Read To Catch a Queen for Free Online Page B

bag lady gave her more juice. When she was able to sit up on her own, the bag lady gestured impatiently at Michael, and Michael handed her the candy bar. He had to bite his lip to force back a smile when he realized who the bag lady reminded him of: She was essentially Sophie Drake forty years later. She had that same air of taking total control of a situation and acting like she expected everyone to know what was going on.
    When the woman had swallowed half the candy bar, she blinked, returning to her senses. “Where’s Daithi?” she asked plaintively.
    “Who’s Daithi?” Michael asked.
    “He was my friend. He stood up for me when they came for me. I thought they sent him out with me.”
    “Who’s they?” Michael tried to keep his voice gentle, but he couldn’t help feeling some urgency.
    “We can talk about that later,” the bag lady said as she placed her hand on the woman’s forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed, and the bag lady lowered her back to the blanket. “Some rest should do her good,” she declared. “I doubt we’ll get much sense out of her until she’s had a chance to get acclimated.” Turning to Michael, she said, “I’m Mrs. Smith. Don’t ask if that’s an alias because I won’t tell you. I didn’t know we had one of us on the police force.”
    “One of us?”
    “Touched by them.”
    “I’m not really—”
    “Yes, you are,” she interrupted. “I can see it. And you can see, can’t you? You know what’s happening?”
    “I’ve had some dealings with the Realm,” he admitted. “But mostly I can see because I’ve got a four-leaf clover. And I’ve been elf shot.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Elf shot, and you’re still walking? You’re definitely one of us.”
    “I was with people who knew what to do. But apparently it has lasting effects.”
    She laughed in a way that was almost a cackle. “That it does, Officer …” Her voice trailed off in a question.
    He realized he’d never introduced himself. “Oh, sorry. Detective Michael Murray.”
    “And what brought you into dealings with the Realm, Detective Murray?”
    “It’s a long story. And you, do you do this sort of thing a lot?”
    “It’s my job. They picked me for it. In the old days, they’d have called me a wise woman.” She cackled again.
    “She’s been cast out of the Realm, hasn’t she?” he asked.
    “Looks like it. If she’d been rescued, it might have gone better, and she wouldn’t have been alone. Sounds like her fairy friend was cast out, too. And I bet our friends back there, the ones I scared off with my burning rowan, were driving them out.”
    “Are you seeing more of these lately?”
    “Why do you ask?”
    “I had a case this morning of a pair of brothers who must have been there a long time. One didn’t make it.”
    “Yeah, I suppose I have seen more returnees in the past month or so. It may have something to do with the new queen on the throne. She may have a new policy.”
    “It may be related to there being a new queen, but I’m pretty sure it’s not her policy.”
    “How are you so sure about that?”
    “I know her, and she’s actually human. Mostly. She also knows that just kicking people out is a bad idea. She’s willing to help get captives back home, but she’s a lot more careful about it.”
    “Ah, you’re the queen’s champion,” Mrs. Smith said with a nod.
    “I don’t know that I’d put it that way.”
    “Are you here tonight on her behalf?”
    “No.”
    “Then why are you here? This is my territory, you know.”
    “I’m looking for someone. I have no interest in your territory. I’m no wise person or champion, or anything else. I’m working a case and looking for clues, and I’m trying to find someone. That’s all.”
    “You just keep telling yourself that. You’re neck deep, whether you know it or not.”
    Now Michael had another question for Sophie or the enchantresses. He hoped that this hadn’t become some kind of lifelong