Chapter 1: Kate's Story

"My name is Kate Holmes. I am the ex-wife of detective Percy Holmes and mother of his children. I am also an alcoholic."

And that was how my day, every day that I was in prison ended, with an AA meeting. I was serving 10 years for drug possession and prostitution.

Well I guess I'd better start at the beginning so you understand my story.

I was married to a cop back east in Philadelphia and bore him two children, a girl Tara and a boy Todd. One night I got the phone call that all cop's wives dread. The Percy's Lt. said,"Your husband has been shot and we are sending a car around to pick you up and transport you to the hospital."

With call that my happy little world collapsed.

After seeing Percy in the hospital lying in bed with all kinds of machines, bottles, and tubes surrounding him, I lost it. I couldn't get near enough to him, because of the equipment, to hug him or even just hold his hand.

I cried for hours before a nurse gave me something to calm me down. Then she gave me an envelope with some pills in it and instructions to take one every 12 hours. I hurriedly went into the Ladies Room and took them all.

The pills made me feel very good. I was no longer in pain over my husband.

The next day the doctor told me that Percy was doing better but would be in the hospital for about two weeks. When I saw my husband later he was awake. After telling me he was going to be ok, Percy said "I can't wait to be well enough to go back out on patrol."

That night I made up my mind. I could no longer stand the constant worrying if Percy was going to be killed on duty. I picked a cheap divorce lawyer out of the phonebook and called to make an appointment.

The next day I explained to the lawyer "I want out of my marriage and will keep our children. I also want to make sure that Percy never contacts us again and that child support be collected by the County and transferred to me.

I signed all the necessary papers.

The next day, I took out all the money we had in our accounts and bought three unlimited bus passes. The kids and I started towards our new lives without Percy. Eventually we ended up in Oregon where we began our new lives.

Life was hard on us with Percy income before I left, and even harder on me with two small kids without his pay. The money from our bank accounts didn't last long and I was soon forced to take a job that I didn't really want.

Basically I had no skills so I took a position as a waitress in a downtrodden diner. I had the overnight shift so I had to find a babysitter that would keep the kids overnight. The cost of my apartment and the babysitter took most of her earnings.

I was sinking into depression. I started stopping after work to have a drink with some of my male customers in after hour clubs. I was lonely. Soon I was going to bed with some of those customers. Not for the sex because none of them really got the job done, but to alleviate the loneliness I felt.

I started drinking more and more each time I went out, and because of the drinking, I brought home some of the guys. My life spiraled downward from that point on. I soon remembered how nice those first pills that the nurse gave me all those many years ago. I started asking my "friends" to help me get some more of those pills.

My kids grew up without me even knowing, I was that stoned. The years went by in a haze of alcohol and drugs. One day I awoke on the floor. The guy I had brought home the night before had been into rough sex.

As I was heading toward the bathroom, I realized that my daughter's door was broken down. My daughter was gone and the guy from last night was lying on the floor bleeding from a cut on his head.

I called 911.

The police arrested the guy and attempted to find my daughter. They never found her.