Page 80 of The Price of Ice

When a lawyer finally called him, he nearly didn’t pick up. He didn’t recognise the number and the first thing that popped into his head was that it must be the White Cats. He’d heard nothing from them since Maslow’s surprise visit, but even all the way in Terali, he was well aware that he was still theirs on paper.

They had every right to check on him, because Kallen had given them that right.

And he couldn’t take it away, not until the lawyers got the footage for him. Because if he slammed the door shut on their faces, they might figure out what he was about to do. Even if he didn’t, they might still delete the whole thing the moment it was requested, but that would just incriminate them further, wouldn’t it? If the times Kallen needed were gone.

Not that he was all that sure what time it’d been, but he figured if they started checking half an hour before the game ended until about two hours later, they had to find it.

The thought brought a sour taste to his mouth, to think of anyone elseseeinghim like that. As if talking about it hadn’t been bad enough.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that not only it wasn’t the team, but that he was speaking to a senior partner. The man was confident and direct, asking questions about what Kallen had said in his email. It was easier to talk about it. He didn’t go into as much detail this time, calling it sexual abuse and speaking about the locker room specifically.

“This will not be easy,” the lawyer concluded.

“I know,” Kallen told him. “But... is it possible? To get them to give us the video? To...” He trailed off.

“Possible, yes,” Mirel Evans agreed. “You said you are in Terali now?”

“Yeah, I just... I didn’t wanna be there anymore.”

“Understandable, and they might try to use it against you, but the case we want to make is that their hostile work environment has made it impossible for you to do your job, and the abuse has made it necessary for you to retreat to a safe space while you recover. Do you have a psychologist?”

“Um, no. I... I can get one.” He’d told his parents he thought he needed it, but he hadn’t done anything about it.

“That would be advisable. For you, not just for the case.” He thought there was something softer in the man’s voice then, and he had to gulp hard to keep his cool.

AFTERWARDS, HIS HANDSwere shaking and he couldn’t stand to be inside, so he went for another walk. Even outside, he got so lost in thought he nearly tripped over a tiny dog. He was half swallowing a curse and half preparing to apologise when he glanced up from the small but loud menace on four legs and recognised the person holding the leash.

She was frowning at him, of course, but after a moment her eyes cleared. “Kallen?” She laughed a little. She knelt and picked up the dog, tucking it against her chest and petting it without looking away from Kallen.

“Yeah. Analisa, right?” he asked, even though her face was still just as rounded and her hair just as red. It was his second day in the neighbourhood, so it wasn’t that weird to meet a neighbour, except it felt a bit like he’d summoned her.

She shook her head. “Yeah! This is a surprise. I thought you were in...”

“Jiro,” he said.

“Oh, yeah. My mum tells me about you sometimes, I think she still talks to your mum a lot. Are you visiting?”

His stomach twisted. “Something like that. What about you? Do you still live here?”

“Me?” She asked. “No! I’m at uni up north, but my folks are on a cruise.” Her grimace spoke volumes about her opinion on that. “So I came over to look after the tiny beast.” Despite her words, she glanced down and smiled at the dog, who’d settled in her arms quite happily despite all the furious energy it’d demonstrated when Kallen had impeached on its territory.

“Sorry about...” He gestured towards it.

Analisa had looked annoyed earlier, but now she shrugged it off. “No worries, my dad never taught Mini to walk by his side. “So where are you headed? We can walk with you. I don’t think I have seen you since...” She was frowning.

“Just walking, any direction is good.” He turned so he was by her side, and she put Mini down again, where the dog immediately stretched its leash to go investigate a nearby tree. “I moved out three years ago,” he offered. “So at least since we were sixteen.”

“Damn,” she shook her head, shooting him an incredulous smile. “It’s weird, it doesn’t feel like that long to me when we found Mrs Hendrich’s car door had been left open and we filled it with leaves.”

He followed her gaze to a bright yellow house across the road, and he snorted. “That wasyouridea.”

She widened her eyes in feigned innocence. “Was it?”

They’d mostly spent the walk reminiscing, but he’d found out Analisa was studying to be a barrister. She wanted to be in court, which she casually described with an eyeroll as a distinctivelyun-omega profession. It was odd to be reminded the rest of the world had its own hangups, even if there was nothing as archaic as what sports’ teams imposed. The contrast could have made her predicament seem absurd, but he found himself empathising easily. After all, she was following her own dream and the world was telling her she had to be better than everyone else around her because of her biology.

It was yet another reason to do something about what had happened to him.

When they made it back to their own street, they discovered they’d never exchanged numbers before and concluded they must have stopped hanging out before they’d got mobiles of their own.

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