Free Chasing The Dragon by Nicholas Kaufmann Page A

rising.
    “There isn’t much to go on,” the detective said.
    “It’s them.”
    “You’re sure? These are your parents, George and Tanya Quincey?”
    She nodded. They must have barricaded themselves in the bedroom as a last resort. It hadn’t stopped the Dragon for long.
    Georgia lost it then, vomiting in the corner of the room.
    When she was done, the detective said, “I’m very sorry for your loss, Miss Quincey. Do you have any idea who would do this to your parents?”
    She shook her head and hid her face behind her hands.
    “This is overkill for your typical robbery gone bad. Usually when we see this level of violence, it’s personal. Was anyone angry at them? Did they have any enemies you know of?”
    “No,” she lied. “No enemies.”
    He nodded and gave a strange little grunt. “You ever seen anything like this before?”
    She shook her head.
    He grunted again. “Okay. We found multiple footprints on the carpet. At least three separate pairs of shoes, not to mention one set we can’t even be sure are footprints at all. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
    “No.”
    “If we run those prints, are you sure they’re not going to come back to someone you know, someone you’re not telling me about? Maybe an ex-boyfriend with a grudge? Or maybe someone who’s not an ex but knows an only child stands to clear a hefty sum from life insurance?”
    She glared at him. “You think I had something to do with this?”
    He grunted again, and she realized it was the sound he made when he was sceptical about something. “I don’t know anything yet, Miss Quincey. Only that things aren’t adding up. Like how come there’s no murder weapon? How come it looks like a wild animal got at them? But most of all, Miss Quincey, I couldn’t help noticing that you may look upset, but you don’t look at all surprised.”
    “I don’t know what to tell you.” She felt cold and hugged herself.
    He slipped her his business card. “If you think of anything that might help the investigation. I’m sure you want the culprits caught as much as I do.”
    She thought she heard sarcasm in his voice.
    The detective had the officer by the door escort her out of the bedroom. In the living room, her cell phone rang, and as she stopped to answer it her escort was called away by a lab tech.
    It was Drew on the line, wanting to know what was going on, if everyone was okay. She told him the news in a staid, emotionless voice, worried she might throw up again if she let herself feel anything.
    “Oh God,” Drew said. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m coming over there. I’ll pick you up.”
    She looked back toward the bedroom, saw someone unfolding a body bag, and turned away quickly. “No, don’t,” she told Drew. “I’m coming home. I don’t want to be here.”
    “What happened?”
    She fought back tears. It felt like her chest was going to explode. She wanted so badly to tell Drew the truth so she wouldn’t have to carry the burden alone, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Maybe one day she could tell him the truth about the Dragon, and maybe he would even believe her, but not tonight. She couldn’t handle anything more tonight. “It was random,” she whispered into the phone. “A robbery. They surprised a robber.”
    It was the first time she’d lied outright to Drew, and now that she had, she knew it wouldn’t be the last.
    After the phone call, there was one more thing she had to do before she left. She knelt by the remains of one of the shelving units and sifted through the items on the floor. Under the broken wing of a porcelain angel she found a small picture frame, not much larger than a deck of cards. Inside was a photo of her mother and father standing outside the house. They were smiling. Proud. Happy. Alive. The glass front of the frame was broken and a spot of blood had landed on the picture, right at her father’s forehead.
    She opened the frame and removed the picture.