Steps... One

'All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never drive away.'

~John 6:37~

December

“Can I touch it?”

            The height of curiosity in that question almost had Chase laughing. He looked across the square table at Alice, an eight-year-old toothpick in an oversized Rocker Gym shirt. Seriously, he watched this girl eat snacks between snacks! Where did it all go? He shifted in his chair, wincing. “You want to stick your finger in a gunshot wound?”

            The kid held up her pointer finger, wiggling it like a puppet. Even now, she was relying on humor. Chase had just never had it directed at him before- he had to settle for being the butt of it. Alice was way too Comedy Central for her age; underneath it however, laid a layer of maturity. Because of that, Chase reached to the back of his neck and peeled back the tape. The graze had only needed two stitches, but it burned! He’d sat in the back of the ambulance, listening to instructions for cleaning it and how it would itch when the skin started to regrow. 

For now though, it was puffy, red, and tender. Alice had to see that, her hand hesitant to actually make contact. She did… and Chase flinched! Alice jumped back into her seat, eyes wide enough to pop out. 

Chase grinned.

Alice’s mouth fell open. “You whackbag!”

“You pretended to sever a finger in the garbage disposal.” Chase recalled- vividly. She had used heated ink from red pens! It was the first of many heart attacks that Alice had tried to give him. So spooking her was very satisfying. 

And Chase felt it was a good distraction; God had created those along with everything else and for good reason. Chase had been putting up the tree, resisting the urge to curse any and all fir trees. The branches had kept scrapping the windows, where it needed to be, according to his wife. There had been headlights, then a fierce shattering of the glass, before a fire crawled across his neck. Chase could still hear his body echo off the floor, all sounds and sights coming to him through a tunnel. The dog, Falcon, came barking and licking… Sydney’s face in a panic over him, the phone clutched to her ear.

It was now past two in the morning and despite advice to be hospitalized overnight, they were at Chase’s parents’ across town. Mom and Dad were in bed, but he was running on pure caffeine. When the adrenaline had started to wear off, he’d downed two Dr. Peppers to make it through his statement. Falcon, a German boxer and a natural jet stream of energy, was lying at their feet exhausted. So, what was Alice running on? Sure her eyes dropped and her static-filled brown hair wilted, but she remained up. Knowing her, she didn’t dare sleep through all the excitement.

“Bet it hurts.” Alice had leaned in again, covering up her scare. Her eyes took in the exposed gash- they were big, green, and didn’t miss much. “Those guys… they wanted you dead.”

Correction; she didn’t miss anything. Chase heard the creaking of the stairs and saw Syd round the landing, eyes red and shoulders heavy. Her shower had alleviated nothing. Chase stopped her with a look over Alice’s head and she lingered back, watching. 

“Lucky for me they were bad shots.” Chase lifted the corners of his mouth. 

“Are you any better?” Alice put her hands together, imitating a revolver. Chase was reminded of his own childhood games of cops and robbers. Things really fell into perspective when one became a police officer. After seven years of patrol, he was now working CID for metro police. Only a year into that, and he already seemed to be stepping on some toes. There’d been a homicide two weeks ago, with some crazy claims attached to it. But Chase didn’t have the brain function to consider then just now.

He put Alice’s hands down. She scowled at him. “You need to be if you want to get those guys.”

“You think it was guys?” Chase asked Alice, smoothing the gauze back over his wound. Alice nodded. “It sure wasn’t the real killer. Had to be someone who owes him or her a favor… or got paid off.”

“Ok,” Sydney entered the kitchen, pinching her daughter’s shoulders. “You’re never watching Law & Orderagain.”

Alice tilted her head back, looking up. “Why watch it when I can live it?”

Syndey shook her head. “To bed with you, young lady.”

“I’m not-“

“Once you lay down, I’m sure you’ll feel different.” Sydney nudged her up. “You want tucked in?”

“I’m not four.” Alice moved in leave, only to have her shoulders slump. She turned back, piercing Chase with her eyes. “They’d be stupid to try again tonight… right?”

Normally, she asked Sydney. Chase tried not to resemble a deer in headlights. “It’d be foolish of them for sure.”

Alice nodded slowly. “Foolish.”

She decided to trust that, taking the stairs to his old bedroom. Chase brushed Falcon with his foot, urging him to follow her. He was the one leg he had, as Alice had adored the dog since day one. And Falcon always appreciated a new playmate. Chase noticed how the new routine was starting in Alice’s room, then switching to Chase and Sydney’s after midnight.

Wonder if Alice bribed him to do that. Chase grinned. He wouldn’t put it past her. Alice hadn’t made this step-parenting thing easy. He raised a brow at Syd. “At least I got a conversation out of this.”

Sydney fell into the chair. “Please Chase, don’t joke.”

“It’s all I’ve got right now.” Chase slipped his hand into hers. It was cold. They let the silence settle for a moment, their situation finally hitting them over the heads. Chase knew they’d both been avoiding the fear and confusion sinking in. He was an officer and Sydney was a paralegal so they were used to the facts of violence and injustice that tried to rule the country. Those facts now laid on their home front.

“Our office will look over the case file.” Sydney stated, even while her voice quivered. “I called in a favor to make sure of it. There’s something off about this; new eyes on it, we should be able to find what it is.”

“I’ve only been working one homicide.” Chase told her, leaning his head on his hand. It was starting to pound. “I don’t know...”

“The sergeant says no act of violence is random.” Sydney’s hand were moving now in her no-nonsense business way. She no doubt wished some papers were in front of her right now, telling her something.Anythingabout why their home was attacked. “This was the one of your forensic techs, correct?”

Chase cupped both her hands, locking their eyes. “Sydney.”

“They’re going to give us the files in the morning.” Sydney told him, brushing a tear before it reached her chin. “I might as well get a head start.” 

“Your eyes won’t be any good if you’re sleep-deprived.”

“We let up now, they might catch us off-guard again.” Sydney drew a wet strand out between her fingers. “Whoever theyare.”

“Syd,” Chase moved over, taking her by the arms. “We’re not going to figure it out tonight. All we can do is count our blessings and go to sleep.”

Damp and desperate-eyed, Sydney pulled in and kissed him. “Take your own advice… thanks for not dying on me tonight.”

Chase nodded, rubbing her arm. “Sergeant gave me two weeks off- with pay! You look after that case, I’ll look after Alice; school, homework, groceries, the works.”

“Chase, you need to take it easy.”

That was hardly both of their styles. “Syd, Alice and I connected tonight.”

Her eyes peaked their disbelief. “You got shot.”

“A little extreme, but we’re connecting.” Chase forced the positive. “I’d kind of like to run with that.”

Sydney eyed him, clearly not joining his glass-half-full philosophy. But she also wanted Alice on board with their marriage as much as Chase. He initiated the kiss this time. Happy that he was alive to savor it.

~To Be Continued~