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Jared picked up a piece of paper and shoved it at the police officer. “That’s a list of her medicines. Provide that to the medical professional and make sure it’s someone who can write a prescription. Tell Chief Stanley I’ll be adding it to his tab.”
The police officer grimaced and left, closing the door behind him.
Saoirse swallowed and tried to talk around her thick tongue. “Thag you.”
“Mr. James said you’d bitten your tongue during the seizure. Do you need to be hospitalized?”
Saoirse shook her head. “Just the medicine. Ith sore but okay. Need t’take it with food.”
“I’ll make sure that happens.” Jared nodded. “On behalf of the good people of Ravalli County—and therearegood people here, despite all evidence to the contrary today—I apologize for what’s happened to you, Miss Fay. Tell me what you need and I’ll try to make sure you have it while we wait for your release.”
“Just th’medicine and food,” Saoirse said.
“Nothing else? Mr. James is here and Mr. Hawkins, will be here shortly. They can get you anything you need.”
Wait? What? Mr. Stark had mentioned James when asking about her biting her tongue, but it hadn’t connected. But now he was saying Sutter was here? How? He should be in New York.
Saoirse’s eyes filled as a door inside her cracked open and a small voice whispered, “Daddy’s come.”
Recalling the attorney’s question, she shook her head, unable to think of anything the police were likely to let her have. Her swaddling bag, Frances and Allan, her phone—anything Sutter or Derek brought to her would be confiscated by the police, she was sure.
Jared pushed a blank piece of paper and a pen across the table to Saoirse. “If you think of anything in the course of our interview, just write it down. Now, the police have not charged you. The official line is that you’re being detained while they investigate. That’s why you haven’t been booked. Unfortunately, Montana’s a seventy-two-hour state, which means they can hold you for two more days before the D.A. starts bringing the hammer down. Can you go without your medicine for two more days safely?”
Saoirse shook her head. Every doctor who’d ever treated her had emphasized the importance of taking her meds every day, without fail, preferably at the same time every day. She usually took her medication in the evenings with her dinner because it was easy to remember and gentler on her stomach. But she hadn’t been able to take it yesterday and the idea of having to miss two more doses caused a fist of panic to tighten around her chest.
“All the more reason for a writ of habeas corpus,” Jared said soothingly. “Our local criminal judge is a good man. He’ll crucify the county attorney if we go in front of him with your medical history. I understand you’ve been having seizures for quite a long time? A decade Mr. James said?” At Saoirse’s nod, Jared smiled. “Excellent. Let them try to claim that long a history is manufactured. So, next, Mr. James has given a statement to the chief of police about the alleged theft. I think I can get the deputy attorney to see things our way on that. But it’s worrisome that the police have taken your medication into evidence. Did they ask you questions about anything other than the theft?”
Daddy talked to the police?
Saoirse let out a slow breath. Sutter was here. He was doing everything he could. She knew that might not be enough, particularly against his mother’s allegations. But his presence, his efforts, slowly warmed the cold place inside her that had kept her tossing and turning all night.
Saoirse related, through a combination of abbreviated sentences and notes on the paper Jared had given her, Mrs. James’ accusations about drugs and extortion and then the police chief’s insinuations that she’d stalked Sutter for the purpose of conning him. The tears she blinked back as she spoke were from more than hunger, pain, and exhaustion. She knew Mrs. James was being vicious and the police chief was dancing on Mrs. James’ puppet strings, but that anyone would think she was capable of treating her Daddy that way had her Little grinding her teeth and sobbing.
Daddy knows the truth, she told herself.Or he wouldn’t be here. He’ll believe me.
Her lawyer took notes at a furious pace, nodding to himself and drawing arrows in from the margins to key points. “This is good. This is very good,” he told Saoirse. “I can’t guarantee anything, but unless the county attorney is also a friend of Cordelia James, I think whatever deputy attorney we get on this is going to fall over himself to release you without charges. This has huge potential for embarrassment, particularly if I make a call to my friend at the Bitterroot Star after I file this writ. The good people of Hamilton like to think this is a friendly town run by friendly people. Arresting a woman right after a medical emergency and holding her without charges on the word of one of the snowbirds is not going to go down well. And our county attorney just weathered one nasty little abuse of power scandal last year. He’s not going to want another one brewing up so soon.”
Jared then put down his pen and reached across the table, holding his palm up. Saoirse tentatively took his hand.
“No, I don’t usually paw my clients,” Jared told Saoirse, eyes twinkling. “But you look like you need a big hug and since I’m not allowed to give you one in here, this is the best I can do. Also, your Daddy asked me to give you a hug from him. He’s very worried about you.”
Daddy’s worried about me.
Saoirse blinked rapidly to keep her burning eyes from spilling over. “P’ease thag him. Tell ‘im, I okay.”
“I will.”
“An’ thag you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Jared said briskly, squeezing Saoirse’s fingers before letting go. “When you walk out the door without any charges being brought, then you can thank me.”
Saoirse shook her head. “Doan feel so ‘lone anymore.”
“Oh, honey,” Jared said, real sympathy lighting his eyes. “You weren’t ever alone. Master Derek, Carrie, Nurse MacIntosh and all your friends at the Ranch have been supporting you since this began. Your Daddy has been here since the early hours, sitting on one of those purgatorial chairs in the reception area and making a big stink. He’s not even a hundred feet away.”
Daddy’s so close!
Saoirse couldn’t stop the tears then. “He ith?”
