Page 2 of Shelter for Sharla

“You’re of legal age. We’re under no obligation to call anyone for you. You get one phone call, and I’d suggest it be an attorney.”

“I don’t know who our attorney is! I don’t know who to call! Please, sir, please? I…” There was a commotion outside the room and Carter could hear a loud, shrill voice. It was hard to make out what it was saying, but the girl instantly began to scream, “MOM! MOM, I’M HERE! Please, sir, that’s my mom! Mom! I’m in here!”

Jumping from his chair and whipping through the doorway, Carter slammed the door behind him and came face to face with a woman who was as distraught as any he’d ever seen. “Is my daughter in there? CHELSEA? Are you in there?” she screamed toward the door.

“Ma’am, you’re going to have to calm down,” Carter said, holding up both palms.

“I need to see my daughter! Chelsea! I’m here!”

“Ma’am, again, please, calm down. I’m SheriffMelton. Let’s go sit down somewhere, okay?”

“I need to see my daughter! Where’s Lionel? Is he here somewhere? I can’t get him on the phone! Is Tamara here? I can’t reach her either! What’s going on?” the woman shrieked.

“Ma’am, let’s go sit down. Please. We don’t want to have to cuff you, but we will if you don’t calm down.” He watched as the woman’s face contorted and she began to cry. “Come on. Let’s sit down and talk, okay?” Taking her upper arm, he steered her down a hallway and into another interrogation room. “Have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”

She could barely speak for sobbing. “I want to see my daughter! Is she okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. She’s fine, although she may be in a lot of trouble. We’re trying to get down to that now. Coffee?”

“No, thank you. Please, tell me what’s going on?”

He waited until she was sitting and took a seat adjacent to hers. “So Chelsea is your daughter?”

“Yes, sir,” she sniffled. “She’s nineteen. A student at Murray State.”

“I see. And who’s Lionel?”

“He’s my nephew. He’s twenty-one, and he goes to school at Murray State too. I thought they were with Tamara. Have you seen her?”

There’s no easy way to do this, Carter thought. “Ma’am, if you’re talking about TamaraKent, she’s deceased.”

“What? Was there an accident? I don’t understand!” she cried out.

“She shot a Kentucky State Trooper.”

Her sobbing stopped, her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline, and her jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious! There must be some mistake!”

“Unfortunately, ma’am, I’m dead serious. She shot a Kentucky State Trooper at point-blank range.”

“Will the trooper be okay?”

“He’s deceased also, ma’am.”

“Oh my god.” He could see the terror on her face, the difficulty in accepting what she’d just heard. “Oh my god, why would she do that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“And Chelsea? And Lionel? Are they okay?”

“Physically, yes, ma’am. They are. But we’re trying to determine what role, if any, they played in the crime.”

“None! I’m sure of it! I just don’t understand! Tamara is a gentle young woman. She’d never do anything like that! I can’t understand… Did the trooper threaten her in some way?”

Carter fought a feeling of offense by telling himself that the woman was upset and not thinking clearly. “No, ma’am. Why would you think that?”

“I’m just trying to understand. Nothing makes sense about this?nothing. Oh my god. I just… Why would she do that? And why is she dead?”

“She pointed her weapon at all of us as we surrounded her and we opened fire.”

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