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“Peterson is talking to her. We figure she’ll be the one most likely to give us the whole story, you being a cop and all.”
Kerri understood exactly what he meant. Livid, she swung her attention to Foster. Her protective mother instincts overrode more than a decade of hard-earned cop reflexes. “And you allowed this?”
Foster looked from Kerri to Sykes. “Detective, you assured me Tori’s mother wouldn’t have a problem with you proceeding with the questioning.” He turned back to Kerri. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.”
Kerri bit back the curse that perched on the tip of her tongue. It was done. “Take me to her.Now.”
Sykes exhaled a long breath. “This way.”
The office phone rang, so Foster stayed behind to take the call. Kerri followed the other detective into the main corridor. At that point she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out. “What the hell were you thinking, Sykes?”
He stopped, did an about-face, and glared at her. “Look, we got a girl critically injured. And we got three other girls who know what happened, and not one of them is talking. Of all people, you should understand the urgency of the situation. What if it had been your kid rushed to the hospital?”
Kerri took a mental step back. On one level, he was right. Anytime a minor was involved in an incident, it was the waiting for a parent to arrive that often hindered the investigation. Gave the child time to grow more afraid or confused and to possibly make up a story. Parents wanted to protect their children—even if that child had committed a crime. Not to mention the idea that no child wanted to admit his or her wrongdoing in front of a parent.
But Tori was a good kid. An excellent student. She wouldn’t lie or cause any sort of trouble. Ever.
“Don’t give me that shit, Sykes.” Kerri wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily. “She’s a kid. Easy to manipulate. That’s the reason we have rules and procedures. You know as well as I do that anything she has said to you up to the point where I’m in the room is inadmissible.”
“Yeah, yeah, come on.” He started moving again. Paused two doors up and on the other side of the corridor.
The counselor’s office.
Kerri knew the counselor, Anna Leary, fairly well. If she was with Tori, Kerri had nothing to worry about. Leary would never permit a child to be manipulated or badgered. For now, Kerri breathed a little easier.
The secretary wasn’t in the small waiting room, so Sykes went straight to the door of the counselor’s office and knocked before opening it.
Kerri’s gaze landed on Tori, seated in one of two chairs in front of Leary’s desk. She took in the red, swollen eyes and the tearstained cheeks. A new burst of fury ignited inside Kerri. The counselor sat behind her desk, and Peterson stood next to her chair. He hadn’t taken a seat, a blatant demonstration of authority. He stood on the counselor’s side of the desk. Two against one. He glanced at Kerri, then to his partner. Visibly attempted to gauge just how much trouble Kerri was about to start.
“She hasn’t threatened to shoot you yet,” Sykes said with an attempt at lightheartedness.
Peterson shifted his attention to Kerri again. “You would’ve done the same if it had been my kid.”
“Get out,” Kerri said to the man, who knew better than to pretend he hadn’t crossed a line. “My daughter and I need the room.”
“We’ll talk later,” Leary said to Kerri as she stood. “Let me know if you need me or want to discuss the past twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes.Peterson had been grilling Tori for twenty damned minutes.
Kerri gave the counselor a nod and waited until the three had left the room before she allowed herself to really look at Tori.
Her fourteen-year-old daughter appeared inordinately small in the upholstered wing chair. Her thin arms were crossed over her still mostly flat chest, and her face revealed exactly how terrified she was. Before Kerri could speak, Tori launched out of the chair into her mother’s arms and started to sob.
For a long while, Kerri held her and whispered soothing words. Her own tears flowed down her cheeks. Whatever had happened, Tori was not responsible. She would never purposely hurt anyone. Kerri realized that most parents would believe as much when it came to theiroffspring, but she didn’t just believe it—sheknewit. Like the rest of the family, Tori was still struggling with her cousin’s murder. This child didn’t have it in her to hurt anyone.
When Tori’s shoulders had stopped shaking and her hard sobs had diminished, Kerri ushered her back into her chair and took the one next to her. “Tell me what happened.”
Tori stared at the floor. “I’m ... I’m not sure.”
Kerri’s heart twisted. Tori’s inability to meet her mother’s gaze warned this was not entirely accurate. “Take your time,” she said softly. “Who was with you, besides Brendal?”
Tori’s thin body jerked at the mention of Brendal’s name. “Is she going to be all right?”
Kerri gave it to her straight. “I don’t know. Sykes said she was critically injured. We’ll have to wait and see what the doctors say.”
Tori swiped at her eyes, then met her mother’s gaze. “Sarah, Alice, and I were coming down the stairs, headed to our next class, when we ran into Brendal on the landing. She was going upstairs for science.”
The ceilings were high in this historic building, which made the staircase from the first floor to the second a double set. At the midway point there was a landing with windows that overlooked the center courtyard.
