Larkspur Read Online Free Page B

part of it.
Now they can still be brought back if we find they were more
involved in these crimes. But for now, most of this group is
working their way through the system.”
    “ There is a group of boys
who, well, I call them the ‘beaters,’” Agent Art grinned. “Charlie,
you’ve interacted with these boys. These boys like to fight. They
beat up Wanda. They did the majority of the battery against the
girls and women. Charlie, Tink, and Wanda have given us good
evidence against these guys. This group, we can get on a hate crime
because of what they did to Wanda.”
    Agent Art drew a smaller circle on the
board.
    “ There’s another group of
boys who I call the ‘rapists,’” Agent Art drew a circle about the
size of the last circle. “These are the boys who raped and
assaulted the girls and women.”
    “ And then there’s the
leader,” Agent Art drew and “X” on the board. His voice took on a
noticeable chill. “He has the contacts to sell the videos to the
larger conglomerate. He also sells meth and marijuana mixtures. And
he likes . . .”
    Agent Art looked at the kids across the
table and stopped talking.
    “ Anyway, he’s not going
anywhere very fast,” Agent Art said.
    “ We’re trying to decide if
he should be tried by every juridical agency involved,” Agent Angie
said. “Or in Federal Court. We’re leaning Federal, but that’s one
of the questions for you.”
    “ As victims, you have the
right to say what you think should happen,” the woman from the DA’s
office found her voice. “You can tell us that you want to prosecute
everyone or no one. It’s up to you
but . . .”
    “ We’re also asking every
victim, so it’s not just you,” Agent Angie talked over the woman
from the DA’s office. “The DA’s office wants to be fair, but also
realizes . . .”
    “ This guy,” Agent Art
gestured to the “X” on the board. “He’s a big deal. They want to
get all of these people to give evidence against him. That way they
make sure to catch the big fish.”
    “ Even the biggest fish
isn’t enough food for everyone,” Colin said.
    “ He means that all of
these other boys will go free without consequence if they only
prosecute the big fish,” Agent Angie said.
    “ So the guys who beat me
up could go out and beat someone else up?” Wanda asked rose. “They
called me a freak. They wanted to kill me.”
    Edith put her hand on Wanda’s back.
    “ That’s the problem,”
Agent Art nodded.
    “ And we’re just supposed
to decide that?” Charlie asked. “Right now? No. I’m not deciding
something like that because you have some pressure to make a
decision.”
    He got up. Tink and Ivy hopped to their feet
because he did.
    “ We’ll think about it,”
Sandy got up and walked to the door. Agent Colin opened the door
for them.
    “ We need to make these
decisions as soon as possible,” the woman from the DA’s office
said. “These children are languishing in jail. We have to tell the
parent’s something.”
    “ Maybe you should tell
their parents that their sons shouldn’t be rapists?” Heather glared
at the woman. “Try that on for size.”
    Sandy and Charlie left the room. Heather and
Tink followed. It took Wanda minute to get up. Ivy and her aunts
left the room.
    “ You understand don’t
you?” the woman from the DA asked Wanda. “You don’t want to ruin
these boys’ entire lives just because you want to play dress up, do
you?”
    “ Shut the fuck up,” Agent
Angie pushed the woman out of the room. Agent Colin winked at Wanda
and followed them.
    “ Can I help you out?”
Agent Art asked.
    “ We’re all right,” Wanda’s
mom said.
    “ I could use some help,”
Wanda’s voice gave away how upset she was.
    “ Wanda,
we . . .”
    Agent Art scooped Wanda up off her feet.
    “ How’s that?” Agent Art
asked.
    Wanda giggled and gave her mom her crutches.
Agent Art acted like he was carrying a princess. He set her down in
the lobby and picked up