After Phoenix hangs up with Larry, he re-enters the kitchen where Maya is still sipping on her cup of coffee. She looks up at him and furrows her eyebrows, noticing right away that something is wrong.
"Who was on the phone?" she asks cautiously.
Phoenix sighs and drops into his chair across from her. "It was Larry."
"What did he want?"
Phoenix rubs the back of his neck. He wants nothing less than to have to give Maya this bad news. "Trucy called him this morning asking him if he could check on the office for her, and it turns out someone broke in and ransacked the place."
Maya puts her hand over her mouth. "Is Trucy okay?"
"She's fine. I forgot to tell you, but she was staying with Athena until I came home. She doesn't like being home alone, and I guess that was a blessing this time. She was only back at the office to pick up some things to bring to Athena's, but when she walked in the office was a huge mess, so she called Larry to have him check. She didn't go inside."
Maya's hand moves from her mouth to her heart. "Thank goodness. How bad was the office?"
"According to Larry everything in the office was either broken or looked through, and they were in the apartment, too. Mainly my bedroom."
Maya's look hardens. "You don't think it was her? Even she's not that crazy, right?"
Phoenix shakes his head. "Who else could it be? Larry even said my bed was slept in, Maya. Or at least that the blankets and sheets were messed up, and I'm positive I made my bed before I came here. Who else would be that creepy? I mean sure, I could see someone breaking into the office to look for confidential files or going upstairs to look for valuables, but laying down in my bed? Going through my clothing? That's got Molly written all over it."
Maya's frown only deepens at the mention of Molly's name, and she shakes her head sadly. "This week was going so great, I'd almost forgotten about her. Of course she had to ruin this."
He nods. "I know. But if it was her, let's hope she was dumb enough to leave some evidence."
"Do you think she would have been? She's a prosecutor. She knows all about how to avoid getting caught."
Phoenix shrugs. "If she's sunken low enough to break into the law office of a defense attorney, she's losing it. Even if she doesn't leave any decisive evidence, just being accused could mean the loss of her job, at the very least. Why would she risk that unless she's becoming unhinged? I knew she wasn't normal, but I didn't think she'd do something this bad."
"She's not even worried about being caught anymore," Maya says, finally understanding. "She's so obsessed with you that nothing else matters." Maya looks up, suddenly fearful. "Do you think she was watching you before you left to come here? Do you think that's how she knew you and Trucy weren't there?"
Phoenix swallows. He hadn't even thought of that, but it makes sense. Even if Molly is becoming unhinged, he doesn't think she'd be dumb enough to attempt a break in if she wasn't positive that no one was home. She must have figured it out somehow.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone has seen into the office windows from across the street," he says.
Maya's expression changes to one of recognition. "The hotel."
"Yeah. Think about it, she's a prosecutor. She'd have access to files about cases I've worked on. She might have found out about the room April May used all those years ago to see into the office… If she's as obsessed with me as we think she is, she might even have read the files just for fun and found that out by accident."
Maya nods thoughtfully. "You know… I bet that was how she knew you and Larry were friends. You've defended him in the past, too."
"Yeah, you're right."
Maya puts her head in her hands. "We have to end this, Nick. Somehow… We won't be able to be happy until we know she's out of the picture."
He nods. "I just don't know what we can do unless we catch her."
"Did Larry call the police?"
He shakes his head. "No, I'm going to call Edgeworth and Gumshoe and get them started on an investigation. I'm sorry, Maya, but I need to go back."
"I'm coming with you."
He smiles at her. He didn't expect anything else. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. If Molly really is stalking you there's no way I'm letting you go back alone. I need to make sure she stays away from my man."
"Of course. Because thinking we were together stopped her before."
"I'll make her stay away if I have to. I'll protect you for once."
He laughs. "Thanks, Maya."
Her look turns more serious. "I'm not joking around, though, Nick," she says. "If she really has gone off the deep end and is stalking you, she could be dangerous. If she can't have you, no one can, that sort of thing. I won't let that happen."
"I'll be fine, Maya."
She plants her hands on the table in front of her and pushes herself to her feet before coming around the table to sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I know you're a big strong man who can probably handle little old Molly, Nick," Maya says, rolling her eyes a bit. "But I still worry. I can't let her take you from me, or Trucy, or Pearly. We need you. And you were already shot once," she says, fingers lightly tracing down his sleeve where she knows his mostly healed stitches are concealed.
He smiles softly. "I'm more worried about you, Maya," he says. "If she thinks she's in love with me and that the only way to have me is to get rid of you? That worries me more than anything else."
She fiddles with the collar of his shirt. "I'm so tired of this, Nick. Why do bad things always happen to us? Why can't we just be happy without stalkers or kidnappers or crazy relatives bothering us?"
He wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her close to him. "I don't know, Maya."
She sighs, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder. "We also have to make sure the girls are safe. I think Trucy should come stay here with Pearly until this is dealt with. Athena can even come if she wants to, but she's probably safe at her own apartment."
Phoenix nods. It's a good idea, not having Trucy around for whatever unpleasantness is going to go on. The office and apartment are essentially crime scenes now anyway, so she won't be able to go back to the office to sleep, and Kurain is almost two hours away. So long as he and Maya are in the city, Molly won't have any reason to come here looking for them. It's the safest place for Trucy and Pearl right now.
"Okay. I have to ask you a favour though," he says, a smile playing on his lips.
Maya raises her eyebrows. "What's that?"
"You call Edgeworth and let him know what went on. Last time I talked to him he was pretty pissed off at me, on your behalf."
Maya chuckles. "Okay. I'll let him know everything that's happened and tell him that you've been forgiven. I'll make sure he contacts Gumshoe, too."
He smiles and pecks her on the cheek. "Good. You go do that while I call Trucy and tell her to make her way here as soon as possible. When she gets here and I know she's safe, we can leave to head back to the city."
Maya nods. "Sounds like a plan."
Phoenix sighs, hugging her to him once more. "I'm so mad at her for ruining this. I just want to forget about her and go back to bed with you."
Maya snuggles into the crook of his neck. "I know, Nick, but we have to get through this."
"Yeah, I know. You're right."
Maya sits up, nodding as she climbs off of him. "Of course I am." She leans down to kiss him softly. "I'll go call Edgeworth now."
"Alright. I'll call Trucy."
They head their separate ways, Maya heading into the living room and Phoenix back to the bedroom. At least now he won't need to deal with trying to explain everything to a grumpy Edgeworth. It's probably too much to hope for an apology, but he supposes that's fine. It's actually sort of nice to know that Edgeworth was on Maya's side. At least he knows his friend will be there to knock some sense into him if he's ever dumb enough to hurt Maya in any way. Or if anything ever happened to him, well, it's not something he wants to think about but with his track record, it's always a possibility, and it's comforting to know he can trust Edgeworth to help Maya and Trucy through it.
He sighs as he pulls his phone out again. At least Trucy won't mind taking a few days off school to come visit Pearl in Kurain. He presses the call button beside her number and waits. She answers before the first ring has even finished.
"Daddy?"
She sounds so meek and unlike herself, it breaks his heart to hear her like that. "Hey Truce."
"Uncle Larry called you?"
Uncle Larry? That's new, but whatever. If Larry is going to be around more often nowadays, Phoenix supposes it's fine. "Yeah, he did. He let me know what he found at the apartment. You're safe though, right?"
"Yeah. I didn't go inside."
"Good. I want you to come to Kurain Village for a few days while I deal with this, okay?"
There's a pause, and Phoenix knows that Trucy can tell there's something he's not telling her. "Daddy, what's going on? Do you know who broke in?"
"I have an idea, and I don't think you're in any danger, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. You'll be fine here in Kurain with Pearls."
"What about school?"
"You'll have to take a few days off. I'll deal with your school later. So pack up whatever you had at Athena's and get on the first train to Kurain that you can. I'll be here when you get here, but then Maya and I will have to leave. You can invite Athena if you want to, but she should be safe if she stays."
"Athena won't come," Trucy says. "She's already raring to go on an investigation into who broke into the office. I had to convince her not to go there before the police."
"Of course. Make sure you tell her not to go until I get there. I'm saying that as her boss."
"Roger that, Daddy."
"Good girl. Text me when you get on the train."
"I will. See you soon!"
He hangs up with Trucy just as Maya makes her way into the room, her own cell phone in her hand. "Edgeworth has been informed," she tells him. "He told me to tell you 'it's about time, Wright,'" she says, putting on a gruff sounding tone to imitate Edgeworth's voice.
Phoenix laughs as Maya sits down on the bed beside him. "He's on his way to the office with Gumshoe right now. Did you call Trucy?"
He nods. "Yeah, she's going to text when she's on her way."
Maya lifts a hand to smooth a wrinkle near his collar. "You know… it takes almost two hours for the train to Kurain to get here, and Pearly is still at her friend's house…"
He turns to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "Really? Right now?"
Maya shrugs. "We have some time to kill, and depending on what happens with the investigation, it might be a few days before we can do it again. I know this is a stressful time, too, but let's not let Molly ruin everything for us."
"What have I awoken in you?" Phoenix murmurs. "We already spent half the morning in bed. We only got up an hour ago."
Maya smacks him on the arm. "Come on, Nick. It'll take your mind off of things for a while. Or can you not keep up with me, old man?"
He gives her a look. "I'm not that old yet."
She nudges him playfully, leaning closer to him. "So?"
"Mm." He shrugs. "Okay. How can I resist?"
Maya grins and closes the distance between them to kiss him, hard and insistent.
They both manage to fall asleep for a half an hour or so, and Phoenix is only roused when he hears a loud banging on Maya's bedroom door. Maya sits up quickly beside him, ears pricked.
"Mystic Maya? Are you in there?"
"Crap, it's Pearly," she says, scrambling to get up.
Phoenix sits up groggily, looking around the room trying to spot wherever Maya had thrown his shirt earlier. "What's the big hurry? It's not like she can—"
The door slides opens, and Maya squeals, jumping back under the covers to cover herself from prying eyes. Pearl's eyes widen as she walks in, catching sight of the two of them, huddled beneath the sheets.
"Oh. I'm so sorry," is all she says before quietly sliding the door closed again.
Maya groans. "Well, that's embarrassing."
"Uh, yeah," Phoenix says. He's grateful at least that he's mostly under the blankets, so he knows he hasn't scarred Pearl for life, but he's not so sure that she didn't catch a glimpse of Maya as she dove for cover. He can't help chuckling under his breath at the image of Pearl's shocked expression, and Maya's squeal of embarrassment.
"It's not funny, Nick!" Maya says. "I thought she would have known better! Jeez!"
"To be fair it is pretty late. She probably thought we were up. And I've seen those shared bathhouses you guys have here, don't tell me Pearls has never seen you naked before."
Maya blushes. "When she was a little girl, sure, but that was years ago! Ugh and now she knows for sure what we were doing! Poor, innocent Pearly."
"Calm down, Maya. Pearls is 18. I'm sure she knew the reason you asked her to stay at her friend's house last night. And you should hear the things Trucy says to me," he says. "I'm afraid she might be the one corrupting Pearls's thoughts."
Maya cracks a smile at that. "Our little girls aren't so little anymore, are they, Nick?"
He flops back onto the bed, wrapping an arm around Maya as she lowers herself beside him. "No, they're not."
Maya strokes her fingers against his chest. "Do you ever wish that Trucy was younger when you adopted her? She was already eight, and Pearly was nine when I became her legal guardian. We're both still pretty young and we've already both raised beautiful girls who are going to be adults living their own lives soon. It kind of makes me sad that it went by so fast."
Phoenix shrugs. "It does make me sad that Trucy will probably move out and be on her own soon, especially given how well her magic shows are doing, but…"
He stops. He has to admit that the thought of Trucy moving out, leaving him alone in that apartment, was a terrifying thought not more than two weeks ago. It doesn't seem so scary anymore, though, not with Maya here beside him.
"But?" Maya prods.
He tightens his arm around her. "I guess I just thought, even though I'm not really that old yet, that I was done with kids and all that. I never really expected to have any more. Trucy moving out was the end, until she had kids of her own. Except I'm not so sure about that anymore. I kind of feel like I'm back at the start, wondering what's going to happen. My future isn't so cut and dry now."
Maya lifts her head to look down at him. "I feel the same."
He puts a hand on the back of her neck to pull her face down to his, kissing her lips softly. She smiles when she pulls away, then pats his cheek. "We should get up and go see what Pearly wants."
He nods. "Right. And Trucy will be here soon too," he says. "I completely forgot to check my texts but I'm sure she got on the train a while ago."
Maya reaches across him, pressing herself into his side as she grabs his phone from the nightstand. Her warm body against his feels like pure bliss for the few seconds it's there. Maya glances at the screen. "Yep. She got on the train about an hour and a half ago."
"She'll be here soon, then," he says.
Maya nods and pushes herself up, holding the sheet around her this time, just in case. "Yep. So come on, lazy. Let's get up."
Phoenix rolls his eyes. "You were the one who couldn't seem to keep her hands to herself earlier."
Maya smiles at him, sticking out her tongue as she gathers her robes and begins to dress again. He finds his own clothing, thrown all over the room thanks to Maya's earlier impatience, and gets dressed himself.
They find Pearl sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. She glances up as they enter the room, and then straight back down. She swallows her mouthful.
"I'm so, so sorry, Mystic Maya," she mumbles into her bowl.
Maya sighs and moves around the table to pat Pearl on the head. "It's okay, Pearly."
"I was worried because Trucy texted me and said that she texted Mr. Nick over an hour ago and he never answered," she says, looking over at Phoenix, the redness of her cheeks quite obvious. "So I wanted to make sure you were both okay…"
Phoenix smiles, trying not to laugh. He doesn't know why he finds this situation so funny. Perhaps it has to do with how humiliating it is. Better to laugh at it than to think too hard about it. "Pearls, just knock from now on when I'm here, okay?"
She nods. "Yeah, I'm definitely not going to be walking into any rooms where you two might be alone from now on. I mean, I'm glad you two are so... in love, but I really don't need to know any of the major details."
Phoenix chuckles, while Maya busies herself with taking Pearl's empty bowl and placing it in the sink. Pearl looks at Phoenix. "So why is Trucy coming, Mr. Nick? I'm really happy she's going to be visiting but won't she be missing school?"
Phoenix sits down across from her. "Unfortunately, the office was broken into last night, Pearls."
Pearl looks just like Maya when she covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh no, that's awful, Mr. Nick!"
He nods solemnly. "I wanted Trucy to come down here to stay with you while we investigate, since the office and apartment are currently a crime scene, so Trucy won't be able to stay there, and I don't want her to overstay her welcome at Athena's."
Pearl nods understandingly. "Well, I'm happy to have her!"
"Be a good host while we're gone, okay Pearly?" Maya says, sitting down in one of the extra chairs.
"Of course, Mystic Maya!"
"I'm going to go pack up my stuff, Maya," Phoenix says, standing up from his seat. "Trucy should be here any time now, so I want to be ready to leave.
Maya stands as well. "I'll come with you, I should get some things to bring, too." She turns to Pearl. "Don't worry, Pearly, we'll just be packing."
Pearl makes a face at her. "All the same, I'll knock if I need you."
Phoenix gathers up his belongings and waits for Maya to finish packing hers before they head out to the main living area of the manor again. Right on time, they can see the bus pull up outside the window. Pearl jogs to the door to greet Trucy, who drags a borrowed suitcase into the house. She drops it there and goes straight to Phoenix, who opens his arms for her. She wraps her arms around his waist.
"Daddy, why would someone break into the office?"
He pats her on the back. "It's nothing you have to worry about, Trucy. I'm going to take care of it."
Trucy pulls back, placing her hands on her hips. "I think Pearl and I are old enough now that you can tell us what's wrong. I live there and it's my home too, I think I deserve to know."
Phoenix is a bit taken aback, but when he glances at Pearl standing behind Trucy and sees her nod her agreement, he sighs. He looks at Maya, who smiles and shrugs. "We should probably let them know, Nick. Why keep more secrets?"
"Okay, fine," he says, sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion to invite over whoever happens to get there first. Trucy and Pearl are quicker than Maya in their eagerness to find out the whole story, and end up on either side of him. Maya crosses her arms in put on discontentment and leans against the arm of the couch beside Pearl.
They both recount the events of the last two weeks to the girls, who sit and listen intently, exclaiming at some of the details. Pearl looks especially angry when she learns of Molly's infatuation with Phoenix, and she balls up her fists in anger when she hears about how Molly kissed him.
They leave nothing out, and by the end Trucy and Pearl both look shocked that so much has happened in the past two weeks that neither of them were aware of at all.
Trucy sits back on the couch. "You've had quite a lot going on these past few weeks, huh, Daddy?"
"Yeah. Some of it has been great though," he says, smiling over at Maya.
The two girls 'aaaw' as Maya moves around to the back of the couch and leans down to peck Phoenix on the cheek. "The good definitely outweighs the bad. But we have to go take care of this Molly problem, girls. We don't think you two are in any sort of danger but we just feel better making sure you guys are out of her reach, just in case."
"Aw, I want to help you," Trucy says.
Phoenix pats Trucy's knee. "You've been used against me before, Truce. I'm not risking that again."
Trucy frowns as she thinks back on her time held hostage by Aura Blackquill. "Okay, okay."
"We can hang out here, Trucy," Pearl says. "Mr. Nick has helped take down so many bad people, he and Mystic Maya will be fine."
"Thanks, Pearls."
She smiles and nods, and Trucy sighs. Maya moves from behind the couch and picks up her bag. "We should get going now, Nick."
Trucy leans over to give him a hug, and Pearl stands up to say goodbye to Maya. "Be careful, Mystic Maya," she says.
Maya smiles. "You just said yourself that we'll be fine."
"Still," Pearl says, "it can't help to be cautious."
"You're right, Pearls," Phoenix says as he stands and picks up his own bag. "We'll be careful. Promise."
Pearl nods. "Good. Call us if anything happens, okay?"
Maya nods at her as Phoenix wraps an arm around her waist to start leading her towards the door. "We'll keep you two informed," he calls over his shoulder. "Try not to worry too much."
They're the only two passengers on the short bus ride from Kurain to the train station. Maya is quiet as the bus rumbles down the dirt road, her head resting comfortably on Phoenix's shoulder.
Phoenix has to admit to himself that he's scared. Molly is just one woman, but he's seen enough female culprits in his time as a lawyer to know that he can't underestimate someone simply because of their gender. She'll be as capable as any other murderer he knows if she decides to hurt him, or more importantly and more likely, if she decides to hurt Maya.
He won't let that happen though, can't let that happen. He'll risk his own safety and his own life before ever letting anything happen to Maya. It has always been that way, and it will always stay that way.
He wraps his arm tightly around her as the bus continues on its route. Maya lifts her head to smile up at him. "What's wrong, Nick?"
He gives her the most reassuring smile he can. "Nothing. I just want to get this over with so I can spend more time with you."
She smiles and drops her head back onto his shoulder. "Yeah. Me too."
He turns to look out the window as the train station comes into view in the distance. This will all be over with soon enough. He can only hope the luck he's always carried with him doesn't run out now.