Between HeVan and Hell (29 page)

That Sunday, while they were having a
late breakfast, Grace was explaining what brunch was when an
offhand comment brought her to a halt.

“What did you say?” she
asked.

“I said I look forward to fixing you
the traditional foods of HeVan when we go home,” said
Justyn.

“I never said I agreed to move to
HeVan. My career is really taking off now. Why would you assume
that just because Addie is planning to leave, that I would,
too?”

“Would you want to be so far away from
your only family?” asked Jett.

“I don’t see Addie for months at a
time now. We’re adults; it’s only natural that our paths might
separate. I can still visit, can’t I, or she can visit me?” she
asked.

“Females on HeVan are no longer
allowed to leave the planet, especially the Royal Family. Once on
the planet surface, you would not be allowed to leave again. And
Addie would not be allowed to come here. We suffered much from the
loss of our Queen and we are not willing to take such a risk
again,” said Jalen.

“All I’ve ever dreamed of from when I
was a little girl was to be a cop, to be the first female
Superintendent of Police for the City of Chicago. Now, because of
Addie’s birthmark obsession, I have to give all that up, leave
everything behind to go somewhere else and start over?” she asked,
getting angry.

“I can’t discuss this right now. I
need some time alone. I’m going out for a run.” She got up and left
the room; they heard the front door open and slam
closed.

Justyn got up and went to the sliding
door to the small balcony that overlooked the front of the
building.

Grace was really steamed as she ran
down the stairs; she was too angry to wait for the elevator. She
was desperately trying not to cry, trying to keep her anger hot to
avoid tears. She stalked out of the building and had only gone a
few steps when she heard a voice call her name.

“Grace! Hey, Stilts. Slow down; I
can’t keep up.”

Grace stopped and turned around;
there, rushing up the sidewalk, was Margie from the
club.

“Grace, wow,” she said, as her breath
huffed in and out. “I’ve been keeping up in the papers about
everything that’s been going on. I’ve got some money, so I’m okay.
However, a lot of the employees from the casino are out of work.
Anyway, I didn’t know where you lived, but I heard Jalen lived over
this way so I wanted to see if I could find you. Still friends?”
asked Margie.

“Absolutely, Margie, I’m glad to have
a friend. I’m angry at Jalen and his brothers right now, so I need
a distraction,” said Grace.

“Great, my car is back here. My uncle
has a sailboat at the marina; how about a sail on the
lake?”

“Perfect, let’s go. They won’t be able
to chase me down out there,” she said.

They turned and headed back towards
the building. Justyn was watching from up above when he saw that
Grace had met a friend. He was about to go back inside when they
turned around. It took him a minute to realize who he was seeing.
He rushed inside and yelled out that Grace was in danger as he
headed for the door.

He could hear Jalen and Jett coming
down behind him as he practically jumped down each flight of
stairs. As he ran through the front doors, he saw the car pass by,
heading north. He immediately took off after it. Jalen, seeing him
take off, ran down another flight and out into the garage, Jett
right behind him. Jalen and Jett didn’t know what was wrong, but
they picked up on Justyn’s worry right away.

Justyn kept running down the street.
He could see the car in the distance; it was turning right off of
Lake Shore Drive. He heard a beep behind him and saw Jalen pull up
next to him. He jumped in and pointed to where the car had
turned.

“They are headed into the park; don’t
lose sight of them,” said Justyn.

“What did you see? Where is the
danger?” asked Jett.

“The woman Grace went with, she is the
woman in the tapes with Anton Kadyrov. His lover, though after the
things he did, I don’t see how you can call him a lover. He treated
her like an animal, had her crawling on the floor. He beat her, and
she allowed it,” he whispered.

“You think that if she were that
obedient to Anton, she would strike out at Grace?” asked
Jalen.

“Yes, I think she plans on hurting
Grace,” said Justyn.

They continued to follow the car they
could see in the distance. She appeared to be turning in to the
marina parking lot.

In the car, Grace continued to fume.
She didn’t pay attention to where they were going and at the
moment, she didn’t really care. A part of her was crying,
too.

She loved them. Her sister
and Grandmother were leaving in a few months and she loved them,
too. Did she really love her job so much that she’d separate
herself from them? Was it fair for them to assume she would leave?
I’m so confused,
she thought.

Margie turned into the parking lot of
the Belmont Harbor; she was surprised that it had been so easy to
get Grace to come along. She pulled into a parking space and then
got out of the car.

Grace saw Margie get out and got out
of the car herself. She didn’t really feel like a fun day on the
lake. She wanted to go for a long walk alone. She turned to tell
Margie that, but Margie had walked ahead towards the
boats.

“Betty Boop, I hate to pull out on you
like this. But I really need some alone time. Can we go sailing
another day?” she asked as she strode towards her friend. She was
shocked when Margie turned around with a gun in her hand. The
expression on her face had drastically altered.

“You ruined everything! He was mine
and you took him away from me!” shouted Margie.

Neither of the women noticed the white
Escalade pulling into the lot behind them.

“Justyn, that woman’s name is Margie.
Grace has introduced both of us to her. She knows us; she doesn’t
know you. You may be able to get close enough to disarm her,” said
Jalen.

Justyn got out of the car and ran,
stooped over, until he was at the end of the lot. Then he began
walking up the sidewalk towards the entrance to the piers. From
this angle, he couldn’t see the gun, so hopefully the woman
wouldn’t get nervous and shoot Grace.

Grace looked at the gun; it was a
simple revolver, so no safety. The way it was pointed at her, she
knew she couldn’t get it away from Margie right now. She stepped a
little closer.

“Are you talking about Jalen? You only
met him one time; how could I steal him from you?” asked
Grace.

“He was mine; he trained me to be
perfect. And I was. I did everything he asked. And then all he
could talk about was you. How he wanted to train you. I was going
to let you live after I saw that you had Jalen and didn’t want my
Anton. But then I found out it was all a fake. You aren’t really
Grace Kelsey, so you aren’t getting married to Jalen. You took
Anton from me!” she cried.

“Margie, I’m already
married to Jalen. See, I’m still wearing the ring,” she
said.
Am I glad I never took this
off!
“We really are married; he’s a police
officer, too. We often work together. Anton is a monster. We
suspect he’s killed many women. I can help you, Margie; you don’t
want to do this,” she said.

“I’m all alone now. I’ll never get him
back. It’s your fault, Grace; you took him away.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Grace
could see Justyn walking up the sidewalk. She realized that Margie
had never met Justyn. If his size didn’t give him away and he could
get that look off his face, this could be the distraction she
needed.

“Margie, we’re in a public place.
You’re a good person and I know you don’t really want to hurt me.
You’re in pain, and you’re lashing out. I can understand that.
Can’t you see that this isn’t the answer? Right now you’re the
victim. If you shoot me, you’ll be the criminal. They’ll lock you
up. You won’t be able to visit Anton in jail because you’ll be in
jail yourself,” said Grace.

“I did visit him. He wants you dead,
Grace. That’s all he asked of me. He knows how much I love him,
that I’d do anything for him, and he wants you dead. Don’t you see?
I have to kill you for him. No more stalling. Start walking out
onto the pier,” said Margie.

Grace deliberately walked to the left
so when Margie turned to follow, her back would be to Justyn. For a
large man, he was moving very quietly. She’d just passed the gate
when she heard him shout. She dove off the pier into the water as
she heard a gunshot. Coming up a minute later, Jett and Jalen were
both there to grasp her hands and pull her out. They pulled her
straight up and into their arms. Jett bent down and gave her a
kiss. She could taste his desperation and she kissed him back with
just as much fervor.

He lowered her to the ground; Jalen
still had his hands on her waist. As Jett stepped to the side, she
could see Justyn holding Margie securely in his arms.

“Are you hurt, Grace?” asked
Jalen.

“No, I’m fine, just very wet,” said
Grace with a grimace. “Did you call the police?”

“Yes, they should be on their way,”
said Jett.

“He destroyed her, didn’t he?” Grace
asked with tears in her voice.

“Yes, I think he did,” said Jalen.
“This is what you meant when we spoke of the ladies that had been
smuggled into the country. You think they’re like
Margie?”

“Not to her extent; but yes, they're
damaged. Do you have therapists on HeVan that could even understand
all that they’ve been through? That could really help them? I don’t
know; I’m not a doctor or a therapist. Perhaps being in a new place
where no one has any pre-conceived ideas about them would be enough
to set them on the right path. Not every woman on HeVan is a
perfect being, right? You’ve got some real bitches there?” she
asked.

“Yes, and we have criminals, too.
Though we are too few to have the level of crime you have here on
Earth,” said Jalen.

They could hear sirens in the distance
and Margie weeping in Justyn’s arms. Suddenly Grace was
tired.

“When all the statements are taken and
the reports are filed, I want to drive out and see Addie. We can
spend the night at her house. I’m not due in the office until
Monday morning.”

“Alright, we’ll go as soon as we can,”
said Jalen.

Grace saw that Margie was still
looking at her with hatred and anger, even as the tears coursed
down her cheeks.

“Liar!” screeched Margie. “You said
you were married to Jalen and I just saw you kissing Jett. All you
know are lies!”

“I’m married to all three: Jalen,
Justyn, and Jett. They’re three brothers and my husbands. I didn’t
lie,” said Grace.

“That’s disgusting!” said Margie as
she turned her head away.

It took a few hours to get all the
statements and filed. Before going in to sign her statements, she
stopped by the condo for a quick shower and a change of clothes.
Grace discovered that Margie was really Margaret Stamford, a Trust
Fund baby with high-society parents. She spoke to them at length
and knew they would see that Margie had good representation and
good doctors. She hoped with all her heart that her friend would
get the help she needed.

She didn’t say anything on the drive
to Addie’s house. She sat in the back seat and stared out the
window. She allowed Justyn to hold her hand because he was still
getting over the shock of the attack. So was she.

They finally arrived at
Addie’s house. Grace got out of the car and was surprised to see so
many new faces. She walked in the house and the dogs all ran over
to say hello. She took a minute to greet them. She looked up at
Arjun, one of her sister’s
Ankida
.

“Where’s Addie?” she asked.

“She took a nap after lunch; she’s
still upstairs,” he said.

That worried Grace; Addie never took
naps. She wondered if Addie was already having problems with the
babies. She took the stairs two at a time and was a little
surprised to see another tall man standing outside the bedroom
door.