The Discovery - 11. Chapter 11

Kevin got out of the car and did his best to hide his trepidation. When he took the job that he was offered, this wasn’t the kind of situation he expected himself to be in. Standing outside of a large house in an affluent neighborhood just outside of Pittsburgh, preparing to ask questions he wasn’t even sure how to ask. He turned to look at his partner as she came around the car, locking the doors as she stepped up to him with a completely comfortable expression on her face as if it was just another normal day for both of them.

“You seem tense,” Michelle remarked as she turned to walk up to the large front door.

“I don’t see the point in all this,” Kevin replied as he fell into step behind her.

“It’s simple,” she said. “We have questions that need answers. We’re here to see if there’s any answers here.”

Kevin was unconvinced. “This is the last place we should be looking.”

“We don’t have a statement from her,” Michelle pointed out. “Nothing in the court documents. No victim statements. Nothing. Most of the time, in cases like these, there’s at least a couple lines. There’s a reason for that and we need to find out what it is before we start the appeal process.”

Kevin bit off his words as Michelle confidently stood at the door and rang the bell. There was a quiet moment before a woman’s voice came from the speaker attached to the bell. “Can I help you?”

Michelle leaned in and smiled politely for the camera. “Hello. My name is Michelle Crowder. I’m a lawyer with the Howard Law Group. I am looking for a Mrs. Rebecca Ellington.”

There was a pause before the voice responded. “What’s this in regards too?”

“I’m here to talk to you about your daughter, Sharon.”

Silence answered them and they exchanged curious looks before they heard the turn of a bolt. The door opened and an older woman with shoulder length gray hair stood there staring at them with a guarded expression. “What about Sharon?”

Michelle launched into her prepared speech. “I was looking over Josh Carter’s murder trial and I couldn’t help but notice that there was no mention of you or your husband in depositions, statements or witness testimony. I was wondering if we could ask a few questions?”

Mrs. Ellington’s face lost some of its reserve, leaving her confusion to show through in her eyes. “My husband died three years ago.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, ma’am,” Michelle responded genuinely. “If there’s anything you don’t want to talk about, I’ll totally understand. But I would be remiss in my duty if I didn’t at least come and ask.”

The older woman sighed and stepped aside. “Come in. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said. “How do you mean?”

“Well, I retired last month,” she replied with a sigh. “The boys are married and live across the country, so I just spend my time by myself most days.” She led the two lawyers through the house to the kitchen where there was already a pot of coffee sitting on the counter and a half-empty mug at a kitchen island. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Thank you,” Michelle accepted. She waited as she watched Rebecca pour two new mugs before setting them down in front of two of the other stools around the island before retaking her own seat. “Can I ask, before we get into anything else, what was Sharon like?”

Rebecca’s lips lifted slightly in a weak smile. “Complicated. She was a daddy’s girl, for sure. Had him wrapped around her little finger. But she was never mean about it. She was a little willful. She liked to make her own way, most of the time at least. She was… popular. Friendly. She treasured her friends. Her father and I thought she was getting her life straightened out and things were looking great. Then… we got the call.”

“Was she living here at the time,” Michelle asked with a hint of compassion in her voice.

She shook her head. “No. She had her own apartment in town. Never made sense to me or to her father. Much less Josh, her boyfriend at the time.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, she was in love,” Rebecca replied casually as her caution melted away. “She was totally taken by Josh. Thought he walked on water. ‘He saved me,’ she used to say.”

“How well did you know Joshua Carter,” Kevin asked.

Rebecca almost chuckled. “Very well. The moment she met him, it was all she talked about. She went into rehab and ended up with a boyfriend.” She sighed. “Some boyfriend.”

Michelle tried to keep the questions in line with her plan. “Can you tell me about what he was like when they were dating?”

Rebecca shrugged. “He was real shy at first. My husband was a loud, outgoing kind of guy and I saw Josh flinch a couple times when Gary got worked up about something. Work, the news, stuff like that. But, once he got comfortable, he was a pretty polite guy. We liked him. Invited him to all sorts of stuff. He made Sharon so happy. He was polite with her, held her hand, opened the door for her, all of that.” She took a drink of her cooling coffee before she continued. “He really won us over. Sharon was a totally different person with him.”

“In what way,” Michelle asked.

Rebecca sighed and lost her smile. “Sharon had a serious drug problem through college. Cocaine, then heroin and then other opioids. We had no idea at first because she did a decent job hiding it. It wasn’t until she nearly overdosed that we intervened. We brought her home from the hospital and then found the only drug rehab clinic that had room for her. That’s where she met Josh.

“She denied it to me the first time I asked her, but eventually she admitted that she loved him. He was so different from her other boyfriends. Gary and I were hoping she’d finally get married. We nearly offered them cash to do it, but I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t.”

Michelle looked at Kevin, waiting for him to speak up. He hesitated for a moment before he asked, “when you heard about her death, what was your first reaction?”

Rebecca’s eyes misted up, remembering that moment. “I felt like I lost a part of myself. Like the policeman at the door had just chopped off my arm. It was just… so unimaginable. It took me so long to just absorb the idea that my little girl was gone. And then, finding out that it was Josh who did it…? That nearly killed me. We had already thought of him as family at that point. And to think that he could… do that…?”

Kevin pressed slightly. “It seemed totally out of character for him?”

Rebecca’s gaze focused on Kevin. “Yes. He just… that wasn’t something we could ever imagine him doing. He was just so gentle and sweet. We never once heard him raise his voice. You should’ve seen him smile when they held hands. Like he’d won the lottery or something. Something precious. He nearly glowed.”

“Did any of the police involved in the investigation contact you?”

“Not at first,” she answered. “About a month later, there was a detective here. He asked us a few questions. Pretty much like your questions. He said he’d be in touch and left. We never heard anything after that.”

“Well, what about his trial,” Michelle asked, with a curious but confused look. “You weren’t asked to testify or issue a statement to the court when Josh was sentenced?”

“The prosecutor told us we didn’t need to, unless the defense called us, and they didn’t. By the time they were sentencing him, Gary and I stopped going.”

Kevin tilted his head in total confusion. “Why would you stop going?”

Rebecca sighed. “Gary and I had a fight of sorts. Gary had been real quiet for months after Sharon died. Like his mind just kept going at it over and over. I think in a way he saw it as a puzzle and his mind just couldn’t solve it. About halfway through the trial, I’ll never forget this, we were driving home, and he just suddenly blurted out, ‘there’s no way in hell Josh killed her.’”

She looked at them with a meaningful look before she went on. “I about fell out of the car when he said that. We argued and he just kept saying, ‘Becky, there is no way the boy we knew killed her. It just isn’t in his nature.’ We went back and forth for a few days. He refused to go back. He talked about getting Josh a new lawyer, but we were told by the prosecutors that it would complicate things, so we didn’t.”

“Wait.” Michelle interrupted her, to make sure she heard her correctly. “The prosecutor said what, exactly?”

“He said, that getting a new lawyer for the defense would stop things and put us through needless suffering because then we would have to get on the stand and talk about Sharon. I told Gary that I didn’t want that and by the time he started to turn me around on the idea, the trial was already over.”

Michelle’s frown deepened. If she had heard that correctly, it sounded like the county attorneys skirted the line of professional ethics. “Just to be clear, so there’s no misunderstanding, you’re saying that they, the county prosecutor, stopped you and your husband from hiring outside counsel for Josh?”

Rebecca nodded. “And said if it became known that the victim’s family hired the lawyer for the killer, it would send a bad signal to the public.” She frowned slightly as her eyes turned sad. “After the trial, Gary just kind of faded. He was never the same after that. Then he got sick a year or two later and never recovered.”

Michelle reached out her hand and placed it on top of Rebecca’s in sympathy. When she spoke, she used a quieter, more solicitous tone. “Do you believe that Josh Carter killed your daughter?”

Rebecca was silent for what seemed like eternity before she finally mumbled her answer. “No.” She sighed and her shoulders dipped slightly as if the weight of her grief was weighing her down. “Sharon had a lot of boyfriends over the years before she met him. Some of them I could’ve imagined it. But Josh… he just didn’t have that kind of nature. Maybe I’m wrong and I’m just wanting to see the best in people, but my gut tells me, and I guess it’s always been telling me, that he wasn’t the one who did it.”

Kevin let a pause enter the discussion in the hopes of dispelling the heaviness in the air. “We have a list of people who used to know Sharon. We’re having a little difficulty locating them. Would you be willing to help us out?”

“What list?” Michelle pulled out a small piece of paper from the pocket of her dress pants and slipped it over to her. When Rebecca opened it and read the names, she nodded. “Most of them moved away. Mindy and Tracy live in… Texas, I think? Yeah. Houston. I still have their numbers, if you want them. Rhonda lives in New York City. And Angie is in Chicago now, I think. I see posts from them on Facebook now and then, but I never say much to them.”

Michelle made the notations next to the names before she pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “If you can think of anything else, please, night or day, don’t hesitate to call."

She looked at the card and then up at the young woman in front of her. “You’re trying to help him, aren’t you? Help Josh?”

Michelle nodded. “We feel he didn’t get a fair trial. We’re getting ready to file an appeal on his sentence.”

“Well…” Rebecca paused in thought before she said, “if you need me to testify on his behalf, I might be able to. If you think you can prove it.”

Michelle didn’t want to make promises she couldn’t keep so she answered with a more neutral stance. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for your time. We really appreciate it.”

They were shown out and once the door was closed, they made their way down the walkway to the car. Once they were inside and Michelle was pulling out, Kevin finally spoke. “That went weirder than I expected.”

Michelle shrugged slightly and started to drive out of the area. “A little. Seems like we weren’t the only ones starting to question if Josh was a killer or not. What got me was what the prosecutor told them. I wouldn’t call it interference, but it comes really close to it.”

“That’s not the only thing she said that caught my attention,” Kevin quipped. “That thing she said about Sharon’s ‘other boyfriends.’ She kind of hinted that there were a few shady characters in Sharon’s past.”

“Yeah, I caught that too,” Michelle said absently. She was in an unfamiliar area and was trying to navigate her way to the highway and back home. “Not like I expected her to start handing over names of any killers she might have met.”

Kevin was lost in thought as Michelle drove, pondering every aspect that he knew about the events. “How did she die again?”

“The victim?” Michelle looked at him and wondered how much of the file he actually read. “She was strangled. It was in the coroner’s report. She died of asphyxiation.”

Kevin frowned in confusion. “No prints?”

“Nope,” she confirmed. “Obviously something was used. Gloves. A rope. Something. But nothing was recovered to match the abrasions on her neck.”

“I’ve never looked at a coroner’s report. Never really wanted to, to tell you the truth.”

Michelle was still bothered by that little detail in the report. “There was no sign of a weapon. At least nothing the police or detectives found while they searched the place.”

He was confused. In all his time in law school, he never heard of anything like that. “How did they manage to get a conviction without a weapon?”

“Because the defense didn’t point out to the jury that there was no weapon,” Michelle said with a note of bitterness. “There are a lot of things in this case that don’t add up.”

Kevin pondered silently and then asked, “do you think he was set up?”

Michelle looked at him with an incredulous smirk. “Why the hell would someone want to set him up?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just thinking it through. She wasn’t supposed to be there, at least that’s the feeling I got from what everyone’s saying. They were dating. Slightly serious. The mom says they got along. Do you think someone else was jealous?”

“Jealous enough to drag her to her boyfriend’s house in the middle of the night and murder her while he was in the next room sleeping? That’s a pretty farfetched theory.”

“Okay, well then, what if she was being followed and she went there for safety?”

Michelle thought that one through and couldn’t find any holes to poke through it. “Maybe. But, again, we need to find proof.”

“We need to look into her drug history, I think. Go way back and figure out more of her past.” That was something he was more familiar with, having investigated more than a few divorces in his time.

“That would be a good start,” she agreed with a nod. “I think we’ll have to do some traveling though. If we can set up a meeting with some of her old friends, it might shed some light onto some of this. Someone has to know something.”

Kevin found that a little surprising. “You honestly think Kyle is going to pay for flights around the country to go interview some of these people?”

Michelle smirked. “I’d bet on it.”

Kevin looked over at her, watching her face as he asked, “why would he go that far? Isn’t a phone call enough for starters?”

Her eyes glanced in his direction. “Maybe just a short call. He’ll want them on the record, so we could be looking at flying around, collecting affidavits and depositions.”

He shot her a very confused look. “We can get them on the record over the phone. Have a local cop have them fill out the affidavit. Wouldn’t that be enough?” Kevin’s instinct made him wonder when all Michelle did was shrug as she continued to drive. He let the conversation lull for a moment before he pressed her again. “Is there something more going on that I need to know?”

Michelle rolled her eyes with a sigh. “He only just confirmed it to me the other day when we went to interview Josh. You can’t tell anyone because we’re the only ones who know right now.”

“Know what?”

She had a feeling this was going to end badly, but she felt Kevin needed to know. “Josh is Kyle’s…. brother-in-law.”

That was the last thing Kevin expected. “What?!”

“You can’t say anything,” she insisted.

“Are you fucking joking me? Is this some kind of a prank? Some fucked up hazing ritual?”

“I don’t know all the details,” she said with a raised voice. “All I know is that he told me Josh is his husband’s brother. A brother he didn’t know he had until a few months ago.”

The implications of it all overwhelmed Kevin for a moment. This was much more personal than he expected it all to be. How far was Kyle willing to go to get this person free? For that matter, was he actually innocent? “This… this is a lot to process. What does his husband have to say about it?”

Michelle sighed again, to vent her frustration. “Jacob doesn’t know.”

Kevin groaned and his hand over his face. “Oh my God.”

“Don’t say anything,” she repeated. “Not yet at least. I’m sure Kyle has this all figured out.”

Kevin had a sinking feeling that this was going to end badly for everyone. “Right. Just… not say anything to anyone.” With that said, the rest of the drive back to the office was silent. Both of them lost in their own concerns about what was to come.

****

Kyle sat at his desk, feeling uncharacteristically nervous as he waited with the phone in his hand. He had started the call twenty minutes ago and was waiting for the other end to connect. All morning, he had contemplated making this call. He told himself it was just to check up and to ask a few questions. But it still made him feel like he was simultaneously doing the right thing and doing something wrong at the same time. Finally, after he started to wonder if they had forgotten about him, the line clicked, and he heard the voice he was hoping to hear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, uh, Josh. This is Kyle.” He mentally chided himself for sounding like a nervous teenager. “I was just checking in and making sure everything was okay with you.”

“Um. Well, I’m still in prison, so, it’s about the same,” Josh replied slowly.

“Well, hopefully we can change that.” He cleared his throat and decided to get to the point. “I need a little more information from you.”

“What about?”

“Where did you work back then? I need to run down some more information.”

“I worked at the Midas on William Penn. What does that have to do with Sharon?”

“Nothing directly involved,” Kyle replied as he scribbled down the information. “But I wanted to get someone on the record to speak about your character.”

“Oh. Well, yeah, my boss liked me. Not sure if he’s still there or not.”

“I’ll find out,” Kyle assured him. “We’ll be taking a deep dive into your life. We want to find anything and everything we can use for your defense. Since the prosecutors used circumstantial evidence to convict you, we’re going to turn that against them.” He paused, wondering if he should be more revealing. “There’s… something else to, I think you should know.”

He could hear Josh sigh. “What is it?”

Kyle could feel a bit of nervous sweat creeping onto his skin. “You mentioned… your parents died when you were a kid?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… Do you know they weren’t your biological parents?”

There was a long silence before Josh replied. “What?”

“Now, before we go further than that…” Kyle sighed and thought about what he would want to hear, if someone had given him such a surprise. “It doesn’t matter in the long run. The father and mother you remember were your mom and dad. Nothing changes that.”

“But...?”

This was the most emotional Kyle had heard Josh sound and it made him more sympathetic to him. “Your biological father put you up for adoption after you were born. I don’t know why exactly, but that’s all I know. I doubt I’ll find out more since it was so long ago. When I see you next, I’ll be bringing some papers and hopefully we can get to the bottom of things.”

Silence echoed on the phone line almost to the point where Kyle started to think Josh had hung up on him. “My… Father did. What about my real mom?”

Kyle sighed. “Unfortunately, she passed away after you were born.”

Another silence followed before Josh said, “okay.” Kyle hesitated to say anything before Josh spoke again. “Is that all?”

“That’s all I can tell you now,” Kyle replied softly. “I’m sorry that you had to hear that over the phone. But the reason why I needed to tell you now is that I wanted to give you time to come to terms with it. The last thing we need is you finding out five minutes before a trial.”

“Okay… that makes sense. Is there more?”

Kyle wasn’t sure he was ready to hear the rest for now. “That’s all I have to tell you for now.” It wasn’t a lie. Just a useful dodge for the time being. Eventually, he would have to be told. But Jacob should be told first, he reasoned.

Josh’s voice was less hesitant. Where he had been almost withdrawn like Jacob had been years ago, now he sounded less likely to be automatically defensive. “Okay. Well, thanks for telling me. I guess. I’m not sure what to think about it now.”

“Just give yourself some time to accept it. We can deal with all of it later. I put some money in your account for the prison commissary. That should help you a little bit. Just be careful and stay out of trouble for now. Let me worry about the rest.”

“I’ll do my best.” Josh hesitated for a moment before he continued. “Thank you. No one has believed me since this whole nightmare started.”

Kyle smiled slightly. “I meant what I said. I’m getting you out of there. Even if I have to find Sharon’s real killer. The two of you deserve that.”

“I know you mean it, sir. I might’ve doubted it at first, but I want to believe it’ll be different this time.”

“It will. I promise.” Hearing Josh sounding more alive gave him hope that this was going to work out. But for now, there was more work to do. “I’ll be by sometime next week to go over what we find.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

Kyle smiled sadly. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Josh had been through his entire life. “Keep thinking positively, Josh. I’ll see you next week.” He ended the call just as there was a knock on his office door. Before he could say anything, Michelle peeked around the door as it opened before stepping inside with Kevin right behind her. “You’re back. That seems quick so either you have really good news or really bad news.”

Michelle stepped up to his desk and placed the list of names she had in front of him. “According to her mother, these are some of Sharon’s friends. I’m going to start finding addresses and phone numbers for the ones she couldn’t supply us with. Some of them have moved out of the state though.”

Kyle looked at the list as he spoke. “Well, as soon as you can get time to speak to them, I want you on your way there. Just take a day and get whatever information you can from them. Where are they?”

“All over,” Kevin answered as he watched Kyle’s face. “Some in Texas, others in Illinois and New York.”

He frowned. “If there’s a scheduling problem, then deal with it. I’d like you to stick together on these, but if one of you can’t, then I’ll go myself, but I would rather stay here if possible.”

Kevin took a breath before asking, “are you expecting to lead the defense at trial?”

Kyle looked up at him curiously. “Of course.”

“You don’t think that might be a problem?”

His brow furrowed slightly in consternation. “What kind of problem do you think it would be?”

“Well, for one, you don’t have any experience with criminal defense,” Kevin offered meekly.

Michelle tried to hide her embarrassment from what he was saying and thinking he was saying it for entirely different reasons. “It’ll be fine.”

“I think I can handle it,” Kyle said as he started to feel a hint of displeasure. “It wouldn’t be impossible. You and Michelle with be associate counsel with me.”

Kevin sighed. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. “What if it’s seen as a conflict of interest?”

Kyle blinked in surprise before it dawned on him. He turned his attention to Michelle. “You told him.”

“Yes, she told me,” Kevin said with a hint of bitterness. “If he’s related to you, even through marriage, it could be seen as unfavorable for his defense.”

“There’s no ethical violation,” Michelle said with a surprised chuckle. “Where did you get that idea?”

“It might not be an ethical violation to the letter of the law,” Kevin pointed out. “But tell that to the jury when they find out.”

Kyle blinked and sat back in his chair. “Huh. You’re not entirely wrong in that. It will have to be addressed fully in the beginning or not at all. I’ll probably have to tell the judge before the trial starts at the very least.”

“You could start by telling Josh the truth,” Michelle offered.

“Actually, I just did,” he retorted with a smirk. “Not all of it. I just informed him that he was adopted.”

“Why only that?”

“Because he needs time to process that. Once he has then I can tell him the rest.”

“And your husband,” Kevin asked.

Kyle sighed. “I’ll have to ease him into it too. At least before we go to trial.” He decided that was all that needed to be said before he handed the note back to Michelle. “Find them. Then get on a plane and go meet with them. Both of you.”

With that said, the two subordinates left his office and went about their work.

****

Dinner that night was mostly uneventful. Apart from hearing the boys recount their day in school, everything else was comfortably boring. While Kyle listened to his sons talk, most of his mind was thinking back to his phone conversation earlier in the office. He felt bad telling Josh about being adopted over the phone. In hindsight, he should have waited until next week when they saw each other again to inform him of it. But there was also some merit in doing it over the phone since that limited the number of questions Josh could have asked. Kyle knew he was right about Josh needing to be informed to get it out of the way before trial, but he wasn’t ready to disclose their familial relationship just yet.

After dinner was done and the boys headed upstairs to finish their homework or play games, David asked Kyle and Jacob to remain. He didn’t say right away what was going on, but Kyle could tell Colt was already informed and they both obviously wanted to talk about it without the children in the room. Once the dishes were cleaned and put away along with leftovers for lunch the next day, David waited until his boys were sitting at the table again before he approached the subject that was on his mind.

“Colt and I have been having a discussion about our plans for the winter,” he began with a careful tone as he watched Kyle and Jacob’s faces. “We felt that… It might be best if we left in the middle of December and not come back just for Christmas Eve like we have been doing and save money and all that. Then be back sometime in late March or early April once things started improving with the weather here.”

Kyle and Jacob exchanged looks of muted surprise before turning back to David. Kyle said, “this is kind of sudden. I mean, I don’t really mind if that’s what you want to do. But it seems kind of last minute since we’re already into November.”

David nodded slowly. “I know, and I’m sorry about that. But it’s been an idea we’ve been toying with for a few months now. Christmas has never really been a big deal other than the dinner with everyone else and exchanging gifts. You two have been making dinner now for a couple years and I can just send gifts up for everyone. It’ll be two less people you have to feed, and we’ll still be here for your birthday and Thanksgiving.”

Colt joined in the conversation. “And there’ll be less chance that our flight gets delayed because of snow, like what happened last year.”

Kyle had to admit that was a good point to make. The year before, their connecting flight back to Florida was delayed for a day because of bad weather and they had been stuck in an airport for nearly forty-eight hours. “Well, I’ll be okay with that. Just as long as you’re here until Thanksgiving at least. That’s usually been the more important holiday for all of us.”

“Jacob?” David turned his attention to the other man across the table from him.

“I’m okay with it, Dad,” he responded. “I mean, we have Matt’s birthday and then Thanksgiving. Other than Christmas and Kyle’s birthday, you really don’t have much to do than sit around a cold house when you’d probably have a better time down in Florida.”

“Told you,” Colt muttered to David with a smirk.

Kyle looked at Colt and grinned. “He really thought we’d be upset or something?” His eyes went back to his father. “Dad, if you’re happier down there in Florida for the winter, then that’s where you should be. So, you’ll be leaving after Thanksgiving?”

“Maybe,” David confirmed. “I still wanna stick around for your birthday though. You’re sure about this?”

“Dad. Go. With my blessing, if you think you need it. And if the weather starts looking back after Thanksgiving, just go. I won’t be hurt about you missing one birthday.”

David grinned and rose from his chair. “Alright then. I guess that’s all I needed to hear.”

The others got to their feet as well. “Just don’t hurt yourself down there,” Kyle added before he and Jacob left the kitchen, heading to their rooms.

Jacob closed the door behind them and went to the sofa in their private room. “So, it’ll just be you and me for five months,” he stated as he laid down. Jacob looked up at his husband and he moved around the room to his desk.

“It’s no big deal. Not like we can’t handle things on our own.” Kyle sat down and opened a drawer to pull out a legal pad and pen and started writing.

Jacob looked at him curiously. “What are you doing?”

Kyle glanced up from his pad and smirked. “Writing down some ideas. Have to tell the others not to expect Dad here after Thanksgiving.”

“Mmm.” Jacob laid back, putting his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. After a few minutes a thought came to him. “Is Tyler coming for Thanksgiving this year?”

“No, unfortunately,” Kyle said. “I talked to Andy the other day and he mentioned it. But it’s for a good reason, so don’t ride him about it online.”

Jacob frowned, still staring up at the ceiling. “What’s his excuse?”

Kyle looked up with a smirk and said, “he’s finishing his master’s degree early. So, he’s cramming the last three months.”

Jacob sat up and looked at Kyle with a half grin. “No shit?”

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “No shit. From what Andy said, he’s already got some people interested in him to join their publicity teams.”

“Wow,” he said as he sat back with a wide grin. “That’s a long way from the old trailer park.”

“Indeed.” Kyle got up from his desk and joined Jacob on the sofa. “Speaking of all things from the old trailer park, did you ever follow up on that information I found for you?”

“What information?”

“About your aunt and uncle.” Kyle turned to look at him directly. “Aren’t you at least a little curious?”

“Not really,” Jacob said as his smile faded. “I’m fine with how things are now.”

Kyle sighed, exasperated. “What happens if we get a knock on the door, and you find your brother standing on the other side?”

Jacob got a distasteful look. “I’d rather not think about it. Besides, it’ll likely never happen. Why are you asking me about this? I thought we agreed to put all that DNA bull crap behind us?”

Kyle frowned slightly. “Because it’s a little unlike you. Why do you want to just forget it? Most people wouldn’t rest until they found out.”

Jacob started to get annoyed. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted or the memories and feelings that came with it. “Look. I’m just not interested in it. We already have a full life with our kids and our jobs…”

“So, there’s no room in that for your brother?”

Jacob glared at him. “Kyle. I already have three brothers. Their names are Troy, Andy and Brian. That’s all we need and I’m fine with leaving things the way they are.”

Kyle sighed. “Okay, okay.” He rolled his eyes and leaned against his husband. “Just promise me to think about it.”

Jacob sighed. “Okay. I’ll think about it.” Even as he said the words, he knew he didn’t mean it. “In the meantime, I’m going to go check on the boys and see if they need any help.” He kissed Kyle on the cheek and got up. Eager to avoid continuing this conversation and the memories it spurred.

****

Kyle laid in bed later that night, staring up at the ceiling. It was well past midnight and he had been in bed for hours yet, despite his fatigue, he couldn’t fall asleep. All he could do was stare up at the dark ceiling or lay there with his eyes closed. In either case, all his mind would do is wrap itself around the puzzle of how to defend Josh and get his acquittal. Vague ideas and scenarios played through his mind, but nothing seemed to fit and always tended to create more questions than solve them. He had faith that the answers would come in time and there was no need to rush things. But no reassurance could get him to fall asleep.

Yet, despite the hopeful outcome he was convincing himself, Kyle still could not stop his mind from racing from one side of the situation to the other. Over and over. Replaying all the possibilities and the worst possible outcomes. Any doubts he might have only reminded him of the promise he made Josh. Josh had no one in his life. He had nothing to live for and no one on his side. Kyle couldn’t turn his back on him now. It went against all his ingrained beliefs he has held his entire life.

Kyle sighed. Laying here was useless. Carefully moving away from a sleeping Jacob, he quietly slipped out of bed, throwing on some shorts and a shirt before heading down the hall to the kitchen. Once he got his water, he noticed the soft glow of a light coming from the hall. Knowing what to expect when he entered the room, he was not surprised by the sight of his father lying back in his recliner with his eyes closed in sleep. Kyle stood there for a second, watching the slow rise and fall of David’s chest and the book lying over it.

As far as Kyle and Jacob were concerned, David was retired and had no real responsibilities other than those he took on himself. They had started taking on more tasks in the orchard as far as the upkeep was concerned. While David still did inspections from time to time, he never did them alone as was once the norm. Not that Kyle had never been drilled on the purpose was for inspecting the trees periodically. For years as a young boy and as a teenager, David had made him walk with him for entire days going over every tree and hearing his father emphasize what to look for and what any abnormal appearances can mean. How to treat a diseased tree and when to know when the tree needs to be destroyed to save the others around it. Fertilizing, irrigating and managing the harvest outside of opening the orchard to the public was mostly their job now. It was something they both had expected and welcomed. The orchard, just as much as the house, was their home. A part of their past, present and hopefully their future.

Kyle took the couple steps over to the recliner and gently shook his dad’s leg. “Dad,” he whispered.

After a few shakes, David grunted and woke with a start. Blinking his bleary eyes as he took in his surroundings. “Huh?”

Kyle smirked. “You need to go to bed.”

David slowly put the recliner back in its sitting position and slowly got to his feet. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost one in the morning.”

“Damn,” he swore with a grunt. “I’ll hear about this from the Colonel in the morning.”

“All the more reason to get to bed now,” Kyle gently chided.

David blinked a few times and regarded his son standing in front of him. “What are you doing up anyway?” He struggled slightly to get to his feet but managed as he waited for an answer.

Kyle shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Uh oh,” his father said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing important.”

“Bullshit.” David looked him in the eyes.

Kyle sighed. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“Kyle,” David sighed. “Let’s skip the denials. I’m your father. And I know when my boy is troubled.”

Kyle lowered his head. “I can’t… really talk about it just yet. I just have some stuff going on at work.”

“What’s it about?”

“I have a new client,” Kyle said as evasively as he could. “It’ll likely turn into a big deal when it goes to trial. I’m worried about what will happen.”

“What’s so special about this person?”

“He was convicted of a crime that I’m almost certain he didn’t commit. He was given a life sentence and I’m trying to correct that.”

“How do you know he’s innocent?”

Kyle shook his head. “I just know. I can’t explain it. I met him earlier this week. And everything I’m learning since then just makes it seem more and more likely that he was wrongly convicted.”

“So, you’re trying to right a wrong,” David concluded. “Seems to me like the right thing to do.”

“I’m just hoping everyone else agrees,” Kyle said.

David smiled slightly. “My Baby Boy. Always worrying about everyone else.”

Kyle looked at him with a sardonic smile. “Uh, huh. Who does that sound like?”

David chuckled. “No clue.” He gave Kyle a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You know what the right thing to do is. Even if it isn’t the easiest path. I know no matter what, you’ll make me proud.”

Kyle’s smile softened. No matter how old he gets, hearing that has always settled his concerns. “Thanks, Dad.”

David nodded, seeing the situation as solved. “Now. Off to bed. You have a long day ahead of you.”

“Okay. Good night, Dad.”

“Goodnight, son.” David slowly made his way to the stairs and made the climb up with careful steps. Kyle watched until David made it to the top before going to the kitchen to get a drink and then heading back to his own bed. Whether from talking to his father or that fatigue had finally won out, Kyle fell asleep soon after his head was on his pillow.