The Fighter

by Reina Torres

  When Maggie arrived at Cage’s apartment, she didn’t know what kind of reception to expect. The fact that her father had sent her a text was reason enough to worry. The fact that he was the one to greet her at the door sent her insides twisting. No sooner than her father had taken the food containers out of her hands, Frances stepped into her embrace.

  “I’m not going.”

  Maggie tried to look at Frances’ face, but the young woman had her face buried in the crook of Maggie’s shoulder and neck. “Hey,” she smoothed her hand over Frances’ back, “what’s going on?”

  Frances didn’t move, she didn’t answer her, she just held on and started to sob. “Don’t let me go.”

  “Oh goodness,” Maggie turned, her eyes looking for Cage. He was standing across the room, his eyes dark and raging with anger. “What happened?”

  Her father turned from the table, leaving the food to wait for later. “Frances’ family is suing for custody.”

  “Now?”

  Frances burrowed deeper in Maggie’s arms. “They’re not my family.”

  “They loved your mom-”

  “Not after she fell for dad!”

  Maggie walked Frances over to the sofa and together they managed to sit down without releasing each other. Almost as if she was a little girl, Frances tucked herself into Maggie’s side.

  Smoothing her hand over Frances’ mussed hair, Maggie combed her fingers through it while Frances talked. She’d heard the story before, but goodness knows she’d told her own story a few times before she’d made peace with it.

  “Mrs. Donnelly called in my Uncle Charles and my Grandmother, Frances,” she nearly spat out the name, “asked them if they could take me in until Cage could come to take me to the States, but they told her they couldn’t be bothered.”

  Maggie saw Cage turn to look at them, she saw the anguish in his eyes, hurting for the girl he’d come to love as his own.

  “They said they didn’t care about me. Not at all. That my mother had whored herself with my father and they weren’t going to raise an animal under their roof.”

  Pressing a kiss to the crown of Frances’ head, Maggie only cuddled her closer. “They don’t know how special you are, sweetheart.”

  “How could,” she hiccupped a sob and leaned back just enough to look up at Maggie through her over-long bangs, “how could they raise my mum to be such a loving person when they’re so bloody hateful?”

  “Well,” Maggie met her father’s eyes across the room, “because sometimes even in the biggest pile of horse poop around, you’ll see flowers growing out of the muck.”

  Frances stared back at Maggie for a long moment before the corners of her mouth turned up from her frown into a hesitant smile. “You mean weeds?”

  Maggie shrugged. “Weeds can have a purpose. Medicinal stuff, I think.”

  “You’re trying to make me think of the positives, aren’t you? I doubt it will work. I don’t even know why they want me back, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll never go with them.”

  “And we won’t let you go,” she met Cage’s eyes and willed him to speak.

  “Damn right. You’re family. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Suddenly, Maggie’s arms were empty. Frances leapt from the sofa with a cat’s feline grace and was in Cage’s arms hugging him tight.

  The sight brought some tears to her eyes, but they were happy tears. Those were fine. She could handle happy. She looked up when her father approached her. “What can we do to help?”

  His hand rubbed at his chin as he watched Cage comfort his foster daughter. “We’ve contacted Paige.”

  “The Mayor’s daughter?”

  He nodded. “There’s a foundation helping shifters with their legal issues. They have attorneys who can work on things like this.”

  “Whatever money I have… Cage can have it for their defense.”

  The Colonel set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “No need for that right now. Paige has a lawyer who’ll do it pro bono. He’s got some experience with custody issues across the pond. Seems his sister had a similar situation recently and he’s eager to draw blood on our behalf.”

  It warmed her heart that her father was speaking of things in terms of ‘our’ including Cage and Frances together in his thoughts. Even years after their unit had broken up, he was still looking after his men.

  “But you just stick close to these two,” his chuckle was low and warm, “not that you weren’t planning on it in the first place, but I’m glad to see that you’re there for him.”

  “You know why,” she covered his hand with hers on her shoulder.

  “Yes, sweetheart. You were never very covert with your crush.”

  “Well I was a soldier’s daughter. I wasn’t meant for the CIA or the FBI.”

  “Thank goodness,” he groused, “never thought you’d have a stick up your ass to match a badge.”

  “Well,” the Colonel spoke a little louder than necessary, “I think I’ll head back to the gym. If anyone needs me, you know that’s where I’ll be.”

  “Thanks, Colonel.” Cage’s somber gaze met her father’s, their eyes speaking volumes without words. “I appreciate your help.”

  The Colonel waved off the words with a scoff. “The least I can do for you and Todd.” He shifted his gaze to Frances. “You keep your chin up, Frannie. I’m always here if you need me.”

  Setting her feet down on the ground, Frances met him at the door for a quick hug that her father grumped his way through. Still, Frances’ new-found smile didn’t dim at all as he stepped out onto the landing. Once the door was closed, Frances turned to look at Maggie. “I’m starved, what did you bring?”

  Maggie’s laughter brought a smile to Cage’s face.

  “Well, at least I know you won’t waste away to nothing,” she told Frances.

  “Nope,” she answered back, “I’m too damn-”

  Cage cleared his throat.

  “Sorry! I’m too fecking hungry to let that happen.” She turned and gave Cage just the hint of a wink. “Happy?”

  “Brilliant,” he shot back, using a bit of Frances’ usual slang. “Now be nice and help Maggie while I get the table cleared off.”

  As they unpacked the plates and wrestled with the napkins and utensils Maggie watched over both Cage and Frances. They’d gone through a whirlwind of emotions in just a short period of time and it was a long way from being over.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next few weeks had everyone upside down and inside out. Word had gotten out about the fights and more and more spectators were coming to the fights from outside of Sylvan City. They’d had to double the clean-up crews to manage and there were talks of buying up a neighboring property and expanding the parking lot. That was just on the work front for Cage. He could handle the business, but there were family concerns that were more pressing.

  The custody case was advancing. It turned out they didn’t end up with a lawyer from the pool of pro bono lawyers at one of the two Shapeshifter Rights Service Centers. When word got out through the grapevine in Sylvan City, Cage found Adrian DeMello on his doorstep. A Family Law attorney with a staff larger than the City Council, had a soft spot for shifters. His wife and son were shifters, wolves, and he was eager to help.

  They’d spent hours and hours discussing strategy, which Cage had hated, and more time than that talking about exactly what this meant for everyone in his life and Frances’.

  And through it all, there was Maggie.

  She acted like she’d been through it all before, and in a way she had. Sure, her legal issues had been different, but instead of Children and Family Services putting her with a family, they were the family being investigated.

  Adrian’s words echoed in his head.

  “We have an uphill battle here. Blood is the first concern in cases with orphans. The parents’ wishes come into play, but there are all kinds of other pieces to the puzzle that are deciding factors. The first of which is providing
for the child.”

  Luckily, he hadn’t said that in front of Frances. Any implication that she was a child didn’t sit well with her at all. But in the eyes of the court, that was exactly what she was. And at her age, the court would listen to her wishes, but Adrian had explained it in no uncertain terms, if the court felt that Frances’ current living situation wasn’t the best for her, then it might not matter what her parents wanted. The Hallworths were a titled and monied family that had enjoyed privilege and rank for hundreds of years.

  Now that they had decided to bring Frances back into the fold, it was going to be hard to stop them.

  But they did have some pluses on their side. Frances was well taken care of. Her grades and school attendance and participation had improved. She was nearly done with her work release and probation for the vandalism.

  And yet there seemed to be a mountain of negatives.

  The area they lived in was more industrial than it was residential and while the streets weren’t littered with trash or vagrants, it wasn’t exactly a white picket fence and yard.

  Add to that the constant ‘violence’ happening in the adjoining building, it wasn’t necessarily the best environment for a young woman.

  He could ruminate on it for days, but right at that moment he pushed open the door of the diner and was treated to the welcome smile of the one woman who had the ability to calm some of his nerves. All she had to do was look up at him or touch him in some way and he was putty in her hands.

  “What’s on your mind?” She gave him a curious look and set a cup of coffee down before him. “You look like you were doing some heavy thinking while you were standing there across the street.”

  He felt his lips pull into a thin line and shook his head. “Nothing important right now.” She opened her mouth to ask again and he snaked his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer for a kiss.

  When he pulled back, her eyes remained closed for a few seconds, her smile softening into a sigh. “That was marvelous.”

  “Just marvelous?”

  She pulled the towel from her apron strings and smacked him on the arm with it. “You’re fishing for compliments.”

  “I wanted to make you feel good.”

  Her expression changed a little and she leaned closer. It was fairly safe, given that the other patrons in the diner were all human like her. “You always make me feel good, but if you want to make me feel better. I can’t wait for tonight.”

  His growl turned a few heads in the diner and Maggie used the towel to cover the flush on her cheeks. “You better get some rest this afternoon,” he warned her.

  “I’m liking this already,” she returned and then moved away to fill some coffee cups.

  Maggie looked up at the clock later that day and was surprised to see the minute hand just five minutes away from turning the sign by the door from OPEN to CLOSED and falling into bed for some needed shut-eye before making dinner for two of her favorite people in the world.

  Letting out a breath she picked up a bussing tray and started to clean off all of the last few tables that she didn’t get to earlier. It was one of those mindless tasks that she could do in her sleep and let her mind roam, so it wasn’t half bad cleaning up on her own.

  In the corner of the far booth, some napkins had fallen into the space between the booth seat and that wall. Setting her tray down on the table, she put a knee down on the booth seat and managed to grasp the napkin between her fingertips and pulled it out with a victorious laugh. “Gotcha!”

  The front door swung open and she looked up. “Hey, I’m sorry, but we’re-”

  The second man through the door made her stomach turn. It was one of the lawyers working for the Hallworths and the woman behind him was from the Health Department. And the man standing out on the front step was from CFS.

  The policeman at the front of the line had the grace to look a little embarrassed as he approached her with the folded paper in his hand.

  “What’s this?”

  Clearing his throat, the officer explained. “This is an order to search your diner for any illegal substances. Any irregularities in the health standards of your establishment. And if this is a safe environment for a young girl to work.”

  Oh, there were all kinds of things that she could have said, but she knew they wouldn’t do her any good. All she had to do was hope she was up to code on everything. She thought it was, but with the look on the face of the inspector, she was just itching for something to ding her on.

  She wanted to call Cage. She wanted to have him tell her it was going to be all right, but she knew if he came over and saw what they were doing, he was liable to lose his temper and she couldn’t do that him or Frances.

  She stood there while the inspectors began their work. She pulled her camera out from her back pocket and turned on the video recorder. She watched as the lawyer seemed to lead the others around the diner, pointing out things and based on the expression on his face, he was enjoying this chance to pick apart her life.

  The final straw… straws were the two trained drug dogs that were released into her diner.

  Drug dogs.

  Even though she hadn’t taken a drug in years, they were going to search her place. On one level she couldn’t blame them. The inspectors, she hoped, were doing this for the right reason. For Frances.

  And so was she.

  When the dogs were done, Maggie followed them outside and saw Cage and Brass waiting on the opposite corner. The dogs looked like they hit a wall, the two German Shepherds drew up short well in advance of the end of their leashes, their ears pulled back, flat against their heads.

  “Well,” Maggie look at the officer already knowing the answer, “what did you find?”

  The man jerked at the dog’s collar to pull him closer and Maggie felt her teeth grinding together at the back of her jaw. “Nothing.”

  “Then I’ll expect to get a copy of your report for my records, Officer Sinclair. Is there any chance that the SCPD will replace the ingredients they ruined today?”

  “You’ll have to speak to my supervisor.” He fished in his pocket and brought out a business card. “Here.”

  She read the words on the card. “Huh, Special Investigator Devlin Kerr.” She could almost feel the officer’s shoulders sagging in defeat. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to help me. Thank you, officer. Have a nice day.”

  Once the man had secured the Sniffer Dogs in the back of his vehicle he left, and Cage and Brass crossed the street to her side. She couldn’t help the rough scoff of laughter that burst from her lips. “Imagine two big dogs afraid of a couple of cats.”

  Brass’ wry smirk was no match for Cage’s open scowl and bared teeth. “I saw the lawyer leave.” Cage reached out and wrapped his hand around her upper arm and stepped in close to her side. “Did he hurt you?”

  She knew he didn’t mean physically, but just the fact that he asked had her all warm and hungry inside. Would she ever stop craving his touch? His voice? His… everything?

  Maggie shook her head. “No, but I’m sure I’ll hear from the health inspector, she was scribbling notes like a madwoman.” She sighed, and the frustrated sound echoed in her chest. “It was the end of the day, I was working alone… I’m sure she found something, and it’s all my fault.”

  Cage stepped in closer, his arms circling her body, laying her head down on his chest. “It’s my fault. I dragged you into this.”

  Lifting her head, Maggie leaned back far enough to look up into his face, but not far enough that she had to let go of him. “Hey, I volunteered remember?” She drew one hand up his back, around his neck, and up to his cheek. “I wanted to help, not just because of how I feel about you, but because I wanted to help Frances. To do something good with all the time I wasted when I was younger. But, those dogs…”

  Her head hung down for a moment as tears filled her eyes. When she lifted them again she saw Cage’s concern written plainly on his features. Concern for her. “Those dogs were
here to find drugs. I might be one of the reasons that they can take her away from you.”

  Cage’s fingers bit into her hip but they didn’t hurt, they felt like he was anchoring her there beside him. “They didn’t find anything.”

  She shook her head. “They didn’t have to. I have a history, Cage. I have a past and it’s all there in court documents. In my arrest record. If I cost that girl her home because I felt this need to help you…”

  “Hey.” She felt Cage’s cheek brush against hers, the sensation alone sent chills through her body, sparking in all kinds of delicious places, but it also tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “You’re my mate. I can’t stay away from you. The fact that you care about Frances, that you care about both of us, only makes it easier. But there is no way, none, that I wouldn’t have come to you, wouldn’t have made you a part of my life, Maggie.”

  She nodded, turned her head and stopped. “Where… where did Brass go?”

  Cage’s smile tickled along her skin. “I think he was giving us some privacy.”

  It was her turn to laugh. “On the street?”

  He licked his lips and narrowed his eyes on her. “Like I noticed anything but you.”

  Later that evening, they were sitting on the back porch of the house of Devlin and Paige Kerr. They’d had dinner inside, but kept the conversation light, as light as they could given the circumstances.

  But seated on the soft outdoor chairs, overlooking their woods-enclosed backyard, Maggie drew in breath after breath of fresh air. “Thanks again,” she looked at Paige and Devlin in turn, “for inviting us out here. You have a really beautiful home.”

  Paige blushed, and Devlin set his hand on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze. “We’re glad you could come. I wanted to personally apologize for the K-9 unit today.”

  Maggie felt Frances tense up beside her on the couch and reached over to take her hand and fit their fingers together. “It was fine. There wasn’t anything for them to find. I put that part of my life behind me… years ago.”