Little Differences

"Where's the weapon? Timmons asked once Gabe had finished.

Without answering, he raised his hands and turned around so that the officer could see the handgun in the waistband of his pants. He felt her pull the gun from his pants and then turned back around to face her once more. He saw two paramedics rushing past her, so he stepped over to help Peggy rise and move out of their way. She threw her blood-covered arms around his neck and buried her sobbing eyes into his chest.

Two additional officers stepped onto the porch. They wore slightly different uniforms than Corporal Timmons and Gabe saw that they were both from the Sandy Springs Police Department. One wore sergeant stripes and a nametag that said, "Hays", while the other had no stripes and a nametag that said, "Walker". Sergeant Hays addressed Timmons, "Is this the shooter?"

Timmons pointed to the man slumped on the ground and said, "That's the shooter." She handed Hays the gun that she had taken from Gabe, and added, "He probably has a broken arm that occurred when he was being disarmed so you might want to have the paramedics check it out before cuffing him. He likely has a concussion as well."

"That would explain him being unconscious," Hays remarked. "Fill me in."

The porch was getting crowded with the arrival of additional police officers and paramedics, so Timmons pulled Gabe, Peggy, and Sargent Hays off to stand on the grass front yard, leaving office Walker to watch the suspect. Other officers began stringing crime scene tape around the entire property.

As Timmons filled Hays in on what she had learned from Gabe, he focused his attention on the actions of the paramedics. They had quickly established that Janelle was deceased and turned their attention to Liam. Even from this distance, Gabe could still see Liam's chest movements as he tried to continue breathing, but the rise of his chest had diminished and it was becoming obvious that his struggle would not last much longer. This was confirmed when one of the paramedics began CPR as another prepared the defibrillator to attempt to restart Liam's heart.

When the heart monitor leads reported back to the defibrillator unit, the distinctive sound associated with a flatlined heartbeat permeated the front of the Donahue mansion. Conversations paused as everyone silently prayed for the sound of a "BEEP" that would indicate the resurrection of Liam Donahue. Peggy kept her face buried against Gabe's chest as she listened to the sound of her father's heart being repeatedly shocked in an attempt to get it started once more.

Typically, having her head against Gabe's chest, listening to his heartbeat, was comforting for Peggy. Now it only served to convince her that she would never again hear the same sound from her father's heart. She shook that association from her thoughts. There was no way that she wanted to spend the rest of her life not cherishing the sound of Gabe's heartbeat. She would not allow her grief over her father's death to alter her intimacies with Gabe.

~~~

Although the activities of the investigators and patrol officers appeared hectic to Gabe and Peggy, the night progressed at a glacial pace as they waited to be interviewed further before being allowed to leave the house.

The inside of the house was not considered part of the crime scene, so they had been instructed to wait for the detectives in the house while the investigation continued on the front porch and yard. Gabe had stood behind a still shaking Peggy with his hands on her waist as she used the kitchen sink to wash the blood off her hands and arms. She had kept muttering, "I can't believe they're gone," as she watched the streams of bloody water flowing into the sink drain. The amount of the water from the faucet barely exceeded the volume of tears still running down Peggy's cheeks.

After drying her hands with paper towels, Peggy turned around to face Gabe. She wanted nothing more than to crawl inside of him; to get lost inside his strength and his love, but she knew that she had to tolerate the pain and grief until the police had finished questioning them. Peggy started unbuttoning Gabe's shirt as she said in her still shaky voice, "Let's take this off and try to rinse some of the blood off the collar. I'm sorry that I got it all over your shirt, but I wasn't really focused on it at the time."

"I'm sorry that I didn't react faster," Gabe said as he started helping with the buttons on his shirt. "My reflexive response was to move you away first and that put me out of position to stop what happened."

Peggy brushed her hand across Gabe's cheek and said, "It all happened so fast. I'm just grateful that you stopped him before he could turn on you or me. Who do you think he is? We thought the threats related to the attempt to take over Armore were over with."

"I have no idea," Gabe said. "I do know that with the crew cut blonde hair, it's not very likely that he is a member of any El Salvadoran gang."

Peggy nodded and pulled the shirt off Gabe as she asked, "Do you think that my father was his target, or were all of us?"

Gabe thought for a few seconds, recalling the events from his memory before saying, "I get the impression now that I review what happened, that Liam was his only objective. Janelle wasn't targeted, she just got in the way of his last two shots. Then, when he began turning towards you, he had started lowering the gun. He wasn't preparing to fire at you or me. Is there some reason why someone would want Liam dead other than to take over Armore? Which if that was the case, you would have been a more likely target."

"Excuse us."

Gabe turned to see Sergeant Hays standing in the kitchen entry. A female officer was standing at his side. She wore a uniform different from either the Dunwoody or Sandy Spring police officers, but there were sergeant stripes similar to those on Hays' uniform on hers as well. Peggy stepped around Gabe so that she could also see the officers.

When neither Gabe nor Peggy responded verbally, Sergeant Hays said, "This is Sergeant Debbi Proctor with the Roswell PD. She asked to have a few words with you, if you don't mind."

At the mention of the sergeant's last name, Peggy raised her eyebrows, but it was Gabe that asked the question on both of their minds, "Proctor?"

Sergeant Hays retreated back toward the front door as Sergeant Proctor remained in place. Nodding at Gabe and Peggy, she asked, "Is there someplace where we can sit and talk for a few minutes?"

Gabe glanced down at Peggy to see her glancing back up at him. They held their gazes for a few seconds before Gabe turned to Sergeant Proctor and said, "Please take a seat in the living room and we'll be out to join you shortly. We just want to put some cold water onto the blood that got on this shirt first."

They watched the sergeant turn and leave the kitchen entry. "Do you think it's just a coincidence?" Peggy whispered to Gabe as she returned to the sink and turned on the water.

"Why would some relative of Kelly Proctor be here?" Gabe asked. "And she said that she wants to talk with us, not ask us questions. Maybe it has nothing to do with what happened here tonight. But if not that, what?"

Peggy finished running cold water over the blood that had gotten smeared onto the back of Gabe's shirt collar. The starch in the shirt had helped to keep the blood from penetrating the fabric too much, and Peggy was satisfied that the faint stains would likely come out when the shirt was laundered the next time. If not, it could be easily replaced.

Memories of her years of grief counseling following the death of her mother came to mind. How many times had she heard the phrase, "You either curl up, or you cope"? She had her father back then to help her cope. She felt so blessed that she had Gabe to be her strength now. She could be strong and brave in the presence of others, knowing that she would be free to grieve in Gabe's arms when they were alone.

She handed the shirt to Gabe and then used her cupped hands to splash cold water onto her face. Gabe used a dish towel to blot off as much of the remaining water as possible before slipping back into it. Quickly drying her face, Peggy didn't wait for Gabe to finish buttoning his shirt before taking his hand and saying, "I guess we shouldn't keep our guest waiting."

They walked together into the living room to find Sergeant Proctor standing in front of the cold, still fireplace, studying the pictures on the mantle. She turned when she heard them enter. She pressed a button on the small box affixed to her chest and said, "I promised the detectives that I would record our conversation with my body camera, so I hope you don't mind. I want to start by offering my deepest sympathy to you."

"Thank you," Peggy mournfully said. "Please have a seat."

Gabe waited for Peggy to take a seat on the sofa before sitting beside her. She immediately snuggled her body as close to his as possible when he placed a protective arm around her shoulders. Sergeant Proctor adjusted her utility belt as she sat in an armchair across from them. They both could now clearly see the tears that had moistened the sergeant's cheeks.

"I guess I should explain the reason that I wanted to talk with you," Sergeant Proctor said, with her eyes focused on Peggy's. "I have no excuse for what Seth did, but you deserve to know where his mind was at when he did it."

Gabe realized that Peggy was just as confused by the sergeant's words as he was, so he asked, "Who's Seth?"

Sergeant Proctor tilted her head slightly while she contemplated the question. She then straightened and said, "I'm sorry. I thought that you had already been informed."

"Informed of what?" Gabe asked.

The sergeant leaned forward and lowered her voice when she said, "The man who committed the shooting here tonight is named Seth Proctor. Immediately after his identity was established, colleagues with the Sandy Springs PD who knew of his family relationship with me notified me of what had happened. I got here as soon as I could..."

Peggy and Gabe exchanged looks. Gabe then asked, "What did your, I assume brother, have against Liam Donahue?"

"He stole Seth's wife," Proctor said. "Seth was devastated when he was served divorce papers last week."

"What does that have to do with Liam?" Gabe exclaimed. "He wasn't involved with a married woman. He was going to marry Janelle Sanders, the other victim, tomorrow."

"Seth knew that his wife had been seeing someone for months," Proctor insisted. "He followed her on several occasions to a complex on Peachtree where Liam Donahue owns a condo."

"Was his wife, Kelly Proctor?" Gabe asked, just to make certain that the pieces of this puzzle were aligning. When Proctor slowly nodded her head in reply, Gabe said, "Peggy here also owns a condo in that same building. There is also the condo unit there that Armore owns. That is the condo that Kelly Proctor and her lovers were visiting."

"Lovers?"

Gabe sighed and said, "Sergeant Proctor, your brother made a monumental mistake. You need to speak to the local FBI office to get the details, but trust me, Liam Donahue was not romantically involved with Kelly Proctor. He had just returned to Georgia this week after having been gone for months."

Proctor had a stunned expression on her face when she said, "But Seth had a recording of Kelly boasting that she was 'going to fuck Liam Donahue'. I heard it myself when he played it for me after Kelly's death. He blamed Liam Donahue for her leaving him, and for her death. He believed that she had gone to that wedding with him as her date."

"Liam Donahue was on my boat in the Pacific Ocean when we learned of the deaths from the poison mushrooms. Talk with the FBI," Gabe insisted. "Kelly was part of a conspiracy to fuck Liam Donahue financially. That must have been what your brother heard her referring to."

Sergeant Proctor brought her hands to her face as the tears began flowing in earnest once more. "Oh, my God," she moaned. "Oh, my God."

"Oh, my God," echoed Peggy as she sank against Gabe's shoulder, tears also flowing anew.

Chapter Eighteen

"Last night while I was trying to sleep, my father's voice I did hear.

I opened my eyes and looked around, but he did not appear.

He said, Dear, you've got to listen, you've got to understand,

God didn't take me from you, He only took my hand.

When I called out in pain that night, the instant that I died,

He reached down and took my hand, and pulled me to His side.

He pulled me up and saved me from the misery and pain.

My body was hurt so badly inside, I could never be the same.

My search is really over now, I've found happiness within.

All the answers to my empty dreams and all that might have been.

I love you so and miss you so, but I'll always be nearby.

My body's gone forever, but my spirit will never die.

And so you must go on now, live one day at a time.

Just understand

God did not take me from you,

He only took my hand."

Peggy didn't know where Gabe had found those words, but his sharing them with her in the days following Liam and Janelle's deaths had been only one of the ways that he had seemed to always know what she needed at the time.

The only time that he had left her alone for longer than it took for one of them to use the bathroom was when the police detectives separated them for their questioning the night of the shooting. Fortunately, the detectives had split up, interviewing each of them at the same time, but they were still apart for almost two hours as they were asked the same questions over and over again.

While Peggy had slept, or simply remained in bed mourning the loss of her father and best friend for two days, Gabe had unburdened her by taking charge of as many arrangements as a non-family member could legally or morally handle. He always discussed his actions with Peggy beforehand, but nothing less than her verbal objection would alter his decisions.

In the following days, there were of course decisions related to Liam that only Peggy could make. He hadn't updated his will with the pending marriage to Janelle, so his estate converted instantly to a previously established trust where Peggy had been named as the trustee upon her father's death, thus avoiding any delays due to probate. Gabe remained Peggy's trusted confidant and advisor as she made decisions on everything from the distribution of assets to pay off creditors, to deciding the final resting place for Liam's ashes.

Janelle's parents were as devastated as Peggy. They had now lost both of their children, while Peggy had lost both of her parents. Gabe played a Solomon-like role in helping the two grieving families agree on the final resting places for Liam and Janelle.

Peggy felt that she knew both Janelle and her father well enough to be convinced that they would want their ashes buried together. Of course, that was strictly a symbolic placement of their remains since their spirits were already together and the placement of their Earthly remains wouldn't alter that. Janelle's parents wanted her remains to be buried next to those of her brother.

Gabe had reasoned with Janelle's parents that had Liam and Janelle died one day later than they did, as Liam's wife, they would expect Janelle to be buried alongside her new husband. With Peggy, Gabe had reminded her that her mother's remains were next to the spot earmarked for Liam. Out of respect for her mother, he suggested that Janelle get the spot on the opposite side of Liam rather than being buried with him in the same spot.

The funerals for both Liam and Janelle were held concurrently, which was another negotiation on Gabe's part in his efforts to make things as easy as possible for Peggy. The joint memorial service and graveside ceremonies also allowed colleagues from Armore to honor both people that they had known and respected in one event.

Things were more complicated with Armore. Regardless of Peggy's declarations about Gabe always speaking for her, he didn't truly have the authority to act on her behalf. Much of this obstacle could be overcome by Gabe using Peggy's e-mail account to communicate directions and instructions to Corbin Baker, Angela White, and Bruce Goddard as if they came from Peggy. However, when Peggy's physical presence was required, either in person or on the telephone, all Gabe could do was stand beside her and provide support.

Over two weeks, Gabe had waded through the myriad of issues that Peggy had to deal with related to Liam's estate, the future of Armore, and facing the grief that the deaths had brought her. He had sheltered her from the media attention and did his best to minimize the impact that details on the investigation would cause her. Detectives with the Sandy Springs Police Department had been sympathetic to her losses and never made an issue of communicating either their questions or updates on Seth Proctor through Gabe.

When details about the FBI investigation involving Kelly Proctor were shared with the Sandy Springs investigators, they quickly agreed that Liam Donahue had been mistakenly targeted by Seth Proctor as the person responsible for his wife's betrayal. To a person, the investigators all suspected that his legal defense would be based upon diminished mental capacity caused by his wife's infidelity, and had placed him on a suicide watch even before transferring him to the Fulton County jail.

Gabe sat at the dining room table in Peggy's condo, drinking coffee, researching estate auction brokers in the Atlanta area, and keeping an ear open for the sound of Peggy coming awake on the bed. It had been almost three weeks since the shooting, and Gabe had noticed the light returning to her face a little more with each day that passed. He trusted that, with time and his support, she would recover as much as anyone could after witnessing such a brutal loss of people that they had loved.

They hadn't had sex since that fateful day, but Gabe was unconcerned. If he was the only remaining person on the planet that loved Margaret Donahue, he would show her so much love that she would never feel wanting. Every opportunity since the shooting, Gabe had made love to Peggy by sharing his love for her with his words, actions, and physical presence. He had completely encased her in the cocoon that was his love for her. Now he just needed to wait for the eclosion; the metamorphosis that would bring his butterfly back to him.

His thoughts were prophetic as he glanced up and saw Peggy standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She had the top sheet from the bed wrapped around her as she smiled at Gabe. Spreading her arms to pull the sheet open, revealing her nakedness to him, she resembled a butterfly spreading its wings. Gabe stood and walked toward her.

"Good morning," he said. "How did you sleep?"

Keeping her arms extended as she stepped forward to meet him, Peggy whispered, "Really good. Peaceful. No nightmares."

Gabe placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Placing a light kiss onto her lips, he felt her bring her arms around to wrap them both inside the sheet at the same time that she intensified the kiss, conveying a passion and desire that neither had felt in weeks. Gabe knew that his beautiful butterfly had returned.