Sorcha stared out the front windshield at the small clinic sitting alone in a small parking lot.
A mixture of anxiety and dread churned in her gut, trembled in the fingers curved around the steering wheel, and burned beneath her skin.
I have a bad feeling about this…
Not that Qui-Gon Bright would agree if she mentioned her misgivings to him.
Again.
Longer she sat there, though, more she believed coming here was by far the worst idea either of them ever had.
And we've had some real bad ideas before…
She believed her misgivings justified.
The clinic was in the middle of nowhere.
Isolated and difficult to find unless someone either had a working GPS or Googled directions beforehand.
Nearest place of business was a small diner about a block from where clinic.
Homes were tucked farther back.
She had no idea where the sheriff's office was. A sign about three miles back hadn't offered any specific details about where the station was.
Even if we can get cell service and make a call for help there's not much local police can do…
Especially if any of Endicott's hired assassins decided to show up.
Or worse, she amended as Malcolm stirred in the seat beside her, a Talon.
The location was ideal for an ambush.
A thick canopy of trees surrounded the clinic on all sides.
No street lights chased back the shadows lurking among the gnarled branches.
We're dead ducks here...
Something Sorcha felt compelled to again point out to the jittery man beside her.
"Are you absolutely positive Sophie works here?"
"Yes," Malcolm said. "The piece of paper I found in Eve's apartment had the name of this clinic on it."
"Doesn't mean Sophie works here."
"Can you think of another reason why Eve wrote down the address to a veterinarian clinic this far outside the city?"
Sorcha was forced to concede the danger-prone dope had a point.
Dammit…
"No," she admitted with a sigh. "I can't."
She wished she could think of another reason for why Eve Blanchard had the address to this clinic written down on that piece of paper. One that'd get Mal to agree to do as Gil ordered and head for Wayne Manor.
Much as she hated to admit it, though, Sophie Saunders working at the clinic was the only logical explanation for why Eve had the address written down.
"This is the only lead we have at the moment, Sorch."
"I know it is." Much as it galled her to admit. "But do you honestly think it is a good idea for you to confront her?"
"Why shouldn't I confront her?"
Sorcha barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She shouldn't be surprised by his bewilderment. The dope had clearly not stopped to consider how Sophie might not be happy about being found by the son of the man who almost killed her…
"Sophie is a virtual stranger for one."
"She's a victim…"
"Who may or may not have already committed one murder." That we know of, Sorcha added silently. They had no idea what Sophie did when she worked for Endicott. "Even you've admitted there's a good chance Sophie was the one who murdered Eddie Smith."
"There is, I agree. Why did she frame me for it, though?" Malcolm's brow furrowed. "That's the part I can't figure out."
"Maybe she did it as a warning."
"A warning?" Curiosity filled Malcolm's face. "About what?"
"Finding her."
"But…"
"Mal, you have no idea how Sophie is going to react to you finding her." Sorcha's fingers curled on the steering wheel to keep them from trembling. "She could kill you to keep her location or past a secret."
"We have to risk it."
"No," she replied. "We don't."
"Sorch." Mal twisted in his seat and gazed at her imploringly. "Sophie is the only one who can tell us what she knows about Endicott."
"I know she's the only one who can tell us what she knows." Her lips compressed into a hard line. "If she knows anything." She sent Malcolm a look from the corner of her eye. "She may not as your father said. Making this a wasted trip."
"All the more reason for me to talk with her." A shadow passed across Malcolm's face. Hinted at the dark, turbulent emotions churning inside him. "My father said Sophie knows nothing. He could be lying. He has a habit of twisting the truth so it suits his needs."
"I know he does." Gaslighting his son was just one of the hundreds of offenses Martin Whitly committed. "Sophie could still decide to kill you to keep from being found by Endicott."
"I know." Malcolm wiped his palms on his pants leg. Sorcha's only clue to how nervous he actually was. "I have to talk with her, though. It's the only way to find out the truth."
A Tt came from the backseat.
Was followed by the militant budgie muttering, "Father would not approve of this," in that grating tone of his.
"Neither would Mom," the boy seated beside him added quietly. "Nor Dad for that matter."
"Jason agreed this is the only way to find out what Sophie knows about Endicott," Malcolm pointed out.
"Todd is not someone Father would consider as a reliable voice of reason."
"Sophie knows something," Malcolm insisted. "Endicott wouldn't have murdered Eve if her sister didn't know something he didn't want being revealed."
"Or she knows nothing as Corbin pointed out." Damian hunched down in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest. "Meaning we wasted time that could have been spent on stopping the Court."
"We need to find out what Sophie knows." Malcolm shifted in his seat to gaze at the scowling teen. "It could help with stopping the Court."
"Father will figure out a way to stop Endicott and the Court."
"Not before they arrest Uncle Malcolm."
Another Tt came from Damian but he didn't comment further. Sorcha knew it in no way meant he had conceded the point. He was merely regrouping. Looking for points to counter what his cousin said. He'll be back once he puts together a counterargument.
"Kai," came from Hayley. "I wanna watch Ducktales."
Christopher put on the requested show without comment. Even the militant budgie unruffled his feathers and entertained Richie when the baby fidgeted in his carseat. She hadn't wanted to bring the children along on this fools errand.
Leaving without them hadn't been an option, however.
Jessica wasn't home to keep an eye on them until Dick or Raya returned and the kids made it clear they'd call them if they tried sneaking out. Sorcha had to admit she was glad the two insisted on coming with them. If something were to happen while Malcolm was inside talking with Eve's sister, well, Damian and Christopher were within range to help.
"I should go in." Malcolm smoothed his palms on his pants again. "Sophie kept the clinic open for someone with a sick bird."
"Just be careful, okay?"
"It's me."
"My point exactly."
Malcolm rolled his eyes as he made to open his car door.
He hesitated.
Sorcha hoped it was because he was about to concede his plan to confront Sophie by himself was foolish. Malcolm surprised her, though, when he lurched across the seat and planted a hard, desperate kiss to her lips.
"I promise to be careful," he told her as he leaned back. "And to call for backup if anything happens."
"Yeah, try promising that you'll actually wait for said backup to arrive."
"I will."
He exited the car then and made his way to the entrance. Sorcha watched him enter, heart in her throat, and stomach twisted in knots.
"Don't worry." Christopher spoke quietly. "I can hear everything going on in there."
"If you hear anything that seems off." Sorcha glanced over her shoulder. "You and Damian go in. Got it?"
"Tt," came from Damian. "We should have gone in with him in the first place."
Sorcha silently agreed with the smarmy little budgie.
Not that she'd tell him that.
The kid was difficult enough to deal with. Has an overinflated ego as it is...
"Sophie would have bolted if she saw you with Malcolm," she said instead. "That's why he went in alone."
Damian snorted as he jangled some plastic keys in front of Richie.
To the infant's immense delight.
"That is good as an admission of guilt."
"Guilt?" Sorcha glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "About Eddie?"
Those eyes, like his father's, met hers. "Do you think someone else killed Eddie Smith?"
"No, I'm confident she killed Eddie," Sorcha said. "This was definitely a revenge killing."
Malcolm himself cited it as the motive. It had just been incorrectly assumed the one looking for vengeance was him. Proving Sophie was the one who murdered Eddie Smith, however, wouldn't be easy. The man had been smothered with his pillow. What physical evidence had been collected all belonged to Malcolm.
Getting a confession out of Sophie is the …
"Dammit," she muttered as the reason why her dope insisted on coming here rather than doing as Gil ordered dawned. "He's here to try and convince Sophie to confess to murdering Eddie."
"I see you finally figured it out." Richie started to fuss, distracting the little wiseass. Once the baby settled, content to suck on his pacifier, Damian said, perma-sneer firmly in place, "I, on the other hand, knew exactly what Bright was up to when he insisted on coming here."
"Dami…" Christopher whined. "That was totes unnecessary."
"No, Damian's right," Sorcha said as a ffff came from the militant budgie. "I should have figured out sooner what that danger prone dope was up too."
Especially since it was her dope. Her only excuse for not seeing what Malcolm planned was sheer exhaustion. They had been going at full throttle for days now.
Batman and his protégés might be conditioned to operate under these conditions but she was definitely not.
"Uncle Mal wouldn't have come all the way out here just to ask this Sophie what she knows about Endicott."
"No, you're right." Sorcha passed a box of animal crackers back for Hayley when the toddler asked for one. "He wouldn't have come all this way just for that."
He also wouldn't have brought her and the kids with him.
No, her dope would've snuck off on his own.
Meaning he either expected something to happen and brought them along for backup or got talked into it by someone else.
Such as someone in a red hood who agreed this was a good idea…
"I would have already gotten her to confess." Damian folded his arms across his chest and stuck his nose into the air. "She would have told us everything we wanted to know soon as I walked into the clinic."
"No, Christopher's right," Sorcha said. "Malcolm needs to talk with Sophie alone."
Not only to close the lid for good on the Girl In The Box but also to get her to agree to come forward and admit she killed Eddie Smith.
Otherwise…
She didn't finish that thought.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!