Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher Page B

at her for a moment, until she gave him a brief nod.
    “Thank you,” he said. “I want you both to make an effort to set the anger aside, and talk. By God, ladies, I will not go forth to answer the call only to come home to more conflict and strife. I get enough of that while I’m gone.”
    Charity stared at him for a second longer, and then said, “But Michael… surely you aren’t going to leave now. Not when…” She gestured vaguely at me. “There will be trouble.”
    Michael stepped over to his wife and kissed her gently. Then he said, “Faith, my love.”
    She closed her eyes and looked away from him after the kiss. “Are you sure?”
    “I’m needed,” he said with quiet certainty. He touched her face with one hand and said, “Harry, would you walk me to the car?”
    I did. “Thank you,” I said, once we were outside. “I’m glad to get out of there. Tension, knife.”
    Michael nodded. “It’s been a long year.”
    “What happened to them?” I asked.
    Michael tossed his case and his bag into the back of his white pickup truck. “Molly was arrested. Possession.”
    I blinked at him. “She was possessed?”
    He sighed and looked at me. “Possession. Marijuana and Ecstasy. She was at a party and the police raided it. She was caught holding them.”
    “Wow,” I said, my voice subdued. “What happened?”
    “Community service,” he said. “We talked about it. She was clearly repentant. I thought that the humiliation and the sentence of the law were enough to settle matters, but Charity thought we were being too gentle. She tried to restrict which people Molly was allowed to spend time with.”
    I winced. “Ah. I think I can see how this played out.”
    Michael nodded, got into his truck, and leaned on the open window, looking up at me. “Yes. Both of them are proud and stubborn. Friction rose until it exploded this spring. Molly left home, dropped out of school. It’s been… difficult.”
    “I can see that,” I said, and sighed. “Maybe you should pitch in with Charity. Maybe the two of you could sit on her until she gets back on the straight and narrow.”
    Michael smiled a little. “She’s Charity’s daughter. A hundred parents sitting on her couldn’t make her surrender.” He shook his head. “A parent’s authority can only go so far. Molly has to start thinking and choosing for herself. At this point, twisting her arm until she cries uncle isn’t going to help her do that.”
    “Doesn’t seem like Charity agrees with you,” I said.
    Michael nodded. “She loves Molly very much. She’s terrified of the kinds of things that could happen to her little girl.” He glanced at the house. “Which brings me to a question for you.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Is there some kind of dangerous situation developing?”
    I chewed on my lip and then nodded. “It seems probable, but I don’t have anything specific yet.”
    “Is my daughter involved in it?”
    “Not to my knowledge,” I told him. “Her boyfriend got arrested tonight. She talked me into bailing him out.”
    Michael’s eyes narrowed a little, but then he caught himself, and I saw him force the angry expression from his face. “I see. How in the world did you get her to come here?”
    “It was what I charged for my help,” I said. “She tried to back out, but I convinced her not to.”
    Michael grunted. “You threatened her?”
    “Politely,” I said. “I’d never hurt her.”
    “I know that,” Michael said, his tone gently reproving. Behind us, the front door opened. Molly stepped out onto the porch, hugging herself with her arms. She stood that way for a moment, ignoring us. A few seconds later, a light on the second floor came on. Charity, presumably, had gone back upstairs.
    Michael watched his daughter for a moment, pain in his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and said, “May I ask a favor of you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Talk to her,” Michael said. “She likes you. Respects you. A few words from you might do more