Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,4

Guillame in the house at that time?”

“That’s right. Paul heard him, too, of course. But he’s changed his story about what happened that night.”

“Changed his story? How?” Kate shuffled through the files until she found the one labeled Paul Guillame.

“I didn’t witness this, but apparently, when the police talked to Paul at the scene, Paul accused Stamps of shooting him. But then when he made his written statement, he swore the shooting was an accident. He said something like ‘in the chaos, when the bullets started flying, Stamps must have shot him accidentally.’”

Kate tapped the eraser end of a pencil on her desk. “I saw in Miss Canto’s statement that she described Stamps as furious. So was it an accident?”

“It doesn’t sound like an accident.” Harte gestured toward Dani’s file. “Dani thought, because of what Stamps had yelled at Paul, that he was terrified Paul was about to incriminate Stamps, maybe even implicate himself, in Freeman Canto’s death. But about that time the gunmen broke in and started shooting. While the bullets were flying, Stamps took the opportunity that presented itself to him. But that’s going to be hard to prove. As I said before, I’m not a reliable witness and Dani, although she’d never lie, will be suspect, because of what she had heard on the night her granddad was murdered.”

“Either way, his attorney is pushing for a finding of temporary insanity,” Kate said, then gestured toward the envelope that Harte had delivered. “Apparently, she found a physician who’s willing to testify that it was possible.”

“I’ve never been involved with a temporary-insanity case. Isn’t that nearly impossible to prove?” Harte asked. “I know one thing it does is shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defense.”

“Which is always more difficult for the defense. And yes, it’s very difficult to prove. I don’t understand why a respected state senator would want to go that route, rather than just pleading innocent, if he and Guillame both are claiming it was an accident.”

“He only fired once,” Harte said. “My brother Lucas—he was the detective on the scene—told me that Stamps’s gun was missing only one round and they only found one casing that matched it. A very good case can be made that one deliberate gunshot argues against it being an accident.” Harte paused, looking thoughtful. “If he were to plead innocent and be convicted of assault with intent or even simple assault, he’d be barred from holding public office forever.”

“He’s seventy-eight. How much longer do you think he plans to serve?” Kate asked.

Harte shrugged carefully, favoring his left shoulder. “Politicians have continued in office into their nineties and beyond. Look at Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd.”

“Okay,” Kate said. “So he doesn’t want to risk a guilty plea. Temporary insanity is going to put him under psychiatric care. Will that cause any issues with his senate seat?”

“He won’t be allowed to serve while he’s under court-appointed psychiatric care, but there’s no reason he can’t run again once he’s released. There’s no law against being crazy.”

“No, there’s not.” Kate nodded. “Well, thanks for the information. I haven’t examined the senator yet. I wanted to read through the case files first. As soon as I’m done, I’ll get with the D.A.”

Harte stood, said goodbye and left. Kate watched him walk out. Even with an injury, he carried himself with dignity and grace, like Travis.

She rubbed her temple. Where were these thoughts of Travis coming from? Just from reading his brothers’ and cousins’ names in the police files and seeing his younger brother? That had to be it. She hardly ever thought about Travis during work these days. The times that she couldn’t help but think about him were at night when she tucked Max in, or early in the morning when he ran into her room to nuggle under the covers with her, or when he begged for homemade pasketti, which was not only his favorite meal but his dad’s, too.

She almost wished she’d asked Harte about his brother. But nobody in Travis’s family except his younger sister, Cara Lynn, knew that she and Travis had dated. And even Cara Lynn didn’t know that her brother was Max’s father. She suspected, but she’d never asked and Kate had never told her.

Kate went back to reading Harte’s statement. She didn’t look up again until four o’clock, when Alice called out that she was leaving.

“Okay. I’m not far behind you,” she responded. “Max is probably giving them fits at his day care. I