Page 7 of Kevin's Destiny
“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 thingsthat 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.” Shepaused 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.
