start by finding out for sure where he is. Keep looking for the cat. I’ll be right here,” he told her, pulling his cell from his pocket and pushing a preprogrammed number. “Give me his full name.”
She barely managed to whisper it.
As she worked her way back into the bedroom to search the closet once more, she heard Isaac say, “I need to check on a convict. Terence R. Fagan. If he’s been released we need to locate him. Fast.”
Daniella paused for a deep, telling sigh. The urge to pray that God would intervene and save her by somehow eliminating her father was strong. And wrong, she knew, yet the disturbing thoughts continued to whirl through her mind. She should be praying for the faith and strength to forgive him, to show him the kind of pure love Jesus demonstrated.
Truth was, she was a long way from that degree of forgiveness and there was no way she’d be able to pray and ask such a thing, not even if her father came to her on his knees and begged.
Surely God understood, she concluded, realizing almost immediately that she was violating one of the important yet simple instructions in the Lord’s Prayer.
To be forgiven she must first forgive.
Clenching her jaw and her fists, Daniella refused. There was no way she was ever going to get over what that terrible man had done.
Her broken, battered heart wouldn’t allow it.
* * *
The news Isaac received in the ensuing few minutes floored him. Terence Fagan had won early release on a technicality and had been roaming the streets for several years. Whether or not he might have located his daughter before her TV news appearance was a moot point. Circumstances seemed to point to a real, present danger. That was all that mattered. The details would eventually sort themselves out.
“Ms. Dunne,” Isaac called as soon as he’d ended his phone conversation. “Come on. We have to go. There’s no time to waste.”
She poked her head around the corner into the kitchen. “I can’t go yet. I’m not leaving without Puddy.”
“Yes, you are.”
The mist filling her eyes made them glisten like jewels in the rain. “No. Please. I know he’s here. He has to be.”
“Unless someone let him out while they were trying to break in.” Isaac saw little chance of that but persisted. “Why don’t you leave dishes of food and water in the usual place in here, then put others in the hallway, just in case? I’ll either stop by to check or have members of my team do it. Puddy will show up as soon as he gets hungry enough. The problem is, you can’t stay here and wait for that to happen.”
She stared at him, her hands trembling.
He approached her slowly, hoping to keep her as calm as possible when he delivered the bad news. Stopping an arm’s length from her, he looked deeply into her eyes, willing her to continue to trust him, at least enough to heed his sage advice.
Her eyes widened. “What are you not telling me?”
“That call I just made? It was to our tech support. Terence Fagan has been out of prison for several years.”
“That’s impossible!”
Isaac lightly cupped her elbow to steady her. “I’m sorry. It’s true. His appeal was granted on a technicality.”
She swayed as if dizzy, so he continued to hold her arm, just in case. “No. Your information must be wrong.”
“Sorry. Our Fiona Fargo is the best computer tech in the business. If she says your father has been released, he has been.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“I don’t know. When you get in touch with the marshals’ office to arrange to be moved, you can ask them. It was probably an oversight.”
“Oversight? This is my life we’re talking about.”
Isaac nodded soberly. “I’m glad you realize that.” He let go and opened her cupboards to locate usable dishes. “Will these do for your cat?”
She barely nodded.
“Okay. I’ll fill one with water and you put dry food in the other so we can be on our way.”
This time she not only didn’t argue, she moved to comply as if in a stupor. That state of mind wasn’t any better for her than her earlier panic, although it did make his current task easier.
Until they could coordinate with the US Marshals office in DC, his best option would be to take her home with him, as he’d already been planning.
There was more than one good reason for that choice, too. His injured leg was starting to really throb and the sooner he was free to take his prescribed medication the better he’d feel.
Reasoning that a nurse would be sympathetic and therefore more compliant, he decided to tell her. “Listen, I hate to mention this but I’m starting to feel awfully sore. I couldn’t chance taking my morning meds and getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle so I haven’t had any painkillers since what you gave me last night.”
That snapped her out of her doldrums enough to frown and caution, “You should have kept up with them. It’s not just for comfort, you know. Controlling pain will help you heal faster. Plus, one of those scripts was for oral antibiotics.”
“Afraid I didn’t stop to look,” Isaac admitted. “When my captain called me, I didn’t question his reasons.”
“What was he thinking? You’re injured.”
Isaac chanced a slight smile. “Actually, it was my decision. He told me he was worried because there was no record of your past and wanted to confer with me.”
“That’s a lame excuse if I’ve ever heard one,” Daniella said. Hoisting a bulging tote bag, she sighed as she started for the door. “I won’t be responsible if you develop an infection. Let’s go.”
Following her out the apartment door and waiting while she carefully relocked it, Isaac couldn’t help feeling relieved and more than a little glad. She was finally thinking more clearly. That was a definite plus.
Now all he had to do was take a small enough dose of painkiller to allow his own brain to function properly and they’d be a formidable team.
Visualizing himself and Daniella as a team caught him by surprise. They had little if anything in common, so why was he seeing her as part of his work, let alone his life?
Because the effects of this injury have addled me, he concluded. That aberration would surely pass.
His smile waned. It had better. In his line of work, letting a pretty face distract him could be fatal.
* * *
Since there was a logo on the door of the SUV that matched the patches on Isaac’s uniform shirt, it was easy for Daniella to tell which official vehicle belonged to the K-9 cop. None of the responding agencies
