Laura Scott - Wrongly Accused

During an interview on TV, one of his SWAT teammates had mentioned Caleb’s hair-trigger temper. She could imagine how difficult it must have been for him to discover his wife was cheating on him.

Not that his wife had deserved to die for her sins, leaving Kaitlin without a mother, or a father once Caleb had been arrested. As Kaitlin’s preschool teacher and an approved foster parent, she’d fought for and won temporary custody of the little girl. At first she thought it would only be a few weeks until other family had been notified but no one had been found. Over the past year she’d grown to love Kaitlin. And being forced to turn the child over to Caleb had nearly broken her heart.

“I guess you don’t believe in the theory of innocent until proven guilty,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.

“I never said you were guilty,” she said hastily. No sense in baiting the tiger. She needed to keep on his good side in order to convince him to let her and Kaitlin go. So far, she wasn’t entirely sure she believed in his theory that she and Kaitlin were in danger.

“So you believe I’m innocent?” he asked after several long moments.

She licked her dry lips and tried to smile. “The judge let you go, which is good enough for me.”

He let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, but didn’t say anything more. She stared out the window as the miles zipped past. Glancing over at Kaitlin, she noted the girl’s eyelids were starting to droop. Long car rides tended to make the little girl sleepy and no doubt she’d worn herself out with her crying jag.

Twenty minutes later, Noelle realized Kaitlin’s father had left the freeway and turned onto a country highway.

She couldn’t quell a hint of panic when she didn’t recognize the area. They were in a rural part of Wisconsin. Where was he taking them? What did he intend to do?

She’d gone along with him to protect Kaitlin, not to mention to get away from the rolling tear gas and flying bullets. But now, she was second-guessing her decision.

She and Kaitlin would likely be safer on their own. She trusted the police would protect them. Why wouldn’t they?

Somehow, she needed to find a way to escape.

* * *

Caleb dragged a hand over his face as the SUV ate up the miles, and tried to think rationally. He didn’t know who’d fired those shots at him, but if he hadn’t picked up Kaitlin’s stuffed giraffe, he’d be dead.

Leaving Kaitlin an orphan.

Somehow, he felt stupid for not realizing that whoever had killed his wife would still be out there somewhere, waiting for him. But the attempt on his life didn’t make much sense. Why not try to plant more evidence to get him back behind bars? What would they gain from killing him?

“Where’s Giffy?” he heard Kaitlin ask. The little girl had napped for a while but was obviously awake now.

“Right here, sweetheart.” In the rearview mirror, he saw Kaitlin hug the stuffed giraffe close.

“Ah, Mr. O’Malley?” Noelle’s voice was soft, almost hesitant. He hated seeing the shadow of fear in her eyes, but he didn’t know how to reassure her he was innocent of the crime he’d been accused of. He could talk all he wanted, but without proof that he was being framed, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Caleb,” he corrected curtly. “Call me Caleb.”

“Uh, sure. Caleb. It’s past five-thirty and Kaitlin usually eats dinner about this time,” she said with a hint of nervousness.

He flushed, squelching a flash of guilt. He should have realized that his daughter would need to eat soon. After fourteen long months in jail he’d forgotten how to be a father. “Sounds like a plan. What would you like?”

“Kaitlin, what do you want for dinner?” Noelle asked.

The little girl pulled her thumb out of her mouth. “Chicken bites.”

In the rearview mirror he caught the fleeting grimace that passed over Noelle’s face, but she readily agreed with Kaitlin’s decision. “That would be great.”

“Looks like there’s a fast-food restaurant five miles ahead,” he said, gesturing to a road sign. “We’ll get something there.”

“Thank you.”

He swallowed a frustrated sigh. Noelle acted as if he was some sort of ogre keeping her and Kaitlin prisoner. Yet what could he have done differently? If he had left Kaitlin behind and something had happened to his daughter, he’d never have forgiven himself. No question he’d give up his life for Kaitlin.

And he couldn’t bring himself to trust the police, either. Not when he fully believed that someone from his SWAT team had set him up for his wife’s murder.

Feeling grim, he imagined that the cops were right now swarming Noelle’s house, gathering evidence. What would they think when they found the slugs from a high-powered rifle and a canister of tear gas in her house? Would that prove his innocence? Or would they turn the whole thing around to somehow make him the bad guy?

He couldn’t help believing the latter. It wouldn’t be long before the killer was hot on their tail. He needed to figure out a good place to hide until he could find someone to trust.

Not that he could think of too many people he trusted at the moment. He’d put his faith in his lawyer, Jack Owens, but Jack had been the only person who’d known Caleb’s plan of going to Noelle’s house. Not that he could understand why Jack would try to kill him after working more than a year to set him free.

His wife’s killer had clearly set him up to rot in prison for the rest of his life. And now that Caleb had been given a get-out-of-jail-free card, it was possible that the same person had tried to kill him. Unless his wife had other lovers who he didn’t know about, someone who’d taken shots at him in an effort to seek revenge?

He sighed and turned off the highway, heading onto a side road leading to the popular fast-food restaurant. He pulled in and headed down the drive-through lane.

“I hav’ta go potty,” Kaitlin announced.

He inwardly winced, feeling guilty for not anticipating his daughter’s needs. He made a quick U-turn in the parking lot so he could pull into a spot located near the front of the building.

He slid out from behind the wheel but before he could try to help Kaitlin out of her booster seat, Noelle took control, undoing the buckles to free his daughter. She carried Kaitlin out and set her down on the ground.

“I hav’ta go now!” Kaitlin said, rushing toward the door. Noelle sprinted to catch up, quickly capturing Kaitlin’s hand.

“I’ll take you to the bathroom, okay, sweetie?”

Caleb followed them inside, feeling like an outsider. He’d lost so much time with his daughter. The fact that she didn’t want to be near him was like a knife to his heart.

Standing at the back of the lobby area, he stared blindly at the menu selections. Food wasn’t nearly as important as keeping his daughter safe from harm. He felt exposed standing here in the middle of a fast-food joint, considering how just three hours ago, someone tried to kill him. Yet he’d kept a careful eye out to make sure they hadn’t been followed.

But they weren’t safe yet, not by a long shot.

Noelle and Kaitlin returned from the bathroom and he couldn’t help smiling at the way his daughter was giggling.

“I had no idea public restrooms could be fun,” he said with a smile.

Noelle shrugged. “She found the air hand-drying machine entertaining.”

“So, Katydid, what would you like for dinner?” he asked, capturing his daughter’s gaze. He hoped she remembered his pet name for her.

She tilted her head to the side and gave him an exasperated look. “I already tole you, chicken bites.”

She hadn’t reacted to the nickname, but at least she wasn’t crying, either. He tried to take heart at the minor step forward. “Okay, one order of chicken bites. Noelle, what would you like?”