Standing Fast. Maggie K. Black

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СКАЧАТЬ Whoever they were, I wasn’t their target.”

      Justin nodded slowly. She had a pretty good guess what he was thinking. In the several sightings of the Red Rose Killer since he’d escaped prison, one constant that remained was that he only killed people he thought deserved it—like her father—or that he needed something from to achieve that aim.

      “What’s going on?” she demanded. “Why are you arresting Chase McLear? Yvette said Boyd had been seen going in and out of his house. That can’t be true.”

      He paused and his eyes rose to the sky as if he was trying to decide what to tell her.

      “I know that different members of the investigative team have been chasing down a lot of different leads,” she added quickly. “I don’t expect to be kept in the loop about all of them and I know there’s a lot you can’t tell me. But Chase is the father of one of my students.”

      Justin’s brows furrowed and for a moment, it looked like he was weighing his words before deciding what to say. “I can confirm that the investigative team received an anonymous tip that Chase McLear was harboring the Red Rose Killer—”

      “But that’s impossible!” Maisy felt her hand rise to her lips. “Chase...I mean, Senior Airman McLear is a good man and a devoted father.”

      A single eyebrow rose. “I assume this is your subjective personal opinion of the man from your interactions with him and not based on any specific evidence as to his relationship with Boyd Sullivan?”

      Heat rose to her face. If she was honest, she wasn’t even sure why she was defending Chase so quickly and eagerly. There was just something about him that got to her. She’d always believed in Jesus’s teaching from “The Sermon on the Mount” that the true character of a person’s heart was known by the things he did. Despite his reserved exterior, she was convinced Chase truly loved his daughter. It was obvious every time she’d watched Allie barrel into his waiting arms at the end of the day. And sometimes when he met her gaze over his daughter’s blond curls, it was almost like she caught a glimpse of something lost and broken behind his deep green eyes.

      “Senior Airman McLear says it was all a misunderstanding and that there was a prowler on his property—”

      “And I saw a prowler with a knife,” Maisy interjected again. The slight narrowing of her friend’s eyes suddenly reminded her that as a friend and civilian she was being treated with far more latitude than anyone serving under the strict captain would have ever received for such an outburst. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m just really shaken by this.”

      “I understand,” he said, but the firm timber of his voice let her know just how little impact her passionate defense of Chase would have on his investigation. “Senior Airman McLear has maintained his innocence. We will of course be taking his claims of a prowler seriously and hopefully my officers will be able to track down and catch the person you saw. I’m trusting you to respect the fact that there is additional information about this investigation that I’m not at liberty to tell you. But I do feel a responsibility to let you know this is not the first time this suspect has come to our attention. Now, I have to ask you, do you know if he had any kind of relationship or interaction with your father?”

      “No.” She shook her head, feeling her sweat-soaked hair dance and fly around her head. “My dad was his basic training officer, but that was years ago.”

      “Do you know if your father was particularly hard on him?” the captain pressed.

      “My father was hard on a lot of people.” Especially her. Again, her eyes flicked to where Chase was kneeling, flanked by officers. Anger burned in his eyes, mixed with a quiet desperation bordering on panic, like a wounded animal desperately scanning the snare that had just trapped him. “Look, Chase can’t be working with Boyd Sullivan. I’m almost certain of it.”

      The lines of Justin’s brow furrowed deeper. “Again, do you have any evidence to back that up?”

      “No.” Her chest fell. She had a hunch and nothing more.

      Was her blind faith of Chase’s true nature any different than Yvette’s had been about Boyd?

      A frightened and furious wail seemed to break through the early morning air and rise above the chaos. A cop in flak gear was carrying a squirming and pajama-clad Allie out of the house. She recognized him. Lieutenant Preston Flannigan was the slightly pushy single father of one of the boys in her preschool.

      “No!” Allie squirmed, fighting against the firm arms holding her. “Stop! No! I want Daddy!”

      Sudden tears rushed to Maisy’s eyes. “What’s going to happen to Allie?”

      “That’s up to Chase. We’ll be taking him in for questioning. Hopefully, he has someone who can take her. If not, we’ll arrange for a base social worker.”

      A stranger? She knew the social workers on base were wonderful people who did a difficult job, but still, she couldn’t imagine how hard it would be on little Allie to understand where she was going and what was happening to her. She glanced at Chase. His face had paled with an agony that seemed to rip her own heart in half. No, she couldn’t just stand there and watch this happen. She took a step toward the little girl. “Allie, it’s going to be okay.”

      Allie’s tearstained face turned toward her. “Maisy! I want Miss Maisy!”

      Her little arms shot out, and Maisy felt her arms instinctively wrap around the child.

      “Justin, I’ll take her to the preschool with me, if Chase is okay with that. She’s one of my students and watching her the extra hour before school starts is no trouble at all. I know her and she knows me.”

      Concern rumbled in the captain’s voice. “Are you sure?”

      Maisy’s eyes glanced from father to daughter. “Absolutely.”

      “All right.” He led her through the crowd until they reached Chase. “Maisy has offered to take care of your daughter while you come in for questioning. Is that acceptable to you?”

      Chase turned toward them and gratitude filled his gaze. “Yes, thank you. Please, don’t let her out of your sight. There was a prowler outside of my home this morning. They cut the screen on her bedroom window.”

      Was that the same person she’d seen skulking in the bushes? She wanted to ask him more and tell him what she’d seen, but with Security Forces all around and little frightened Allie in her arms it would have to wait. “I’ll keep her safe, Chase. I promise.”

      “Thanks,” he said again. “She’ll need to get dressed and changed. Plus, I haven’t fed her breakfast yet. She’s recently been refusing to eat cereal if milk touches it, but she’s okay with fruit...” His voice trailed off, as if his mind was struggling to figure out what else he should tell her.

      “Don’t worry,” she said quickly. “I’ve got a change of clothes for her in her cubby at the preschool. I bought some fresh fruit yesterday and I have frozen waffles and yogurt on hand for breakfast.”

      The number of students who’d been having problems both eating and sleeping had increased since the Red Rose Killer had broken onto the base. She heard Allie’s babbling voice at her ear, and the toddler took Maisy’s face in both of her hands, turning the preschool teacher’s gaze away from Chase. Allie СКАЧАТЬ