“How was your day?” My mother asked when I walked into the house. One look at my face, though, told her all she needed to know.
“How’s Dad?” I asked instead of answering her. I had thought about my father all day, and I wanted to make sure he was ok.
“I’m fine,” Dad said as he emerged from the living room into the hallway. “You should see the fix-up job they did on our window.”
“I saw it from outside,” I replied, hanging up my coat. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“That’s what I’ve been doing all day,” Dad grumbled, pushing fretfully at his sling. I could sympathize after so recently being in one of my own. I was about to say something when my cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Chen? It’s Detective Bradley. Ms. Drake still won’t talk. We’ve been interrogating her on and off for most of the morning, but she hasn’t said a thing.”
“Her lawyer allowed you to do that?” I asked in surprise. From what I’ve seen on Law & Order, the lawyer wouldn’t allow the cops to ask much of anything.
“She didn’t lawyer up after all,” Detective Bradley said, sighing deeply. “We started on her early in the morning, but she won’t say a word. I just wanted to let you know.” He hesitated before adding, “I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m pretty sure she’s the one. When they won’t talk, it’s because they have something to hide. Most cons are eager to tell everyone how innocent they are and how they were set up. Her not saying a word is pretty damning.”
“She did get caught red-handed,” I pointed out. “There wasn’t much she could do about that.”
“Well, we’re pretty certain that we have our killer. I’ll call you as soon as we get her to confess.” I didn’t like the way he phrased that, but I couldn’t help but be grateful for his persistence. Idly, I wondered what it was that changed his mind about me, but I didn’t much care as long as it worked to my advantage.
“What did they have to say?” My dad said, his face looking drawn.
Amidst her ranting and raving, the sound of sirens were heard. I couldn’t tell if they were coming from the phone or directly from outside, but it really didn’t matter. The cops were here which meant they’d put a stop to the insanity. Through my phone, I heard the voice of Detective Bradley shouting for Shannon to put down her weapon. Shannon screamed, but did not indicate whether or not she was going to comply. Her phone cut off, so hopefully the detectives had winged the bitch. I poked my head around the corner into the living room and was relieved when no shots flew by—or at my head. After ascertaining that she wasn’t shooting any longer, I glanced down and saw my father on the floor, slumped against the couch, holding his arm. Blood was flowing freely, and his face was white.
“The first time I met Brian, something zinged through me. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt the same way.” A faraway look came into her eyes and despite the serious circumstances, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “After that, we made excuses not to spend time together, but Linda insisted. She wanted me and Brian to get to know each other, so we gave in for her sake. Every time I saw him, I felt the same pull.” Mrs. Rodriguez stopped.
“Let’s go through it one more time,” Detective Bradley said, sounding bored. We were running through what had happened when I went out to the car and almost got shot, and this was the fourth time I had told the tale. I didn’t know what else he wanted me to say because it wasn’t that dramatic. At least Detective Sands hadn’t come, which made me happy.