As she stood across the bottom of the stairway, she flicked one last look at Donny and Gould before her demeanour changed suddenly. Where there had been hesitation, now there was resolve. "Joe! Paul!" she screamed. "Run! It's the police!"
"What the hell are you playing at?" Gould grunted, pushing at the woman, now blocking the stairway with her arms jammed between the wall and the bannister and her feet planted on the bottom stair. They could hear a flurry of panicked activity upstairs. "Move it!" he yelled at her, and as Gould managed to wrestle one of her arms away from the bannister Donny squeezed past her and took the stairs two at a time. He heard a door slam at the rear of the house and followed the sound, bursting out of the back door in time to see two men jumping the side gate as he pounded down the back steps. He clambered over the gate, swearing as the leg of his pants caught on the metal frame and tore, making him stumble on the gravel path leading down the side of the house back towards the street. "Hey! Get off me you arsehole!" a familiar female voice screeched from the front yard. Donny swore again as he burst out into the front yard to see Joe Carter backhand Alice across the face, making her drop the handbag she was fighting to hold on to. He tossed her car keys to his brother already standing by the driver's side door of Alice's red hatchback, parked on the curb in front of Anais Raven's house. Paul Carter caught them deftly and had the engine running by the time his brother joined him in the passenger seat. The car tore down the street leaving the stench of burned rubber behind it. "Are you alright?" Donny asked Alice, helping her as she stood back up and collected her bag. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, her voice a little thin as she gently rubbed her reddened cheek. "What happened?" Gould said, pushing Anais Raven out of the house in front of him. "They stole Alice's car and took off." Donny told him, his hands still resting protectively on Alice's shoulders. "Get an alert out on the car." He barked, steering the psychic into the backseat of their car. "Your friend will need to come back to the station and make a statement as well." He said. "Come on, come on, don't hang about." Donny steered Alice gently towards the car. "I'm fine Donny, stop fussing," she said, her voice stronger than it had been a moment ago. She climbed into the back seat beside the psychic, who treated her to a filthy glare. At least the trip was a short one. Inside the station, Donny showed Alice to an office where she could sit down and left her with an officer. She gave a detailed description of her car, as well as explaining what exactly had happened in front of the psychic's house. Donny brought her an icepack, which she accepted gratefully, despite her renewed objections to his fussing. "We'll put out an alert for your car, hopefully we'll be able to find them that way." Donny told her. "Just sit tight for a minute and we'll get someone to take you home ok?"
"Okay, thanks." She said. "Hey." She called, making Donny pause on his way out of the door. "Be careful ok?"
"I always am." He assured her with an affectionate smile. "I'll check on you later." He re-joined Gould. "We've got an alert out on Alice's car and the two brothers as well. Hopefully something pops soon." Gould nodded. "Hopefully we get a hit before they ditch the car. Otherwise they could be miles away before we even know they've left the city." Gould's fears were unnecessary on this occasion; they didn't have long to wait. Alice's car was reported heading for the highway. Around twenty minutes later the two sullen brothers were dragged into the station where their sister was already being held.
***
Donny pushed open the interview room door, with Gould following behind. For the second time that day the two of them sat down opposite Maggie Carter, aka Anais Raven. "That was a very stupid thing you did before." Gould told her, his voice blunt and irritated. "Fortunately for you, you have an opportunity to redeem yourself." He paused for effect, underwhelmed by the woman's sullen unresponsiveness.
"You want me to testify against Paul and Joe." She made it sound like an accusation.
Gould nodded. "Yes. In return for your testimony your charge will be downgraded from perverting the course of justice to obstructing an officer." He held her sulking gaze, his stare designed to intimidate.
She matched his intense stare without reacting.
"I'd take it." He told her. "It's a very generous deal. You won't get a better one."
"But you want me to testify against my family." She repeated.
"They dragged you in to this against your will and against your better judgement." Donny interjected. "They killed your friend. Or was all of that just guff?"
She shot an icy glare at Donny. "I want a solicitor." She said finally. "I need to think about this."
"Don't think too long." Gould warned as they rose from the table. They led her out and let her use their phone to call herself a solicitor. A pimply young woman in a polyester skirt suit joined them around an hour later. "Hi, I'm June Sullivan. I'm here for Maggie Carter?"
"Right this way." Donny led the young solicitor down towards the holding cell where Maggie Carter aka Cherise Dove aka Anais Raven was waiting for her. "Legal aid?" Donny guessed.
"Yeah." She agreed. "Since I graduated six months ago."
"Congratulations. She's in here." Donny showed her to the cell door and opened it for her. "Let me know when you're ready to talk." He left them to it. Their conversation had grown heated and intense by the time he reached the corridor. Apparently the young solicitor's advice wasn't what Miss Carter had wanted to hear. Gould and Donny waited. Almost an hour later the solicitor found them at their desks, looking far more harried than when she had first come in. "My client will take the deal." She told them, her voice joyless and matter of fact. It seemed that the negotiation had been hard won.
Gould nodded. "Good decision."
She took the compliment without grace and stayed with her reluctant client while she was arraigned.
***
Alice sat at the kitchen bench sipping her coffee and reading her own article, gracing the front page of the Daily Bulletin. A surly looking photo of the two captured conmen accompanied the article. The photographer didn't have an opportunity to catch their sister in the frame along with them. While Alice admired her own handiwork, Benji lounged at her feet, basking in the attention that Donny was lavishing on him, rubbing his ears and stoking his chin. He snuck furtive glances as the livid bruise healing on Alice's cheek while he thought she wouldn't notice. "Not bad huh?" she tossed the newspaper to Donny. The headline read "Isabelle Cadence's Murderers Apprehended After High Speed Chase", her by-line standing proudly beneath it. "Well, giving the bad guys a getaway car is certainly a novel way to get a story." Donny chuckled, earning a mock glare from Alice.
"Quiet you." She ordered with a self-satisfied air, taking another sip of her coffee. "I had to get a story somehow. Before Ed raked me over the coals." She snorted with derision. "He was happy in the end anyway."
Donny laughed. "Oh well, that's the important thing isn't it." He teased, placing his arm around her shoulders. She pushed him playfully on the shoulder. "Hey! I worked very hard on this mister. It's not like you'd give me anything."
Donny's heart sank. Not this again. "You know I can't." he said, his voice tinged with reproach. He'd lost track of the number of times that he had said those words to Alice this week. "Alright." She agreed, her voice gentle. She disliked how irritated they'd become with each other over this point. She was too good a journalist to need to put him in that position anyway. "I won't ask you again. Scouts honour." She threw her free hand up in a mock salute. Donny kissed her on the forehead, more relieved than he cared to admit. He hated fighting with her. "Let's talk about something else then." He suggested. "What are you doing tonight?"
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