That meant that Chase was back.
She hit the button that allowed the gate and door to open, and then she waited for him to come in. Naturally, he saw her staring at him the minute he walked in. And he knew she was going to want answers.
“Hey! Sorry, I had to run out. But under the current circumstances, I wanted someone to be with you and thankfully, you’d met Andy and you know—”
“Yeah. He carries a gun,” Sky said, arms crossed over her chest.
Chase shrugged. “Yeah, I know you’re safe with him.”
Andy sat there silently, shaking his head, looking at Chase.
“I thought I was safe once I had a big dog,” Sky said.
Andy spoke at last. “I didn’t mean to be intrusive—” he repeated.
“You weren’t,” Sky quickly informed. “You’re a perfect gentleman, welcome anytime. That’s not the point.”
They both just stared at her.
And then at one another.
“Just what the hell is going on here?” she demanded.
“I suggest you just tell her,” Andy said quietly.
“Please! I suggest you just tell me, too,” Sky said, staring hard at Chase. He couldn’t mean her harm; even angry as she was, she couldn’t doubt the feelings that enveloped them, as real as anything had ever been in her life.
But...
“Andy isn’t just my friend. He’s my SAC,” Chase said.
“Sack?” Sky asked, confused.
“No, SAC, Special Agent in Charge,” Chase explained.
“Um...in charge of what?” she asked.
Andy walked toward them both. “It’s imperative that you keep this quiet. Special Agent Chase McCoy has been with the bureau for over two years, and he’s an invaluable player in his undercover operations.”
Sky shook her head, completely confused. “Undercover? Everyone knows who you are—well, anyone who is into rock bands and that kind of thing.”
“Exactly,” Andy Wellington explained.
Chase looked at Sky. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Well, yeah, you pretend well,” she said. “But I still—you mean, none of this is because of my father, you’re really working for...the government?”
“Yes and no. I really work for the government, but no one knows except my folks and Hank. And as to your dad? I work for the government because of him,” Chase said flatly.
Sky stared at him, frowning. Chase explained, “I never believed it. I never believed that Jake Ferguson would inadvertently rip up an amp when a wire had come loose. I—I believed he saw something that night, and whatever he saw caused someone to make sure he never got a chance to tell anyone else.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand—”
“No one knows, Sky. I told you. No one knows but Wellington, some fellow agents, my parents, and Hank. And now you. Because it’s imperative for the kind of work I do that everyone thinks I am what I am in the other half of my life, the grandson of Hank McCoy, drummer and vocalist for the rock band Skyhawk.”
She was silent, not sure what to think or feel.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
He didn’t reply.
“Be fair, Sky,” Wellington said quietly. “He hadn’t seen you in years.”
“But...”
She just shook her head and turned away.
“Sky,” Chase said.
“Let me deal!” she snapped.
And apparently, her state of mind wasn’t the most important thing at the moment, because Wellington was quickly speaking with Chase.
“Bobby. You got to him in time.”
Chase nodded. “I don’t know what’s out there, if it’s the same source... The stuff Brandon had was contaminated, but not badly enough to kill. This stuff that Bobby had...was bad. And the thing is, Bobby can’t be the dealer—small stuff, giving to friends or whatever. He has a great wife, good work—I don’t really know him, but from what I’ve seen when I have been around the venue, he’s a solid worker and loves his wife and family and has no desire to die.”
“You know him enough—his wife called you,” Wellington said.
