The JAG Officer's Wife

"That is correct. Who's calling please?"

"Colonel, my name is Detective Brenda Lucas with the Ferguson Police Department in Ferguson, Texas. I'm calling about your predecessor, Colonel Grant Keel."

"Oh, yes...how is Grant?"

"He was fine the last time I saw him. Colonel Cardwell, Colonel Keel told us that he left his cell phone in his office in Korea."

"Yes, he did. It was on the charger on the credenza in what used to be his office. I didn't know where to send it so I hung on to it. A few days ago, he called me with an address in which to ship it, which I did."

"Colonel, what day did he contact you with the address?"

"This past Monday. He also told me to answer any questions about him that anyone who calls may have. It sounds like Grant was anticipating some trouble coming his way," Colonel Cardwell said.

Great, Lucas thought. The day of the attack when he no longer cares if his wife knew he was in town is when he has his phone shipped back. Detective Lucas thanked Cardwell and then immediately called Grant Keel.

"I spoke to Colonel Cardwell and she verified what you claimed about your cell phone. She also stated that she shipped it to you."

"Colonel Cardwell is very efficient. If she said she shipped it out on a certain day, you can bet your pension that she did."

"Colonel, I want to be the one to open that package. I want to see your cell phone before anyone else. I don't have a warrant and you are within your rights to say no, but this will go a long way towards establishing your innocence."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone before Keep replied. "I don't guess I have a problem with that since I don't have anything to hide. I'll call you when it arrives. If she shipped it out on Monday, it should be here in a day or so."

+++

During their canvassing of the neighborhood around Leland Keel's home, the detectives discovered the house across the street from Leland Keel had a doorbell camera that faced the Keel's home. When asked, the homeowner Bobby Lee Gearson stated that yes, his doorbell camera took video and yes it was stored on the cloud. The detectives felt they were getting their first break in the case and sat down with Gearson to review the recording. Because the houses were catty-cornered from each other, Leland Keel's doorbell camera was angled to capture his own driveway but recorded only the side of Gearson's house. Gearson's camera, on the other hand, was angled to provide the perfect view of the Keel's home.

Bobby Lee Gearson was a Fire Department captain who had a sideline in designing fire suppression equipment. He had several patents and had licensed his designs to several companies. He had a machine shop attached to the rear of his house with a CNC table, milling equipment, lathes, and cutters. He was divorced and for a hobby practiced martial arts and held a black belt in Karate.

There was a clear shot of the entirety of the Keel house, including the windows in the home gym for the day of the attack on Randy Cain. At approximately 7:15, the video showed Bobby Lee Gearson, wearing a black hoodie, black sweatpants, and white tennis shoes carrying yard tools from his garage to the front porch, including a rake, hoe, and shovel. As they watched, Gearson leaned his tools against the wall containing the doorbell camera. They watched in disbelief as he leaned the shovel with the blade up and handle down rather than with the shovel blade down and handle up like any normal person would have done. The shovel completely covered the camera. And continued to so do for over an hour until Gearson retrieved his tools and started spreading mulch around his house.

"What in the ever-loving fuck did I just see," Mann had shouted to Gearson.

"He blocked the camera," Detective Lucas said, dismayed.

"I was going to start spreading mulch, so I brought my tools out and leaned them against the wall but then I started feeling a little queasy, so I went back inside and sat on the sofa and rested for a while. When I started feeling better, I went back outside and finished my mulching."

"And I guess it was just a coincidence that you were wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants?" Detective Lucas asked, derisively.

"They must be really good friends for you to put yourself at risk of an aiding and abetting charge," Mann said, bitterly.

"Leland and Betty Lou? Well, Betty Lou is my sister and I've known Leland and Grant for like forever; so...I'm sorry; what was your question again?"

+++

As soon as Grant handed her the package, Detective Lucas tore through the box to get to Keel's iPhone before pressing the power button which...did nothing. Dead battery, thought Lucas to herself.

"Can I borrow this for a couple of days?" she asked

"Take your time," Grant replied.

After charging the phone at the station, Lucas and Mann huddled around the phone waiting for it to boot up. Lucas had an iPhone and had always side-eyed Mann's Android and the green text bubbles that came from him. Mann sat back and waited for his partner to do her thing.

Once the phone powered up, the phone started buzzing as texts and missed calls started loading up. Lucas opened iMessage, Apple's native texting platform, and started going down the list.

There was a normal number of texts from Cat to her husband; the usual "I love you and miss you" type, which was ridiculous knowing how flagrantly she was cheating on her husband. After Cain's attack, Cat's texts had ramped up and she had sent a shit-ton over the last few days as her "situation" was starting to catch up with her.

There were a couple from his brother, but the real surprise was the number of texts from Lynn Dunaway. The detectives knew that Captain Dunaway had worked with Grant in Korea and was now assigned to Fort Cavazos. The text was friendly with no hint of romance. They were mostly checking in with each other, him to make sure she was adapting to a new posting and her making sure he was recovering from finding out about his wife's affair. They also discussed Keel's finding about his wife's affair in the most emasculating way imaginable: having your entire office staff see his wife jump into the arms of her lover and kiss him in front of the entire school. Ouch.

They read Danny's text to his father immediately after his game and Grant's response. There were a couple more "how's it going?" type texts before they came across a video that Danny had sent to his Dad, his Uncle Leland, Aunt Betty Lou, and her brother Bobby Lee. The video was self-taken of Danny standing in front of a mirror and it was date and time stamped a week before the attack.

In the video, Danny said, "The pep rally for the banner presentation is next Monday at 9:00 AM. I hope you can make it, but I'll understand if each of you is too busy. I'll talk to you soon."

Poor kid, the detectives thought. He sounded so down and his dad's family was cutting him out of their lives for keeping his mother's affair a secret.

"Explain this to me like I'm five," Mann said. "He hasn't had his phone for over a month, but I can see that he's been responding to texts from his kid and his wife the whole time. What's up with that?"

"Assuming he doesn't have another phone, then he either has an iPad or a Mac synced to his iPhone with his iCloud account. He can respond to text and the other person doesn't know they're not coming from his iPhone. The iPhone location shows Korea, and he's a mile away at his brother's house sending them texts."

"Fuck. Me," replied Detective Mann. "His family thinks he's in Korea, meanwhile he's in town making moves and getting his divorce going."

"Yeah, but so what? Where does that get us?"

"Nowhere, except knowing he's a sneaky bastard."

+++

Cat Keel awoke to find herself in the hospital. For a moment, she could not remember what had happened to her before it all came back to her in a rush. Grant was in town and had been for weeks although he had made no effort to see either her or Danny. That thought was like a physical pain that wracked her body. 'I have to see Grant,' she thought.' I have to explain that my fling with Randy meant nothing; that it did not affect our marriage.' Cat started crying, the tears running down the side of her face as she stared up at the ceiling.

She was still crying when Danny opened the door to her room. She sat up to receive a hug from her son.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

"Oh, Danny! Your father is in town. The police think that he's the one that attacked Randy."

"Why do they think it was Dad?"

"The police said he's been here three weeks!" Cat cried out.

"That's not good. What's your plan, Mom?"

"I just need to talk to your father and explain things to him. Your father loves us and our life together. He's not going to throw that away. Don't worry baby. I'll fix this."

Cat and Danny were talking about Grant and remembering some of the fun experiences they had as a family when there was a knock at Cat's door and Detectives Mann and Lucas entered the hospital room.

"Just checking in with you Mrs. Keel. You're looking much better than the last time we spoke."

"I guess I am feeling better after sleeping away the last two days in a hospital bed. Have you seen my husband? Is Grant going to come visit me?" Her tone was begging for good news of which they had none to offer.

"We spoke with him this morning. I don't think you should get your hopes up about a visit."

"I have to talk to him! I have to explain that things are not as bad as he may think. He has to understand that what I had going on with Randy meant nothing!"

Detective Mann looked seriously pissed while Detective Lucas looked at Cat with sympathy. Both detectives had marriages end due to cheating. In Detective Mann's case, his wife had cheated on him with an old high school boyfriend and had left the detective a note saying that she was done with being married to a cop.

Detective Lucas' marriage had also ended due to infidelity, but in her case, she had cheated on her college professor husband with a fellow police officer. They had tried to reconcile, but Detective Lucas had not been able to stay faithful and had again cheated on him with the same co-worker resulting in her husband filing for divorce. The irony was, she truly loved her husband and was devastated when he filed for divorce. She blamed no one but herself and sought therapy for herself to find the root cause of her destructive behavior. After three years, she was still seeing her therapist every week. She had not been on a date since being served. She empathized with Cat and could only recommend therapy

"Mrs. Keel, do you know how your husband found out about your affair?"

"I imagine someone told him."

"No Ma'am. He says he had the state championship game playing on a big screen in the JAG office. His whole staff was working that day and was watching the game with him. After the game ended, you threw yourself into the arms of Coach Cain wrapped your legs around him, and started kissing him. His whole office watched that live."

Cat looked at the detective with a horrified look as she shook her head. "No. No, that couldn't have happened like that. I would remember doing something like that. That didn't happen. No! You're lying!"

"Mom," Danny said. "It did happen. Everyone saw it. And I was standing right there as Dad watched us so he knows that I knew about you cheating on him."

Detective Lucas watched as the realization began to dawn in Cat's eyes that her marriage was likely over. At that moment, there was a knock on Cat's door and a pudgy, middle-aged man carrying a large envelope entered Cat's room and after nodding hello at Danny and the two detectives, asked if she was Catherine Keel.

"Sorry to do this here ma'am," he said apologetically as he handed Cat an envelope. "You've been served," the stranger said, then turned and left without saying another word.

Cat handed the envelope to Danny and with a haunted, fearful look in her eyes asked Danny to open the envelope and tell her what it was.

Danny opened the sealed envelope by running his index finger under the flap and then extracting the contents which he held up for Cat to see--Petition for Divorce.

Detective Lucas ran into the hall looking for a nurse as Danny frantically pushed the nurse call button while Cat started hyperventilating and making a keening noise as she rocked back and forth in her hospital bed.

+++

"Let me show you around," Grant said to Lynn Dunaway as they entered the door into the empty office space.

"So, you're buying the whole building?" She asked as she looked around the interior, poking her head into each individual office.

"I think I'm going to go for it." The space had been an attorney's office for years until he became too old to practice law and had put the building up for sale. There was room for three attorneys, several paralegals a couple of legal secretaries, and a receptionist. There was both a large and a small conference room, male and female restrooms, and a kitchenette. Lynn was suitably impressed. "Wait until you see the second floor," Grant said with a grin.

Grant Keel was very happy to see Lynn Dunaway. In the months since he had discovered his wife's adultery, they had spoken by phone at least three times a week and she had provided invaluable support to him. During their time working together in Korea, Grant had never seen her as anything other than "Captain Dunaway." He knew that the blonde-haired, green-eyed Lynn Dunaway was objectively very pretty; something that she downplayed while in uniform but standing in the empty offices of the building he was contemplating purchasing, Grant could see how gorgeous she was.

They took the stairs to the second floor which led to a small foyer that held two doors facing each other. Grant unlocked both doors and stood aside for Lynn to enter one and as she walked into the room he heard her gasp.

The entire second floor of the building was comprised of two apartments: a 3000-square-foot apartment and a 1500-square-foot apartment. Both apartments had been completely renovated a few years ago and contained modern bath and kitchen fixtures as well as fifteen-foot-high plaster ceilings with intricate moldings. But what had caused Lynn's gasp was the view of Lake Ray Ferguson from almost every room in the apartment.

Unlike many towns that renovated their downtown squares by adding shops and restaurants; Ferguson never needed to do that. The city's town square was located one block from the lake which shared its name with the town's founder. Shops and restaurants had always occupied storefronts along the city square and when the Army Corp of Engineers built the lake as part of Roosevelt's WPA, a town center that had always been a thriving and bustling area, became even more so with the lake mere feet away.

The building that Grant was contemplating purchasing sat on a street corner of the square with the front of the building facing the town square, one side facing the avenue leading to the lake, and the rear of the building, facing the lake and the boardwalk containing even more shops and restaurants.

They entered the second, smaller apartment and Lynn was suitably impressed. It had been upgraded at the same time as the larger apartment and had the same lake views.

"Can you afford this?" Lynn asked in a concerned tone.

"I have my half of the inheritance from when my folks passed a few years ago. That money was invested in my Fidelity account and those funds were never co-mingled with our marital assets. They should be exempt from my divorce settlement. There's more than enough in that account to pay cash for the building."

"Are you ready to be a landlord?"

Grant shrugged at her question. In addition to the law offices and the huge apartments that comprised the entire second floor of the building, also operating on the ground floor of the building was a diner that was open for breakfast and lunch, a Lily Pulitzer boutique, and an Irish pub that served excellent food in addition to having a house band playing Irish and Celtic folk music Wednesday night through Saturday night.

"I am so jealous of you," Lynn smiled. "You seem to have struck gold at the worst time of your life."

"Well, actually, I have an ulterior motive for asking you here. How would you like to become partners in a new law firm?"

Lynn gaped at Grant in surprised shock. "Seriously? You want me to resign my commission and move to Ferguson? That's... I don't even know what to say about that."

"Think about this...You would have the second apartment rent-free. We would be Keel and Dunaway, Attorneys at Law. I'm not expecting an answer now, but think about it, Lynn."

Lynn wandered through the second apartment again, looking around, especially at the lake view. At 1500 square feet, Grant knew the apartment was the same size as the house she was currently renting in Killeen, Texas outside Fort Cavazos. As he watched Lynn run her hands along the stone countertops in the kitchen while looking at the lake, he observed that she had a thoughtful look on her face.

+++

"What do you mean their insurance company told you to go pound sand!?" Randy Cain mumbled to his attorney. He wanted to shout, but it was too painful to do so. Even the act of whispering was excruciating. Randy had most of the wires from his jaw removed two days previously after being wired shut for nearly eight weeks. There were still several pins and screws holding his jaw together and the popping and clicking coming from his jaw hinge was driving him insane. Any food or liquid that was either too hot or too cold caused his entire head to throb with pain.

The casts had been removed from his knees and his elbows, but he still had pins and screws at each joint, and they would stay there for the remainder of his life; such was the trauma from his attack. Randy's insurance was about to reach the policy limit on live-in care and he was months, possibly years away from being able to live on his own. Even going to the restroom required assistance and would continue to require assistance for several more months.

"They're denying any liability. You were attacked on a public street and not on the Keel's property. No one has been charged in the attack and the investigation is still ongoing. If one of the members of the household is convicted in the attack on you then we can go after them since there is a one-million-dollar umbrella policy as part of the Keel's homeowner's policy. But that's only if someone from their home is convicted." Todd Blair had gone to high school with Randy Cain and at that time thought him a real asshole. Time had not changed his opinion of Cain. Knowing that he was in this situation because he was sleeping with someone's wife reinforced Todd's low opinion of Cain.

"What's going on with the police investigation? Every time I call Mann or Lucas they blow me off. That is when they even bother to return my calls," Randy mumbled bitterly.

Todd rubbed his temples as he stared at the speakerphone. He was hoping the detectives would speak to Randy, but they appeared to be in no hurry to give him the news. Todd sighed.

"The investigation is over. I met with Detectives Mann and Lucas yesterday."

"And...?" Randy said eagerly.

"And you're not gonna like this," Todd said.

+++

Detectives Mann and Lucas had completed their investigation and the meeting with the District Attorney had not gone well.

"What you're telling me is that you're pretty sure Grant Keel carried out the assault."

"No," said Mann. "We know he did it."

"But you can't prove it?" asked the DA.

Mann and Lucas had looked at each other, unhappy with the direction the conversation was taking.

"It also sounds like it could also possibly be the brother," the DA observed.