Finding Gracie's Rainbow (33 page)

“
So you are setting her up
on a blind date?” Paige was laughing, “You little minx.”

Gracie frowned as she
walked into her closet to pick out a dress. “Jackson told her that
we needed a chaperone and, of course, Bea agreed with him.” She
brought out a pale blue dress. “Too business looking?”

Paige nodded and walked
into the closet to look over Gracie’s clothes. “You need to go
shopping.” She peered out at Gracie. “Don’t you own anything that
doesn’t say you're strictly business?”

“
Why would I?” Gracie was
watching as Paige finally brought out the pale pink jumper. “I
guess this will work.” She laid it on the bed. “Would you like me
to do your hair?”

“
I was just going to throw
it up in a bun.” Gracie always wore it that way because of all of
her curls. She watched as Paige wrinkled her nose. “Why
not?”

“
You have gorgeous hair,
Gracie. Stop acting like you're off to spend the evening in the
office.” She went into the bathroom and grabbed Gracie’s brush.
“Maybe it's time for a new style. I’ll come over tomorrow and cut
your hair.”

“
I'm just going out with
Jackson.” Gracie looked over at her before Paige started to brush
out her hair. “He's seen me a lot worse.”

“
Just Jackson,” Paige
chuckled as she thumped Gracie on the head. “And it’s about time,
too.”

“
Why don’t you bug
somebody else?” Gracie stood after Paige had finished with her
hair. She took the brush and placed it back into the bathroom.
“Have the kids even ate lunch yet?”

“
Not that I know of. Annie
left, and Kim's keeping an eye on them while I'm in here.” Paige
was standing at the door as she talked.

“
Kim is here?” Gracie
looked shocked after she walked back into the room.

“
Yes, I called her.” Paige
walked out the door as Gracie stood next to her bed.

“
Great. She's going to
start asking questions.” Gracie said to herself as she started to
walk out towards the living room. “How long has Annie been
gone?”

“
Not long, she was just
going to drop something off at her office.” Paige smiled as she saw
Kim bring the children from outside to wash. “She has plenty of
time before the date.”

~

Annie was staring at her
boss as she dropped the file on his desk. “Finished.” She mumbled
as she started to walk away.

“
Susan wants to talk some
more.” The gray haired, pudgy man across the desk spoke up as he
took the file into his hands. “And she'll only talk to you and that
detective guy. Oh, what is his name?”

“
Christian Lavern,” Annie
answered him. “When did she want to talk, Mr. Greene?”

“
Today,” he answered as he
noticed the impatient glare that he had received from Annie. “I
tried to call your phone but it kept going to
voicemail.”

Annie looked at her phone,
puzzled as to why she wasn't receiving her calls. “I have somewhere
I have to be in two hours.”

“
Maybe it won’t take that
long.” Mr. Greene handed her the file back. “Let’s just see what
she has to say.

“
Yes, sir,” Annie took the
file and called Gracie from the phone in the office to tell her
that she had something to take care before she could go back home.
She drove to the jail, noticing that Christian was already there
waiting on her.

“
It’s about time you
showed.” Christian was looking angry as he stood to walk down to
the interrogation room.

Annie glared at his
retreating figure. “I just found out and for your information, I
was taking the day off.”

“
I wish that made a hill
of beans.” He didn't look back at her as he continued to walk,
opening the door for her when they reached their destination. “I
have somewhere I have to be, and I want to get this over
with.”

“
And I do, too.” Annie
retorted as they watched Susan being escorted into the room with by
a deputy.

Christian looked at Susan
as she sat down after Annie sat down at the table with them. “Mrs.
Cameron, we were told that you wanted to talk to us.”

“
Yes, sir,” Susan looked
at them with her velvet blue eyes. “I need to tell you that Mark
knows someone here that is working in his favor.”

“
Do you know who?”
Christian didn't like what she had just told them.

“
All I know is that it's a
judge. He never talked to him by name.” Susan looked over at Annie.
“That is why Mark keeps getting off so easy.”

“
We need to find out who
this judge is.” Annie looked over at Christian as she spoke. “He
never had the judge work in your favor?”

“
I was trying to get
arrested. I should’ve been arrested.” She frowned as she answered
Annie. “It’s a heck of lot safer in here than where I
was.”

Annie looked over at her
startled. “Did you not realize that there are agencies to help
women in your situation?”

“
He would've found me.”
Susan plainly stated while they both listened to her. “You've heard
my testimony. This is the only part that I hadn't told you.” She
paused as she looked up at the camera that was filming the
interview. “I slashed Gracie’s tires because he said if I didn’t I
would pay for it when we got home. I helped tear up her apartment
and steal the manuscript because of the same reason.” She looked
down at the table. “I sent the manuscript in because I wanted to
get caught. I never knew that they would put me on house arrest in
that apartment keeping me a prisoner to Mark’s anger.”

“
I'm betting he helped do
that, otherwise you would've been placed in a cell.” Christian was
studying her. “There’s a little girl and a mother who are glad that
you were there.”

“
I didn’t want him hurting
her. He made me have an abortion.” Susan was frowning as she
remembered. “I would've made a great mother.”

“
Thank you, Susan.” Annie
stood after they had finished talking to her. “You’ve been a great
help.”

Christian opened the door
for Annie after the sheriff had escorted Susan back to her cell.
“Maybe they'll cut her a deal.”

“
I hope so.” Annie glanced
down at her watch. “I'd better go or Gracie is going to hurt me for
being late.”

Christian watched her walk
away before calling his boss to give him all the information he had
just received. He was going to have to rush himself if he was going
to make it to the restaurant on time.

Chapter 16

Annie looked up from her
menu puzzled when Christian sat down beside her. “What are you
doing here?”

“
I could ask you the same
question, Mrs. Roberts.” Christian looked over at Jackson wanting
to know what was going on. “Jackson invited me to thank
me.”

Annie glared at her cousin.
“The chaperone bit was a ploy-wasn’t it?” She looked from Jackson
to Gracie. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home now.”

“
You can’t, and I do
mind.” Jackson informed her as he looked down at his menu. “I
invited you before I extended the invitation to
Christian.”

Gracie looked up and placed
her menu down. “We wanted to thank you, too.” She wasn't saying
anything about their conversation earlier that day. “For being
there when I was going through what I did at the beginning of the
week.”

“
So this isn’t a set up?”
Christian looked at both them while interrogating them like they
were criminals.

“
Is that what you think?”
Jackson was laughing on the inside even though he looked very
serious as he talked. “How about you guys take it as you want, and
then we can enjoy this meal. What are you having,
Gracie?”

“
The lobster of course,”
she answered with a mischievous grin. “And I think I’ll have a
strawberry daiquiri to drink.”

“
I don’t think so, but
nice try.” He tilted his head to the side as he laughed at her. “I
won’t buy you one.”

“
Fine.” Gracie was smiling
as the waitress came over to them. “I didn’t really want one
anyway.”

Annie was actually smiling
as they placed their orders. “You might hear something if you let
her drink.”

Gracie wrinkled her nose,
and they relaxed enough to have a conversation during the rest of
the meal. Jackson looked over at Gracie while Annie had left to
freshen up, and Christian had told them good night. “Maybe you were
mistaken.”

“
Maybe and maybe not,”
Gracie stood after Jackson had laid the tip on the table. “You
would almost think they hate each other.” She walked out towards
the doors where she met up with Annie.

“
That was fun,” Annie said
under her breath while they waited for Jackson. “How about we don’t
do that again.”

“
We had no idea that you
didn’t like him.” Gracie whispered as Jackson made his way over to
them. “But it was better than being the ‘third wheel’ as you called
it.”

“
Just a step above,” Annie
agreed as they walked out to the parking lot. “I’m ready to call it
a day.”

“
So what did you have to
take care of before dinner?” Gracie was curious as she looked back
at Annie from the front seat.

“
I had to attend a meeting
with Christian.” Annie laughed at the expression on Jackson’s face.
“This is the first time I've worked with him on a case.”

“
And I don’t need to guess
about what case. Do I?” Gracie had already figured out that it was
about Bea.

“
I think you know.” Annie
was thoughtful as she thought about what Susan had told her and
Christian at the jailhouse.

“
I don’t.” Jackson drove
up into Gracie’s driveway.

“
Bea’s case,” Gracie
answered not wanting to talk anymore about it. “Home sweet home,”
she opened the door and was on her front porch before Jackson
opened his door.

He looked over at Annie
puzzled. “You've been assigned this case?”

“
Yes, Jackson.” Annie had
watched Gracie as she had run away from the conversation. “And you
know that I’m very tight-lipped about work cases, so don’t
ask.”

“
I won’t.” He would get
Gracie to talk to him later. “After you,” he swept his arm forward
in front of Annie as they walked up to the door.

Gracie walked back out the
door after they entered. “I'm going to pick up Bea and
Garrison.”

“
Would you like some
company?” Jackson had started to turn back around.

“
No, I wouldn’t.” Gracie
answered while she continued to walk towards Kim’s house. She
walked into the house and looked at her sister. “I'm going to sit
here for a few minutes.”

“
You haven’t told him.
Have you?” Kim looked over at her from where she had been watching
television.

“
Not exactly,” Gracie
played with the vase of flowers that were in front of her as she
talked. “I feel like I'm suffocating.”

Kim studied her as they sat
there in silence for a few minutes. “And there is something
else.”

“
How do you keep doing
that?” She looked astounded as she asked.

“
I know you, baby girl.”
Kim stood and walked over to the couch where her sister was
sitting. “And when you get ready to talk about it, I’ll be right
here as always."

“
Annie has been assigned
to Bea’s case.” Gracie informed her sister. “She asked a few
questions, and it upset me. That’s basically it, in a
nutshell.”

“
And I'll be here when you
get ready to talk about it in more detail.” Kim knew that it went
deeper with Gracie. It always did. “How was dinner?”

“
I guess it went alright.”
Gracie was smiling. “Annie didn't appreciate Christian being there,
and I think that the feeling was mutual. They're working the same
case.”

“
Cue the twilight zone
music.” Kim laughed as Gracie had finished telling her about the
way that the two had acted towards each other.

“
I guess I'd better go
before Jackson comes up to see what the holdup is. Where are Bea
and Garrison?” She stood as Kim called them.

She walked them home and
started yawning after Bea started to take her shower. It had been a
long day, and she was trying to give Jackson a hint that it was
time for him to leave.

He watched her for a few
minutes before getting up to kiss her good night as Annie watched.
She turned to Gracie after she heard his car pulling away. “It’s
only nine o' clock.”

“
And I'm tired.” Gracie
shot her a look not wanting to go into her actions any deeper.
"Vacation has a way of wearing one out, and I haven’t caught up on
my sleep from Sunday and Monday yet.”

Annie narrowed her eyes.
“I'm so sure that’s all there is.” She stood and walked into the
kitchen. “You're afraid that he's going to ask you
questions.”

“
No, I’m not. He can ask
all the questions he wants, but I don’t have to answer them. At the
moment, I wish I hadn’t answered yours.” Gracie was upset as she
talked. “Do me a favor and forget the answers that I gave
you.”