It touched me that he readily accepted my judgement so easily, when I didn’t always have confidence myself. However, I still sensed that there was a, but coming.
“I will do everything I can to help track down this person or persons. But, there may come a time, depending on how swiftly we can resolve this, when you may have to step away from Chase. If that time comes, please be assured, I’ll do everything in my power to make things right.”
My face tightened at the thought, but I understood where my father was coming from. Staying away from Chase could be the key to us finding the suspect. I didn’t like the idea, and Chase would hate it, but we weren’t left with many options.
“I have to depart early in the morning,” my father said, looking as disappointed as I felt.
“Nooo,” I whined. “New assignment?”
His smile grew wide. “Current assignment. I decided to take a break.”
“Dad. Aren’t you going to get into some kind of trouble?”
“Maybe, but the way I see it, they need me to solve their problem. So—” He shrugged like impeding a federal investigation wasn’t punishable with jail time.
That he was willing to wrist his freedom and job to check on me was the main reason my father was my hero.
The following morning, we ate together at one of our favorite breakfast spots, Buddy’s. A short while later, I took him to the airport, where he left me with a sad smile and watery eyes.