Hold Fast - Part Nine
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
Ralph and Noah are both so stunned by the revelation that they just sit there staring at each other, astonished.
Unfortunately Aiden and I still have no idea what it means, so we can’t share in this moment of amazed disbelief. Only a few seconds go by in silence before I can’t help myself.
“Won’t someone please tell us what’s going on?” I blurt out, glancing anxiously between Ralph and Noah. “What do you mean, it’s really her?”
“Go let Shawn know,” Ralph tells Noah quietly, then adds in a rush – “I’m not bossing you around! Just asking-”
Noah shoots up from the floor so fast that Tycho goes scrambling after him in excitement. There’s a flash of glittering piercings and a wagging white tail across the screen of my phone, and they’re gone.
Ralph gets up out of his bed and starts heading for his office, stopping on the way to pull on a shirt and stumble into his jeans.
“Aiden, Keane, you two have no idea what you’ve walked into. Who you’ve got!” He’s out of breath, his usual composure breaking to reveal just how excited he really is. “Just let me get to a room that’s soundproofed.”
“You soundproofed your office?”
Ralph doesn’t bother to answer my question. He kicks his office door shut after himself and drops down into the big chair behind his desk.
“It all makes sense,” he murmurs to himself. “I really should have figured it out sooner.”
“Ralph,” Aiden growls, swiftly growing just as impatient as I am, “Explanation. Now. Why’s it matter that Maggie has dark brown hair and darker eyebrows and emerald green eyes?”
“Because,” Ralph says, breaking into a victorious grin, “I happen to know someone who looks just like that. Same exact combination of those unusual features.”
Aiden and I both freeze in confusion.
“Not Maggie’s mom?” I ask, beyond taken aback. “Maggie told us she passed away like ten years ago!”
“Yeah, that’s accurate. She did.” Ralph grows serious, winces deeply before he continues. “Real sorry to say it, but both of Maggie’s parents are gone.”
“What-?” Aiden gestures at the keeper’s cabin in mounting bewilderment, his blue eyes very wide. “But we met her dad!”
“No you didn’t, A,” Ralph says quietly. “Her dad died about two years before her mom did.”
Aiden and I stare at Ralph, flabbergasted.
“Okay,” I finally manage, in a decidedly unsteady voice. “Ralph. Please start from the beginning.”
“Yeah, fair enough. Got to go a ways back, though.” Ralph nods down at the papers from the file, which are scattered all over his desk. “It all starts with the Caterina family.”
Aiden and I stare at Ralph in confusion. He pushes his sleep-tousled hair out of his face, seeing that we don’t have the slightest idea what that means.
“Look, crime is a profession going back to antiquity, and just like every craft that old, there are families who rise to serious prominence and become known for being the masters. The Caterina crime family is one of them. Their organization is nicknamed the Seven Arms. Joke is they’ve got reach on every continent, but it’s barely a joke. They’re extremely powerful, extremely dangerous, famously ruthless, and… they are everywhere.”
Aiden and I just stare at Ralph, startled. Listening intently.
“When I say legendary, I mean it, by the way,” Ralph adds. “They’ve been in the business for so long that no one is really sure when they started, or where they’re originally from. They’ve kept the business in the family the whole time, handing it down through generations. It’s in their blood, at this point. Crime world royalty.”
I dart a swift look at Aiden, then turn back to Ralph. “Okay…?”
“So, it’s tradition in this family to get the children prepared for our beloved bloody business as soon as they’re old enough. They send them out to fight and train with guerrilla groups and militias, in conflicts the Caterinas have some kind of a stake in. Usually just before they hit their twenties.”
“What?” I blurt out, aghast.
“If it makes you feel better, Jamie, any Caterina would feel right at home in that kind of dangerous situation. Sounds fucked up, but trust me on that.” Ralph taps a paper on his desk. “The previous don of the Caterina family had two kids, one son and one daughter. They were both sent out for this experience, to separate places. The daughter, Anita, she liked the fight in the place where she was sent. Ended up staying longer, into her twenties. Also ended up falling in love with one of the resistance fighters, this man right here.”
Ralph holds up an old black and white photo, angling it towards the phone so we can see. The man in it is staggeringly handsome. Rough and ragged but grinning, underfed but with powerful shoulders, one lock of black hair spilling down to fall over his sharply arched eyebrow.
Something about him is vaguely familiar to me. His big, soulful eyes, I think.
“This man and Caterina’s daughter had a baby together, raised her together for a few years. But he was killed in a skirmish doing a raid to try and get supplies for their group. Word is Anita lost her mind in her grief, and less than a year later she was suddenly married.”
“What?” I stare at Ralph in disbelief. “To who?”
“It was all pretty vague for a while. She was keeping herself off the grid. In the meantime old Caterina had died, so his son came home and took over the business. His sister wasn’t keeping in touch with him all that often. Then she sent him a letter, saying that she’d woken up. Realized the man she’d married had taken advantage of how vulnerable she was when she was grieving. Said she hated him, and he was trying to control everything she did. She wanted to get away with her daughter and come home. So her brother immediately went to go get her, himself.”
Ralph pauses, clearly reluctant to tell us the rest.
“Before he could get there,” he goes on with a regretful sigh, “Someone leaked Anita’s location to people in the area who weren’t friends of her guerillas. She was killed in a drive-by pretty much immediately. And her husband fled the country, taking her five-year-old daughter with him.”
“Wait a second,” Aiden stammers, slowly shaking his head. “No way… you must be joking…”
“And then,” Ralph goes on, deadly serious, “The head of the Caterina family got a ransom note from the husband. Requesting a couple million dollars, in exchange for the safe return of…”
“Maggie?” I breathe, my eyes perfectly round.
Ralph nods once in confirmation. Aiden and I just stare at him, just stare and stare.
“And he didn’t pay the ransom?” I finally manage.
Ralph lets out a sharp laugh. “The man purposefully got Caterina’s sister killed, Jamie, and he’s the boss of one of the most notorious crime families in the world. He wasn’t gonna pay the ransom. He was gonna run that sorry shithead down, no matter what it took.”
Ralph stops for a second, then adds – “Besides, from what I’ve heard they were very close. The two Caterina siblings. Bruce brought the personal wrath of one of the most dangerous people in the world right down on his own head, setting her up like that. The full force of the Seven Arms, too.”
“And Bruce thought he could handle that?” Aiden asks, astonished. “No way, he doesn’t have the backbone to take that on!”
“It wasn’t bravery, A, it was stupidity. It was about as smart as kicking a det cord. I’d guess that Bruce only knew his wife’s family was rich. Not how they got that way. I’m sure he understands now, given he’s been on the run ever since. That’s why he’s always trying to keep Maggie so isolated. It doesn’t matter where they go to try and hide. The Caterinas are everywhere, and they’re looking for her. They’ve never seen her, but they know she’ll have all the signature family features.”
“But – but-” I shake my head again, reeling. “Why would Bruce keep dragging Maggie around if no one will pay a ransom for her? Clearly he hasn’t managed to develop a shred of fatherly affection in all this time, so I know that’s not it!”
“Because, Jamie, now she’s the only card he has left to play,” Ralph answers grimly. “She’s worth a ransom in the best case scenario, and in the worst case scenario, if they do track him down – she’s a hostage.”
“What… what…” I trail off into silence, then slowly turn to face Aiden, incandescent with stunned outrage. “Oh my god. Bruce!”
“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” Aiden announces, turning around. “I’m fucking him up. I know I’m reformed and shit, but I don’t care.”
I catch Aiden’s arm as he starts striding towards the keeper’s cabin. Ralph jumps in from the phone while I’m dragging him back to the campground sign.
“Not yet, A, there’s more I need to tell you!”
Aiden closes his flaming blue eyes and screws his face up, trying to calm down. I soothingly stroke his lower back, but I know exactly how he feels. I’m blazing with anger, too, thinking of what Bruce did. What he’s still doing! Poor Maggie has no idea at all, she was too young to understand or remember. She thinks he’s her father…
Cascading realizations are crashing down on me faster than I can keep up. I have to force myself back into the present to listen to the conversation.
“How have the Caterinas not caught Bruce all this time?” Aiden is asking, through gritted teeth.
“Getting away that first night before Caterina could get there – that’s what saved him. He was able to escape to a different country, get some kind of fake ID… basically he got the head start he needed. No one is sure how he got away so fast, but from what I’ve read in the case file it sounds like he left by hiring a boat. There’s nothing in any records about it, so whoever sailed him out of there must have been someone shady. Willing to work off the books for a fee.”
I choke on the breath I was taking, another realization blindsiding me. I look up at Aiden, and see from his expression that he got there instantly, too.
“Nigel!” I whisper in disbelief. “That’s how they know each other! Bruce hired him back then, to get away with Maggie!”
“And tried to do the same thing this time,” Aiden growls. “Only trading on Faith’s location instead of cash.”
Of course. And Maggie would have been too young back then to be able to recognize Nigel now. Why wouldn’t Bruce sell out Faith’s location? He’d already sold out the location of Maggie’s mom, as soon as she tried to leave him, then tried to use the situation to make himself rich.
My heart tightens in agonized sympathy for Maggie. But a bright little thought in all that sadness peeks out above the rest, trying to get my attention.
“Hang on, so… that means the current head of the family… Old Caterina’s son…”
“He’s Maggie’s uncle,” Ralph confirms, then breaks into a small smile. “That’s the good news. Maggie does have a family. She’s a Caterina.”
Aiden and I just stand there for a while, struggling to process everything. My mind circles desperately around all this new information, then finally lands on the fact that Maggie does have a family, after all. Not Bruce, who I refuse to even think of as her stepdad. Real family, who have been hunting for her ever since she disappeared. With such dedication that Bruce has felt the need to move after just a few months in even the most remote locations.
Aiden takes a deep breath, running a hand over his face. “How do you know all this, Ralph?”
“One, because I’ve got the case file right here thanks to my source. The DEA was keeping an eye on the situation from afar, since it involved the Caterinas.”
“You’ve got a source in the DEA?” Aiden asks, startled.
Ralph gives him a shadowy smile. “We call him our backstage pass.”
“Okay, but all these details about the case…?”
“The rest I heard from Maggie’s uncle, Francesco Caterina.” Ralph sets his phone down on his desk so he can reach for a cigarette. “I know him.”
Aiden and I stare silently at Ralph as he lights up, until Aiden finally manages – “You know him?”
Ralph breathes out a stream of smoke and tosses his pack aside, sitting back in his chair. “It’s not like we’re friends, we’ve met on a professional level. Had a sit-down or two. He’s the one who showed me the picture of Bruce. It was the first time we ever met. He told me if anyone in my outfit ever found that man, he’d appreciate a phone call.”
Ralph breaks into a wide grin, leaning back in his chair with the cigarette threaded through his fingers.
“And now here you two are, reporting in to tell me you found Bruce, Maggie, and the getaway boat driver, all in one place. Amazing.” He lets out a tired laugh, his grey-green eyes glowing behind the trail of rising smoke. “Amazing.”
“Wait a second, so what are you doing?” Aiden asks, considerably alarmed. “Why is Will telling us that you were calling your boys to arms?”
“I’m having them lock down our territory. I want to make sure that no other outfits hear that I’m arranging a sit-down with the Seven Arms. I don’t want anyone else to know anything about this until it’s over. Information this good is dangerous to have.” Ralph takes a slow drag of his cigarette, grinning around it at Aiden. “Anything I ever said about you not supporting my business, Aiden-”
“Oh,” Aiden cuts in indignantly, “You mean because I refused to go be the muscle for you at sketchy meetings when you asked me in high school? Even though I could’ve gotten kicked off the soccer team if I got in trouble?”
Ralph tilts his head to one side. “As I recall you did come with me to those meetings. Every time.”
“Well – I wasn’t actually gonna let you go alone!” Aiden snaps in frustration. “What if-?”
“You just did something huge for my business, Aiden,” Ralph interrupts affectionately. “That’s what I’m saying. This could mean peace between me and the Seven Arms for a good long time.”
Aiden widens his eyes at Ralph, not at all reassured. “Was there risk of a war?”
“Mmm… no, I don’t think so,” Ralph answers thoughtfully. “But of all the other players in the game, the Seven Arms are the ones to be afraid of. If they did decide they want my territory, I mean… I just don’t have the resources to fight ‘em off. My outfit is big on this coast. His outfit is big everywhere.”
Ralph stops, then lets out a heavy sigh, his sage eyes suddenly full of regret. “It’s too bad, you know? I’d really like to go up against Francesco, if the fight was at all winnable.”
“You what?” I ask weakly.
Ralph shrugs his shoulders. “It’s just that he’s an opponent of my caliber, and those can be hard to find, so – I’ve wondered a lot about how it would turn out, if we went up against each other on a balanced playing field. Why, is that weird?”
“Okay, you – you are-” I trail off helplessly, turning to Aiden. “That’s your little brother, you know. You’re responsible for him.”
“I’m aware,” Aiden answers, in a tone of monumental suffering.
“I’m not going to start a war if I don’t think I can’t win,” Ralph assures us, to a strained, thin little sound from Aiden. “Relax, A, didn’t I just say getting Maggie home safely should have the bonus effect of helping me keep the peace? Not that it was wavering, I don’t think. I don’t know. It’s – hard to tell, with Francesco.”
I narrow my eyes at Ralph, who just shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“He makes me nervous,” Ralph admits, feeling my searching eyes on his face. “Francesco Caterina. I’ve never been able to figure out why he’s let me be all this time. Like I said, if he wanted to take over my territory he could wipe us out, easy. Warlord’s Boys don’t have any kind of an alliance with the Seven Arms. There’s nothing stopping him.”
“He’s never said why he chooses not to?”
“He said he admires my drive and ambition, since I started with nothing,” Ralph answers dryly. “Whatever that means.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Could it maybe mean that he admires your drive and ambition? Since you started with nothing?”
“I don’t know. I can never tell with him.”
Ralph pauses again, looking so deeply uneasy that Aiden starts laughing.
“Okay, what is it, dude?” he asks, catching Ralph’s eye. “Say what you’re thinking.”
“I just don’t want to say anything, um… it’s not, like – I’m trying to think how to put it.” Ralph rubs his elbow awkwardly, then reluctantly blurts out - “He’s like, very gay. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing! I’m just saying that I’m a little off my game at sit-downs with him, because he makes me nervous with all his – the whole thing. He knows he does. I think he plays it up extra around me, just to fuck with me.”
I bite my lip, and Aiden seizes my hand, both of us suddenly in a desperate struggle not to laugh. I’m extremely delighted to hear that there actually is someone who can throw the unshakeable Warlord off his game, purely by being as flamboyantly gay as he is. And he knows it, and he uses it. Francesco has style, I’ll give him that.
Just like Maggie, I think to myself, strangely warmed by that ridiculous thought.
“Notorious crime families don’t mind being openly run by the gays?” Aiden asks, fighting not to laugh as he watches Ralph aggressively tap his cigarette into the ashtray. “Wow. That’s better than a lot of other professions.”
Ralph lets out a dry laugh. “Well, anyone wanting to object would have to take it up with Francesco, and no one is gonna do that. He’s a Caterina, remember. The latest in a line of gangsters going back as far as anyone can remember. He’s battlefield blooded, and he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, personally firebomb an enemy’s place. People say he’s more cold and heartless than I am.”
“But you’re not cold and heartless at all!” I protest indignantly.
Ralph pauses, a flicker of a smile going through his eyes. It’s there and gone in an instant, replaced with a dark, threatening frown.
“Don’t go saying things like that, Keane. A man’s got to look after his reputation, so keep your cupcake thoughts to yourself. Point is, Francesco is a legendary figure in our circles, just as much as any other Caterina before him. He survived his first assassination attempt when he was only seventeen. Someone started to cut his throat while he was asleep. Somehow he came out the winner in that little skirmish. I thought that story was just a rumor, ‘til I met him. The scar tissue speaks for itself.”
Aiden loses the battle against his laughter. “All that, and he makes you nervous because he’s gay?”
“Yes, goddamnit, because he knows I’m trying to be polite and chill about it, and that I’m not good at it, that I don’t really know how!” Ralph lets out an anguished groan, seizing a fistful of his hair. “I’m doing my best! But he does things that throw me off! On purpose! I think it’s fun for him. He’s booked sit-downs with me before where it didn’t even really seem like he wanted anything. I’m pretty sure it was just for the chance to make me squirm.”
“Oh, my god,” Aiden stammers, failing to suppress another laugh.
“Seriously, what am I supposed to do when he’s walking around my office in stilettos?” Ralph asks desperately, spreading his hands at us in indignant confusion. “I’m sitting there trying so hard, and he comes in and throws me off right away so goddamn completely, just with his footwear – am I supposed to say something about them? Or should I definitely not say something? Which one is respectful? Or is it some secret third thing?”
“I kind of want to meet this guy?” I answer unsteadily, as Aiden trembles with silent laughter behind me.
“First you need to track down Faith,” Ralph says firmly, recovering his composure. “We need everyone accounted for before we do anything.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, finally regaining control of myself.
“I mean that we need to do this carefully, if we’re gonna help both of the girls. Faith’s dad and Maggie’s stepdad are both in big trouble with the Caterinas. I can deliver them right into their hands, but only if we play our cards right. And we need both of the girls safe first.” Ralph sits back and takes another pull on his cigarette, rubbing his tired eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m on it from over here. Just don’t you let Bruce run and take Maggie! I’ll kill you if you screw this up. I mean it.”
“Oh, well thank you for the unwavering confidence!” I answer, alarmed. “Wait, but Ralph – what do we say to Maggie, in the meantime?”
Ralph doesn’t answer right away, taking a second to consider.
“Mmm… you shouldn’t lie to her, but I wouldn’t start explaining the whole story, either. Her family can do that once we get her back to them.”
“Hang on, though… you’re sure that Maggie’s uncle wants her, right?” I ask anxiously. “It’s not just about getting revenge on Bruce, for him? I don’t want Maggie to get her hopes up unless we’re sure that he wants her. She deserves someone who will treat her like she matters, this time.”
Ralph nods slowly, taking a thoughtful drag on his cigarette.
“It’s not like Francesco talks to me about his feelings, but – yeah, I got the impression he really wants her back. Like I said, he showed me that photo of Bruce the very first time we met. He’s never met Maggie, but – I imagine it must be pretty lonely, being the only Caterina left. No matter how many people you got working for you.”
Aiden and I consider that in silence. My head is spinning, a hundred different thoughts fighting for my attention.
“Man, poor Faith,” I murmur, thinking out loud. “She got away from her awful dad, then got her location handed right back to him because of something she doesn’t even know about!”
Ralph startles me by answering that with a tiny smile.
“If what you told me is true – and I’m always certain it is with you, Keane – Faith protected Maggie from Nigel. Pushed her down into the bushes, led him away from her. And she prevented Bruce from fleeing again, by damaging the boat’s engine. If we pull this off, anyone who helped Maggie will be on the good side of the Seven Arms. Faith will never have to be afraid of her dad again. This is her chance to solve that problem for good.”
I let out a slow breath as that thought sinks in. What a deep, deep relief it is to hear that. Faith and Maggie have been so unspeakably mistreated by Bruce and Nigel that I can barely wrap my head around it. But both of them have steadfastly refused to give up or go down easy. Maggie broke Faith free, and Faith hid Maggie, and between the two of them they made the getaway boat completely unusable. They’ve barely even spoken to each other, and they know way less about what’s going on here than we do, and still they’ve managed to shipwreck Bruce and Nigel’s plans. Quite literally.
Aiden must be thinking along the same lines, because he murmurs -
“Man, the girls have really been kicking ass. Do they even need our help?”
“Maybe not,” Ralph snickers, “But I’m gonna say we should extend it regardless.”
“And you call yourself cold and heartless,” I answer fondly.
“Don’t get any wrong ideas in your head, Keane,” Ralph growls. “I’m mostly helping because it means you two will be done with all this and get back home, which is good because I don’t want to be stuck looking after your featherless rooster indefinitely.”
“Right, and that’s the primary thing for you?”
“Yeah, Keane, that’s the primary thing.”
“Okay,” I laugh affectionately, to a scorching glare from Ralph. “Sure.”
“I just can’t believe you two stumbled across Maggie, of all people.” Ralph sits back and shakes his head, dazed all over again. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, ‘cause, you know, Aiden. Still can’t believe it, though. We’re a hundred percent sure it’s her? Trust me when I say that none of us can afford to waste Francesco Caterina’s time.”
“Oh, no, it’s her,” I tell Ralph firmly. “She was talking about how fun it was when everything was in chaos and on fire, for one thing. And she was not at all put off by the idea of murdering someone with a tent stake. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“Sounds like a Caterina to me,” Ralph snickers.
“She also speaks a lot of languages, so she’s definitely moved around a whole lot. She’ll slip into French or something else at a moment’s notice.”
Ralph arches his blonde eyebrows. “Really? Noah will like that. You know how excited he gets whenever he gets to talk to someone in French.”
“Thirdly, you said she’s crime world royalty, and – you can tell. Not that it’s bothering us. We’re all pretty fond of her, actually. I don’t know how to explain it, but you’d see what I mean if you met her. She’s a very darling little thing, even when she’s bossing everyone around. It just seems very natural to her, like, I’ve never met someone so-”
“Aiden!” calls a soft voice from across the campground. “Jamie!”
We both spin around. Maggie is dashing towards us from the keeper’s cabin. The wind is whipping up her dark brown hair and blustering it across her cheeks, which are rosy from the cold. She crinkles her nose and swipes the stray strands away with the sleeves of Kaden’s jacket. Beneath the patched-up black denim, today’s necklace is made of clouded blue glass beads, with a single drop of gold at the center. It glitters beautifully in the rainy darkness as Maggie stops before us, a hopeful smile glowing in her eyes.
“My father thinks you are still across the inlet, so he did not lock me in!” she says breathlessly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I would have come out sooner if I knew you were here! So? Did you find the Captain’s fiancée?”
“Not yet, but we made some progress,” I answer, struggling to keep hold of my composure.
Oh, god. Poor Maggie. She’s been through so much, and most of it she doesn’t even know about. My heart is aching for her. It’s almost painful to see her sparkling with such a bright smile.
She clearly assumed that we came here to report in as she told us to, but she’s distracted when she catches a glimpse of Ralph on the phone in Aiden’s hand. He’s sitting there open-mouthed, staring at her in amazement.
“Who is this?” she asks, leaning in closer to look at him.
“Holy shit!” Ralph blurts out, getting an eyeful of the family resemblance between Maggie and the Caterina he already knows.
“This is Ralph, my brother,” Aiden hastily explains, when Maggie looks at him in amused confusion. “He’s the one helping us sort out what’s – been going on with – Bruce.”
“Oh!” Maggie turns back to the phone and gives Ralph a graceful, imperial nod of greeting. “Muito prazer. I’ve heard of you from Aiden. He holds your intellect in the highest regard, as does Jamie.”
Ralph blinks hard in surprise, then breaks into a pleased smile. The surprise on his face multiplies exponentially when Maggie, surveying him through the phone, turns to me and says approvingly – “Another warrior. I can tell just from looking.”
Ralph breathes out a bewildered laugh, shaking his head. “What-?”
He breaks off as Noah rejoins the call, draping himself over the back of the chair. “Shawn’s been told.”
“Took you long enough,” Ralph complains.
“You want to be the one to track him down, next time? Vas-y! Be my guest. It’s not my fault you’ve got everyone running around all over the place. It’s pandamodicum down there.”
Ralph shakes his head affectionately at Noah. “Think you mean pandemonium.”
“Oh.” Noah blushes, pausing in the middle of knotting his inky hair into a bun. “Yeah, no, I knew that. Isn’t that what I said?”
Maggie leans in front of the phone camera again, staring curiously at Noah.
“This is my other little brother,” Aiden explains.
“Bonjour!” Maggie says brightly.
Noah blinks in surprise, taken aback.
“Bonjour,” he answers automatically.
“Oh, there is one of you who speaks languages!” Maggie says to me and Aiden, then smiles approvingly at Noah. “You must be the smart one in this group, pas vrai?”
Noah stares at Maggie, his grey eyes going very wide. He lets out a startled laugh, then slaps a hand over his heart, deeply moved and touched. He answers Maggie solemnly, in very fast French. Whatever he said makes her dissolve into giggles.
She answers him just as quickly, saying something that makes him raise his pierced eyebrows. He asks a follow-up question, and her response makes his eyebrows go up even higher.
“You set a boat on fire?” he laughs, startled back into English.
“Yes.” Maggie smiles blissfully at the memory, then blows out a weary sigh, tossing a handful of her dark hair over her shoulder. “My father is still very angry with me about it, as if it was some big deal. C’est ridicule, n’est-ce pas? It was just one boat!”
Noah stares speechlessly at Maggie, then puts a hand to his chest again, too blown away to answer. Ralph is grinning widely, trying not to laugh. He was watching Noah, but he looks back at Maggie as she starts talking to him.
“You are the one looking into my father, yes?”
Ralph hesitates for a split second. The photo of Maggie’s real father is sitting flat on his desk right now, in plain view if she glanced at it. But she wouldn’t recognize him, of course. She doesn’t even know he existed. Now that I’m looking at her again, having seen that photo… I’m realizing that while she inherited her mother’s emerald green color, the dreaming quality to her eyes came from her father. Her real father. That’s why he looked familiar to me.
“Bruce is overdue for a very bad day,” Ralph answers carefully, tapping his cigarette into the ashtray. “And that day is much closer than he thinks.”
Maggie beams at Ralph, delighted by the dark look in his eye, the threatening growl in his voice.
“I’m hoping for the chance to personally deliver him to that bad day,” Noah adds, with feeling.
These vague threats of extreme violence seem to suit Maggie’s tastes perfectly. She bestows a glowing smile of approval on Ralph and Noah, her emerald eyes sparkling.
“You will work fast,” she instructs them briskly. “There are men who will help us staying at the hotel by the harbor. Ask for Kaden, if you need their assistance. Oh – and you will have to help my friend Faith, too, as well as me. Her father is also a pig-man. Someone must put him in his place. Toi dont les yeux sont gris – um-?”
“Noah,” Noah says, half-laughing.
“You may take care of the pig-man if you like, Noah, but I have no preference who does it,” Maggie finishes primly.
Ralph and Noah simultaneously raise their eyebrows, amused by her serious little manner, the way she issues them orders without a second thought. Noah laughs and gives her a dramatic salute from the temple. Ralph, sitting back and smirking in the shadows, gives her a small nod of concession.
“Understood, princess.”
She pouts indignantly at Ralph for that one, giggles when he smiles at her, then turns her stern, bright eyes on Noah. “You will both be careful, yes? My father has a shotgun. What if he fights back?”
Noah shrugs his shoulders, unconcerned. “He fights back or he doesn’t. Makes no difference to us.”
Maggie grins at that answer, then laughs in pure delight. “All three of you are warriors!”
“Wow.” Ralph lets out a low whistle, smirking at me. “She left you out, Jamie.”
“Jamie is an artist, Ralph,” Maggie tells him admonishingly.
I have no idea how Maggie decided so, but I can’t help breaking into a smug grin, given the reverential way she said artist.
“Ha! Take that, you three big dumb brutes! I’m an artist. Of – flowers. Or something. I’m not sure why Maggie said that. But clearly it’s better.”
“Bro,” Noah begins, “That is mad stupid, who the hell wouldn’t choose warrior for their class, especially if-?”
“Do I need to remind everyone that we’re not on teams?” Aiden asks helplessly.
“You are all on my team,” Maggie informs us, folding her arms over her chest.
Ralph quirks an eyebrow. “Team bloodthirsty child?”
“I’m not a child,” Maggie says delicately, smoothing out her jacket.
Ralph gives her a moment to refute the bloodthirsty portion of the accusation. The only result is a brief silence.
“Yeah,” Ralph laughs beneath his breath, when it becomes clear that Maggie has nothing more to say in her own defense. “This all checks out.”
“Anyways, it is good to hear that we are moving ahead!” Maggie smiles again, but it fades quickly as she glances over her shoulder at the keeper’s cabin. “Ugh. I must go back soon. My father only went to look at the roads, so he will return after not too long.”
Ralph sits up in alarm. “He can’t get over those roads, can he?”
“No. They are blocked, and the work would take weeks, anyways. He just goes and checks because it is something to do, and there is nothing to do here. But before I go, tell me what progress has been made.”
Aiden responds to this command with growing fondness, his deep voice cutting through the rush of the wind in the leaves around us.
“We’re making good headway, Maggie. Ralph figured out a lot about what’s going on here. We’ll tell you more about it when we have more time. But we’re already working on a plan.”
Maggie absorbs that, gives him a thoughtful nod, and reluctantly glances over her shoulder at the cabin. “Then… I guess I will go back for now.”
“Not for too much longer, Maggie,” I tell her gently. “Like Aiden said, we’re working on a plan.”
She gives me a small, appreciative smile, then bites her lip in concern. “How is the Captain doing?”
I try not to wince, thinking of Robin’s crestfallen voice when she spoke to us. “She’s – hanging in there. Somehow.”
Maggie nods slowly, then announces: “She is a warrior, too.”
She gives us a fluttering wave goodbye, then crosses back to the cabin, gracefully weaving around the rain puddles. Aiden and I watch her go for a moment before we turn back to the phone.
“Okay,” Noah says firmly, “We need to think of a fate worse than death for anyone who’s ever wronged that kid, so. We should probably get to brainstorming.”
“Agreed, and don’t worry, I’m on it,” Ralph assures him, then points at me and Aiden. “You two, get Faith back as soon as you can. That’s how we help them both. And use your discretion with Robin. Only tell her about any of this if she’s, like – cool with drugs and crime, I guess.”
“What was that?” asks a startled voice.
I look up sharply. Robin just emerged from the path to the dock, squinting at us in the low moonlight, her brown eyes full of confusion from the tiny piece of our conversation she overheard.
“Is that her?” Noah asks brightly, as she comes over to see who’s on the phone. “Hey, Captain! We need to know your stance on drugs. Maybe we can start with you telling us what kind of psychotropics you got stashed in your boat?”
I bite back a helpless laugh, turning to whisper up to Aiden. “He forgot the word pandemonium, but he knows psychotropics no problem.”
“Sounds about right,” Aiden whispers back, looking at Noah with obvious affection.
“It’s not a party boat, my good bud,” Robin yawns, rubbing her tired eyes.
“Wrong,” Noah says firmly. “Completely wrong. Every boat is a party boat. It’s all about the attitude you bring on board. The snacks and drugs, too.”
Robin stares at Noah in amusement, then looks up at me and Aiden. “Who is this? And why do I not want to disappoint him by saying the only thing my broke ass has on my boat is an old Altoids tin of weed that’s mostly crumbs and resin?”
Aiden turns the phone towards Robin, so she can see them better. “This is Noah and Ralph.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about you two.” Robin gives them a smile, fragile but warm. “You’re helping us from afar, right? Appreciate it. I appreciate anyone who’s actually doing something about this. For a while it was basically just me and my friend Bhavini, and now suddenly all of you are helping… it’s just – it’s really nice of you guys.”
Ralph and Noah both stop still, a little taken aback. They’re not used to Robin’s brand of fierce, earnest directness yet. It took both of them off-guard.
“Happy to help, Captain,” Noah says after a moment, with equal earnestness.
“We’re working on it right now,” Ralph adds, then holds up a piece of paper with some information printed on it. “My girlfriend was able to track Nigel’s latest big purchase. He didn’t stop in Port Sitka to buy a boat. He’s trying to be careful, since some dangerous people are looking for his associate. He went way further up the coast. Bought a decent-sized boat in a little town up there this morning. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s on his way back to look for Faith again, and to pick up Bruce and Maggie.”
Robin stares at Ralph, taking in that information, then asks – “How long do we have before he gets here?”
“At most, two days. Probably less. From what we can tell, the reason it took him this long is because he had to round up the money to get the boat. Him and Bruce must be low on funds.”
“Two days,” Robin repeats slowly. “Well – that’s fine, because I’m sure we’re going to find Faith tomorrow. I’m sure we will. I’m sure.”
Ralph and Noah both flinch with sympathy. Fortunately Robin doesn’t see it, as she’s running a shaky hand over her eyes.
“Do we have two days on the Maggie front, Ralph?” Aiden asks.
“Mhm. I’ll talk to her uncle, but he’s careful. He won’t make a move right away. He’ll want to check out what I tell him, make sure I’m not just laying a trap for him. It’s what I would do.”
“What?” Robin asks, understandably bewildered. “Maggie’s uncle? What do you mean? She said she didn’t have any other family…”
“We’ll tell you about it when we get back to the boat,” I promise, then turn back to video call. “Ralph, Noah, thank you for all of your amazing help! I hope you know how much we love and appreciate y-”
I break off as Noah starts booing, and Ralph promptly ends the call.
I let out a sheepish laugh, catching Aiden’s eye. “I should have known better than to say that.”
“Yes, you should have.” He huffs out a laugh, ruffling up my hair, then looks up at Robin. “You here to call Bhavini or something, Captain? We can hang out and keep you company. Make sure you don’t face any Bruce interference.”
“No, I’m too tired for that,” she mumbles. “I just came looking for you because you said you’d only be a minute, and then you were gone for a while. Thought I should make sure you were okay.”
Aiden and I exchange a surprised, touched glance over the top of Robin’s head. There are so many other, bigger things on her mind. I’m almost in disbelief that she noticed and worried when we were gone a little longer than we said we’d be.
“Let’s go back to the boat,” I tell her gently, stepping out onto the path. “We’ll eat some dinner, get some rest. That way we can start early again tomorrow.”
Robin nods in agreement, joining me in the moonlit trees. Aiden comes up on the other side of her, so she’s got one of us at each shoulder as she walks through the windy night.
She’s holding herself together so well that sometimes I forget how distraught and terrified she must be. But now and then the armor moves, I see through a crack in it, and I catch sight of everything at once. The expression in her eyes makes me think of my own face in the mirror, when Aiden was the one missing. Just remembering it makes me flinch and quickly take hold of his hand, filled with renewed gratitude for the mere fact that I can.
My own determination to see Faith recovered safely is growing fiercer with each minute spent here trying to find her. It’s contagious, and Robin has spread it to all of us, even Ralph and Noah and Maggie.
Faith doesn’t know it, but she has a team behind her now. And tomorrow, I hope, that team is going to find her.
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