Lost and Found (27 page)

“Just remember with this ankle bracelet, there is a GPS attached. You have restricted approval of where you can go as outlined with the program administrator. No side trips. Remember, the monitoring station records all your activity, and it will be reported to the court. Any unauthorized activity, or detours, will result in immediate revocation from this program, and you’ll return to jail to await your trial.” Two men from the Electronic Home Monitoring program fastened the transformer to an inside wall by the back door. “This receiving device reports directly to the monitoring station through the phone line. Any tampering with the phone line or with the device will signal an alarm. Do you understand how this works, Mr. McCafferty?”

Richard stood off to the side in the kitchen. He hadn’t shaved, and a day old shadow speckled with white stubbly hair made him look dangerous. But the deep lines around his eyes showed Maggie how tired he really was. Sam stood beside Richard and nudged him with his elbow. “Yes I understand,” Richard snapped.

Daisy barked from the study where Maggie locked her in.

One of the men looked up from his clipboard recognizing attitude when it was dished up. For a moment, Maggie wondered if the small man was going to continue humiliating Richard.

Sam stepped in front of Richard over to the one holding the clipboard. “Are you almost done? Richard has not had much sleep, and I’m sure he’d appreciate a shower before his lawyer arrives.” Sam checked the face of his watch and then tapped the front. “Actually Harper Lee should be here in a few minutes.”

Obviously the two men understood his meaning. Everyone new Harper, a definite bad ass, and the cops hated him. To them, there wasn’t a scumbag he hadn’t managed to get off, and he enjoyed spotlighting the screwups of law enforcement personnel.

The one attaching the responder to the wall stood up. “We’re done.” The one with the clipboard handed Richard the clipboard and pen. “Sign at the bottom.”

Richard was tired, and to his credit, he held it together long enough to scribble his name at the bottom of the page and pass it back. Then the two men left.

The screen clattered, and a strange silence lingered. No one made eye contact, and no one spoke.

Richard uncrossed his arms and walked out of the kitchen. “I need a shower.”

Maggie looked at Sam, and then Diane. “Have you talked to Marcie? Is Ryley safe?”

Sam swiped his broad, handsome face with the flat of his hand. “Don’t worry Maggie, they won’t find him. She’s taken him and Kyla to Sally’s, her teacher, just until we clear up this mess.”

“Did you find out who ordered this?”

Sam was sympathetic when he placed a hand of support on Maggie’s shoulder. “Harper’s working on it. He’ll be here soon. We should order in some food. Has anyone eaten?”

Through the chaos of this day, Maggie survived on little more than a few cups of coffee, which now burned the tender lining of her stomach. “I could make something.” She didn’t know what but was grateful when Sam shook his head. He then rifled through the phone book that sat by the telephone. “How about pizza?”

“Order from the new pizza place that opened on the corner of the highway.”

Diane pulled out her cell phone when Sam showed her the number.

With Sam and Diane focused on ordering dinner, she slipped out of the kitchen in her stocking feet and hurried upstairs. She opened her bedroom door, and steam from the open door of the ensuite wafted out. She leaned in the doorway of the bathroom as Richard shut off the shower and popped open the glass door. She handed him a towel. She could usually read him, but today when their eyes met, something appeared like a shadow between them. He didn’t smile, and he didn’t offer any words of encouragement as he dried himself off and then cursed at the black bracelet surrounding his right ankle.

She still wore her long skirt, although she’d exchanged her black blazer for a heavy wool cardigan. She perched on the edge of the bed while Richard dressed. “We need to talk about Ryley, and what to do.”

After Diane called Sam, he’d raced to Diane’s with Marcie where the sitter was looking after Ryley and Kyla. He’d put them on the first ferry back to Las Seta.

Richard pulled a T-shirt over his head. “Ryley’s safe at Sally’s. Marcie won’t let anything happen to him.”

She couldn’t shake the worry—a worry only a mother gets when her child’s in danger. “Richard, why are they attacking us? I’m not an addict. Where did that come from?”

“Who?”

“Children’s Services. What do they have to gain? I love Ryley, how can they believe he’s in imminent danger? You and I both know there are so many kids out there, in this area alone,
living with drug dealers and thugs, who are being abused, and they’re in imminent danger. And these social workers know who they are too.”

The bed dipped when Richard sat beside her. He linked his fingers with hers. “Maggie, there’s something more playing behind the scenes. We’ll find out…” Voices downstairs distracted him. “That’s Harper, let’s go.”

He helped her up, and they walked hand and hand down the stairs together. Sam stood in the open doorway paying the pizza delivery man. Harper Lee addressed Diane as he draped his dark blue Armani jacket over the back of the kitchen chair and dumped his briefcase on the table.

“Richard, I’m sure you’re glad to be home. Now the real work starts.” Harper rubbed his hands together and then pulled notes and a pad of yellow lined paper from his briefcase. Sam plopped the pizza box in the center of the kitchen table. Maggie squeezed Richard’s hand and then strode to the cupboard and grabbed five pale green plates.

“Maggie, you have napkins?” Diane hovered next to her.

“In the drawer beside the sink there are cloth ones.”

Harper passed on the pizza, but everyone else dove in.

“Okay first thing, Children’s Services. The way they handled this situation is a bit unusual. I’ve contacted the district supervisor who was uncooperative and terse to say the least. N
ot
at all
forthcoming
, but did remind me an emergency hearing has been set for the day after tomorrow, and they’re demanding you produce Ryley. They’re not buying that he’s with your mother. If they find your mother and call her, Maggie, is she going to speak with them? It doesn’t look good for our case if we start out by lying to the judge. And two, since time’s not on our side, we need to find out why the urgency and where this information against Maggie came from. Sam, Diane, I’m leaving that to you since you both have volunteered your services.”

Maggie knew Sam was helping, but when she looked over at Diane, and the way her jaw stiffened she sensed something was up and not in a good way. “Diane?”

She pushed her plate away and tapped the table. “I’m on a leave of absence until this situation with Richard’s settled.”

This seemed to pull Richard out of his melancholy. “Are you in trouble because of me?”

Diane leaned back in her chair beside Richard and placed her hand over his. “No my friend. There is a conflict of interest as pointed out by my boss, and I was advised it’d be better if I took time off. If I didn’t do it voluntary, he’d have forced me. I think their worried about this
case. All I was able to find out was there was pressure coming from somewhere to push this case against Richard. It’s all too neat. Even one of the detectives I’m friends with said something about this evidence is not jiving. When I questioned him further, he wouldn’t talk to me because were friends.”

“I’m sorry, Diane.” Richard wiped his bloodshot eyes.

“Okay, let’s move on. We got a lot of ground to cover. As of yet, the DA has failed to provide me with the evidence. I’m most interested in the video tape. As soon as we get it Sam, I want you to go through it. Let’s find out how Richard’s face ended up on that video when he was at home all night.” Harper scribbled on his notepad.

“My kid is more important to me than this murder investigation. I don’t want him thrown in some foster home. I’ve seen some of these people who milk the system. The kids to them are just another check. Harper, I need you to make sure they don’t take Ryley. Appoint Marcie and Sam as guardians in the interim if we have to.”

Harper peered through his gold rimmed glasses, his expression was so focused it was unreadable. “I doubt very much we’ll have to go there. But it’s a back-up plan, and the court should have no hesitation about approving that. A note of caution. One thing I’ve learned over the years is the state legal system is fraught with inconsistencies, and there are no guarantees. Being prepared for the unexpected is what we’re going to have to tackle, along with poking holes in all the state’s evidence. At this point, we need to control the evidence, so we are not going to introduce anything new. Let’s let their own evidence work against them. Now…” Harper smacked his hands together. “At the emergency hearing, I want to make sure Ryley is not available.” Everyone looked at each other.

“A second ago you said not to piss off the judge.” Richard braced his forearms on the table, and Maggie leaned closer to her husband.

“Yes I did. But we also don’t want Children’s Services to be able to snatch him. And they will, and once they have him, it’ll be difficult to get him back.”

Harper jabbed his pen in the air toward her. “Maggie, call your mother. Make sure she’s on board, that she had Ryley, and Ryley’s now with Sam and Marcie. I’ll have a letter of guardianship done up in the event we need it, giving temporary guardianship to Sam and Marcie. Hopefully, we won’t have to use it. Now Diane and Sam, that’s where you come in. You need to find out where the information against Maggie came from. She was on prescription medication
prescribed by her doctor but is no longer taking it. One, due to doctor patient confidentiality, they don’t have access to your medical records. So how did they find out? Also Maggie, I’m going to get you to provide a urine sample to a private lab I use. Those clean results will shoot down the state’s claim you’re still taking them.” Harper paused and removed his glasses, staring hard at Maggie. “Just so were clear, I need to ask. You’re clean, aren’t you? Will anything show up?”

Maggie felt everyone’s eyes burn into her, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl away and hide.

Richard must have sensed how this was ripping her up inside because he slid his arm around her when she tried to pull into herself. “Whoa, back off, don’t go accusing Maggie…”

The famed pit bull Harper was known for launched back at Richard. “Stop right there. When I ask something, you give it. Get used to it if you want me to save your ass and keep your family together. I want every deep dark secret, and you will provide what I ask for in detail. I’ll not be blindsided by anything. Do I make myself clear?” Harper propped his elbow on the table, his dark eyes flashed how serious he was as he looked at each one sitting around the table. “If for any reason I find out you withheld information from me or lied to me, I’ll walk away, and you can find yourself another lawyer to represent you.”

“I haven’t taken anything.” her heart pounded as she scooted her chair closer to Richard.

Everyone stared at her.

“You haven’t taken what?” Harper was direct, but this time when he addressed her personally, there was a hint of compassion.

“Since Richard got me off the pills the doctor prescribed, I’ve taken nothing, not even an aspirin.”

That appeared to satisfy him as he offered a simple nod before he continued attacking each issue good and bad. Close to an hour later, she excused herself and slipped into Richard’s office to call her mother.

Her mother was groggy when she answered her cell phone. Maggie glanced at the clock, after 9:00 p.m. Maggie quickly filled her mother in on what transpired: Richard’s arrest, Children’s Services trying to take Ryley, and Diane’s lie.

“Oh Maggie, you know I can’t lie. I’m no good at it. Any judge asks me, and you know I’ll stutter, my face will turn red, and I won’t be able to look at them. Your dad always said I was
not the person to have in a car if you were ever stopped by the police because I’d start confessing small details, that he was speeding or a brake light was burned out. You remember?”

Maggie smiled fondly over her dad’s frustration. That was many years ago, and he had long since passed on, but their mom had been painfully honest, and at times, none of them wanted to be out with her in public for fear of what she may say.

“I understand Mom. But we need your help. If Children’s Services gets a hold of Ryley, it’ll be hard for us to get him back, and who knows where he’ll end up.”

“Maggie, whatever you need. I’ll take Ryley if I have to, to make sure those people don’t get him. Do you want me to come and get him? I’ll bring him back here to your brother John’s. They won’t find him down in Florida.”

Maggie smiled for the first time in days. “Thanks Mom, but just in case a social worker or someone calls you, remember, you had Ryley.”

After she hung up, she went up to her room and changed into her sweatpants and slippers before returning to the kitchen.

Richard looked up when she strode in.

“I just spoke with Mom, and she’s agreed to go along with the story, and she offered to come and get Ryley to take him back with her.”

“Where is your mother now?” If anything, Harper was extremely efficient covering all bases.