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Chapter Thirty-two
“Charli hasn’t introduced us yet, but I’m Major Blake Sebastian with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. I’m personally taking care of Charli and Kayla. Now, can you tell me what happened earlier, and why you suddenly appeared at the office downtown?”
Downtown?Charli swung Blake’s way, an inquiry clear in her gaze. She still had no idea how her gramps had come to be here.
“My officer, Lieutenant Newton, just advised me that you’d arrived with information on a shooting you’d witnessed earlier, and that you would only talk to the man in charge.” Blake spoke to John, looked in his direction, but she knew he was sharing with her at the same time.
“Yes. He’s a good man. Tried to make me comfortable and told me he wasn’t sure how long you’d be, that I could tell him what I’d seen. But, I wasn’t about to blab out confidential information to just anyone. I watch enough TV to know it’s best to deal with the top gun. He respected my wishes, said he’d try to contact you. So, I told him to hurry, that it was pretty obvious the woman was dead but they should send his people to make sure because miracles do happen, right?”
“I bet that got his attention,” Blake grinned and John answered with one of his own.
“It did. He left, and your other youngster, Deputy Dudley, took over. No more nice guy now. He began drilling me like a hard rock miner.”
Blake coughed, “You mean Detective Dudley Holler?”
“Okay. Whatever the idiot’s name was, I don’t remember. I do know one thing; he should go back and redo his officer’s training. The man’s a thug.”
“Grandpa!”
Turning her way, he spoke with asperity, “You gotta call a spade a spade, kiddo. Just saying… the guy needs a punch in the nose to straighten out his attitude. Good thing I’m twice his age or I’da taken on that delightful chore myself.”
“Settle down, now.” Charli loved seeing the color return to her grandfather’s face. It indicated that he still had some of his old grit. “What happened next?”
“Newton returned, and he became mighty serious. When he asked me my name, he got even more so. I figured someone must have verified the address, and that there was a body. That’s when he agreed to bring me to you.”
Charli wondered if it had more to do with his name being the same as hers. She knew hers and Kayla’s records were closed, but surely, the top detective working under Blake would have been given certain details. This Bob Newton might have known her and John Madison could be related. And if he questioned him on his home address, that would have rung bells too.
Blake’s next comment cut into her thoughts. “No doubt that’s why he agreed to bring you here.”
“I guess. My hinting at a heart problem that could kick up at any minute if I didn’t get my way probably helped convince him too.” John’s smirk and wink at Charli had her chuckling.
What a naughty old brat! God, she loved him…
“What I didn’t know was that he’d bring me to my girl.” Reaching out to caress her cheek and ruffle her curls, John’s hand trembled.
Charli took it and laid a kiss on his knuckles, not caring that her tender ministrations would be viewed by Blake. Now wasn’t the time to rebuild her walls against that man, although they were forming by themselves as they always did after she’d lower them.
“Can you describe what you saw, sir? My men have verified Miss Dale’s death, plus the death of two officers who were guarding her house. They were found in their vehicle, terminated by a pro.”
“I didn’t see them.”
“That’s the idea. They were there to protect Miss Dale.”
“That’s terrible. But they weren’t no protection… nope. Maybe they needed to go back for more training, like Dudley.”
“Grandpa!”
“Sorry, Charli. Just calling it as I—”
“Yes, we get it. Tell us what happened to you. How did you get close enough to the house to be a witness? And, why were you there in the first place? And who was the man you said was dead? Can you start from the beginning? This whole mess is making my head spin.”
John handed her the bottle of Tylenol. “Take a couple of these suckers. They’ll make the pain disappear faster than a—”
“Grandpa!”
“Okay, okay. I’m putting off having to tell you about Mark.”
“Mark Crawly?” Blake looked lost. ” I talked to him just a few days ago.” His gaze lifted to Charli for answers.
