Hellcat

Chapter 60

"You guys okay?" Matt asked Jessica and Luke as we were led down a hall to all meet with Misty. I had long since stopped crying and Matt hadn't asked any more questions. In fact, we had mostly just sat in silence, enjoying being close again. "I'll live," Luke sighed. "I don't suppose either of you snuck a flask in here," Jessica grumbled from in front of me. Matt let out a sharp chuckle from beside me, his hand on my elbow so I could lead him.

Jessica glanced over at him with one eyebrow raised. "How are we gonna get out of this?" she huffed to him as the officer lead us into a small office. "I was gonna ask you the same thing," Matt replied to her as we entered the room. "The four of you want to sit?" the officer asked us as we came face to face with Misty Knight again. We all shook our heads. "Suit yourself," the officer grumbled before stepping back.

"We've had no luck identifying the bodies we found in the warehouse with you. And though you two have colorful histories," Misty paused, eyes flickering to Luke and Jessica. "I have reminded the NYPD that we have no evidence –" Misty said, hands on her hips as the other officer interrupted. "Yet," he said pointedly. "... to suggest that you were responsible," Misty finished her sentence.

"Now, I trust Detective Knight, and she says that, although you're being tight-lipped, the best way to proceed is to treat you as witnesses and not suspects," the other officer spoke up again. He must have been Misty's superior officer with the way he talked. "You have information that can fill in the gaps. We need it," Misty added. "Our task force has been tracking a mysterious crime syndicate for months. They move fast and cover their tracks and often with the blood of innocent people," the other officer continued. "People are in danger," Misty added.

"Captain, my clients are exhausted and under emotional distress," Matt started clearly. Captain? Okay, guess I was right about the superior officer thing. "I'm sure you understand how much they need to go home." The Captain stared at Matt like he had suggested something worse than letting us leave. "And, see, I'm not sure you understand the severity of the situation. Everyone who's come in contact with these assholes turns up dead. Now, either you help us, or I start clearing out a couple of jails cells."

Matt opened his mouth to speak – to counter the Captain's threat – but Luke spoke up first. "They call themselves the Hand." I looked over at Luke with one eyebrow raised, but he kept his gaze locked on Misty and the Captain. "They're real. They're murderers. And they took Danny Rand," Luke added. "But what do they want with him?" Misty asked quickly. "I don't know. They've been after him for a while now. Who knows what they'll do next."

Misty took this information and turned to her Captain. "Look, when criminals feel like they're winning, they get sloppy. This could be good for us," she said, only for Luke's scoff to shut that down. "No, not these criminals," he told her. "They don't get sloppy. They just get more dangerous," Jessica spoke up from beside me. "It has to be us. We can take care of this," Luke added. Matt and I remained silent as I watched the other half of our group talk about this like it was easy.

"'We'? There is no 'we'. Vigilantes don't have jurisdiction. The NYPD does," the Captain reminded him sharply. "Luke, you don't need to protect us. Tell us where to find the Hand. We can take it from there," Misty tried to assure him. "I can't," he told her shaking his head. "Okay. Well, that's it. Someone call DA Tower. I'm tired of doing this the hard way. These people don't tell us what to do. We are the law here. Or has New York City gone completely insane?" the Captain snapped at Misty. "Captain," Matt spoke up, urgent and clear. "Before you make any calls, I'd like to sidebar with my clients."

"Oh, you can do that... after I book them for obstruction. And you," the Captain threatened as he picked up the phone. "Just a word. In private. I would like to explain to them how best to cooperate in building your case," Matt explained softly, causing the Captain to pause in his phone call. The Captain considered this for a moment, glancing warily at Jessica and Luke before finally setting the phone down.