Another snipplet of "Reality Check"

Now that the blog case was over, Detective McIntyre refocused her attention on real crimes, particularly the Everett case. Every teenage girl had a cell phone but Tasha’s was not at the scene of the crime. It did not take long before Detective McIntyre found out who Tasha’s cellular carrier was and had them provide a copy of Tasha’s last call the night of her murder. Surprisingly, the call was not to 911 but to a local number in the Billups County area.

“Hello?”

Detective McIntyre smiled at the face behind the screen door. It was of a young light-skinned girl around the same age as Tasha.

“Hello. I’m Detective McIntyre.” Detective McIntyre flashed her badge. “I’m looking for Lisa Pitts.”

“I’m she.”

“I’d like to talk to you about Tasha Everett.”

The immediate change in expression on Lisa’s face let Detective McIntyre know she was on the right track.

“Come on in.”

Detective McIntyre walked into the nicely furnished apartment and looked around as Lisa led her to the living room. The walls were decorated with home photos of Lisa and Tasha framed in different sizes. They ranged from black and white professional portraits to comical cartoon drawings. The one on the entertainment center caught Detective McIntyre’s attention. It was of Lisa lying on the couch with Tasha in her lap sleeping. You could tell Lisa captured the moment with her cell phone camera by the way her arm extended outside the frame. The look in Lisa’s eyes resembled that of Detective McIntyre’s late husband. It was the look of unconditional love.

“So, you and Tasha…” Detective McIntyre pointed to the picture.

“We were a couple,” Lisa sighed. She whispered ‘were’ because of the pain associated with it. Detective McIntyre was familiar with the feeling.

“For how long?”

Lisa offered Detective McIntyre a seat.

           “Two years. We been friends since grade school but after her brother was killed, we grew a lot closer. It kinda just happened, ya know.” Lisa had a blank stare on her face as she reminisced on the moment. “One day we were laying on the bed in her room looking at pictures of her and Terrance and outta nowhere, she just kissed me. I said to her, ‘I didn’t even know you like girls’ and she was like, ‘I don’t, I like you’. I knew I loved her before that moment, ya know, but it wasn’t ‘til then that I knew I’d love her forever.”