“Why do you think it should go to 82?” I asked, not letting it slip that I thought the warring flock had sound logic here.
Alpha narrowed his eyes at me—at least I think he did. It was kind of hard to tell with birds since their eyes were set on either side of their head instead of straight above their beaks. “Because we were here first. Also, 83’s former land sits nicely with ours.”
“Here?” I asked with a squeak as Alpha flew back to claim his place atop my shoulder. This couldn’t possibly be about some strip mall on the shady side of Dewdrop Springs. The rental prices here were practically free because so few ever wanted to step foot anywhere near this beaten-up town.
Alpha hopped from my shoulder onto Charles’s upper arm and used his beak to climb the rest of his way up to my boyfriend’s shoulder. “This is only a small part of the territory. We birds cover a lot of mileage in a day, so naturally our domains are large and encompass several human cities.”
“Does your flock cover Glendale, too? That’s where we live.” I had no idea birds kept their own maps and territory lines, but now that I thought about it, this made perfect sense. Just as their flock hierarchy and lack of a formal judicial system also made sense.
“Yes,” Alpha stated simply. “The entire bay is now ours with this new acquisition. Though, we need to avoid the war to keep it.”
“And you know where I can find my grandmother,” I reminded him since my involvement hinged largely on this one fact. “Does that mean she’s close? Somewhere near the bay?”
“She is closer than you know,” Alpha said in a maddeningly cryptic way. He shook out his feathers again, giving Charles quite the start. “Also closer than I know. Bravo is the one who tracks these matters.”
“But you’ll take me to her if we help?” I practically begged, needing this confirmation more than anything else in that moment.
“If you win our case, then yes.”
“We will,” I promised, because it seemed like the only option. “We’ll win it for you.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“Angie,” Charles whisper-yelled. “You never promise the client you’ll win, only that you’ll fight your hardest for them.”
“I doubt you’ll get disbarred over how you represent some flock of seagulls out in Dewdrop Springs,” I responded with a nervous chuckle.
“If your partner has doubts,” Alpha warned, giving me some serious side eye, “then we can call this whole thing off now. It’s only the lives of my flock on the line.”
“No, no, no!” I cried. “We’ll help, and he’s just being modest. He’s the best lawyer in all of Maine. I promise you that.”
“Angie—” Charles started again.
This time Alpha cut him off. “If you’re worried about your payment, worry not. The flock will arrange something worthwhile to thank you for your efforts.”
I quickly translated.
“It’s not about money, or whatever passes for money with birds. I just can’t make a promise I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep. I will definitely give your case my all, though.” Charles risked craning his neck to look Alpha in the eye. “I want to save your flock and prevent the war, too. And I think you have a very strong case in your defense. I’ll represent you to the very best of my abilities. I don’t often lose in court, and I don’t plan on losing this time.”
“Then I am satisfied,” Alpha said with a curt nod. “We’ll meet again tomorrow to discuss your progress. I’ll send Bravo.”
With that, the gulls let out a collective caw and rose into the night sky, leaving Charles and I to make our own way back to the parking lot.
Ten days.
If all went to plan, I would meet my long-lost grandmother in just ten short days. I still couldn’t believe it.
Chapter Six
After being summarily dismissed by Alpha and his flock, Charles and I drove our separate cars to a little diner just outside the Dewdrop Springs city limits. He ordered a coffee, but I sprung for a hot fudge sundae with an extra cherry on top.
“So what’s our plan?” he asked casually, holding the steaming mug between his hands.
Not even the sweetness of my dessert could mask the bitterness of what I realized had to happen next. I pushed my long-handled spoon as far down as it would go in the soda shop style glass and heaved a giant sigh.
“I’ll tell Octo-Cat I can’t take him to see Grizabella. He won’t be happy, but I can take him another time. Soon, even. It’s just that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I refuse to let it slip by. I might never meet my bio grandma otherwise.”
Charles sucked air through his teeth, then regarded me with a frown. “You can’t change your travel plans. It’s too last minute for that. And I know you don’t want to deal with how cranky Octo-Cat will be for the rest of his nine lives if you do.”
I pressed my back against the firm vinyl of the booth. Charles was right, as always. There would be hefty penalties to pay for disappointing Octo-Cat, but I just couldn’t see any way around it. “What choice do I have, though?” I asked.
“You go as planned. I’ll work on things here.” With that, he pulled my sundae to his side of the table and stole one of the cherries from the top.
“You can’t talk to them,” I pointed out, leaning over the table to reclaim my sundae and popping the remaining cherry into my mouth.
Charles smiled. “You use FaceTime with Octo-Cat, right? Can’t we use it for the seagulls, too?”
“But what about your caseload? You’ve been so busy lately. I’d hate to add another thing when—”
“Angie, relax. It’s okay. I want to help. Besides, my girlfriend is going out of town for the week. I’ll need something to keep me busy on my off hours. Might as well be this.” He shrugged and took a slow sip of coffee.
I waited for him to set the mug back onto the table. “Are you sure?”
He reached forward and grabbed both my hands, then wedged his fingers between mine. “Completely. You need this trip, and so does your cat. Besides, I already have a few case precedents in mind that should make winning this thing a cinch.
“You’re too good to me,” I said with a happy sigh. Especially considering he seemed to be quite afraid of the flock, but I didn’t mention that part aloud.
“It’s no big deal. They said they have ten days, and you’ll be back by then. We can deliver the big case together.”
“Sounds perfect.” And it did.
Charles’s features pinched as he leaned back against the red and white vinyl booth. “There’s just one part I’m not sure about. They mentioned that Flock 83 disappeared, but they never said why or where they went.”
I spooned a massive heap of hot fudge into my mouth and moaned with pleasure. “They’re birds. Birds migrate. I’m sure it’s no big deal.”
Charles bit his lip and nodded. “Probably not. Still, I might feel better if I knew for sure. It could help the case, too.”
“I don’t know much about that, but I bet if you could get Bravo to talk to you alone without Alpha there, he’ll be more forthcoming.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Now tell me about what you did today before the run-in with those birds.”
We laughed and chatted until I scraped the last smudge of gooey sweetness from my sundae. It was far shorter than I would have liked, but we both had big days ahead of us tomorrow.
Charles stood and extended a hand to me to help me out of the booth. “I’m going to miss you so much,” he said before giving me a goodbye kiss that would need to last almost a full week.
Despite leaving early that morning with my human-do list, I arrived home after Paisley’s self-prescribed bedtime of eight o’clock. The little dog, who lay snoozing by the front door, lifted her head groggily and thumped her tail against the hardwood floor.
“Are you home now, Mommy? I couldn’t sleep without knowing you’d made it back safe and sound.”