Chapter Ten

Well, I never thought it would happen, but this fic has been updated! Thank you to everyone who reviewed urging me to write more, I listened!

"I wont speak to anyone until my father gets here, and I want a lawyer!" Rinoa said.

She might have returned, but that didn't mean she was going to make it easy for them, and certainly not for her father. Of course none of them knew that the reason she wanted a lawyer was not for this present questioning, but for defence against her father when he got her on her own.

"Miss, your father will be here soon, why don't we just wait in here," Officer Almasy opened the door to the questioning room, it was dark and imposing inside. "And we can talk about getting you a lawyer when he gets here."

Rinoa gave him a fowl stare.

"I'm not stupid you know."

Almasy looked tired, as if he wanted to shout at her. Clearly he wanted this interview over quickly, he would say to his colleagues later that he had felt tired and wanted to go home when his shift ended and not have to stay overtime to do the paperwork, but Rinoa knew it was because he didn't want to have to face her father.

He sighed heavily.

"Someone get this girl a lawyer!" he bellowed in the general direction of a group of people. No one moved at first, then they started going in different direction all at once. "Happy now?" he asked.

"I'll be happier when he's here," she replied folding her arms.

"Your father?"

"My lawyer, and I wont see my father until my lawyer is present."

Officer Almasy looked as if he couldn't take much more of this, and opened the door to the interviewing room again. He pulled Rinoa inside and nodded for one of the other officers to come inside also.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" Rinoa demanded. "I have a bad arm, I'll sue you!"

She got no response from either of them, they just sat down, made her sit down on one of the chairs and began talking amongst themselves in such low voices that Rinoa couldn't hear them.

"What are you going to do now? Play good-cop bad-cop?" she asked snidely. They didn't respond. "Hey I'm talking to you!"

"Sirs, Miss Heartilly's lawyer is here, there is no sign yet of her father," someone told them after they had been sitting in the room for a few minutes in silence.

"Good," Rinoa told the messenger. "Send him in."

The messenger looked at Almasy for permission to do so.

"Yes, send him in, lets get this over with as quick as we can."

The lawyer was shown into the room, he looked around it displeased as if he'd seen much nicer interviewing rooms in his time. Rinoa gave him a smile, but he didn't return it, he was focused on the two officers.

"If you don't mind, I would like a moment alone with my client, there are some legal things I must explain before this interview can proceed."

"Certainly," Almasy replied standing to his feet, and the other officer following his lead. "We will wait outside, but let's get this done today, yes? Not next week."

When the officers were gone, the lawyer introduced himself.

"My name is Mr Katare, I've been following your case most closely over the past few weeks, I want to know everything that has been happening, since its clear that you haven't been kidnapped, so that I can help you during the interview," he said sitting down at the table next to Rinoa. "I want to know that anything you tell me is in complete confidence, and I would like you to sign here to show that I have explained that to you, and that you understand my hourly fee."

Rinoa looked at the fee amount, it was steep, but she wasn't planning on ever paying it. Her father would most likely be charged when she disappeared again as she was planning to do, only this time she would go better prepared.

"Sir this interview isn't the only reason I need your help, I need you to protect me from my father. I want to him to leave me alone. He wants me to marry this man, but I don't want to. I want my own life, but I know he's never going to let me have it. That's why I ran away. I wanted to get away, as far as I could, but when I learned that I was reported as missing and possibly kidnapped, I knew I had to come back because they would always be looking for me and I would have to hide away forever. I just want a normal life, I can support myself, I'll get a job, get a flat, I don't even care if I can't afford to feed myself, just as long as I'm away from that man!"

"Miss Heartilly, I will represent your case for you of course, but I must abide by the rules and ask you, have you considered this properly? Would you consider perhaps family counselling?" he asked. He held up his hand for silence when it looked like Rinoa might interrupt him. "I have to ask, please think hard before you answer."

Rinoa looked at the table and shook her head.

"It is completely out of the question," she replied.

"Right!" Mr Katare said clapping his hands. "Lets start with you running away, what provoked this?"

"We were arguing, about that guy I have to marry, and so I ran out of the house, grabbed my bike and ran out into the road. Well, that was a mistake, because I must have got knocked down, I don't really remember. Anyway, the bloke who ran be down did me a huge favour, of course he didn't know it at the time, but he put me in the back of the car and drove me off to where he and his friends where staying. Anyway one of them must have been trained in first aid or something because they fixed my arm and let me stay. That's about it."

Mr Katare looked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure you're telling me everything?" he asked, knowing she wasn't.

"Yes."

"So, who are these people? You must have known their names."

Rinoa shook her head.

"I promised I wouldn't tell. They're not exactly on the right side of the law. They didn't hurt me, except for you know, running me over, so I don't want to get them in trouble. They'll get their comeuppance one day, but they don't deserve it from me," Rinoa said firmly.

"It seems that they have very little relevance to the story you have told me, but I must warn you that you will not be helping yourself if the police believe you are withholding information. The papers are already linking your disappearance with those people who are responsible for the diamond robberies."

"I know nothing about that," she replied refusing to meet his eye.

"Are you sure?"

"I am going to get into trouble? All I wanted to do was run away! I just wanted to get away from my dad, not become a criminal!" Rinoa said, she never even considered that she might get into trouble for this.

"Miss, im not saying you're a criminal, but if you know something that may help the police, you must tell them."

Rinoa nodded. It was her or them, they were the criminals after all, and even though they had helped her, she was afraid of being in trouble."

"Lets just get through this interview shall we?" Katare asked. "Then we'll worry about your father."

Rinoa nodded and smiled at him gratefully.

"Ok, I'm ready."