Page 27 of State of Denial

“Is it weird that Liliana’s best friend, Kelly, didn’t seem to know about the lawsuit?” Sam asked.

“I wondered that, too. I’ll circle back with her to ask if she knew.”

“Yeah, let’s do that, and if she did, ask her why she failed to mention it to us.”

“If she knows, she was probably trying to protect his reputation.”

“Understandable, but remind her this is no time to hold back.”

“I’m on it.”

Sam put her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, thinking through the parts and pieces of the case, such as it was thus far. It was a muddled mess of images and details and things that didn’t add up, which only added to her frustration. Her dyslexia was bad enough when she tried to read something. She didn’t need it making her own thoughts into a mess, too.

The car came to a stop, which startled her. Somehow she’d managed to doze off, which was also not like her during a workday.

Freddie gave her a curious look as they walked into the morgue entrance. They were running late for the meeting with Trulo, or she would’ve stopped to see Lindsey. Following voices to the conference room, they found the rest of the squad already seated around the table, along with Lindsey, Byron and two of the techs from the ME team.

“Sorry we’re late,” Sam said as she and Freddie took the last two seats.

“We just started,” Dr. Trulo said with a warm smile for Sam. “Thank you all for being here at the end of a long, difficult day. Most of you have been doing this long enough now that you’ve seen a few things, but it’s always worse when kids are involved. Or at least that’s what officers have been telling me for almost thirty years.

“This is an opportunity to talk about it as a group, while knowing my door is always open to you on an individual basis as well. Day or night, I’m here for you. If there’s anything you’d like to say, this is a safe space to share your feelings. Nothing you say here or in individual sessions will impact your career within the department in any way. You have my word on that.”

After a long moment of silence, Trulo said, “Would anyone like to start?”

More silence greeted the question.

“Not sure what there is to say other than crime scenes like that are the worst,” Gonzo said.

“It makes you wonder what kind of world we live in where someone could shoot innocent kids in their beds, in the place they’re supposed to be the safest.”

“That’s a good point, Sergeant,” Trulo said. “How do you feel about that, Detective Cruz?”

“Same as Gonzo. It makes no sense that whoever did this killed the kids, too. Like, what could they have possibly done to anyone?”

“Nothing,” Detective Green said. “They didn’t do anything to anyone. They were collateral damage.”

“Are we thinking the father did it?” Detective Charles asked.

“I’m not a hundred percent sold on that theory,” Sam said.

“He had gunshot residue on his right hand,” Lindsey said.

“That’s new information,” Sam replied as she glanced at her friend, “but I’m still not convinced. Everyone we’ve talked to said he loved his wife and kids more than anything.”

“You’ll answer all the questions about the case in due time,” Dr. Trulo said. “For now, let’s focus on how you’re feeling as people rather than as detectives.”

“My mother was murdered when I was six,” Detective Charles said.

The room went completely still as all eyes shifted to the young detective.

“I witnessed it from a closet. A man I’d never seen before forced his way into our apartment and shot her in the chest. I think she was dead before she hit the floor. He never saw me and was gone as fast as he’d come. I was so scared he’d come back that I stayed in the closet for an hour before I worked up the courage to go to her. She was already cold.

“I knew that meant she was dead because we used to watchLaw & Ordertogether. She said I couldn’t tell anyone that she let me watch that, because I was too young. It was her favorite show, though, so we watched it. Her killer was never caught. I became a cop because her favorite show wasLaw & Order. It’s different, though, when it’s real people who’ve been killed, and well, I just wanted you guys to know why it means so much to me to be here. Even on days like today, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

“Neveah,” Sam said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. It was a long time ago now.”

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