Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
The following afternoon…
Chaney and Rawlins sat around the cocktail table in her small living room playing their third cutthroat game of Scrabble. They were tied again, and it was her turn. She’d never had a more competitive opponent. Her pulse raced and she chewed on her bottom lip as she studied her tiles, trying to decide what to play to make a killer word, one that gets the points to put her over the top and possibly win this round. The silence in the room was palpable and when the cellphone rang, she jumped, knocking her tiles off the wooden rack.
Rawlins chuckled, grabbing his phone. “Sorry, it’s Hank. I gotta take this.”
“I understand,” she said, scooping up her tiles and rearranging them into a word on the rack. Now if she could place them all on the board, that would get her a bingo– a fifty-point bonus.
Studying the board, she found a place to play her tiles, but she wanted to wait until Rawlins returned to do it. Instead, she went to the kitchen to refill her glass of water and stretched her back from sitting on the floor.
Once in his bedroom, Rawlins closed the door. “I’m glad you called. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something I failed to mention yesterday.”
“Oh?” Hank said.
“Dr. Saunders suggested to Chaney that she begin volunteering at a youth shelter and put her in contact with the director,” Rawlins quickly explained. “Of course, the place has offered Chaney a position which means I have to figure out a way to keep her safe while she is working there. But I don’t want to make her feel like she’s being watched either. It’s important to her that she stands on her own two feet because of how over-protective her parents have been.”
“Send me the shelter’s information. I’ll give the director a call,” Hank said. “Maybe I can make an arrangement with them for you to become part of their security team.”
“Sure.” Rawlins shot Hank a text with the information. “There you go.”
“Thanks. Now for the reason I called,” Hank said. “Swede was able to dig up that information on Webster Daniels you wanted. And I’m glad you asked for it. None of this was in the initial background on Chaney and her family.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s more interesting, than bad,” Hank said. “Turns out Webster’s parents were in WitSec before he was born. They were given new identities and started a new life in Baltimore, before they had him. According to Conrad Bain, the US Marshall assigned to their case, he was never made aware of their past. I spoke with him at length yesterday afternoon. He said he was always known to Webster as a distant cousin because he stayed in touch with the family throughout the years.”
“Witness Protection. That is interesting,” Rawlins said. “Could Bain shed any details on the Daniels?”
“He said they were always protective of Webster growing up and that’s the reason he’s been that way about Chaney. And his protectiveness may be compounded by the fact that after he married Gwen, his parents met with an unexplained car accident while on vacation. Their brakes failed and their car went over a cliff in the Catskill Mountains. Webster has always been paranoid that someone was trying to kill his parents, but the police couldn’t prove it,” Hank said.
“I hate that for Mr. Daniels.” Rawlins felt a surge of sympathy. “No one wants to lose their parents like that at any age. And to not even know what happened to them must be a kicker.”
“Bain went to his superiors at that time and requested permission to confess the McFee’s true identity to their son, but the request was denied for Webster’s safety,” Hank said. “I don’t know what the McFee’s witnessed, but if it still got them killed years later, it had to have been grave, especially if the truth is still being hidden.”
“No kidding,” Rawlins said. “Sounds like WitSec failed their job. Maybe there was a mole within the organization if they were found after so many years in hiding. Did Bain say whether the murder was investigated?”
“No, he didn’t, and frankly, I didn’t ask. He still sounded upset over it,” Hank said.
“And right he should. Wasn’t it his job to keep the McFees safe?” Rawlins asked. “Poor Chaney, she never knew her grandparents because of this screw up.”
Hank was silent and for a few moments, neither one of them spoke. What he’d shared was powerful and important. Rawlins wasn’t sure what to think or feel. Only that he’d better figure it out fast because this was a real game changer for how he was going to take care of Chaney.
What if the people who killed her grandparents had learned the McFee’s had had a son, and they were out there watching Webster Daniels and his family? Bain said Webster never learned the truth about his parents’ real identity, but what if he discovered some papers when he went through their belongings after their death? Perhaps that was the real reason he was so protective of Chaney and wanted to keep her close to home.
“Damn.” Rawlins finally spoke. “That does explain a little into why Chaney’s parents are so protective. Pairing that with how Chaney said her mom is just a first-class snob.”
“Exactly,” Hank agreed. “It goes without saying that you should keep this under wraps. If Webster doesn’t know, Chaney shouldn’t either.”
“Absolutely,” Rawlins assured. “Thank you for letting me know what you learned.”
“Of course. I’ll be in touch after I talk to the director of The Village.”
Rawlins sat on the edge of his bed and let everything he’d just learned sink in before he returned to the living room. He felt numb at what he’d learned about Chaney having grandparents who had died in a crazy car crash. She’d not mentioned them, but then why would she if she’d never met them? They died before she was born. They hadn’t been a part of her life. She couldn’t miss something she’d never had. He couldn’t image not having known either set of his grandparents. But she had mentioned the grandmother who had bought her the quilt that was on his bed. It must be her mother’s mom.
Taking a deep breath, he finally stood and went back to the living room where he found Chaney curled up on the sofa playing on her cellphone.
“Ready to finish the game?” he asked.
“Yep.” She moved from the sofa back to the floor and got ready to make her move. “It was my move before your phone call.”
“I remember,” he said. “Go ahead.”
She placed all seven tiles on the board and waited for him to complement her on the move, but he stared blankly at the floor. She waved her hand in front of his face but he didn’t blink. “Rawlins?”
“Huh?” he snapped his head up and looked at her.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No. Just thinking. Is it my turn?” he asked.
“I just got a bingo. Is that all you can say?”
“You did?”
She held up her empty rack. “See.”
He looked at her empty rack and then at the board and back at her. “Well. That is impressive. Good for you. That’s fifty, plus the extra word count. Be sure to add that to your score.”
She wrote it on their scoresheet.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to space out on you. It’s nothing. Hank called me back with information I’d asked about your case. I guess my mind was still back in that conversation.”
This piqued her interest and she wanted to ask him about it, but did she dare? If it was something she was allowed to know, wouldn’t he have come out and told her? Instead, she asked, “Do you want to stop playing now?”
“I’d come off as a sore loser if I said that when you just made that awesome move,” he replied.
“I can see you have loads on your mind and your head isn’t in the game,” she said. “We can pick up again with your play later. Maybe after dinner?”
“Would you mind?” he asked. “I’d like to go for a walk. You could come with me? We could do a loop around the neighborhood.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed, going to get her keys to lock the place up.
They walked along in silence, passing several houses on both sides of the street for several blocks until they came to the community park for children. Several moms were there with their children. The moms were sitting on benches talking with one another while their children were running around yelling and screaming, climbing on the monkey bars or the jungle gym, and sliding down the slide.
“Want to swing?” Chaney asked, point at the empty row. “No one is using them.”
Rawlins shrugged and followed her.
They each sat down in the belted seats and held onto the heavy-duty chains, using their feet to kick off a push to get the swing going.
“I loved doing this as a kid,” Chaney said.
“Looks like you still do,” he said.
“Maybe,” she replied, pumping her legs to make herself faster until she was swinging higher and higher like she did when she was a child.
“Whoa, slow down,” Rawlins cautioned. “You’re going a little too high, don’t you think?”
“Never,” she called as she swung back and forth, letting her head back, smiling. “My parents wouldn’t let me go this high when I was a kid.”
“What didn’t they try to control about you?” he asked.
She noted the sadness in his voice, and it made her heart hurt. “Do you want to talk about what Hank told you?”
“Not really. Sorry,” Rawlins said.
“I can tell it is really bothering you,” she said.
“Yeah, and it shouldn’t. Which is what is bothering me.”
That piqued her interest even more. He’d said Hank called back about her case. So, it was about her and now Rawlins said that whatever it was, is bothering him, which it shouldn’t. Why was that? She knew it was too much to hope for, but c ould he like her ?
She had to know. But how could she draw the answer out of him?
“Kinda like my reaction to Justus’ behavior yesterday?” Chaney asked.
He grinned. “Totally different, but you still couldn’t change it.”
She stopped pumping her legs and just swung back and forth until she slowed down enough for her feet to touch the ground again and stopped the swing from moving until she could twist herself back and forth in place.
Rawlins grabbed hold of her chains and stopped her, pulling her swing closer to his. They stared at one another. “We better go back.”
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He let go of her swing and she stood up, not liking his sudden moodiness or the way he hadn’t answered her question.
“What do you think we should do for dinner?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You’re cooking tonight. What do you want to fix?” he asked.
She stopped walking and turned to look at him. “What? You know I can’t cook.”
“And it’s time you learned.” He smiled at her. “You saw what I bought today. Several of the items were easy fix meals. We’ll start with one of those for your first lesson.”
“Okay.” That didn’t sound too difficult. No more than a microwave dinner for one. Surely, she could manage that on her own.
On the way back, he offered her his hand, which surprised her, and she took it. She immediately liked the way it felt to have her hand pressed against his. So intimate. It made her tingle all over. And she snuck a glance at him. But his brows were knitted together, and he was staring off into space, clearly a sign that he was deep in thought, and he was only holding her hand to keep her close and safe.
Her heart sank, but she knew it was early days yet. They’d only met yesterday. What was she expecting?
When they got back to her place, she unlocked the door and headed to the kitchen to see which meal to prepare. There were several in the freezer and she picked one that had pasta, meat, sauce, and vegetables for a balanced meal. One fry skillet on medium heat. A pair of scissors to cut the bag and twelve minutes later, they were sitting down to dinner.
“Did I really just cook?” Chaney asked, after dishing up the two plates and carrying them over to the table.
“You did.” Rawlins brought over the drinks, and they sat down to dinner.
“Man. That wasn’t bad. If I had known it would be that easy, I wouldn’t have been eating those sandwiches for weeks,” Chaney said.
“Blame your parents,” Rawlins said.
“I do.” Chaney picked up her fork and tested a bite. She closed her eyes, savoring the goodness that tantalized her tongue, before taking another bite. “It might not be five-star, but it’s still really good.”
“Yes,” Rawlins agreed. “And if you wanted to add a salad with it you could do that, or dinner rolls to round it out.”
“Exactly.” Chaney nodded as she made a mental note to consider these options when she cooked one of these bag meals again.
They finished eating and took their dishes back into the kitchen. She rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher before washing and drying the skillet.
“You want to finish our game of scrabble?” Rawlins asked.
“Sure,” Chaney said, tucking the skillet away when her cellphone rang. She looked at the caller id and froze. It was Justus. For a second, she debated whether to answer or not. Then her anger at Justus won because she realized she really wanted to tell her friend just how upset she’d made her.
“Hello?”
“I’m sorry,” Justus said. “I only said what I did because I wanted you to be safe by distancing yourself from us. Can you forgive me?”
“Jerk.”
“You’re right. I was.”
“You hurt me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was having trouble dealing with my parents not wanting me to see you, and then you go and do that. I should hate you for it,” Chaney said.
“I know. You have every right to feel that way,” Justus replied. “But I thought I was doing what was in your best interest: keeping you safe if you weren’t with us.”
“Rawlins is here to keep me safe. You have Rafferty. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Will we?” Justus asked. “Our rental was broken into and trashed today. Liberty is now in Fool’s Gold, and I’m staying with Rafferty. Has anything happened to you?”
What? Someone broke into their rental? That was the last thing she expected to hear Justus tell her. Concern replaced her anger and she wanted to rush to her friends’ side and hug her.
“Oh no. Rawlins hasn’t said anything to me about this,” Chaney’s voice rose. She looked at Rawlins, who was watching her. Was this the something else he wasn’t telling her? He’d seemed so trustworthy when they first met, but now she was beginning to have her doubts about if he was keeping secrets.
“I don’t think he knows,” Justus said. “Has he spoken with his brother?”
“Not sure,” Chaney said, eyeing him closely.
“Be careful. If those men can find Liberty and me, they could find you.”
“Do you know for sure it was them?”
“No. It wasn’t clear who broke in, but who else could it have been?”
“Right.” Chaney raked her fingers through her hair. “Thanks for the heads up.”
On the other end of the line, Chaney heard the doorbell. “Sure. Stay safe. We’ll talk again. Our dinner is here, so I better go.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Their call ended too soon, and she really wanted to tell Rawlins they needed to go over there, but would he do it? Not if their objective was to keep the girls apart. Had he learned about the break-in from Hank earlier today? Had that been why he was so distracted? And that was why he hadn’t wanted to talk about it? Not that he was interested in her!
Rawlins came up behind her causing her to jump. “Is everything okay?”
“That was Justus. She called to apologize. Did you know that she’s staying at the condo with Rafferty now because her rental with Liberty was broken into earlier today?”
“No, I didn’t. I haven’t spoken to Rafferty,” Rawlins said.
“I thought maybe Hank told you.”
“He didn’t,” Rawlins said. “If he does know, that makes me wonder why he wouldn’t tell me?”
Well…that wasn’t what had him deep in thought earlier. Hmmm…
She looked at Rawlins, then at the cocktail table and back at him. “Let’s forget the Scrabble game. I don’t think either one of us is up for it now. I don’t even care about finishing it. I’ll go put it away.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“I should call Kenneally,” Rawlins said.
“Who?”
“My boss. He’s the head of the Lone Wolf Agency. He loaned Raff and me out to Hank,” Rawlins explained.
“But you’re all Brotherhood Protectors?”
“That’s right. Kenneally is just stationed in Leesburg, Virginia. And most of his men prefer to work alone for one reason or another, except Raff and me being twins.”
“Interesting.” Chaney quickly packed up the board game and took it back to her room. Then she laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling wishing she could be there with Justus right now.
Rawlins made his call to Kenneally and got him on the fourth ring.
“How are you doing out in Colorado?” Kenneally greeted.
“Good. Nothing to complain about except I think I need my own vehicle,” Rawlins said. “Rafferty and I are split up and I can’t rely on Chaney’s driver to take us here and there, especially when we don’t want him reporting back to her parents on everything that she’s doing.”
“No problem, young pup,” Kenneally said. “I can have you a set of wheels delivered tomorrow. Just give me the address.”
“Thanks. It’s a gated community. You’ll need a code to get in,” Rawlins said and provided him with all the information that would be needed.
“Anything else?” Kenneally asked.
“Not that I can think of,” Rawlins said. “My assignment has been smooth sailing so far other than her parents wanting her to return to Baltimore before the trial. We’re trying to keep that from happening.”
“It does sound like you have it easier than Rafferty at this point,” Kenneally agreed. “I hope it stays that way for you. Let me know if you need anything else. I’m here for you.”
“Thanks,” Rawlins said, and ended the call.
He was headed to his room when Chaney came out of hers, rubbing her forehead.
“Got a headache?”
“It’s starting, I’m going to go take something,” she said. “Do you think Justus will be okay? I know she’s with your brother, but I can’t help worrying about her now that I know what happened.”
“Of course, she will be,” Rawlins said. “Rafferty is not going to let anything happen to her. He’d put his life on the line for her, just like I’d do for you.”
“You would?”
“Yes.”
“But we just met.”
“That doesn’t matter. We’re Rangers and Brotherhood Protectors. It’s in our blood.”