Authors: Chris Redding
He waved his hand. “Go ahead. Who’s my next suspect?”
“You.”
“Me? And what’s my motive?”
“Dolores lied to you about something important. Maybe the father of this baby.”
She’d struck home. A pained expression crossed his face. She could see it in the dashboard lights. “Wouldn’t I be relieved?”
“This could be the last straw. She’s lied to you many times before this.”
“Yes, she has, but I’m not as mad as I could be. She’s made me madder and I haven’t killed her. I walked in on her and her lover. My partner at the time.”
“Ouch.”
“Yep.”
“And you didn’t kill her then? Okay scratch you off the list. Then the father of her baby.”
“If the baby is gone, he has no motive. If he wanted to get rid of her and the baby he could have done that.”
“Does she have any enemies?”
“Besides all of her ex-lovers.”
“Can you get me a list of them?” she asked.
“You are not snooping into innocent people’s lives because of some murder that didn’t happen.”
He pulled in the driveway then pulled his emergency brake.
“What about that guy who was here? Maybe it’s one of her ex-lovers stalking her.”
“Long shot. She hasn’t mentioned anything.”
“Would she to you?”
“Yes. Look. Lock your doors and don’t come out in a robe anymore. And stop thinking that Dolores is going to get killed.”
Grace remained silent as she closed his car door. He backed out and gave her one last glance before he drove away.
“But we only have two days to stop the murder.”
***
Zach tossed around in bed. When the clock read three he pulled himself out of it. Turning on his computer, he decided to surf a little for information on Grace Harmony.
He found clippings that said her father died under suspicious circumstances. “Hmm.”
But Grace was only seven when it happened.
She didn’t have any parking tickets or moving violations that he’d found when he’d done this earlier. What could be written in the newspaper could be more telling.
He found the stories about her last residence and what happened there. The mother of her alleged boyfriend was killed. Grace had been initially a suspect, but had an airtight alibi.
“So why does death follow her?”
Despite looking Zach found no other murders in her past. But he did find several articles about how she stopped a potential murder.
In four articles she was at the right place at the right time.
Sipping coffee Zach leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen. “Now, how could that happen?”
He shook his head remembering that she said she knew Dolores was in danger. That Dolores’ corpse had told her.
“No, you’re going loony from lack of sleep.”
He shut down the computer and headed to the shower. And of course he thought of the odd blonde that was now dominating his thoughts. His hard on was thinking of her, too.
She’d looked particularly delicious in the robe. The sweatpants and t-shirt she’d thrown on to take Dolores to the hospital didn’t exactly hide her figure.
“Stop. She’s a murder suspect.”
He leaned against the cold tile, letting the warm water rush over him. Being attracted to a suspect, even a minor one, had never happened to him before this.
“Why now?”
Maybe it was time for retirement, but what would he do? Take up golf. “Don’t have the temperament.”
His phone rang yanking him out of his reverie.
***
He took his tools from the trunk of the rental car. He’d thought about an SUV, but with a car he could hide things.
The abandoned building stood before him a sentinel from another age and time. No one would miss it. No one would care and he could watch the flames for a little while.
Located on the outskirts of Mill Hall, no one would notice the fire for a few hours. Maybe the whole building would go before anyone noticed.
He smiled at that thought.
He smiled at the check in his pocket.
He smiled again at the idea he could watch the flames this time.
With his tools in hand he set about doing the only job he’d ever loved.
***
Zach stood looking at the remains of an old warehouse outside of town. “Wow.”
“Yeah. Same as the apartment. A faulty stove. Started in the break room,” Ed Bauer said.
“Too much of a coincidence.”
“You’re telling me. That’s why you’re here. I’ve asked to bring you in officially. Got the okay.”
“Good. I hate slinking around,” said Zach.
But he wasn’t sure what he could do. He hadn’t heard about any new firebugs.
“At least on the surface, the buildings weren’t owned by the same person. Once we dig deeper we may find out differently.”
“I can do that.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
***
Grace dialed Mark’s number with trepidation. She usually reached out to him, but some part of this situation made her feel odd. She didn’t like it and wished to shake it so she just called him.
A recording of his voice assaulted her ears.
“Mark, call me when you get in. Anytime.”
She dropped the phone on her rumpled sheets then plopped herself down on the bed. “Ugh.”
Now she understood why Dolores wasn’t pregnant when she’d worked on her. She expected her landlord would be in the hospital a day or two. “Which means, she gets killed the day she gets out of the hospital.”
The sense of urgency rushed through Grace. Her phone rang and she jumped out of her skin.
“Mark?”
“It’s me.”
“I know why Dolores wasn’t pregnant. She lost the baby tonight.”
“You weren’t on that call the first time?”
She leaned back onto her pillow. “No, I’ve been working days. Not swing shift.”
“Well, problem solved. How about that guy?”
“I don’t think he was the father of her baby.”
“So that means?”
“That this weird attraction I have for him is okay. Though I may piss off my landlord.”
“Not good, Gracie. Tread lightly. Don’t you still have to solve this murder to be?”
“Yes. And it’s only two days away. I’m not sure where to go next.”
“Right to the source. Ask this lady who the father of her baby was.”
“It’s not something you can bring up in polite conversation. ‘Nice weather, By the way, who knocked you up?’”
Mark laughed. “Lady you are not subtle.”
“That’s why you love me.”
Silence. A heavy one.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Mark? That sounded serious.”
“Gracie, I do love you.”
A cold hand squeezed her spine. “Like a friend?”
“No, Gracie. I really love you.”
“Oh, Mark. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
He snorted. “Guess you don’t feel that way about me.”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. It isn’t like you. Look I gotta go.”
The dial tone danced in her ear.
Mark had given her something she didn’t want to think about.
Chapter Nine
Zach met Grace in the hallway outside Dolores’ hospital room. Her hair was pulled back and a purple stethoscope hung around her neck. She’d dressed in her dark blue paramedic uniform with patches proclaiming she worked for Centre Community Hospital. With only one button unbuttoned the blouse didn’t show much, but Zach could imagine.
There was something about a woman in uniform.
He shook himself. He should be worried about Dolores.
Grace looked like a woman on a mission. “Where are you headed?”
“To see the father of Dolores’ baby.”
He grabbed her arm. She was getting in over her head. She had no idea. Neither did he for that matter. “Don’t do anything foolish.”
Her eyes clouded over and her face went pale. “Grace?”
“Let go,” she rasped out.
“You’ll fall.” He dragged her to a chair in the hallway. “Sit.”
She did and he relinquished his hold on her. The color rushed back to her face. She blinked. “Thanks.”
“You not eat or something?”
She put up her hands. “I ate. Just don’t touch me.”
He cocked his head at her. “Whatever.” He wasn’t sure he could keep that promise as her peach perfume tap danced into his nostrils. What was it about this woman? His attraction to her was irrational. At the very least, odd. “Now, where are you headed?”
“After work, I’m going to see the father of Dolores’ baby.”
“Who is?”
She shook her head. “That’s for her to tell you.”
Zach rammed a hand through his hair. He wanted to shake her. She could be so stubborn. Didn’t she realize she was tilting at windHills? There would be no murder. “Grace, don’t be obtuse. Where are you going?”
She stood, avoiding his touch, her body angling away from him. “Back to the ER. Back to work.”
Her smile couldn’t have been more forced. He swiped at her, but she jumped out of his reach.
“Grace. Is this about that supposed murder you’re predicting?”
Her gaze raced up and down the hallway. “Shh. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
By now she was at the elevators and as if she’d asked for it, the doors opened. She disappeared into the car.
***
Dolores was sitting up, but not smiling when Zach entered the room. Her face looked drawn and pale. No one occupied the other bed in the room. Despite this a curtain separated Dolores from the empty bed.
“Hey,” he said, putting a vase of flowers on the window sill. “You feel better?”
“Yes, I do. I owe you and Grace a lot for finding me.”
He stood with his hands in his pockets. “Uh, I’m sorry about the baby.”
She nodded. “I am a little, too. I thought it would be a new beginning for me.”
“Maybe it still can be.”
“How about for us?” she asked.
Zach shook his head. He hadn’t been this sure in a long time. “No. There is no future for us.” He couldn’t take the lying anymore. There had to be more to love than heartache, but he wasn’t ready to find it. Nor was Dolores the woman with whom he’d discover the possibilities.
She frowned. “You run into Grace?”
“Yes.”
“She tell you the news?”
Zach settled into the chair by the bed. Extending his long legs, he crossed his ankles. He wanted some answers. “She wouldn’t tell me who the father was. I already knew the baby wasn’t mine. You were too far along. Did you seduce me on purpose?”
She sucked her lip into her mouth. “Yes and no. I didn’t plan it, but when the opportunity arose I grabbed it.”
How flippant she could be with others lives. Why hadn’t he noticed? “It’s the end of the line, Lors. I’m done.” He shook his head. “Too many lies.”
He wasn’t angry anymore. He was at peace with his decision.
“I know.” Her gaze went out the window. “Will you still be my friend?”
“I’ll have to think about that. We do have a lot of history together to throw by the wayside.”
She looked back at him, a plea in her eyes. “Think hard Zach.”
She sighed.
He frowned.
The silence materialized like fog between them. The mist obscured the woman he’d once loved. One he wouldn’t love again. She’d fractured his heart. Laid waste to it as if he’d been a fly. He deserved better than that. Honesty was too important to him.