The Innocent ↝ ÉLITE ¹

PROLOGUE + CAST

PROLOGUE

ARLO CALERO WAS sat in a cold room, rubbing her arms up and down as she stared at the metal table in front of her, her eyes close to dropping. She did everything she could not to look at the photos that lay in front of her, guilt washing over her.

Never in a million years did she think something like this would happen and never in a million years did she think she would be involved. She used her sleeved to wipe her face and most importantly her eyes to both wake herself up and to stop the tears from pouring out. She tried to stop herself from shaking and at this point she wasn't even sure if it was from how cold the room was or if she was still shaken up about Marina's death.

The clock on the wall ticked with every second that went by, almost mocking her as she glared harshly at it. The water cooler in the corner of the room sat untouched and unmoving like it was waiting for Arlo to confess. She gulped, suddenly growing thirsty, but she tore her gaze from it and back at the woman in front of her.

"You look tired." The Inspector observed.

"That's because I am." The girl sighed.

"Tell me, Arlo. What was your relationship like with Marina?" The woman asked, leaning forwards.

Arlo swallowed, holding back tears. "We were close friends. We had been since we were kids."

The Inspector nodded, looking down at her file. "A number of witness say they saw you two arguing in the hallway a week or so before her death."

"All friends argue." Arlo said. "That doesn't mean I killed her."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "I never said you killed her. What was this argument about?"

"She put my little brother at risk." Arlo informed as she gulped. "She was lying to people. I was trying to find out what was going on with her, but she wouldn't tell me."

"We looked at her autopsy. She was pregnant."

"I know." The girl whispered and the woman looked at her in shock. "I was the first person she told after Samuel. I wanted her to tell her family, but she wouldn't budge just yet."

"What was your relationship like with her brother?"

Arlo hesitated, then shook her head. "We were friends as kids, but drifted away when we were twelve. We hadn't spoken much in years."

"But that seemed to change, right? As he insisted on the fact you were innocent when we questioned him about the argument you and Marina had."

"I'm sorry," Arlo murmured as she wiped her eyes. "But was does Guzmán have to do with this?"

The woman leaned back in her chair. "Two years ago. There was a fight in the boy's locker room, but you happened to witness the whole thing."

"I heard noises when I was in the bathroom, yeah." Arlo confirmed. "So I went to see where they were coming from and it was coming from the boy's locker room."

"What did you see?"

"A...fight."

"Guzmán knew Marina was going to run away and he has a history of aggression. Don't you think in a split second of rage, he could have used the trophy and hit her?"

"No." Arlo defended. "Yes, Guzmán may have a lot of anger, but he got into that fight for Marina. He let himself get hurt because of her. If there's one thing I know about him is that he would never hurt the people he loves. He would never hurt her."