When Opportunity Knocks - 9. Chapter 9

Jett watched as Kyle closed the door. He immediately went and wrapped his arms around the man. He couldn't help but feel a wave of pride. So far Kyle was handling everything that had been thrown at him quite well considering the severity of the whole situation.

Kim’s revelation had Jett completely floored. He never would have guessed in a million years the trauma that his sweet neighbor had endured. He was awed by her strength.

He leaned down to give Kyle a quick, reassuring kiss. “How are you holding up?” Concern for Kyle was gnawing at his gut.

“I guess I’m okay for now. I sort of feel like I looked both ways crossing the street and got hit by an airplane.”

Jett laughed at Kyle’s self assessment. “You’re amazing, you know that?” Even in the midst of tragedy, he was still able to hold onto his sense of humor. “So, what’s the game plan for today?”

“I’m not sure. I need to do something normal to take my mind off of this. I think I need to get some groceries. I haven’t stocked up in a while. Lemme look around and make a list. I just feel so scattered and discombobulated,” Kyle shook his head as if trying to clear his brain.

“That’s completely understandable. The shit you just found out is pretty intense. I’m kinda feeling the same way. Kim’s story threw me for a loop, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, I’m already tired and it’s not even noon yet. I really didn’t sleep all that great,” he admitted.

“Tell you what, let’s get your shopping done, fix some lunch, then nap this afternoon. Later you can call your sister to check in on her. That will give you both time to process this shit show before figuring out how to tackle your parents.”

Jett didn’t say anything to Kyle,because he didn’t want to add any more undue stress, but he desperately wanted to get to his barracks and see what kind of information he could drum up on this Marc Greene and his current status in the Connecticut State Penitentiary system. It would probably mean calling in some favors, but it would be worth it, no matter what he found out.

Kyle nodded mindlessly and started opening his cabinets while jotting stuff down on his phone. If he was going to go grocery shopping, he might as well go all out and stock up.

They left the dogs at the house and headed to the store. Kyle wasn’t the only one who was tired. Jett’s ass dragged a little more than usual, the weariness of the past day seemed to seep through his pores. Kyle seemed to be focusing on his groceries and Jett knew he needed the distraction. His own mind kept rehashing the events of the past day, he could only imagine what Kyle was going through. His mind had to be spinning faster than a tornado.

Once they were back at Kyle’s house Jett started fixing their lunch while Kyle put his groceries away. They bumped into each other a few times and each time they did, Jett took the opportunity to touch Kyle or give him a quick kiss. The touches were comforting to both of them.

Lunch was simple. Monte Cristo sandwiches with chips. Jett enjoyed watching Kyle lick his lips with each bite. Sure, it wasn’t the most opportune time for those thoughts, but Kyle didn’t even realize what he was doing, which made it even cuter.

He got everything cleaned up while Kyle brushed Rosie out on his back deck. Simple, routine things were just what he needed. When he stepped out onto the deck he couldn't help but smile as a couple of blue jays swooped down and scooped up clumps of Rosie’s fur. They were insulating their nests for winter and the soft fluff was perfect for the job.

He saw Kyle yawn for a third time in as many minutes so he gently took the brush from him and led him in the house. He helped him undress and watched as he slid under the covers, then pulled them up to his chin. Jett leaned down and gave Kyle a kiss.

“Call me when you wake up. I’ve got a few things to do this afternoon, but I’ll come back if you need me to.”

Kyle nodded and closed his eyes, exhaustion finally catching up to him. Rosie jumped up on the bed and snuggled herself along Kyle’s side. Jett knew that he’d be in good hands with the dog watching out for him while he slept. He called Bruce and made sure to lock up as they left.

Jett was pensive as he drove to the barracks. He wanted answers and hoped that this avenue would give them some. He parked his truck and clipped Bruce’s leash on. Entering through the back, he nodded at a few of his fellow officers. It wasn’t all that unusual for someone to show up on their day off.

Knowing he would need some help greasing the wheels of the system, Jett knocked on the doorjamb of his captain’s office. Captain Rene Auberge was at his desk with his phone glued to his ear. He gestured at Jett to come in and pointed at the chairs in front of his desk, indicating for him to have a seat.

Captain Auberge was in his mid 50’s, still trim and looked ten years younger than he was. He had been captain for seven years and was well respected. His time in the field had been cut short when a bullet had ripped through his hip during what he thought was going to be a routine traffic stop. It turned out to be one of those stops that was every cop’s worst nightmare. Faced with a medical discharge or permanent desk job, he took the desk job and started studying for the Captain’s exam, passing with flying colors, on his third try.

Bruce lay quietly at Jett’s feet as Rene finished his phone call. After cradling the receiver, he turned to Jett with a smile. “What brings you in on your day off, Officer Anderson?”

“What else usually brings one of us in here on an off day? I need a favor,” he answered honestly.

“Just once I’d like someone to bring me some homemade snickerdoodles and say ‘Hey Cap, these are for you. Just cuz you’re a good guy!’” Rene chuckled and shook his head, knowing that would never happen. There was a line between a Captain and his subordinates, one that this particular barracks respected. Occasionally a fellow officer would try swaying the Captain’s opinion on a matter with a delicious treat, which usually ended with the treats being shared on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

“Aw, you know you’re a good guy Cap. Besides, you hardly ever eat sweets.” That much was true. His captain was vegan and tried to limit foods with processed sugar. Snickerdoodles were not exactly vegan friendly.

“What do you need Jett?” Rene circled back. His time was valuable and he didn’t have much to waste.

“I need as much information as you can get on an inmate in the Connecticut state system. He’s been in since 1996. Name is Marc Green, M-A-R-C, and Greene has an ‘E’’ at the end. He’s known as Dr. Baby Broker.”

“What’s the story with this dude?”

Jett gave his captain the abbreviated version of what was going on. At the end of the story Jett was quiet for a moment while Rene digested the information. Finally he broke the silence, “Cap, I need whatever inside information you can get. I’ll go ahead and pull what I have access to in the database, but you know as well as I do that these high profile cases have a lot more going on.”

“Jett, I’ll get you as much as I can. If I can’t access something I’ll find out who can. You’ll get your info, and then some if I get my way. You’re going to owe me, you know that, right?” Rene said as he raised one eyebrow.

Jett grinned. “Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks Cap. I really do appreciate it.”

“Go.” Rene shooed him out of the office. Go see what you can find in our databases. I should have something for you by the end of your shift tomorrow,”

Jett nodded and headed over to one of the empty desks. It took a minute for the computer to boot up and once it was on he logged into the State Police’s database. He clicked on the link for interstate, then hit Connecticut on the drop down menu. There were several Marc Greenes, but he quickly figured out which one he needed to focus on. Kim’s kidnapper was incarcerated at the Osborn Correctional Institute in Somers, Ct. Jett printed out whatever information he was allowed access to and stuck it in a folder. There was a good amount so he would take it home and look through it there.

Jett grabbed the folder and then clipped Bruce’s leash back on him for the walk out to his truck. He had just started it up when his phone rang. It was Kyle.

“Hi Handsome.”

“Right back atcha.” Kyle responded with a laugh.

“How was the nap? Do you need me to come over?”

“Nap was good and no, I’m fine. I just got off the phone with Megan. She’s going to come over for supper and we’re going to strategize about the best way to approach the folks. I don’t want to sound rude, but I don’t think it’s something you can help with seeing how you’ve never met them. Besides, I think Megan would be more comfortable opening up to me if it’s just the two of us. I’m sorry.” Kyle sounded embarrassed and Jett could picture his face turning red.

“Hey, it’s okay. I understand. I think I might try to talk to Kim tonight. She might open up to me a little more and I just may be able to get a read on where she stands with possibly meeting Megan.”

“That’s good. Will you call me tonight before you go to bed? I don’t care how late it is.” Jett loved the feeling he got with Kyle’s statement. It made him feel needed. He had been afraid that Kyle might try to pull away from him.

“I promise. Good luck with Megan.”

“Good luck with Kim.” Kyle shot back.

Jett said goodbye and ended the call. “Alright Bruce, let’s go home and see what we can find out.”

Bruce chuffed in reply.

When Jett pulled into his driveway he noted the absence of Kim’s car. He didn’t want to read too much into it and hoped she was just out running errands. He grabbed the folder and he and Bruce went inside. Even though it was mid-afternoon he made sure to flick on his front light. It would let Kim know that he was home if she returned later in the evening.

He let Bruce out back and left the slider open just enough so the dog could come in whenever he wanted. He wished he could install a doggy door, but his police instincts screamed ‘break in access!!!’ everytime he considered it. He put the folder on his table and decided to put some coffee on. He also grabbed a container with a pre-made dinner out of the freezer for later. He didn’t bother reading the label as he knew that he had made some kind of chicken with a couple of sides. He really didn’t care what it was, it was healthier than takeout or frozen meals from the grocery store.

When the coffee was brewed he poured a cup and added some half and half. Sitting at his table he opened the folder and started looking the information over. The first few pages were the intake sheets from the prison. Basic information, full name, date of birth, occupation, mostly general stuff. Next was the list of charges and what he had actually been convicted of. Case reference numbers for the trial documents he noted down on a legal pad. He had been able to access some of the information, but a lot of it had to be requested directly through the Clerk of Courts. From what he read, the trial had lasted two weeks and the jury had returned with the verdict within two hours. The evidence had been overwhelming.

Jett sifted through statements and affidavits that he had been able to print. He tried to organize everything and ended up with a small stack which he labeled ‘pre-trial’, a larger stack for ‘trial’' and then the third, smaller stack which he called ‘post trial’. It was this stack that he decided to focus on. At some point he realized that Bruce had come inside so he got up to close the slider. He read through the man’s intake report from his initial entry into the jail. It let him know what cell he had been assigned to, who his cellmate was, what his schedule had been and who was allowed to contact him. So far nothing jumped out at him as being unusual, and that in itself was unusual. Jett had a gut feeling they were missing something important, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

He kept at it until he realized it had gotten dark out. Jett stretched, letting his back crack and got up to put his food in the microwave. It was just after six and still no sign of Kim. That worried him just a little bit. She usually wasn't out this late during the week. He ate his chicken while scanning the remaining pages of what he had printed. He had a basic idea of the timeline of events and now he just needed to fill in the last twenty years or so that Greene had been locked up. He was pretty confident that Rene could get him a lot more information through his contacts.

Jett cleaned up and was just about to settle down to watch some TV when headlights indicated that a car was pulling into Kim’s driveway. Sure enough, when he looked out the window he saw her get out of her Hyundai Sonata and Tater jump down after her.

He opened his front door as she came up the sidewalk. Kim looked lost in thought and startled a bit when Jett greeted her, “Hey Kim.”

Kim looked over and Tater’s tail started wagging when she returned his greeting.

“Are you up for a little conversation tonight?” he asked.

She gave him a little smile. “Sure, just let me get settled first.”

“Yeah, no problem, take your time. My back door is unlocked, just come on in when you’re ready,” he told her.

He shut his front door. The temperature had dropped a lot since the sun had set. He’d probably need to turn the heat up a little bit.

Jett settled back down and waited for Kim. Twenty minutes later he heard his slider open and Bruce’s head came out of his crate as Tater came tap dancing in, nails clicking on the kitchen floor. Kim shooed the dogs outside to play for a bit and came over and plopped down on the end of the couch opposite from Jett. She had changed into fleece sleep pants and a sweatshirt.

“So how’s Kyle?” she asked.

“He’s actually doing pretty well, all things considered. He amazes me,” Jett admitted.

Kim looked at Jett for a long moment and then sighed. “Go ahead Jett, I can see it on your face, just ask me whatever it is that’s bugging you, although I can probably guess.”

Jett shook his head and then said just one word, “Megan.”

Kim took a deep breath before she spoke. “Megan. You want to know where I stand on the subject of Kyle’s sister. My daughter.”

Jett nodded.

"The answer is simple. Yet at the same time, complicated. I'm scared," Kim admitted.

"Why is that complicated?" Jett wanted to know.

"Because of the reasons that I'm scared. There's so many of them. I've been over this with my therapist and she hasn't been able to help me work it out."

"Why don't you tell me just one of the reasons. Maybe if you focus on the brushstrokes, the whole picture might become easier to see." Jett hated seeing his friend doubt herself.

“I’m afraid they’ll hate me.” she said.

“Why would they hate you?”

“Because I abandoned them.”

“You did what was best for them.”

“I did what was best for me.”

“Why do you think that, Kim?” Jett pressed harder.

“I didn’t want the responsibility.”

“You were too young.”

“That’s not a good enough reason, Jett. There are plenty of girls out there who have babies at a young age and they don’t give them up.” Kim’s voice started to waver.

“They weren’t kidnapped and forced to give birth.”

“Nikki kept her last baby, I could have done the same.”

“Nikki was a mess for a lot of years, you said so yourself. Besides, didn’t Nikki have the full support of both her parents. Yours didn’t know how to handle you, let alone an infant. Kim, I don’t think you can compare yourself to Nikki, or even Heather for that matter. Heather’s parents took back custody of her children because it’s all they had left of her. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.” Jett hoped he was getting through to her.

“Jett, I just feel so guilty that I didn’t even try and now I feel that it’s too late.” Kim admitted.

“Oh Kim, I don’t know Megan all that well, but from what I’ve seen from her, I don’t think she’d hold anything against you. Especially seeing how she was your first baby and by the time you were free, she was nearly six years old. Kyle and Megan’s parents made mistakes along the way, but I know for a fact that they both had a great childhood. Kyle told me so. They’re more upset that their adoptive parents lied to them, but that’s not on you, not one bit. I’m sure they have their reasons for not coming forward when they realized that Megan and Kyle were most likely part of the whole thing.” Jett could see Kim trying to process everything.

“I didn’t know Kyle’s parents lied to them.”

Jett gave her a quick synopsis of what Kyle had told him. “I’m not sure what their reasoning was, but you have to remember that by the time the story broke, they had been parents for over five years. If they found out about Heather’s parents getting custody of her other children, I’m sure they were afraid of losing Kyle and Megan. I would be if I had been in their shoes.”

Kim nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be afraid of meeting Megan. It might actually help me get past all of this. I’ll think about it, okay Jett. Tell Kyle and Megan that I’m considering it. It's the best that I can do for right now.”

“That’s fair enough.” Jett told her. “How are you doing with all of this? Tell me more about what Nikki told you. I didn’t want to pry too much yesterday and freak Kyle out.”

“Nikki’s lawyer told her that Marc’s parole hearing is scheduled for January 10th. When he was originally sentenced it was life without parole. Twelve years ago his lawyers got that reduced to thirty years to life, which made him eligible for parole. His first hearing was two years ago and he was denied then and again last year. My lawyer has said that the only way he would get paroled was if they somehow ended up with a new parole board who were extremely lenient. They didn’t exactly get a new board, but they did get two members who are much more liberal. One is a retired judge who has a history of light sentencing. Nikki’s lawyer says he may be a wild card who might be able to sway some of the others. That’s why we’re so concerned.” Kim sighed.

Jett frowned. In his experience the criminal justice system usually worked the way that it was supposed to, but all too often mistakes were made, usually the fault of the incompetence of someone higher up on the food chain. This new board member was something he’d have Rene look into as well.

“Do you know why he wasn’t charged with murder?”

Kim nodded. “The prosecutor felt that the charges for kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape and whatnot were strong enough for a conviction with the life sentence. Without any bodies a murder charge would be very difficult to convict. We were happy knowing they wanted the life sentence and would probably get it. This latest development has me rethinking our original decision.”

“It’s something you may want to speak to the State prosecutor about. I don’t think there’s any statute of limitations on murder.”

“I’ll let Nikki know so she can bring it up with the lawyer her parents are using.”

“Kim, you still see your therapist right?” Jett asked. Kim nodded. “I’d like you to consider something. Meet with Megan, but do it at your therapist’s office. She can facilitate things and help you both sort out and cope with your emotions. Let her take notes as to how the two of you interact and what sort of difficulties you face. It might prove to be beneficial at the hearing. The two of you will have a lot of challenges ahead if you decide to pursue any type of relationship, even if it’s nowhere near parental in nature.”

“You’re a wise man Jett. I think you’re right. I’ll call my therapist tomorrow and see what she says. I have an appointment later this week, but I think I’ll need the whole time to talk about my weekend with Nikki. It’s always difficult to process. Our relationship is just as much toxic as it is beneficial. It’s trying to find a balance between the two that we have trouble with. We’re completely fucked up when it comes to how we interact, but that’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. Thank you for being such a good friend.” Kim stood up and stretched. “I’m gonna head to bed. It’s been a trying couple of days.”

Jett stood up and gave Kim a hug. “If you need anything, you just let me know. I’m going to do whatever I can to help you out. Kyle and Megan too. I want to make sure this guy stays behind bars for a long time.”

Jett walked her to the slider and let Bruce in as Kim and Tater went home. He locked up and made sure all the files he had printed were with his gear so he wouldn’t forget them in the morning. It was only eight thirty, but he went and got ready for bed. He grabbed his phone and called Kyle as promised. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey. How’re you doing?” Jett asked.

“Actually, I’m much better. The nap did wonders and Megan and I decided to set up dinner with our folks Friday night. It’s taken a lot out of Megan and she’s a little lost. She’s going to stay here until Friday. How’s things with you?”

Jett could read between the lines. Kyle wanted to know if he had talked to Kim. “I’m good. I talked to Kim tonight for a little bit. She’s still skittish about everything. However, I suggested that it might be good for her and Megan to meet at her therapist’s office. I’ve been trying to think ahead and her therapist might be able to provide a good reason why that asshole should never be let out. The parole board needs hard evidence to show how other people’s lives have been affected. Don’t say anything to Megan yet though. At least not until Kim talks with her therapist.”

“That sounds like a really good idea. I have so many thoughts regarding this guy, most of which are pretty awful. Maybe if I write them down it will give me a clearer perspective. It might also give me something to bring up at the parole hearing. I’ve already decided I’m going, by the way. Megan’s still on the fence. I’m not sure if she should go, but there’s plenty of time to decide. We need to get through Friday first.” Kyle said.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“I’m sure there is, I just can’t think of it right now. I think what I need the most is just knowing that you’re there for me.”

Jett wished he was holding Kyle. “I’ll be here for you, I promise.” He could almost hear the smile on Kyle’s face. It wasn’t quite the same as being held, but it was enough for now.

They talked for another hour until Jett found himself yawning. Kyle heard him and told him to go to bed. Jett promised to try to have lunch together as much as possible this week. He knew Kyle would appreciate it.

After ending the call, Jett let Bruce out one more time and made sure the house was secure. Kim’s side of the duplex was dark and quiet. Jett made a mental note to look into a few security systems. As a police officer he knew that they were a huge deterrent to home break-ins. There may only be a slight chance of this Greene dude getting out, but he knew Kim would feel more secure, and so would he, if there were extra security measures in place.

Jett got ready for bed and really hoped that his captain would have some good information for him tomorrow. Christ this has been one helluva weekend, not one that he wanted to repeat any time soon. He hoped the rest of the week got better.