Thieves (Camren)

Chapter 1

Lauren nervously played with her fingers as much as the handcuffs made it possible for her and stared straight at the wall in front of her, feeling doomed in her own body. She narrowed her eyes, trying to analyze every detail of the dirty wall because she desperately needed something to distract her from the picture of Hector's dead body in front of her eyes. Looking back now, she thought about every little detail from the night before, even things she didn't notice at first, like the tear that rolled down Hector's face or the blood that dripped out of his mouth as he fell to the ground, blood mixing with the last rain that was left there. Even though she despised the person Hector was, she never thought that he would deserve such a lonely death.

She could hear how the door of the interrogation room opened but kept staring ahead until a female body blocked her view. She focused her gaze on her hands, noticing the red marks she got from the friction of her skin with the cold metal. "The evidence is clear." The voice spoke and the first thing Lauren thought was that the woman sitting across from her couldn't be older than she was, therefore she sounded too young. "The victim's blood was all over you, the used gun had your fingerprints on it, you were kneeling next to him when my colleague found you. But what made you stay?"

Lauren still didn't trust herself to stay steady if she looked up because she couldn't assess whose eyes she would meet once she did, but seeing her hands like this started to make her feel sick. She took the risk and was surprised when the face she was met with wasn't cold and scary, but warm and friendly.

Brown curious eyes were inspecting her facial expression but they didn't make the woman feel judged, they made her feel understood. "It wasn't me who killed him," she said feebly and watched the detective's eyebrow rise.

"Why should we believe that it wasn't you?", she asked and leaned back in her seat. Even though she was still young, she had been a part of many interrogations in her career and Lauren was by far not the first one who claimed to be innocent, so she prepared herself for a pointless excuse.

"What's your name?" Lauren wanted to know instead of answering the question. She needed to know more about the stranger before she could tell her what had happened. She never trusted strangers enough to tell them important things. When you grow up on the streets of New York, you make your own rules that decide who you can trust and who you can't trust, so you were either lucky and made the right rules, or it's your own fault that you got deceived.

"Amy Santiago," the detective eventually replied when she realized that Lauren would remain silent until she gave her the information she wanted to know. She sensed how scared the green-eyed girl was and it seemed as though she couldn't harm anyone like Hector had been, but the evidence was overwhelming and a murderer was no one you should trust on from first sight. "So, if you didn't murder Mr. Nolasco who did?"

"I don't know," Lauren admitted and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she could continue. "I- It... it was a man, a tall man," she shuddered, trying to recall the picture in her head. "He was Hector's driver and didn't step out of the car until Hector mentioned that he brought a gun with him." Her breath started to quicken and her lungs started to feel heavy now that she had to picture it again. Her eyes burned through the tears that threatened to fall and everything was soon becoming too much. She could neither move her body nor utter a word. She wasn't even able to call out for help because it felt like something was pulling her down and making her choke on the air that she breathed. She tried to fight whatever caused the feeling inside her but she couldn't end her own suffering.

"Lauren!", the detective yelled but she could barely hear those words over her own heart that raced loudly in her chest. The woman stood up and walked briskly over to the latina, taking her hand and making her look up. Through the tears Lauren could make out a worried face, but when she realized that she didn't know this woman she ripped her hand out of her grip and shook her head, stopping her from trying a second time. "Look at me, everything will be okay, do you understand?" The voice was loud enough for Lauren to understand every word but she knew those words were just lies. Nothing would be okay, the detective said it herself, the evidence was clear. "You're scared." She tried again to get through to Lauren. "But that's okay, everyone gets scared sometimes. It's not your fault. Please, look at me," she repeated and Lauren lifted her gaze again. She still couldn't calm herself down and she realized she needed the other woman's help. However, she didn't want to get help from a stranger, so she tried to imagine that it wasn't Amy that stood in front of her, but someone else whereby the blurred vision helped her. "It's hard I know, but trust me, it's okay." Lauren slowly shook her head. "Yes, Lauren. Everybody has fears. I, for example, am scared of heights." Amy stayed quiet for a moment to hear whether Lauren's breathing calmed down a little but when she realized that her words didn't give the latina any safety, she knew she had to try something else. "Okay, Lauren, just look at my hands, yeah?" She held them up in front of Lauren's face and waited until Lauren focused her gaze on them before she continued. "Let's count them together," She started with her right thumb and waited until Lauren started to count with her. At first, Amy could only see her lips moving, but after the fourth finger, she could hear her voice, which got steadier with every number. When they were finished it actually helped Lauren, but the fear was still recognizable in her eyes. "Can I take your hands now?" Lauren hesitated for a moment but gave in eventually, nodding. "Your fear can't harm you, you're stronger than that," she assured her and they stayed like that for a few minutes.