“After all the times you helped me? Of course.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” She shivered at the promise in his voice.
Around noon, she led Dylan into Maya’s office at the fire and police building. Two folding chairs awaited them, along with an extremely stern police chief.
“So.” Maya planted her elbows on the desk and fixed Dylan with her classic Officer Badger stare. “You’re the one responsible for Lost Harbor’s first arson spree.”
He gulped. “I’m real sorry, ma’am.” When he was nervous, his Texas drawl became even more obvious. “I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. It was just old stuff I didn’t think would matter.”
“You never know what’s going to matter to someone.”
He hung his head and stared at the floor. He must be having flashbacks to all the lectures he’d gotten last night.
Kate came to his rescue.
“Chief Badger, Dylan O’Connor is a minor and extremely remorseful over his actions. While they were of course reprehensible, he is willing and ready to make recompense for them in any way you deem acceptable.”
Maya blinked at her. “Hello, lawyer.”
“Hello, Chief.” Kate bit back a smile. Maya had never seen her in full legal mode. Lawyer versus police chief—definitely a shift from the days of hanging out on the boardwalk in their swimsuits.
“Are you representing this boy?”
“Not officially. I’m here on behalf of Darius. He’s unable to be here so I volunteered to speak for him.”
“So it’s true what I hear, that Dylan is…?” Maya drew out the question for Kate to answer.
“Dylan is Darius’ newly discovered son. He claims full responsibility for Dylan. If you decide to charge him with something, Darius will support it. But he’s hoping we can work out something short of charging him with a crime.”
A twinge of irritation crossed Maya’s smooth brown face. “You know what would be great? If people who didn’t want to be charged with crimes didn’t commit crimes.”
“Yes. That would obviously be preferable.”
“Are you going to send me back, ma’am?” Dylan burst out.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you yet.”
“Then let us handle it.” Kate leaned forward eagerly. “I was going to suggest some form of community service related to fire mitigation. Dylan has already offered free labor to Emma. If he does the same to everyone whose property he damaged, that seems much more productive than sending him to court. He is truly remorseful. His actions were born out of anger and grief over the loss of his mother. It’s not something that’s going to continue. He poses no danger to this community.”
“And you can guarantee that? Or Darius can?”
“I guarantee it,” Dylan said eagerly. “A hundred percent.”
“And Darius will back that up,” Kate added. “Financially, legally, in whatever way you can think of.”
“Pretty unusual for a fire chief to vouch for a firebug,” Maya said dryly. “I’m not sure how well that’s going to go over around here.”
“Everything about this situation is unusual. But they say that strange things happen around Lost Souls Wilderness, so…”
“Not what that saying means. Not even close.” Maya shut that approach down pretty quick. Just as if she were in court, Kate switched gears.
It was fun to use her legal muscles again, she had to admit.
“Dylan understands that if there’s any more trouble, he won’t be able to stay here. Right, Dylan?”
“Yes, ma’am. Ma’ams.”
His “ma’am” didn’t seem to soften Maya much. She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers together. “I’m still trying to understand why you did something so boneheaded, Dylan. Were you trying to get Darius’ attention?”
He twisted his mouth to one side. “I guess. Maybe. Why does it matter? I’m not going to do it anymore.”
“See, that’s the thing. How do I know that? If you were trying to get his attention, well, now you have it. Mission accomplished. On the other hand, if you were trying to be the opposite of everything Darius is, how do I know you won’t keep on being the opposite?”
Dylan stared at her blankly. “Huh?”
“It’s a rebellion thing. He puts out fires, you were setting fires. Look at Kate, here. Her father is…okay, I’ll skip the details, but Kate rebelled by becoming a lawyer. So if you’re on a rebellion trip, I look at Darius and I see an upstanding guy, someone I know will do the right thing, someone strong, both physically and mentally, highly respected and kind. Kate, anything to add to that description?”
She could think of many things, but none of them were appropriate at the moment. “I agree with all of the above. You could include stubborn, though maybe patient would be better.”
“Patient. Good enough.” Maya turned back to Dylan. “My point is, that’s who Darius is. That’s someone you can be proud to call your father. But if you’re set on going the opposite direction—”
“I’m not,” Dylan said quickly. “I was just really messed up.”
“Will you agree to see a therapist?”
Dylan made a face, but Kate dropped her hand onto his shoulder and spoke in his stead. “You bet. I’ll make sure of it.”
Maya looked from one to the other of them. She clicked off items on her fingers. “Therapist. Darius takes responsibility. Zero leeway for errors. Are we all understood?”
“Yes.” Dylan and Kate both nodded, then he added a quick, “Thank you, Officer.”
“It’s police chief, actually.” But Maya’s expression finally softened into a wink. “You should get your terminology right. You’re lucky you have such good advocates speaking up for you. Don’t mess this up, kid.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Kate nudged him to his feet, figuring they should leave while they were ahead.
“And don’t expect everyone to be this forgiving,” Maya warned him. “Kate, got an extra second?”
Kate nodded. “Wait outside for a sec, Dylan.” She closed the door and faced her old friend. “You have more questions?”
“Yeah. I do.” An unfamiliar expression of hurt came over Maya’s face. “I’m used to you being in the middle of trouble. I’m not used to being the last to hear about it.”
“We just found out last—” She stopped as she realized what Maya was referring to. Not Dylan’s mess…her own. She squeezed her eyes shut. Time for her to face her friend. “Did Emma fill you in?”
“While you were gone. She was worried.”
Kate tilted her head back with a groan. “I should have told you everything. I was just…embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?”
“My father’s always been a grifter, but not some hardcore criminal. And I defended him. Well, I represented him. You’re a police officer, you protect and serve, and you’re great at it. And meanwhile I’m…” She shuddered to demonstrate her own disgust at herself. “Repping a lifelong scam artist.”