What Laurel Sees: a love story (A Redeeming Romance Mystery) (14 page)

There, under a shady tree, was Lou, his trusty camera raised. Had to be out there somewhere, Joe guessed. Joe didn’t know how Lou did it, but somehow, the guy managed to be everywhere. Lou continued to fire off shot after shot of the reunion.

“Oh, Gracie...” Laurel stooped down to Grace’s level. “Sweetheart, I’m so glad to see you. I wanted to see you so much, but we can’t...” Laurel ran a hand over Grace’s curls. “Honey, we’ve got to go in and call right now. They must be worried sick. We need to tell them you’re safe.”

Grace clung to Laurel, desperation filling her young eyes. “Not yet, Mommy. Please just wait.”

Laurel turned to Joe. “I’m sorry. Looks like I need to say goodbye for now.”

Joe backed away. “It’s okay. I get it. Of course.”

Tires squealed as a squad car swerved into view. It skidded to a stop at the curb beside Laurel.

Joe blanched. This was going to look bad. Really bad.

Detective McTier popped out of the squad car. He strode over toward Laurel. “This works out well.  I was itching to call you anyway. Although I think I’d rather sit down with you back at the station house.”

An officer guided Grace toward the squad car. She looked back at Laurel with alarm. “Mommy, no.”

Laurel’s voice was so steady. “We need to go with them, Gracie. Go ahead and get into the car. I’ll be right there.”

There was nothing Joe could do, except to watch as, obediently, Grace got into the car.

Laurel turned to the detective. “I’m going to want my lawyer present.”

McTier tapped on his chin. “Would that be about the homicide or the abduction?  I’ve lost track.”

Fire kindled in Joe’s chest. “She had nothing whatsoever to do with Frank’s death. And there was no abduction. We just found the girl here. Ask my photographer.” Joe glanced back across the street.

Lou was nowhere to be seen. 

McTier smirked. “Yeah, right.”

Squarely, Laurel regarded McTier. “Detective, I’ll go with you to accompany my daughter. I’ll answer your questions about how we found her. But when it comes to your speculations about my involvement in either this or Frank’s death—I’m telling you—there’s nothing to it. You haven’t arrested me because you have no evidence against me, and you won’t find any because there isn’t any.”

McTier scratched at his ear. “Oh, I don’t know. I read all about how you dreamed Frank had another woman. I think that woman was you.”

The smell of the police precinct always took some getting used to for Joe. The dank mix of coffee dregs and stale perspiration did nothing for the place. The sooner he could get Laurel out of that pit, the better.

Joe rose as Detective McTier emerged.

“So, Mr. Hardisty...” He set an elbow on the desk sergeant’s counter. “Know anything about Ms. Fischer being diabetic?”

Joe nodded. “Yes. She told me she was.”

McTier’s expression soured. “She says God talks at her, too. You believe that?” He turned to the desk sergeant. “I need Laurel Fischer’s bag. She claims it has her medication.”

“I’m telling you,” Joe said, “she knew nothing about Grace being there.”

McTier pivoted back around. “You know, Hardisty, you’d be a lot more credible if you weren’t doing her.”

Joe’s temperature skyrocketed. “What, are you on crack? Where do you get this?” He followed McTier’s gaze to the entrance.

Shana Fischer stepped into the precinct. Her attorney, Howard Berg, held the door.

“Jail, Jail. The gang’s all here.” McTier guffawed.

Shana approached the P.A.A.’s desk. “I’m Shana Fischer. You have my daughter, Grace.”

Something about that woman on grated Joe. For starters, Grace wasn’t her daughter. Not yet.

The P.A.A. rose. “Yes, right this way.”

Shana fired a steely glance at Joe as she and Berg were escorted past. No doubt, they’d seen his picture in the morning’s edition of
Kickerton Press
. Suddenly, Joe was infamous. Thanks to Debra.

Lou hustled in, his camera bag in tow. Joe rubbed his face in his hands. It was a regular Grand Central, this place.

The desk sergeant handed Laurel’s purse to McTier. Joe watched as the detective zipped it open and started to root through it.

“You got a warrant for that search?” Joe asked.

McTier thrust the bag in Joe’s direction. “Fine. You pull it. All I can say is it better really be insulin.”

Joe took the bag to a row of wooden chairs. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s planning to get loaded here in the station house.”

Joe shot a glance at Lou as he looked through Laurel’s bag. “Still tailing me?”

There was a penitent slump to Lou’s shoulders. “You know I got a family to feed, Joe. Two kids in college.”

“So, you sold me out.” Joe pulled the insulin pouch out. “Fact that I got you hired in the first place doesn’t mean squat. I get that.”

Lou opened the back of his camera. He took out the memory card and waved it in front of McTier. “She didn’t snatch the girl. I shot the whole thing.”

“Just a sec.” Joe raised his hand between the memory card and McTier. “She gets this first.” He handed over the insulin pouch.

Visibly annoyed, McTier snatched the pouch. “You stay put, now. I’ll be right back.”

Joe shook his head as McTier harrumphed himself away. It was so odd. What ever happened to the presumption of innocence? If there were any benefit of the doubt being given in this case, Laurel sure wasn’t getting it.

thirteen

N
ight had long fallen.
L
aurel brushed a hand through her hair as Joe turned his SUV onto her street. What an eventful Sunday it had been. Joe glided to a stop right outside her building. She couldn’t help but marvel. “Wow. A parking place, right in front, no less.”

Joe cast a wary eye at her. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who prays for these things.”

Laurel stifled her amusement. “Sometimes, I guess. Not tonight.” She retrieved her handbag off the floorboard. “Thanks so much, Joe. I really appreciate everything you did.”

Joe shrugged a shoulder. “Glad to help.”

“You’re a good person, Joe. You’re always there for your brother. And you were there for me this afternoon.”

“Never underestimate the power of guilt.”

Laurel lingered in her seat. There was so much that she had held in confidence, those whispers that had come to her in the night, as she’d interceded for Joe. He wouldn’t broach this conversation on his own. She would have to raise the subject. And now, it was time. She knew it in the depths of her spirit. “Your brother, Clay. He was abused, wasn’t he?”

Joe blew out a breath. “You know, it still kind of wigs me when you do that.”

“Sorry.”

“But, yeah.” Joe picked at the leather on the steering wheel. “Yeah, he was. Ugly stuff.”

Laurel looked out into the night. “And you blame God for what a man did.”

He released his hold on the wheel. “I don’t know about blame. Blame demands an object and...” The look in Joe’s eyes drifted so far away. “It’s not that I never wanted something, someone to be there.” A bemused smile flickered across his face. “I mean, where are the lightning bolts when you need them?”

Joe’s eyes dropped. Something like grief rolled over him. “And you’d think...if there were a God and some little kid’s getting raped in His house, well... That’d be the time to show up.”

Laurel searched her soul. He was already in such a sensitive place about this whole thing. Could he bear to hear more? It was almost as hard to know what she knew as it was to tell him. But it was something that had to come out. Once and for all. “Clay, he... He wasn’t the only one, was he?”

Joe propped his elbow in the window frame. “There were a couple of other boys that spoke up after Clay, enough to put the guy away on three counts.”

She regarded him gently. “Actually, I was talking about you.”

He shook it off, like a burden that didn’t belong to him. “No, no. I only helped with alerting the authorities about—’

Tenderly, she took his free hand. “Joe, I know. I know, and it’s okay.”

“No, really,” he said. “I’m fine.” With that, he got out of the car. When she stayed put, he leaned down through the open door, a teasing grin on his face. “You’re not always right, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. Kind of takes the pressure off.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been wrong about what she’d thought she’d heard. Maybe it had just been the voice of her own worry for him, searching for the secret of his brokenness. Maybe it was just as he’d said it was. He’d lost his parents at such a young age. In many ways he’d lost his brother, too. He had a heart that didn’t know how to rest, an echoing cavern inside him, waiting to be filled.

Wordlessly, he led her up the walk to her building. When they reached her stoop, Joe gazed at her long and hard. Yearning hung in his eyes.

A shimmer raced through her as he drew her close. He leaned down to kiss her, but she couldn’t let that happen. Not again. Not with things the way they were. Somewhere, she found the strength to pull away.

Disappointment flickered across his face.

She took his hand in hers. “Maybe we’ve given your paper enough photo ops for the day.”

Joe returned a wry grin. “I’m pretty sure Lou knocked off for the night already.”

“Still...” She listed to one side.

Joe looked up to her window. “No chance I can come in?”

The idea was so tempting. She rolled it over in her head. “I’m not sure I’d trust myself.”

“Hey,” he said. “Everybody already assumes what they assume.  Might as well make it true.”

She took a deep breath. It had been so long since she’d been held in that way. So long since she’d known that kind of passion. There was that old impulse, begging her to indulge its allures. But, just as quickly, there was that gentle nudge she’d grown to depend upon, encouraging her to wait. This, too, was a subject she couldn’t avoid any longer. Oh, for the right words.

He shifted his weight, his eyes never leaving hers.

“We’re so different, Joe, and I... I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. But the truth is, I don’t actually...do that. Nowhere short of marriage.”

“Yeah,” he said, a sheepish look forming. “I figured.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, Joe. I’m not some paragon of virtue. I’m actually a pretty normal person, as far as feeling the tug of that goes.”

At that, Joe broke into a sly grin. “Who ever told you that you were normal? Because you are definitely not normal.”

A chuckle escaped her. “No. I guess I’m not.”

For the longest time, he just watched her. She drank in the warmth of his smile. What was it that was going on between them? Whatever it was, it was getting harder and harder to resist. In such a palpable way, he reawakened her as a woman. Yet that still, small voice cautioned her.

Joe let out a breath. “So. Where do we go from here?”

“I guess that depends.” She brushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “Part of me, I feel so drawn to you, but ultimately... I don’t know if we’ll be going the same way, Joe. In a spiritual sense.”

“Does it matter?”

She turned the question over in her heart. “I suppose some don’t think so. You may not. But to me—this relationship with God I have—I’m all in. And that has me on a certain path, you know?”

He ground his boot against the concrete step. “And I’m not so much...there.”

She paused. Bittersweet memories flooded. “I was alone in that way with Frank. For so long. I wouldn’t go there again.”

“Even with me, huh?” Joe cocked his head wryly.

She returned a warm smile. “Even with an amazing guy like you.”

“Amazing,” Joe teased. “I’m amazing, am I?”

“Yeah, don’t let it go to your head.”

Joe sniffed. “Oh, it’s way too late for that.”

“Tell you what, Joe.” She rocked back on her heels. “That open road thing you mentioned before? It’s looking better and better.” Purposefully, she moved toward her door. He wasn’t going to draw the line. She would have to do it for him.

Joe headed back toward his car as she closed herself inside the glass storm door of her building. He was so tall, so strong and handsome, yet so vulnerable in so many ways. He was starting to consider her faith, in his own ever so tentative way. Even though he wouldn’t admit it yet, didn’t make it any less true. An ache pressed on Laurel’s heart as he waved from the car.

Frank had been that way, too. At first.

Shana held the duvet back as Grace climbed into bed. As terrifying as the day had been, her little girl was home. Safe. Snuggling under the warmth of her covers, Grace was right where she belonged.

Shana leaned down. She brushed the silky tresses from Grace’s face. “Goodnight, Darling.”

Grace sighed. “You’re mad at Mommy, aren’t you?”

“Well...” What to say? She didn’t feel right about lying, not after the way she’d been lied to as a child. “It’s complicated.”

Grace’s eyes searched hers. “But it wasn’t her fault. I went to see her.”

Shana sat down on the edge of the bed. She drew the eyelet edge of Grace’s sheet loosely around her shoulders. “Honey, I need you to promise me. Promise you won’t ever run off like that again. Remember? You talked to the judge?”

Grace’s mouth took on a dubious scrunch. “Uh-huh.”

“Well, the judge...he considered everything very carefully to make sure of what’s best for you. He wants me to be your mommy, at least for now.”

Grace’s face fell. “Mommy’s my mommy.”

Though Grace’s words cut so deeply, Shana covered the wound. In time, Grace would grow to love her as a mother. Eventually, memories of Laurel would fade. “I know what you’re saying, in a way, but... Maybe it’s like I’m your new mommy. And your daddy, he especially wanted me to be the one to take care of you.”

Grace’s eyes clouded. “Are you sure?”

As gently as she could, she nodded. “That’s what he had always told me. But it was also in his will. That’s a very important document he left for us so we’d all be sure to know exactly what he wanted.”

“What if he was wrong?”

“I’m sure he wasn’t.” Shana’s heart went out to Grace. Perhaps the time had finally come to share something of her past. Maybe Grace was old enough to understand these things. “Did you know that something like this happened to me, when I was just a little girl like you?”

“They took you away from your mommy?”

“It was more, well... My parents passed, both at the same time. So, I know how it is, Grace. I really do. It’s really hard at first. We’ll get through it together, though.”

Grace’s eyes welled. “But what about Mommy?”

Shana dropped her gaze. It had been too soon to hope that Grace would understand. One day, she would tell her more. When she was older.

Shana drew in a breath. “You know what I think? I think it’s way past your bedtime. You should be fast asleep by now. You have school tomorrow, Little Miss.” She leaned over and gave Grace’s forehead a kiss. “Goodnight, Darling.”

Grace settled over on her side. “Night.”

Shana flicked off the light. For a while, she just sat there, watching Grace as her eyes fluttered to a close and she nodded off to sleep. Memories echoed through her mind. Shana had been impossible to console for so long when she’d lost her parents, too. The harder anyone had pushed, the more she had pushed them away.

Had it not been for Helen, what would Shana have done? Helen had been like a surrogate mother to her. As much as she adored Helen, the irony weighed on her heart. What a pity when the hired help loves you so much more than your so-called blood relations. Plenty of aunts and uncles had rung Howard’s phone back then. They’d hovered around at first, but even as a child, Shana could tell that something was off about them. It was the downside of being a trust fund orphan. Everyone wanted her, but no one really loved her—no one but Helen—and Howard, she supposed, in a quasi-fatherly sort of way.   

Shana resolved herself. She would be there for Grace. She would be there despite the fact that no one had ever been there for her. She’d be the mother that she’d always missed having. Given time, Grace would come to embrace her that way. And Shana would wait for that day to come, no matter how long it took.

Joe trudged down the stairs to his apartment. Outside on the street, a car alarm began to wail. It cycled through those grating patterns no one ever seemed to pay attention to anymore. Peace and quiet just wasn’t to be had.

He dug out his keys just as Clay swung the apartment door open.

Joe reached over the mound of Clay’s mess to hang up his keys. “You going somewhere?”

“I told you. Manhattan.” Clay looked so perturbed. Still, he closed the door behind Joe and trailed him back into the apartment. “My manager is already there. I can’t work till I get my face back. So, I might as well heal en route. I’ve packed what I can carry and the rest is in the hall closet floor. I’ll send for it.”