The Trust

First let me thank you all for the votes and emails. And as I've said before, this is not meant to be the next great novel, so if that's what you're looking for, I'm sorry to disappoint. I started it wanting to do a running chronicle that spans years like a soap opera, so it may never actually reach a satisfactory end for some people. With that in mind, if you haven't read all previous chapters, I suggest you do so before proceeding.

If I haven't already scared you off, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do writing it. All mistakes are mine. All people, places and institutions are made up, this story in no way reflects reality and any similarities to it are coincidental. Enjoy.

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Chapter 06

Cybil clutched Ardella's hand. Despite Ardella's insistence that she was okay, she didn't seem to be able to stay focused. Cybil had already tried three times to explain what had happened to her. The stupid Sheriff's deputies had hauled Mason and Pat off in cuffs, along with three of the four men that had started everything. She guessed she was lucky they hadn't taken her too, but now the paramedics were seeing to the last of those animals, instead of her friend, the victim. Everything was just so ass backwards.

A second ambulance finally showed up, one of the medics coming over to check out Ardella. He asked Cybil if she had been unconscious and for how long when Ardella had a hard time answering his questions. Cybil told him yes, maybe five minutes, but she was sure no more than ten. She wanted to go to the Sheriff's office and scream at the idiots that had taken Mason, but she had to stay with Ardella to make sure she was going to be okay. Her need to be in several places at once piling frustration on top of her angry.

Looking around, she saw the other girls huddle together at the picnic table with all their stuff, Katey trying to comfort a quietly crying Shelby. Becky looking as pissed as she felt. Another medic arrived with an ambulance stretcher, so she went over to the girls.

"I'm going to follow Ardella to the hospital and makes sure she's okay," she began, "but someone needs to go find out what's going on with Mason and Pat." And she reached out to grip Shelby's arm when she looked up.

"We'll go find out what we can." Becky told her, picking up Ardella's bag and handing it to Cybil. "But someone needs to call Brigid too."

"I'll do it." She agreed, grabbing her own bag and rooting through it for her phone, coming up with both hers and Mason's, before she found her keys. "You have the keys to the CX?" she asked, rattling hers.

"I've got them, don't worry about us. I'll call you when we find anything out." Becky told her, then pointed. "You better get going, they're loading her." Glancing over, Cybil saw she was right and headed that way, stopping at the back of the ambulance to ask where they were taking her.

"Cybil?" Ardella called her when she spotted her, confusion and fear in her voice.

"I'll be right behind you." Cybil assured her as the medics pushed the stretcher into the ambulance. Then turned to him, "Is she going to be okay?"

"She should be, but we need to get her to X-ray and see if there is any fracturing or internal swelling." He told her as he loaded their kits in after her, then climbed in himself. "We're heading to Lawrence Memorial if your following." He told her just before he pulled the door shut and the siren came on. Cybil watched them pull onto the road, then found Brigid's name on her phone and hit call.

Brigid called Allan when Cybil got done telling her what had happened, then started throwing things in a bag. Allan made a call to the law offices of Stanton & Stanton that sent one Stanton, and one junior partner along with five associates descending on the Middlesex Sheriff's Department while two more associates headed to the hospital.

Marcus didn't hesitate when Brigid stopped her car in front of his cottage and honked, he heard what was going on and called Danny, picked him up and crawled into the Miata. Allan met them at the airfield and ushered them on to a Cessna parked beside the Piper Brigid had flown in on her visit, and they were in the air.

Cybil ended the call with Brigid, feeling a little more in control just knowing she was on her way. She glanced back at the picnic table where they'd spent the afternoon as she started for her car and stopped. The others were hurrying toward her, Katey and Shelby loaded down with crap, but Becky waving at her and dragging one of the girls they had played volleyball against earlier with her.

"She recorded it!" Becky called when she saw Cybil stop, and the girl held up a phone. "She got all of it." Becky went on as they got to her, excited.

"I was recording a few of the matches." The girl blurted as Cybil looked at her, holding the phone out. "I think I got most of it anyway, I was trying, but it was all happening so fast. And I was scared." She went on looking worried now that maybe she hadn't done it right, one hand fidgeting with her glasses.

Cybil grabbed the startled girl and gave her a hug. "Thank you." She told her, then looked at Becky. "Brigid said she'd get a lawyer headed down to the Sheriff's for Mason and Shelby's dad, you need to get this to him." Then looked back at the girl. "Can you go with them or let her take your phone?" she asked her.

"I'll go." She agreed nervously, clutching the phone to her chest at the idea of someone taking it anywhere.

Mason sat at the table with his head on his arms ignoring the two deputies, he wasn't interested in answering their questions. He was frustrated and sore, it felt like a mule had kicked him in the side. He couldn't get the sight of Ardella's bloody head out of his mind, it had happened so fast, and it made no sense. He couldn't shake the anger he felt or the worry for his friends.

The deputies were interrupted when the door opened and Able Stanton came marching in followed by four of the associates. The junior partner, Aida Caro, had split off with the other associate to find Pat.

"There will be no more questions for my client, you'll excuse us deputies, we need time to talk. I'll expect any recording devises, video or audio to be turned off and one of my associates will be at the door and one in that room behind the mirror." The deputies gave him sullen looks, but two of the associates followed them out the door before it closed.

"Now Mr. Cabot, I need you to tell me what happened, because the little I was told was third hand at best." The grey haired lawyer told Mason as he took one of the seats across from him.

"Okay, but do you know how Ardella is? They wouldn't tell me anything."

"That's the woman who was taken to the hospital?" and at Mason's nod, he turned to the associate at his shoulder. "Call Davis over there and find out how she is." Then he turned back to Mason.

"We'll know soon, now first things first, were you told you were under arrest and did they read you your Miranda warning before they started questioning you?"

"They read me my rights in the car, but I don't remember anyone telling me I was under arrest." He answered, then jingled the cuffs. "But I might have missed that."

Turning to the last associate, Able pointed at him, "Go see if Mr. Cabot has been placed under arrest and if he hasn't, tell them to get in here with a key for those damn things."

As he was leaving the room, the first associate stepped back to the table. "The woman taken to the hospital just came out of X-ray, and is getting stitched up. The girl with her told Davis there is a video. That Becky was bringing it."

Able looked back at Mason. "Becky's a friend," Mason supplied before he could ask, "she'll probably have another girl or two with her."

Nodding, Able looked back at the associate. "Get out front and find her, get that damn video before she gives it to anyone else." And the guy flew out the door. One of the deputies and the associate sent to find out if Mason was under arrest stood right outside the open door for a second watching him run down the hall. Then came in and the deputy removed Mason's cuffs and left again.

"It seems you are not under arrest at this time, so we can leave if that is your wish Mr. Cabot." Able told him, settling back into his chair. "But it might be a good idea if we try to get this sorted now. Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what happened?"

Sheriff Stan Clayton was having a shitty day. His always overtaxed man power was stretched beyond its limits with all the holiday crap going on. He'd been developing a headache for the past hour as he sorted through reports, and the bottle of single malt scotch in his bottom desk drawer was calling his name. If the half cup of coffee on his desk hadn't already gotten too cold, he would have topped it off. Sighing, he picked up the next report.

Aida Caro found Pat cuffed to a chair shaking his head and telling the deputy questioning him that he would only talk to the Sheriff. She introduced herself and her associate, then got the deputy to take the cuffs off, since Pat wasn't under arrest either. But instead of following her, Pat took off to find the Sheriff, so she went after him.

Pat Anderson had had enough, he was pissed at the whole fiasco. His head hurt and the tooth right behind his split lip felt loose. He'd been trying to get that idiot deputy to go get Stanly for an hour. So when the cuffs came off, he found his way to the Sheriff's office and barged in. He had known Stanly all his life, they might not have been friends that whole time, but they had shared a lot of teams playing football through the years and had been drunk together more than a few times.

The Sheriff looked up in surprise, then frowned at him. "You look like hell Pat." He opined as Aida followed him in, the associate staying in the doorway.

Cindy McFadden was wondering what she'd gotten herself into. She was stuck here with these people and some guy had run off with her phone. She didn't know any of them or when they would bring her phone back, or if they even would. She hoped so, it had taken her four months to save enough to buy it. She couldn't even call her aunt for a ride. All because she had wanted a video of the cute guy playing volleyball.

Mason's account of what had happened was interrupted as the associate came back in with the phone. Able taking it and asking if anyone else had seen it. Mason got up and went around the table, taking the seat next to Able as he managed to get a video up and going.

"That was earlier." Mason told him, seeing one of the first games they had played with large teams, and Able frowned at the associate, who took the phone back and searched it for a minute, handing it back with the right video queued.

Mason had a hard time sitting still as the bottle hit Ardella's head again. The phone had caught it cleanly, staying on the scene for a long second. He saw himself look to the right and remembered the laughing man, but then the camera angle fell, pointing at the ground for a time before jumping around as the person holding it ran forward. It panned over Ardella laying on the ground, Shelby and Katey kneeling by her as Cybil ran into the frame. Then the camera panned over to the fight.

One guy was already laid out. The laugher. Mason had gone after him first, he'd bounced the volleyball off the guy's face as he ran up to him. Then hit him with a hard right to the solar plexus as he reared back in reaction to it. Remembering it, Mason shivered, he'd hit the guy hard and felt something pop in his chest. But then the other three were on him, and he could feel his muscles jump in response as he watched it unfold on the small screen.

Two of them had jumped on him, trying to drag him down. Mason doing his best to stay on his feet, knowing if they got him on the ground he would get stomped. The third was bent over trying to pull at one of Mason's legs when Pat came running in and tackled him. The two of them rolling around pummeling each other.

Mason winced as Cybil came flying in then, feeling fear for her again as well as admiration and love. She climbed right up the back of the one on Mason's right. The guy loosing his hold on Mason's neck and arm as she reached around to rake at his face. He hadn't realized why the guy let go at the time, but the other guy had gone low after Pat pulled the third one off, trying to get a hold on his left leg. His upper body suddenly free, Mason had leaned down over the guy's back and wrapped his arms around his waist. Then lifted him off the ground, his legs coming up as Mason threw him down head first. Mason turning even as the guys rolled limply to his side.

The guy Cybil had hold of was a bloody mess, his face covered in red scratches. But he had hold of Cybil's arms and was drawing her up over his shoulder. A glint of gold showing through the grimace of rage on his face. Mason wanted to hit him, get Cybil out of danger, but she was in the way before he could get set, so he borrowed one of her moves and kicked the fucker in the nuts as hard as he could. Cybil ending up on top as the guy folded under her. She got both hands in his hair and start pounding his head on the ground.

The video showed Mason turn and look toward Pat, and Mason remembered seeing that he was holding his own, straddling his guy's chest raining blows on him. Then the deputy had tackled him, coming out of nowhere. Watching it, Mason knew why his side hurt. The deputies shoulder had taken him in the left side. Mason had started trying to get a hold on the new attacker, then realized he had a uniform on and quit. Letting his hands be pulled back and cuffed. After that, the view on the screen was new to him.

He watched as two other deputies pulled Pat off his guy and got them both cuffed. He grimaced when the one who had tackled him went after Cybil. He picked her up, having to take a step back to get her to let go of the guy's hair. Then turned and set her down, shoving her away and holding both hands up in warning or pleading for her to stay. Watched as she looked over and saw him lying there in cuffs, as the guy grabbed her up again when she tried to run past him. Another deputy coming to his aid, shaking cuffs in Cybil's face and pointing for her to leave. Mason's heart breaking at the anguish on Cybil's face as she turned and stumbled away, tears clear on her cheeks.

The video ended shortly after that, and Mason leaned forward on the table, feeling all keyed up again. Able sat there looking at the phone for a long moment, then turned and handed it to the associate. "Send copies of that to the firm." He told the guy, then turned to Mason.

"I'm not sure we want to turn that over." He told him, then held his hand up to stop Mason as he opened his mouth to protest. "It's what the video doesn't show that concerns me. It's clear that someone threw that bottle and hit your friend. But the video doesn't show who, it just shows you fighting. It might help if we need it, but I don't want to chance it unless we don't have any other choice."

While Mason was trying to get his mind around that, the door opened and Aida came in, followed by the Sheriff and Pat. A cluster of associates at the open door.

"What is this Aida?" Able asked her, frowning.

"I can answer that," The Sheriff told him, going around to Mason's old seat and sitting, a thick mania folder in his hands. "Your client won't be being charged with anything. Pat here has explained everything that took place to my satisfaction and I've talked to my deputies." He told them. "I do need to talk with Mason here though, and of course you're welcome to stay." Pausing, then continuing at Able's nod. "We have a bit of a problem, the men that attacked Miss Williams, and got their asses handed to them by your client and his friends, were Bratva, Russian mob."

Mason felt a chill at that, thinking of the girls. "Are you sure?" Able demanded.

In response, the Sheriff opened the folder and picked off the top four wrap-sheets in it, laying them out for Mason and Able to see. "These are the ones that were arrested today."

Mason studied the photos, only vaguely recognizing any of them, then focused on one of them. The guy had a sneer on his face that showed two gold crowns. He remembered that mouth, then he realized he remembered it from the bar that night too. He started to tell them this, but bit it back, remembering Cybil and her batting practice. He glanced at the grey haired lawyer, needing to ask him, but didn't see how to do it without kicking the Sheriff out of the room first.

"Actually Sheriff, can we do this later?" he asked, "I'm not discounting the danger I'm sure you're trying to convince me of, but I think your deputy might have cracked a rib when he tackled me, and I'm worried about my friend." And he got to his feet, wincing and trying to give the lawyer a look that said get me out of here.

Aida caught it and stepped forward. "I can give you a ride to the hospital Mr. Cabot, if you'd like."

Able looked at her and seemed to catch on. "Good idea, I'll stay here and hear what the Sheriff has to say, we'll set a meeting after we get this sorted out."

The Sheriff wasn't happy, but Pat followed them out. "What just happened?" he asked Mason, but Aida stopped and turned to them. "Whatever it was, let's get clear of the building before we talk about it." She told them, turning and continuing down the hall at Pat's nod.

Shelby flew into her father's arms when they stepped into the lobby, bursting into tears as he hugged her. "I was so scared." She told him.

Katey came to Mason for a hug, her shoulders starting to shake when his arms tightened around her. In the parking lot she wanted to ride with Mason and Aida, but Aida told her she needed to talk to Mason in private to protect client confidentiality, so she reluctantly climbed in with the others.

"You knew one of those men from the pictures." Aida told him after they were on the road. Sure she was right.

"I think so." Mason admitted, "Though I don't know him actually." He paused, deciding what he wanted to admit to. "A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was being attacked in a bar. I got there and stopped it. The guy with the gold teeth was one of them, I think."

Aida was no dummy, "Just how hard did you stop this attack?"

"I'm pretty sure the guy that started it would have needed to go to a hospital." Mason admitted. And Aida nodded, understanding why he had wanted to get out of the meeting with the Sheriff.

"Did you use a weapon?"

Mason started to tell her no, then remembered the bat and hesitated. "I didn't take a weapon in with me. But I did take a bat away from one of them." He wasn't going to mention Cybil.

Aida thought about that for a moment as she drove. "Is there any chance you can get me the name of this man that may have ended up in the hospital?" She finally asked him. "I'll have one of our investigators look into it quietly. Hopefully we'll know how bad it was before whatever meeting Able sets." And Mason nodded, telling her he'd have to get the name from his friend.

Mason pulled Katey aside when they all got to the hospital and asked her for the name. She told him it was Alexei Maslow, then wanted to know why he wanted to know. So he told her that he thought one of the guys from the bar had been at the lake, then had to steady her as her face went pale.

"It was my fault." She muttered quietly, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to turn away from Mason. Feeling like an ass, Mason pulled her to him, holding her in a tight hug. "No. Today wasn't your fault." He told her. "The night at the bar wasn't either, if they are connected, it's because of this Alexei asshole, not you."

Something in his voice reached her, she knew he was wrong, that it was her fault. Everything always was. But she also knew Mason had other things weighing on him and didn't need her blubbering, so she forced herself to stop, to nod and stop trying to turn away. To pretend.