"Explain what exactly?" Brenna nervously inquired.
"Greer is a girl, correct?" Brenna nodded. "And you just told her that you loved her, right?"
"Yeah, so? I love all of my friends."
"Ok, but do you go out on dates with all of them?"
"Define date."
"Brenna, don't play smart with me! Are you or are you not dating another girl? Just answer yes or no." Brenna bit her lip and looked down at the ground.
"Well, Brenna?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"What the hell? Is this some sort of cry for attention?"
"No! I love Greer with all my heart."
"What, you can't find any boys to date, so you turn into a fucking lesbian?" Brenna noticed that other people ion the waiting room were starting to stare at them.
"Dad, can we not do this here please?"
"Fine." He grabbed Brenna by the arm and dragged her out of the hospital. They walked a couple of blocks before Detective Carver stopped short and spun around. "Start talking."
"Greer and I go to school together. She's super sweet and smart. She's an honor's student, is president of Eco club and…"
"Did I ask you for her biographical details?"
"You told me to start talking. I don't know what you want me to say."
"How about you start by telling me why you suddenly like girls instead of boys."
"Oh, suddenly. Like you've actually been around long enough to know the history of my dating life. Oh, by the way, I'm bisexual. So l like both guys and girls" she stated in a snarky tone.
"Is that so? You know, Brenna, I'm very interested to hear how your mother feels about this?"
"Actually, mom's totally supportive of our relationship. In fact, she thinks Greer's been a positive influence on me."
"Well, I beg to differ."
"Fine. You're entitled to your own opinion, but..."
"Brenna, I forbid you from seeing this girl again."
"What? You can't make me."
"I can and I will."
"In two days none of this is going to matter since I'll be on the other side of the country."
"And I'll be headed back with you."
"Oh, so suddenly you decide to care."
"Brenna, I've always…"
"Whatever! Just leave me alone. You're good at that." With that said, Brenna ran as fast as she could, her sneakers pounding hard against the pavement. Brenna kept yelling despite her father shouting at her to come back. Finally, his shouts faded into the distance. A couple of minutes later, Brenna came upon a park. It was empty and eerily quiet. The moonlight was just bright enough for Brenna to make out the outline of a swing set and a couple of benches. There were no other lights around. Brenna headed over to one of the benches and took out her phone. She was just about to sit down when she felt a hand cover her mouth. Brenna quickly hit the '1' key on her phone before she was pulled away, both her phone and purse falling onto the ground. Brenna was kicking and struggling to get free. But it was no use. The person's grip was too tight.
"Stop struggling! If you cooperate you won't get hurt." Brenna stopped moving. "That's good. I'm going to take my hand off of your mouth. You scream and I'll shoot you. Got it?" Brenna nodded, tears falling down her face. He removed his hand.
"What do you want from me?"
"I need you for insurance."
"What do you mean?"
"You know the Solano case?"
"Yeah, the one with the little boy who was murdered. The police still haven't found the killer."
"Maybe not. But the killer's found you." Brenna felt a chill go down her spine and her heart began racing.
"You…you killed… that…that boy" Brenna sputtered.
"And if you don't do exactly as I say, I'm going to kill you as well." At this point time seemed to slow for Brenna and her senses suddenly became hyper-sensitive.
"What do you want me to do?" she finally whispered.
"Come with me. I'm going to need to you as leverage with your father in order to get him to close this case."
"He'd never do that. Now please just let me go. I promise I won't tell anyone about tonight." The guy pushed Brenna to the ground and placed his knee on her back.
"Oh, I know you won't be telling anyone about tonight." Brenna felt something cold and hard being pressed against the back of her head. She closed her eyes and pleaded to God. Brenna was not ready to die yet. After all, she was only 15 and still had so much to experience. Suddenly a voice broke through the silence.
"Drop the gun and release the girl!"