Last Car to Annwn Station (6 page)

“Why don’t I call in sick?” Jill said. “I don’t think you need to be alone right now.”

Mae sniffed and smiled gratefully. “Okay.”

Mae gave her apartment a long look. She had decided to move out. After that morning’s break-in she could not make herself live here anymore. She would room with Jill while she looked for a new place to live. It had only taken Jill a couple of hours to convince her.

“Are we done?” Jill asked. She and Mae were standing by the front door.

Mae nodded. After the police called to tell her she could return to her apartment, she and Jill had driven back. The two women cleaned, straightening the chaos. Mae packed more clothes and personal items.

“Yeah,” Mae said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Mae locked the door behind her and they walked back to Jill’s car, lugging two suitcases, a backpack and a medium-sized box. A large cooler filled with the contents of Mae’s refrigerator was already weighing down Jill’s little Ford.

“Have you called Leftwich?” Jill asked.

“No. No, I haven’t. I’ll do that when we get back to your place.”

Jill made a quick lane change, driving around a city bus that was loading and unloading. “It’s your place too, now. For as long as you need it.”

“Thanks. It’ll all be good.” Mae glanced at Jill as she pulled into the garage. “After we unload, I’ll call Donald. Maybe we could get some food?”

“I could call for takeout,” Jill said.

“Sounds good.”

They hauled the luggage and box up to Mae’s new room for the duration. Jill set the suitcase and the box on the futon. She turned to Mae, flush with exertion. “I’ll go get the cooler and start unloading it while you call your boss.” Jill huffed out a long breath and started down the stairs again.

Mae dug through her messenger bag for her cell phone. She dialed the number. Donald answered on the second ring, his voice sounding somewhere between tired and bored.

“Leftwich. How may I help you?”

“Hello, Donald, it’s Mae.”

“Mae, Jill called this morning and said you wouldn’t be in the office, but she didn’t say why.”

“My apartment was broken into last night.”

“Are you all right?”

Mae felt a small shiver. Something in the way he said it—there was a note of false sincerity. “I wasn’t home when it happened. I didn’t find out until this morning.”

There was a pause on the other end and Mae could tell that Donald was processing the fact that Mae was out all night and that another woman had called on her behalf.

“I see.” The disapproving tone in Donald’s voice spoke volumes. “Are you planning to come to work tomorrow?”

“Yes, I don’t see any reason why not.”

“Good, because I need to talk to you about something.”

Mae went cold inside. She had a very good idea why Donald wanted to talk to her. She decided to get it over with. If she gave the director an entire day to stew, he would only get madder.

“Donald, why don’t I get cleaned up and I’ll be in the office in about an hour.”

“I think that would be a good idea.”

“See you in a little while.”

Mae hung up the phone. She took a steadying breath and made her way downstairs. Jill was on her knees in front of the refrigerator, cramming Mae’s groceries into her already full appliance.

“Well?” Jill said, looking up.

“You might want to hold off on food. I need to go into the office for—well it could be a few hours or a few minutes. I feel bad about going in when I made you take a day off to help me and all, but I need to do this. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is,” Jill said. “Problems at the office?”

Mae gave her a rueful little smile. “Your new roommate may be unemployed after today.”

“Ah,” Jill said. “I’m in no hurry to evict you, so don’t worry about being homeless.”

It took Mae fifteen minutes to pull clean clothing from her luggage, shower and dress. On a whim, she grabbed the change out of the pocket of her slacks from the previous night and tossed it into her bag. She trotted to the corner of Lyndale and Lake, where she caught a bus into downtown.

Mae tried to calm her increasing panic as she transferred to the light rail train for the short ride to the Government Center. Mae exited the train, walked into her building, passed through security and rode the elevator up to her floor, all without being sick.

“There you are!”

She heard Donald’s voice as soon as she stepped off the elevator, as if he’d been standing there waiting for her. That thought did nothing to calm her.

“I got here as quickly as I could.”

The instant she acknowledged his presence, she found herself speaking to his back as he turned sharply and made a beeline for his office. Mae got the message. She was to follow him. No side treks, no stopping at her desk. Straight to Donald’s office.

Donald opened the door and waved Mae inside. “Come in.”

She steeled herself for the worst as Donald settled into his chair.

“So your apartment was broken into?”

“Yes, sir.”

Donald frowned, deepening the lines on his thin face. “Well, I’m glad you’re safe.” He took a deep breath before Mae could respond. “However, that’s not why I’ve called you into my office. Miss Malveaux, would you please explain to me
why
you were at the Arneson home last night?”

“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have gone…” Mae wanted to cringe and hide as Donald glared at her.

“No, you should not have! The matter was settled and the case closed. Yet this morning, I find myself on the receiving end of an irate phone call from the county attorney, asking me
why
one of my people was out harassing the Arneson family last night.”

Mae trembled in her chair. She took a deep breath. Sure that at this point her job was forfeit, she decided to at least have her say.

“I wanted—no I
needed
to see the situation for myself.”

“Why?” the director challenged. “I remind you that the case was closed, Miss Malveaux.”

“The case was closed in an irregular manner.”

“And you put a letter of complaint in the file. You’re on record as disagreeing with the decision. Why couldn’t you leave it at that?”

“Because there is a twelve-year-old girl suffering from a long history of abuse.”

“The county attorney is aware of the particulars,” Donald said. “Or are you implying that Mr. Backstrom would purposefully return a child to a dangerous situation?”

“I’m saying, sir, that despite all the evidence and the recommendations of this office, County Attorney Backstrom struck a closed-door deal with the family without consulting the caseworker most familiar with the situation.”

Mae sat back in her chair. She decided to lay it all on the table. “Backstrom made a deal in favor of the mother, whose parents are wealthy neighbors of his.”

“Mae—” Donald said in a warning voice.

“Yes, sir. I went to the Arneson household last night to check on the welfare of a child whose case was taken away from me for no acceptable reason. Upon arriving, I noted several vehicles, including those owned by Judge Slotky and Backstrom.”

Donald leaned back in his chair and gave Mae a long, hard look. “Are you accusing officers of the court of misconduct?”

Mae took a deep breath. “I’m saying there were several irregularities in this case. I’d like to go on the record with that.”

Donald seemed to deflate in his chair. “Very well.”

She tried not to cringe, expecting the older man to rip into her. Mae was surprised by Donald’s next words.

“Mae, when was the last time you took a vacation?”

Mae looked down in thought. “I—I don’t really remember,” she said, glancing back up at him.

The director looked down at a block of papers on his desk. It was Mae’s personnel file.

“Well, I do. Three years ago you took four days off.”

Mae frowned, confused as to where this was going. “I suppose that sounds right.”

“Backstrom wants me to let you go. He thinks you’re unstable.”

“I came here prepared to be fired,” Mae admitted.

“Well, at least you have
some
sense.”

Mae looked at her lap. She’d had her outburst; now was the time to sit quietly.

“I think you’re just tired. I want you to use some of your vacation time. Take the next four weeks off. Clear your head. Step away from all this for a while.”

“What about my cases?”

“We’ll divide them among the rest of the staff.”

Mae looked up, straight at the director. She crossed her arms. “What if I refuse to take a voluntary vacation?”

“Then I’m putting you on administrative leave.” Donald leaned forward. “It’s your choice. You can either go home and get paid, or go home and
not
get paid.” He leaned back again. “Or I could just fire you like Backstrom wants.”

Mae exhaled. “Then I guess I’m taking a month off.”

“Good. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble. No more harassing the county attorney’s friends. Spend some quality time with whomever you spend quality time with. Don’t make waves, and I’ll let you return to work after this blows over.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ten minutes later, Mae stood in front of the Government Center. She ignored the streetcar parked in front of the building with its door open, and marched directly to the light rail station.

“Miss Malveaux.”

Mae turned and found herself facing William Hodgins. It was all she could do not to jump. It was as if he had been conjured. She had neither seen nor heard him approach. She kept her expression carefully under control.

“Mr. Hodgins.”

“I see you’re leaving work early today. Job problems, Miss Malveaux?”

Mae frowned. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

He stepped closer to her, forcing Mae to take a step back toward the edge of the platform. “I don’t know what you thought to accomplish with that little stunt last night, but I hope it was worth your career.”

Mae held her tongue. She realized anything she might say would only worsen the situation. She knew something beyond child abuse was happening in that home, but she had no way to prove it. Worse, she no longer had any real authority to investigate the matter.

“I want you to stay away from my client, Miss Malveaux. If you do not stop your harassment, steps will be taken.”

“Is that a threat?”

He leaned into her again. Mae found herself teetering on the edge of the platform.

“You have no idea what you are dealing with, little girl. Go home to your lady-friend and stop meddling in the affairs of your betters.”

Behind Mae, the light rail train hissed to a stop, its door opening. She took three tentative steps backward, keeping her eyes on Hodgins as she climbed into the hoped-for safety of the train. She stood in the aisle, watching him through the open doors as he laughed at her. The doors closed and, with a series of short warning beeps, the train rolled away.

Mae settled onto a bench and let the shakes take her.