Page 13 of Breathless
“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. Thatisinteresting,” 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?”
