Finding Grace (30 page)

He shrugged and checked his watch. “I’m an early
riser and it’s already eight o’clock in New York.” His eyes
narrowed and sharpened in intensity. “How ’bout you, Grace Thorne?
What’s your story? Where’d you get those skills you were using on
my poor little brother last night?” He snickered.

Thorne felt her face redden. Shit, Joe had heard
them. She’d forgotten all about him being in the next room. It was
too early and she didn’t feel good. She was stuck on the
word—“‘Skills’?”

“Nice blush. Damn, you are good. I didn’t even know
those could be faked. Not like—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joe.”

“Oh yes you do, baby. Just because you can hide it
from Jack and the boys, doesn’t mean you can hide it from me.”

Tenacious
returned from its nap with a
vengeance and
unpleasant
slithered eagerly into ugly. The
voices whispered and Thorne felt herself sinking and whirling, like
she was being sucked down a big drain. She could hear it when the
breath left her body.

“What are you really asking me, Joe? Not that it
matters what I say anyway, does it? You’ve already made up your
mind. The only thing you can’t decide is whether you’re more sick
about what Jack must have paid for this ring or that he’s going to
marry a cheap, vulgar skank. But the important question, Joe, the
one you need to ask yourself, is this: Are you asking because you
love him, or because you need to feel high and mighty?”

She raised her hand to silence whatever retort he
was about to make. “There is a question you can answer for me,
though. Something I need to know before I marry Jack, because I
really do love him. If you do, you’ll help me. You’re smaller than
Jack, in many ways, and nothing like him. But you do have his eyes,
Joe.”

She turned her back to him. This was going to be
difficult, and possibly painful, but she had to know.

“Listen, baby, I don’t know what kind of game you’re
running here, but I can just about—”

“Shh. You’re about to see something Jack never has.”
That shut him up. “Are you ready, Joe?”

Thorne carefully let the robe slide down her arms,
offering him a good look at her shoulders and back, but no more.
She knew he’d seen enough when he choked out an oath. With a jerk
and a tug the robe was back in place. Then she grasped his chin in
one hand and looked hard into his eyes. What she saw filled her own
with tears. Painful didn’t even come close, because what she saw in
Joe’s eyes was only a reflection of what could be. And what could
never be.

“Oh God,” she gasped, the words barely making it
past the choking pain. “You were right, Joe. I’ve been hiding it.
How could I let Jack marry me? What the hell was I thinking? He
surprised me. All this time, I’ve been so selfish. Thank you, Joe,
for reminding me, because I’d rather go back to the hellhounds that
did this to me than ever see in Jack’s eyes what I see in yours
right now.”

Thorne tore the ring off her finger and set it
gently on the table. “If you dislike me even half as much as I
think you do, you’ll give me time to get away. You’ll make
something up, something good. You’re a lawyer, for fuck’s sake.
Here’s your chance to keep Jack from making the biggest mistake of
his life. Go for it, big brother.”

Joe didn’t say a word.

* * * *

Even so, she didn’t feel safe going back to her
apartment. It was the first place Jack would look. Thorne cursed
the high-heeled ankle boots as she jogged to a main street where
she could catch a bus. The first thing she’d do once she made one
last large cash withdrawal—enough to disappear with—would be to buy
some sneakers and a more subtle jacket. Shit, she hated to give
this one up, but it was just too noticeable. She’d need something
to cover her white hair, too. She’d make one last visit to
Jefferson and be out of Seattle by noon. She’d run until she could
forget the revulsion she’d seen in Joe’s eyes—so dark, so like
Jack’s.

Uncle Sam’s big fat check should arrive soon. That
would help make up for her leaving—to the boys at Blackridge,
anyway. Paul might worry, and Jack—well, she’d done him a favor.
They’d get over it. They had each other.

* * * *

“Where’s Grace? Did we forget the eggs?” Dagger had
wandered into the kitchen wearing just a pair of jeans, yawning and
scratching his chest. He stood in front of the open fridge door and
stretched, then looked over at his brother. “Joe?”

Dagger couldn’t place the look on his brother’s
face, but it wasn’t the confident sneer he usually wore. Tendrils
of unease that had nothing to do with last night’s rich dinner
curled around his gut.

“Where’s Grace, Joe?” he repeated, and slammed the
fridge door, the rattling of beer bottles and condiment jars his
only answer. “You said something to her, didn’t you? You’d better
tell me right fucking now. Did she take off? Goddamnit, if you said
something to make her leave, I swear, Joe—” He had his brother by
the shirt collar before he knew what he was doing.

“Take your hands off me.” Dagger detected the edge
of fear in Joe’s voice, though he stood to cover it. “I’m sorry,
Jack, I don’t know what to say. I heard the door this morning,
thought maybe you went out for a run or something. Had a bad
feeling about it, though. And a real bad feeling about that girl.
How long have you known her anyway? That ring had to be at least
five carats. What makes you think she didn’t just take off with it?
That’s a lot of bling for a girl like that, living like she does.”
Joe was talking fast, getting some of his confidence back.

“You lying sonofabitch, Grace wouldn’t do that.”
Dagger started shaking him.

“Answer me, Jack. How long have you known her?”

Joe’s stuttering voice pierced his anger. Had it
been two months or three? He wasn’t sure. “Over three months.” He
loosened his grip on Joe’s shoulders. He knew how bad it sounded.
“It doesn’t matter. I know you said something to her and I’m not
letting you out of my sight until you tell me the truth.”

* * * *

Dagger laughed without humor at the shock on Joe’s
face when he easily picked the lock on Grace’s apartment door after
she didn’t answer. His brother really didn’t know him at all.

Her backpack against the wall told Dagger that she
probably hadn’t been back here since they’d picked her up last
night. He rifled quickly through it. Her laptop, iPod, workout
clothes, even her knitting, everything was still there. Her
sneakers were another marker; she’d have changed into those for
sure, and dumped that wild, pretty coat, too. But the old parka was
still hanging in her closet. Shit, she had definitely bolted.

* * * *

Strangling the steering wheel wasn’t as satisfying
as strangling Joe, but he had to strangle something and he needed
Joe in order to find out what had made Grace run. His brother was
wearing his lawyer’s face, but Dagger knew lots of ways to wipe it
off.

Right now, though, he had to make sure she hadn’t
stopped at the office. And he was going to have a face-to-face with
Paul. His partner had known things about her he hadn’t; Paul might
know something now. There would be no more holding out on him when
it came to Grace, not by anyone.

He thundered up the stairs, two at a time, yelling,
“Has anyone seen or heard from Grace?” before he even reached the
top.

Farley yelled back, “First night out showing her
stuff and you lost her already, huh?” He walked into the hall,
grinning, until he met Dagger’s eyes.

“Where’s Paul?” He could smack Farley later.

“In his office with Lieutenant Rigby.”

Dagger’s disappointment that Paul wasn’t alone was
obliterated by the fears the lieutenant’s presence raised. Oh God,
what if…

* * * *

Paul had heard the whole conversation, if he cared
to call it that. The tone in Dagger’s voice didn’t bode well for a
nice quiet morning. Luke, sprawled in the old wooden chair next to
his desk, turned sideways when Dagger walked in.

He said, “You mean she’s not with you? I stopped in
to tell her—”

“She’s missing.” Dagger let it out like bad air.

Paul heard relief in it, though; he must have seen
Luke and thought—

“Who’s missing?” Katherine breezed in, looking
beautiful and smelling wonderful, her brows arched in puzzlement,
that damned busybody Farley on her heels.

“Whoa. Hi, I’m Joe Daggery.”

Dagger’s brother slid out from behind him and took
Katherine’s hand. And held onto it.

Paul cleared his throat. “Katherine, this is
Dagger’s brother, Joe. Joe, meet my
wife
, Katherine.” Paul
made sure Joe got a good look at his expression when he said
it.

Katherine pulled her hand free and gave Paul a quick
kiss before turning a gracious smile on the undeserving Joe. “An
unexpected pleasure. I wasn’t aware Jack had a brother. It’s nice
to meet you, Joe.” Then, appearing to catch sight of Dagger, she
said, “Oh Jack, what’s wrong?”

“Grace is missing.” The way Dagger said it this time
made Paul think of the apocalypse.

There was something off about Joe’s oily smile.
“She’s not exactly missing, Katherine. My little brother just can’t
seem to admit his secretary ran off with the mega-rock he gave her
last night.”

When Paul closed his mouth, he realized he wasn’t
the only one whose jaw had dropped.

Farley, of course, recovered first with a snort and
a bellow. “Son of a—but what’s he talking about, a secretary?”

“You mean she’s not…?” Joe frowned. “Well, whatever
she did for you boys,” he smirked, “you should have paid her more.
Have you seen the place she lives in, that neighborhood? It’s
hardly a surprise the little skank was so quick to hit on the
available partner, take him for everything he’s worth, and make a
run for it.”

The conviction in his voice almost echoed in the
frozen silence of the office that followed his wife’s gasp.

All traces of humor were gone from Farley’s face,
his voice a bare whisper, “Man, you’ve either got a lot more guts
than brains, or one hell of a death wish.”

Paul couldn’t have agreed more. What worried him was
that nothing at all showed on Dagger’s face.

Joe’s was the complete opposite, the flushed mix of
emotions displayed by a man who was beginning to comprehend the
magnitude of his mistake.

Not for the first time, Paul resented that the
responsibility for preventing bloodshed fell to him. Today he had
to at least delay it until Katherine was no longer present. It
would have already happened if she hadn’t been here. Paul didn’t
believe for a second that it was Luke’s presence that was stopping
Dagger from breaking his brother’s face.

He said it slowly, carefully. “I get the impression,
Joe, that Dagger didn’t explain just what it is that Thorne does
for Blackridge. So perhaps you’re not
entirely
to blame for
your assumption that she’s a secretary, other than sexism, of
course.” He paused to savor Katherine’s approving nod. “Your second
inference, on the other hand—” he had to shake his head and stretch
his jaw to keep from clenching it “—doesn’t merit a maggot’s
breath. And if you place any value on your own life, you’ll never
repeat it.”

Paul noted the flicker in Dagger’s eyes and
recognized the strain the man’s control was under. He went on,
praying it would hold. “
Dr.
Thorne handles information
technology, in addition to the electronics end of security for
Blackridge, Joe. That was her office we were all standing around in
last night.”

“You mean with all of the high-end computers and
electronics and the stereo even nicer than Jack’s?” Joe slid down
into a chair at the small conference table.

“The only thing you got right, Joe, is in regard to
compensation. There is no way that Blackridge could ever afford to
pay an expert of her caliber anywhere near what she’s worth.
Nonetheless, your story is impossible for anyone who knows her to
believe.”

Dagger’s voice sounded like the snarl of a beast on
a short fraying leash. “Yeah, Joe. Not buying it. So what did you
say to her, you lying sonofa—”

His hand was almost at his brother’s throat when
Luke said, “Now Dagger, what makes you think your brother has
anything to do with Thorne’s disappearance? It could be the
military again, or even a private interest—”

“Yeah, private interest. Like Dagger here throwing a
ring at her before anyone else even had a chance to—”

Farley’s method of peacekeeping was risky. The look
Dagger cut him off with made that clear.

“I came to tell Thorne that I closed the case.”

“She was right, wasn’t she? You were able to nail
that scum punk Darryl for William’s murder.” Dagger’s head jerked
back to Luke.

Paul thanked God right then and there for Luke’s
good instincts and sense of timing.

“You guessed it. I processed the stuff Thorne gave
me and sure enough, there were plenty of matches. Picked up the
whole bunch of them last night. DA doesn’t even want to deal, says
he’s got plenty. And for a hate crime, too. That oughta keep ’em
off the streets for a long time.” Luke’s voice was as soothing as
the subject was harsh.

“Wait, are you talking about Trent’s partner,
William?” Katherine asked. Paul could hear her struggle to recover
the normally smooth modulation of her voice.

Luke nodded.

“I wasn’t aware Grace was working with you on that.
Although I’m not surprised.” By the end of the sentence, she had
fully regained her composure.

Paul liked the cool, formal tone she used when she
turned to Joe and said, “I suppose it would be safe to assume that
Jack neglected to tell you about Grace’s other gift, as well? How
she saved my friend Sarah’s life?”

Katherine’s social instincts, like the rest of her,
were flawless. For the first time that morning, Paul was glad that
she was here.