“Pissed Shadow off,” Hector replied with an amused snort. “Shadow is going after Eddie Spence while he sent Deliverer our way with Lucy and Esmond in tow. They’ve been systematically draining the Carmichael accounts dry. We don’t know the motivations… yet. That’s Deliverer’s job. Your job is to act as Miss Spence’s advocate.”
“No.”
Hector regarded him with a disdainful eyebrow. “Really?” he asked.
Gabriel realized that this wasn’t a request, but he couldn’t possibly do what was being demanded of him. “I must recuse myself. We have a history.”
“You’re the best I’ve got and you and I both know that the Theocracy is going to railroad her,” Hector pointed out. “This comes down from Shadow himself. He wants her to have good representation in the courts, thinks she’s caught in the middle of something bigger.”
When Gabriel went to speak, Hector held up a hand. “You’re a Jaeger; you’re expected to maintain neutrality no matter what, and I expect you to defend her to the best of your ability.”
Gabriel closed the dossier and handed it back to him. “I respectfully request that you get someone else who is just as good as you think I am. Huntress…”
“In Elysium,” Hector countered.
“Defender?”
“In the Corporate States and locked in litigation until the end of the year.”
“Jurist?”
“In another lawsuit against the Theocracy again,” Hector said and sighed.
“Hell, go out west and reinstate Angel for all I care!”
“Fuck you!” Hector gave him a disdainful look, finally fed up. “I’d eat a goddamn airship full of Tisigen rather than get him! Face it — you’re the best I have, you’re the best I have right now, and you have the case.”
With that, Hector gave him a curt nod and peeled off in another direction, leaving Gabriel to look over the dossier and contemplate his latest assignment.
“What the hell has your family done now, girl?” he wondered again as he stared at Lucy’s bright eyes and equally bright smile.
CHAPTER 2
Out of all the girls to get assigned to,
I get this one…
Gabriel thought ruefully as he looked through the glass of the one-way mirror into the interrogation room. On the other side, Lucy Spence sat at the table in an immaculate white blouse underneath a brown corset, sitting prim and proper as always, with her hands folded on her lap. Since getting here from the academy, he’d had time to think about what had happened to their relationship all those years ago. Part of him wondered if Lucy even remembered him, she had been so young and it was so long ago. He shook off his doubt. They were engaged briefly, after all. That’s not an easy detail to omit from one’s memory. Part of him also wondered if she remembered the atrocities that her father was res-ponsible for, or if she and her younger sister had been sheltered away from that aspect of the family. He glanced at his notes and the dossier again and then looked at his fellow Jaeger standing next to him, Jake Walker… Deliverer. Jake eyed him right back.
“You up for this?” he asked.
“The question is — are you?” Gabriel responded.
Once he walked into the interrogation room to be Lucy’s advocate, he’d mop the floor with Jake. Jake was good and made the arrests, but he was headstrong and hardheaded when it came to questioning people. It was a tactic that would get the younger Jaeger into trouble one of these days.
“So… run me through this one more time and tell me what her family is being accused of and why she’s here,” Gabriel said with a deep breath as he continued to study his ex-fiancé through the one-way mirror.
“Edward Spence the Third is engaged to Charity Carmichael,” Jake responded without hesitation. “Lucy Spence, here, has been gallivanting across Atlanta using Miss Carmichael’s accounts that were given to her by her brother. She’s been caught on flasher pics posing as Charity. Their vSlave, Esmond, is owned by the Spences but is keeping tabs on the Carmichaels… his former owners. Lucas Wolverton found that Charity’s accounts were being drained despite a Consortium hold being put on it because — ”
“Because they had an inside man at the bank to keep the accounts open regardless,” Gabriel finished the sentence for him. He gave Jake a sideways smile. “It’s not the first time the Spences tried this song and dance. It looks like they finally got their hand caught in the cookie jar.” Gabriel snorted in amusement at Jake’s confused look. “They did the same thing to my family. Why pay an insanely high bride price for a noblewoman here in the Theocracy when you can just bankrupt their family and force them into servitude?”
Jake gasped, blinking in astonishment. “They’re forcing people into illegal slavery?”
“Yeah, but they get away with it because it goes unreported,” Gabriel said and nodded sagely. “This is the Theocracy, kid. Where have you been all this time? Women go by what the men tell them, and if they tell them to shut the hell up on pain of everything up to, but not quite including death, then they do it.” Gabriel tapped his chin in thought. “If the Spences are following their standard procedure, then they were going to force Charity Carmichael into vSlave status under Eddie Spence at an insanely low rate, he’d marry her, then they’d make a play for the Carmichael assets.”
“Which is what happened to your family?” Jake prodded. He was taking notes now.
Gabriel nodded. “Charity isn’t Eddie’s first fiancé. My sister was.”
The grief still ate at him just thinking about it. She’d been so young and sweet, only eighteen. At the same time, to cement relations between the Spence house and the McKibben house, Gabriel had been promised to Lucy, him being twenty-five and she just as old as his sister. Now here they all were, ten years later, going at it again. “By the time we knew what was happening, it was all over. I just barely managed to get some of the family assets transferred away so that the Spences couldn’t get them before going into hiding.”
“Damn…,” Jake whistled. “And now you’re stuck defending one aspect of the family responsible for your own downfall.”
“Yeah… fuck my life….”
***
It had been a couple of hours since her arrest and Lucy paced nervously in the interrogation room between bouts of sitting. and wringing her hands nervously. The moment she got to the Constabulary House in Atlanta where the Jaegers ope-rated from in her country, she put in a call in to her father for assistance.
“I’ll see what I can do,” was all his gruff voice said back to her.
That was two long hours ago, and Lucy was at her wits’ end. Had her father forsaken her? Was she to be left to the mercy of the courts? She wrung her hands as she paced with her thoughts going crazy.
The door to the interrogation room opened and a tall, muscular, dirty blonde-haired man in an immaculate gentle-man’s suit walked in.
“Good evening, Miss Spence, my name is Gabriel McKibben. I go by Jaeger Messenger within the Consortium.” He said formally, showing her his badge before sticking his hand out to her.
Lucy stared at him, shocked by the sight of the man in front of her. “Gabe…,” she breathed in disbelief. Following the training of her youth, she politely held out her shaking gloved hand to him and he kissed the back of her knuckles. The bristles of his sandy beard and moustache tickled even through her thin gloves.
Gabriel remained stoic, holding his hand in place and ignoring her shocked statement. “By joint agreement between the Theocracy of Dixie and the Consortium, I am your court-appointed advocate for these proceedings.” Under his left arm, he carried a briefcase that he promptly sat on the table beside her.
“My advocate… A Jaeger?” Lucy blinked. “You? What happened to my family’s advocate? I called my father!” She couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Yeah… that….” Gabriel looked apologetic. “Your family’s advocate has already been tasked to defend your brother once the investigation team brings him in. Your house slave, Esmond, ha
s had an advocate appointed by his brother, Ambrose. Your father was unable to get another advocate from Dixie for you since word of what your brother is up to has already spread like wildfire and no one is willing to even touch your family right now. Thus, you get me.” He pulled out a chair for her at the table and motioned for her to sit.
“But, aren’t you supposed to be an investigator and enforcer?” Lucy asked, confused, but fluttering out her skirts so that she could sit comfortably. “Why would a Jaeger be my advocate?”
“It’s my area of specialization when I’m not encased in brass armor. Yes, yes, I know all the rumors. As a Jaeger, I can kill a man five ways and pleasure a woman five more, using only my thumb. I kill the bad guys and bed the good girls, yadda, yadda, yadda….”
Lucy felt herself blush at his mention of pleasuring women. It caught her off guard and she did her best to remain composed but knew he could see her slight discomfort. She felt embarrassed, suddenly resentful of her innocence and propriety.
“At any rate, shall we get started?” he asked, sitting down next to her.
Lucy’s cheeks flushed even hotter when he sat so close to her, but she felt relief that he was ready to change the subject. “Shouldn’t you be on the other end, Mr. McKibben?” she asked.
“No, that seat is for Jake.”
“Jake?”
“Sorry. Jake Walker; Jaeger Deliverer.” Gabriel said as he opened his briefcase. “The Jaeger who arrested you and is conducting the investigation.”
Lucy frowned. “I’m sorry, but you can’t possibly represent me. Isn’t that a conflict?” She tried to come up with the sound reason. “You… me… er… we… I mean, aren’t you two supposed to be on the same team?”
***
Gabriel laughed as he pulled out a sheaf of paper and a pen. “We are in on the same team in that we both ensure justice is done correctly. So, he will ask you questions as it pertains to his case and I will ensure fair treatment for you. Now, before I get him in here, is there anything I need to know regarding the circumstances of your arrest?”
“Yes!” Lucy practically blurted out. “I was told by a Consortium official, a Mr. Wolf… Wolverton… I believe that’s what his name was? I just got wind of it as I was being hustled out the door. I was told that I was just going to answer some questions in exchange for a deal and that I was not being arrested!”
“Really? That’s interesting,” Gabriel said, taking down notes on his pad as she talked. “They didn’t mention that in the briefing. Anything else? What was your arrest all about?”
“Didn’t you say that you were briefed on it?”
“Yes, but I want to hear it from you to make sure that I have all sides of the story.”
“Fine,” Lucy said and recounted the strange happening at her suite earlier in the day. Gabriel remained quiet, taking notes save for the occasional question for clarification.
“Okay. I think that we’re ready now.” He stood up and walked to the door, nodding at someone on the other end, before heading back to his seat next to Lucy.
Moments later, Jake Walker came in and engaged the voice recorder in the corner of the room. Gears clanked and there were a few clicks and whirrs as the machine powered up. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order, Jake came back to the table to sit opposite Lucy and Gabriel.
“For the record,” Jake said formally, reading from his notes, “this is the interrogation of Baroness Lucille Faith Spence. Arrested this twelfth day of July, Consortium Year Eighty-Three. To sum up the charges, Miss Spence is accused of willful collaboration with her brother, Edward Spence the Third; her house slave, Esmond Wain; and Regional Bank Director Ambrose Wain; of embezzlement, obfuscation of funds, and grand larceny. Miss Spence, do you have counsel present?”
“Um, yes, I do. I was told that Jaeger Messenger is my Advocate in this matter.” Lucy replied, eyes darting to Gabriel who nodded at her.
“And, Miss Spence, are you still aware of your rights as they have been told to you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“And, with your Advocate present, are you willing to answer my questions?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” Jake said and gave her a feral, predatory smile. “Now, what is your relationship to Baron Edward Spence the Third?”
Gabriel leaned forward. “Before she answers that ques-tion, my client has been offered a deal by a Consortium official in the course of this investigation. This offer, one of immunity in exchange for testimony, was given prior to her arrest and done in full view of yourself and two other witnesses, correct?” He glared at Jake as if daring him to contradict him.
Jake’s jaw worked as Gabriel spoke. “Yes, that is correct,” he said tersely.
“So, I want your oath, on the record, that all charges against my client be dropped before she answers a single question.”
Jake folded his hands and looked Gabriel in the eye. “Your client has collaborated —”
“Allegedly, collaborated, you mean?” Gabriel corrected with a single upraised finger.
“Yes… allegedly collaborated… with Baron Spence,” Jake sighed. “If she talks, we can offer immunity.”
Lucy watched the verbal exchange with hope in her chest. She had her doubts about Gabriel properly defending her, but those doubts quickly evaporated as he went after Jake in full force. She did a quick double take when Gabriel motioned for her to lean in close to him.
“I’m sure I already know the answer to this, but I just like making investigators stew for a bit. But, I also need your verbal consent to make everything official. Will you tell him everything you know about your involvement and what your brother and house slave have been up to in exchange for an immunity agreement?”
“Yes, of course.” Lucy nodded emphatically.
“Now you do realize, of course, that you might be called to testify against your brother, don’t you?”
That was something that Lucy was not expecting. Testify? In court? Against her own brother? What was the old saying about a house divided against itself could not stand? She couldn’t possibly do that. Was she even allowed to do that here? But, then again, she was also compelled by sacred law, handed down by God, to comply with any legal authority. As much as it pained her, she finally nodded. After all, God’s word compelled her to comply with lawful authority.
“Alright then,” Gabriel said with a nod. “Let’s get moving on this.” He straightened up and looked at Jake with all seriousness. “My client agrees on the stipulation that all charges are dropped after this questioning is over. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Jake nodded. “Now, Miss Spence, do you know why you’re here?”
“Irrelevant and open-ended question designed to trap my client,” Gabriel snapped irritably. “Keep on topic to your investigation, if you please?”
“Fine.” Jake shot an ugly look at him before returning his focus back to Lucy. “We’ll go back to my first question: what is your relation to Edward Spence the Third?”
“He’s my brother.”
“Through blood?”
“No, she just calls him that for the hell of it. Deliverer, move on!” Gabriel said disdainfully.
Jake frowned at Gabriel and then looked at his notes. “For the past year, you have been posing as Charity Carmichael of Marietta, using her accounts under her name. Is this correct?”
“What?” Lucy reeled back in shock. “Heavens, no! Why would I?”
“So, you deny posing as her, then?” When Jake caught Gabriel’s withering glare, he quickly held up his hand and moved on. “I withdraw the question. Regardless, you look a lot like her with your hair dyed blonde like that,” Jake pointed out. He took a pic out and slid it across the table for her and Gabriel to see. “This flasher pic was taken of you at the Regional Bank of Dixie last week when you and Esmond were meeting with his brother, Ambrose, who happens to be the branch manager.”
“How do we know that’s not Charity Carmichael herself?” Gabriel noted. “The pic
quality is poor and one can barely make out any facial features.”
“Because I have three primary eyewitness accounts that place her in Elysium at the time, along with airship tickets, as well as statements from the Carmichaels themselves.” Jake saw Gabriel about to protest and he held up a forestalling hand again. “The eyewitnesses are myself, Lucas Wolverton of the accounting section of the Consortium Regional Headquarters, and Ayla Greenstar who is a businesswoman and the daughter of the founders of Greenstar Industries.”
Gabriel leaned in close to Lucy. “You’ve got to tell me right now — is this you or not?”
“It is me, but… but…,” Lucy said, feeling her panic rising. “Might I explain?”
Gabriel nodded and motioned for her to do so.
Lucy straightened up and squared her shoulders. “Every time I came to Atlanta to take in a show, or go shopping, or whatever, Esmond always met me here in the city. He, on my brother’s authority, always handled the money issues. No woman of good breeding would handle money herself — it’s dirty. Propriety is paramount. Otherwise, it might affect…,” she looked at Gabriel and flinched, “my marriage prospects. This particular day, we were there because he needed to speak with the bank on some trouble that he was having with the accounts. Someone had put a hold on them and tried to have them completely frozen.”
“I see,” Jake said, taking notes. “Did you ever see which accounts were being used?”
“No! Eddie told me to always let Esmond handle it and I do what my elder brother says.”
“Charity Carmichael said that you used to be a redhead,” Jake said, shifting tracks. “When did you dye your hair blonde?”
“About a year ago.”
“Who suggested that you do it?”
“Eddie.”
“That didn’t strike you as odd?”
Lucy shrugged. “He said that gentlemen were going for blondes lately and wanted me seen out in public prior to me being declared to my fiancé this coming fall.” She dared another look at Gabriel and, lowering her head, she softly continued. “I followed what my older brother had suggested that I do.”
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