Hellcat

Chapter Thirty-One

"So, uh, Miss Page and Miss Drake," a public defender started the next morning. We were in a meeting about the Frank Castle case. This joke was his court-appointed lawyer. "I drew this up based on your official statement to the police, about the Metro-General shooting," he said, handing both me and Karen a copy of the same report. Foggy sat across from us, protecting our legal rights, I guess. "You new to New York, Mr. Roth?" Foggy asked as I read over the report. "Born and raised," the attorney responded.

"Is this your first case?" Foggy questioned him. "Second. I won my first. Domestic violence. I believe in protecting women," Mr. Roth said to me and Karen. "Thanks. From all of us," Karen grumbled as I gave this man the side-eye. "Uh, here, this says that Castle pursued us down the stairwell, but we went down, he went up," Karen told him. "Um, okay, that's a change I can make," Mr. Roth stammered before grabbing a pen to make some notes. "Also, we didn't escape on foot, we had a car. I know we told the NYPD about that," Karen pointed out. I just scoffed at the report, letting it flop onto the table before me.

"We were also not Castle's only target. That's just flat out wrong. What about Grotto? Where... where did you get our statement?" Karen stammered. "Grotto?" Mr. Roth questioned. "Grote," she explained. "Oh, Elliot Grote. Yeah, he's on the victim list. Ballistics matched him to one of the many guns connected to Frank Castle," Mr. Roth said just as the door to the conference room opened.

"Early start today?" Matt asked, stepping inside. "Matt," I greeted with a smile. He offered me a small smile in return. "Uh, this is Christopher Roth. He's the public defender assigned to the Castle case," Karen explained simply. "I just dropped by to get Miss Page's and Miss Drake's signatures on this statement," Mr. Roth said to Matt. "Once we've got that, we're all done," he added.

"With this meeting," I added to his statement, an edge of warning to my voice. "With this case," Roth replied. "How so?" Matt questioned as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Castle's awake. Soon, he'll plead guilty, then it's open and shut," the amateur lawyer explained. "Open and shut is good. New York will sleep better knowing Frank Castle's behind bars. I know I will," Foggy commented. "Sleep even better when he's dead," Roth added in agreement.

I froze. It felt like ice started running through my veins. "Dead?" I questioned. "Well, lethal injection, probably, although the electric chair is a possibility," Roth answered as if it was obvious. My mind brought me back to a memory from years ago. There were blinding lights pointed right at me. People shouted at me for information that I would never give up. I was tied to a chair, a car battery hooked up beside me. When I spit at the man interrogating me, he took two jumper cables and stuck one to the back of my neck. I could practically smell the hair and burning flesh. My fingers moved without my mind telling them to, touching the small scar just below my hairline on the back of my neck.

"New York doesn't have the death penalty," Matt reminded the man. "Yeah, but Delaware does. Some Dogs of Hell were murdered out there along Interstate 95. DA Reyes just has to link the killings to Castle, and then they'll be well within their rights to extradite him. And... you know..." Roth said with a small chuckle before clicking his tongue and making a gesture like he was giving himself an injection.

"Are you and DA Reyes friends?" Foggy questioned the man with an expression that said he thought the man was stupid. "I met her once," Roth explained. "When?" Foggy asked. "Yesterday, when the judge assigned me to the case. But, look... she's the one who took down the Punisher. She's not going through all these paces so that she can not put the final nail in his coffin." Matt let out a harsh chuckle at this. "Literally," he said. Karen dropped the statement as well, throwing a pen onto the table.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Roth, I can't sign this yet," she told him politely. "Yeah, this thing has bigger holes than if I unloaded an M2A1 into it," I agreed, offering a sharp glare to the man. I saw the fear in his eyes and felt a small wave of satisfaction wash over me. "Um... are you sure?" he asked the two of us. "Positive," I practically growled at the man, shoving the paper towards him. "We'll be in touch, Mr. Roth," Matt said, dismissing the man simply. "I'm sure we will," he said, gathering his things and leaving quickly.