Forsaken Below The Tracks

Chapter Fourteen: The Questioned & The Drugged

I continued following Good Cop until he led me past three more doors and out into a brightly lit waiting area. There were people handcuffed and yelling to be released, people who looked increasingly annoyed as they huffed and signed paperwork, and finally, there were two couples sitting alone in four chairs set aside in the corner of the room all holding hands as if they were praying. I knew they weren't. They were all atheists like myself. How could I tell? It was mine and Morgan's parents.

I wanted to scream to them that I didn't do it. That I couldn't have done any of this. But there was something catching my throat and I couldn't move let alone make a sound. My mom must have heard my inner turmoil because in the midst of my world shattering around me she immediately looked up. I saw her gasp and with tears in my eyes she grabbed Morgan's mom's hand and the two of them rushed over to embrace me.

"Jenn, are you okay? What the hell is going on? I know this is all a horrifying mistake. We will get down to the bottom of this, okay? I promise," my mom was a mess. She was always such a put together person in the looks department. Mentally, however, she was a bit scatterbrained, but I had never seen her this undone.

Morgan's mom did not say a word. Her eyes were more black than I had remembered them to ever be. She had been crying. Of course, she had been crying. We had all been crying. But, Morgan's mom simply looked void. Defeated. She has lost a whole part of herself that could never have been replaced. I, of all people, knew exactly how she felt. She tried to smile at me in a reassuring manner, but it looked as if simple attempting a smile was causing her physical pain so she released my mom's hand and simply wrapped her arms around me in an embrace. Thank god.

My biggest fear with seeing Morgan's mom was her being mad at me. Putting the blame on me for something that I did not do. But she didn't. She sobbed on my shoulder, I sobbed on hers. She was still the same strikingly beautiful woman who I had always looked at like another mother to me. For the first time in my life, I realized just how much Morgan looked like this woman, how much this woman's body felt like Morgan's as she embraced me in our tightly locked hug. I cried like I hadn't cried ever before in my life. I was in a moment, frozen, pretending that this was once again my Morgan. I never wanted to let her go and I think she felt the same.

Good Cop ruined the moment.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Mark, Mrs. Connor," he kindly interrupted, "but Detective Paulson is waiting in the interrogation room to speak with you, Miss Mark."

We unlocked from each other and she held me by my upper arms in a manner to find her own sense of balance again. I looked over at Morgan and I's dads reluctantly. My dad waved. Morgan's did not look up.

Good Cop once again gently took me by the arm to guide me through another maze of random corridors. The walls were the same color, but there were more doors and windows down this hall, it appeared as if these where all the offices were located. At the end of the hallway, we found the room where I was to be interrogated.

Was this really happening? I still all felt like a dream to me.

Good Cop looked at, sensing how scared I was.

"You are going to be fine. Just be honest, you'll be okay," he smiled again and led me inside.

There were two detectives sitting at the table and another nicely dressed lady who rose when I entered the room.

"Jennifer Mark? I'm Rosa Lopez, I'm an attorney for your parents and they asked if I could be here to support you through this interview," she smiled genuinely and extended her hand to shake, "it really is a pleasure meeting you. Your parent's and Miss Connor's parents had nothing but great things to say about you, I just sincerely wish we could have met under better circumstances. I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend. I understand you two were quite close."