Page 17 of Defender

The moment was lost.

“You answer the door,” he told her.“I’ll get Chloe.”

Ashton made his way into little Chloe’s room.He didn’t turn on the light, hoping he’d be able to soothe her into going back to sleep.But as soon as she saw it was him and not Summer in the dim glow from the night light, she scooted herself around onto her little bottom and pulled herself into a standing position on her crib.

“Ah-ta!Ah-ta.Ah-ta.”Glee tainted her tone.She held her arms out to him.

He couldn’t resist her, didn’t even try.“Hey there, sweetheart.”He swung her up in his arms.“I’m sorry all the racket woke you up.”

“Ah-ta.Mama.”

“Yes, your mama’s right out in the living room.Let’s go see her, since I’m sure you’ll scream bloody murder if I put you back in that crib right now.”

Summer was telling the two police officers what she saw at the window.A man in a ski mask.

“As soon as I looked over there, he disappeared.I called for Ashton who was out at the power box at the street and he went to look out back.”

Ashton nodded at the two men.“Here, you take this wiggle worm,” he said, handing Chloe to Summer, “and I’ll take the officers outside and show them what I saw.”

He didn’t want to talk shop in front of Summer.It wouldn’t take much of a slip before she realized he knew way more about crime scenes and pursuit tactics than a condo handyman should.

When the door closed behind him, he immediately identified himself, pulling his credentials from his pocket.“I’m Ashton Fitzgerald, with Omega Sector.”The two officers introduced themselves as Jackson and McMeen.

He showed the men where the wires had been cut in the main fuse box and they went around to where the perp had been looking through Summer’s window.Sure enough, a footprint was clearly evident in the soil beneath Summer’s window.

The two men looked at each other.“This matches a couple other calls we’ve gotten the last few days.Mostly apartments and condos, but a couple of houses,” McMeen said.

“Dangerous?”

Jackson shook his head.“No.Power cut, some graffiti.General building damage.Nobody has actually seen them before Ms.Worrall.”

“Whoever it was took off immediately as soon I headed their way.”

McMeen wrote something down in his notebook.“That would be consistent with our theory that it’s some teenagers just looking for a little trouble.”

That made Ashton feel better.He knew it would Summer, too.

The officers left and Ashton made a call to the power company.They assured him they’d have someone out there first thing in the morning to look at it.By the time he made it back inside Summer’s house, she was laying Chloe back in her crib.

“Did they find anything?”she whispered as she came back out, closing Chloe’s door behind her.

“There was definitely a footprint under your kitchen window and some of the wiring to all the units had been tampered with down at the box by the street.”

“Why?Do the police have any idea who it is?”

“It looks like it’s probably some high-school kids trying to make trouble.They’ve had other similar calls around town this week.”

Some of the tension eased from Summer’s shoulders.Stupid kids were just stupid kids.

Now that the immediate danger was past, Ashton could feel every bruise and burn on his body from the electrical shocks earlier today.God, he was tired.

Evidently it showed.

She touched him gently on his arm.“Thank you for coming over here tonight.I was a mess.”

“No, you were fine.Anyone would be a little frightened in these circumstances.Kids didn’t mean any harm, but that doesn’t mean it’s not scary.”He remembered carrying Summer and Chloe out of that burning warehouse a few months ago.If anyone had logical reason to worry about a masked face in a window, it was her.

She turned away.“I guess so.”

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