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Chase shot off the sofa. “What?” He shook his head. “No! They’ll imprison you.”
“Or they’ll imprison my brother. He holds no fault here. I can’t say the same.”
Chapter Four
“You didn’t do this.” Chase’s eyes burned with frustration.
“No, I didn’t kill Bao Yu. I would have taken her place a thousand times. But I joined the Vultures gang, Chase.”
When Chase learned Della’s aunt had been killed, Eddie had told Chase the story. “You were young and scared.”
“But it was my mistake. I own it. It was because of me that they killed her.”
“That doesn’t make you guilty,” Chase insisted.
Eddie frowned. “In a way, it does, son.”
Eddie’s calm attitude had Chase clenching his jaw. “How? You chose not to kill someone, now you are going to pay the price for them killing someone you loved.” He paced the path between the sofa and coffee table once. Then twice. There had been times when Chase had wished he too had died with his family, but Eddie made him see that life was worth living.
“I made a mistake,” Eddie said. “I’m more responsible than Chao. And before I’ll let him pay for this, I will pay.” Eddie’s dark eyes met Chase’s in a firm look. “Now respect me and my wishes like I respect yours.”
Eddie was dead serious. Emotion tightened Chase’s chest. “I’ll find Douglas Stone. I’m not going to let you go to prison.” And he meant it.
Eddie put a hand on his shoulder. “I have no doubt you’ll do everything you can.” He gave Chase’s shoulder a heartfelt squeeze. “Meanwhile take care of my niece. You call her stubborn, and you are right: The Tsangs are headstrong. But son, you have your own obstinate side.” His smile widened. “The two of you are going to make quite a pair.”
The advice came from the heart. Chase owed this man so much, and right or wrong, he felt as if he were turning his back on him.
Then it occurred to him that what he felt for Eddie, Della felt for her father. Whether Chase liked the man or not, even if he wasn’t deserving of his daughter’s affection, Della was emotionally connected to him.
“You need to get to know her,” Chase said. “You would be proud of her.”
“I have no doubt. I can see you care for her. Does she feel the same for you?”
“Like I said, she’s stubborn.”
Eddie smiled. “But you will win her over.”
Chase put his hand on Eddie’s. Why did this good-bye seem harder? Part of him longed to be exactly who Eddie wanted him to be, but Chase wasn’t blind to the rights and wrongs of the council’s ways.
Chase moved over to Baxter and gave him a good ear rub. “Take him to Kirk’s. I’ll get him from there.” Not that Chase was looking forward to facing Kirk, either. Kirk Curtis was Eddie’s best friend and a member of the council. Kirk had even been with Chase when they found the crashed plane.
Eddie nodded. “Are you sure this Burnett James is going to accept you after what happened? You’ve said he’s a hardass.”
The same question had been bubbling in Chase’s subconscious. “A letter releasing me from the council would help.”
“Kirk can provide that. He’s at his office right now.” Eddie paused. “And if that doesn’t work, come back, where you belong.”
“It’ll work.” Chase refused to believe otherwise. “It has to.” His gut knotted, thinking about the possibility that his request would be denied. But even the best-case scenario of Burnett agreeing was going to be hard. For there was no way Burnett was going to let him back in without giving him some comeuppance.
If Burnett excelled at anything, it was dishing it out. And if there was one thing Chase sucked at, it was taking it. He’d never liked eating crow.
But he’d better work up an appetite. For Della, he’d do it.
Nodding goodbye, he walked out of the living room. Baxter followed him, gazing up at him, his tail thumping. Chase knelt down. “I’ll be back soon to take you with me. Promise.”
Chase’s phone, tucked in his back pocket, dinged with an incoming text. He stood up and pulled it out.
His heart jolted when Della’s name appeared. When he’d first left on a mission, trying to find the lowlife rogue who’d killed Eddie’s sister, she’d tried to contact him. It had hurt not to be able to answer her. It had hurt more when she stopped trying to contact him. He read her text.
