In Search of Grace (14 page)

             
Poking her head back out,
Alex stared in disbelief as she watched him step through the gate and only broke her stare when the gate
snapped
firmly behind him. 
“What the heck?” 
Muttering
to herself
,
she
turned
inside.  She
did not
realize just how much she
wanted him
to kiss
her
until he
did not
.
 
Hurt and confused
,
she sat on the edge of the bed for a long time trying to figure out what had
just
happened
,
then gave up and went to bed.

             
Seth’s truck pee
led into the parking lot
,
his tires squeal
ed
in protest as he rounded the corner
hard
before coming to a
halt facing the
Spot Pond
R
eservoir.
The area was lit up with the lights from at least a half a dozen police vehicles. 
Jumping out, he strode to the center of the activity searching for Tommy.
  After a few minutes, he was
pointed in the direction of a
grove
of
trees
,
and the familiar feeling of dread washed over him.

             
Tommy was squatting near a
lifeless
body
,
pointing out something to another office
r
.
  The area completely blocked off by yellow caution tape
,
was lit up with spotlights strategically placed.

             
“Tommy
.
”

             
Tommy looked up, noting Seth’s appearance “Hey pretty boy, hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”

             
Seth thought of Alex
as
a twinge of guilt ran through him. 
He shrugged while nodding to the body
.

             
“Another one?”

             
“Yeah
, looks like it
.
” Tommy stood up, grimacing as the
blood and
oxygen rushed back to his protesting muscles
.  Lifting the caution tape
giving Seth access
while shaking
his
hand
in greeting
continued,
“
this one is ugly though. 
Either she
fought hard
er than the others did or he was angrier.
We
have not
agreed on that part yet.
In addition
,
we figure s
omething must have spooked him
, because the scene wasn’t manipulated like it was with the other two
.”

             
“You sure it is the same guy?” 

             
Tommy
walked back to the silent figure rolling her
gently
onto her side giving Seth a good view of her back.  He nee
ded no other confirmation than
seeing
the matted blood and leaves stuck to her shoulder. 
He knew that
under
the
mess they would find
the crudely
carved
initials
.  It was the same
person
.

             
Just as
gently,
Tommy rolled
her back
.
“
Chief
wanted to call you in
so you could
have a look before they bagged her.”

             
Seth nodded
,
his eyes already noting tiny details of the scene
.
“Ok
ay
.  Let’s talk through this.”  Tommy reached for his pad of paper
,
sighing
deeply
. 
It was going to be
another
long night
, but he was glad Walton was here
.

------------------------------

             
Seth noticed that she did not even look up as he pulled into his driveway.  He should not even be home right now, but he missed her and felt horrible at the way the evening ended for their
first official
date. 
He knew he would not be able to focus 100% on the case if last night was not resolved between him and Alex. 
Knowing
that she had trusted him enough to open up to him
made dumping her on her doorstep even harder to take.
This was not the caring
impression he wanted to leave
with
her
.
  He
continued to watch
as she stabbed the ground with her trowel. 
Man, she was really
angry
. 
He had to fix this
.

             
“Did those plants do something to you to cause such violence?
”
  Alex jumped.  Placing a hand
over
her eyes to shield
them
from the sun, she squinted up to see Seth standing in his driveway
staring
over at her
.
Alex winced
,
follow
ing
his gaze
down to the
rather large hole that she had dug and the
crushed
pansies
still clutched
in her hand.

             
“C
’
mon, it can’t be that bad
.
”
Alex had a deep
suspicion
that he knew exactly what was bothering her.

             
“
No
, your right, it is not.  Nothing I won’t get over.”
Shoving the trowel in the ground
,
she
stood
,
turning
to face him. 
He was
now
wearing his State Trooper Uniform
,
looking
fabulous
as usual
.
Searching his face, she saw exhaustion written there
. Had he been up all night?
 

             
“Did you just finish work?”

             
“
No
,
actually
I have a couple of hours to
my shift
,
but I was in such a hurry last night when I left
,
that
I forgot something and came back
to
get it.
  I need to go back in
to the station
.
”

             
“Oh
.  Hey, I didn’t get a chance to t
hank you for last night.  I had a really good time.”

             
“
Me too
,
rabbit
.”   Seth walked over
to her
.
 
Brushing
her hair away
from her face,
he gently cupped
her
chin
as
he s
lowly lower
ed
his hea
d, his lips barely touch
ing
hers
. 
P
ulling
back,
he looked deep in her eyes
,
then
once again
ben
t
to
kiss her
more
fully
this time
.  What had started out as
a
gentle
kiss
quickly became urgent
and questioning.  She was stunned
at feeling his need. 
S
lowly the fire lit from her mouth
to
spread
thru
her whole body.
Tentatively
her arms encircled his neck.
Her anger erased as
Seth deepened the kiss.  Pulling back, he looked down at her swollen lips
.
 

             
“
I am really sorry about having to leave you last night.
I didn’t want to and would have preferred spending more time with you.
It was important for me to go to work
.
  I promise to make it up to you.  Unfortunately right now, I need to get back.”
 
Releasing
her,
he
strode back to the
vehicle.

             
“Wait, you came home to get something…don’t forget it.”

             
Seth turned and flashed a smile at her.

             
“I just got it
,
rabbit.”  She watched as he got
back
in
the truck,
waving
as he drove off.
 

             
Alex muttered under her breath “Men
,
” and went back to her planting, but this time with a smile on her face.

             
A
couple of hours later
, she sat back on her heels and looked with pride at the work she had accomplished.  She knew that it was time well spent.  Alex loved working in the yard.  It gave her clarity and so much peace.  Wiping her hands against her jeans, she turned to see
a
truck pull up.
Viewing the f
amiliar BLOOMERS Florist
logo on the
side,
she wondered which one of her neighbors was getting a delivery. 
The driver stepped out of the vehicle with a long box
.
Alex was
stunned when he looked at his clipboard, then walked toward her. 
“
Grace Davis?
”
  Alex felt the blood drain from her face
at hearing the name
that had long
ago
been tucked away
.
H
er body went cold
.
 
Without even waiting for her response, the
deliveryman
thrust the
huge box in
to
her hands,
wrote something on his paper
,
then hopped into his truck and drove away.

             
Alex sank
to her knees
,
her legs
no longer
able to
hold her up. From a distance, a man sat in his car
and watched her body stiffen
,
w
atch
ed
with satisfaction as she
dropped
to the ground
.  He watched with excitement while she yanked
the ribbon from the box.  He watched as she flipped the lid off only to stare down at the lilies
before
turning aside
,
vomit
ing
into the
flowerbed
.
Smiling, he pulled away
from the curb
.  Now she knew he was back.  He felt the familiar rush of excitement at knowing she was afraid.

             
Charles did not remember the drive to her house from
Boston
.  Pulling into
the driveway
,
he saw h
er
sitting on the porch
.  She
seemed
calm now.
H
e had to take a moment to calm himself and breath
e
.
He wanted to smack her for scaring him
like that
.
Walking over to
the
steps,
he sat down.  Taking
her cold
hands,
he rubbed them in his to warm them up.  “Hon, what is it
?
”  She
did not
respond
or even
seem
to know he was there.  She j
ust stared at the box of flowers. 
They were beautiful.  Some of the largest lilies he had ever seen in his life.  Their aroma was strong and pervasive.  Confused
,
he
looked
from her to the box. 
Seeing the white card
peeking up through the florist paper
, he
picked
it up
and read
out loud
.