Life Without Parole: A Kate Conway Mystery Read Online Free Page A

want to mention that fact to Brick, since he seemed wary enough of the situation already. “What about you? Are you married?” I asked.
    “No way. I never got trapped into that. I like my freedom.”
    I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. It took only a second for Brick to catch on.
    “Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “I guess I would have been better off with an old lady than with this shit.”
    “So what put you here?”
    “You know that, or you wouldn’t be here.”
    “Tell me your version of events.”
    “I ain’t gotno version. What happened, happened.”
    “You killed two men, and a seven-year-old girl named Tara Quinn.”
    His eyes got narrow. He leaned forward slightly. Behind him the guard tensed. “We don’t need to talk about any of that.”
    “Actually we do, Brick. That’s why I’m here.”
    I glanced toward the guard, who moved a few steps closer. In an interview it’s important to bond with the subject. I put aside all judgment, even with convicted murderers, and look for common ground. I want that person to trust me so he’ll give me the sound bites I need for the story. But it was clear it had been a long time since Brick had trusted anyone. If I was going to get a good interview from him, I realized it wasn’t his trust I needed. It was his respect. And I wasn’t going to win that if I backed down.
    “You killed two men in a car and there was a child in the backseat,” I said. “She got shot in the head and died three days later.”
    His eyes narrowed. “That’s why I’m here.”
    “For three murders.”
    “For her murder. The other two…that was business. I was working that neighborhood; they were trying to cut into my business. They knew what would happen, so fuck ’em,” he said. “But the girl…she didn’t deserve what she got. I didn’t expect her to be there. Who the fuck brings a seven-year-old on a drug buy?”
    “Do you think about her?”
    There was a moment’s hesitation, then he laughed. “Yeah, baby, I cry in my pillow every night.”
    Dead end. I tried again. “You’re kind of a tough guy, aren’t you?”
    “That turn you on?”
    “Not really.”
    “What you like, sensitive types? Guys who bring you roses and write you love poems?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Don’t tell me you play for the home team.”
    Brick was having fun and I was not in control of the interview. Getting his respect was a long shot, at least for the moment. I took a breath and was about to start looking for another way to bond when I dropped my pen. I leaned down to get it.
    “Hey, Kate, while you’redown there you can suck my dick.”
    I grabbed the pen and sat up, staring him down. “Sorry, Brick, I don’t put anything in my mouth if I don’t know where it’s been.”
    He laughed. I’d found my way in. “You’re a smart-ass,” he said.
    “You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
    “We all got survival instincts. You’re a slim little lady. I guess you need a big mouth to survive in the bad world.”
    “What’s your way to survive?”
    “I pay attention to what people say and do. I notice things.” He stopped looking at my chest and finally looked me in the eyes. “You avoided my question. That interests me.”
    “What was your question?”
    “You married?”
    Without meaning to, I looked down at my left hand. No ring. I’d forget sometimes that I didn’t wear a ring anymore and be surprised, as I was now, that there wasn’t one there.
    “Not anymore,” I said.
    “Divorced?”
    “A widow. My husband died about seven months ago.” It sounded so simple when I said it to a stranger. But, of course, it wasn’t simple.
    Brick shifted in his chair. “Sorry about that.”
    I nodded. “Maybe we should start at the beginning. Why don’t you tell me about growing up?”
    “I’m not going to do that ‘my mama didn’t love me’ shit.”
    “Did she love you?”
    He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “She was good. She looked after me