Laurina patted her daughter as she lay curled up on her side sobbing on the couch. Her heart ached for her, and she wished there was something she could do to ease her pain. She was old enough to know that all the soothing words in the world weren’t going to fix her broken heart. Only time would do that.
Laurina wasn’t just sad for her daughter; she was angry as well. Very angry. She was tired of seeing her daughter bullied and ostracized like she had been in school simply for her diminutive size or because they were jealous. Friends that were supposed to be friends had turned on her when she needed them most. She had even been passed over for some jobs because she wasn’t willing to lower herself to sleeping her way toward what she wanted.
And now she had had her first real relationship, or so everyone thought, with these damn detectives, and they had to go and break her heart.
Laurina took a deep breath, trying to ease her anger. How much longer would the rejection go on? How many more times would people take advantage of her soft-hearted daughter?
Davina had drifted off into an afternoon nap, but perhaps it was good for her because sleep was probably the only place her heart didn’t throb with sadness.
Laurina slowly stood up so as not to arouse her sleeping daughter and went into the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of herbal tea and took a seat at the table with it. She gazed out the window and into the backyard. She watched a couple of birds flutter about the birdbath. They seemed so happy and carefree. These tiny little critters were so unaware of the realities going on around them. She wished all her daughter had to do was be careful of cats.
She looked at the clock on the wall. It was very late in the afternoon on Friday. Hadn’t Davina said that the two detectives got together at the first dumper’s place on Fridays? What was her name? Oh, yes, Betsy.
Her husband wouldn’t be in until sometime in the evening, and so an idea began to form in her mind. She knew it was a tremendous risk and that she may not be able to pull it off, but she was tired of standing by helpless every time something bad happened to her daughter. Yes, she knew it was part of life and that Davina would eventually toughen up, but that didn’t make it okay.
This time, Laurina was going to do a little more than just comfort her brokenhearted daughter with words of love and encouragement. She rose from her seat at the kitchen table and peeked in on her daughter in the living room. Confident that she was sound asleep, she copied Betsy’s number down, which was still stored in her phone. Betsy had given it to her one time in case of an emergency.
Next, she went into the bedroom. When she came out a few minutes later, she left a note on the kitchen table letting Davina know she was going to the store and would be back soon.
Laurina was soon backing out of the driveway. Before going to the store, she stopped at a payphone and called Betsy.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Betsy, this is Davina’s Mom.”
“Oh, hi,” said Betsy in the surprised and confused tone she expected to hear. “What’s up?”
“Davina was going through some of her things when she realized she had a couple of shirts of yours she accidentally packed when she moved out, and since she wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable bringing them by herself, I offered to do it for her. I have to swing by that area anyway, so would now be a good time to drop them off?”
“Uh…,” Betsy said hesitantly, “What do they look like?”
“I think they’re dark, but to be honest, I didn’t really look at them closely. She just threw them in a bag and asked that I bring them to you because she didn’t want to keep them or throw them away any more than she wanted to bring them over herself, as I’m sure you can understand.”
“Well…”
“Sounds like you have company now,” Laurina said on a whim, hoping she would confirm that Rochelle was there with her.
“I do, but the thing is, it’s Detective Knight. I’m sure you’re familiar with her.”
Oh, I sure am, Laurina thought to herself but instead said, “I am, but that’s fine. Whatever happened is between you guys, and all I want to do is drop off the shirts and be on my way since I haven’t been feeling very well today.”
For a minute she thought Betsy would tell her to leave the shirts outside her door, but then she told her to go ahead and bring them over.
Laurina didn’t want her vehicle to be seen near the apartment, so she parked down the street. Fortunately, it was a chilly day, and she could wear a headscarf without looking out of place. Her heart was thumping madly as she knocked on Betsy’s door.
Betsy opened up a few seconds later and looked at the white plastic grocery bag she held in her hand.
“Hey,” said Laurina, putting on her best act. “Is it okay if I come up and get a drink really quick? I feel horribly dizzy.”
Betsy stared directly into her eyes, and just when Laurina was sure the detective could see the truth in them, she said, “Yeah, all right.”
Once she was inside and Betsy shut the door behind them, she headed up the stairs and made sure to put a bit of a sway in her stride to make it look like she might pass out. Careful not to touch the railing along the way up, she entered the kitchen a moment later to find Rochelle sitting at the table.
Laurina could see the discomfort in the detective’s eyes as she turned to look at her and then quickly looked away without a word.
Betsy, despite the awkwardness in the room, went to fetch a glass of water.
With Betsy’s hands tied up getting the water and Rochelle’s back to her, Laurina pulled the gun out of the bag that had been wrapped in her own shirt, and wasted no time firing at Betsy and then Rochelle. She would have preferred to have a few words with them beforehand, but she knew they were usually armed or at least close enough to a weapon and didn’t want to give one of them a chance to draw on her before she could take them out first.
The glass slipped out of Betsy’s hand and shattered in the sink as she went down in front of it, half-lying against the lower cabinets.
Rochelle was blasted out of her chair.
The deafening noise rang in Laurina’s ears as she felt for their pulses to make sure they were dead.
Then she dropped the gun back into the bag and hastily exited the place, leaving the door open. She walked swiftly back to her car but not in a manner that may draw attention. She hopped in her car and went to the grocery store.
Ten minutes later she was heading home with a ready-to-bake pizza and her daughter’s favorite ice cream.
Ice cream had always put a smile on her darling Davina’s face.
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