by Shawn Keys
Drake took a small risk and placed a warm hand between the shoulder blades of the brunette who was huddled on the edge of the ambulance edge. “Hi. Did I hear Cara say your name was Tricia?”
Bleary eyes turned up to him, then widened. Through the mask, he saw a smile form. Then, the women rose up and quite deliberately hugged him. “You’re the one who pulled us out, aren’t you?” It wasn’t really a question.
He knew they had just walked away from death. But that didn’t mean having a sexy, elf-dressed woman like this wrap her arms around you didn’t feel damned good. Drake returned the hug, though not as tightly, not wanting to feel like he was trapping her any longer than she wanted to stay in his arms. He was incredibly glad he had had the chance to shower and clean his stuff. He might be smelling like fire-smoke, but so was she. He would have died if his B.O. chased her away. “Yeah, guess I did. Though to be fair, it was Cara who walked you out.”
Tricia pulled back to look over at her friend. Warmth filled her voice. “Yeah. I’ll make sure I thank her properly later, you can sure of that.” Then she focused her dark eye on him again. “But you cut us free. I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head in disbelief. “What were you even doing there?”
Scratching the back of his neck because of his nerves, he shrugged. “Sight-seeing.”
She looked confused.
He rushed past all that. “Doesn’t really matter. I smelled smoke, and I followed my nose.”
“You went toward the fire? Have a death wish?”
From inside the ambulance, Cara chided her, “Tricia!”
“What? I mean, most people would have run the other way. Or pissed themselves, then run the other way.”
Drake liked Tricia’s no-nonsense attitude. He had a feeling this woman would never fear to speak her mind, and you would always know where you stood with her. “I’ve had a little training in the past. Plus, no-one ever claimed I was stable or anything.”
Tricia grinned, “Oh, unstable and crazy. Sounds like just my type.”
Drake hadn’t been called anyone’s type in a long, long time. He knew part of it was the insanity of the moment. But for now, it felt good to bask in the praise. “Your friend going to be alright?” He gestured at the red-headed woman he had heard them call Karin earlier.
Tricia’s snarky humor faded into real concern. “Yeah. She might not have lasted much longer in there. The paramedics say she just needs to lay flat for a while, and she should be out of the worst of it. But they are going to watch her closely for a few hours. It could do lasting damage.”
Recalling that from somewhere in his education, Drake spent a moment absorbing Karin’s face. He had carried her out of the mall, but hadn’t really had the chance to take in her spritely features. He wished he could see if her laugh was as bright as her pixie face suggested it might be.
Then, he asked Cara, “How about you?”
She gestured back at the mall. “Doesn’t seem quite real yet. I mean, we were excited for a night out. Then, we were bored and annoyed at being stuck taking down the decorations. Then we were terrified and about to die. Now, happy to be alive and angry as hell.” She shook her head. “I have no idea what to feel now.”
Drake was grimly determined. “The police are going to have questions. I’m going to feed this ‘Patrick’ to them on a plate. But I’m not the one who saw him first-hand. You three need to keep it together long enough to see this through.” He pointed at the fire-trucks, setting up chains of hoses, surrounding the whole mall to try and contain the blaze that was licking at the exterior. For them, it was going to be a long night. “Don’t let him get away with this shit.”
Cara nodded soberly. “I’ve been rehearsing what I’m going to tell the police over and over.”
Tricia all-but snarled. “I don’t need to rehearse anything. When I’m finished telling them what he did, he’ll be lucky they don’t lock him up on attempted murder charges.”
It was the one bad thing about having saved the girls, Drake knew. Because they came out alright, the defense lawyer might be able to argue the charge down to ‘reckless endangerment’ or something like that. Drake asked, “Were you three a target? I mean, he tied you up in there. Was he trying to kill you? Maybe pin it all on you?”
Cara shrugged. “I really don’t know. He was half out of his mind. But once he saw us, I could tell he was improvising. I think he hoped everyone would assume we made a mistake and started the fire. But we were tied up. Wouldn’t they have seen that?”
Drake didn’t know, and said so. “Maybe. I don’t know that much about fire. Maybe he hoped all the cords would melt.” He shrugged. “Well, we’ll make sure the police know the truth. I’m going to let them take me down to the station. Guess I’ll see you there.”
Tricia demanded, “You better! Don’t walk away before we get the chance to say thanks. Especially Karin. She hasn’t seen you yet, and there’s no way she’ll let us live it down if she never meets you.”
Drake smiled over at the sleeping red-head. “Yeah, I’d love to meet her, too.” Having cradled her in his arms on the way out of the mall, he wanted to see her smile and know beyond a doubt she was OK.
Cara flashed her own smile. “Take it easy. And like she said, don’t run off!”
Drake promised with a nod, then turned to walk back over to the detective. “Ready whenever you are, Sir.” The Fire-Inspector had wandered off to take charge of the fire scene.
Michaels scowled at him. “Oh, is now convenient for you?”
Not liking the attitude, Drake fought down his urge to snap back. Remember what you are. And who you are. Never forget. Because they won’t. And they won’t let you forget, either. Moderating his tone, he said, “Anytime.”
Michaels walked him over to a sedan that was clearly from the local cop motor pool. He opened the back doors, both of which were like regular cop cars: no handles inside, windows that didn’t open, and no way to cause himself any harm. It was the sort of spot that made him feel more like a suspect than a witness. “Sit back here. I have a couple things to do and people to talk to, but I’ll take you soon.”
Drake slid in, settling back against the leather. He closed his eyes and tried not to get irritated again. Whatever. The car was idling, so it was warm. If Michaels wanted to make him wait to prove his power, then fine.
Like always, Drake had nothing but time.
Chapter 4:
Windows in the Cage
Michaels leaned aggressively forward in his chair. “How about you tell us one more time how you came to be in the mall?”
Drake rubbed at his eyebrow with his index finger, stroking away a building headache. “You aren’t inspiring a lot of confidence in me, Detective.”
“Oh? And why would I want to do that?”
Drake sighed. “Because I sort of figured saving the lives of three women and an accountant might buy me a little forgiveness for a little innocent trespassing.” He waved at the mirror, which of course had to be a two-way thingamajig. “I admit, I shouldn’t have been in there. But it wasn’t even breaking and entering. The door was open. I was just chasing a little heat. Grabbed a shower. Not exactly the crime of the century! How many people are you going to parade through the other room there and hear me admit to a tiny little misdemeanor when you have a real crime to investigate?”
Michaels smirked at him. “Awfully quick to dismiss what you did. Is breaking the law a joke to you, Drake?”
“What? No, of course not!”
“You seem like a smart guy. Not used to seeing smart guys like you stuck on the streets.”
With that, Drake started to get insulted. His frown deepened. “Guess you don’t get around much. How long since you walked a beat, Detective? How long since you actually talked to any of us. There’s plenty of smart people who caught a few shitty breaks.”
“That’s you, huh, Drake? Just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
Drake shrugged. “I figure it was sort of the wrong
place at the right time, considering how I walked out of there with those women.”
Michaels scrolled back through what Drake had said. “You used an interesting turn of phrase there: chasing heat. Never heard anyone refer to arson that way. Chasing heat. That what you call it?”
Drake narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“Does the fire call to you? Seen it before. Guys who handle explosives turn into fire bugs. Can’t control it after a while.”
This is getting ridiculous. Drake grumbled, “I have no idea what you are talking about. What’s happening here? The girls told you about this Patrick idiot, right?”
Michaels made a ‘pooh pooh’-ing gesture. “Sure, sure. They implicated Patrick Tully. Millionaire. Owner of the mall. Had dinner with the mayor a few weeks back. Hmm, yes, sure, we’ll look into that. I mean, we’ll look into that right after we look into the indigent with military experience who admits to looking for a little heat. Not to mention the rope burns on the legs and arms of those ladies, like they were tied up and struggling to get free. Guess you like your crime ‘hands-on’, huh, Drake? Get your jollies watching the women squirm?”
Drake nearly exploded at that. “What do you think happened in there?”
“You want to know what I think? I think you tied up the girls to make them watch you torch a Santa display just to watch it burn. But it got out of control. You lost your touch. So, you hauled them out of there before your audience ended up as murder victims.”
“Are you crazy? The girls told you what happened!”
“Oh, sure. It was amazing how quickly they were willing to point their fingers are their boss’s boss’s boss. No fear at all. That sort of thing happens when a person has been threatened.”
“Threatened? What are you talking about? They’re pissed off at almost dying! Of course, they turned on him! They nearly died because of him!”
Michaels leaned in further. “Allegedly! But you were awfully insistent on talking to those girls before we got you in to the station. Long enough to make it very clear what would happen to them if they turned you in.”
Drake gawked at the Detective. Was the guy hoping to blow this case into something way bigger? Or was he being paid off by Patrick Tully? Maybe covering for him to earn favors later?
Whatever the truth, it wasn’t going to end well for him as the scapegoat. “Sometimes a spade is a spade. Wait for the fire-inspector report. This Patrick idiot burned the place for the insurance money. You’ll probably find a whopping huge policy on it all. The girls saw him, and I believe them!”
Something banged on the other side of the two-way mirror. It surprised both Michaels and Drake.
The detective stood quickly, shuffling over and putting a pair of handcuffs on him, one end on his left wrist and the other to the table. “You stay here.”
Drake tugged at the restraint. “Are you kidding me? This is –”
He didn’t get the chance to finish. Michaels stormed toward the door. Yanking it open, he was about to storm out into the hallway.
Instead, he was pushed right back in by a trio of irate, red-faced women in elf costumes. A pair of uniformed officers were behind them, but they didn’t seem all that intent on stopping the women. Their expressions actually looked a little smug as they let the two women crowd in on the arrogant detective.
Tricia was on point, and she yelled right into the detective’s face. “Are you calling me a liar?”
Michaels stammered, “W-well, I…” He glared past the woman’s shoulder at the officers. “Why didn’t you stop them! Were you letting them listen?”
Not willing to let them answer, Cara inserted her own snippy comment, “For some reason, they wanted us to see what you were accusing our hero of doing. Then, they weren’t willing to tackle defenseless women who nearly burned to death. What a surprise!”
Karin jumped in. It was the first time Drake had heard her voice, and it was as bright and musical as he imagined. “He literally dragged us out of the fire! What don’t you get about this? We know who did it! We watched him do it!”
Michaels held up his hands, trying to ward them off, “We need to consider every angle! I hear you ladies, but he could be pressuring you to lie. If he threatened your families, of course you would be in here defending…”
Karin gave a loud, hard laugh right in his face.
Cara mocked him. “He’s handcuffed to a table. Surrounded by cops. If I said a single word about him being the bad guy, you’d ship him right off to jail! Right?”
Michaels nodded eagerly. “Say the word. He can’t hurt you right now!”
Tricia rolled her eyes, “That’s not what she’s telling you, ‘Detective’, if that’s what you actually are.”
“Hey, now!” he objected.
Cara stepped in before her friend got them in hot water. “Give it a rest, Sir! I have no idea what you like better about a guy like Drake burning things for a little arson fun. Isn’t nailing an asshole millionaire like Patrick Tully a way bigger deal?”
Karin turned and asked with a bright smile. “Officers, could you tell me something?”
Looking almost amused, the swarthy, taller of the two asked, “What’s that, Ma’am?”
“Is it normal to detain people with no witnesses pointing at them, with no motive, and who for no reason whatsoever risked their lives to save four people from a fire? I mean, I don’t think so, but I’m not really up on that sort of thing.”
The officer ignored the ugly stare Michaels was throwing at him. “No, Ma’am. Not normal at all.”
“Well, there, you see?” Karin grinned, delighted.
Tricia rounded on Michaels. “Feel up to arresting all of us?”
The detective blustered, but floundered in the effort. “Well, if… well, I could… but…well, no…”
Cara nodded. “Good. Then kindly remove his restraints. We’ll be leaving now. All of us. We’ve put in our statements.” She paused. Then, said, “Oh. Oh! And if not? Well, I’m going to raise a hell of a stink. And you’ll have to arrest me for contempt or harassing a police officer or whatever else you can drum up. And wouldn’t that look great? Karin’s great at photography, and she still has her phone!”
Karin waved it happily inside its pink-sparkly cover that matched her personality.
“A photo of a Santa’s elf being arrested for conspiracy to burn herself to death? Sounds like a great headline in the blogsphere, don’t you think?”
The other officer stepped into the office, whispering quickly to Michaels, “Not sure what your play is here, Sir. But you know the Captain isn’t going to back any of this. Come on, let it go. We have enough to drag Tully in by his ankles.”
Michaels fought the admission. Convincing him was far harder than it should have been. Michaels chewed at his inner lip, trying to convince himself he had a way out of this.
Drake was more and more convinced the detective was being influenced. Either he owed Tully, or wanted Tully to owe him. Whatever it was, the detective was refusing to see the facts in front of his face.
But Michaels had nothing else to go on. “Fine. Let him go. Let them all go.” He growled at them. “But you better answer your phones. If you fail to appear as witnesses when we go put this guy up on charges, this whole thing will fall apart. I’ll know you played me. Then I’ll find this street urchin and drag him back in.”
Tricia ignored his threat. “Take off the cuffs, Sir.” She added a flippant, “Please,” to the demand as an afterthought.
Not waiting for him, the second officer keyed open the handcuffs.
Drake immediately pushed back from the table, as if worried they would hook him back in if he didn’t get a little distance. “I’m free to go?”
Not waiting for the detective to find his second wind, the officer nodded. “Take off. And… thanks.”
Drake flashed him a smile. “My pleasure. Take it easy out there.” See? One of the good ones. Drake knew they were out there.
He pushed out of his seat
and tromped for the door. “Ready to go, ladies?”
Tricia’s eyes were still fixed on Michaels. “Oh, yeah.”
Karin grinned. “Off we go!”
Cara smiled softly. “More than ready.”
Together, they flooded out into the corridor, through the outer waiting area, past the station doors and onto the steps outside. They didn’t wait. They didn’t look back. And they certainly didn’t stop to ask anyone permission or give anyone an excuse or reason to hang onto them again.
They spilled onto the open concrete patio at the top of the broad steps leading up to the police station. Drake wanted to haul off and kick something, but nothing presented itself. “Bah! I should never have been in there. I can’t believe how stupid I was being.”
Tricia took hold of his arm. They had already hugged, so she seemed willing enough to break the touch barrier again. “Hey hey! Don’t say that! If you hadn’t been there, we’d be dead right now. Don’t let one stormtrooper cop get to you.”
Karin flew into his arms, totally unashamed. With her typical exuberance, she stuffed herself into his arms and hugged him tight. “I never got the chance to say it. You carried me out of there. I can’t… I mean, th-thank you…” He buried her face in his chest and clung to him a while.
Cara smiled. “Yeah, what she said.” She peered at him a little closer. “It’s been driving me crazy… do I know you? I mean, you look super familiar. I swear we’ve met.”
The same thing had been itching at Drake’s memory. But unlike her, he was actively trying to avoid connecting the dots. She seemed like a sweet enough woman, but people reacted weirdly, especially around homeless people. The last thing he wanted was to recall that she had spat on him or cussed him out. Perhaps worse, he didn’t want her to remember him as the scraggly, stooped, stench-ridden version of himself that she might have met. He didn’t want to see the glow of warmth in her eyes to dim. She almost looked attracted to him. If it wasn’t for his utterly disreputable clothing, he might almost seem normal next to them. He wanted to remember that. Yeah, this is how he wanted to see them in his memories.