Софи Райан - The Fast Аnd Тhe Furriest

“We’re going to figure this out,” I said. I put my hand over his. “We are.”

Mac nodded. “I know,” he said.

The moment stretched between us and then Elvis meowed loudly. He looked from the window to us.

“I think Josh might be here,” Mac said.

Reluctantly, I pulled my hand back and he got to his feet. Whatever might have been about to happen had passed.

Right before we opened I gathered everyone in the store and explained what was going on.

“How could Michelle do something like this?” Rose exclaimed.

Mr. P. put a hand on her arm. “Wait a minute, Rosie,” he said. “We may not have the whole story.”

I raked a hand back through my hair. “Michelle had nothing to do with this,” I said. “She’s been taken off the case.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Why?”

Liz made an offhanded gesture. “Why do you think? She’s too close to everything, to Sarah, to all of us.”

I nodded. “Liz is right.”

“So who will be taking over the case?” Mr. P. asked, giving Rose a reassuring smile as he dropped his hand.

“Cal Barnes,” I said.

“I taught him American history,” Charlotte said. “Bright enough but not very imaginative.”

“Would he remember you?” I asked.

“I think so,” she said. “I did some extra work with him. He was on the hockey team and the coach at that time was a stickler for the boys keeping up their marks.” She frowned at me. “Is that important?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It might be.”

“If this new detective had Charlotte for a teacher does that mean we could get him kicked off Mac’s case?” Avery asked.

I smiled at her. She cared about Mac as much as any of the rest of us. “I’m sorry, no.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Mac isn’t going to have to stay in jail, is he?”

“He most decidedly is not,” Liz said. She put an arm around her granddaughter’s shoulders and Avery leaned against her.

“Can we be there this afternoon?” Rose asked.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I couldn’t seem to keep my hands still. “Yes, we can. I’m leaving at about quarter to one.”

“Rosie and I will ride with you, if that’s all right,” Mr. P. said. I could see the concern in his eyes.

“I’d like that,” I said.

I saw Charlotte glance at Liz, who nodded. “I’ll go with Liz,” Charlotte said.

Avery broke away from her grandmother and came to stand in front of me. “Sarah, I wanna go, too,” she said, her fingers playing with the stack of bracelets on her left arm. “But I’ll stay here and watch the store if you want. You can trust me.”

Avery had a challenging relationship with her father, Liz’s son, so Mac had become very much a father figure to her. “I know I can trust you, but you can come. I’m closing the store for a few hours.”

Mr. P. took a couple of steps toward us. “I could stay here and help Avery, if you’d like me to,” he offered.

I smiled at both of them. “I appreciate both of you making the offer but the only place we need to be this afternoon is in that courtroom for Mac.”

Mr. P. smiled back at me. “Then that’s where we’ll be, my dear.”

At twelve thirty I put a sign on the door that informed customers we were closed for the afternoon. Liz had just shown up, looking the picture of understated wealth in a pale gray suit with darker gray slingbacks and a soft peach shell. Rose and I had gone home just after eleven to change. I was wearing a navy and white sheath with waist-length navy blazer. Rose had put on a yellow, green and blue tunic dress with a three-quarter-sleeve white sweater. We’d dropped off Mr. P. and when we picked him up again he was sporting a brown tweedy sport coat and tan trousers with a crisp white shirt and striped tie. As Rose had explained, it was important the judge know we had respect for the process so we should wear our best things. I wasn’t sure that it really mattered whether I showed up in my old sweatpants or my best dress and heels but there wasn’t anything else I could do at the moment so I was doing this.

Liz came up behind me and put an arm around my shoulders. She smiled at me and then turned to look behind us. “We clean up well,” she said.

I nodded.

Liz held up her gray leather clutch. “Don’t worry, child,” she said. “In a couple of hours Mac will be back here.”

I blew a kiss at her because I didn’t want to disturb her perfectly applied makeup. “What would I do without you?” I said.

She leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Lucky for all of us, you’re never going to find out.”

Avery came down the stairs then with Charlotte. Charlotte was wearing a fitted white top with her pearl choker and a slim black skirt. She looked competent, in charge, and slightly intimidating. Avery was dressed in a flowered black and white skirt with a white cotton sweater. Someone—probably Charlotte—had combed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears. She was wearing her black Doc Martens because she was a teenager, after all, but they had been cleaned and shined.

I looked around at all of us and thought that Liz was right: We cleaned up well.

Chapter 12

At quarter to one we left for the courthouse, Liz following my SUV. Rose talked about the history of the building as we drove, probably as a way to distract me, I realized.

Josh Evans was waiting for us inside the courthouse. In his expensive dark suit and equally pricey haircut, it was hard to find a glimpse of the kid who’d loved to argue. Then he pushed his sleeve back to check the time and I caught a glimpse of his Darkwing Duck watch and somehow I felt a little better. He smiled and walked over when he caught sight of us. “Hi, Sarah. Everything is running on schedule,” he said. “I’ve seen Mac. He’s fine.” The knot between my shoulder blades seemed to unkink just a little.

Josh said hello to the others. Then he went over what was going to happen in the courtroom. “After the charges are read the judge will ask Mac how he pleads. He’ll say not guilty. The ADA and I have already talked about bail.” His gaze flicked momentarily to Liz. “I’m going to agree with her suggestion and I don’t have any reason to believe the judge will have a problem with it.” He gave us an encouraging smile. “Things should go pretty quickly.”

“Is it all right if we go in and find seats now?” I asked. I felt a little antsy standing in the hallway and I was guessing Josh probably had things to do.

Josh nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I’d been inside the courtroom once before, when Maddie had been arraigned, but I’d forgotten how intimidating the room was. The walls were painted a dark taupe while all the trim, moldings and columns were a glossy white. Vintage brass chandeliers hung from the fourteen-foot ceiling, and what I was guessing were reproduction sconces added more light from the walls. The high, multipaned windows had been restored and refinished in a dark wood stain. The rest of the wood, the railing, the spectators’ seating—which reminded me of old wooden movie theater seats—and the judge’s bench were a warmer oak finish. The space was formal and serious and I reminded myself that Mac hadn’t done anything wrong so there was nothing to be afraid of.

We took the first row of seats behind the low railings so we were as close as we could get to where Mac and Josh would be sitting. We’d been inside the courtroom only a couple of minutes when Rose leaned across Charlotte, who was sitting next to me. “Sarah,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder. I turned to see what she was looking at. Jess and Sam had just walked in. Sam was wearing a sport coat and tie with his jeans. Jess had on a wildly patterned red dress.