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“You think that Judge Shaw will go for that?” Dan asked. “Strike all of Kelly’s testimony from the record.”
“He won’t have much choice,” said Rachel. “He can’t allow her testimony to stand if Dale Quinn didn’t get a decent shot at cross-examining her.”
Dan and Christine stood with their arms around each other’s waists. Rachel knew that Mitch Alkins had said something similar, although perhaps less diplomatic, the previous night when he’d come to their house. Alkins had told Rachel that he’d been blunt with Kelly’s parents before he’d left their home. “If Kelly doesn’t testify then there’s a real chance that Scott Blair will walk,” he’d said.
Rachel hoped that Alkins was right, that hearing the sameconclusion from her would carry more weight. After all, she didn’t have a vested interest in the outcome. It wasn’t her reputation as a prosecutor on the line. Plus, she knew the evidence inside and out; she was in court every day, listening to testimony, taking notes, reporting on the trial for the podcast.
They faced a terrible choice. Putting Kelly on the stand could destroy their daughter. Letting Scott Blair go free could destroy her even more. A gull cried as it flew over the beach, looking for a place to roost for the night.
“We can’t do this to Kelly.” Christine turned to face her husband.
“We have to. How can we let him get off? His name untarnished. His reputation intact. He needs to suffer. He deserves to be punished,” Dan shot back. “Let someone do to him in prison what he did to Kelly.”
Christine pummeled his torso softly with her palms, sobs wracking her body. “Every time Kelly talks about it, and I mean every single time, she relives that night. Over. And over. And over again. It’s eating into whatever is left of her spirit. We can’t make her do it. We are her parents. We have to think beyond getting justice. Or revenge. It’s our job to help her heal.”
“Testifying is what will help her heal. It will be painful at first, but it will be worth it. He’ll be punished and her name will be cleared. She’ll be vindicated,” said Dan, kicking a clump of seaweed across the sand until it flopped into the water.
“Kelly doesn’t need her name cleared. She didn’t do anything wrong. She isn’t—” Christine’s voice shook with anger.
Rachel didn’t hear the rest as she moved ahead to give them space to talk. It was clear to her they’d been having the same discussion for days. Going round and round in circles. They were running out of time. It was Saturday night. If Kelly was to testifyon Monday morning, they’d need to spend all of Sunday getting her emotionally prepared. Perhaps even letting Mitch Alkins or his people prepare her for the cross-examination.
Dan strode past Rachel, walking off after the angry exchange with his wife. Rachel hung back, waiting for Christine, who was dabbing her eyes when she caught up to Rachel. Both women walked together in silence, deliberately lagging behind Dan, not even trying to catch up. He walked fast and disappeared around the next headland, out of their line of sight.
It was getting darker and visibility was becoming poor. They walked a little longer until they heard the groan of timber as the Morrison’s Point jetty swayed in the wind and tide farther along.
When they caught up with him, he was waiting, staring at the dark outline of the jetty as if afraid to get too close. “I didn’t realize that we’d come so far.” He gave a shiver. “Always hated this place.” He abruptly turned away and marched back toward the marina.
“He looks as if he’s being chased by the devil,” Rachel said to Christine as they watched him stride ahead down the beach.
“Dan blames himself for what happened to Kelly,” Christine said. “He says it would never have happened if he had agreed to move to Portland to live near my folks when he left the navy. Instead, we came here. He insisted on it. Despite his terrible childhood, he felt this was where he belonged.”
“In what way was his childhood terrible?” Rachel asked in surprise. His father was the town’s police chief. Rachel had assumed that he’d had an easy, protected childhood.
Christine shook her head sadly. She told Rachel that when Dan was twelve his dad had beaten him so brutally that he was taken to the hospital with a skull fracture. Chief Moore told the attending doctor that Dan had gone flying while doing a dangerous jumpon his skateboard. “The doctor bought it,” she said. “He had no reason to doubt Police Chief Russ Moore.
“Dan’s mom killed herself a year earlier. The medical examiner said it was an accidental overdose. Nobody accidentally takes a dozen Valium. Dan said she couldn’t take the beatings anymore. Once his mother had gone, his childhood was spent trying to keep out of his father’s way. Thank goodness for the navy. It was the making of him.”
“In what way?” Rachel asked.
“It softened his rough edges. It grounded him. It gave him values. He’s a devoted father, and a wonderful husband,” she said. “Dan does a lot of charity work. He cares about the community. He cares about this town. That’s why this situation has hit him especially hard. The way the town has become divided. The acrimony. People turning against Kelly, against our family. Casting aspersions on her character. He can’t let it go. It’s killing him.”
She lowered her voice when she saw her husband had stopped and was waiting for them on the boardwalk. The tide was coming in hard, eating up the beach. The two women climbed back onto the boardwalk together. The lights of the marina flickered in the distance. As they came closer, they could hear music from the outdoor restaurants.
“I’ll miss Neapolis once we’re gone,” said Christine wistfully.
“You’re leaving town?” Rachel asked.
“I’m taking Kelly to live near my parents. Dan will stay to sell the business and the house. He’ll join us as soon as he can,” Christine said. But there was a tinge to her voice that suggested he might never join them. Rachel got the impression that if Dan Moore insisted his daughter take the stand the family—and the marriage—would never recover.
When they reached the car, Dan took his wife’s hands andlooked into her eyes. “On the walk back, I thought about what you said, honey. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not going to make any more. I won’t fight you on Kelly. I have to believe that Scott Blair will be punished. Sometime, somewhere, he will be punished for what he did to my little girl.” He shook his head. “But you are right; Kelly doesn’t have to be the one to make that happen.”
Rachel watched Dan and Christine drive away. Their minds were made up. Kelly Moore was not taking the stand on Monday. The trial was over.
48
Rachel
Rachel sat on her bed listening to the dial tone. Mitch Alkins hadn’t sounded surprised when she told him that Kelly would not be in court come Monday. It was almost as if he’d already resigned himself to that outcome. He must have known the fierce protectiveness of Kelly’s mother would win out against her father’s thirst for revenge.
