Gun Games - Faye Kellerman [126]
“And you thought it was okay to threaten her with a gun?” Wynona said.
“No, it’s not okay. It’s terrible!” She started crying. “I was terrible. But I knew that the gun wasn’t loaded, so I wasn’t really, like, scared for her.”
“It wasn’t loaded?”
“I found out later it was loaded when Chris fired the gun. But I swear I didn’t know about it until that moment. I would have never . . . you know . . .” She looked at her parents. “I swear I didn’t know.”
“But you saw Dylan take out a gun.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do with it?”
“Put it on her back to scare her. But I swear I didn’t know it was loaded.”
“Okay,” Wynona said. “So you crowded the girl and Dylan put a gun on her back. Then what happened.”
“We started walking.”
“Where were you going?”
Darla said, “To Cameron’s house. Her parents leave for work early in the morning.”
“What were you planning on doing to the girl at Cameron’s house?”
“Just scare her a little.”
“How?”
“Just . . . you know . . .”
“No, I don’t know. Tell me.”
“Just talking trash to her.”
“About gang raping her?”
“No one was really going to hurt her. I would have never been a part of that.”
Wynona said, “So you’re crowding the girl, Dylan has a gun at her back, and all of you are on your way to Cameron’s house.”
She nodded.
“Okay. So . . . what happened next?”
Darla paused. “It happened so fast. We get to Greendale Park . . . then Chris appears outta nowhere . . .” The tears reappeared. “Chris and Dylan start talking . . . and Cam says to Dylan that Chris raped her.”
“And you know that’s a lie.”
“Yeah, of course it’s a lie.”
“Go on.”
“So Chris told Dylan that he never touched her. And he and Dylan are going back and forth . . . and all these accusations are flying . . . and then the gun goes off and . . . the next thing I know is Chris is pointing a gun at my face, threatening to shoot all of us. Let me tell you something honestly. Chris was way more scary than Dylan ’cause he actually fired the gun. I was petrified.” She looked at Wynona and then her lawyer. “The only one who fired a gun was Chris.”
“And you’re sure about that.”
“Positive!”
“And that’s when you realized that Dylan’s gun was loaded?”
“Exactly.”
Wynona said, “Darla, do you know that if something happens and the gun discharges and someone gets hurt, you’re responsible for the shooting even if you thought the gun wasn’t loaded.”
Darla nodded solemnly. “No one got hurt.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m positive. Like I said, the only one who fired the gun was Chris. And none of us were hurt so . . .”
Wynona said, “Chris’s name is actually Gabriel.”
“Gabriel . . . Chris . . . whatever.”
Wynona looked at Decker who nodded. She said, “Do you know that Gabriel is in the hospital?”
Darla’s mother became white. “What’s wrong?”
“He was shot—”
“No!” Darla sputtered out. Her mother gasped. Her father turned ashen. “But that’s impossible. When he left, he was fine!”
Quiller put up his hands to silence her. “How serious?”
Wynona said, “It’s a gunshot wound.”
“Is it possible that the boy shot himself?”
Decker said, “Highly improbable. From the gunshot residue on the wound, he was shot from a distance of about two and a half feet.”
“It can’t be!” Darla was trembling. “It’s impossible.”
Marie asked, “Is he going to live?”
“He’s undergoing surgery,” Decker said.
“Oh dear God!” She turned to her husband. “We have to pray for him.”
“Later.” Quiller turned to Wynona. “Who shot him?”
Wynona said, “That’s what we’re piecing together.”
“What have you been told?”
Wynona said, “How much is your client willing to cooperate?”
Quiller said, “If she cooperates, what can you do for her?”
“Provided she’s not the shooter—”
Darla said, “I’ve never shot a gun in my life! You already tested my hands for something.”
Quiller said, “She came out clean.”
“Maybe she washed her hands,” Wynona said.
“I swear I didn’t shoot anybody.” The girl bordered on hysteria.
Quiller said, “If she cooperates and isn’t the shooter, what can you