Page 21 of Keeping Knight

“First off,” Rogue says. “I’m thinking it’ll help to give a quick overview of the roles we play in the company. So you know who’ll be dealing with the various elements of your case. I head up the cybersecurity division and help with investigations. Anything related to computers, really.”

“And Rogue’s fiancée, Sofia,” Micah adds, “heads up our Sentries division. Any pro-bono cases go through her, but depending on the details of the case, any of the other divisions will help.” He glances at me. “So you don’t have to worry about paying, Ruby. If you agree to let us take on your case, we’ll run it through the Sentries division. There won’t be any charge.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I reply quickly. I don’t want Micah to view me as just some charity case. I want him to… what? Look at me as more than a friend? As more than just another Fox & Falcon client?

“I can pay,” I explain. “When my dad passed away, he left me money. Not as much—” I almost gesture at Micah’s condo, which had to cost well into seven figures. But I stop myself. Micah’s never talked about his money, and until last night, I had no idea how wealthy he was. Which makes me think maybe he’d rather I didn’t bring it up. “Well. I can pay. That’s all.”

“We can figure out specifics later,” Micah says. He pats my arm and gives me a reassuring smile. “So. You know I head the canine services division. And I do all the medical training. Nothing extensive, just basic first aid and triage.”

“I’m in charge of event security and risk management,” Jester adds. “And the lesser-known but also important pranks division.”

Houdini chuckles. “Very important, for sure.” He looks at me. “I lead the security systems division. And I also specialize in explosives—detection and prevention.”

“And I lead up the communications division,” Wraith finishes. “I handle the client side of things, especially regarding our foreign contacts. And I help with investigations.”

“So,” Rogue says after giving me a moment to take it all in. “Hopefully, that helps a little.”

“It does,” I agree. “It’s really interesting. I looked up Fox & Falcon before, but⁠—”

My cheeks warm. That just made me sound like I was checking up on Micah. Which I wasn’t; at least not exactly. It’s just that he told me where he worked, and I was curious…

“It’s fine, Ruby.” Micah rubs my arm. “Of course you’d look up F&F after I mentioned it. I would have been surprised if you hadn’t.”

Rogue nods approvingly. “Absolutely. Better to be informed than not.” He pauses. “We don’t usually all show up to a potential client meeting. But Knight wanted us all to meet⁠—”

Micah clears his throat. “Anyway.” He glances at me. “How about if you start by going over the events of last night. I know you already told me and the police. But sometimes people remember details they didn’t initially.”

My chest squeezes. I knew this was coming. And I understand why. If I’m going to let Micah’s friends help me, which I’m increasingly seeing the value of doing, they need to hear my story and be able to ask me questions about it.

“Take your time,” Micah adds quietly. His thumb brushes across my forearm, warming my chilled skin. “There’s no rush.”

But I’d really rather not drag this out any longer than necessary. So, with a deep breath and a heavy exhale, I say, “When I first walked into my apartment, the first thing I noticed was that the light didn’t work.”

And from there, I launch into the rest of it.

The certainty that the bulb in the living room had just blown.

The unease when the other light wouldn’t come on.

Taking out my phone to use the flashlight, still convinced my apartment was safe. That because the door had been locked, I had to be alone in there.

My voice shakes a little as I talk, and my hands go clammy beneath the table. But I focus on recalling the minutiae of the minutes before the attack—if I noticed any strange sounds, a piece of furniture out of place, or an unfamiliar smell that didn’t belong there.

I do pretty well until I get to the actual attack. Then my heart starts to race. As hard as I try to distance myself from it, to remind myself that I’m in Micah’s condo and no one can hurt me, I keep getting drawn back into the terror of last night.

As I talk, I can feel the man’s hands around my neck. I feel his weight pinning me down. His scent hits my nose—an unpleasant blend of pine and coffee and deodorant.

My lungs strain for air when I talk about those desperate moments before Micah began to kick at my door. With tears in my eyes, I tell them how I thought I was going to die. And how I barely believed it when my attacker let me go.

“I wasn’t sure,” I say in a small, wobbly voice that sounds nothing like my own, “even when I saw Micah leaning over me. I wasn’t sure if it was real. If he was real. Or if I was dying, and it was just some weird hallucination.”

“Ruby.” Micah clasps my hand beneath the table. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” I glance up from the wooden grain of the table to look at him. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You didn’t attack me. You kicked down the door and saved me. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

His pained gaze meets mine. “I’m sorry you went through that. And I’m sorry I didn’t walk you upstairs. I should have. Assuming you were safe… it was stupid.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, remember,” Rogue says. “We all have things we would have done differently, had we known.” His mouth pinches unhappily. “But the important thing is that Ruby is safe. And we’re going to keep her that way.”