by Judy Candis
“It’s still a little early but I’m famished,” he said. “Didn’t take time out for lunch.”
“A little early? It’s already five-fifteen. I could eat a horse right now. Any idea what kind of food you’d like?”
“Not especially. Any good Italian restaurants nearby? There’s never been an Italian restaurant that didn’t have something I loved on the menu.”
Sills returned to the squad room, having obviously picked up on the tail end of the conversation.
“How’s it going, Grant? Since you arrived in Dadesville, we rarely get to see much of our lead detective.” Sills smiled broadly.
Someone coughed loudly, and Jael didn’t have to look up to know it was Billups passing by.
“Things can change in a matter of minutes,” Billups threw at them on his way out the door.
“Not one of your admirers, I take it,” Grant said as he placed his hand at the small of her back and ushered her out the door behind Billups.
“Good observation. I think I bumped him for the post when I was promoted to lead detective. Though he denies it, he’s never let me forget the whole thing got under his skin.”
Once they were settled in their seats at a window overlooking the bay, Jael realized how long it had been since she’d shared an intimate meal in a romantic setting. Though the interior of the restaurant was still cozy, and still dimly lit by small candles on the table, it had changed a lot since she and Virgil had celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary dinner there.
Glancing around, Jael took in the new decor of checkered tablecloths and a spectacular back wall mural of a bustling Italian street. An intoxicating aroma of spices and seasoned meats floated in from the kitchen each time one of the waiters entered or exited, while soft violin music played in the background. The place was busy, and the hum of conversation around them was soothing.
“Come here a lot?” Grant asked, watching her intensely between glances at his menu.
“Haven’t been here in years. I was here with my ex many years ago. If I remember correctly, the food was excellent.”
“You mentioned yesterday that your husband never let you forget what happened to Ramon. Is he the kind of person that holds grudges to a fault?”
“Well, being fair and all, it was a lot more than that. Actually, Virgil is right in saying I brought all of this on myself. You see, I’d heard rumors the day of the accident and was working out my own kind of grudge when it happened.” Jael looked down at her menu before continuing. “Someone had told me they’d seen Virgil at Tommy’s, a hot nightspot here in Dadesville, with a pretty young woman he’d been seen with before. Said they were all over each other and it didn’t look like Virgil cared who saw them together. I jumped into my car and took off in anger, hoping to catch him in the act.
“I never saw the other car coming. While I was at the hospital, he said a lot of things about how our relationship had been deteriorating for a while and that he was feeling trapped. I guess he wasn’t cut out for marriage, or maybe simply not with me. Even though his behavior continued to wreck our marriage, I guess I wasn’t ready for the last curtain call. I confirmed it by withdrawing; the pills seemed to ease the betrayal and kept me from having to think about it. Then, of course, over time I needed more and more to deal with the divorce and the whole bit. You know the rest.”
Grant reached across the table and placed his hand on hers. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. You deserve to be happy.”
There it was again, she thought, those darn butterflies whenever he touched her.
“What about you, Grant? Didn’t you ever marry again? Have any kids?”
A veil of inner sadness passed across his face for a fraction of a second, replacing the caring look he’d given her.
“Kids. I would have loved kids. But you make mistakes. Mistakes that follow you for a lifetime. Yes, I was married once, to the Prom Queen, the woman every guy wanted. The woman I thought I wanted. She was ‘the perfect woman’ all through our engagement. It wasn’t until after we were married that I learned she couldn’t have children. Or at least that’s what I thought for more than four years; it was by accident that I learned she could have them but didn’t want any. Not when the birth of a child could leave her body so out of shape.” His words carried the bitterness of a deep hurt.
“How did you find out?”
“When the abortion clinic called me.”
“Oh, Grant.”
“She had forgotten to sign the insurance forms. I was the policyholder, so they called me.” His voice cracked. “I was so astonished. I told them they had the wrong name, but after they confirmed their records, there was no doubt it was her. It was her second abortion in three years. When I confronted her, she finally admitted to taking birth control pills all during our marriage and that the two times things went wrong, she’d chosen to have an abortion.”
He looked out the window into the dark night. Jael could see his tortured face reflected in the black glass.
“I’m so sorry, Grant.”
“No marriage can stand up to those kinds of lies. Even though she promised to get off the pill and make a go at being a mother, it was too late for me. I’d always been a strong pro-life advocate and she knew it, and pretended to believe in the same things I did.” Grant let go of a deep sigh. “I felt like such a fool. Preaching against abortion and here my wife was killing off our own kids before they had a chance to see the light of day. It destroyed any hope we might have had for a future.”
He turned from the window to look at her. “I did the very same thing I accused you of—I buried myself in work. But unlike you, I did occasionally date, knowing my ex-wife was not the norm. I even got a little serious about a certain lady, as I told you last night.”
“I think with me, I never let myself go to places where I might be exposed to my singleness,” Jael volunteered, looking out the same window Grant had a moment ago. “I worked, came home and did things with Ramon. There were always a few dads at Ramon’s events, but, of course, they were usually married. And if one of the divorced dads hit on me, I let him know right away it was a waste of his time. Virgil was very active in Ramon’s life, and many people thought we were still married. I didn’t tell them any different, because most of the time it worked to my advantage.”
“But didn’t you ever miss having someone hold you, whisper in your ear?” he asked in a seductive tone.
Jael turned back to gaze into his eyes for a moment, then looked out the window again. “You have no idea how hard it was at first. But after the Lord healed Ramon, I stopped doing anything outside of church. I stopped partying, stopped seeking companionship and filled my life with Ramon, work and church.”
“And now?”
“And now, it seems so strange to be here with you.” She gave him her full attention. “But I’ll admit I’m loving every minute of it.”
“That makes two of us.”
They decided to share a Caesar salad, and Jael selected the Shrimp Medici. Just the thought of the plump Gulf Bay shrimp sautéed in garlic, olive oil and basil, on top of a bed of spinach, was enough to make her want to lick her lips in anticipation.
“You read my mind,” Grant kidded, and for a moment Jael thought he meant the part about licking her lips. “So I’ll have the Veal Marsala.”
“Oh, I can change my order,” she said, picking up the menu to glance over it again.
Grant politely took it from her and passed both menus to the waiter. “Not on your life. This way you’ll have to share more than just the salad.”
“Have you always been this type of schemer?” Jael was giddy with the thought of the two of them dipping into each other’s plate.
“Always.”
After that, the conversation was much lighter and laced with bouts of laughter. For Jael, it was shameless, girlish laughter that she enjoyed to the max. By the end of the meal, she was light-headed with a new kind of freedom, while at the same time getting a pretty good peek into the
life of Eric Grant.
She took note of the way his voice softened and filled with emotion when he talked about his parents, siblings and close friends. He’d grown up in Philadelphia and because of the large Italian population, considered himself a bit of an expert on the cuisine.
“I make a mean Veal Piccata. I’d like to let you taste it someday.”
“You cook?” She’d thought he was past surprising her and made a mental note to never second-guess him.
“Why not? I love to eat, therefore I cook. When I enjoy something, I dig right in and get all I can from it. I take my pleasure very seriously.”
Jael met his eyes, the conversation having moved beyond food. And darn if those ole butterflies weren’t back with a vengeance, racing all the way down to her legs. She could not think of a pat answer.
“I’ll bet you do.” It took all of her will to break the eye contact.
Through the rest of the meal she talked mostly about Ramon, her favorite subject. Grant smiled all the while, knowing she was keeping the conversation from a more intimate nature. Jael saw it as taking things really slow.
“I’m stuffed,” Grant said shortly after downing a huge slice of Chocolate Mint Cheesecake. “That stretch of beach out there looks like the perfect place to walk off dinner. You game?”
Jael glanced out the window at the sandy path along the bay beside the restaurant. It was beautiful, and dangerous—dangerous by way of being nearly empty of other beachcombers and the perfect setting for their libidos to run a little wild.
But she was a brave girl, wasn’t she? She had control of this situation, didn’t she? She moved her legs under the table slightly, testing their sand-worthiness.
“I’ll meet you out on the deck after I pay the check,” Grant said, not giving her time to answer. So she nodded.
When Jael emerged on the back deck of the restaurant, she had managed to compose herself enough to quiet the thudding of her heart. But one look at Grant as he strolled out the door and the blood-pumping organ God had given her in the center of her chest began its thundering all over again.
When he was beside her, Grant took her arm and escorted her down the wooden stairway to the moonlit beach.
“Tell me what you’re looking for in a man, Jael.”
The question surprised her, but pleased her as well.
“I don’t think I’ve given it much thought. I mean, yeah, every girl wants certain things: a man who loves her, treats her with respect, brings home the bacon—you know, the whole bit. But after my marriage, I believe God knew what He was talking about when He said not to be unequally yoked.”
“You weren’t a Christian when you married your husband, right?”
“Let’s say I wasn’t a devout Christian, but I knew about the Lord and always thought one day I would get serious about it, even though Virgil never had much taste for the things of God. I guess I thought with time everything would fall into place. Now I know that for a marriage to have any success in this day and age, Christ has to be at the forefront.”
Grant had stopped to pick up a seashell, and now tossed it out into the water. His body moved so swiftly and so suddenly that Jael was caught off guard when he swung around and circled her waist with his arms. She froze. Grant responded with a smile and slowly lifted her chin so their eyes met.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of love, Jael,” he whispered in a husky voice.
“I’m not afraid. It’s just . . .”
Jael knew that Grant was about to kiss her. She anticipated the contact before their lips met, inhaling his strong male scent and automatically closing her eyes. As she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, she silently prayed.
Please, God, is this the one? I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with it if he was.
In the car thirty minutes later, Jael was still savoring the taste of Grant’s lips. Like the gentleman she was learning to believe he was, he’d ended the kiss with a short peck on her nose, then held her hand as they walked along the beach. The conversation continued to be light, but Jael was feeling like she might soar off into the heavenlies if Grant had not been holding her down by the hand.
“You’d better drop me back off at the station so I can pick up the report,” she said now. “I didn’t finish it, and I can do that tonight at home.”
“Okay, but I’ll wait for you. I didn’t pay a lot of attention yesterday to where you live. I’ll just follow you and then head back to the hotel.”
“You’re a big ole FBI agent and you didn’t take notice where you were going?” Jael teased.
“Had other things on my mind at the time.”
Jael basked in the compliment. How long had it been since someone had said such sweet things to her?
When they reached the station, she nearly bounced through the main entrance. She smiled at Tammy, surprised to see her working the late shift today. Tammy didn’t return the smile, but gave her a curious raised eyebrow. So what if everyone knew, Jael thought, she had never felt this great in her life. Or at least in a long time. And even Ramon was happy for her. She would call Rhonda later and tell her she’d had a “real live date,” a great date. Even with all this madness around her, God had smiled on her with the hope and promise of a better day. Jael felt like her cup was running over.
No one was in the squad room when she stepped inside, and she quickly went to her desk to pick up the file and then head back out. The phone on her desk was ringing, and Jael debated whether to answer it. She ignored it while she gathered the loose sheets of information and stuffed them in a folder, but the phone refused to stop.
Whoever it was could reach her tomorrow; today was too great for another complaint.
She had completely turned away from her desk when the thought crossed her mind that Rhonda could be calling to tell her what the boys had been up to when she’d stopped by to check on them. She’d certainly need her cousin’s version of things before she got home. Oh, shooot.
Jael answered the phone. “Detective Reynolds, Homicide.”
“Is there any sweeter sound than the name ‘Momma’ uttered by one’s only child?”
Jael frowned. She didn’t recognize the voice, but the sound of it instantly sent tiny little fingers of cold tapping along her spine. A knot of apprehension tightened her throat. The next voice she heard made the blood drain from her face.
“Momma?”
Jael sucked in her breath, “Ramon? Ramon honey, what’s going on? Who’s with you?”
But the voice that answered was not her son’s.
“Check your top drawer, Deeeetective Reynolds. Then wait for my next call.” The line went dead.
Chapter
29
Every vein in Jael’s body turned into rivers of ice as she slowly reached for the top drawer of her desk and pulled it open. On top of her normal junk was a white envelope with her name on it. With shaking hands, Jael picked up the envelope and opened it.
Ramon’s gold chain with the letters WWJD fell out and dropped onto her desk.
Jael’s heart stopped a complete beat. It was the piece of jewelry she’d bought him on his ninth birthday and he never took it off. She could think of only one thing. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Jael sank into her seat. Dear, sweet Jesus. Don’t let this be happening. Oh God, please, not my baby.
The ring of the phone broke into her fog of denial. Jael snatched the receiver from the cradle and screamed into the mouthpiece.
“WHERE IS MY BABY?”
“Keep your voice down. This little matter is just between the two of us. Now listen and listen good if you want to see your son alive again. You’re being watched as we speak, so no funny stuff.”
“I want to talk to my son,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“I call the shots now, Detective. And I want you to sit tight until I call again. Tell no one about this or you know what will happen. I’m going to watch how you handle yourself.”
“What do you want?”
; “Patience, Detective—all in good time. Get some coffee, relax, do what you folks do, but don’t go far from your desk. Not a word to anyone. Do you hear me? I’ll get back to you. And if you behave, then maybe I’ll let your little black boy say something to his mammy.”
The click of the phone was like a death toll. Jael fought to hold on to her racing thoughts while her mind refused to accept what was happening to her.
For a solid three minutes, Jael didn’t move a muscle and simply stared blindly at the phone. She fought back the urge to hyperventilate. Her mind froze in a state of denial. This couldn’t be happening! This evil could not have reached out its ugly, hateful fingers and touched the only thing that meant anything to her in this world. Her God would not let this happen! Oh, please God, not Ramon, not my baby.
As her senses began to gradually absorb the sounds around her, the reality of it washed over her in a drowning wave of despair. Inside, she raged with conflicting emotions. She couldn’t get a handle on any one feeling. Anger, disbelief, fear all congealed into a whirlwind of agony. At the crest of it all was the conviction that God could not, would not, let this happen to her. Not something so devastating, so utterly destroying.
Fixing an image of Ramon in her mind, Jael silently began to pray. Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. . . . As the words tumbled across her brain, the miracle of flesh and blood and a new soul, all precious elements of who Ramon was, laced itself to her mind.
Jael never took her eyes from the phone, watching it as if it were a living thing, some kind of entity that embodied destruction and terror. When it rang, Jael leaped to grab it, braced for the burn she expected at her touch.
“Yes? Yes?”
“Yes? Girl, when you start answering the phone like you ain’t got time to be bothered?”
“Rhonda, I . . . I have to go. I can’t talk now. I . . .”
“Well, don’t you want to hear about your son?”