She didn’t answer.
“What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Jesse said.
She shook her head.
“Did he kill your mother?”
She didn’t answer.
“Why won’t you talk about him?” Jesse said.
“I won’t,” Amber said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know who killed your mother?”
She didn’t answer.
“Do you?” Jesse said.
“No.”
“Why did you call Crow?” Jesse said.
She shrugged, which, Jesse thought, might not be easy lying on your side.
“You think he’d protect you from your boyfriend?”
“I had his phone number,” she said.
“And you thought he’d protect you?”
“I thought Esteban would be afraid of him.”
“Your boyfriend,” Jesse said. “Esteban?”
“No. I didn’t mean Esteban. My boyfriend is another man.”
“But you said ‘Esteban.’”
“No,” she said.
Jesse nodded.
“You could have called us,” he said.
“The police?”
“Uh-huh, nine-one-one would have done it.”
“I was afraid you’d arrest me.”
“Arrest you for what?” Jesse said.
“I don’t know,” she said. “For nothing…that’s what cops do.”
“Why don’t you want to go back to your father?” Jesse said.
“He’s creepy,” Amber said. “He’s got all these creepy guys around. And he’ll make me go to school with the nuns. Nuns are creepy.”
Jesse nodded.
“What’s your father do for a living?” Jesse said.
“He does a lot of stuff. He makes a lot of money. But he’s creepy.”
“Any of the creepy guys around him bother you any?” Jesse said.
