Gun Baby

She looked like an angel. Can you believe she killed someone? Well, that’s what happened.

Lori had been on the run for five weeks now. Vince was impressed with how she survived on her own for so long. Where was she getting the money to stay in net cafes? She had to have someone helping her.

Lori sat at a table in an interrogation room. She had a stoney look on her face. They caught her this morning. She didn’t resist. Vince noticed how tired her eyes looked. What was going on here?

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Nina saw the arrest on the news. Lori looked so young. Nina felt a shock to her chest. She panted as she reached for her phone.

“Hello?” Tess asked. Nina heaved a sob.

“They caught her. She’s like me!” she said.

“Okay, okay. Take a breath,” her friend said. Nina slowly breathed in. Tears ran down her cheeks.

“Breathe in,” Tess said. The other woman took another breath. She breathed again after that. They didn’t speak for a pause.

“Do I need to come over?” Tess asked. Nina shook her head.

“No. Can you stay on the phone with me? We don’t have to talk or anything.”

“Sure,” Tess said. Nina closed her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said. She took another breath.

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Lori refuses to talk. She hasn’t asked for a lawyer either. Vince sat across from her.

“How are you?” he asked. The girl eyed him. She still wouldn’t talk. The PI sighed. This wasn’t his job. Why did they call him to talk to a teenage girl? He had other cases to follow. This was taking up his time.

“Look,” he said. “We want to help you. But we can’t do that if you won’t tell us what happened.” Lori stared at him. She didn’t have any criminal records. However, there was something else he noticed in the police reports.

“Who are you protecting?” Vince asked. Lori lifted her head. He caught her attention.

“Why did you kill him?” Vince asked. No answer.

“Did he hurt you?” No answer. He saw Lori shiver. He was on the right track.

“Look,” Vince said. “I can understand if it was self-defense. We just need to know the truth. You don’t want to go to juvie, do you?” The suspect looked away.

“Lori,” Vince said.

Suddenly the door opened. He and the girl looked up to see a man in a suit and an old lady in the doorway. The man pushed up his glasses.

“I am Miss Brown’s lawyer,” he said. “You are not to talk to her without my presence. If you have any questions, direct them to me.” Vince sat back in his chair. Well that was a dead-end.

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Nina stared at herself in the mirror. She was better now. Lori’s arrest just took her back to that place. She didn’t want to go back there. Nina picked up her phone.

“Hello?” an older woman asked. Nina took a breath.

“Is it too late to talk?” she asked. Her voice came out in a whimper. There was a pause.

“Alright dear, what’s wrong?” the woman asked. Nina broke down and told her everything. It felt like she was drowning. Still, it had to be done. She closed her eyes when she was done.

This led to another session over the phone.

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Vince met with Lori’s grandma. She was the one who wanted to talk. He hit record on the tape recorder.

“Okay, what’s going on? Why did she kill her father?”

“He was a monster.”

“Did he abuse her?”

“Yes.”

“What all did he do?”

“Nother sexual.”

“Okay… Did he hit her?”

“Once.”

“Once?”

“Once.” The old lady had a frozen look in her eyes. Vince shivered. There was something she wasn’t telling him. He shifted in place.

“I mean being hit once doesn’t merit picking up a gun and killing someone.”

“It doesn’t.”

“So… What else did he do?”

“He killed my daughter.”

“I’m sorry?” He didn’t need to ask. Vince started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He just needed more evidence.