Elisabeth Rees - The Seal's Secret Child

But Josie was wrong. He wasn’t only a man. He was a father, and a fiercely protective streak had torn itself through his body. He sensed her difficulty in forgiving him for vanishing from her life all those years ago, but whatever differences they might have, they would need to work together to ensure that their son’s safety came first. It would require all of his patience to work closely with Josie. Her throwaway comments had already confirmed his worst fears: she didn’t see him as an equal to an able-bodied man. He had briefly wondered whether their reunion would reignite a spark, but he was wrong. He could never get close to a woman who treated him with pity or who tried to shield him from danger because of his disability. No way.

He was a complete man. And he intended to prove it. This time, he would go the distance.

TWO

Josie sat in her kitchen, opposite Blade, jiggling her foot anxiously. She kept stealing glances at her old flame, still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he was actually there in her home. Even though she had wished him back in her life for the sake of her son, now that this scenario had become reality, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

She was getting along just fine as a single mom, and was used to being the sole decision-maker in matters relating to Archie’s well-being. Now all of a sudden, her son’s father had a right to demand an equal say. The shooting incident had terrified her and she wanted to get Archie as far away from Sedgwick as possible until the danger had been neutralized. But would she and Blade disagree on the best way forward?

Two detectives from Wichita were also seated in her kitchen. They had been summoned by the public defender’s office to oversee protection for Josie and her family. Detectives Dave Pullman and Carly Sykes had completed a thorough crime scene examination and interviewed Blade, Tim and Archie before asking to discuss a plan of action with Josie. Meanwhile, uniformed officers began to sweep the glass and board up the broken windows. Blade insisted on remaining with Josie while Tim and Archie packed some bags in preparation for leaving. Staying in their home now was impossible.

“You two are Archie’s parents, right?” Detective Sykes began. “This must be a pretty scary time for you folks, but your son seems to be taking it all in stride.” She smiled at Blade. “He places a lot of faith in his father to come to the rescue. He’s a really sweet kid.”

Blade smiled. “Yes, he is. I’m proud of him.”

Josie bristled. Blade had only just met Archie, yet he was taking the credit for how he’d turned out. It wasn’t fair.

“Can we get to the point?” she asked. “I’d like to make plans as quickly as possible.”

“Sure,” Detective Sykes replied briskly. “I understand that a brick was thrown through your window this morning. And there was a note wrapped around that brick.”

Blade looked sharply at Josie, his face full of concern.

“Yes,” she said. “The police officer stationed outside my home said it was thrown from the same vehicle that returned later with a shooter inside. It matches the description of a car that tried to run me off the road a couple of weeks back.”

The detective checked an entry in her notepad. “Unfortunately, this car was stolen from Wichita last month, so it doesn’t lead us to the perp, but we’ve put out a description to all our patrols.”

Blade leaned toward Josie. “What did it say?” he whispered.

She was confused. “What did what say?”

“The note around the brick.”

“Oh, that.” She closed her eyes, not caring to remember the hastily scrawled capital letters. “It said, ‘Drop the case or pay the price.’”

“We’ve been told that you’ve also been receiving abusive phone calls and letters,” Detective Pullman said. “They’re all related to a current case you’re working on at the public defender’s office, right?”

Josie nodded.

“I think it’s awesome that you’re a public defender,” Blade said admiringly. “No matter what’s happening right now, you should be proud of yourself.”

She ignored the praise. “I worked hard to establish myself as a good attorney,” she said, silently adding in her head, while you were busy finding yourself in Florida. “It was difficult, but my parents helped out a lot with babysitting Archie.”

“I need to know the background to this case,” Blade said. “Can you explain the details to me?”

“I don’t think there’s any point. The police have got it under control.”

He furrowed his brow. “It doesn’t look that way to me. Please, Josie, just give me a little more information. I might be able to help. Don’t forget about my background.”

How could she forget his history in the military? It was the SEALs who cost him his leg. It was the SEALs who destroyed their relationship.

“That was a long time ago,” she said. “You’re a different man now.”

She saw a look of irritation fall across his face. “I’m not so different that I can’t step up and help protect you. It won’t hurt to give me a little background information, will it?”

Detective Sykes seemed to sense the atmosphere grow a little cooler and gave a light cough as if to cover her embarrassment.

“It would be useful if you went over the details with us as well,” she said. “We’ve only just been assigned this case, and although we have the incident reports to read, it would help us to hear the full story in your own words.”

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath to run through the events yet again. “I’m currently defending a client named Norman Francis, who’s been accused of kidnapping a three-year-old girl, Lisa Brown, from outside her home almost two years ago. Lisa and her parents lived across the street from him. A neighbor of Norman’s telephoned the police one evening and claimed that she saw Norman drag the little girl from the sidewalk and into his home. The police responded immediately, entered Norman’s house and found Lisa in the kitchen, unharmed and helping herself to cookies from a jar. Norman said he had been in his living room for the previous two hours, carving figurines that he sells at craft fairs. He claimed to have no idea that the girl was in his kitchen and asserted that she must have walked in through his unlocked back door of her own accord. But the witness testimony from the neighbor helped to build a strong case against him, and he was subsequently arrested and charged with child abduction. But I believe his story. I don’t think he did it.”

“What did the child say?” Detective Pullman asked.

“Lisa was interviewed by specially trained officers, but due to her age, it was very difficult to get a consistent account of what happened. She started off saying that she went into the house by herself but subsequently changed her story to claim that Norman led her inside with a promise of candy. Then, a little later, she said that Cinderella took her inside.” Josie rubbed her index fingers on her temples. “She’s simply not a credible witness, so the prosecution decided not to include her testimony. But she was examined and found to have no injuries, so there’s no forensic evidence to label Norman as an abuser.” She shrugged. “That doesn’t stop people from gossiping, though.”

“I guess a small place like Sedgwick is full of rumors and amateur detectives,” Blade said. “So this Norman guy has already been judged guilty.”

“Correct,” confirmed Josie. “He’s kinda odd. Before all this happened, he hardly ever went out, but when he did, he always wore a huge padded coat and kept his head bent low like he didn’t want to be noticed. It was only after I agreed to represent him that I found out he suffers from cerebral palsy, which limits the movement of his right arm and leg. He wears the big coat to hide his arm, and he walks in a shuffling sort of way to compensate for his leg. He was bullied a lot as a youngster, so he’s a very secretive person and doesn’t want people to notice his disability.”