Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) (16 page)

"I can't pay her," I said.

"Don't worry about that," Robert said.

I looked at her and said, "Please don't let them put me in a cage."

"I'll do my best," she said. "We'll get back to you, Robert." She hung up the phone then withdrew a piece of paper from her briefcase. "This is simple," she said. "It is just an agreement that I am representing you." She slid it across the desk. "Can you read?"

"Yes," I said. I read the agreement. She put a pen in my hands and positioned the paper so I could sign it. As soon as I had, she slipped the paper back in her briefcase, pulled out a pad of paper, and said, "Tell me what happened."

I told her everything.

Then she began asking questions. "They each have at least one broken bone."

"Not true," I said
. "One only has a broken nose and a dislocated shoulder. One has a broken leg. The other has a broken wrist and a broken arm."

"How much of that damage was necessary?"

"I don't know," I said. "There were three of them and one of me. I didn't think the girl-"

"Bree," she interjected.

"Yes, Bree, but I didn't know her name then. I didn't think she was going to help. I am one small woman against three large men. I didn't hold back. Was I obligated to do so?"

"No," she said. "How much of the damage happened after they were incapacitated?"

I stared at her, not understanding the question. I finally told her that.

"What did you do after they stopped fighting back?"

"I pulled Bree away from them and tried to calm her down. Then the police came."

"I mean, how much did you hurt them after they stopped fighting?"

"I didn't," I said. "The whole fight was maybe thirty seconds, maybe less. I didn't touch them after that."

"What did you use for a weapon?" she asked. "They didn't find a baseball bat or anything like that. Was there someone else?"

"No, just the three of them."

She sighed. "Did someone help you?"

"Oh. No."

She stared at me. "How much do you weigh?"

"I don't know."

"You look tiny."

"I'm stronger than I look."

"You really did all that to them just like you told me?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Look, Michaela, if you lie to me, I can't help you."

"I'm not lying. The cops told me Bree said I kicked their asses. They were going to rape her, maybe worse. I stopped them. And I'm the one sitting here in handcuffs."

She smiled. "Oh don't worry; they are going away for a long time." She tapped her pen against her lips. "You did all that yourself. You know the cops think there was someone else."

I looked away. "I did it myself. Do I have to prove it?"

"No," she said. "You do not."

"Did I break any laws?"

"Not if what you've said is all true. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

I didn't understand that question, either.

"Military? What?"

"Oh," I said. "No. Nothing like that. I just- I've had to defend myself a lot. They weren't that tough, and I surprised them. I've dealt with far worse."

She stared at me. "Have you ever been arrested before?"

"No."

She spent another twenty minutes asking me questions, basically trying to decide where I was lying. Finally I told her, "Ms. Peters, if you think I am lying, why are you even here?"

"Ms. Redfur," she replied. "If there are things you haven't told me, and the police find out about them before I do, it will be that much harder to keep you out of that cage."

"I have not lied to you," I told her. "Not once. I don't know what else you might be looking for, but I haven't lied."

"You really mean that."

I nodded. "Mr. Callahan said I should trust you. I am trusting you. I don't do things in halves."

She studied me. "All right," she said. "Let's get you out of here. I think this will be only a few minutes, but if the officers are stubborn, it may be a while. Do not answer questions from anyone else unless I am with you."

I nodded.

She stood up, collected her things, and knocked on the door. It opened from the outside, confirming to me I was locked in, and then she was gone.

I listened. I heard yelling. Annette laid into the cops for even thinking of arresting me. She went on for a while, eventually turning it into a bunch of lawyer speak I didn't understand. I grinned. She was an ass-kicker too.

I wondered if she liked girls. I found out later: no, she did not. She was married to a nice man and had two teenage children who went to school with Bree.

After a while, I couldn't hear anything else, and then the door opened admitting Annette and the lady cop. The cop was grinning.

"Ms. Peters," the cop said. "I have never been more pleased to see a lawyer walk into this precinct house than when you did." Then she turned to me. "We are letting you go, but everyone is a little afraid of you. If I release your cuffs, are you going to go all postal on us?"

I looked at her, not understanding. I looked at Annette.

"Michaela, she wants to know if you are going to become violent. I presume the answer is 'no' and if so, you should answer her."

"Oh," I said. "No. Of course not."

The cop pulled out a key to the handcuffs and released my wrists. I rubbed them. She asked me, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Do not answer that," Annette said.

"Hey," the cop said, holding her hands out. "I'm on your side. Bree is a sweet girl, and those guys deserved everything they got, and then some."

"I didn't give them-"

"Quiet," Annette said.

I shut my mouth.

"No," the cop said. "You didn't give them even the tiniest bit of 'and then some'. You used exactly the amount of force that was required and not the tiniest bit more."

Annette smiled. "Exactly. Time to go, Michaela."

I stood up and walked around the table towards her, trembling a little with leftover fear. She took my arm and felt my quivers. "Come on," she said quietly. "Let's get you somewhere you'll feel safe."

I let her lead me out of the interview room. She pulled me into a bathroom and looked into my face. "The press are outside," she said. "You are not to say a word. I do all your talking. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"We aren't going to tell them a thing. I am very practiced at saying 'no comment'. They may try to get a rise out of you. You will keep your mouth closed."

I nodded.

"Good." She studied me, then she pulled a scarf from her briefcase. She went to wrap it around my hair.

"No!" I said. "I'm-" I pulled away. "I'm dirty. You'll ruin it."

"You have very distinctive hair, Michaela," she said. "Let me hide it." Then I stood still and let her do what she wanted. She wrapped my hair in the scarf then put a large pair of sunglasses over my eyes.

"It's still dark," she said. "You may not be able to see well. But I think we can make you just a little harder to recognize. I'll have your arm and won't let you go until you're in my car."

She examined me once more, decided she had done the best she could with what she had, and led me out of the bathroom and out of the precinct house. There were people waiting. Annette shielded me from the press with her body, and then the lady cop and two other cops were there, too. They cleared a path, and no one got a clear photo of me. I kept my mouth shut, Annette told them, "No comment," and soon I found myself handed into a very nice automobile. Annette climbed in and we drove away.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked her.

"The Callahans'," she said. "If that is okay."

"You can just let me out anywhere," I told her. "Thank you for your help."

"They want to thank you," Annette said.

"Mr. Callahan already did," I said. "People like that don't want people like me in their house."

She glanced over at me then returned her gaze to the road. "You really believe that?"

I didn't say anything.

"Michaela, you saved their daughter. And then you held her and comforted her until the police arrived."

"You kept me out of a cage," I said. "We're even."

The fancy lawyer didn't have an immediate response. We drove another block before I said, "Anywhere is fine."

She glanced over again and smiled. "Excellent," she said. Three blocks later she turned into the driveway of a very nice house.

I studied her. "Where are we?"

"The Callahans'. You did say 'anywhere is fine'. This is anywhere."

I tried to exit
the car, but all three of the Callahans had been waiting for us, and they were at my side of the car before I could climb all the way out. I immediately found myself pulled into Bree's arms.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she said, and she started to cry.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do, but I put my arms around her and held her loosely.

"Bree," I said. "You don't want to do this. I-"

"You saved me," she said. "Thank you."

And then Bree's mother was there, hugging both of us, and she was crying too.

I tried pulling away. I wasn't used to touching like this, and I knew I smelled horribly. I knew a human's sense of smell wasn't as good as mine, but even they should have been able to smell me and see how dirty I was.

"She's a little self-conscious," Annette said. "She has been living in the woods."

"In a tent?" Robert asked.

"No," I said. I looked over at him. "Um. You could call it a cave."
I tried to push away again. "Please. I smell. Bree, I'm glad I was able to help. Annette, thank you."

"Come in
side," Bree's mother demanded. "We'll get you cleaned up and a hot meal in you."

"No," I said. "That's all right."

"You might as well give up, Michaela," Bree said. "Once my mother decides something, that's it."

And then her mother's arm was around my shoulder and she was pulling me into the house. I looked over my shoulder at Annette. She smiled at me and waved me in. I let Bree's mother pull me into the house and listened as Annette told Robert what had happened.

Their house was magnificent. You could have put ten of my childhood homes into their home, I'm sure. I hadn't lived in a house since.

"I don't know your name," I finally said.

"Oh," Bree's mother said. "I'm sorry. My name is Virginia. Or Ginny, if you prefer."

"I am Michaela," I said. "Really, this isn't necessary."

"Nonsense," she said. And I discovered I had met someone at least as stubborn as I was. Bree led the way, but Virginia kept an arm around me and pulled me all the way upstairs and into a bathroom. There was a real toilet, a sink, and in the corner, a shower. I didn't even know what it was.

"Bree," Virginia said. "She's a little smaller than you. If you find clothes that are just a little too small for you, they should fit perfectly." Bree scampered off.

"All right, Michaela," she said. "Everything you need is in here." She turned to a little closet and pulled out two fresh towels, setting them on the edge of the sink. "Bree will have clothes for you before you're done."

And then she left me there, closing the door.

I stared at the little sink. She wanted me to wash up in this little sink? There was a thin bar of soap and I found a washcloth. I stripped out of my clothes and did what I could to wash them in the sink. I didn't see anyplace to hang them, but there was a glass door to the shower, and I hung them over the door.

Then I tried washing in the sink, using the wash cloth and soap. I heard Bree outside the door. She paused there for a minute then asked, "Michaela? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Bree."

She waited outside the door, and I continued to try to wash. I didn't know how I was going to wash my hair in that little sink, but I knew it really needed it.

I heard voices in the hall, Bree speaking quietly to her mother. "I don't know what she's doing," Bree said. "But I don't hear the shower."

Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Virginia told Bree to go start pulling
things out for breakfast. There was a knock at the door. "Michaela, it's Virginia. May I come in?"

"I'm washing," I said.

"Michaela dear," she said. "Wrap up in a towel. I'm coming in."

She gave me just a few seconds, then the door opened a crack. "May I come in?"

I grabbed one of the towels and covered myself as best I could. "Yes," I said.

Virginia slipped into the room, carrying some of Bree's clothes. She set them on the closed toilet lid then looked at me.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should have shown you this."

She crossed behind me and stepped to the shower. "This is a shower," she said. She reached in and turned the water on. My eyes widened in sudden understanding. "You control the temperature with this knob. Push in to turn it off when you are done." She showed me the controls.