Grace (5 page)

She was his cover, his protection if the heat turned up. His image was most important because it kept his true identity, his true self and his secrets well hidden.

No one, especially this whore suspected anything.

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"Surprise!” everyone yelled as May entered the house with her boyfriend Phillip.

Tears filled May's eyes as she embraced her father then her mother.

"I had no idea. You guys got me.” She gave Phillip a punch in the arm.

Grace watched as Phillip smiled and blushed. It was obvious he loved May and the fact he was five years older and a cop like May's father was a definite plus.

May immediately grabbed Grace to embrace her. “How did you keep this secret, sis?"

"I'm great at keeping secrets. Everyone knows that,” Grace added and May laughed.

"I just had lunch with Grace yesterday and not a peep. You're good, Gracy. Real good,” May added and they laughed.

"She did work undercover in Vegas Metro,” Nicholas added.

Grace smiled.

Once May went around the table, thanking the family and her three best friends for coming, they headed out of the dining room and into the living room.

Grace watched as May, Phillip and their friends talked and laughed, all having a good time. As she stared, an arm went around her shoulders.

"You were that age not too long ago,” Nicholas said to Grace and she smiled.

"I don't remember.” Grace bowed her head to take a sip of wine but still keeping her eyes on her sister and her friends.

"Oh, come on, you do, too. I remember you getting angry with May for sneaking into the living room when you were alone with a boy or hanging out with your friends."

Grace smiled, but she truly had a hard time remembering, and she preferred it that way. She actually taught herself to forget. She didn't want memories. She hated the past and even though she had achieved so many wonderful accomplishments, memories always led back to that fateful Christmas night when her parents were killed and the week she was held hostage.

Nicholas surely recognized the look on Grace's face because he turned her toward him.

"I love you, Gracy, and I'm so proud of you, of all that you've accomplished. You know that, right?” he asked and she smiled.

Raising her as his own, her father's best friend was more than just an uncle and Leeann more than just an aunt.

"I know that. I love you, too. So tell me what's new?” She changed the subject while she took a shrimp from the ceramic platter and dipped it in cocktail sauce, then took a bite.

"Same old, same old. How about you? What are you working on?” He took a shrimp just as Grace did but squeezed some fresh lemon juice on it.

"Two separate homicides I feel are connected."

"The Parkins’ case?"

"Yeah. There are other cases Missing Persons is investigating right now that I feel may be connected.” Grace smiled at Leeann as she brought out a tray of more appetizers.

"You talk to Detective Mathews from downtown yet?"

"Are you kidding me? Apparently, he wants nothing to do with my opinion on this case. He pushed Ron off on me."

Nicholas squinted and tilted his head. “That doesn't sound like Max. You'd better call him again. If you want, I'll contact him."

"Don't worry about it. I can handle it. Besides, I have a meeting with the detective working the missing person's case and the girl's parents. Marquette could be part of this case."

"Not Celina Marquette?"

"Yes. How do you know the name?"

"The lieutenant working the case needs a few of my men to assist. Celina's the second woman missing from the uptown district."

"Not Lieutenant Mathews?"

"Sure. We worked a case together a while back. He's a great detective."

"He sounds like a real jerk to me."

"He's busy trying to solve the crime, Gracy. Four women are missing, and I'm sure he has no idea about your cases. Get in touch with him."

"I've left messages."

"Hey, you two, no talking shop at this party. Nicholas, I need some help with the icemaker. The ice is stuck and the punch is getting warm,” Leeann interrupted and Nicholas winked then followed his wife into the kitchen.

Phillip came over to talk to Grace. “How are you?"

"Great, Phillip. So do you think she was really surprised?” Grace looked back toward the living room at May. May looked up and smiled then continued her conversation with her friends.

May deserved the party. The short story she wrote was ranked number one out of more than three thousand entries. It was officially her first published short story. May wanted to be a journalist and she was definitely headed in the right direction. Her internship at the county newspaper was the last hurdle before graduation. Already, she had job prospects after graduation.

"She was totally surprised. It's great. She's been so excited."

"I bet she has. She'll make a great journalist. So how is work going?"

"It's good, the usual. By the way, before I forget, I saw Jimmy today and he sends his best."

Grace rolled her eyes.

"I know.... You could care less, but I think the guy still cares about you."

"Let me tell you something, Phillip. Jimmy only cares about himself. There's no negotiating, no equality, just his way or the highway. No thanks.

"So what are the plans for the rest of the evening?"

Phillip went along with the subject change and they talked about the club he and May were headed to.

By ten o'clock, Grace was back home in the two-thousand-square-foot loft she rented from Uncle Robbie for a mere thousand dollars a month.

The place was huge, plus loaded with windows and the finest in appliances and house wares.

Even though she neither needed nor used most of it, Uncle Nicholas’ brother Robbie insisted she rent it from him. He wanted her to have the best.

The kitchen was completely open and centered in the loft. There was an industrial stove, stainless steel appliances, and a fully stocked wine rack. Wine was her only indulgence and sometimes the extra large Jacuzzi tub upstairs would be used with the wine.

The loft came fully furnished and there was black leather furniture in the movie room where a large plasma screen TV sat on the wall.

There was no time to watch any movies and forget about the news. It was enough dealing with the heartache and the loss that victim's families suffered. She didn't need to hear about all the other cases that made the news, as well.

There was an enormous floor-to-ceiling, stone fireplace in another area to the left of the living room where large, comfortable couches and chairs formed a semicircle around it. It was where she spent most of her time when she was home.

The formal dining room was to the right of that, next to the kitchen and decorated with a full-wall china closet and matching solid cherry wood dining table with twelve upholstered chairs. All of the china inside had belonged to her mother.

Grace sat on one of the bar stools by the black marble countertop and listened to her answering machine.

"Hey, Grace, it's Don. You still didn't turn on that cell phone. Anyway, the DA called and you're scheduled to appear in court tomorrow on the Murphy case. Nine a.m. not ten. Also a Dave called. He got my number by accident. He only wants to talk to you and said it has something to do with the Marquette case. I'll see you tomorrow. Hope May was surprised. Bye."

Grace smiled. Don was an awesome boss, more of a friend, really.

The next two messages were hang ups, so Grace turned off the lights and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

The room was huge and overlooked the bay. The moon shone a bright deep orange color. It was a true harvest moon on the eve of Halloween. Harvest moons were her favorite. She took in the view as she began to get undressed.

Her feet ached a bit from wearing the high-heeled suede boots all day. She removed them, then went through her closet deciding what to wear for court tomorrow as well as the meeting with Frank and the Marquettes.

Finally, she decided on her slim-fitting black skirt, a dark chocolate silk blouse and black high-heel boots. She turned on the faucet to the shower; her body anticipating the heat of the water as she finished undressing and prepared to enter.

Considering the evening, Grace thought May looked happy tonight. She was definitely surprised and had loved the gold pen set Grace gave her. It was nice to be around the family.

That was another thought Grace tried to avoid thinking about too deeply.

Family
. Her parents’ family lived a few towns over, a forty-five minute drive on a good day with little traffic. Their lives were so different from Grace's, Nicholas’ and Leeann's.

Aunt Delores lived in a ritzy neighborhood, belonged to the finest country clubs and her children were snobs. Unfortunately, they lived the closest.

Aunt Delores was shocked to find out that Dad and Mom left the responsibility of raising Grace to Nicholas in their will. However, Grace was thrilled.

It was Nicholas who had finally found her, rescued her from the fate a single child hadn't the strength to overcome on her own.

The images of that night, the torturous week held captive by the man who killed her parents, would never be erased from her mind. Would she ever heal? Tears filled her eyes and she laid her head back letting the hot water spray over her face.

When Grace was lonely and overworked, she allowed herself to ponder the negative thoughts. She hoped to one day feel carefree and alive instead of distant and trapped in the shell she created in order to hide her past and save herself from heartache.

The uneasy sensations began to take control of her and slowly the shower stall decreased in size. Inside her mind, she tried to fight the demons. They ruled her every thought now, and there seemed to be no escape.

Till this day, she was extremely claustrophobic, afraid of small, dark enclosed spaces. It took her years before she could bring herself to enter an elevator, but she was past that now and the likelihood she would wind up in a small four-by-six-foot wide and three-foot-high box was slim.

She was a survivor and because of it, she had a special instinct. An ability to understand the thoughts and ideas of men like her captor, but more importantly, she was on a mission to stop them.

Grace despised the sick perverse minds of people capable of such destruction and hurt and so she focused on her desire to rid the world of as many of them as she possibly could.

The water from the showerhead now pulsated against her face, her lips parted, and for a moment she embraced the water now filling her mouth. She bowed her head.

She had been called ‘obsessed’ a number of times, but the label, and all that came with it, would never stop her.

She embraced the undercover jobs, the missing person's cases and homicide investigation's cases that weaned out serial killers and sex offenders. They were fulfilling, and in some aspects capturing the killers before they could strike again was therapeutic. She was successful in pushing away the feelings of claustrophobia and rinsed the conditioner from her hair.

Once again, she was triumphant over the demons that at one time consumed her every thought. She turned off the faucet, then surrounded her body in the warmth of the large sage bath towel.

Celina's image entered Grace's mind and the uneasiness wouldn't go away. Once again, she tried to dismiss it as an old ghost.

It was still too early in the case to rush judgment, even though the media and her informants in the police department marked Celina off as dead.

So far, no body was found. Celina was still officially considered missing.

I'll find you, Celina, keep pointing me in the right direction ... and I will find you. I know you're connected to this case. I just know it.

Grace sighed, then headed to bed.

Grace did her part testifying in the case and was dismissed from the courtroom early. Well, not quite as early as she hoped but at least before lunch.

The judge, one she knew, considered her a reliable witness. A nice, older man, he had pulled some strings in the department to have a young female detective go undercover to find his missing, runaway granddaughter. The child was looking for attention and got more than she bargained for when some second-rate pimp tried to sell her off to an under-aged pornography ring. The police department needed a very youthful looking and experienced undercover detective. Grace had just been transferred from Vegas Metro two months before, but she was the best choice. Grace had a young face and fit the body type. She had played similar roles before.

It was a huge case and an enormous bust for the cops and district attorney.

That's how Grace and D.A. Johnny Lewis became friends.

At one of the big parties he threw from his mansion upstate, she became angry with Johnny. He wanted to hook her up with his friend, another lawyer, Larry Sullivan who worked as a defense attorney.

Grace's uncle would have a heart attack and her father, Carl, would roll over in his grave if she had done what Johnny wanted her to do.

Just then, Grace heard her name being called and glanced over her shoulder.

"Hello, Grace. It's so nice to see you. It's been ... so long,” Larry stated in his deep sultry voice.

She was sure the man thought it turned on every woman and she would be lying if she said it didn't do the same to her. Even with that sultry voice and incredible good looks and body, to her Larry seemed slick, dishonest, the Devil came to mind.

She couldn't help but wonder if it were her sinful, naughty side coming out. She attempted to hide her blushing cheeks, but it was too late.

"Why hello, Larry. I didn't see you there. How are you?” she asked as he leaned down to kiss the cheek she slightly offered so as not to seem too rude. After all, a person never knew when they might need a defense attorney.

"You look gorgeous, as usual. You become more stunning each time I see you.” He held her hand a little too long.