My parents are dead. Shot and killed because my dad didn't pay off a debt to some bad ass loan shark. Heh, someway to begin a story huh? But this is how I start. Sometimes it's better to clear the air of the grim before getting to the good. Besides, I don't like dwelling on the sad song of the past. It's not worth it. Not in my opinion. If I want to be depressed I'll sit with my guitar, have a pity party, and fall asleep at four am, sober or not. Depends. But that's just me.

And who am I? Good question, but I'll skip the philosophical rant and make it easy on you. My name is Maggie Richmond. I'm a 25 yr. old club/lounge singer in New York City. I guess if you wanted to categorize me, then place me with the hippie dippie group, except I don't smoke pot on a regular basis. Tried a few times, but didn't really enjoy it and I always steered clear of the hard stuff, not worth it in my point of view. Oh yeah back to the topic, yes I am your typical wannabe musician, except I didn't come to the Big Apple looking for my claim to fame. I was one of the lucky or not so lucky few that spent a good chunk of childhood on up, here.

Here's how it started. I already mentioned my parents were dead and how they were killed and sort of the why, but I'll give you more detail. My father was gambling junkie. He owed money to a lot of bad people. Mom always tried to get him to knock off the habit, but he always kept choosing it over us. Even as an 8yr. old as much as I didn't understand, the more I saw my mom crying after dad would leave does make an impression on you. It got even worse when the threatening phone calls started in the middle of the night. Mom ended up unplugging the phone before we went to bed. Dad kept saying he'll get us out of the mess, but just went back to the casinos thinking one of those days lady luck would strike. Often he'd go for days to Atlantic City in Jersey or hotel bars and casinos in New York. He obviously lost his job, so mom ended up working two, and dad would stay at home. Oftentimes I was sent to a neighbor's house because mom didn't trust dad watching me. She figured he'd go out and leave me all alone. Of course, the smart thing would have been for Mom and I to leave. But mom's parents had died before I was born (they had mom late in life and there were no brothers or sisters) and dad's family…let's not go there…really messed up. So, we had nowhere to go and even mom's salaries alone could barely support a child and herself.

So came the day when my life changed forever. There was a crash of breaking glass at two a.m. and yells. Dad was pleading with the robbers or rather the men he owed while mom snuck away, burst into my room, grabbed me and locked me in her closet telling me that she loved me and stay silent. Before I could even comprehend what was going on there were the gunshots. Lots of them, so many that I covered my ears as I tried to keep myself from crying. Then the sounds of more things breaking, loud pounding footfalls and the shadows coming into my parents room. I froze as the men spoke gruffly to one another and searched the bedroom. I watched from the slits in the door as they raided mom's jewelry box and all the drawers. Just as they came towards the closet did I finally hear sirens coming from afar. The men raced out of the room and out of the house. I just stayed there shaking, crying, and cold.

Then there were more sounds. More footfalls, but this time the sounds coming from all directions. Outside and inside. I still stayed in the closet, still too scared. Then there were two voices that would always remain etched in my memory.

"Man, what a way to start the morning, why can't murderers conduct their business during work hours."

"Right Mike, give them a 9-5 schedule like the rest of us, that'll make things so much easier." Another voice said more sarcastically.

Then there was the sound of shuffling as the room was searched.

"I don't see a wallet anywhere, but the driver's license was on the nightstand. Hmm, David Richmond, I'm assuming that's body number 1 downstairs, you find anything Lennie?"

"Work badge with victim #2's picture. Lisa Richmond, his wife probably." The man named Lennie said holding up a picture of my mom's work badge.

Just then the cold got to me and I sneezed, loudly. The two men in the room stopped.

"You hear something Mike?"

"Hmm?"

Of course, I sneezed again unable to control it.

"There it is again!"

I tried to shut myself, but in the end only made more noise. Trying to shift positions in the closet was making the floor creak. The men weren't stupid. They were looking right in my direction.

"Did the cops check the closets yet Mike?"

"They were waiting for us to get hear to do a thorough search."

Uh oh.

I tried my best to hide myself in the closet. I had no idea who these guys were, what if they were from another group Dad owed?

Suddenly a flood of light burst into the closet just as I had tried to hide myself behind one of mom's dresses.

"I think I see something moving in here"

"Better not be a rat, otherwise it's your turn Lennie."

I clung to the dress for dear life, but even so I was shaking so hard that I knew it was pointless. A hand pushed the dress away and there I was face to face with an older salt and pepper haired broad shouldered man looking down right at me.

"Well, what do we have here?" He said with a kind smile. "Are you okay sweetheart?"

I couldn't speak. I was really afraid as he tried to reach out for me. I scurried back as far as I could whimpering.

"It's okay honey, it's okay." He said. "I'm not going to hurt you." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a wallet.

"I'm a police officer see?" He held out his badge to me and let me take it. "My name's Lennie and this here is my partner Mike."

The guy named Mike kneeled down to me and smiled also.

"They said there was a kid's room." Mike said as I stared at the badge emblazoned with the numbers 2 7. "But they thought the kid was on a trip. The guy next door said so."

Oh yeah, the girl scouts overnight trip to Liberty Science Center. Duh, like my family could afford for me to go there. I had mentioned it before and mom said that I might be able to go, just to save face from our nosey neighbors who had asked about my girl scout activities.

"Better call her next of kin." Mike said. "I'll get a cop on that."

"Thanks." Lennie said and he turned back to me. "What about you, think you can trust me?"

He extended his large hand and once again gave me a kind smile. By that point I was too tired and frightened to care and I let him take me by the hand. But the next thing I knew I was in his arms and a blanket was being draped around me.

"Okay kiddo, let's get you out of here." He said as he took me downstairs where more cops were hiding out. Lennie immediately tried to maneuver my head away from where the cops were standing. His intentions were good too because just before we went outside, I caught a glimpse of my parents dead bodies, riddled with bullets, and blood all over our once pristine living room. That tiny, mere image would haunt my dreams for many years to come. But before that, I was and felt safe in the fatherly arms of Lennie Briscoe as he carried me out to the squad car with his partner, Mike Logan, right behind him.