Last Seen Alive

Chapter Fifteen

@Khiaras_o Another one for you! Thanks for playing!

"So my seven-year-old sister came face-to-face with a killer," Kelsey said, pinching her forehead in frustration. "Again."

Michael turned to watch Keisha. Her head was tilted up towards the sky and the hanky he'd given her was over her face as she spun around.

"Did you ever tell her it was Claire who had her and not Natasha the day you were taken hostage?"

Kelsey shook her head. "She never noticed so we all decided it was best if we didn't tell her in case she ended up being afraid of Natasha. It's not like Claire is ever getting out of jail anyway."

"In my opinion, if the man who was with Lydia felt like Keisha might expose him, he would have taken her along with Scottie."

"He wouldn't have been able to. Not at the school anyway."

"Oh?"

"As long as he's not on the school's list of approved guardians, the school wouldn't release her to him. But what about when she's out of school? What if he comes to our house and—"

"Hey," he interrupted her before she could spiral. "That's not going to happen."

"How do you know that?"

"I'll get a unit to watch her when she leaves school and stakeout your place too until we catch this guy."

Kelsey bit her lip. "That sounds great but if Mum sees that, she'll freak out. It took a really long time for her to move on from the Claire incident. If she thinks Keisha's in danger, it will send her spiralling again."

"You're the Psychology expert. I'm sure you'll be able to fix her if it comes to that."

"She's not a car, you know," she said dryly.

"You sound a lot like Joyce when you say that," he commented with a smile. "I was just kidding anyway. I'll make sure they're discreet so your mum won't know, but Keisha will be safe."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

"Let me check with the office if they have footage from yesterday that might have caught the culprit. I'll be back in a few minutes."

While he was gone, Kelsey questioned her sister again, hoping to get more clues, but she didn't get anything else helpful. When Michael came back from his unsuccessful quest, he found her hugging Keisha tightly while the little girl fake-spluttered and complained that she was drowning in the hug.

"How about you take the day off and take Keisha home with you?" he suggested.

"What, why?"

"You need it after everything that's happened. And I know you'll be worried about your sister the whole time, so just take her with you for today."

She eyed him with suspicion. "I thought we weren't supposed to let personal stuff get in the way of work?"

"This isn't a personal thing, Harris. There's a real, work-related threat. Besides, I need to get some sleep because I've been up all night and if we train in this state, you'll probably knock me down with one punch."

"I wouldn't mind that at all," Kelsey said gleefully.

"Of course you wouldn't," he scoffed. His phone rang before he could say anything else. He took one look at the screen and frowned before cutting the call and putting the phone back in his pocket. She finally agreed to his proposal and told the teacher that Keisha had to leave for a family emergency.

Michael held the girls' backpacks while Kelsey helped her sister into the cab after Keisha had given him a bunch of instructions on how to hold it.