Girls Can't Be Knights: (Spirit Knights Book 1) (8 page)

“Give yourself a little credit. It’s been at least a month since you did anything
that
dumb.”

“I’m not ever going to live down that mud thing, am I?”

She stepped around until she stood in front of him and tugged his arm down, then smiled up at him. “Missy is scarred for life, I’m sure.” She brushed imaginary lint off his arm. “I know you always do the best you can with what’s in front of you.” She cupped his face in both hands. “And I don’t regret choosing to marry you over the other options I had. I wouldn’t trade Lisa or Missy for the world, or you. I wish some things could be different, but I don’t have any regrets.”

“I don’t deserve you.” He settled his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. Her lips mesmerized him and her warmth reminded him what he fought for.

She grinned. “No, you really don’t.”

Their kiss had to end when Missy clapped and squealed with joy from the doorway. She ran in and thumped into his leg, then wrapped her pudgy little arms around it and squeezed. “Daddy, I want hugs and kisses too!”

“Oh, really?” He let go of Marie to grab the girl and swung her up so she could hug his neck. “Maybe we should sit on the couch and read a book together.”

Marie hooked a finger through one of his belt loops. “What about Claire?”

He carried Missy and dragged Marie into the family room. “She’ll be fine for a day or two. I’ll let her calm down and think, and go find her this weekend. Speaking of this weekend, maybe we should have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”

“Yay!” Missy pressed her chubby little face to his and giggled. “I want a Grandpa Jack story!”

“We’ll get one for you tomorrow.” Justin smiled, grateful for a sweet little girl who could banish his worries with her laughter.

Chapter 11

Claire

“Claire, you need to go to the office.” Ms. Caper hung up the classroom phone and pointed at the door.

“What? Why? I didn’t
do
anything.” Sniggers throughout the room made her scowl.

“I don’t know. Class is almost over. Take your things and go.”

Grumbling under her breath about stupid interruptions and being singled out, Claire slung her notebook and English book into her backpack, grabbed it, and stormed out of the room. For one wild moment, she thought about running for it again. The animals attacking her had been a weird anomaly, and the fantasy her mind had constructed of Justin and Marie and the two girls had given her something to retreat to when things got bad.

She wanted to see Drew again at lunch more than she wanted to run away. When she reached the office, a man in a tan suit stood chatting with the elderly secretary and Mr. Gary. All three turned to look at her.

“You’re not in trouble, Claire.” Mr. Gary beckoned her closer. “Detective Avery just wants to talk to you.”

The middle-aged man in the unremarkable suit offered his hand to her, and she took it, finding him attractive for some reason. The attraction had nothing to do with romance; it felt like kinship, brotherhood, trust. He smiled at her, and, despite having no reason to, she smiled in return.

“Hi, Claire. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you want Mr. Gary to be present?”

“She’s a minor, Detective, I’m afraid that’s required by law when a guardian can’t be here. There’s also the small matter of your conflict of interest here.”

Claire’s head turned from one man to the other, and she frowned at the principal. “Can you just leave the door open and sit out here?” She had no idea why it mattered, but somehow knew Mr. Gary’s presence would make the experience less pleasant.

“I can get the school counselor. That would be more proper.” Mr. Gary waved a hand to the secretary.

“It’s alright,” Detective Avery said. “This won’t take that long.”

Mr. Gary echoed Claire’s frown. “That’s not really…”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve already told you it’s not about Brian.” Detective Avery put his arm around her shoulders and guided her inside the principal’s office. He left the door open, as she suggested, and nudged her into one of the chairs. She sat obediently and watched him. “So, Claire.” He sat in Mr. Gary’s chair.

“Yes, Detective?” She sat up straight, eager to help him.

He smiled at her again, and she beamed. “According to a police report, you were found yesterday in the company of this gentleman.” He pulled a picture out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket and set it in front of Claire. The image showed Justin from a distance, looking to the side with his face in focus. She recognized his short black hair, the shape of his shoulders, and, of course, the brilliant green cloak.

It struck her that his cloak had been in such good condition when everything else in his life, from his work boots to his couch to the towels in the bathroom, seemed faded and worn and frayed. The cloak could have been made yesterday and resisted the mud he tromped through around his house.

Avery continued. “The officer noted you were, quote, screaming and hysterical, end quote. This man is also noted as admitting to killing a cat, though he claimed it to be accidental.”

Claire’s smile faltered and she slunk into a slouch. None of that had really happened. Her sanity depended on all of it being a weird fabrication designed to shield her from whatever other awful thing had happened Wednesday night.

When she remained silent, Avery put a hand over Justin’s picture and leaned in. “Claire, I’m really not here about you beating my son up. You were suspended, and I’m sure that losing your parents has made things hard for you. The only thing you really damaged was his ego and pride, and in all fairness, he probably deserved that.”

“What?” She squinted at him, confused.

Avery blinked and sat back. “Did you not know Brian’s last name?”

“Uh, no. I just transferred here on Monday.”

“Then what’s the matter? You look like you think you’re in trouble.”

She reached out and touched the picture with one finger. If all that had really happened, then she freaked out because the nicest person she’d met since her family died had killed a cat that had clawed and bit her. From the way it had launched itself at her yesterday, it must have intended to kill her.

“I…don’t know.” She brushed her fingertips across the image. None of this made any sense. She wanted to believe in the possibility of people like Justin and Marie existing. Time and time again, she’d been shown the world didn’t work that way, but she still
wanted
to believe.

“Do you know his name?”

“Justin.”

“And his family name?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Claire.”

She looked up and found him giving her a polite yet skeptical smile. “I really don’t know. Did he do something wrong?”

“He stole a priceless piece from the Oregon Historical Society, and he’s wanted for questioning in connection to another theft in Salem, in addition to a few counts of fleeing the scene and half a dozen other minor charges.” Avery drummed his fingers on the desk in the silence. “How did you meet him?”

She shrugged and dropped her eyes to her lap. “Just ran into him. Accident and all.”

“I see. Did you spend the night with him on Wednesday?”

“Yeah.” Her nose itched, so she rubbed it.

Avery’s fingers beat on the desk three more times, then he stood up in a sharp, decisive motion. “I’m taking you into protective custody, Claire.”

Stunned, she blinked and stared at him. “What? Why?”

“I’m concerned about your safety, especially when I can now add child endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and statutory rape to the charges against him.” He grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet with strength she didn’t expect, then hustled her out of the office. “Let’s keep that quiet, Mr. Gary,” he said as he dragged her past him.

“No, wait. Nothing like that happened! He’s married with little kids and was really nice.” She struggled against his grip to no avail. “I told him I got suspended, so he just gave me a place to stay!”

Avery shoved her out the door and flashed a sad smile at the secretary, then hauled her to his unremarkable sedan. He yanked the rear passenger door open and threw her inside. Before she recovered from the toss, he grabbed her hands and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her. “Settle down or I’ll
make
you settle down,” he growled.

Claire froze, terrified of this guy. How did she have thought for even a moment that she could trust him? “Is this about Brian?”

“No, Claire, it’s not. But I will admit that incident does make this all the sweeter.” He threw the door shut.

While he walked around the car, she tossed herself at the door and found the handle didn’t work. The bastard must have engaged the child-safety locks. To her surprise, the rear seat belt snapped down of its own accord and buckled itself, holding her in the seat. She lunged against it, and it didn’t give her any slack.

Avery slid into the driver’s seat and the engine purred to life. “Relax, Claire.” He twisted around to watch her while backing the car out of its parking space. “The more you struggle, the worse it’ll be for you.”

“What are you? What is this thing?”

He smiled, full of dark amusement. “You really are just a child.”

She had no idea how to interpret that and watched in mute horror as the car sped down the city streets without Avery’s hands on the wheel, taking her away from the one place Justin might be able to find her. “Where are we going?”

“Downtown. You’ll be processed and held until such time as you decide to answer all my questions.”

She gulped. Was the car his version of Tariel? If he was a Knight, though, why was he treating her this way? “You don’t have to do all that. I’ll answer whatever questions you wanna ask. I still don’t know Justin’s last name, though. I didn’t ask, and he didn’t tell me.”

Avery’s brown eyes, which had seemed so friendly and welcoming at first, gave her a flat, cold stare in the rearview mirror. “Does he know your last name?”

Claire frowned and let her eyes settle on the back of Avery’s seat. She wanted him to believe that she needed to think about the question. If she spent enough time acting helpful and pretending to try her best, he might come to the wrong conclusions about her. From what Justin had said, she expected the Knights to welcome her into the group. That this guy didn’t made her think she needed to keep him guessing. “I don’t know. Maybe. All I can say for sure is he knows where I go to school.”

“You said you stayed at his house. Where is it?”

If she gave him nothing, he’d probably assume she was lying. She’d have to be vague. Hopefully, she could make her answer vague enough, because she had to keep this creep from going after Marie and the girls. “Um, north? I don’t really know. I was kind of freaking out when he picked me up and not really paying attention when we came back. I guess I remember going across a bridge.”

“I see,” he grumbled. “What did his house look like? The yard?”

“Um.” She shrugged. “A house? With trees? I dunno, I mostly saw the inside, not the outside. Small, I guess. I really wasn’t there very long.”

He harrumphed and turned his back on her as the car maneuvered itself through the streets. It pulled into a parking garage and descended into its fluorescent bowels. A sign informed her they’d arrived at a police station.

“I answered all your questions,” she protested.

“Yes, you did.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Did you really think I’d just let you go?” He snorted as he settled the car into a parking space. “He’s obviously connected to you. You’ll be down here until he comes looking.”

Sparks of panic jolted through her body. “You can’t just keep me in jail for no reason.”

“Sure I can. We do that all the time.” He stepped out and yanked her door open, his arm moving in a flash to grab her before she could escape. Hauling her out of the car, he squeezed her arm so tight she thought he’d leave a bruise. “Make a fuss and you get to see what we do to people for resisting arrest.” He pulled hard enough to make her stumble and dragged her to the nearest building entrance.

“What am I being arrested for?”

“Truancy.”

She gaped up at him. “I was suspended!”

“Ah. Good point.” After a brief pause, he said, “Fighting, then. Zero tolerance is harsh these days. Especially when a witness reported you had a knife.”

“Nobody said that, you’re just making stuff up!”

“It’s a shame how you’re turning out, Claire. Most kids do fine in the system here. You, though? Fighting, running away, using drugs, shoplifting…”

“What?”

They stepped into an elevator, and she struggled in his grip. He squeezed again, this time until she stopped with a whimper and watched the doors close. “Of course, all this will be cleared up as soon as I have Justin. Until then, your paperwork will be mysteriously difficult to locate.”

“Wait. I, um.” Claire imagined herself inside juvenile hall—or worse, shuffled into an adult prison “by accident”—and had no idea what to do.

Avery peered down his nose at her. “Well? You have something else to say? Spit it out.”

She gulped.

The elevator doors opened. People, most in police uniforms, bustled about with folders, clipboards, or computer tablets. A female officer stepped into the elevator, giving Avery a polite nod. Avery tightened his grip again. Afraid he’d do worse things if she struggled, she stayed quiet. They stepped out on the next floor.

She searched faces as they walked down a hallway, wishing one would seem sympathetic. None did. Avery tossed her into a dingy little room with a metal table flanked by two metal chairs, where he clipped her handcuffs into a metal loop on one side of the table. It locked in somehow, ensuring she couldn’t leave without dragging the table along. He slammed the door shut, leaving her there alone.

Scenarios flashed through her mind. One had Justin bursting in to rescue her. Another had Avery torturing her until she gave him Justin’s address. Wilder ideas cropped up of him having an evil master or mistress somewhere. He’d rough her up. When that didn’t work, he’d take her to this cartoonish supervillain and leave her there. When they finished doing whatever they wanted with her, he’d kill her and throw her body in the river.