View Park. Angela Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ after her. “Get back here right now!”

      Haley turned around. “Don’t yell at me!”

      Steven didn’t hold back. “He’s only trying to help you!”

      “They’re trying to scare me!” Haley pointed at Jason, one of the goons her father had following her around everywhere standing in the corner. “I don’t need him or the police stalking me. And I certainly don’t need your fake attention, Daddy.”

      “Haley.” Janet’s tone was harsh for the first time that morning.

      “No, Mom. He doesn’t need to bother with me. His favorite daughter is home now.”

      As she stormed out of the room, Sean threw his hands in the air. It was like watching a freaking soap opera. “Mr. Chase, we can’t help protect her if she’s going to be—”

      “A spoiled brat?” Janet asked, standing. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”

      Sean chose not to respond. He was more interested in the large man who had been standing in the corner and was now leaving to follow Haley. He was at least two hundred fifty pounds with a neck the size of a normal man’s thigh. Sean had a sense about him. It was how he had gotten so far in his career, faster than anyone in the history of the Los Angeles county police. When something wasn’t right, it just wasn’t.

      “Hold on, Jason.” Steven waved the man back and introduced him to Sean as one of the two bodyguards he hired for Haley from the Attaché security agency.

      Sean gave the man an icy greeting who returned it likewise. He waited until he was out of the room before questioning Steven on the choice.

      “We’ve used the Attaché company for myself a few times.” Steven appreciated the young detective’s concern, but he shouldn’t assume a man like himself hadn’t done all the necessary research. “They’ve been here since Sunday and they’re doing a good job.”

      “How many people know about them?” Sean asked.

      “My husband knows what he’s doing.” Janet was on edge and needed a Valium. “Are you finished here?”

      “Things have changed a little.” Knowing this moment would come eventually didn’t make it any easier for Sean. “The department did everything it could to keep this a secret, but—”

      Janet gasped. “Oh, dear God.”

      She had allowed the few days passing to give her hope, but she was asking for too much. As Sean showed her the rolled up issue of South L.A. magazine she squinted as if it was the glaring sun. It was worse. It was a picture of a wet Haley getting out of the back of a squad car in front of the police station with Congressman Flay clearly visible right behind her. Big bold letters atop read: “Another Chase Scandal!”

      In seconds, Steven was in Sean’s face, bearing down on him. “I thought I discussed this with your father.”

      Sean stood strong against the formidable man even though his stomach was tightening. “Sir, the chief of police made sure information on the incident was sealed. The article just speculates based on the photo.”

      “So what does this mean?” Janet asked.

      “It means,” Sean began, pulling himself together after Steven finally backed down, “that whoever went after Haley and Jack last Saturday, is probably checking around to see who is saying what. This might give them some ideas.”

      Janet and Steven looked at each other, able to speak without words after so many years together. Steven reached for her, wrapping his arm around her and squeezing tight. She had to know he would never, ever let anything happen to their baby.

      Sean suddenly felt as if he didn’t belong in this scene anymore. “Can I check Haley’s room?”

      “Take a left at the top of the stairs,” Steven answered. “It’s at the end of the hallway.”

      Leigh nodded to the detective as he left the room. She stayed at the edge, staring at her parents as they held each other. With so much to doubt in the world, the strength of her parents’ marriage and love for each other had never been one of them and it was the foundation for everything Leigh believed in. Strong black love. It was what kept her strong when she had been immersed in so much suffering the last year.

      She didn’t want to interrupt them, but she needed to reach out to them. She had been doing everything she could to lay the groundwork these past few days, trying to build up her confidence. Looking after Haley had distracted her a bit, but she was clearly on course for her goal. This was the next inevitable step and from the looks of things, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

      She cleared her throat, entering the living room. “What’s going on?”

      “We have everything under control,” Steven said. “It’s going to be all right.”

      “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about what I plan to do now that I’m back.”

      Janet was grateful for some good news. “You don’t have to pick the practice you want to join yet. We know you’ll make the right choice.”

      Leigh produced a weak smile. “I hope you mean that.”

      Janet’s smile faded. She knew her children too well. Caught up with Haley, she hadn’t ignored Leigh’s virtual absence at the house the past few days. She said she was visiting friends, but Leigh was a horrible liar.

      “Because,” Leigh went on, “I made up my mind about what I wanted to do a few months ago. I want to open up a free clinic in South Central for children with HIV and AIDS.”

      “A free clinic?” Janet’s voice caught in her throat. “For poor people?”

      “Yes, Mom.” So it begins. “You say it like there’s something wrong with that.”

      Steven took a heavy breath. “We donate to several clinics like that, but it’s not the right job for you. You’re a Chase, Leigh. If you want to show compassion, make a donation or find a safe clinic to volunteer at every now and then, but you’re going to be a doctor of reputation and success and that only comes from having powerful patients and major hospital connections.”

      “That’s your dream, not mine.” Leigh begged herself to keep it together. She’d known this would be hard and she hated being such a coward. “What I experienced in Africa has—”

      “Warped your mind,” Janet pointed out. “You’re just on a goodwill high. You’ll come down.”

      Leigh shook her head. Her mother spent her life on philanthropy. What had it all been for? “You’re wrong. HIV and AIDS among African Americans is an epidemic. Lack of education and access to care is what is killing our people, not the disease.”

      “Leigh.” Steven loved the heart of this child. “Maybe there is some way you can continue to volunteer with these types of people, but not for a living.”

      Leigh didn’t try to conceal her hurt. “Look, the truth is I need the Chase Family Foundation to help fund the clinic.”

      “No,” Janet dictated. СКАЧАТЬ