“We should probably get in there; my daughter is probably tearing the place apart by now.” Jessie groaned.
“Well, I had better go and face the music.” Raelin groaned.
Chuckling a little, Kasey got out of the car and handed the keys over stepping through the doors and laughing at the sight. Ariel was sitting on Douglas’s desk, pretending to interrogate the man while scribbling in her notebook. Michaels was handcuffed to his desk and Del was pacing around the bullpen.
Raelin saw the worry on her wife’s face and headed in her direction. “Delaney, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot to call,” she reached out to take her wife’s hand.
“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? You were too far away for me to feel and after that nightmare we had that time,” she breathed, her tension mostly draining out as she saw that Raelin was whole and healthy. “I know you can take care of yourself, but those nightmares were bad baby. Is everything okay?”
Taking Delaney’s hand, Raelin pulled her towards her office. “Kasey, I need to talk with Delaney can you stay awhile?” She didn’t give the woman the chance to answer before they were in the office and she closed the door behind them. “I am fine, but I need to hold you.”
Wrapping her arms around her wife Delaney cuddled close, knowing Raelin wanted the contact. “You’re fine, maybe, but something shook you up. Talk to me.”
“Kiss me first and then I’ll tell you.” Raelin bent her head to capture the blonde’s lips in a hard and hungry kiss, holding Delaney close to her.
Delaney let her wife take what she needed submitting herself to Raelin’s kiss. She used the lapels of Raelin’s dress jacket to pull her closer.
Only breaking the kiss when she needed to breathe Raelin rested her forehead against her wife’s. “I love you Delaney.”
“I love you too. Now what’s got you so shaken?” Del asked running her fingers through Raelin’s silky hair.
Closing her eyes, the witch tried to erase the memory of the man’s eyes, but she kept seeing the hate, and that scared her. “I saw someone from one of my dreams, and this is the same man that I thought I saw at the opening of the Foundation… Delaney I felt such hatred coming from him and I don’t know who he is, and it scares me.”
“It’s okay. You are here now and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Did he say anything to you? Did you talk to him?” Delaney asked, doing her best to try and soothe the taller woman.
Opening her eyes, the witch looked into her wife’s cool green eyes and took in the calmness that the blonde was sending out. “No, I caught a glimpse of him just like the day of the opening, but his eyes… They terrify me.”
“Shhh, it’s okay. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. If you can describe him to me I’ll keep an eye out just in case.” Del soothed, running her hands up and down Raelin’s arms to try and soothe the trembling. “How about tonight you let Ari and I take care of dinner and the cleanup and you can just relax and try to come down a little. It’s been a long day and I’m sure dealing with those casino men was tiring.”
Chuckling, Raelin smiled. “Your Deputy has taken over. Why exactly is Michaels handcuffed?”
“Grand theft doughnut Douglas brought in a box for everyone around lunchtime and Ariel spotted him taking one out of the box. Michaels is currently being interrogated as his accomplice. She’s trying to get them to hang each other out to dry. They’ve been pretty good sports and I think they’ve both fallen a little in love with her.” Delaney chuckled. “Not to mention I don’t think anyone could deny her anything dressed in that little uniform.”
“She’s almost as cute as you in yours, but I get a different reaction with you.” Sighing, Raelin continued. “I don’t think that my refusal to sell went over very well. Expect to get more phone calls trying to convince me.”
“I didn’t think it would. Worse comes to worse, we’ll just block their number or change ours. You ready to go back out now? I’m scared so see what my Deputy has done to the boys or worse the bullpen.” Delaney smiled. “Don’t worry; everything is going to work out just fine.”
Placing her hands on either side of her wife’s face, Raelin opened their link wide open, sharing the love and the faith that the witch had in her Chief. “I believe you.”
Humbled by the faith and trust she felt pouring off her witch Del smiled and rose to her tip toes to place a gentle kiss on Raelin’s lips. “I love you too Darlin’. Now let’s go save my Deputies.” The blonde chuckled, opening the door and laughing when she saw that Kasey was now handcuffed while Jessie just grinned proudly as her little girl read the Deputy her rights not missing a single word.
“Ariel, what are the charges for Kasey? She’s been with me all day?” Raelin walked over to stand beside the little girl.
The little toddler turned to look at her aunts. “Obstruct of Law. She tried to uncuff with Mr. Michaels before I’d gotten a chance to talkies with him.”
Delaney smiled proudly at her little deputy. “Good job baby, but its Obstruction of Justice.”
“I plead not guilty and would like to speak with my lawyer,” Kasey said, playing along.
“You can’ts exit a please until you talkies in front of the judge,” Ariel said seriously.
“Enter a Plea,” Del corrected petting the little blonde’s hair. She smiled when Jessie started discussing legal options with Kasey. “Looks like she lawyered up Deputy. You’re out of luck.”
“Deputy Ariel, it might be to your advantage to see it clear to letting everyone go with a warning. I do believe that they have all learned their lesson, and you don’t want to leave Aunt Delly without anyone other than yourself to back her up.” Raelin fought to keep a straight face.
Ariel regarded the three deputies in front of her, staring them all down. Finally, she let out a huff, resting her hands on her hips. “I thinks the little lady here is right fellas. Yous better have learnded yous lessons. Alrighty Chief, let the loafers go,” she said, scribbling in her notebook more.
Laughing Delaney did as she was told letting each Deputy out of the cuffs that held them. “Alright folks its supper time and Raelin and I best be getting this one home and fed.” The blonde laughed pointing towards where Ariel was talking with her mother about her day.
“Yeah and I promised I’d be home at a decent hour to go over the reception menu,” Kasey said rubbing the back of her neck and blushing with a goofy grin on her face.
“I’m glad you had fun, baby,” Jessie told her daughter smiling as the little one chattered on about all the things she’d done. How Delaney had taken her on a walk and shown her the cells and question room and stuff.
“I did,” Ariel yawned resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. It had been a long day and someone was losing steam.
Going over to the attorney, Raelin held out her hands. “You wanna let me hold you for a while? I really do need an Ariel hug.”
“Oh, Daddy says I give the best huggies,” Ariel murmured, letting Raelin take her and squeezing her Aunt around the neck.
“I’m going to just get right back in my car and leave once we get to the house. She’s tired and not really entirely with us and it will be easier if I just leave without going into the house,” Jessie said quietly, looking fondly at her daughter, now half asleep and drooling on Raelin’s shoulder.
Walking over to her wife, the witch nudged her with her shoulder. “You wanna take her since you have her car seat? I’ll go ahead and drive Jessie home and she can leave before you get there. Just give us about a ten minutes head start.”
“Sure Darlin’.” Del smiled, taking the now sleeping Ariel off her wife’s hands. “You want me to pick up anything on the way?”
“No, I’m good. Just give us time to get home.” Raelin leaned down to give her wife a kiss before kissing the smaller blonde on her forehead. “See you in a few.”
Turning, she thanked Kasey for going with them before saying good-bye to everyone else and leaving the department.
Del watched her wife go before she turned her attention to her Deputy. “Jenny coming to get you or do you need a lift home?”
“I’ll give her a holler to come pick me up. Listen, they weren’t very happy.” The taller woman stepped closer to her boss. “He was very polite and forthcoming but he had a twitch in his jaw muscles his smile didn’t reach his eyes and his bodyguard looked like a guard dog waiting for the command to attack. You could see the restlessness in his posture. I’m just warning you that I doubt they are going to give up that easily.”
Del sighed swaying slightly to keep Ariel asleep. “Thanks for the warning, and thanks for going with them. I felt a lot better knowing you were there.”
“Not a problem, now get home. You’re got a beautiful wife who needs some TLC and a Deputy to put down for a nap.” Kasey reached out to caress Ariel’s head.
“Yeah, she tuckered herself out pretty good. I’ll see you tomorrow Kase.” Del smiled and headed out to the Jeep. She tucked Ariel into her car seat, buckling her in and then jumped into the driver’s seat. With a last look at the conked out four year old she started them out towards the house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Listen Jessie, I know that I turned down their offer, but I would still like to know as much as possible about Bisanti, Gino and the lawyer. There’s something more going on there than meets the eye, but I just can’t put my finger on it,” Raelin said as they drove out of town.
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can pull up for you. I’m pretty certain we haven’t heard the last of them. I got a pretty off vibe too.” Jessie shook her head as she thought about the feeling she’d gotten from the men. “You seemed to keep your cool pretty well.” She grinned ruefully.
“Well, I did get the feeling that Bisanti did care for my father, but other than that, he was a blank wall. He hid everything pretty well up until the end. He most definitely didn’t like me telling him no. Anger started rolling off both him and Gino. I don’t think that they hear that word much,” the witch tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
“I think you are right about that. I’ll see what I can find on them, or at least more than what we already pulled up anyways. There isn’t much you can do until then, so try not to stress too much. It will work out.” Jessie smiled, squeezing the witch’s shoulder.
“Yeah, now are there any foods that Ariel doesn’t like, or anything that we should be aware of?” The brunette pulled into the driveway.
“Oh yeah, I was going to talk to you about that. She’s allergic to strawberries. Her EpiPen is in her book bag that she had today and she’s got a few extras in with her stuff. Del knows how to use it, have you ever used one?”
Parking the car, Raelin switched it off and turned to her friend, shaking her head. “No, but just tell me what to do.”
Opening her briefcase Jessie pulled out the spare she always kept on her. “It’s actually fairly simple. First, you just remove this cap from the storage tube. Make sure you are holding it with the black tip pointing down because that’s where the needle comes out and you’ll end up pricking your thumb.” She smiled. “It hurts like holy hell; ask Mike, he’s done it.”
“Then you pull off this gray activator cap here at the top. Next comes the hard part. A lot of people have problems doing this but you need to jab the black end into her outer thigh. Good and firmly so that it clicks and make sure you hold it there for at least 10 seconds so the medication inside can empty into the thigh muscle,” she explained, pointing out the various parts. “Afterwards, you’ll still need to get her to a hospital or call 911. The way Delaney drives probably just easier to take her yourselves. The used EpiPen goes back into the storage tube, needle end first and put the cap back on it. Take it with you to the hospital. That’s it. Ariel has a practice one that the doctor gave us if you want Delaney to show you later.”
“Okay.” Raelin nodded her head. “I’ll take a look at it tonight. Anything else? Do you want us to let her call you every night?”
“If you think she needs to, honestly she’s never been away from Mike or me for this long before so I’m not sure how she’ll take it. If she seems okay, just let her be. She can call me every couple of days. If she starts fussing you can let her call if she doesn’t calm down. I’ve always read her a chapter of Nancy Drew before bed and you saw her dragon. She won’t sleep without Dudley.” Jessie chuckled. “Delaney won that for her at a fair when she was only two. She hasn’t gone far without it since. That and her blankie which is in with her pajamas. She won’t sleep without it either.”
Getting out of the car Raelin walked her friend over to her car. “One last question. Has she had any other dreams since Sunday that you know about?”
“Yeah, she had one she woke up from on Tuesday morning. I asked her what it was about and she said something about a mean car guy. That’s about all I got out of her. Why?” Jessie asked tucking her briefcase into the back seat.
Raelin stopped beside the attorney. “Yesterday morning? I need to read more of my family journal, but with your permission I’d like to work with her while she’s here. It will be easier for her to get used to what she’s got, if we start her young. Let me help her get used to what she has.”
Jessie laid a gentle hand on Raelin’s arm. “I’m perfectly fine with that. Raelin, I trust you and I know you won’t do anything to cause Ariel harm. If it helps her deal with whatever it is she’s developing, then by all means do whatever you feel is necessary.”
“Thank you, now do you want a bottle of spring water for your drive home? I can run inside real quick and get you one?” Raelin offered.
“Yeah actually, that would be really nice. It’s a real hot one today.” She smiled, pulling on her shirt.
Jogging inside, the witch grabbed a bottle from the fridge and as she turned to go back outside, she spied Rori. “Hey! Ariel should be here in a few moments just to let you know. Be right back.” Getting back to her friend, she handed her the bottle. “Here ya go. Would you mind letting us know when you get home? Please don’t follow my example and forget.”
“I’ll be sure to call. Thanks again for taking Ariel.” Jessie smiled speaking through the open window of her car. “Tell Delaney thanks for me and Ariel that I love her?”
Stepping away from the car Raelin nodded her head and waved as Jessie drove out of the driveway, and was about to go inside when she felt Delaney getting closer so she waited where she was.
Waving as she passed Jessie’s car on the way to the house she pulled into her driveway and found Raelin still standing in the yard. She parked the Jeep and hopped out flashing a wide smile at her wife. “I see Jessie is on her way,” she said, opening the back door and unbuckling the still napping Ariel. She pulled the little girl out, sitting her on one hip while she grabbed her little backpack with her free hand.
Grabbing the backpack, Raelin smiled at her wife and the little girl. “Yeah, just left. Still out huh?”
“She’ll be out for a while. Probably shouldn’t let her sleep too much though, otherwise we’ll never get her to bed.” Del smiled, walking with her wife into their house. “I’m going to set her up on the couch is that alright?”
“Why don’t you give her to me? Jessie said that she had a dream about the car salesman yesterday morning...Before it happened. I want to take her to the glen, we can both nap there in the sweet grass, and maybe I can get a handle on all of her abilities,” Raelin suggested.
“Okay.” Del handed the tiny blonde over to Raelin smiling when Ariel started to fuss and Raelin rubbed her back to settle her down. Reaching up, she cupped Raelin’s cheek so she could look into her wife’s eyes. “You sure you’re okay? We didn’t really have much time to talk.”
Instead of answering, Raelin leaned her head down to kiss her wife, taking some of the strength that the blonde was offering her. “I’ll be alright. We can talk later,” the brunette smiled at the blonde before she turned and headed towards the glen.
Delaney watched them g
o for a few minutes, only turning away when Raelin disappeared into the trees. Seeing both Rori and Tasha curled up in the sun on the porch, Delaney took up a seat on the lounge chair next to them. “Hey guys, busy day?” she asked casually.
Rori lifted his head. “No, just taking it easy for a change. The brigade is working well, so I don’t have to monitor it all the time. I hear that we have a guest.”
“Yes, I hope that you don’t mind too much. Ariel is staying with us for a spell. A trial popped up out of nowhere and Mike is out of town,” Delaney replied. She decided to gauge his mood a bit before she brought up the real reason for this conversation. “I’m glad you’ve got the brigade running so well.”
“Yes well, Tasha is an added incentive to get everything running smoothly. I want to be around when our litter arrives. I know that it’s rare that a male cat sticks around, but I want to be different.” The gray cat licked the female behind her ears. “I waited a long time for this one to show up, and I’m gonna do it right.”
“That’s very responsible of you Rori, but it does lead me to my next point. Are you still mad at Raelin?” she asked, looking at him sideways.
Tasha continued to bask in the sun and attention of her mate, content to let them talk but still ready to pop in if needed.
“It depends, is she still planning on giving away one of my children?” He stared at the blonde.
“She was never planning on giving away anyone. Ariel is starting to show signs that she shares my abilities. Only along with Empathy we think she might be a little telepathic too. I think Raelin was just feeling things out in case one of your little ones is Ariel’s familiar. She can talk with you Rori and I can talk with Tasha, it makes sense, given the circumstances.” Delaney sighed, closing against the warm evening sun. “She would never deny you your children, you know her better than that.”
The cat turned to look at the blonde. “Why did she not tell me? I would never deny someone their familiar. I just thought that she didn’t want a house full of kittens around.”
Intuition Page 32
