Chapter 3
“Karen,” Kevin said with a nod, and they all sat down.
Kevin was directly across from her, with Brooks to his left, and Drake and Bennett to his right.
There were four guards, one standing in each corner.
“I’d ask how you were doing, but then I wouldn’t be here if you were doing okay,” Kevin stated, trying to break the ice of the room.
“True. I’m sure you all have a lot of questions, and I have the answers. Do what you need to.”
“Come again?”
“Read me my rights, or whatever.”
The men exchanged looks, and Bennett did.
“Do you want a lawyer?” Kevin said.
“No.”
“Are you sure?” Brooks asked. “I’m District Attorney Brooks, you are allowed to have a lawyer.”
“I know, but there’s no time.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin demanded.
Karen shook her head, turned in her seat to face him fully, putting her cuffed hands on the table before her.
“I’m not trying to get out of what I did.
I killed that fucking bitch, and I am owning it.
However, there are certain things that need to be said.
Most of them are the reason why I killed her.
” The entire time she talked she looked directly at Kevin.
Normally, he would be taking notes, but he trusted Drake and Bennett to do their jobs.
He was there at Karen’s request, not a cop.
“What happened?”
“First and foremost, Abby Strokes is a fucking bitch. She’s been here for ten years, and she’s like the top dog.
She’s put me, along with several other women, in the infirmary.
” She looked at two of the guards across from her and glared at them.
“The guards do nothing to help us. They tell us to toughen up.”
When the four men turned to look at them, they only shrugged, but didn’t say a word. Kevin made a mental note of their names on their uniforms.
“Go on.”
“First and foremost, I want to tell you that I’m sorry. I was a bitch to you and Caleb for years. I used you for your money. I thought I could do no wrong, and I would never get caught.” She leaned forward to rub her face, and Kevin looked at the guards.
“Remove her cuffs.” When they started to protest, he just glared. They were removed, and as she rubbed her wrists, Kevin saw a scar on the inside of her forearm that he had never seen before, but didn’t question it. He wondered if that was one of the times she had been infirmed.
Karen saw him looking at it, and she pushed up the sleeve of her orange jumpsuit and laid her arm on the table.
“This is the results of the first time she put me in the infirmary. She tried for my face, but I put my arm up to block it. I kicked her in the stomach to get her away from me. Twenty-seven stitches.”
“Jesus,” Kevin said.
“Anyway, what I just told you about being sorry for my actions while we were married are true. I wrote you a letter, and one to Caleb. I apologized for my actions over the years.” She paused then gave a small humorless chuckle.
“Yeah, I had a lot to reflect on my past behavior since being locked up.”
“Okay, but what does this have to do with what you were alleged to do?”
“Kevin, let’s get something straight here. There is nothing alleged to it. I did it, and I would do it all over again if the circumstances were the same. I know I’m going to be charged with murder, and I’m okay with that.”
“Damn, Karen.”
“Sorry, being in here made me realize that I wasn’t a good person. I’ve been talking with the counselors here, and that’s why I wrote the letters. However, because of the letter I wrote to you, that’s what brought me to do what I did, and why you guys are here now.”
“Come again?” Brooks said with a confused look, and lifted his pen from the notes he had been taking.
Karen scrubbed her face again, sighed heavily, and leaned forward, leaving her hands in plain sight on the table with her fingers entwined. She looked at all of them, then directly at Kevin when she spoke.
“In the letter I wrote, the one where I apologized to you, I mentioned some boxes in the attic.”
“I found them, shoes and purses.”
“Yes. I’m not proud of this, but over the years, I would say I paid up to one hundred thousand dollars for them.
It was my addiction. I spread it out over the years of our marriage.
” She shrugged. “It’s what I called my retail therapy.
Whenever I got pissed off at you for leaving to take a case, or not coming home because you were working a case, I went shopping. ”
“Jesus, Karen.” Kevin didn’t know what else to say. “Did you take anything from Caleb’s college fund?”
“No, however, I did take from Ryan.”
“Who’s Ryan?” Detective Bennett asked with his pen poised above his paper.
“My brother.”
“What did you take from him?” Kevin asked, unsure where this conversation was going.
“When Mom and Dad died, Ryan was on one of his many deployments.” She turned to the other two police officers across from her. “My brother, Ryan Carter, is a Navy SEAL.”
It shocked Kevin about how proud she sounded of him, but he didn’t comment on it. At least not then.
“Anyway, because we couldn’t get ahold of him when Mom and Dad died.
I took his half of their life insurance money.
” She shrugged, then sighed. “At first, like the first year, I was going to feed my purse and shoe addiction.” She looked at the others.
“I’m talking two to five thousand dollars for one purse.
Anyway, I forget what happened, but you and Caleb were watching something on TV, and I overheard you tell Caleb that what you were watching was what his Uncle Ryan did for a living.
I stood in the back of the room and watched.
That’s when I started getting a guilty conscience.
See, I hadn’t purchased anything yet. I had put my half of the life insurance money in our account.
I felt good because you were stressing about the bills.
Which were because of me. However, I took Ryan’s half and hid it in our attic. ”
“Hid how?” Bennett asked.
“It’s in an envelope, cash, and I put the envelope in a plastic bag, then in a small fireproof box. I had written this all in the letter.”
“Okay,” Kevin said as she paused, trying to wrap his head about what she was saying. “You’re saying there’s money in our attic.”
“Yes, and it’s Ryan’s. All two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it.”
“Holy fuck, Karen. Wait, you said half, you never deposited that same amount in our joint accounts. If I recall, it was only fifty thousand.”
“I had to purchase my shoes somehow.” She shrugged. “Anyway, that brings me to why you are here now.”
“Why?” Brooks asked.
“As I said, I wrote that letter. I hadn’t addressed the envelope yet.
I apologized to Kevin, told him about the shoes and purses, then mentioned Ryan’s money.
However, I came back from being in the yard and found Abby Strokes in my cell.
She waved the letter around, demanding to know where the money was hidden.
I refused to tell her. We fought.” She leaned forward and pointed to her face, and that’s when Kevin saw the bruising.
He had thought it was just bags beneath her eyes.
The other detectives immediately jumped to their feet, brought out their phones, and snapped photos.
They had already taken photos of the scar on her forearm.
“We’re going to have to get photos of all the other injuries Strokes inflicted on you,” Drake said.
“Okay,” she said, and looked directly at Kevin.
“This was last week. Today, when I came back from my meeting with the therapist, I overheard Strokes on the phone. She was telling someone about the money, purses, and shoes stored in the attic of your house. I overheard her telling them that you were a cop, and that the house would have to be watched for several days before they broke in and stole it. She then encouraged them to do it while you were there so that they could cross killing a cop off their bingo card.”
Kevin stared at her in shock. “Are you saying that my life is in danger?”
“Yes. I heard Strokes’ entire conversation.
She hadn’t given my name yet, she only said that she knew of where the person she called could get their hands on easy money, and they could check a box off their bingo card.
That’s when I pounced. I ripped the phone receiver from her, hit her with it, and I don’t remember anything after that.
I do remember seeing red, then I was put into solitary until you could get here.
” She shrugged. “That’s all I remember.”
The three police officers exchanged looks, then looked at one of the guards. “We want those phone records now!”
“On it,” the officer closest to the door said, and Bennett jumped to his feet to follow her.
Kevin looked at the guards. “What was Strokes doing time for?”
“Murder, several counts,” one of the guards said. “You’ll have to read her file.”
Kevin looked over at Brooks and saw he was on his phone over in the corner.
He rejoined them at the table with a nod.
“I just called Caption Boggs to let him know what was said. He’s sending an unmarked unit to keep an eye on the street until you get home.
Once we get more information, he said we can coordinate from there. ”
“What more information?” Karen asked. “I don’t have anything more to tell you.
I overheard that conversation, saw red when Strokes said to kill Kevin, and attacked.
I remember grabbing the phone, hitting her, then nothing until I was thrown into solitary confinement.
All I recall saying is Kevin’s name.” She turned to Kevin and sighed as she shook her head.
“We may be divorced, but I still love you in my own way. If that makes any sense. I couldn’t see anyone trying to hurt you.
” She looked around, then sighed heavily again as she slumped back in her chair.
“What is it?” Kevin asked gently. He wanted to reach out and take her hands in his, but knew about the no touching rule.
“I’ll probably be dead in a week. Strokes was the top dog here, and she had a lot, and I mean, a lot of underlings.
She ran her own contraband sting here. One of the reasons she went after me to begin with was that she wanted me to turn over my commissary account to her.
When I refused, that’s the first time she roughed me up.
Gave me a fucking wake up call, that’s for sure.
However, when I told her I didn’t have anyone on the outside sending money to my account, she got violent again, said that she knew who I was and she tried to shake me down.
I don’t know how she knew who I was, but she knew about you and Caleb.
” She shook her head with a heavy sigh. “She knew your names, where you worked, where Caleb worked and went to school. She also knew what vehicles you both drove.”
Kevin looked at the guards and saw shock on their expressions.
“Like I said, because I killed her, her minions will probably be gunning for me. I doubt I’ll survive the next three days, let alone a week.” She turned to look at Brooks. “You better charge me for her murder now, because I won’t live to see the charges stick.”
Before anyone could say anything, the door whipped open and Warden Finch stood there.
“Mr. Brooks, in light of what we all just heard, I would like to make the motion that Ms. Carter-Lassiter be transferred to a different facility. I’m not saying this to sweep what she did under the rug.
I’m making this suggestion to keep the prison safe.
I’ve been listening to the entire conversation from the observation room.
If you need to use it to make any private phone calls, you are free to do so.
It is my understanding that any request like this needs to go through your office first. I’m making the request directly to you. ”
Without saying a word, Brooks gathered his papers, his briefcase, and followed the warden out. He paused at the door and looked back at Karen.
“I’m not saying it will happen overnight, but I will do everything in my power to get you to safety.”
“Thank you,” Karen said, and settled back in her seat.
She looked up in shock when a guard handed her a bottle of water, and drank half of it.
When she set it back down, she studied her ex-husband, and hadn’t realized how handsome he had become over the years.
She reflected back on how self-absorbed she had been over the last few years of her marriage to him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. At his furrowed brow, she sighed heavily. “For being such a bitch over the years.”
“Can I ask why you were?”
“I was scared.”
“About?”
“About you not loving me anymore, about Caleb leaving for college, about me growing older.” She leaned forward and laid her hands on the table.
“You have to admit that I didn’t work after Caleb was born.
You were there as much as you could be, but we both know your job took precedence over our marriage, especially once you became detective.
I had no skills, other than being a housewife, a mother, the president of the PTA.
Once Caleb started high school, he didn’t need me as much, I had no purpose in life.
Back then, I thought if I acted out, then you would pay more attention to me.
” She shook her head and held up her hand when it looked like he would say something.
“No, I know my actions weren’t rational, I thought what I did would get your attention and you would spend more time with me. I was jealous of your job. I know now that I should have gone in a different direction.”
“By?”
“By going back to school to take classes or get a degree, by bettering myself. At least keeping up with the current trends in my field of study that I ignored during the years I stayed home. I know that by the time you filed for divorce, it was over. Again, I was scared, and when I saw you with that woman, I lost it. Insecurity can be a bitch at times.”
Kevin didn’t say anything for several minutes, then asked quietly.
“Why did you hate Ryan so much?”