Downworld

Chapter 39

The courtroom was packed on the day of Criswell's committal hearing with people gawking at the lofty senator turned sideshow. More than a few were reporters were on our side; after all, with Fiona sitting there looking small and sad, and with everyone she'd ever met willing to tell the media how she was a lovely, intelligent young woman, frightened by her near death experience. I hadn't wanted her to get hurt, but I couldn't have planned this better. Especially with Isamu on her other side, holding her hand, looking protective; the media was eating that up.

I may have given a speech as we left, defying Malik's orders not to. The speech was prepared by my PR people, so it included a lot less swearing, and a lot more appealing to common sense that I didn't think most people had, than I would have liked. But importantly, it had some good sound bites that the media could trot out in support of the cause, and very little they could use against us.

While I spoke, Fiona stood to the side, ignoring the cameras shoved in her face. Isamu keep most of them to a respectful distance. After I'd delivered the speech, I turned to find her watching me with a frown.

'Can we go home, please?' was all she said. Five words that would play over and over on the news that night. It was difficult for even the most conservative news channels to call us monsters when Fiona's voice was so pathetic.

We bundled ourselves into a car and drove back to Gateway, taking a long, winding route to shake the ambitious reporters -- and probably others as well -- who tried to follow. Isamu dropped Fiona and I off around the back, then kept on driving to confuse anyone who might still be searching. We made it into the lobby without incident and then both stopped in our tracks because Kean was waiting for us, his eyes glued to the lobby television as it played a less than favorable run down of the events.

He stood up and gave Fiona a little smile. 'Hello.'

'Hey, dad.' Fiona shifted from foot to foot in the awkward silence. 'So....'

'I'm sorry,' he blurted.

'Huh? What for?'

'For whatever it is that's made you hate me.'

'I don't hate you, dad.'

'I'm glad. Are you all right?'

'Yeah, I'm fine. Really.' She gave me a sideways look. 'You don't have to worry; Uncle Jay has already fussed enough and I'm doing to be staying here for a while, while things settle down.'

'That's good. Will you... will you come spend some time with your mother and I?'

She shrugged. 'Yeah. Sure. Not right now though. I'm kind of tired. I think I'll go up to the apartment, but I'll come down later.'

'Sure, darling. You go get some sleep.'

Fiona nodded, gave us both a kiss on the cheek and left.

'What's your game?' I asked him. Because yeah, he could just be concerned about Fiona, but he and Tinder hadn't even spoken to her since she'd moved above permanently post-graduation and Tinder had sworn she wouldn't associate with me or her kids until they came back to her. Tinder could be like a dog with a bone over shit like that.

Kean however, just gave me a dark look. 'I just want my kids back. Before you kill them.'

I don't know if he was trying to piss me off, but it seemed like it and that made me keep myself from being antagonistic in return. And if he really did want a relationship with the kids again, maybe I could use him as a go between to try and get Tinder back on my side -- which I wanted even if I would not admit it. That was a shitty, manipulative reason though, when the real reason I shouldn't be an asshole to him was so that the kids could get their father back.

'Elspeth is on tour, and she won't go down anyway, but I'll ask her when she gets back if she wants to see you,' I said. 'Stevie will probably be around later, after he finishes checking in with his girl.'

'His girl?'

I shrugged. 'No idea, he won't tell me anything. It doesn't take much to figure out that she's human though, and that they're serious. If you're not okay with that, you might as well save yourself the argument and just not start talking to him again.'

For a second, he hesitated, 'I want my kids back.' Though about a second after that, he basically fled the room.

Given there had been no yelling or passive-aggressive snide remarks on my part, I counted that as progress; my shrink would have been proud.