Standing Fast

by Maggie K. Black

  “No! That man is a bad man!” Allie yelled the words with such force it rocked Maisy back on her heels. Her little hand rose in the air as if trying to swat it from Maisy’s fingers. “He is a very bad man! Bad man hurt man!”

  Something about the toy airman clearly terrified her. Once again FBI special agent Oliver Davison’s words that Boyd Sullivan had stolen Drew Golosky’s uniform and identification flickered at the back of her mind, sending fresh doubts creeping up Maisy’s spine. She only had Chase’s word that Allie had been having nightmares about the “bad man” for months, and her terror was so strong and so visceral Maisy would’ve almost thought Allie had witnessed a crime with her own two eyes.

  Was it possible, somehow, that Boyd Sullivan had actually been in Allie’s home?

  Her cell phone began to ring and Maisy quickly slid the airman figurine under the table and grabbed her phone. It was Chase on the caller ID.

  “It’s okay, sweetie,” Maisy said gently. “We don’t have to invite the airman to the party. I need to go talk on the phone for a minute. But I’ll stay right in the doorway where you can see me, okay?”

  “Okay.” Allie’s eyes met hers. She picked a small brown-and-white plastic dog up off the table. “I’m gonna play Doggy, Doggy!”

  Maisy smiled. “How about you hide and I’ll seek you, after I take this quick phone call?”

  “Okay!” Allie smiled. She stood up. Then she waved at her with both hands. “Go! I hide with Doggy now!”

  “Okay.” She pretended not to notice as Allie dove under the clothing rack. Then she pushed the back door open and felt the delicious warmth of a late summer’s afternoon on her limbs.

  “Hey, Chase,” she said as she answered the call. She braced her body against the door frame, leaving the door open, and pretending not to watch as Allie scampered from one hiding spot to another. “Your daughter just had a really bad reaction to an airman toy. She kept calling him a ‘bad man.’”

  Chase sighed deeply. “I wish I knew what any of that meant.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” she said. She closed her eyes and listened to the trees dancing in the summer’s breeze on one side and Allie’s happy chirps on the other. “I can try to talk to her about it again. I’ve gotten really good at speaking kid.”

  “Thank you,” he said. She could almost hear his weariness through the phone. “I’m only about a few minutes away right now, but I wanted to talk to you quickly before I get there. I ran into some trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?” She heard sirens then, both in the phone and in the evening air around her. “What’s going on? What happened?”

  The sirens grew louder. She heard a rustle from behind her in the classroom and a giggle as Allie ran across the room and hid under the table.

  “After I left the K-9 training center I decided to walk back to avoid the press,” he said. “I stopped in at the warehouse where I used to work in the hopes of talking to my old boss. I was standing in a back alley when someone nearly knocked me down and then stole Queenie.”

  A gasp rose to Maisy’s lips. “Oh, Chase...”

  “It’s okay,” he said quickly. “I ran them down. They crashed through the fence and into a pond. I dove in after her. The figure got away. But Queenie’s safe and squirming in my arms now.”

  Relief filled her chest. Thank You, God.

  “This has to stop,” Chase said. “My daughter, my canine partner, my career, my reputation, you...everything I care about has come under fire. One way or another, I have to stop this.”

  Two gloved hands clamped around Maisy’s throat, throwing her hard against the door frame and knocking the phone from her hands as they stole the air from her lungs. A boot kicked the phone across the yard, cracking the screen and silencing Chase’s voice. A hand clamped around her throat, strangling the air from her lungs.

  “Get inside,” a voice hissed in her ear as the hooded figure tried to shove her through the open door and into the Sunny Seeds classroom. The smell of damp fabric filled her senses. “Give me the girl and I’ll let you live.”

  No! She would not let this criminal get anywhere near Allie.

  Maisy kicked up hard, bracing one foot against the door frame as she kicked the door closed with all her might. Please, Lord, make Chase call the police. Please keep Allie safe until they get here. Maisy thrashed, trying to wrench herself free. Her attacker hit her, cuffing her on the side of the head. Pain shot through her skull. Bright points of light filled her view. She fell, landing on her hands and knees on the pavement. The figure stood, tall and slender in a plain black hoodie, and reached for the Sunny Seeds classroom door. One gloved hand turned the handle.

  No! I can’t let them hurt Allie! Please, Lord, please give me the strength I need to save her.

  Desperately, Maisy lunged at the figure’s knees, hoping to knock them off their feet. But her attacker spun back, shoving Maisy to the ground. She fell and tried to scream, but the figure jumped on her, choking the air from her lungs. Maisy grabbed the attacker’s hands, fighting for her life against the stranglehold.

  But she was too weak. Pain filled her lungs as prayers filled her mind, even as she felt the darkness sweep over and take hold.

  There was nobody there. Nobody to help her. Nobody to save her.

  Chase, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t strong enough to protect Allie.

  TWELVE

  She felt her body go limp. The gloved hands fell from her throat and the attacker’s weight left her body. She fell to the ground. Moments passed in a haze of darkness and pain before she heard the rattling and crash of her attacker trying to break into the classroom. How long would the door hold? How long until rescue came? Dizziness dragged her mind down into unconsciousness. She battled against it, fighting desperately to stay awake.

  Then a shout filtered through the darkness in Maisy’s mind. Somewhere on the edges of her unconsciousness she could hear a voice calling her name, strong and powerful, like a beacon, calling to her not to give up hope.

  Chase...

  A dog was howling, like the hound leading a brigade into battle. Queenie! She heard her attacker’s footsteps scramble away and a second set of footsteps, larger, stronger and more powerful than her attacker’s, pounding hard up the grassy slope and the sound of someone leaping clear over the playground fence.

  Then she felt Chase by her side, cradling her, holding her and pulling her into his arms. His hands stroked her hair. His fingers ran along the side of her face and down her bruised throat. She opened her eyes and looked into Chase’s deep green gaze.

  “Maisy. Baby.” His voice was husky, as if he was battling a deeper emotion than his lungs and voice knew how to handle. “What happened? Are you okay? Where’s Allie?”

  “She’s inside.” She pointed weakly to the closed door. “Hiding. Safe.”

  Weakly, she reached past him and punched a security code into the keypad by the door. His lips brushed her forehead, as at the same time he pushed open the Sunny Seeds door. “Allie? Sweet Pea?”

  “Daddy!” Allie ran toward them, the relieved smile on her lips battling the worry that filled her eyes. “I was hiding! Maisy didn’t find me. Then the door closed with a really loud bang.” She stopped and looked down. Her nose crinkled. She reached out and stroked Maisy’s head. “You hurt, Maisy?”

  “A little bit hurt, sweetie,” Maisy said. She sat up. Chase took her hand and helped her to her feet. “But I’m okay.”

  She pulled her hand from Chase’s fingers, but her legs wobbled so much she almost fell, and she felt Chase tighten his grip on her hand again. Allie grabbed her other hand and squeezed it so tightly, Maisy suspected she was holding it with all her might. Queenie pressed herself against Maisy’s calf, in between her and Allie. Maisy stood there for a long moment, drinking in all their care and support, until she felt her head clear and her legs grow stea
dy beneath her.

  Then came the clatter of feet. She looked up as Security Forces charged around the corner of the school.

  “Chase McLear!” Captain Blackwood called. Maisy watched as his hand twitched over the gun at his side, waiting to see if he needed to pull the trigger. “Kindly step away from the ladies. You and I need to talk.”

  She felt Chase’s hand pull from hers and, instinctively, she swept Allie up into her arms and held her as Chase saluted. “Sir.”

  “You ran away from the scene of an accident, Airman,” Justin said.

  “Yes, sir, I did and I’m really glad you all ran after me. Maisy was in trouble. Thankfully, I was there to assist her in time.”

  Justin’s eyes flicked to her face.

  “Yes, Justin, he’s telling the truth,” she said, crossing her arms. “I was attacked. Someone tried to abduct Allie and when I fought them off, they almost strangled me. This is the second kidnap attempt Allie has survived—three, if you count the person we saw lurking in her bushes with a knife. She’s been babbling on about a ‘bad man’ and a ‘hurt man.’ This child clearly knows something.” She stepped forward. “You are my friend, Justin. I respect you deeply as a cop. I have always trusted your investigation into the Red Rose Killer without question. I always believed you would catch him in the end. But now I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  The captain’s eyes met hers, strong and unflinching, but nothing in their depths did anything to dispel the questions in her heart.

  “Trust me, Maisy,” Justin said. “We are pursuing every lead to the utmost of our abilities and capacities.”

  No, that was not the reassurance she sought. She wanted him to tell her that Chase wasn’t a suspect. She wanted him to tell her what Allie was so afraid of and that nobody would hurt that precious child ever again.

  “Now,” Justin said, his gaze cutting to Chase’s face, “I need to ask you to come with me for questioning. Do you need a few minutes to sort out what you’re going to do with your daughter?”

  “I’ll take her to Zoe and Linc’s house,” Maisy said. “It’s only a few blocks away. Freddy will be happy to see her, and we’ll be safe there.”

  “Thank you,” he said softly, his eyes conveying more than his words. He glanced at Justin. “Give me a moment?”

  The captain nodded and took a step back. Chase slid his arm around Allie, hugging her with one arm, while the other hand brushed Maisy’s shoulder. He leaned forward.

  “When I’m done with Captain Blackwood, I’m taking Queenie and going back to the warehouse. I’m going to give her another opportunity to find that scent. I have a former colleague, named Captain Reardon, who knows the facilities even better than I do. I’ll see if I can get her to meet me there.” Then he pulled back. The look on his face felt somehow more intimate than the kiss they’d shared only a few hours before. “Be careful.”

  “You too.”

  “I will be.” He took a deep breath and stepped back. “There’s something else I need to tell you. I really appreciate you watching Allie tonight, but that’s going to be the last time I ask you to watch her. I’m going to ask for authorization to move off base, and go home to my mother’s until this investigation is done. I think it’ll be better for Allie, and the cops can put me under surveillance there just as well as they can here. It’ll dispel any worries that I’m helping Boyd Sullivan sneak on and off base, and it will relieve the pressure on you. No matter how this ends up, whether I’m charged, discharged or cleared, I’m going to request a transfer to another base. I just don’t see a future for myself here. Not anymore. Not after this.”

  What was he saying? That he and the little girl she held in her arms were leaving her life forever? He kissed his daughter gently on the top of the head, turned and started across the playground toward Captain Blackwood.

  * * *

  Chase felt his shoulders straighten as he walked through the playground and across the parking lot, with Justin on one side and Queenie on the other. He didn’t dare let himself turn back. The look in Maisy’s eyes had tugged at something deep inside. He hated walking away from her. He hated losing the fledgling relationship they had just started to build. He didn’t know what word to put to it. It went deeper than friendship, deeper than caring or than affection. But whatever it was clung to him, and wrapped around him like roots to a deeply planted tree. It pulled him to her and pulled her to him like an inexorable force. Whatever it was, he’d been denying the existence of it for a long, long time. In fact, he felt like he’d been denying it since the moment he’d first laid eyes on her.

  And now, the only way to protect her was to snuff it out, deny it and pretend it never existed.

  It wasn’t until he reached Justin’s vehicle that he realized the captain’s eyes were on him, watching him with that familiar pensive look that Chase still didn’t know what to make of.

  “You really care about her, don’t you?” he asked.

  Was he really questioning whether or not Chase loved his daughter? No, that was one line too far. He’d had enough of this. Enough of being questioned, poked, prodded at and turned around again and again, until he didn’t know which way was up.

  “Sir,” Chase said. “As I answer that, may I ask you a personal question?”

  Justin blinked as if Chase had caught him by surprise, but he regained his composure almost immediately. “You may.”

  “Sir, you and I are both fathers,” Chase said. His grandfather had taught him a wise man controlled his emotions and Maisy had reminded him that a good man let them flow. Well, maybe he could do both and direct the feelings filling his heart to show this captain once and for all the kind of man he was. “Yes, of course I care about my daughter. I love Allie with my life. I’m all she has after her mother left. I would never do anything to hurt her or put her in harm’s way. I have been praying harder than you’ll ever know that you’ll realize the truth of that and turn your investigation to finding Boyd Sullivan’s real accomplice. But for now, with all due respect, Captain, as a man and a father, with a daughter who you love, is there anything in the world that would tempt you to let a violent, controlling and self-entitled killer like Boyd Sullivan into her life?”

  A long-drawn-out silence crackled between them. The intensity with which the captain stared at him and sized him up was so relentless Chase guessed it would make a weaker man crumble. Finally, Justin said, “No, Airman, I wouldn’t let anyone or anything hurt my daughter, especially not a monster like Sullivan.”

  He’d hit on something that mattered to the captain and it showed.

  “But I wasn’t referring to your daughter,” Justin added. His shoulders straightened again and the momentary blink of emotion Chase had seen disappeared from his eyes. “I was referring to Maisy Lockwood. Since we’re talking personally, I’ve known Maisy for a very long time. I’ve never known her to be easily swayed or quick to give her affections away. In fact, I’ve often thought that she was as reserved and stubborn as her father, in her own very different way, and it would take a man quite a lot to make an impact.”

  Heat rose to the back of Chase’s neck. “I’m sure it’s just that she thinks I’m innocent and wants her father’s killer caught, sir.”

  Justin crossed his arms. “Then you’re not as smart as I thought you were, or you don’t really know Maisy Lockwood.”

  They went to the station, with Queenie in tow, and once again, Preston was in charge of the interrogation. Justin stood impassively by the wall and watched as Preston fired questions at him, slamming the same horrible pictures down on the table, showing him the victims of Boyd Sullivan’s crimes, the bodies, the blood, threatening notes and the red roses tucked under their arms. Preston delved into Chase’s record as an airman, pulling at every thread of every tour of duty he’d ever been on. Then he went into Chase’s personal life, tearing his most valued relationships to shreds one after anoth
er, starting with his mother, father and grandfather. He asked why Liz had left him for another man, whether Allie would be better off without him and if Chase was unfit to be anybody’s husband or father.

  It was the hardest and harshest of the interrogations Chase had withstood. It was like standing with his hands tied as an unrelenting boxer struck and jabbed at him, blow after blow, trying to knock him bloodied to the ground. All the while Chase sat there, head held high, his answers brief and his voice steady, praying with every breath that God would give him the power to withstand the onslaught.

  Why didn’t Justin step in and stop Preston? Surely, it was unprofessional for Preston to keep hammering him like that? And yet, the captain stood there in the doorway, without reaction, like a referee with his own reason not to stop the fight.

  At least he’d been allowed to take Queenie with him to the interrogation room this time. Feeling his canine partner’s reassuring warmth curled up by his ankle gave him a strength that he didn’t know he had, encouraging him on, even as he knew his days with her were numbered.

  He just prayed that when he left Canyon, Westley would help Queenie find the best possible new partner, someone who would respect, protect and value her, every bit as much as he did. She was a good dog who deserved an opportunity to train and serve her country to her highest potential. She didn’t deserve to have Chase holding her back.

  Finally, Preston ran out of questions and released him. This time Justin didn’t bother warning him not to leave base without informing his office and Chase knew he was leaving Canyon one way or another. The investigation would follow him wherever he went. All he had to do was figure out how to say his goodbyes.

  The sun had set below the skyline as he finally exited the building, and the depth of color peeking above the very edges of the horizon took his breath away, reminding him of Maisy. He checked his phone when he left the building. She’d texted him twice to say that she and Allie were happily settled at Linc and Zoe’s house and had ordered pizza. A third text showed simply a picture of Allie and Freddy with Star. The desire to phone her, just to hear her voice, welled up inside him with an urgency that was almost painful.