Page 61 of Mouse Trapped

“Don’t get yourself worked up. They could have got caught in traffic.”

But I don’t like it. Something awakens inside me, a premonition that there’s something very wrong.

“Perhaps she escaped,” Blade suggests from my other side.

Yeah, right. I don’t deign to reply.

Without my laptop, my hands have nothing to do, I clasp and unclasp them in my lap. If I had it with me, I could at least look up traffic hold-ups.

It’s about half an hour that we sit with nothing happening. At last the clerk is summoned, then reappears. He stands and says loudly, “Court adjourned.”

What the fuck?

“Why?” I call out, but my cry’s answered only by its own echoes from the empty courtroom.

I’m stunned. I’ve hoped for the best, prepared for the worst, but expected to know the outcome today. I’m reeling as though I’ve taken a blow to the head, not able to process that the case isn’t proceeding, and I won’t be seeing Mariana this afternoon. For a moment, I just sit there, wanting to wake up from this nightmare. I dreamed of taking Mariana home with me. Now I don’t know what the fuck is going on.

Behind my monitors I’m in control. I can’t cope without data, without something to process about what’s happening.

Carissa comes out from the judge’s chambers, and stomps over to us. “Outside,” she instructs, “and I’ll tell you what’s going on.” Her face is red, her body tense. Whatever she’s got to tell us isn’t going to be good.

“Okay,” she starts when we’re gathered around her. “Mariana’s been deported.”

What?“That can’t be right,” I snap.

She glares at me and continues. “The judge is furious that the decision was made without his input. I demanded he get the plane turned back. There’s a precedent for that, the case happened a while ago. When I reminded him of it, he did indeed try to do so.”

Mariana’s on her way back?“Did he stop it?”

Carissa puffs her glowing cheeks and blows the air out. “No. It had already landed.” She looks at me. “I don’t like it, Tse. Something’s wrong. When he demanded the guards find Mariana and put her back on the plane, they said they couldn’t do that. The plane apparently had to divert to a provincial airport as there was a problem with air traffic control in the capital. They turned it around pretty damn quickly, it’s already preparing for takeoff.”

“But the guards are still there—they could search for her.”

“They could. But she had transport arranged for her.”

“She couldn’t, she doesn’t…”Oh fuck!My eyes find Drummer’s. He’s already taking out his phone.

He moves away a discreet distance, but we all hear him when he roars, “Devil!”, even if we don’t hear the rest.

“I take it you’ve got suspicions,” Carissa sharply observes.

“Her father,” I explain quickly.

It’s not long before Drummer comes back, his eyes darkened, his face set. “Devil’s onto it,” he says succinctly.

Carissa looks from me to him, then at the men surrounding us. “I’ve not been in this situation before, but there’s nothing I can do here. I’ll return to my office and see if there’s any legal ball I can start rolling.” Her eyes meet mine once again. “I’m sorry, Tse, but now she’s been deported, it’s unlikely she’ll be allowed back. Christ, nothing was done properly. The judge wasn’t able to determine how long she had to stay away. This whole thing’s a mess.”

“Why did it happen, Carissa? Why?”

Her eyes narrow. “A mix-up, the detention centre says. She was put in the truck with the deportees early this morning, instead of in the one to bring her to court.”

Drummer’s hand on my arm stops me saying anything. There was no mix-up. I’m certain of that. Devil has to be behind it. And his days walking the earth are now numbered.

“I’ll be in touch, Tse.” Carissa looks so defeated as she walks away, I can’t apportion any blame to her.

Chapter 25

Mariana