by Jet MacLeod
She turned to Reagan. She looked at Reagan in a state of shock. It was worse than the night that Reagan had come to get her. Grace realized that Reagan just lost a friend.
“Reagan, baby, what was Ashlynn’s name?” Grace asked.
“Ashlynn Harget, 27, waitress and sometimes she bartended for me,” Reagan replied.
Grace could tell she was on autopilot. She’d seen it too many times before. She knew what shock and grief could do to a person. She hated that this had happened to Reagan.
“Cap, Ashlynn Harget, 27, she was a waitress and bartender at the Closet…Reagan’s friend…she was worried…wanted to check on her…yep…I know I should…I need to get Reagan out of here…yep…everything…I know…I’ll see what I can do, but, Cap…Okay, I’ll wait until French gets here…already dispatched…Good. Sorry…I know, I know, this wasn’t procedure, but if you had seen the look on her face you would have come over here, too…Okay…I promise…Just like the others. It’s a mess. No control…I don’t know but I want this bastard…I know what you mean…hey, let me go. She needs me.”
Grace hung up and pulled Reagan to her. She didn’t know what to do for Reagan.
“I’m sorry, baby, but I have to wait for Frenchy to get here and then I’ll take you home. I promise. I have to tell him things that he needs to know. Can you wait that long?”
“I really don’t have a choice, do I?” Reagan asked.
“I’m sorry, Reagan. I really am. Listen, I don’t want you staying alone tonight. Stay at the house with me,” Grace offered.
“Okay. I don’t think I’ll sleep anyway.”
It was a little over an hour later before they were on their way back to the Cove and Gracie’s house. Reagan was still shook up. Grace didn’t know what to do for her. She took her up to the guest room and put her to bed. She knew that Reagan didn’t want her to leave so she stayed in the room until Reagan fell asleep. She looked peaceful, but Grace knew she wasn’t.
Once, Reagan was asleep, Gracie went downstairs into her study. She began to pour over all the notes that she had again for the case. She logged on to the department site and the case from her home computer. She added some notes. She didn’t know what else she could do until French and the team put their notes in the system. Grace could only hope that the fucker screwed up enough and she could find the one thing that would lead them to him.
She wiped her eyes and put her glasses down by the computer screen. Her brain was fried. She was tired. She pinched the bridge of her nose and logged off the computer.
She headed upstairs. She looked in on Reagan and found her sleeping peacefully. Grace wanted to go to bed with her, but she thought that was dangerous with her libido and Reagan’s shock. She had heard of people having sex for less but she didn’t want to tempt fate. She knew that Reagan would come down the hall in the night if she needed Grace. She knew that she would go down the hall if she heard Reagan scream. But, for now, they would sleep alone. It was better for both of them. Grace stripped down out of her pants and put on a pair of surfer shorts. She took off her shirt and bra. She collapsed on the bed, knowing that she was going to have a night of bad dreams. She felt Reagan come to her in the early morning.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Reagan stood in the door way admiring the back side of Grace as she slept in the bed. Reagan was glad she was asleep, because she didn’t want Grace to see her like this. Reagan didn’t know what she was thinking but she wanted to be in Grace’s arms, again, and not to be just held.
The sight of the tall woman sleeping in the bed without a shirt on was almost too much to bear. Reagan could make out the tattoo that graced Grace’s back quite well in the sunlight of late morning. She wanted to laugh when she saw that Grace was sleeping in a pair of red and white flowered board shorts. Grace really was a sight.
“Hmm…” Grace mused.
“Good morning,” Reagan stated.
Grace rolled a little to the side, before she noticed the lack of a shirt. She immediately laid flat on the bed covering herself with the mattress. Reagan only smiled at her, knowing that Grace hadn’t known.
“Could you hand me a shirt?” Grace asked.
“And spoil this little sight?” Reagan replied.
“Please, just hand me a shirt,” Grace said.
“Oh, alright, but you are spoiling my fun. I haven’t seen you that vulnerable since high school. What gives anyway? It isn’t like you don’t have anything that I haven’t already seen,” Reagan responded.
“Well, you haven’t seen mine and I would like to keep it that way,” Grace replied.
“Ah, the Catholic school girl…here,” Reagan said, handing her a shirt.
Grace took it gratefully. She managed to get it on without exposing herself to Reagan. She stood up to her immense height and walked over to Reagan.
“What is it?” Grace asked.
“Nothing, it is only like eleven. I was just beginning to wonder if you were going to get up. I thought maybe I would wake you before I went home,” Reagan answered.
“You were going to walk around the cove, back to your house? It is like two miles or something by road,” Grace responded.
“I know. That is why I woke you. I figured you could drop me off in the boat. Then I wouldn’t have to walk,” Reagan stated.
“Ah,” Grace replied, knowing that Reagan could have cut through the yard had she wanted to go. Grace wasn’t sure what Reagan was up to at the moment, but she was willing to play the game if it meant that in the end she got the girl. She just wondered how far she was going to let Reagan push before she started pushing back.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Reagan wondered.
“Well, I mean, you have lived on the water now for what like six, seven years and you don’t own a boat. Can you even drive one?” Grace asked.
“Yes, I have my boater’s license,” Reagan said.
“So, why didn’t you just borrow the boat? I wouldn’t have missed it until later. I would have called or something to get it back. I wouldn’t have cared,” Grace stated.
“Because I didn’t want to,” Reagan answered.
“So what is that supposed to mean?” Grace asked.
“Oh…just…never mind. Are you going to take me home or not?” Reagan replied.
“Give me a minute and I will. I need to wake up first. I need a shower. I need to eat,” Grace stated.
“I will go make some lunch then. You take a shower,” Reagan said.
“That, my dear, sounds like a plan,” Grace replied.
Grace stood in the bathroom, staring into the mirror. She smiled at herself.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked her reflection.
She turned the water on and pulled her towel over. She placed it on the back of the toilet that was next to the shower stall. She tested the temperature of the spray. It wasn’t hot enough, so she turned it up.
She looked in the mirror again. She shook her head at herself.
“She doesn’t know you. You don’t know her. What are you thinking? You can’t be anything to her except that brat in high school.
“Damn, why didn’t I see her in school? She is beautiful. But, I am the cop that she turned to in her hour of pain. That is all I will be,” Grace said to herself as she entered the shower’s spray.
The heat felt wonderful on her aching bones and muscles. She let the warmth melt away her anxieties. The water rushed over her skin like on old warn, inviting blanket. She leaned into the spray allowing her arms to hold her up as her hands were placed firmly on the cold tile of the shower wall.
The water rushed over her, washing away the pain of the past, of the night before, of the time on the couch with Reagan. Grace thought that she was losing her mind. It was bad enough that Simmons was dead, that Camille left her in pain, and now she had to deal with the sights that Reagan had seen the night before.
“What are you doing, Gracie Lynn?” she asked her self.
“What is it that yo
u want from her?”
She washed her hair and her body, hoping that the soap would give her some sort of clarity. She got nothing but a realization in the water. She was attracted to Reagan and more than she thought she should be.
Sure, Reagan was beautiful, but Grace hardly knew anything about her, except what she knew from high school. She had to admit to herself that she didn’t mind getting to know Reagan better, but she wondered if it was for the best.
Reagan had only spent the night because she was afraid. Grace didn’t know why but she always felt the need to protect Reagan from whatever she could. It wasn’t just her police mentality. There was something about Reagan that just begged to be protected. It was like Grace knew that Reagan had some deep dark secret to hide from the world or maybe it was just her innocence, but Grace couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Grace got dressed in the bathroom and shook the thoughts from her head. She knew that she shouldn’t think of such things when it came to Reagan, but all she wanted to do was hold Reagan in her arms until all Reagan’s troubles went away. Grace looked at herself in the mirror and knew that all she wanted to do last night when she held Reagan was make love to her.
She stared at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t believe that she had thought about making love to Reagan last night, while she held her in the bed. Grace knew it was wrong, but she wanted it. There was something between them. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew that it deserved some more investigation.
The more Grace thought about it, the more perverse she thought she was. Grace couldn’t understand how she craved the woman in her kitchen when she knew what Reagan had been through the night before. It just wasn’t right and Grace knew it. She couldn’t understand how she would want to help someone who was grieving over the bloody mess that they had seen the night before, and want to screw them in her own bed the next night.
“What are you thinking?” Grace asked her reflection in the mirror.
“She called you to a friend’s house, because she was worried and you are a cop. She wanted help. So you went and tried to stop her from seeing the body. You tried to stop her from seeing the victim, but you couldn’t. You tried to protect her from the rape scene, but she saw it anyway. And, then…then she asks to stay with you because she doesn’t feel safe in her own home. You do the noble thing and let her sleep at your place. Then in the middle of the night, when she comes to your bed, because she wants companionship and protection from her nightmares, you let her in. Never, did she offer herself to you, but you…you wanted it. What kind of sick fuck are you? Gracie, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
She stared at the mirror some more. She couldn’t stand herself. She was being led by the non-existent brain in her pants. Her libido was winning the game of which part was going to rule. She didn’t like it. So, Grace decided that it was time for a change.
She knew that she would have to make some changes in the way that she looked at Reagan. Gracie knew that she would have to act like a cop around Reagan. She could give Reagan her friendship, but nothing else. It was difficult but it was the best for both of them, well at least that was what Grace thought.
“You look better now,” Reagan stated when Grace came in from the shower.
“I feel wonderful,” Grace replied sarcastically and then asked, “How are you doing?”
“I am okay,” Reagan said.
“Are you sure?” Grace asked.
“I guess,” Reagan replied.
“I am sorry you had to see that. I wish that I could have spared you that,” Grace said, taking a drink from her glass.
“You did what you could,” Reagan said simply.
“But, it wasn’t enough. You didn’t need to see that. I should have kept you away. You aren’t prepared to see things like that,” Grace stated.
“Oh, and you are?” Reagan responded.
“I have seen worse. I am a cop, remember. I have seen the horrors that man does to another being,” Grace replied, taking another drink.
“That isn’t alcohol, is it?” Reagan asked, worried.
“No, but it is a fruity lavation that a friend recommended for me to drink,” Grace answered smiling.
“Lavation?” Reagan answered.
“Yeah, it is fruit-flavored water, want some?” Grace answered offering Reagan the glass.
She took the glass and smelled the contents.
“Fruit-flavored water, huh?” she inquired and took a drink, “Hmm, that is good.”
“Yeah, it is Crystal Light. It is the only way I’ll drink water besides Propel. I hate the taste of water,” Grace answered, “So a friend of mind in college turned me on to this so I would stay hydrated.”
“You drink this on shift?” Reagan asked.
“All the time,” I answered.
Reagan shook her head and handed the glass back to Grace.
Chapter Twenty-five
Reagan went through the motions at work. She couldn’t believe that Ashlynn had been killed by the maniac that Grace was chasing. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She was afraid to be in her own home. She was afraid at work. She was tired of being afraid. She was tired of depending on Grace to make her feel safe.
Reagan was worried. Grace knew it. She was upset that Grace couldn’t protect Reagan the way that she wanted. Gracie was doing everything in her power to keep Reagan safe but the maniac was getting way too close to home.
Grace along with Danica organized a task force that was running twenty-four seven. They had people from SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, even in on the case trying to catch the bastard. Danica had to make people take time off and go home. She was amazed at how much the entire Lexington Sheriff’s Office had come together on this case. She had to send Gracie and Frenchy home every night.
Grace would just go home and review the case there. Reagan would come over, eat dinner with Grace, and they would both retire to Grace’s study. Grace would get on the computer and play with the case. Reagan would be on her laptop reviewing paperwork and work orders for Knight Tech. It was an easy alliance between them.
One night, about a week and half into their new routine, Grace looked up over her computer. She pulled her glasses down the bridge of her nose and smiled at Reagan. Reagan was staring intently at her laptop’s screen. Grace grinned at the furrow that was being created between Reagan’s eyebrows.
“What?” Reagan asked when she felt Gracie’s stare.
“Nothing.”
“Then stop staring.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was cute,” Reagan said.
Grace just smiled. She knew that she was smitten and she didn’t care. Normally, Gracie would have been running from Reagan, especially after everything with Camille. There was just something about Reagan that Grace couldn’t explain. Reagan was the first one that Gracie ever thought about a future with.
“What?” Reagan asked.
“Nothing.”
“Liar,” Reagan said without missing a beat.
“Are you happy here?”
“Yes,” Reagan answered.
“Good. I’m glad. I just wish that I could put your mind at ease.”
“Gracie…you can’t control that maniac. There is nothing you can’t do that you aren’t already doing. I feel safe with you. I know that you are doing everything that you can. I want you to know that I really appreciate it,” Reagan stated.
“Reagan,” Grace said, removing her glasses and setting them on the desk.
She pushed back from the desk and stared at Reagan still engrossed. Grace looked up from Reagan and glanced at the clock. It was later than Grace thought.
“Reagan,” Grace said, standing.
“What is it, Grace?”
“It’s eleven o’clock. Don’t you have to go to work in the morning? I think that we should go to bed. Don’t you?” Grace asked.
“If you say so,” Reagan answered, finally looking up.
“Reagan…”
“What, Gracie? What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing really. I just wish I could end this case. I feel bad that you aren’t even sleeping in your own bed.”
“Is that a problem for you?” Reagan asked, staring at Grace intently, the fear beginning to rise.
“Not for me, no.”
“Then what is it?” Reagan asked.
“I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable. Okay, I know this is going to sound wrong, but I enjoy having you in my bed. It makes me feel better knowing that you are safer with me in my bed then alone in your own home. And, sometimes, it is just because I am selfish,” Grace answered.
Reagan stood up and went to Gracie. Reagan took Grace’s hand in her own. She aligned her body with Grace’s taller frame. Gracie looked down upon Reagan’s hazel, smiling eyes. Reagan could swear she could feel Grace’s cerulean gaze burning her with pure unadulterated desire.
Then, Reagan did the one thing that Grace was hoping for. She reached up and pulled Grace’s face down to her own. Reagan kissed her. Grace was a little surprised, but she didn’t let it stop her from enjoying Reagan’s kiss. When Reagan finally broke the kiss, she reached out for Grace’s hand. She took a hold of it and pulled Gracie after her towards the stairs and the bedrooms.
“Reagan?” Grace asked breaking the silence.
“Shh…Just come to bed,” Reagan answered.
“But, what about your laptop?”
“Don’t worry about it. I took care of it earlier. That was part of the reason that I knew that you were staring at me.”
“What?” Grace asked, stunned.
“Close your mouth, officer, and take me to bed,” Reagan teased.
Grace needed no further encouragement. She didn’t let Reagan pull away. She made them change positions. It was now Grace that was pulling Reagan into the bedroom. They were both laughing as they passed through the doorway and feel onto the bed.
Grace made sure that Reagan landed on top of her as they hit the bed. Grace’s heart was racing and she could feel the quickening in Reagan’s pulse. Grace wasn’t sure how far Reagan was going to take this, but she was unwilling to let go of Reagan.