in his mother's eyes when she realized that Kate was already moved in to the loft before the wedding. Yet...
If what Kate was saying was true, if they hadn't made love, if they hadn't been together before Trevor came, she very probably would have surrendered to him, would have let him abuse her, again. She wouldn't have known how different things could be, that what she had experienced at Trevor's hands was never love. And then she would have tried to shoot Trevor after he was finished with her and he would have taken the gun from her and...
"Cosmic whiplash," Chuck had called it.
The chair squeaked across the hardwood as he pushed it back and the cat thumped on the floor again as Kate came to him, curling up in his lap. He held her close, felt her heart beating next to his, felt her shaking, felt her joy when she finally looked in his eyes.
"I won, Gary. *We* won even before I pulled the gun on him."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It wasn't until the next morning that Gary noticed the long slender box in the bathroom wastebasket. Jaw dropping, he pulled it out to be sure.
*e p t - fast, accurate home pregnancy test*
Shaving cream still slathered over most of his face, razor in hand and towel wrapped securely around his waist, Gary stood in the bathroom door, holding the box by its lid between his thumb and one finger. Kate hummed softly to herself as she sat on the bed brushing her long dark honey-coloured hair.
"Kate? Hon? I-i-i-is, is there, is there something--is there something you haven't told me?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"O hiding hair and dewy eyes,
I am no more with life and death,
My heart upon his warm heart lies,
My breath is mixed into his breath."
---William Butler Yeats
The End!