Brian Freeman - Immoral

"What happened?"

"I got inside, and he pointed a revolver with a six-inch barrel at me. Biggest fucking gun you've ever seen, right in front of my face. Seems he didn't want to talk. Well, I talked anyway. I was getting through to him, too, or so I thought. I got him to let the kids go outside. A few minutes later, I got him to let his wife go outside, although she didn't want to go. So it was just him and me. I really thought I was home free. My only challenge was to make sure he didn't kill himself. But I guess I underestimated him. He pointed the gun at his head, and I shouted at him. I started forward, hands up, trying to make him stop, to put the gun down. Instead, he pointed the gun right at my chest and pulled the trigger, just like that, no warning. I was already diving. The bullet sliced through my shoulder, spun me around, threw me to the floor. And then, with that little interruption out of the way, he put the gun in his mouth and blew out the back of his head with me screaming at him."

Andrea caressed his face. "I don't know what to say."

"See what happens when you get me drunk?" Stride said. "You get me to say things that upset you."

"My fault. I pushed. But I'm glad you told me."

"Well, enough of that, okay? Do you want to open another bottle?"

Andrea shook her head. "I've got to go to school tomorrow, remember? I don't think the kids would appreciate me having a hangover."

"So how come we didn't date in high school?" he asked. It was the kind of question driven by several glasses of wine.

"I think it's because you had already graduated by the time I was a freshman," Andrea said.

"Oh, yeah. Just as well. I bet you wouldn't have given me a second glance."

Andrea shook her head. "I would have given you a second glance and a third glance."

"No, I don't think so," Stride said. "I was one of those intense, brooding loners. And you-you were a cheerleader, I bet, and in all the clubs, and with lots of boyfriends."

Andrea grinned. "Cheerleader, yes. Science club, yes. Boyfriends, no."

"Come on."

"Seriously! I got asked out all the time, but it usually didn't go beyond a first date." She cupped her breasts. "Once they figured out they weren't going to get their hands on these, they lost interest"

"Well, it is kind of like blowing out the birthday candles and not eating the cake," Stride said.

"Oh, don't pull that typical guy crap on me. I'm sure you were a perfect gentleman in high school."

Stride laughed. "There's no such thing as a sixteen-year-old gentleman."

"Anyway, you were lucky in high school," Andrea said. "You found your soul mate. You met Cindy during your senior year, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"And that was that, wasn't it?" she asked.

Stride smiled wistfully. "Yes, that was that. I was hooked. Love at first sight. It really was that fast"

She snuggled closer to him on the sofa, clutching his arm. Her cat, who was sleeping on Stride's lap, looked up, offended by the interruption.

"What was it about Cindy?" Andrea asked softly.

Stride stared into the distance, where he could still picture Cindy in his mind. Over time, the picture had lost a little focus. It wasn't a close-up anymore. It was a portrait, getting farther away.

"She wouldn't let me be a loner," he said. "She teased me and poked holes in all my defenses. And she was the most spiritual person I ever met. Not so much religious, but spiritual. She helped me see the things I loved, the lake, the woods, in a new light Once I saw it through her, none of it was the same. It was better."

He looked down at the cat, which was sleeping again, unimpressed with his memories. He looked over at Andrea, still nestled against his shoulder.

She was crying.

The next morning, Dan called Kevin Lowry to the stand.

Kevin made a perfect witness, a strapping, clean-cut teenager, looking slightly uncomfortable in his white shirt and tie. He shifted and squirmed to fit his husky body into the witness stand. His eyes darted around the courtroom, nervously studying the jury and then making eye contact with Emily Stoner. He gave her a small smile of support, but Emily didn't react.

Dan quickly covered the early days of Kevin's relationship with Rachel and then moved on to Graeme.

"Kevin, we've heard testimony that Rachel's relationship with Graeme changed abruptly. They were close, and then they weren't Is that what you observed?"

Kevin nodded. "Oh, yeah. Big time. About two years ago, Rachel did a turnaround. She wouldn't go near Mr. Stoner anymore. She told me she hated him."

"Did she say why?"

"No. I asked her about it once, and she said-well, she called him something pretty harsh."

"What did she call him, Kevin?"

Kevin looked uncomfortable. "She said he was a fucking pervert."

"Did you observe Mr. Stoner's behavior during this time?" Dan asked.

"When I saw them together, he was real nice to her. Same as always. Although, I don't know, it was like he was trying too hard. Like right around the start of the school year, Mr. Stoner bought Rachel a new car."

Stride frowned. Something about Rachel's car bothered him. He remembered feeling that way from the beginning. But they had searched it thoroughly and found nothing.

"Did that make Rachel happy?"

Kevin shook his head. "No. I mean, she liked the car okay. She always hated driving that old hand-me-down from her mother. But she was sort of sarcastic about the new car. She said Mr. Stoner had to buy it for her, he didn't have a choice."

"Did she say what that meant?"

"No."

"And was this the car she was driving on the last night you saw her?"

"Yes."

"Okay, Kevin, let's talk about that night Tell us what happened."

Kevin described the events in Canal Park with Rachel and Sally the way he had originally told them to Stride.

"Please describe Rachel's emotional state. How did she seem to you?"

"Normal. Happy. Not upset or anything."

"Was it just an ordinary evening?"

"Sure."

"Okay, what about the next day, Kevin?" Dan asked.

"Well, Rachel asked if I wanted to go out on Saturday night. But when I showed up at her house, she had disappeared."

"Did you talk to the defendant?"

"Yes. I told him I had a date with Rachel. He said he didn't know where she was. He told me he hadn't seen her that day."

"And where was Rachel's car?"

"It was parked right outside. I couldn't understand where Rachel would be if she didn't have her car."

Dan nodded. "Did you tell Mr. Stoner this?"

"Sure. I said that was really strange. It wasn't like Rachel at all. I asked if we should call someone."

"What did he say?"

Kevin shot an angry look at Graeme. "He said no, there was no reason for concern. He said Rachel was probably just playing games with me like she did with everyone else."

"When Rachel made the date with you on Friday, did it feel like a game?"

"No, she was serious. We were planning to go out."

"When Rachel left you that night, what did she say?"

"She said she was going home. She was tired."

"Did she mention going anywhere else or meeting anyone else?"

"No."

"Did she seem upset, anxious, distraught?"

"No."

"So once again, as far as you were concerned, it was an ordinary night"

Kevin nodded. "That's right."

"Thank you, Kevin."

Gale stood up.

"Kevin, you called this an ordinary night. Is that right?" Gale asked, allowing a faint rumor of disbelief into his voice.

"Sure."

"Okay. Now let's see, you said when you first saw Rachel, she was standing on the railing of the bridge."

"Yes."

"It was windy and rainy."

Kevin nodded. "It was an awful night"

"So Rachel was standing on a narrow railing, with the icy water below her, and the wind blowing like crazy? Do I have the picture?"