Reunited in Danger Read Free Page A

found someone.
    Margaret laid a fragile hand on hers. Maybe not so fragile, since the woman owned
     a shotgun and obviously wasn’t afraid to use it. When Keely noticed the detective
     she’d met earlier approaching, along with Logan, she wasn’t sure if Margaret’s touch
     was a friendly gesture or one meant to gain support.
    “Ms. Allen, Mrs. Beyer, I’d like to ask you both a few questions. If you’ll follow
     me,” Detective Dunnigan said, leaving them little choice as he turned and walked down
     the hall.
    She looked to Logan for confirmation. He nodded.
    “Want me to stay with you during the interview?” he asked.
    “If it’s okay with the detective, it’s okay with me.” She stood and offered her elbow
     to Margaret. They linked arms and walked the distance together. She didn’t feel so
     alone in her need to help her father anymore. Margaret had witnessed the attack on
     Keely’s dad, had even scared the men away. Perhaps she could help identify the bastards
     who’d beaten Ben up.
    Keely blew out a nervous breath as Detective Dunnigan ushered her, Logan, and Margaret
     toward a small conference room off the hospital hallway.
    At the doorway, Dunnigan paused. “We’ll ask some questions of you first, Ms. Allen.
     Mrs. Beyer, if you could wait out here for a while?” He gestured to a set of fiberglass
     chairs in the hall.
    Margaret took a seat and Keely left her alone to step inside the room. Logan followed
     her, lowering himself in the chair next to the one she’d selected. This close, she
     could smell him, and feel his presence. She sat, but scooted her chair away, needing
     to keep distance between them. She glanced up to see he’d narrowed his eyes. Her act
     had been childish, she knew. But she’d do what she could to keep from letting him
     into her life again, even if his presence here was a comfort.
    Dunnigan shot a glance at Logan.
    “I’m not here in a professional capacity. I’m off the clock,” Logan quickly said.
    “Fine. This is an informal interview, anyway. But don’t interfere, or your ass is
     out of here.” Dunnigan turned his focus on Keely. “Do you know what your father’s
     plans were for the day?”
    “He was supposed to pick up a pregnant eighteen-year-old Thai woman at the airport
     who wanted to give up her baby for adoption.”
    “He brings aliens into the country?”
    “No. She’s an American citizen. He runs a US program called Loving Arms, which helps
     young pregnant women. He does it through his church—he’s the pastor at Great Grace
     Nondenominational Church in East Baltimore.” Why did she feel the need to defend her
     dad? He did everything lawfully.
    “Is it possible the woman was with him when he entered his house?”
    Keely frowned. Dunnigan had a point. If her dad went to the airport to pick someone
     up, where was the woman? “I don’t know. Either Craig Bittinger or our office manager,
     Dave Phoenix, might know, though. They both volunteer with the program at church and
     are on the board of directors for Loving Arms.”
    After Dunnigan wrote down the church’s phone number she gave him, he asked if she
     knew anyone who would hurt her father. The question shocked her. She couldn’t imagine
     anyone hurting her dad. People loved him. He’d helped so many people in the community.
     Dunnigan excused her, and she stood, realizing her legs were shaking. Logan stood,
     too, and stepped close.
    “Keely?” He placed a warm hand on her shoulder.
    She hated how his touch made her feel steadier. Hated how heat seared through her
     shirt, too. A lump formed in her throat as a memory tried to surface of how it felt
     to be held in those strong arms. She forced the memory and the lump away.
    “I want to stay for Mrs. Beyer’s interview,” he said. “Are you okay by yourself?”
    She’d survived just fine without him for ten years, so what made him think she needed
     him now? She straightened her back and modulated her voice to a