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Chapter Six
After the police were able to confirm that a hit had taken place in the exact apartment that Alicia had pointed out, they got serious.
While officers taped off certain areas in this living room where bullets had been fired, others began photographing the scene, bagging and tagging the evidence. The rest of them settled in the kitchen. Uniforms had been sent earlier to pick up the Whites and their friends, explain the circumstances and force them to return home.
It took hours for all the hullaballoo to settle down, the questions asked and answered.
Two couples who collected their babies left, but not before making a fuss, asking too many questions and getting close to ruining the crime scene. One of the inebriated women kept shooting photos with her phone and even tried taking a selfie with Alicia until the officer in charge put a stop to the nonsense.
All liquored up and still flying high, Carolina could see Bud and Margo weren’t taking the news of what had occurred well at all. Margo’s face turned beet red when she found out that because Alicia had used binoculars she’d been forbidden to touch, she’d inadvertently witnessed a murder.
“Let me get this straight,” Margo, her beer-soiled dress wrinkled and sliding off one shoulder, hovered over Alicia’s chair. Her face mottled with fury, eyes bulging and bloodshot from booze, she ranted, “You used Bud’s stuff without permission, saw some broad getting whacked and called the police before you called me? Is that what you’re saying here?”
Alicia cowered in her chair, the blanket wrapped around her shoulders slipped, exposing her trembling. “I didn’t know what to do, Margo. He saw me. I knew he’d come. I remembered you told me that Miss Madison was FBI, so I asked her to help.”
“And you left the children. You weren’t too worried about their safety, were you? Just about saving your own ass.”
Carolina felt the urge to check out the bitch’s neck size, which prompted her to put a stop to the twit’s badgering. “Unless you’ve been in a similar situation, you have no idea what you’d do, Mrs. White. Alicia was smart. She asked me to help her and the babies, knowing it would take much longer for the police to get here.”
Margo turned on her, vicious in her condemnation. “And what the hell did you do? Shooting bullets in my place like some crazy TV cop, kids sleeping in the other room, I’m thinking to sue your ass. What would have happened if they’d woken up?”
“They didn’t. I was there to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone. Why do you think I went to the apartment rather than let Alicia return? Make no mistake, she wanted to. I made her stay at my place and call for help.”
A small whiny voice broke into their heated altercation. “Licia. Me ‘ant potty.”
The young, sleepy-faced boy, his thin hair standing straight up, stood in the doorway, took one look at the mass of people in the room and ran straight for Alicia, his pudgy arms out to be picked up.
“Hi Buddy. Sure, Alicia’ll take you to the bathroom, but then you need to go back to bed, honey, okay?” Alicia shrugged off her blanket and stumbled from the room, sheltering the clinging, droopy-diapered, heavy child.
The three cops stopped what they were doing to watch the youngster being carried from the room. Their silence spoke more than any words could say. Disgust filtered over the lead detective’s face for a few seconds before he hid it behind professional courtesy.
Carolina, who’d caught his eye, acknowledged his slight nod, showing her agreement with his assessment. The Whites were scum.
From the moment Bud White had arrived home, he’d ranted over and over, “Where were you guys while killers were shooting innocent people? Huh? Nobody’s safe in their own homes now. Crazy bastards! Running around with guns and breaking into apartments.”
“Shut up, Bud. No one wants to hear your bullshit.” Margo erupted, using her husband as her kicking post. “So, what are you going to do about our safety? He’s out there, free as a bird, and he knows where Alicia lives.”
Detective Crawly, the lead on the case – a solid man of mid-fifties with a full head of gray hair, a face decorated with pot marks and a keen intelligence – maintained a demeanor perfect for an officer of the law. “We’ll have an officer stay here for the rest of the night, ma’am. I’ll have my men escort you and your family to a hotel nearby while we finish our investigation. Don’t worry, Mrs. White, we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe.”
“Oh yes you will, Detective. I’ll see to that.”
Showing a complete lack of empathy for the teen in her care, Margo White dropped her bombshell. She exploded at Alicia, who’d just returned to her place by the table. Before the teen could lift the blanket to replace it around her, Margo attacked. “And you, Miss Can’t-keep-your-stupid-nose-to-yourself, you’re outta here. Tonight! Pack up and get out. You hear me? We’re not safe as long as he thinks you’re still around.”
