Mark answered the door still holding on to the kid. He knew she would bolt if she had the chance. Two cops stood there.
"Come in." Mark said.
The tallest cop looked at Katlyn and grinned.
"Well well well, Katlyn, fancy meeting you here." The cop said.
The other cop introduced himself and his partner.
"I'm detective Wallace and this is detective Jackson." He said.
Mark led them into the den where they all took a seat and Mark sat down and pulled Katlyn to sit beside him.
"So I take it you know her?" Mark asked detective Jackson.
"Oh yeah she's got a rap sheet a mile long, been arresting her on and off since she was 10. She's a street thief her and a bunch of other kids make living doing this." Jackson said.
Mark frowned this kid had been at this since she was just a little thing.
"Well sweet thing, you just turned 18 so it's a different story now. You're going to do some jail time." Jackson said.
Katlyn didn't reply and kept her head down.
"Now would be a good time to start talking to us about Tom. We never were able to get anything on him. You give us him; we can work out a deal with you." Jackson said.
There was no way Katlyn was going to rat on Tom. If he got a hold of her he would kill her. She wasn't stupid.
Mark was confused to what was going on.
Jackson stood up.
"Mr. Callaway let's go talk in the other room." Jackson said.
"Watch her like a hawk." Jackson said to his partner.
"Listen Mr. Callaway. This bastard picks up these homeless kids with no one and teaches them to steal for him. He feeds them, rents them some broken down house to live in where there packed in like rats. We want him bad but none of the kid will talk." Jackson said.
"Why don't social services gather these kids up and put them in homes?" Mark asked.
"They move from place to place. You do put them in a home and there so destructive, they don't stay there for long. There violent, it's the only thing they know. They run away as soon as you put them somewhere. You would be surprised how many of these child gangs exist on the street. Thomas Hamlin runs the biggest operation though. But he's clean we can't get anything on him. He lives in a mansion while these kids live like animals. We want him bad. But we can't touch him." Jackson said.
"What's her story?" Mark asked.
"Katlyn O'Shannon, age 18. Her mother was murdered in front of her when she was 10. She roamed the streets for a while till Tom spotted her. He took her in the family so to speak and turned her into a thief. Don't let her innocent looks fool you. She's like a wild animal." Jackson said.
Mark frowned. It wasn't her fault the system had failed her. She had been used by some greedy bastard. It's all she knew. They heard thump from the living room. They both ran in and found detective Wallace laying in the floor clutching his nuts.
"That little bitch kicked me in the nuts and took off." He gasped.
Jackson sighed.
"She'll turn up again. She always does." Jackson said.
"Yea well when she does she's going to pay." Wallace said.
Jackson helped him up and he turned to Mark. "Thanks for your help." Jackson said and left.
Mark made a split decision; she couldn't have got far with those hurt ribs. He took off out the door and grabbed his Harley out of the garage. He was going to try and track her down. He was angry that she had got away but the kid also touched something in him. If she could get off the streets may be she could do something with her life.
Mark drove down the back road that ran behind his property figuring she would take the main road He seen her limping along and stopped the bike so he could watch her with out alerting her. He saw her get in a car. So she had someone waiting on her. He waited till the car started and followed. He kept his head light off so he wouldn't be detected. He was determined he was going to catch her. Maybe if she had to pay for the consequences of her crime, she would straighten her act up.
Joey looked at Katlyn she looked terrible.
"What happened?" He asked seeing she was empty handed.
"I got caught and the guy roughed me up and called the police, but I got away." She said laying her head back.
"Tom is not going to be happy." Joey said looking worried.
"Don't worry Joey, he can't blame you, it was my fault." Katlyn said.
"I hope he don't hurt you." Joey said.
"I'll be fine." Katlyn said. She tried to smile her reassurance at Joey. Joey was a kind hearted soul. He had come a few months after her. He was three years younger than her and she had taken him under her wing so to speak.
Katlyn wished she could get them all away from Tom, but they had no where to go.
She sighed and stared out the window. She knew it was going to be bad when she got home.