Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet

by Calle J. Brookes

  “Are you ok, Dan?” Dennis asked. His daughter, Georgia, pressed close to Dan’s other side. They were close, Georgia knew the full story. Dan had told her less than a month after she’d transferred to the Complex Crimes.

  “I’m not sure.” Dan said, “I think I need a minute.”

  He left them staring at his back as he headed in the opposite direction of his daughter. The roof was a waiting haven.

  He watched the little doc nearly running down the street, watched her catch up to the purple-haired girl that was his daughter. His daughter!

  Dan’s hands tightened on the rail. He watched as the two women wandered into Coby’s coffee shop.

  He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see the elder Dennis shutting the roof access door.

  “Dennis.”

  “Reynolds.” The slightly older man nodded, took a spot identical to Dan’s. They watched the coffee shop below.

  A few minutes passed before either man spoke. Dennis leaned down a bit, the edge of his tie brushing the rail. “When Georgia was twelve, her mother took her.”

  Dan looked at him. It was hard not to know of Congresswoman Gloria Dennis. She was very effective in her post. From what he knew, she spent most of her time in DC, while her ex-husband stayed in St. Louis, near his only daughter and her son.

  Dennis sighed. “We never had a good marriage, but that is not what I was saying. You already know that.”

  “She took George.”

  “I was out on a case, this was when we lived in Boston, and she was just a state representative. I normally did it all, you know? Homework checks, dance recitals. I could do a pirouette at the age of thirty that could rival anyone in the Russian ballet. Georgia was my daughter. She had made that very clear.”

  “So why did she take her when she was twelve?”

  “Politics. Her advisors had thought that it looked bad that a child was left behind while her mother worked the capitol. So one day while I was gone, she came home, packed a bag for Georgia. And picked her up at the school. Just like that. No thought to what was best for our child. Georgia hadn’t seen her mother in eight months until she showed up at the school that day.”

  Dan’s mouth tightened, as he thought of the dark-haired woman he cared a great deal about. “And Georgia?”

  “Took me two months to get her back. Her mother kept putting me off. Or would have security alert her ahead of my arrivals, so that she’d take Georgia away for a few days. Two months we played that game. Georgia would call me at night, begging to come home. Her mother was telling her all sorts of lies; about how I hadn’t wanted her, that she was bogging me down. Things designed to drive a wedge. It didn’t work.”

  “And then what happened?”

  “I stormed the capitol. Walked right in during a session, claiming it was a family emergency involving our daughter. She had to go with me, to save face if nothing else.” Dennis smiled, though the expression was grim. “I told her if she ever pulled a stunt like that again, I’d make it all public. The affairs, the political machinations, how she treated our daughter, all of it. Told her I had proof, photos, that sort of thing. Told her Georgia was coming home with me, that she couldn’t, wouldn’t, stop it. Told her she wasn’t to ever interfere with my child’s life again. Threatened her. And she knew I’d carry through if necessary.”

  “And?” Dan asked. “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “Because it took me months, maybe even years to get back on the same footing with my daughter after that. The things her mother had told her had left an impression. Even though Georgia knew I loved her, her mother had had two months to work on her. I can only imagine what your little girl has heard for the last fifteen years.”

  Dan swallowed. “I did it all, too. With Kelly, Emma, even the baby. There was nothing like being a dad, you know? And then they were just gone. I know how to parent a ten-year-old. But she’s twenty-six now. And frankly, not quite what I expected. How do I do this?”

  “I don’t know. One hour at a time?” Dennis slapped him on the back. “Guess if my daughter had come home with purple hair I would have freaked. Still, she’s a remarkably beautiful young woman―even with purple hair. And Dan―I’ve seen you with Agent Sparks and Agent Daviess―even with Georgia. Treat your daughter the way you do those three, and I think you’ll do fine. In the meantime, how do you feel about going for a walk? Maybe toward a certain coffee shop?”

  Dan followed the direction the older man nodded. Kelly and the little doc were sitting down at a small table, two cups of coffee and some cookies in front of them. Dan nodded.

  “Tell you what, I feel like a good cup of coffee myself. How about I walk with you?” Dennis asked.

  “I’d appreciate it. Kelly never did well with confrontation. Always needed time to think things through. She had a tree house. I’d find her up there, just staring. She’d be up there for hours when something was bothering her.”

  “Kind of like coming to the roof?” Dennis nodded to the distant arches over the city. “She get that from you?”

  “Probably. I guess she did.” Dan smiled at the thought. “Guess she did.”

  Chapter 14

  Ally didn’t have a clue what to say to her friend. Didn’t even know where to start.

  Kelly hadn’t had an easy home life―one only had to know the girl a week to learn that about her.

  “Well.” Kelly sat her coffee down with a thud. Brown liquid sloshed to the table. She wiped it up slowly. “That’s a real bite in the ass. Hell of a first day for us, huh? Babies in elevators, long lost fathers―next thing we know our one true loves will come around that corner and sweep us off our feet.”

  “You don’t believe in one true loves, remember? I’m not sure I do anymore, either.” Ally kept her tone level. She knew how her friend worked, how Kelly’s mind functioned―especially when something knocked her for a real loop. And Ally was good at playing the sounding board for the team, especially for volatile Kel. “So how are you going to deal with this?”

  “I don’t know.” Kelly crumbled a cookie into tiny pieces, then another one. Followed by another one. Ally grabbed a few before they were all gone. Oatmeal raisin was her favorite. And cookies were always a comfort. “Talk to her. Find out why she lied.”

  “And him?” Ally covered her hands, “What about your father?”

  “I don’t know.” Kelly looked back toward the FBI building. “I’m just so pissed at him I can’t describe it.”

  “Why?” Ally sipped slowly. “Break it down for me.”

  “I’m mad at him for not being dead. How sick is that?” Kelly’s voice rose. “I’m mad at him for me believing he was dead. Most of all, I’m mad at him for just forgetting about us!”

  “I never forgot about you, Kelly-girl.”

  Kelly jerked, and Ally struggled not to choke on her coffee; she raised her eyes to the two men standing just behind her partner. Neither woman had heard them approach. The silver-haired man backed away a bit, leaving Dan Reynolds standing there staring down at Kelly’s purple hair. Kelly’s mouth hardened and her eyes narrowed. It was only the sudden nerves in her eyes that gave any inkling to her true feelings.

  Ally waited for what she was sure would happen next. Kelly always reacted to fear with anger. It was just her way.

  The fury didn’t come. Ally started to rise, and then hesitated. Should she leave Kelly alone with this man? Wouldn’t that be abandonment? Kelly was one of the most alone people Ally knew. And she didn’t handle confrontation well, especially something of this magnitude. Hadn’t Kelly knocked the front canine tooth loose from Jack the Jerk the night he’d put the moves on Kelly?

  It had cost quite a bundle for Ally’s ex-husband to get that tooth fixed, a bundle he hadn’t had―since his assets had been seized when Ally had filed earlier that week.

  Ally owed Kelly for that, if nothing else. Kelly hadn’t deserved that. Jack had been striking out at her actually filing before he could. Kelly had just been a conven
ient victim for Jack. Ally would never forget that.

  Kelly turned and stared at her father. The silver-haired man nodded at Ally from across the patio, and she stepped toward the far counter where he stood buying more cookies. “Excuse me; I’m going to grab a few cookies for the rest of the team. Kel―you want a few more to...atomize?”

  They all looked at the plate in front of Kelly. Nothing remained of the cookies, just tiny crumbs. Even the raisins had been pulverized. “No, Al, I’m good.”

  Ally firmed her resolve. Nothing would get accomplished if she stood like a mother hen over the girl. She stepped away, leaving her best friend staring up at Dan Reynolds.

  Chapter 15

  The little girl was still in there; Dan realized that as soon as she firmed her chin and raised frightened eyes to him. He’d always hated it when she was scared. She’d always been a tough little thing, doing her best to be brave. He itched to grab his baby and hold her like he used to―purple hair and all.

  But he knew it wasn’t the right time for that. He waited until the pretty little doc scurried away before sinking into the newly vacated chair. His aching leg thanked him, but the rest of him was ready to break. He’d never been so tense in all of his life. Why should one skinny girl inspire such nerves?

  “I never forgot you girls. And I never stopped searching.”

  “Searching?” She refused to look at him again, staring instead at a spot just past his left shoulder. “It’s not like we hid.”

  “Where did you go? Where did your mother take you, then?”

  “She and Joe―“

  “Joe?” Dan’s hands clenched on the table. “Joe Phillips? My partner?”

  Kelly hesitated. “Yes. They took us up to Canada for about five years. Joe had family up there. He and mother married about six months after you di―after she said you died.”

  “Did she? Funny that. The divorce I filed wasn’t final until that next year.” Dan did his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

  “I guess I don’t know if they married or not.” Kelly’s voice held enough bitterness of its own. “Joe left before I graduated high school. I talk to him now and then.”

  “Was he good to you girls?”

  “He was ok. He never hit us, never yelled.” Kelly was quiet for a moment. “What happened?”

  “I was shot. Hurt pretty bad for a while there, kiddo.”

  “I know that part. I saw you.” She beat narrow fingers on the tabletop. She was skinny. Always had been, had been long and lean as a kid. Even as a baby. This girl reminded him of Paige in build. Style of clothes, too. His daughter wore a black tank top with what looked like metal fishhooks on the collar. She had skull earrings in. But they were somewhat hard to see, hidden behind the strawberry blond and grape purple hair.

  Her eyes were still the same, big, sharp, and dark green. Like his. She wore a silver ring shaped like a bullet on her hand.

  “When did you see me?” Beth hadn’t brought the girls to see him back then. And he wouldn’t have wanted her to. He’d been damned near Swiss cheese. Hooked to numerous machines. Weak. His kids hadn’t needed to see that.

  “I snuck over to the hospital. The day before Mother took us.” Kelly shrugged. “I saw you through the door. You looked dead then. So when Mother said you’d died, I believed her. And because I did, I explained it to Em.”

  “How are your sisters?”

  “Ok. Em’s...well...Emma’s Emma. And Gracie...Mother stuck her in boarding school two years ago.” Kelly’s words were quiet. She still refused to meet his eyes. “I’ll have to call them. Tell them. About you. That Mother lied.”

  She lifted tear-filled eyes to his face. Dan’s hand immediately shot to cover his daughter’s. He touched his child for the first time in fifteen years, four months, and two days. “I don’t know. Do I think she was doing what she thought best for you girls? I can’t say. Somehow I doubt it. I won’t bad-mouth your mother, Kelly. She is the mother of my children and I will always respect that. But what she did...it hurt. And I find that hard to forgive. Tell me something...were you girls happy?”

  He waited while she looked around, while she started to speak then thought better of it. Then she shook her head. Blurted it all out in a rush. “Hell no, we weren’t happy! She treated us like trash. That’s why Emma won’t speak to her, or even of her. That’s why Gracie’s two hundred miles away in a damned boarding school! That’s why I barely put up with her, just so I can see my baby sister! Dammit, we were miserable! And where the hell were you?”

  “Searching for you every spare moment of the day.” Dan held her hand when she tried to pull it away. “I can show you the proof. All the leads I tracked down over the years. Everyone I interviewed. I never suspected she’d gone with Joe. They’d always seemed to hate each other. I never thought she’d go to Canada. If I had, maybe I could have found you sooner. I’m sorry I didn’t, Kelly girl. You will never know how much. But you’re here now. Can you give me a chance to get to know you?”

  She bit her bottom lip, a habit she’d had since a small child. He nearly smiled seeing that familiar gesture. His baby! She nodded. “I’d like that. And I’d like to see that file. If you don’t mind.”

  It was obvious she didn’t trust him. But at least she was willing to give him a chance. Dan took heart in that.

  It was a start.

  He finally had a second chance with his children. And he intended to take it.

  Chapter 16

  Ally stepped up beside the silver-haired man. He nodded in her direction, “Dr. Brewster, I presume? I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Director Edward Dennis. I believe you were stuck in an elevator with my daughter, Georgia, this morning?”

  “Nice to meet you, sir.” Ally stuttered the words, flushing under his intense gaze. He seemed to be reading her soul, and that...bothered her. Edward Dennis was a strange man.

  “Been one hell of a morning hasn’t it? How many other people can be greeted with ‘hello, I think you were stuck in an elevator, delivered a baby, and helped reunite a father and lost child’ all in the same morning?” He wrapped his hands around the handle of a bag full of cookies. He had to have at least four dozen. Hopefully, he didn’t plan to eat all of them.

  “Yes, sir.” Ally placed her own smaller order. A dozen chocolate chips would go over real well in the lab.

  “Please, no need to stand on formality out here. It’s usually just Dennis.”

  “I’m Ally, then.” Ally resisted the urge to send another glance in Kelly’s direction. “May I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “What happened? I thought Kelly’s father was dead. Kelly thought Kelly’s father was dead.”

  Dan Reynolds was holding Kelly’s hand, something few men rarely did. But apparently Kelly allowed it from her father.

  “I’ve looked into the situation, I’ll admit it. From what I can say, when Dan was injured several years ago, his wife packed up their three children and left him. Never to be seen or heard from again. Until today.”

  “Oh my God!” Ally nearly spilled the coffee in her left hand. “Why would she do that? How could she do that? To her own children?”

  “I don’t know. But it’s not the first time I’ve seen it happen. Nor, I’m afraid, will it be the last. Some people, Ally, just don’t care who they hurt. Not if it serves their own end. And Dan was the kind of parent who would do anything for his girls. Anything. He never stopped searching for those kids. Probably bled every day for them. And as much as he’s formed an adoptive family out of some of the younger agents here, it couldn’t ever be the same as having his own kids nearby. Never. Come, we’ll leave him and his daughter alone for a while.”

  Ally obediently followed the man who was effectively the entire unit’s boss. He was intense, intimidating, and slightly cold in manner. But she found she liked him. Almost as much as she’d liked Dan Reynolds.

  But the hands Dan had touched her with had lingered for a
long time after the touch ended, in a way that the director’s didn’t. The hand he’d placed on her back as they walked the short distance to the field office was friendly, polite. But it did little to heat Ally’s insides. She’d have to think of that.

  She picked up the thread of their conversation after a moment. “He never even got close to finding them?”

  “No. I even tried calling in a few favors myself.” Dennis held open the door for her as they entered the lobby. “Not that Dan needs to know that, of course. But I couldn’t find as much as a hint of that woman.”

  “That’s horrible. Absolutely awful. I know Kelly’s mother isn’t exactly a nice person, but to take his kids while he’s hurt? That was cruel.”

  “The cruelest thing that could ever happen to a father.”

  “Kelly’s been trying to convince her mother for the last two years to let her have guardianship of Grace,” Ally told him, feeling strangely free to confide in this strange man. “Beth is dangling the girl over Kelly’s head. Forcing Kelly to do things just to see her sister. I don’t know what the story is with Emma. Not really.”

  “Make sure Dan knows this,” Dennis said, eyes sharpening like a hawk’s. “Because from what I understand, he filed custody papers when he filed his divorce. If I’m not mistaken, the courts found in his favor. It’s not Beth’s decision to make. When we say she kidnapped those girls, she literally kidnapped those girls. Dan had full custody. From the day the divorce was final. And since the youngest is a minor, Dan still is the custodial parent in the state of Missouri.”

  Ally’s eyes widened, knowing what that would mean to her friend.

  All Kelly had to do was convince her father her sister belonged with her.

  Ally was silent the rest of the way into the lobby. It was only when a young guy with wild blond hair and thick glasses darted to Edward Dennis’s side did his attention shift from her. “Sir, Carrie’s tracked the hacker. I thought you’d want the address.”