“Until the DNA tests are done, those children are wards of the State and therefore the State makes decisions about their welfare and to make those decisions they would consult with someone like me. When they consult with me, I will strongly encourage them not to allow the police, however gently, to interrogate a boy who’s father died in a car crash, his mother was murdered, he’d been kidnapped, imprisoned, mentally and physically abused, possibly had seen a murder but definitely a sex act at an age where he cannot process this in and of itself. It was an act that was not consensual and finally, he lived on his own, taking care of himself on the streets and in the wilderness all while terrified about the state of his sister. So let us not waste time by calling in CPS only for them to ask me what I think and act on my recommendation. Just take my word for it now that you are not going to talk to that boy about witnessing an act of rape and a possible murder,” Dr. Carruthers retorted.
“You can be there,” Frank offered.
“And, in the future, if it’s necessary for you to interrogate him, I better be,” she rejoined.
“It wouldn’t be an interrogation,” Frank clipped.
“It won’t be anything,” Chace growled and all eyes came to him but he was looking at Frank. “No way in f**k you’re gonna talk to Miah. Not now. Not f**kin’ tomorrow. Not next f**kin’ week. Not until Dr. Carruthers gives you the go ahead to do it and maybe not at all. Tonight, he’s gonna eat lasagna with the folks who looked after him and the grandparents he hasn’t seen in three f**kin’ years and he’s gonna do it feelin’ safe and looked after. Not remembering watching a woman get her face raped. You call CPS and you try to get to that kid and they lose their minds and let you, Frank, you’ll have to go through me to get him.”
“But it’s Misty,” Frank told him something he already f**king knew.
“Yeah, it’s Misty. And yeah, I wanna know who did her. But I do not want to sacrifice whatever scraps of peace of mind we’ve managed to give Miah in order to get that f**ker. He doesn’t get to do Misty, maybe Darren and f**k Miah too. No f**kin’ way. We’ll find another way,” Chace fired back.
Frank’s face filled with disbelief before he reminded him, “You’ve been living and breathing her case for months.”
“And I’ll live and breathe not knowin’ who did her but resting easy that my not knowing means Miah can put this serious as f**k shit behind him and move the f**k on,” Chace returned. “Honest to God, Frank, I’m uncertain I ever want you to speak to him about this shit. His grandparents ask me, I’ll tell them not to volunteer him. We’ll find this guy another way. But, he was my kid, he went through that shit, I would not swing his ass out there. Even and especially if it meant protective custody. Even and especially because it might mean, if this guy is part of a bigger operation, witness protection. That kid had three years of his life seriously f**kin’ jacked. You cannot stand there and tell me Misty and Darren are worth jackin’ up the rest of it.”
“A crime has been committed, it doesn’t matter against who,” Frank said softly.
“By my count, lots of ‘em have and only three of ‘em against Darren and Misty. The rest, Miah and Becky endured. They will not endure more,” Chace replied.
“Someone has to stand up for Darren and Misty. And someone has to pay for what was done to them,” Frank shot back.
“I agree. Absolutely. What I don’t agree is that Miah is the one who’s gotta help us do all that,” Chace retorted.
Frank pulled out the heavy artillery. “This isn’t the cop I know you to be.”
But Chace was immune. “I’m not a cop. I’m a man who is also a cop. And I’m the man who bought that kid a sleeping bag when he was sleepin’ in rags, taught him how to play video games and carried his trembling sister through the woods after he rescued her. And I’m content to be that man over bein’ a cop.”
“You’re going to be an excellent father,” Dr. Carruthers cut in at this juncture and Chace looked to her.
“I hope so since mine is a jackass.”
Her lips twitched and she replied, “Well, maybe so but you learned the tools somewhere, though,” she went on to advise, “I’d curtail the swearing.”
Christ, he’d heard that before.
He didn’t respond. He looked at Cap.
“We done?”
Cap nodded then turned his eyes to Frank. “No Jeremiah, son.”
“Cap!” Frank bit out sharply.
“You get antsy, disobey an order, you try to get to that boy or his grandparents to make your attempt to get through Chace you gotta get through me first. Boy’s had enough. We’ll find this ass**le another way. As far as we’re concerned in this office, Enid Eglund’s ramblings about what Jeremiah saw are just that. Ramblings. This dies here.”
Frank’s back went up and he returned softly but irately, his meaning veiled but still clear, “That isn’t the way of the law.”
“There’s dirty, Frank,” Cap replied just as softly but not irately. “And there’s compassion. This says not one thing about Misty Keaton or Darren Newcomb and who did them or this office’s determination to find that man. This is this Department deciding to act with compassion for a witness. You sleep on that and you’ll see it clear.”
Frank stared at Cap then Dr. Carruthers then Chace before he walked out.
“You got lasagna to eat, son,” Cap told him then looked at Dr. Carruthers. “You do too.”
“Right,” she whispered, grinning.
They made a move to the door but Cap stopped him, calling, “Chace.”