Bless Your Heart

by Kimbra Swain

“Maynard and Capps, you guys go 20 yards forward then to the right. Let me know if you see anything,” he said.

  “You shouldn’t allow her to go,” I said.

  “She’s got to learn somehow,” he said. The vibrancy of the red hue indicated a particularly brutal death. Finding the children would be a relief to all those involved, but the state that we found them in would haunt this town for years.

  We walked to our left and came across a dry creek bed. I walked slightly ahead, slipped off into it with a tumble.

  “Crap, Grace, you okay?” Dylan said from above. Levi had moved down from us a little, turning to us at the commotion. I brushed myself off, looking up at them. We hadn’t had rain in three weeks, so the creek was completely dry. I stood about 3 feet below the main floor of the forest. The creek bed was soft and filled with smooth pebbles.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I turned to look toward Levi as the image of a mangled child flashed through my mind. It was so horrific that I clinched my fist shaking in terror. Dylan had turned to follow Levi down the bank. Forcing myself to walk forward, I clearly saw the boy. His dead body twisted under the roots of a tree that hung out over the dried bed. Gruesome didn’t adequately explain the state of that poor child’s body.

  I screamed, “Dylan!” Falling to my knees, I started to convulse as my magical connection to the child rippled over my skin. The sight of the boy was more than I could bear. He jumped off the bank to me blocking my view of the child. “You have to stop her. Don’t let her see it.” Dylan wrapped his warm arms around me as I leaned into him closing my eyes. Tears rolled down my cheeks leaving a wet stain on his shirt.

  “Capps, you and Maynard go back to the camp,” he yelled to them as Levi ran up.

  It was too late. Amanda’s scream pierced the night as mine had. I shook as the residue of the children’s lives fluttered around my hands from the magic and the toys. It felt like the ghosts of butterflies gently tapping my hands, wrists and forearms. Wiping at the wet stain on his shirt, I detached myself emotionally from the overwhelming sense of despair left by the last moments of life for this child. Dylan grabbed my hand preventing me from aimlessly wiping at his shirt.

  “Levi, get down here and get her,” Dylan demanded as he pulled me tighter to him. Levi and I wouldn’t be able to remain for the following investigation. Levi jumped off the bank to where I sat in the dirt of the creek bed, lifting me off the ground. When his skin touched mine for the first time, I felt the familiar tingle of touching someone with power. “Take her to the truck. You both go home, so I don’t have to explain you being here.” Dylan’s warm hand touched my cheek just before he ran toward where Amanda’s scream originated.

  “I’ve got you,” Levi said, briskly walking us out of the woods.

  “It’s more than a mile, and you can’t carry me. Put me down,” I tried to protest, but my voice rattled. My body shook from the release of the location spell for the children. Magic always has a release. It’s like a jack-in-the-box. You can wind it up, but eventually it will pop out on you and wobble around. No matter how much I expected the release of power, it still made me jump.

  “I’m fine,” he said picking up his pace. Once we reached the truck, he hauled me into the passenger side. One of the officers approached asking if we found the children. Levi shut my door, then spoke softly to the officer. The officer’s face blanched as he turned to give orders to the rest of those gathered at the forest edge. Levi got in the driver’s seat, holding out his hand for the keys.

  “Check the visor,” I said as the waves of shock and grief rolled over me. I wasn’t sure how I continued to speak.

  He found the keys, and the big truck rumbled to life.

  Stumbling out of the truck like a drunk, I toppled over the cheesy white picket fence I had put up between my trailer and Josie’s. I got the pieces down at the dollar store because I thought it might keep Rufus from doing his business in her yard. It didn’t.

  “Fuck,” I said. Levi came around the truck helping me up.

  “You alright?” he asked timidly.

  “Did you see him? Did you see what someone did to that baby?” I asked him through tears.

  “I saw,” he muttered.

  “Then you know I’m not alright, Levi. Move!” I said shoving him toward the trailer.

  If I was going to walk like a drunk, I might as well be drinking. The bottle of Crown in my cabinet called my name. I poured it hot into a glass and threw it back. The amber liquid burned down my throat. I loved the pain of it. Backing up into the counter behind me, I slid to the floor. The glass rattled out of my hand, and I cried like a baby. The linoleum felt good on my face as I pressed my cheek against it. My tears wet the floor as exhaustion took me to a quiet, dark place.

  When I woke up, it was still dark outside. Rufus was curled up next to my legs. I pushed myself up off the floor. Levi had fallen asleep on the couch. I forgot to tell him the front room was his if he wanted it. Wandering into my room, I peeled off the jeans and shirt. My cell phone rang from the kitchen, so I walked in there to get it. Levi’s blue eyes perked up as I realized that all I had on was my black lacy bra and panties. Ignoring him, I picked up the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Grace, you need anything?” Dylan asked. His voice was laced with pain.

  “To get that image out of my head,” I said. “It won’t go away.”

  “I know. I can’t thank you enough, Grace. I owe you one,” he said.

  “Yeah, you do. Don’t ask me to do that again. Goodnight Dylan,” I said hanging up, because I didn’t feel like talking about it. I walked back into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. My body quit functioning as I fell into the bed. In a fetal position, I hugged my pillow and stared at the flimsy wood paneling of the trailer wall.

  Back home, tapestries and paintings hung around my room. The bed took up half the room with a thousand pillows. The bath tub was the size of a swimming pool. I didn’t want to think about home, but it was the only distraction at the moment.

  As the sun rose, I stood in the shower desperately trying to wash the ugly images out of my head. When I dried off, I put on a pair of cotton shorts with a t-shirt that was ripped at the neck. I slipped my feet in to my fuzzy pink slippers and decided to make breakfast. Levi raised up on his elbow when I came out of my room.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got my clothes on this time, Dublin,” I said.

  He blushed. Darn, that was cute.

  “Sorry, I’m used to being here alone. The front bedroom is yours if you want. There is a shower back here in mine. Treat it as home while you are staying here,” I said.

  “Thanks, Grace,” he said picking up his backpack.

  “Breakfast?” I asked. My intentions were to cook dinner last night, but neither of us had an appetite after finding the children.

  “Yeah, I’m starving, but I’m going to shower first,” he said as he pulled off his shirt.

  Lord have mercy. This was not going to work. I can’t have a changeling in this trailer. Especially when he looked like a freaking Adonis. Levi looked like he’d worked hard for the muscle tone, however I knew it came naturally. Either way, it was magnificent. The last time I got involved with a fairy, he looked the same damned way.

  I opened the fridge door fanning myself with it. He looked at me like I was crazy when he passed going into my bedroom. “Just really hot in here,” I said innocently.

  “Oh sorry, Grace. I’m used to walking around half naked,” he smirked.

  “Yep, I take it back,” I said.

  “Take what back?” he said from the bathroom.

  “The part about where I said I liked you,” I shouted. His laughter drifted out of the bathroom mixed with the patter of the shower running.

  Controlling my neglected hormones, I took out bacon, eggs and started a pot of grits. By the time he got out of the shower, I had it all ready, plus biscuits.

  “You drink coffee?” I asked while he knocked around in my room putting on clot
hes. He came out of my bedroom with a wet head, but fully clothed. Darn.

  “Yes, I do, but I can make it,” he said approaching the pot.

  “Just push the button. It’s ready to go,” I said. “Go ahead and fix a plate. I’ll bring you a cup when it perks. You take cream or sugar?”

  “No, black please,” he said as he plopped down on the couch with a plate of food.

  “You don’t like grits?” I asked.

  “Yuck. No,” he said.

  “Get out of my house,” I said seriously. He looked shocked for a moment, and then he sighed when he realized I was joking.

  “You act like you want to stay, Levi,” I said.

  “I’d like to learn to help people like you did last night,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’m not sure how much help that was, but I’m not done with whatever did that to those children, yet,” I said pouring what coffee had brewed into a cup, and putting the pot back, but not before it burned a little on the hot plate. I handed him the cup.

  “Thanks, Grace. You put those kids to rest and gave their parents closure,” he said, taking it from me and blowing across the top of the mug.

  “Closure is a myth. Their parents will never get over losing a child,” I said sadly.

  He picked up the remote for the tv, turning it on. He certainly felt at home. I sat down in my leather recliner and ate while he clicked through the channels.

  “Look,” he said.

  Sheriff Dylan Riggs stood at a podium with a microphone. “Late last evening, the bodies of the children were found just outside the Cahaba Wildlife Preserve. The department is working with the coroner’s office to get the children released to their parents as soon as possible after autopsies are performed. The investigation continues; therefore, I have nothing new to present to the press. Please give the parents and families time to cope with this. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all that were involved.”

  “He looks tired,” Levi said. Weary was a better description. I’d known Dylan a long time through many troubles for this town, but this dug at his heart. Despite our differences, he was a good man, and coming face to face with utter brutality breaks even the best of men.

  “He probably hasn’t slept,” I said. Digging my cell phone out of the side of the chair where I dropped it earlier. I sent a text as I continued to eat.

  One of the reporters shouted out, “Is it true Sheriff Riggs that you had a psychic on the scene, and she located the bodies?”

  He looked shocked that she asked, but continued to walk out.

  “Shi-yat,” I said drawing out the last sound of the curse word.

  “Can I have more?” Levi asked.

  “Help yourself, honey,” I said. I wasn’t hungry anymore. Leaning back in the chair, I closed my eyes, hoping Dylan wouldn’t get in trouble for consulting the local trailer park queen on a missing child hunt. My phone buzzed, and I looked down at it. “We are going to have company.”

  “Figured you texted him,” he said.

  “Oh, did you? You’ve got it all figured out don’t you, Dublin?” I said calling him by his city name. Little did he know he had Irish blood flowing through his veins. In fact, I knew he did.

  “Is that going to be my nickname?”

  “Maybe. I change my mind frequently,” I said.

  “Women,” he muttered. After a moment he said, “You aren’t really mad at him, are you?”

  I got up taking my plate to the sink and washed it off, ignoring Levi. Taking a cold can of orange soda from the fridge, I sighed as the carbonation burned down my throat. When my eyes met his, he waited for my response. “It’s complicated, Levi. Dylan Rigg’s is a good man, and I’m not a good person.”

  “I don’t believe that,” he muttered. I turned back to the sink ignoring him, because he didn’t know me. He hadn’t been here long enough to understand.

  Before I could get the rest of dishes done, Riggs’ Camaro pulled into the drive. He had shed his uniform and was wearing jeans with a hole in the knee and a white t-shirt. His hair reflected in the sunlight where he hadn’t dried it after a shower. I piled what food we had left on a plate, sitting it down on the kitchen bar. I poured him a cup of coffee as he tapped lightly on the door. Levi opened it for him.

  “Thanks, Levi,” he said.

  “No problem. Grace, I’m going to try to get some rest,” he said as he shut the front bedroom door. Bastard. The kid was going to be my defense against Mr. Sandy Hair.

  “Eat. You look like ten miles of bad road,” I said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… oh, hell. Just eat.”

  “I’m beat, so your assessment is accurate,” he said. I sat down the sugar container with a spoon, and he shoveled two scoops into the coffee.

  “Grace, what did that?” he said with haunted eyes.

  “I’m not sure, but I intend to find out,” I said.

  “When you find it, I want to be in on the kill,” he said.

  “Dylan, I just hope I can take it out whatever it is. I can’t get you involved. This town needs you,” I said.

  “So, you do care,” he said with just a twinge of a smile.

  “More coffee?” I asked avoiding his implication.

  “No, thanks. I appreciate breakfast. I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning,” he said. His eyelids drooped when he sat still for a minute.

  “If you fall out of that chair, I’m going to leave you on the floor. Maybe Levi will have pity on you,” I said trying to lighten him up.

  “Sorry, but I need to get back to the station,” he said trying to stand, but his hand slipped off the edge of the counter. He stumbled, and I moved swiftly around the bar to steady him as he teetered.

  “Dylan, you have to sleep,” I urged.

  “No, there is too much to do,” he said. His eyes looked more than weary. They were devoid of emotion, just blank. I knew I could make him stay, but I needed to be sure that’s what I wanted to do. If he left this house like this, he’d end up in a wreck or dead. As much as I couldn’t decide how I felt about Dylan Riggs, I didn’t want anything to happen to him until I did.

  Stepping closer to him, my fingernails traced up his arm, and he shivered. Pulling me closer to him, his eyes flickered to life as my body pressed against his. “Please stay. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I said it and meant it.

  “Grace, beautiful Grace,” he said brushing his lips across my cheek.

  “None of that now,” I warned. As he leaned hard on me, he sighed.

  “Please sleep. Just an hour, and I’ll wake you up,” I begged.

  “Okay, one hour,” he relented. Putting my hand in his, I led him into my bedroom. He needed the big bed and a thousand pillows from back home. He would have to settle for my queen sized with 4 pillows.

  He sat on the edge of the bed, and I knelt down pulling his boots off. He grimaced at me helping him. Laying back in the bed, I covered him with a sheet. He grabbed my arm wanting me to lay down with him. I relented, because I needed the comfort of a warm body as much as he did.

  “Stay with me,” he said quietly.

  I nodded as a tear rolled down my cheek. He brushed it off with his thumb. “I keep seeing it over and over,” I said.

  “Me too,” he said holding me close to him. Even though he drifted off to sleep, his embrace never relaxed. Never having any intention to waking him up in an hour, I allowed myself to drift off with him.

  “Damn it, Grace,” he bolted out of the bed. “It’s noon.”

  Shaking off the sleep, he quickly pulled his boots on. “Crap, I’m sorry, Dylan,” I said even though I wasn’t.

  “You never intended to wake me up,” he huffed. I started to dispute him, but I saw the mischievous look in his eye. He leaned down over me on the bed and lightly kissed my lips, “Thank you, Grace Ann Bryant.” He knew I let him sleep on purpose, but at least he had someone to blame it on now. I didn’t care because I just wanted him to rest.

  I didn’t shut the door when we came in the room because
I thought it would deter him from trying anything. He rushed out of it, and at the last moment, he flashed me a brilliant smile. Damn, it was nice.

  Hearing the red Camaro crank up and pull out, I looked out the blinds, watching him drive away.

  “Come on, Levi,” I yelled. “Let’s go to the store.”

  He appeared at the door as I slipped on tennis shoes. “How’s the sheriff?”

  “Hopefully rested,” I said.

  “He probably would have rested better alone,” he said.

  “Oh, shut up. We didn’t do anything,” I retorted.

  “Sure,” he said going back into the living room.

  “We didn’t,” I murmured.

  Grabbing the keys to the truck, I asked him, “Is there a guitar in that case?”

  “Yes, what else would it be?”

  “I’ve seen a lot of things in guitar cases. Could be a gun or a little person,” I said.

  “A person?”

  “I’ve seen it,” I smiled. It wasn’t really a person. It was a very small Red Cap fairy. Flesh eaters. Nasty little buggers.

  “No, the only gun I have is this,” he said as pulled a gun from his back waistband. I flashed my hands in front of me drawing stored power out of the tattoo. A red glittering shield flared in front of me. He stood dumbfounded. “Grace, I wouldn’t shoot you.”

  “Sorry, it’s just instinct,” I said looking at the handgun. It was a Springfield XD 9mm. Any southern girl worth her salt knew guns and how to use them. “Nice gun. You know how to use it?”

  “I grew up on a ranch, what do you think?”

  “Shut your smart mouth! I don’t know how you grew up,” I said. “Get the case and keep the gun.” We went outside climbing in the truck.

  “You shoot?” he asked.

  “I’ve got guns. They are for when the magic runs out,” I said.

  “You store magic in the tattoo, right?”

  “Yeah, when I got my first double wide, my neighbor, Tammy, told me that all the trailer park girls had tattoos. I’d lived hundreds of years without a mark on my body, but warriors over the ages painted their bodies. So, I joined the girls and got the tattoo. My war paint. I never have to carry a weapon as long as it is charged,” I said. “But there is a Kimber Pro Carry 2 in the glove box just in case.”