Page 7 of Prickly as a Porcupine

When they were finally convinced she was refusing to comment, they continued.“Why didn’t you tell us about this plan, Miss Russo?”Agent Stone’s voice was rough around the edges, a departure from his usual relaxed tone.“We’ve asked you to tell us all you know, and you sat on this information.”

She’d honestly believed that there was nothing to tell about it.Grimm had told her she was an important piece in the plan involving the jail, so the more time passed without him making a move, the more convinced she’d become that he needed her back before he’d be able to move forward with it.“I don’t know what you think I would know about—” Ariel started to object, but Agent Stone cut her right off.

“We know you helped Dr.Grimm create the plan because we apprehended one of his goons at the scene.”

“You apprehended someone?”She wondered how someone could get themselves caught until she remembered her entire predicament.

“The bonehead locked himself in one of the cells by accident.His partner left him behind,” Agent Sparks explained dryly, still drumming her fingernails on the table.Ariel felt her heart beating in time with the rhythm.

“The henchman spilled the beans the second we had him in custody.Told us all about how you had gotten locked up just so you could give intel to Grimm.Guy we nabbed also mentioned that phase two of this plan was Grimm raiding a local shifter daycare.You care to finally let us in on these plans, or are you going to sit back and let Grimm keep attacking the innocent?”

“Children, Ariel,” Agent Sparks emphasized.“You’re really going to sit here in silence, protecting a man who is going to hurtchildren?”

“You’ve got it wrong.”Ariel shook her head.“There is no daycare plan.”She didn’t know if the agents were just trying to bait her or not, but she did know that Grimm wouldn’t experiment on children.While some of his test subjects took some… creative convincing… they were always of consenting age.

“Why should we believe anything you say?”Stone countered.

Normally, she didn’t care if they believed what she said or not, but for once, it seemed to matter what they thought.Maybe it was because she was finally starting to understand that Grimm didn’t need her to keep going with his plans.Maybe it was because hearing that all her reconnaissance at the jail had helped him with his plan, but not enough for him to want to focus any time or energy on helping her escape.The whole time she’d been waiting for a rescue, he’d been moving forward without her.

In any case, she wanted Stone and Sparks to believe her.

“Yes,” she admitted.“I knew about the jailbreak plan.Grimm had asked me to get arrested on a minor charge so I could scope the place out for him.I assumed he wanted to recruit new henchmen.”Or experiment on people Grimm though society wouldn’t miss, but she kept that part to herself.

“Is that all?”Sparks asked with a raised eyebrow.“Because, as your associate tells it,youwere an integral part of the whole plan.”

“Apparently not enough for him to break me out of here before moving forward with it.”Part of her lit up with pride at the knowledge that she wasn’t forgotten—at least, the part she’d played in the plan.But that didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t been important enough to extricate.She swallowed, trying to clear her throat.It felt like it was tightening, her breathing becoming more difficult.And shallow.

“Miss Russo, are you okay?”Agent Stone asked, his tone softening slightly, a gesture of compassion that somehow made Ariel feel even worse.

“I can’t believe he left me here,” she muttered, glancing at the one-way mirror, no longer caring who was on the other side.She hardly recognized the gaunt face looking back at her.Her once plump cheeks used to give her a slight baby face, but now they were hollow.Her eyes that had once glinted with mischief, now appeared dark and sunken, with dark purple shadows on the skin underneath.

The walls of the interrogation room felt like they were closing in on her.How could Dr.Grimm proceed without her?He’d made her feel special, like she was a part of something.They had a mission, a plan, and she wasimportant.She was no longer the frail, sick person she once was.Now she was able-bodied and useful.At least, that’s what he’d told her…

The thought wouldn’t go away: Was it all an act—a manipulation—to get what he needed from Ariel?The room spun around her.A wave of dizziness washed over her.He left me behind.

“Pull yourself together.”Agent Sparks stopped tapping her nails.“We don’t believe that you don’t know anything about the daycare plan.You’ve been telling us you know nothing, but here we see a full-fledged infiltration plot that you were key in developing.You’ve been toying with us since day one.We know it; you know it.And I’m sick of it.”The agent’s tone could cut glass.

Ariel’s world was crumbling.“I really don’t know anything about a plan involving a daycare, and believe me, I thought he told me nearly everything,” she said more to herself than to the shifters in the room.“True, he had some secrets—who doesn’t?—but the important stuff…”

“Ariel,” Agent Stone sighed, likely with frustration.“Maybe he dropped hints.Said something innocuous that didn’t sound important at the time.Think.What were his plans regarding preschool children?”

“Why would he leave me here?”She hardly heard what Agent Stone said.The words didn’t register.She was too busy drowning in self-pity.“Dr.Grimm made it sound like he needed me by his side to complete this plan.”

“He didn’t needyou, he needed your tissue and DNA samples.”Agent Sparks’ words cut Ariel to the bone.“And you willingly gave him plenty of that.”She nodded towards Ariel’s prosthetic leg.

This must be what free-falling felt like.The room seemed to tilt, and the ground was pulled out from under Ariel’s feet.Nausea roiled in her stomach.Bile tasted bitter in her throat.“No.”She shook her head, tossing her hair about.“He cared.He cared about me.”She put a hand to her heart for emphasis.

Agent Sparks looked ready to lay into her again, but Agent Stone put a hand on her shoulder, stopping the peahen shifter from cutting Ariel deeper with her words.“Let her process,” he said gently, like a protective father.

“That henchman must have told you wrong,” Ariel said, finally registering what the agents were asking her about.“Dr.Grimm would never experiment on children.He must have said that to get you off track.”Ariel’s mind was swimming with racing thoughts, all at war with themselves.Nothing made sense.

“He’s done it before,” Agent Stone said flatly, though his puppy-dog brown eyes took on a softer tone.

“No.”Ariel shook her head.She would have remembered ever seeing a child in any of Grimm’s lairs.

“He did,” Agent Sparks clarified.“Withyou.”

“What?”Ariel practically shrieked.“I was anadultwhen?—"