Grace (3 page)

Grace gave a wave and a smile to her boss, Commander Don Nikko, as she passed his office door. Don was on the phone and he looked kind of serious.

Grace waved at a few fellow detectives and her partner, Felix Lewis. He was translating for another officer who tried to get a statement from a civilian. Later, Felix would definitely be pissed because the department was always using him as a translator. Right now, he had more important things to do, like solve homicides.

Grace walked across the room and opened the office blinds. The sun shone in and Grace embraced it a second.

New York was a bit of a change from Las Vegas. She did, however, prefer working in Vegas Metro, but it had been time for her to come home, to face her demons and plant some roots. She had been back eight months now, which had gone by rather quickly, and she was grateful her uncle pushed the paperwork through for the lateral transfer. Of course, she'd wanted to be working out of downtown, but he wouldn't hear of it.

Uncle Nicholas wanted her close by where he could keep an eye on her and keep her in line. He wasn't too happy to hear about her crazy stunts, high-speed chases, risky undercover work, and other not-so-protocol performances as a cop.

Who was he kidding? She knew he was so damn proud of her because he laughed at the stories her superiors and fellow detectives told him.

Grace smiled. It wasn't so bad having fresh coffee and snacks on hand, especially while investigating a homicide and barely getting in two meals a day.

She was happy being a homicide investigator, even though Aunt Delores and Uncle Ted didn't want her to pursue the law enforcement avenue. She tried it their way, but she just wasn't happy. She went as far as taking the bar exam and passing with flying colors. They nearly fainted when she decided to ditch the law degree and move to another state. She needed to.

No one in her family even knew she took the Las Vegas Metro police exam, passed, and went to the academy. She would have held off telling them even longer, but she was so excited about the whole thing, and then Uncle Nicholas, Leeann, and May showed up at her graduation. She would never forget that day.

Nicholas wanted her to come back to New York then, but she refused. She wanted to make it on her own and she did just that. It was hard to leave her friends and fellow detectives behind, but it was time to go home.

Grace had been a detective for six years now.

"You know how hard I've been working on the Filonie case? I finally caught that scumbag cheating on his wife red-handed with the bimbo who stabbed his wife. The pictures are awesome. Anyway, thanks for hooking me up with Detective Jones. He's a character.” Barry sat down in the office chair across from Grace while she flipped through her mail.

She hadn't looked twice at the large yellow envelope. She knew what the return address was.

Grace rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Jones is a character, all right. I'm glad he was able to help."

"By the way, he's got the hots for you. Kept asking me personal information about you, like what's your favorite flower? Do you date a lot?” Barry leaned in closer to her. “What size bra do I think you wear?"

Grace looked up in shock. “He didn't!” then she shook her head. Why was she so surprised? Everyone who knew Detective Jones was aware of his reputation as a womanizer.

"What did you tell him, Barry?"

Barry smiled and tilted his head to the side, staring right at her chest.

"I said I had no idea what bra size you wear, but if I were him I would watch those kinds of comments around you since you're a black belt. He seemed to like that little fact even more. Anyway, how did the questioning go?"

"It went nowhere. I was stuck with Ron for thirty minutes trying to avoid knocking him on his ass."

Barry laughed. “I didn't know he was working the case?"

"He's not! Some other jerk, Max Mathews is and he's unwilling to discuss the case right now. Too busy or some crap like that. It doesn't matter, anyway. Felix and I like to work alone."

"Oh, no, that sounds right up your ally, Grace. Why don't you call Uncle Nick? I bet he could straighten things out."

"No worries."

"Well, be careful, Grace. You know how the downtown cops are."

"Don't remind me, Barry. I made the mistake of dating one once. Huge mistake."

Barry laughed, then headed toward the door.

"Speaking of Jimmy, I saw him this morning at the department. He asked about you. But then again, so did Larry Sullivan. Man, Grace, when you think about it, you could have your choice of men."

"She can't! We need her right here,” Don Nikko interrupted as he entered the office.

Barry smiled.

"Still, boss, it's kind of cool working with a celebrity. Our own little Vegas showgirl."

"Celebrity? Cool it, Barry.” She gave Barry a dirty look.

There was no room in her life for sexist, overbearing, and macho males.

That was Jimmy's fault. He tried to control her and they had only dated for a month.

"I thought I heard you say something about Max Mathews,” Don said as Barry excused himself and headed back to his desk.

"Yes, I did. Do you know him?” Grace hoped her boss did.

"Oh, yeah, I know him, all right. He's a real hard-ass. As tough as they come and a real no bullshit kind of guy. He's practically a legend."

"A legend, huh?” Grace asked sarcastically.

Then she took a seat at her desk and listened to her boss.

"Phillips and Dickins were working a missing persons case two years ago when the police found a body downtown near one of the piers. Mathews was lead detective on the case and he figured out who the killer was.

"Phillips and Dickins worked a little bit with him because the body they found belonged to the missing girl they were searching for.

"It turned out to be the girl's father. It was sick, really bad.

"The father almost got away with it, but Mathews didn't give in so easily. Gut instincts, I guess."

"Great. I suppose this ‘super cop’ has a huge ego, as well? Ron told me Mathews was too busy to discuss the case he's working on with me."

"I haven't seen him in a while, but the guy is not easy to get along with. He likes to work alone. However, he's a great detective, been trained by the best. That retired commander of Bronx Homicide, Geberth.

"I wouldn't trust Ron. I hate to say it, Grace, but the guy could have lied just to make a move on you."

"I don't know about that. I've made it perfectly clear that I'm not interested. Felix and I will continue to investigate this homicide."

"Hey, don't you have your sister's party tonight?” The commander looked at the clock on the wall.

"Oh, shit! I totally forgot."

"I figured you would. Why do you even have a cell phone and a desk calendar if you don't bother to use them?"

"I keep forgetting and then when I do remember, I forget to charge it. I promise to make it one of my New Year resolutions."

"Don't you just love it? It's not even Halloween yet."

Don smiled, then left the room. Grace picked up a picture of herself, Nicholas, his wife, Leeann, and their daughter May. She was about sixteen and May was seven. Boy, did Grace love being a big sister to May.

Both Nicholas and Leeann treated Grace like their own daughter and they had raised her since she was nine years old. She sighed, trying not to mix the happy thoughts with the sad ones.

All of that was behind her. She had needed those eight years to pull herself together, be independent and rid herself of anxiety and fearfulness. She was a freaking mess most of her childhood, then shy and reserved through high school and college. She needed to break free. Grace needed to leave the life she had and start over. It was the only way to get control of her life, her emotions and the fear. There was no better cure than looking fear in the face, learning to never back down and finally feeling complete.

The police academy provided that for her and gave her the training and the skill she needed to be successful at her vocation. She was glad she hadn't wasted any more time on the whole law degree and career. That surely would have been disastrous. Despite all the studying, hours of hard work and the year as a lawyer, she just knew in her heart she would never be happy in that career.

Law enforcement called to her and the need to follow her heart led the way. It was a decision she made on her own and taking the test without her uncle's knowledge added to her determination to succeed.

Grace sighed, remembering feeling guilty and just waiting for Nicholas and Leanne to tell her she was making a mistake and that her decision stemmed from the loss of her father and mother. Grace questioned the motives in her decision, but eventually fate stepped in. They had no idea what she had gone through trying to commit and make the decision. When that letter came with the results of her tests and her acceptance into the academy, she was thrilled. Most importantly, she knew right then being a cop like her dad was her destiny.

Coming back home and facing the events of her past was a struggle in itself. Especially this time of year when the season changed from summer to fall and winter memories threatened to weaken her strong spirit and state of mind.

She turned to look out the office window, annoyed at herself for trying to pretend the bad memories of her childhood were fading.

The trees had lost most of their leaves. The temperature dropped now. A sure sign the fall was coming to an end along with the warm sweaters soon to be replaced by winter coats.

She had just taken hers out of storage over the weekend in preparation for the frigid temperatures. The kids were surely going to be wearing layers under their Halloween costumes tomorrow.

Once again, the annual uneasy feeling crept through her. It always started off this way, slow, barely even there, but she felt it. That sensation would grow and grow, along with the chest pains, trouble breathing, and the nightmares from her ninth Christmas.

"No, Gracy ... you're not going to do this to yourself,” she whispered as she hugged herself, then rubbed her arms.

The chills that invaded her body were demons she would more than likely have to deal with for the rest of her life.

When she heard her phone ringing, she was grateful for the interruption. She quickly answered it. “Hey, Uncle Nick, are you all ready for tonight?"

"Sure am, doll face. Will you make it on time? You do remember it's a surprise party?"

"Yes, I remember. I wouldn't miss May's celebration for anything. I'll see you at six."

Grace hung up the phone and prepared to continue her investigation. She picked up the file one more time, glancing at the picture of Celina Marquette.

The victim's parents had last spoken to her a week ago. The cops had checked out the boyfriend and he came up clean. As far as Grace could tell, the parents were legitimate, as well. Likable, actually. Jimmy Rossi's partner, Frank, who worked Missing Persons was a friend of the Marquette family and had seen the similarities in the cases then forwarded everything to Grace.

Frank had been investigating the possibility of a kidnapping for ransom since the Marquettes were very wealthy, plus the husband was pretty well known in the area, always in the spotlight. So far, the family hadn't received any ransom demands, nor was there any other evidence to indicate kidnapping.

Damn it, this would be tough if Celina were the victim of a serial killer. The hopes of her still being alive were slim.

That was news Grace didn't want to be true and unfortunately, the longer Celina stayed missing, her chances of survival lessened. As long as her body wasn't found, Celina would continue to be considered a missing person. There was that small bit of hope that somehow she was still alive.

Grace wasn't sure what would be better, to die after such an ordeal, or to continue to live life as a survivor.

Even she wasn't sure of the answer.

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He prepared his dinner, careful not to cook the asparagus too long. He took great pride in being such an avid chef. To him, there was nothing better than smelling a delicious meal, anticipating the taste and being more than satisfied after sinking his teeth into it.

"Mmmm ... delicious,” he whispered, then sprinkled some salt and pepper on the sliced mozzarella cheese.

He heard sobbing in the background and turned to the small, twelve-inch monitor sitting in the corner of the shiny, black marble countertop. The image made him frown a moment.

"Now, now ... my little pretty one. There's no need to cry. You must behave tonight. I have company coming and can't be disturbed.

"If you behave, I'll come visit you later."

He spoke softly to the screen as if the young woman could hear his every word.

He eyed a small spot that stood out from the rest of the shiny marble countertop. He glared at it, and grabbed the sponge from the sink, wiping at the spot. He dried it with the towel, then retrieved the glass cleaner from the cabinet below.

A moment later, he wiped down the whole counter even though he was in the middle of cooking a gourmet meal.

Meanwhile, two floors below the kitchen, Celina sat on the floor gagged and tied like some sort of slave.

She was all alone in a small, square room. Her cave ... his lair.

All she wanted was a second chance, an opportunity to see her boyfriend Jerry one last time.

Tears streamed down her face. She was tired and weak. All the strength she had was wasted on trying to loosen the rope around her wrists. There were bloodstains on the carpeting and the room reeked of stale vomit. Celina knew immediately she wasn't the first woman this sick bastard held prisoner here.

She was such a fool to believe his lies, his handsome face, wealth and sophistication. She had been warned by Mary but ignored her friend's advice. Mary was in the business for years and she knew men.
What the hell do I know?

She wanted to put some space between herself and Jerry. He was overbearing sometimes and overprotective, which didn't bother her so much. Just his addiction bothered her.