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“We received a call from Gianni, stating that his brother had taken you somewhere, and he was worried about your safety. He gave us his brother’s license plate, which we put through the scanners. Luckily, we picked up his car on one of the security cameras on the main road, and we got a car on him in time for us to find you. I don’t think he has ever done anything like this before.” Klein eyes me with a slightly raised eyebrow. “He parked his car right outside the house he was holding you in.”
“How did Gianni know I was in trouble?” Klein shuffles in his seat, clearly not happy to be on the receiving end of all the questions.
“He said his brother had called him earlier saying there was an emergency at one of the other shops, but when Gianni got there, there was no problem. He suspected Piero had tried to get him out of the way. He then received a call from one of his employees, a Miss…” Klein fumbles with his notebook, flipping through the pages to find the correct information. “Casey Forbes. According to her, she was waiting at the bus stop on the other side of the street when she saw you and Piero leave the shop. She called Gianni as she was worried. She said you didn’t look normal and the fact that the shop had closed early caused alarm bells to ring. Gianni then called us.”
“Then why did it take so long for you to get me out?”
“At that point, we had no idea what was going on in there. We didn’t know if Piero was armed. I can’t just send officers storming into a place of residence if there’s a chance that the perpetrator is armed. Miss Forbes was under the impression Piero was holding something against your back. As a precaution, I had to request the armed response unit. I had to coordinate a full team to surround the building, covering all access points. That stuff takes time, Miss Daniels.” He glares at me like I’m a child. “We watched the house for the duration of this time in an unmarked police car on the other side of the road. That’s how we saw Carl Hardaker arrive. We knew then we needed more backup. As you know, Hardaker was wanted for murder. We knew we had to get a move on and gain entry to the house.”
“Why did you wait until Piero left?”
“Piero left the house as my team was still assembling. We apprehended him as soon as we could. Through him, we were able to ascertain exactly who was in the house and whether there were any weapons. He was very cooperative. And from there, we took it as a hostage situation.”
I bite my bottom lip, trying hard to see it through Klein’s eyes, not my own view of bare floorboards and boarded windows. My next question is the hardest to ask.
“Who shot him?”
“Pardon?” Klein glares at me.
“Which one of your officers shot Carl?”
Klein holds his cheap-looking pen between his thumb and a finger as he contemplates his reply. “I’m not at liberty to give you his name. All I can tell you is that he’s an officer with the armed response unit and has many years of experience.”
“So, he wouldn’t have got it wrong?” I ask. Klein regards me with a hint of naivety. I blink, and the ghosted weight of Carl’s dead body is upon me. I try to shrug it off, but he remains slumped over me while I cower on the ground.
“If you’re referring to the reason why the officer shot Carl, then I can’t say for definite. He’s not part of my team. The order will have come from his superior,” Klein explains. “But I can say these officers undergo rigorous training to recognize the threat from an individual who is armed.” I gulp. He doesn’t want to say it, but I need to hear it.
“Carl was going to shoot me, wasn’t he?” Klein inhales deeply, then releases the breath before answering me.
“I shouldn’t really be telling you this, but I suppose since he’s dead, it doesn’t break any confidentiality protocols. The thing is that Carl was dangerous. I read his file after you told me about him outside the coffee shop. I won’t go into details, but he’d tormented many of his previous foster families to the point where it had become difficult to find him a foster home. I think your mom and dad were the last resort, and due to their experience, it seemed like the best place for him.” I nod. How apprehensive my parents had been about his arrival made sense now. Part of me wondered whether if I’d told them, then maybe, knowing his previous foster history, they would have believed me. But I can’t dwell on this. It’s too late for that now.
I peer down at my hands. I don’t know what to feel. Everything seems so jumbled. What if the guy who shot him had missed? I feel Carl falling on top of me again, his body collapsing seconds after the gunshot. I saw his face and the bullet wound. I saw his lifeless eyes staring at nothing. I wish I hadn’t.
“What about Piero?” I ask. “What will happen to him?”
“He’s currently being held on a charge of kidnapping and carrying an unlicensed firearm, both of which he’ll probably serve some time for.” I can’t see Piero in a prison issue jumpsuit or trying to make small talk with hardened criminals.
“And Cora?”
Klein scratches his head. “We have no evidence of her part in all of this. Carl dealt directly with Piero after Piero initially contacted Cora, so, unless you want to press charges for anything, we have nothing on her.” I could report the assault outside the coffee shop and the brick through the window, but I know that losing her husband will be punishment enough for Cora. I don’t feel the need to make her life any worse than it already is.
I swallow hard, gearing myself up for my last question. “And what about the fact I lied about the fire?”
Klein stares at me. “That’s something I’ll need to look into.” He sighs. “You lied in court. I can’t ignore that. It will have to be dealt with. It will probably go to a prosecutor, and they will decide what is to be done. I should think they’ll take your age at the time and your circumstances into consideration.”
It sounds strange, but I’m relieved to hear this. I am ready to atone for what I’ve done. I need to move on, and I can’t do that without paying for my lie.
“Okay, Miss Daniels, I think we are done here.” Klein rises from his chair, his suit looking tired. “When they let you out of here, you need to get home and get some rest. Do you have anyone who you can stay with?” My eyes move to the door, and an involuntary shiver runs down my spine.
“Yes,” I lie. I have no idea who I can stay with as Frank is still away.
“Okay, thank you for your cooperation.”
“If you see the guy who shot Carl, could you tell him…” I don’t know what to say. I want to thank him, the man saved my life, but how do you thank someone for killing a person? It feels wrong. But Klein seems to read my thoughts because he nods and makes his way out of the room.
I sit back against the raised part of the bed. My eyes scan the clothes I put on this morning. It seems so long ago. So much has happened. I try to brush some dirt from my trouser leg, but it seems to cling tenaciously as if the day doesn’t want to leave me yet.
And then he’s here, standing in the doorway. He’s still in his suit, looking as smart as ever, and I wonder how Gianni never seems to portray his day in his appearance.
