Beautifully Broken (25 page)

A man walked into the room, he was wearing a black
business suit with a blue shirt. He was a tall, good looking
man in his late forties and he had dark hair and big blue
eyes. He was physically fit but he looked like he hadn’t
slept in days. He sat down and looked at her from across
the table. Cali found herself feeling sorry for the man as
she looked into his eyes.

“Hello Miss, I hear you have some information about
Veronica Burns and you will only talk to me,” Agent
Quinn said with a curious expression on his face.

“Yes I have lots of information, but I also have a question,”
Cali said smiling. “What does the FBI want with a girl that
only killed one man?”

“That is confidential information and I am not at liberty to
discuss it with you,” Quinn said. “Do you have information
or not?”

“Yes I do but before I tell you anything I need to make sure
that Veronica’s sisters are ok and that they will be let go
with no charges,” Cali said crossing her arms and looking
at him as she smiled. She was doing a good job of staying
in control.

“Yes well if the information you give me helps us find
Veronica then her sisters will be let off the hook,” Quinn
assured her “Miss I didn’t catch your name, who are you?”

“Well to tell you the truth I don’t even know my own name,”
Cali said as she took off her sunglasses and looked him in
the eyes. She taped her finger nails on the table. The room
fell silent. Then Cali removed her hat from her head and
set it down on the table, she flicked her head and shook
her hair out and looked at the FBI agent who looked
stunned. “These days I am going by Cali but before that I
was known as Veronica Burns. I just recently found out
that’s not who I really am and apparently you’re the only
person that can help me. I am the only person that can
help you.” Cali was shaking, but she remained in control.

“Veronica Burns, so why now, why turn yourself in now?”
Quinn asked looking at her with sad eyes like he knew her
in some past life.

“I know what I have done and it’s time to pay for my sins. I
didn’t run because I didn’t want to go to jail, I ran because
I didn’t want people to know the truth. Then I realized I
didn’t know the truth. That’s the real reason I ran, so I
could find out the truth,” Cali breathed in deep and looked
down.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Quinn asked
looking at her in a helpless way that made her feel
uncomfortable.

“I found so much more than I was looking for,” Cali smiled
thinking about James. “The last thing Harold Burns said to
me was that the truth was worse than anything I could ever
imagine. I didn’t believe him, I thought to myself the truth
couldn’t be worse than everything I had been through in
my life but he was right, it was worse.” Cali said in a soft
voice as tears started to build up in her eyes.

“Are you ready to confess?” Quinn asked. Cali didn’t
understand why he seemed so nervous around her, she
wasn’t a crazy murderer; she wasn’t going to attack him in
the police station.

“Are you ready to tell me what I need to know?” Cali
asked. “It’s only fair if we both share.”

“I will tell you everything that I know after you tell me your
story,” Quinn said in a deep voice that cracked with
emotion.

“First things first, I want to make a deal,” Cali said in a
steady voice. She uncrossed her legs and shifted in her
chair.

“Veronica you’re not in any position to be making deals,”
Quinn reminded her, sitting back in his chair.

“Well I think I am because you’re not here because I am a
suspect in a murder investigation, you’re here for a whole
other reason. So you must want or need something from
me,” Cali said with a faint smile on her face. “The truth is I
am here for my sisters. Let them go, they haven’t done
anything wrong. We both know I’m the one you want. They
are just innocent victims of a psycho path.”

There was a knock at the door; two police officers and a
female lawyer entered the room. The lawyer didn’t look
very impressed with FBI agent Laurence Quinn; she had
her arms crossed and a very unpleasant look on her face.
Quinn stepped out of the room while Cali waited; she was
in there for a while. She didn’t know what was going on.
Cali opened up her bag and pulled out the file folder that
Oliver the wiz kid gave to her with all the information he
had found for her. She read through it, she wanted to make
sure she knew as much as possible about the case. When
she heard people at the door she quickly hid the folder
under her sketch book and she crossed her arms on the
table. When the door opened Officer Kellie and Officer
Parolee walked into the room with a video camera, there
was no sign of Quinn. They set up the camera, neither one
of them spoke. Once the camera was set up they took a
seat across the table from Cali.

“Veronica, we are here to take your confession, the video
camera is just a security measure, it’s for your
protection,” Officer Kellie said looking into Cali’s eyes.

“Where’s FBI agent Quinn?” Cali asked raising her voice.

 

“We are the ones handling this case, you can talk to us,”
Officer Kellie said.

“No, I will not talk to you. I am not talking to anyone but
agent Quinn,” Cali snapped and looked Officer Kellie in the
eyes like she was staring into her soul.

“Agent Quinn was pulled from this case for the time being,
you will be dealing with us,” Officer Parolee said. He was
a young cop only a few years older than Cali. He had
brown eyes, brown hair and olive coloured skin. He was a
short, Italian man with a thick accent.

“Well I hope you have enough to take to trail because you
are not getting a confession out of me. I want to talk to
agent Quinn,” Cali screamed and she crossed her arms
and sat back in the chair.

The officers got up and left the room. Cali sat in there
alone for hours. She was starting to go crazy, when the
door opened. It was the Chief, he walked into the room and
shut the door behind him and he turned and looked at
Cali.

“Veronica, Oh my goodness,” Chief Mutter said looking at
her like he was holding back tears.

“Is that all you have to say to me John?” Cali said holding
back her own tears. She had known John since she first
moved to Envy; he was her father’s closest friend.

“Veronica let us help you, we can make a deal but you
need to talk to us,” Chief Mutter pleaded.

“I am not Veronica Burns, she doesn’t exist. She was
nothing but a lie, my whole life was a lie!” Cali muttered as
tears built up in her eyes. “I am not talking to anyone but
agent Quinn.”

“I am going to have to arrest you and have you charged,”

Chief Mutter sighed and hung his head.
Cali was put into a holding cell for the night. When she
awoke the next morning her sisters were all there.

“Veronica! Why did you come back?” Natasha asked
looking at her sister through the bars of the jail cell.

 

Cali made eye contact with Claudia who had tears in her
eyes.

“You needed me, so I came back,” Cali said looking at all
of her sister standing there looking at her with their
heartbroken eyes.

“Where have you been?” Lila asked in a soft but anxious
voice.

 

“Did you have an adventure?” Amanda asked, excited.

“I went all over the place. I got to live a little and yes
Amanda I had an adventure of a life time,” Cali sighed and
tears pricked her eyes as she thought about James.

“Where did you get those nice clothes?” Claudia asked
looking at her sister like she didn’t know who she was.

“Who cares about those things Veronica what do we do
now?” Natasha asked. “Our lawyer was dad’s business
partner and dad’s practice has been shut down, so now we
have no lawyer and we don’t have any money.” Natasha
looked at her sister with tears in her eyes but she took a
deep breath and she didn’t cry. “I told you I could handle
things without you but the truth is I couldn’t. I am sorry
you always have to take care of us.”

“You have all been the best things in my life. I am sorry
that I left and made things so hard on all of you. But I had
to leave for me. I am sorry I was so selfish,” Cali reach her
hand through the bars and she touched Natasha’s hand. “I
am back now. You are all going to be ok. I will make sure
of it.”

“What do we do now?” Lila asked with a scared look on
her face.

“Nothing, I am going to plead guilty and do my time,” Cali
said looking at each one of her sisters as their eyes filled
up with tears.

“We have to do something; you shouldn’t go to jail it was
self-defence doesn’t that count?” Amanda asked tears
falling down her face.

Cali started crying and before she could say anything else
Officer Kellie walked by the cell, she saw all of the sisters
together.

“Who let them in here?” Officer Kellie shouted to one of the
guards. “You four need to leave now.” Officer Kellie yelled
at the girls.

Chapter 26

Cali sat in her jail cell all day. She didn’t know what was
going on, she was scared and alone. She looked down at
her hand and saw the ring on her finger and she thought
about James. It made her cry. Late afternoon Cali was
moved from the jail cell into an interrogation room.

Officer Kellie sat down at the table across form Cali and
looked at her.

 

“So do you feel like talking yet?” Officer Kellie asked.

“Yes I do feel like talking,” Cali said smiling. “As soon as
you get agent Quinn in here I will tell him everything he
wants to know.”

“Veronica cut the crap, we all know you are guilty,” Officer
Kellie said shaking her head like this was all a waste of
time.

“Really cut the crap, you know what you can go ahead
and judge me all you want to. You don’t know anything
about me or what I have done and had to do just to
survive,” Cali said slamming her hand down on the table
as she raised her voice.

“Veronica, will you please tell me what happened the night
your father died?” Officer Kelly asked.

“No I will only talk to agent Quinn. You know we can do
this all day, all week if you like, I have nothing but time. My
answer is not going to change, I will talk to and only to
agent Quinn,” Cali said shaking her head.

Officer Kellie got up and left the room. A few minutes later
another officer came into the room with a video camera
and he set it up. He left the room; he didn’t speak or even
look at Cali.

Officer Kellie walked back into the room a few minutes
later with agent Quinn.

 

Agent Quinn sat down on a chair across the table from
Cali.

 

“Hello again, you prefer Cali, right?” he asked smiling at
her as if he was happy to see her again.

 

“Yes thank you,” she responded.

 

“Does she have to be in here?” Cali asked pointing her
finger at Officer Kellie.

“Yes she does. She will be in here listening, you don’t have
to talk to her, you can just talk to me,” Agent Quinn said in
a soft, comforting voice.
“It’s hard enough telling this story, it’s even worse when
you’re being judged,” Cali said, looking up at Officer Kellie
with angry eyes.

“Cali don’t worry about her, focus on me. I am here
because you have asked me to be,” Agent Quinn said
looking into her eyes. “Now I am going to ask you some
questions and after you answer them, I will answer yours.”
Cali nodded her head in agreement. “Officer Kellie is going
to turn on the camera so this will be taped for your
protection; do you understand?”

“Yes,” Cali shook her head. Officer Kellie turned on the
video camera and then she sat down on a chair closer to
the door away from Cali and agent Quinn.

“Cali for the record; are you Veronica Burns?” Agent
Quinn asked.

“Yes I have been called Veronica Burns for as long I
remember. I don’t have any memories of being anyone
else,” Cali said, as she started to get emotional.

“Cali your parents were Katie and Harold Burns, correct?”
agent Quinn asked.

 

“Yes I always believed that they were my parents,” Cali
said looking into his eyes.

 

“How did Katie Burns die?”

“My mom killed herself when I was ten years old; she took
a bunch of pills. I loved her. She was always good to me.
Before she died life was good,” Cali muttered as she
looked down, thinking about her mother made her sad.

“How was life good? Can you tell me about your child
hood?”

“I don’t have a lot of memories. My bedroom and play
room were in the basement of the house we lived in. I
never met any of my parent’s friends or family and if
people did come over I was locked in the basement. I didn’t
know that was weird, I thought that’s just how life was. My
parents were never mean to me or ever hurt me, my mom
always played with me and even my dad was nice back
then,” Cali sighed and she took a deep breath as she was
trying to hold back her emotions.

“What happened after your mom died?”

“I was locked in the basement for months at a time, never
seeing day light. My dad was stressed all of the time and
he blamed me for my mom’s death. Sometimes I would go
for days without food, but then we moved to Envy. My dad
told me things were going to be better here. He opened up
a practice and became the Mayor, things were definitely
better for him here,” Cali said looking at Quinn. “You
already know what I have been through do you really want
me to tell you every little detail about how my dad raped
me for the first time on my twelfth birthday and how he
adopted my sisters and raped them too. How we would
take turns with us, how he made all of us do sick and
twisted things for him. Do you want to know that he would
chain me to a wall and beat me and rape until I passed out
from the pain or how he would lock me in the choky for
days without food? Do you want to know that I had to put
him in a diaper and feed him a baby bottle and I would
dance for him and sing to him and how he would make me
clean up my own blood after he beat me and sodomized
me? Do you want to know how he got me pregnant?” Cali
screamed and she broke into tears. Agent Quinn handed
her a tissue.