AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sighed. “You want me to go over there and give her a pep talk, don’t you?”
“I’m so transparent.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m so glad that you are. I never could have trusted you otherwise. Don’t blame me if the kid runs screaming. I’m terrible at this.” She let him go and turned for the new kid.
“No, you’re not,” he said softly to her back.
No, she really wasn’t. She was good with kids, especially teenagers. Rita wouldn’t be the first foster she’d given a pep talk to.
Kit approached slowly, giving the girl the opportunity to leave or tell her to go away if she wished. Rita’s sandy blond hair was streaked with pink, purple, and blue, her dark eyes fringed with long, dark lashes. She was a strikingly pretty girl, despite the lip that curled in a scowl.
Kit recognized the scowl, too. So much like me at thirteen. She pointed to the bench on which Rita sat. “May I join you?”
“I wasn’t hurting her,” Rita said defiantly, meaning Snickerdoodle.
“Oh, I know. She loves kids. She especially loves belly rubs.” Kit waited a beat, then added, “Dogs are a great judge of character, you know.”
Rita rolled her eyes, such a dark brown that her pupils blended right in. “Yeah, yeah. Did Mr.McK send you over to try to win me over?”
“Yes,” Kit said readily, then laughed. “And no.”
“You guys never give a straight answer.”
“Pop said that you seemed interested in the press conference last night.”
Rita’s hand stilled on Snickerdoodle’s belly. Snick gave a little wiggle and a whine and the girl huffed, resuming the belly rub. “You caught a serial killer.”
“We did. Team effort and all that.”
“Pretty white girls,” Rita said bitterly.
Ah. The victims. Rita was right. The murders of pretty white girls tended to get more attention in the press. “They were. But many of the victims we work for aren’t. Everyone deserves justice, you know?”
“I know. I looked you up. You catch a lot of killers.” She kept her gaze fixed on Kit’s dog. “Even killers who kill poor people who don’t matter.”
“Everyone matters, Rita. Everyone.”
Kit knew she’d said the words a little too forcefully when Rita glanced up at her in surprise. She seemed to gauge Kit’s response, then nodded.
“I wish you’d been around for my mom.”
Oh, baby. “Someone killed your mom?”
“Yeah. Her boyfriend.”
“So the police solved the crime?”
“No. He’s still out there. My mom worked for his family. Cleaned their house. He...” The girl swallowed hard. “He... you know. Hurt her first.”
Raped her. Kit’s heartache intensified and she remembered that Harlan had said the girl had feared him at first. Kit wondered what had been done to her. But she wouldn’t ask. At this stage, it wasn’t her business and any inquiry would be the fastest way to scare Rita off. “I’m sorry.”
Rita shrugged thin shoulders. “But he’s rich. Knows some cops. So he got off.”
“That’s not fair,” Kit murmured and Rita said nothing, keeping her face averted.
Tears fell to Rita’s jeans, and Kit pretended not to see them. She’d leave this girl her dignity. She’d also look into her mother’s case first thing the next morning.
“My sister was killed,” Kit said quietly.
