Proof of Innocence
She was here and safe for the time being. He hurried back upstairs, remembering how she’d looked in a huge white terry cloth robe she’d found in the closet, thrown over a pair of black running shorts and a T-shirt he’d dug from his go-bag. At least the extra clothes had been clean. Baggy and cute on her, but clean.
And she looked...beautiful.
Tired, worried, fragile and beautiful.
It had taken a lot of willpower for him not to rush across the room and hold on to her forever. They might not have forever if he couldn’t clear her name. They might not have a forever even after he cleared her name. Erin would want to go back to her posh life and leave him to get on with his simple life.
Which now only reminded Chase that he didn’t have time to go down memory lane and he sure didn’t have time for daydreams of how Erin looked all fresh faced and blushing.
Waving good-night to Janey—did the woman ever go to sleep?—he took the stairs two at a time and rapped on the locked door twice. “It’s Chase.”
Erin opened the door with a cup of tea in her hand. Someone from the staff had brought up food earlier. He’d checked the waiter and the food and waited for her to come out of the bathroom so they could eat. But his appetite had disappeared at the sight of her. Using the excuse of walking the dog, he’d bolted out of the suite with a terse order for her to lock all the doors and stay put.
Now he was hungry. For food. For her story. For just being with her again. “Mind if I eat while we talk?”
“No,” she said, motioning to the pushcart full of tiny crustless sandwiches along with fruit and cheese and two giant chocolate chip cookies. “Your coffee is in that little pot.” She pointed to a silver carafe.
Chase settled Valor with a treat and then came to sit on a cushiony blue love seat across from her cream-colored leather chair. After downing two of the ham-and-cheese sandwiches, he poured some coffee and rubbed a hand over his hair. “Everything looked okay outside. We should be safe for the night.”
She nodded. “I can’t seem to stay awake.”
“That’s the letdown,” he explained. “You’ve been living on adrenaline for months now.”
“Oh, and here I thought I was just tired.” She bit into a slice of rich cheddar cheese and grabbed a couple of plump grapes.
“You are tired, but... Erin, before things get crazy tomorrow, I need to hear the whole story and then I’ll tell you what I know.”
He didn’t want to give her any details that might color her own perception or blur her story. They could compare notes after he got her statement down.
She put down her tea and pushed away the plate of food. “Okay.” Then she took a deep breath and tugged the big robe around her. After picking up her crumbled notebook, she opened it as if she were about to read a book. Then she slapped it shut and lifted her gaze to meet his.
“I had planned to break things off with Michael,” she began. “Our fathers pushed us together in our last year of college, but honestly, we never got past being friends. We had fun together and I guess you could say we looked good together, according to the tabloids anyway, but it was mostly for show.”
Chase took that in as he remembered Erin in flowing formal gowns and on the arm of the man known as “The Capitol Crusader.” Michael Jeffries had been a bit cocky and smug, but the man at least had a good heart since he fought for less fortunate people. He sure didn’t deserve to be shot even if he had made Chase jealous at times. Chase always told himself Erin was better off with someone who had as much money and clout as her father. That’s the way the senator saw things anyway.
“So you did see Michael on the night that he died?”
Erin took a sip of tea and then continued. “Yes, I did. That morning he called me and asked if we could go to dinner and...well, he was so upset when he picked me up I didn’t have the heart to break up with him.”
Chase jotted notes since this was a new development. “Why was he upset?”
She pushed at her still-damp hair. “He said he’d found out a young relative of his was stuck in foster care and possibly living at the All Our Kids home—you know the one that his father started years ago. Michael was determined to get the child out, but he wouldn’t tell me who the kid was or why doing this was so important to him.” She shrugged and looked down at her hands. “We parted at around nine or so, but later—not long after I saw you—he didn’t answer my calls and I got worried about him.”
Chase checked his notes. “You and I spoke around ten that night,” he reminded her. “I remember glancing at my watch and wondering why you were out walking so late.”
“I needed to think about things,” she replied. “I was worried about Michael’s frame of mind and I was upset that...I couldn’t make it work with him. I went to his condo to check on him and he wasn’t there. I figured he’d driven out to his father’s estate to possibly discuss getting the congressman’s help with this child he was so worried about. He told me he needed to talk to his father, so I headed out there.”
Chase held up a hand and decided he could tell her what he knew for a fact. “Let’s stop for a minute. We’ve confirmed that Michael was talking about a two-year-old boy who belonged to his father’s housekeeper, Rosa Gomez—”
She shook her head and held her hand toward him. “But then the child couldn’t be related to him.”
Chase hated to spill things to her in this way, but he had to get all the facts straight and he had to feed them to her one by one. “Erin, the little boy—Juan Gomez—is the son of the congressman. We’ve pretty much established that he’s Michael’s half brother.”
FOUR
Erin went still, her eyes widening. “I can’t believe this. Do you think...Michael went to his father’s house to confront him or to at least ask him to take Juan out of foster care?” Then she gasped. “They were in a heated argument when I came around the corner to the patio. What if that’s why the congressman shot Michael?”
It was Chase’s turn to be shocked. Leon Ridge had told them it was an accident. “Are you saying that’s what happened that night?”
She nodded, tears forming in her eyes. “Yes, Chase. I went there to find Michael and...I walked up on them arguing. The congressman said something about Michael ruining everything. He reached for a gun and then they were struggling, pushing and shoving, and the next thing I knew the gun went off and...Michael fell to the ground.” She put a hand to her heart. “Then blood went everywhere and...I screamed and ran toward Michael.”
Chase saw the terror in her eyes. “And then what happened?”
“I took off my jacket and tried to stop the bleeding. Congressman Jeffries stood there in shock, or so I thought. He tried to explain that it was an accident, but I saw him hold that gun to Michael’s stomach and pull the trigger.
“After that, I didn’t know what to say, but I kept begging him to call for help. He didn’t move and then he turned nasty and pointed the gun at me, telling me if I told anyone what I’d witnessed he’d swear that I shot Michael. When I took out my phone, he grabbed it from me and even threatened to kill my father.”
She gulped in a breath. “When I begged him to call 911, he said he’d ruin my father, that he’d frame him and destroy his career. He asked me if I wanted that on my conscience.” She put a hand to her mouth and shook her head. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Chase got up and came to kneel in front of her. “Hey, it’s okay. If you’re telling the truth and Michael did know about Juan Gomez, we have more than enough information to prove his father had a strong motive for shooting him.”
“I am telling the truth,” she said, pushing him away. “Why would I lie?”
Chase didn’t think she was lying, but he had to keep questioning her. “Why didn’t you call your dad or even me? Why did you run, Erin?”
She lifted her head and stared at Chase, her dark blue eyes still moist. “One of the congressman’s goons showed up when I was trying to help Michael. Leon Ridge—that creepy aide who was always hanging around. I asked him to help me and that’s when the congressman told his aide to rip off the starfish necklace Michael had given me for my birthday and to drop it near Michael’s body—and then he demanded that Leon shoot him in the shoulder so it would look like I’d done it. But before he let that stupid man shoot him, he told Leon to take care of me. He never wanted anyone to hear what I had to say about that night. He made it look as if I’d shot Michael and I’d run off. Only, he never figured I’d live to tell the truth.”
Chase could understand the fear in her eyes. Leon Ridge had pretty much told them a similar story. Funny that Ridge hadn’t mentioned that he’d taken Erin out to be shot. Ridge refused to even talk about Erin or her whereabouts. He said he had no idea where Erin was and he didn’t care.
When Chase thought about how close she’d come to dying, he asked the obvious. “But you got away?”
“Yes, but only after Leon Ridge put me in a car and took me out to the woods. The minute he dragged me out of the car, I kicked him and used one of my boot heels to dig into his foot. He shot at me and missed. Then I ran and ran and...I’ve been running since then, hiding out all around Maryland and Virginia.” She grabbed at Chase’s shirt. “Now do you believe me?”
Chase lifted her up and tugged her into his arms. “Yes, Erin. I believe you. And now that I’ve heard your side of the story, we’ll compare notes and I promise I’m going to do everything I can to clear your name.”
Erin nodded. “I’ve blocked out a lot of that night. Michael wanted to tell me something.” She closed her eyes. “He said something. He kept looking over my shoulder and he whispered a word.” She gasped and grabbed at Chase’s sleeve. “I thought he was trying to say gone. That he was telling me I needed to leave. But Chase, what if he was saying a name?”
“Juan,” Chase said, the horror in her words chilling him in spite of the hot summer night.
She bobbed her head again, tears falling down her face. “Juan.”
Chase drew back, deciding he needed to be honest. “We have Leon Ridge in custody and he told us Jeffries shot Michael, but we found that hard to accept. He claims the shooting was an accident, and that the congressman and he came up with an alibi. He said he shot the congressman to make it look as if an unknown assailant had done it, but he never mentioned that he saw you that night. And he refused to discuss Juan Gomez and the boy’s connection to the congressman.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me that before now?” Her expression changed, an angry frown clouding her face. “Let me guess. You were waiting to see what I’d tell you, right?”
Chase tried to calm her down. “I had to be careful, Erin. I didn’t want to confuse you or upset you.”
“You don’t believe me after all.” She pushed him away. “You probably think I’m lying about him taking me out to kill me.”
Chase tugged her back around. “I told you, I believe you. Ridge never told us he’d even seen you. He clams up when we ask about you being there that night.”
“That’s because Jeffries will have him killed if he says anything else. I’m surprised he said that much, He was there when the congressman decided to pin the whole thing on me, but I got away from Leon. The congressman can’t be too happy about that.”
“Ridge is obviously the fall guy,” Chase explained. “We interviewed the congressman about Juan and the murder, but he denied any involvement. He tried to convince us that Juan was Michael’s child.”
“That’s not possible,” Erin exclaimed. “Michael couldn’t have children. It was...always a sore subject between us.”
“We know the child isn’t Michael’s for that very reason. Leon tried to convince us of that, too. We reminded Leon of the opinion piece Michael wrote for one of the local papers, promoting foster care and adoption. The congressman got tripped up in his own lies on that one. He’s wanted on corruption charges, but...now we’re talking murder, too.”
“I asked you to trust me,” she reminded him. “You have to trust that I’m telling you the truth. The congressman shot Michael and Michael was trying to tell me why. It’s all about that little boy. That makes sense now that I know he’s the congressman’s son. Leon Ridge planned to kill me, but he won’t admit that. And since he failed, Congressman Jeffries will keep sending people to do the job.”
“You don’t need to convince me anymore,” Chase said. “We’ve all been concerned about your safety. That’s why I asked my captain to let me get you somewhere safe for the night.”
“Are you sure? Or is that a ploy to take me into custody?”
“Listen, Erin. If we do take you into custody, it will be for your protection. You won’t be safe out there on your own. You have to see that.”
“I do,” she said on a weary voice. “I... I don’t know who I can trust, who I can turn to. The congressman obviously always finds me. Jeffries’s reach is far and wide.”
“So is General Meyer’s power,” he reminded her. “Let me do my job. Let me help you.”
“Thank you,” she said on a soft sigh. “I don’t have any choice. If I can’t trust you then I’m doomed already.”
Chase held his hand to her chin. “I’m here and I’m doing everything I can for you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight. Chase guided her toward the love seat and pulled her down and back into his arms. He believed Erin’s story completely, but...he wasn’t sure how to go about proving her innocence to the world. They were fighting a very powerful enemy. He couldn’t let his emotions and his involvement with Erin get in the way of his job.
So he held her tight and prayed to God to give him the strength to keep the promise he’d made. And he remembered that with God on his side, he could fight all enemies.
* * *
Much later, after he’d sent Erin to bed in the adjoining room, Chase lay awake on the sofa, Valor by his feet, and went back over this case and tried to make a plan of action. First, he needed to let the team know that he’d heard her statement. They’d want to question her, too. Then he needed to go back to Leon Ridge and interrogate him about what had really happened that night and he also wanted to once again interview some of Michael’s friends and coworkers. They’d have to go from there, but Chase wasn’t sure what might happen.
He was a rookie, only a year into being on the elite handpicked K-9 team. What if they took him off the case? How could he protect her then? Chase was former Secret Service, so he knew how things worked. But he also knew he had a duty to protect Erin, no matter what.
He said a little prayer for guidance and hoped General Meyer would allow him to continue protecting Erin. She would be in a lot of danger once word got out that she’d been located.
Chase finally gave in to his fatigue and dozed on the uncomfortable little couch for a while. Around 2:00 a.m. Valor alerted with a low growl and Chase was up and holding a weapon toward the French doors out to the upstairs porch. The doors he’d believed no one would breach.
A few minutes later, the intruder broke into the room and found them waiting for him. Chase gave Valor the “Attack” command and Valor leaped into the air and went for the man’s throat while Chase circled the culprit.
The man screamed and covered his face, causing Valor to go for his arm. Chase let Valor hold the culprit until he could move in. The man squirmed and writhed in pain, which only made Valor’s teeth sink deeper into his bleeding wounds.
“Drop the weapon,” Chase said, motioning to the gun the man held in his right hand. Valor backed him up with a low growl and another show of his teeth sinking into the man’s left arm. But the man wasn’t ready to give in. He pulled the trigger and a shot hit the ceiling with a loud ping. Chase fired back and the man crumbled onto the floor, Valor still holding his arm.
“Release,” Chase said. “It’s too late for this one, Valor.”
When he turned around, Erin was standing in the open door to the other room, her gaze falling across the dead man at Chase’s feet.
* * *
“You okay?” he asked over his shoulder while he checked the man’s pulse and found none.
“Yes,” she said behind him, the one word breathless. “That’s the man who was chasing me in the woods.”
Chase looked back to make sure Erin really was all right. She stood inside the door, wearing the oversize robe, her arms held tightly against her waist.
Chase commanded Valor, “Stay.”
Erin advanced a step into the room, her gaze still on the dead assailant. “He was wearing a hat, but I saw his face when I was running away from the hotel. I don’t recognize him.”
A knock shook the door. “Hey, what’s going on in there?”
Janey. Chase gave Erin a warning glance. “Let me handle this.”
He opened the door and showed the wide-eyed Janey his badge. After explaining things, he told Janey he was about to make some calls. “I’d appreciate it if you inform the other guests about what’s happening and keep them out of the way,” he told the frightened woman.
“This won’t be good for business,” Janey whined. “A dead intruder in the best suite we have. That’s a first.”
Chase turned to Erin after Janey left and tugged her across the room away from the body. “I need to call this in.”
Her eyes narrowed, a flicker of fear deepening them to midnight blue. “You can’t take me back. I’ll go to jail for something I didn’t do.”
Chase leaned close, his hand on her elbow. “I don’t believe that’s gonna happen now. Think about it, Erin. The congressman fled because of the corruption charges and...we now know that Juan Gomez is his son. That’s enough to bring him in on murder charges, too, since we have witnesses who say Rosa Gomez was shaking him down for more money right before she died.” He also reminded her about Leon Ridge. “We have him in custody and when he hears you’re alive and well even though they sent someone to kill you yet again, he’s gonna panic.”
“But...none of that can help me, Chase. Leon will accuse me since the congressman is pulling his strings. He’s too scared to tell the truth and we both know it.”
“I’m going to make him tell the truth,” Chase said. “Now we have one of Jeffries’s thugs breaking in on your room—a room only you and I should have known about. Why would he go to all of this trouble if he isn’t trying to kill you?”
“He could convince everyone that he wanted to bring me in to prove I did this.”
“But the congressman hasn’t told any of us that he was conducting his own investigation and he never fully admitted to seeing you at the scene. We’ll question Ridge until he gives us what we need.”
“And in the meantime, what happens to me?” she asked.
Chase glanced back toward the dead guy and then turned to her again. “In the meantime, I’m going to make sure you stay safe.”
* * *
Erin sat on the sofa and watched as law-enforcement people tramped back and forth in what had started out as a beautiful suite in a quiet country bed-and-breakfast. She’d been questioned and prodded and interrogated and analyzed to the point that she was no longer coherent. All she wanted right now was a soft bed and sleep. Lots of sleep without nightmares or visions of people chasing her through the woods.
“How you holding up?” Chase asked, sitting down beside her for a brief moment. Valor had stayed by her side while his human partner did his job and filed his own report.
“I’m okay,” she said. Then she shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I’m tired, scared and worried that I’ll be hauled away the minute they’re done here. Poor Janey is probably afraid they’ll take her in, too. I think every branch of law enforcement sent several representatives to gawk at me and get me to confess to anything and everything. I’ll probably be blamed for Leon Ridge’s confession, too.” She lifted her hand toward the window. “Not to mention the reporters already gathering out there. I’m the topic of the day.”
“Janey can use all of this as PR,” Chase said, obviously trying to make her smile. “She’s handling the reporters with cookies and coffee. I don’t even want to think about what she’s telling them. She’ll have gawkers driving by for weeks.”
“At least someone will profit from my notoriety,” Erin replied with a frown.
Chase touched his hand to hers in a quick gesture. “It’s going to be all right. Oh, by the way, your father’s on his way, too.”
Erin moaned and held a hand in her hair. “I was hoping I’d see him back at his town house in DC. He shouldn’t drive all the way out here. We’re at least two hours away from the city.”
“He’s bringing lawyers,” Chase said, his eyes full of understanding and sympathy. “I tried—”
“—to talk him out of it,” she finished. “I know how that goes.” Then she turned serious. “Will I have to be arraigned or post bail or whatever comes next?”
Chase’s smile was soft and swift. “Hold on, Sherlock. You aren’t going to be charged with anything right now. But you will be questioned.”
She pushed at her hair. “Again?”
“And again,” he said, his eyes holding hers. “You are innocent until proven guilty, remember? Leon Ridge did tell us that the congressman accidentally shot his son.”
“I am innocent,” she said, hoping he really did believe her. “But Chase...if it’s all over the news that... I’ve been brought in, what do you think Congressman Jeffries will do?”
Chase glanced around to where Captain Gavin McCord stood talking to two FBI agents. They’d already taken the dead man away, but Erin wondered what they would do with her. Did Chase really think he could stop this steamroller?
“Chase?”
He turned back to her. “The congressman will come after you.”
Erin tried to ignore the shudder creeping down her spine. “He’ll be in a panic knowing Leon’s been arrested and that another of his minions is now dead. He still wants me dead. I can’t see that changing. I think it’ll only get worse.”
“He’s running out of options so he’s getting desperate,” Chase said. “Look, let’s get done here and...if you don’t want to go back to your place or to your father’s house, you can come home with me.”
“That won’t be necessary, Officer Zachary.”
Erin cringed and turned, recognizing her father’s stern voice. She shot Chase a glance and saw the dare in his green eyes. Getting up, she hurried to her father before Chase said anything. “Dad.”
“Baby.” Her father pulled her close and for a moment, Erin felt like a little girl again. Tall with hair that had once been dark brown but was now mostly a silvery white, Senator Preston Eagleton had always been a handsome man. And right now, with the scent of expensive cigars and spicy aftershave engulfing her, Erin felt safe again. It was good to be back in her father’s strong arms. Her dad drew back to look at her. “Are you all right?”
“I am now,” she said, tears pricking at her eyes. “I’m sorry I worried you all these months.”
Her father looked her over. “My doctor will meet us and give you a thorough checkup after we move you out to our house. I thought you’d have more privacy out from the city.”
“That’s not necessary,” she said, shaking her head at the thought of heading to her father’s vast country estate. “I’m tired and I have a few bug bites, but—”
“My daughter, hiding out in the woods.” Her father gave her a harsh glance. “Why didn’t you call me, Erin?”
“I had my reasons,” she said, “and I don’t want to talk about all of that right now.”
FIVE
Seeing the formidable Washington attorney her father kept on retainer, Erin’s pulse escalated. “Do you think I killed Congressman Jeffries, Daddy?”
“Or course not,” her father retorted. “I only brought my lawyer with me as a precaution.” He glanced at Chase. “I’ve had my own team working on finding you since General Meyer didn’t want to divulge her K-9 team’s investigation with me.”
“For your own safety and protection, sir,” Chase said, stepping forward.