After seeing her son on that stretcher, Mrs. Montero couldn't stop sobbing and looking back at the van carrying her son until we had closed the passenger door of the SUV. Kim rode in the back while I drove, offering what comfort she could to the grieving mother.
We drove her back to the police department in silence. She had calmed down halfway through the ride, which was a good sign that maybe we could talk to her a little more. If we couldn't do that, we could at least offer her a place to lay low for a while.
"You took me to the police department?" She asked as I parked near the back door where we would enter into the building. I don't understand. Am I in some kind of trouble?"
"No trouble." Kim looked at me for confirmation as I nodded from the driver's seat. " We thought maybe it would be better if we could talk in a quiet area, okay?"
"Okay." A single tear ran down Mrs. Montero's cheek. I could only imagine what she was thinking as soon as she saw where we were taking her. The agony she was feeling at being separated from her son. "Come on. We'll show you where to go."
Unlocking the side door, it creaked open as we led her through the building into an empty room. As Kim and Mrs. Montero got settled, I went to grab her some water from the cooler and placed it on the table beside her.
"Thanks." Mrs. Montero grabbed the styrofoam cup with both hands to pull in front of her, but instead of drinking, she held onto it. "Do either of you have children?" I opened my mouth to say something but quickly thought better of it. There was no way I was spilling about Eva to a mother who just lost her son.
"No,." Kim answered quietly as we both sat across from her at the table. In a way, her response was indirectly mine as well. What she deserved was the honest truth, but not here. Not now.
"When you do, they become your pride and joy." Her eyes settled on mine as if she knew I was a mother. "You want to do everything for them. You want to protect them, even when you can't. I should have been there for my little boy, but I wasn't." The tears now threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"You couldn't have known someone was going to come into the apartment with a gun. This is on the person responsible for killing your son."
"I could have made him lay down in his room, but he wanted to watch cartoons in the living room. I never thought-" Trailing off, she covered her mouth with her hand as the realization dawned on her that she could have prevented this. If it was only life was that simple and we could see what was going to happen before it did. If that were the case, I could have seen Eva coming back into my life.
"Your son liked cartoons." I piped up, redirecting her attention back on something else than blaming herself about her son's death.
"If I had let him, he would have watched cartoons every minute of every day." Her expression lit up then fell into a frown, like the shock from earlier was wearing off. "He loved anything superhero related. He wanted to be a cop. I know if he was here, he would have been right at home. What you do for people like me, I know he's in good hands, but at the same time I just want my son back."
"We're going to do everything to catch the person responsible. In the meantime, is there anyone we can call to stay with you for a few days?"
"No. We don't have anyone. My husband died when Felix was six. My parents died about ten years ago and my husband's mom is in a nursing home."
"What about the people we saw you with earlier?" Kim pressed gently, leaning forward in her chair.
"Rebecca and Ana. They live in the apartments downstairs. I don't know if I can go back right now."
"Okay," I assured her, gesturing over to Kim who pulled out her phone from her pocket. "We'll see if we can get you a hotel to stay at while your apartment is being processed."
"So what happens now?" She questioned as she watched Kim stand up from the table. I silently assured her I had this and she left the room to make the call.
"Forensics will continue you to process your apartment, and the coroner will do an autopsy on your son to make sure we didn't miss anything that could help us catch who did this."
"I appreciate it, I do. I just can't believe I'm here and he's not." She looked up at the ceiling as if she were asking why her son was ripped from her arms. "How do I live with myself now that he's gone? What do you do when you see these kinds of things happening in your own city?"
"You take it minute by minute because sometimes that's all we can do," I told her, feeling like I should take my own advice on this one.
"And when we can't even do that?" Her voice was growing hoarse as her eyes filled with more unshed tears.
"You get help from those you love most. If that doesn't help, you go to a professional who is trained in handling everything you're feeling." She nodded just as Kim slipped back into the room.
"I just talked to my boss. He is making the call now to set you up with a room. They should be ready for you by the time we get there. Whenever you're ready to go, no rush."
"I think I'm ready." She stood up shakily, pressing her hands onto the table to steady herself. "I think I need to lay down for a little while."
"Okay. We'll take you there." Kim told her as we followed close by just in case she almost collapsed. She suddenly looked exhausted as we walked out of the building and back to the SUV. It was hard to see her look so defeated as she slowly climbed in.