Authors: Chris Redding
“How can you be so sure?” she said. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Not her ability. Not her reasons for rewinding. She wasn’t even sure of her own heart.
“I just am, Gracie. I better go.”
He clicked off before she could ask him again where he was. Disappointment had her redialing. She only connected to his voicemail.
She didn’t bother leaving a message.
***
Zach couldn’t get the sight of Grace in his chair out of his mind. Her eyes had pleaded with him. As far as she knew, she was telling the truth.
He’d checked out Dolores’ tenant and his name was indeed Mark. Mark Handon. He’d have to find out if Grace knew him. She could be a reference. Then he’d do more research. This all didn’t sit right with him.
But first he needed to see Grace. She seemed familiar to him. Almost as if he’d met her in a dream.
His head shook. “I’m losing it.”
He found out where Grace lived and paid a visit on his way home from work. Easy since they lived in the same block just different apartment buildings.
So different that hers was on fire.
And Grace stood there hugging herself. Zach tried to talk himself out of going to her. There was something about her, a fragility that his alpha male heart couldn’t resist. Grace Harmony was a woman who needed to be protected. He just wasn’t sure if it was from herself or some outside source.
“Hey,” he said.
She jumped, her head whipping around to face him. She let out a breath when she saw him. “You.”
“Yeah, me.”
“What brings you here?”
“You.”
Her perky mouth dropped open. “Me?”
“Yeah. I can tell when someone’s lying and you aren’t. I’m not sure why you think what you’re saying is the truth, but you believe in your message.”
She licked her lips. “So, you’ll help me?”
“I haven’t decided that.”
Her big eyes teared up. Oh, God, don’t cry. He’d melt. She wiped away tears, as she turned away from him. A sniff then a snort came out of her. “Fine. I need to find a place to stay tonight.”
“I have a sofa bed.”
Why did he say that? He was tempted to look behind him to see if someone else said it. He didn’t even know this woman, but he was drawn to her. He shook himself mentally. Only her need to be rescued attracted him. A real need, not the fake, manipulative one that Dolores sported when she found it useful.
Dolores could take care of herself.
This lady was truly in distress.
“I couldn’t impose.”
“It wouldn’t be.” He tugged at her arm. “Have you eaten?”
“No,”
“Good, I’ve got some dinner to make and you might as well share with me.”
She studied him for a long minute and he expected her to decline. “Okay.”
With her arms still wrapped around herself she followed him to the car. “Mine’s blocked in by fire trucks.”
“We can come back later for it. Or tomorrow.”
“Later, I need to work tomorrow.”
“What do you do?” He slid into the car.
She belted herself into the seat. “I’m a paramedic at Centre Community Hospital.”
“My office is down the street from the hospital.”
“Yes, I know.”
She looked straight ahead for the two minute drive to his place. Her shoulders slumped and her feet dragged as she followed him up two flights of steps. “My humble abode,” he said when he unlocked the door.
“It’s nice,” she said even though her gaze never left her feet.
Zach put a hand on her back to usher her inside. She flinched as if his touched burned her.
***
Grace didn’t want to move away from his touch, but the visions it inspired took away her breath.
Instead of the erotic, steamy dreams she’d been having about Zach, she saw him in a very different scenario. Sitting on a lawn chair, two children sat on his lap. He played with them.
Some part of her knew they were her children, their children. Her heart raced and her breath quickened.
“Are you okay?”
Grace nodded, her words not available. She moved to the couch, shaking off the vision. “I’m fine.” Her voice made a come back. “You just startled me.”
Zach closed the door as if the subject were done. “I’ll get started on dinner. Can I get you a glass of wine?”
“Sure.”
Her mouth remained dry and part of her brain tried to understand the vision. She’d never had them until recently. What if every time he touched her this happened? She’d gotten used to the colors. These scenes would disturb her more.
Zach handed her a glass of amber liquid while she was still immersed in thought. “Is spaghetti okay?”
She smiled up at him. “Comfort food.”
“You look like you could use some comfort.” He held out his hand, a smile lighting up his eyes. “Come sit with me in the kitchen.”
Stark white cabinets lined one wall of the long skinny kitchen. A mural decorated the opposite wall.eH Zach was cooking in a vineyard. He motioned to the painting. “Friend of mine did that. I don’t use much cabinet space so I took them down. Now I feel as if I’m outside.”
“Nice,” was all Grace could think to say.
***
Grace found herself in cold storage. Her guess was the morgue. She opened a drawer sure that was the right one. When she uncovered the sheet, instead of Dolores an inert Zach lay there.
She nudged him. “Zach, ask me. Ask me for help.”
Then his eyelids snapped open like a shade let loose. “No, Grace you can’t help me.”
She screamed. Someone shook her.
“Grace.”
“No,” she said. Zach wouldn’t let her go.
“Grace, wake up.”
In that moment of clarity, as sheyou become awake, as the shreds of the dream still lingered on, but she realized that it was not real, Grace knew Zach’s arms were around her. For real. He wasn’t prone on a slab.
Her heart pounded in her throat. Her limbs shook as they grabbed him. The dream had been so real. She could see him on that slab as if her brain had taken a photo. If the dream was a premonition it was the first one she’d ever had.
“Bad dream,” he said, pulling her tighter.
She squeezed back the tears hanging onto her dignity with a fingernail.
Her gaze eventually traveled up to his eyes. He brushed a hair from her face, his look tender. Licking his lips, he leaned towards her.
All of her self-control went into not kissing him. She could sink into his arms, but it wouldn’t mean as much to him. This would be a fling and she couldn’t risk what she’d seen, the future she’d seen, on her need to be surrounded by a warm body.
“Don’t.”
He backed away, a frown creasing his face. “There’s something about you Grace. And that isn’t a line. I don’t need lines to get women in my bed.” His head shook, but he didn’t let go of her. “Just a day ago I didn’t know you, but I feel as if I have.”
She chuckled. “That’s a very bad pickup line, Zach.”
A smile replaced his frown, a sheepish one.
Her heart had slowed from the nightmare, but not completely. His touch didn’t launch any visions. Instead she felt safe and warm like home on a winter’s day.
Every fiber of her being longed to stay this way, but she had a murder to prevent. “I need your help.”
“What can I do?”
“I need you to believe me that Dolores is in trouble.”
“Oh, Grace.” He kissed her forehead then stood.
She felt cold again though the apartment was even cool. Darkness painted the windows. The only light in the room came from the hall light that Zach must have turned on when he came to her. She pulled the covers around her.
“I don’t see why she would be.”
“Do you know that she’s blackmailing the father of her baby?”
“Her alleged baby.”
“Ask her. She’s pregnant. She admitted it to me.”
“Okay, say she is. Why would she be blackmailing them?”
“Because he’s married.”
Zach crossed his arms, leaning more on one leg than the other. “Who is it?”
Could she tell him? No, he didn’t trust her yet. “I’m not sure.”
“Then how do you know she’s blackmailing someone?” He rubbed a hand down his face. “This is all ludicrous. Nuts. We’re talking about a woman I once loved.”
The pain in his eyes was palpable. The lines around his mouth deepened.
“Zach, what motive would I have for lying to you?”
His shoulders slumped. “None whatsoever.”
Chapter Twenty Four
Zach stood on Dolores’ porch wanting to knock, but unable to make his hand move. She opened the door her breath catching. “Zach.”
“Lors, we need to talk.”
“You sounded just like that when you asked for a divorce.”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
She opened the screen door then followed him into her kitchen. “Coffee?”
“No thanks.”
He didn’t sit. He couldn’t, not even at work today. Something about Grace stuck her square in the middle of his thoughts. No amount of work would extricate her. And he needed to believe her if he planned on pursuing a relationship with her.
Now why did he think that? A relationship. Those thoughts hadn’t entered his mind since Dolores.
“You look serious.”
“I’ve been talking to Grace.”
“Did she tell you she thinks I’m in some kind of trouble?”
“I know it sounds strange, but she has no reason to lie.”
“She’s a nut, Zach. That’s it.”
“I don’t think so.”
Dolores crossed the room and stood inches from him. “You’ve slept with her. Boy, Zach you’ve never been one to think with the wrong head, but this time you have.”
Zach refused to justify the remark. “Are you pregnant?”
She took a step back. “Yes. And he’s yours.”
“Oh?”
“Remember that night.”
“That was once Lors.”
“It only takes once.”
“You sure it’s mine?”
Her mouth dropped open. He remembered the look well and knew it to be fake.
“Of course it is.”
Rumors had circulated about her antics with other officers. Some had even called her a badge bunny. Not to his face, but he knew that the rumor mill was sometimes correct. “If it’s mine I’ll do what’s right.”
“Even leave Miss Gracie alone?”
“Why? Is she that much of a threat to you? She’s trying to save you.”
“I’m not in need of saving.”
***
Grace came back from her last call of the day, glad it had been the end of the shift. She couldn’t decide if her bad night of sleep or Dolores’ unwillingness to believe her clouded her mind. She couldn’t make a decision on patient care. Thankfully her partner had taken control and no one died.
Her partner patted her on the back. “You okay, Grace?”
“No, but I’ll get a better night’s sleep tonight.”
In a hotel, away from Zach. First on her list was a trip to see what she could salvage from her apartment. When she walked to her car, she spotted Zach and groaned. Space from him would be delightful, but he was her only tangible link to Dolores.
Otherwise she’d be stalking the woman.
“Hey.”
Grace frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
“Why?”
“You need a place to stay tonight?”
“No, thanks.”
“I talked to Dolores. I owe you an apology. She is pregnant. And the baby is mine.”
Frustration welled up inside of her, making her grit her teeth. “The baby is not yours.”
“Why would Lors lie?”
“Zach, because you’re an honorable man who would do the right thing by her.”
“How you would you know that?”
She bit her tongue to avoid blurting out that she’d known him. He shouldn’t think she’s crazy. He was the one person who she needed to trust her. “I just do.”
“Whose baby is it?”
“I can’t tell you. It doesn’t matter. She’s going to lose it tonight anyway.”
“Oh?”
His brow knitted and she wished she could take the words back. “Never mind.” She brushed past him.
He grabbed her arm. She saw the vision again.
“You can’t make a statement like that and walk away.”
“Zach, I have to. You don’t believe anything I say. So why would you believe this.”
“I talked to her because I think maybe she is in trouble. Dolores hasn’t led a blameless life.”
“The drugs, I know.”
His mouth opened, but he snapped it shut. “You know about that?”
“Yes, go on.”
“Dolores and I lost touch for awhile after the divorce. Well, as much as we could since she was dating most of my coworkers. I heard . . . stuff, let’s say. Maybe she pissed someone off.”
“Do you think her capable of blackmail?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then this conversation is over.”
“Grace.”
“Stop, Zach. It’s a stretch for you and it isn’t good enough to get me in your bed. It’s just lip service.”
***
Celia Johnson was the last person Zach expected to invite over for dinner. But she was his sister and his dealing with Grace had made him realize that life could be short.
She showed up dressed in conservative jeans he didn’t know she owned.
“I know I don’t look like myself, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
He led her into his living area. She looked around and he realized she hadn’t ever been here. She was the only family he had, and guilt streaked across his soul.
“Wine?”
“No thanks.”
“No?”
“I quit drinking. It interferes with. . . .” Her hands flailed as if trying to grasp a word. “My gift.” Her hands rested at her sides. “Why am I here?”
He smiled. “Cut to the chase, huh?”
“I’m a little too tired for a confrontation.”
“Sit.”
She settled on his oversized, leather couch. Crossing her legs she looked at him as if waiting for the wisdom of the ages. He didn’t know where his ability to forgive her came from. Maybe his time with Grace made him realize that Celia’s power wasn’t always a positive thing for her.