13

Katie was stunned. "Me? Why would he include me?"

"It's all right here, Katie." Garrett said, eyes red and voice hoarse. "This letter is a notarized document from Dad's attorney to be given to us in the event of his death but, only after all of us were over twenty-one. It explains why he changed his will to include you and Chad too. He considered the two of you his Godchildren because, as he puts it in here, God sent you to him at his lowest moment and brought him back to the light. Apparently, the day you met Dad, he was considering suicide but, you seemed to need him and then you brought Chad along, and he seemed to need him too. You saved him. You gave him hope and purpose. Both of you did, because you let him take care of you in your father's place."

"And then, I failed him." Katie said, tears streaming down her face. "I should have sent him to the shelter. I should have insisted. I shouldn't have let him wait for me. He may still be here if he hadn't stayed to wait for me."

"Baby Girl..." Chad tried to pull her into his arms and tried to comfort her but, she pushed him away. "Katie..."

She turned and went to her room and closed the door. She plopped down on the bed and buried her face in her hands.

"You really loved my father." She heard Emilia say.

She nodded, wiping her face with her bath towel that had been hanging on the headboard. "You lost one Dad that night, Emilia." Katie said. "But I lost two. I didn't kill Mr. Edgar but, I do feel like I'm responsible for his death. I felt like he wouldn't have been there if he wasn't always trying to make sure I got home safe. He knew those kids hung out at the bar down the street on the weekends. He knew they always harassed me at work when they came in. He knew they would hurt me if they ever caught me out alone."

Emilia sat next to her on the bed. "He didn't have to be homeless, you know? According to that will, Dad had money and investments tied up that Mom wasn't able to steal away when she left. He could have liquidated them and started over. He chose to live like that."

"He didn't see the point in having all that if he couldn't have his family with him to enjoy it." Katie said.

"You knew?" Emilia looked, surprised.

"Yeah, he swore me to secrecy." She admitted, smiling sadly. "He said he liked living simply. He said, when he died all of it would go to his kids and that's all he cared about. His kids. So, I decided to help him live the way he wanted. My Dad wanted to move him into our basement apartment but, my mom freaked out about it so he got a permanent room at the shelter and guaranteed two meals a day from the soup kitchen. Dad and Mr. Morgan's hand me downs went straight to him and we helped him collect recyclables to earn money for little stuff but, mostly, the shelter gave out hygiene packs and the barber did free cuts and shaves once a week at the rec center."

"Your mom had a problem with him staying there but, your dad didn't?" Emilia looked surprised. "Usually it's the dad that has the trouble with something like this."

"Oh, Daddy was pissed at me about hanging out with Mr. Edgar at first but, I got him to sit and talk to him and they made friends." Katie admitted. "Chad's folks never did warm up to him but, they didn't stop him from hanging out with him either."

Emilia snorted, "Yeah, they are a bit on the anal side, aren't they?"

Katie grinned. "They were my Mom's best friends growing up. That's how Chad and I ended up being so close before..."

"He wants his best friend back." Emilia said, "And it drives Mandy nuts. She thinks he's in love with you." She shook her head though. "That's not what I saw today, though. You're his sister."

Katie nodded. "Neither of us had siblings so, that's how we always saw each other. Sister and brother from different mothers is what he said a lot. It made no sense to me since we had different fathers too." Katie smirked. "I was a bit geeky but, then, so was he."

Emilia laughed. "I've seen the photos." She admitted, and then sobered. "This is hard for me to accept... I'm a lawyer. I have absolute faith and trust in the judicial and criminal justice systems... For so long we have believed you to be this horrible person but, our ideas of what and who you were don't match up with the person in the letters Dad wrote us or the stories Chad tells about you two, or the woman sitting next to me. I'm having a difficult time right now because it means admitting those systems are flawed and they failed to protect an innocent young girl but, protected murderers instead."

"It's not all systems. Just the one in this town. They were crooked back then and, may still be now." Katie said, sighing. "You know why Chad has to escort me places and I'm really on house arrest?"

Emilia shook her head.

"When I got out of prison I had my own place. I was free to move about as I pleased. That lasted a week before someone recognized me. I spent a week in ICU. That's when my Mom was asked to take responsibility for me and Chad decided he would have to drive me everywhere I needed to go. At school, I can only go to class and the library." She tapped the ankle bracelet that Chad had designed himself. "If I'm in an area not approved by Chad, it automatically alerts him, and he shows up to find me. Mrs. Kingston gets my lunch from the cafeteria. I can't be in mainstream too much because there are too many locals in class there."

Emilia looked aghast. "Jesus." She gasped.

"He's afraid it will happen again." Katie admitted. "He was the one that found me unconscious in my apartment and it scared the hell out of him. Unfortunately, I must move into a new place tomorrow. Someone is stalking me and discovered that there was an outside access door to my mom's basement apartment earlier this week. They kicked my door in and trashed everything. Chad freaked out and brought me here. I've had the place since Tuesday but, Chad I think, is delaying the move because of what happened that first time I was in a place on my own."

"Stalking you? Has this been reported to the police?" Emilia frowned, suddenly, all business.

Katie nodded. "I've filed police reports and turned over all the evidence but, I don't think anything has been done about anything. I mean. Who really cares what happens to an ex-con? Especially a convicted murderer. Innocent or not. Most people think I should have been given the death penalty and if I had really been guilty, I'm sure I would have gotten it. Instead, I got fifteen years for second degree murder because they all knew I was innocent but, I was also a witness. I knew the truth. I was in solitary confinement with one drug filled meal a day for fifteen years. They hoped I would commit suicide, I guess. They wanted me silenced until everyone forgot about me and your Dad but, that didn't really happen, did it? All of you moved back here. Mandy started dating Chad. Chad refused to let me go. Mrs. Kingston stayed in my corner. Things died down for a while but then, I got out."

Emilia coaxed her back out into the living room with the rest of them and they talked about the contents of the will and the equitable division of the assets that Edgar Callum I had left behind for his six children and two self-proclaimed God children. "We will have to contact this lawyer's office to find out exactly what all of these assets are though." Emilia said, frowning, as she looked at the name at the bottom of the document. "Katie..."

Katie looked down and saw her father's familiar scrawl as a witness and out beside it, George Gray. "This explains his lack of effort. He knew about this will. He's the executer."

"I'll be in touch with him on Monday." Emilia stated, voice hardened. "Count on that."