Fearless - Fern Michaels Page 0,80
He looked at her, waited for a response.
“I know, I have to do the right thing, and Mom says it’s wrong to cover this up, but really, I just wish it’d never happened. Anyway, you can ask me whatever you need to.” Christina raised herself up a bit higher.
“I want you to tell me your take on what happened, and if you need to stop, tell me. If you can’t remember something, tell me. You good with that?”
She nodded.
“Tell me what happened,” Mr. Lowande asked in a gentle voice. He sat in the chair next to the bed, Anna took a seat in the chair beside him and placed the mugs of coffee on the small table between the two chairs.
“I wanted to make her feel comfortable because she was a guest. Mom’s rules. I didn’t mind because at first I thought she was kinda cool. She has pink hair, lots of piercings. She didn’t say much, so I asked her if she wanted to see my room. We were at the pool, and Mom and Ryan were there with Patrick. He’s the swimmer. Really good, too.”
Anna disliked her name being linked to Ryan’s, but it couldn’t be helped.
“We went upstairs to my room. I showed her some of my stuff, the Harry Potter books. I don’t think she’s a fan. Then I showed her the necklace mom gave me for Christmas last year. It’s like a family heirloom thing. Renée asked me if she could borrow it to wear the first day of school. I told her no. She called me a couple of names, said I was spoiled. I figured I’d better put the necklace away, so I headed out of my room to go to Mom’s room, which is at the opposite end of the landing. If we leave the doors open, we can see into each other’s rooms. Anyway, as I was going to Mom’s room to put the necklace away, right when I was about to pass the steps at the top of the landing, she put her hand on my back. Then she pushed me.”
“Anything else you can think of, any hint that she intended to do this to you before she actually pushed you?” Mr. Lowande asked.
“I don’t know what she was thinking before she pushed me. She followed me and waited until I was lined up with the staircase, so maybe she thought about it before, at least a second or two. Why does that matter?” she asked.
“Premeditation,” he replied.
“You mean like she planned ahead?” Christina asked, her face a couple of shades lighter.
“It only takes a second to make the decision, so yes,” he answered, his voice completely sober, the light teasing tone gone.
“So where do we go from here?” Anna asked. “This is . . . another nightmare.” She felt her chest beginning to tighten and quickly took a deep breath. In and out, slowly releasing it because she needed to stay calm. No panic attacks.
“We’ll have to file a formal complaint with the police department, they’ll investigate, then take their findings to the prosecuting attorney. Given that we’re dealing with a minor, we’ll see what the state recommends, then go from there.”
“It sounds so easy,” Anna said. “What will they do to her? If they decide there’s enough evidence to do anything at all, what do they do with a child in these kinds of circumstances?”
“Lots of options. I don’t want to guess, so we’ll take this one day at a time. If you’re sure I’m your man,” he added.
“Yes, I’m sure. Christina, are you happy with Mr. Lowande?”
“Yeah, okay,” she said.
“I’ll need you to sign a few papers, I’ll need a retainer, then we’re good to go.”
“Of course,” Anna said. This wasn’t a favor; this man was doing his job, and he didn’t work for free. “In my office, we can take care of all the paperwork.”
“Thank you. Christina, you’ll do just fine. Listen to your mom here, and we’ll get this taken care of so you can put it behind you and move forward.” He glanced at her cast. “When your cast comes off, of course,” he added, chuckling.
Chapter 21
Mr. Lowande—Daniel, as he insisted she call him by his first name—stayed with them when two of Lubbock’s finest came to the house to file the report. It wasn’t as difficult as she’d expected, but she didn’t care for the fear she saw in her daughter’s eyes when the two officers questioned her.
“Like I said, I just wanted