Grace Under Fire

by Jerri Drennen

  What a crock of crap this whole thing was. He knew he’d stepped in something rotten with Vince, Heather, and Jack Neil, but instead of the smell dissipating as it should have, it was getting funkier by the minute, and from what he could tell, it stemmed from two of the most deadly of sins. Lust and greed.

  ****

  Grace raced to meet Cord when he pulled up to the curb at Emily’s. She had to talk to him about her parents.

  The Miami police had called her earlier to report their neighbors hadn’t seen them since they’d left for the funeral.

  Before he could open his door, Grace did. He’d be able to tell by her face something was wrong.

  “Are you all right?” He got out, and she flung herself into his arms. “Grace, honey, what’s the matter.”

  “My parents are missing,” she forced out.

  “Don’t they live in Florida? How do you know they’re missing?”

  She pulled back to look him in the eye. “I talked to the Miami police. My parents’ neighbors told them they haven’t seen either one in over six months.”

  “Wow, that’s strange.”

  “Since Vince’s funeral, Cord,” she continued. “This isn’t good, is it?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Let me get on the phone and find out if they arrived back in Florida. Do you remember what day they left?”

  “The officer I talked to said that the neighbors picked up their papers, just assuming they’d decided to stay here in Chicago. He said piles of mail cluttered the floor under the mail drop in the house. And yes, it was the tenth of December.”

  “Have you talked to them at all in the last six months?”

  Tears clouded Grace’s eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d been so self-absorbed. “No. I talked to their machine.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Was it common for you to not hear back?”

  “Sometimes. I guess I just assumed they didn’t care. They were so flippant after Vince died. They insisted on leaving the day after his funeral, and I was upset by that.”

  “This is not your fault, Grace. You had no way of knowing they hadn’t made it home.”

  “I know, but I should have sensed something was wrong. They’re my parents.”

  “I didn’t,” Cord slipped in.

  Grace heard guilt in those two little words. Had Cord been through something similar to this? “What do you mean?”

  “Just that I was in Germany when my mother died. I never felt anything. Of course, we weren’t on the greatest terms with each other. What Tidwell told you last night was true. She was a drunk and a whore.”

  “Whatever your mother did doesn’t give that man a right to think badly of you, Cord. Everyone should be judged on his or her own merits, not someone else’s.”

  “I did sink into a bottle for a few months, but I took a good, hard look at myself. I didn’t want to repeat what I resented so much about my mother.”

  Grace smiled. “And that’s a good thing. I’m proud of you.”

  He sighed. “Let me call some people and see if I can find out if they took a flight back to Florida. If they did, then we’ll have to work with Miami police on the case; if not, we’ll get involved on this end.”

  Grace nodded. She was glad Cord was there to take charge. At this point, she was worried to death and couldn’t think clearly. What if her parents were dead? Had been for over six months? How would she deal with that?

  Cord placed his hand over the mouthpiece of his cell phone. “Grace, would you grab my pad and pen out of the glove box?”

  Grace raced around the car and swung the door open, popping the box. She rifled through it and found a pen and a stack of letters. The name on the top stopped her. Vince’s name in a distinct feminine scrawl was there. She opened one and started to read, her stomach lurching at the contents. Vincent, her beloved husband, had been having an affair with some woman named Heather. The letter was filled with disgusting innuendoes about what she’d do to him the next time they were together.

  Tears formed in Grace’s eyes, ready to spill, when she realized that not only had her husband been unfaithful, but Cord had kept this from her. The letters were in his car. He must have read them.

  “Did you find a pen, Grace?” he asked from the other side of the car.

  She stood and looked at him. The man she loved. The man who had changed her life. A man who had lied to her.

  What else was he hiding?

  She raised the letters and shook them at him. “When were you going to tell me about these? How long have you know about Vince’s little affair? Did you know about it when he was alive?”

  “No, Grace. I just found—”

  “Save it. I don’t believe you. You’re just like my husband—a big, fat liar. And probably, given enough time, a cheat as well. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  He pulled the phone away from his face. “Don’t say that, Grace. I was afraid to tell you the truth, sweetheart. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  She glared at him. “Oh, you hurt me all right, by not telling me what you knew about my husband.”

  Grace pivoted on her heels and ran to the house.

  Her heart was broken in two, and this time it wouldn’t heal—not with all the deception exhibited by the only two men in her life she’d loved.

  Trust was the most important thing in a relationship, and if she didn’t have that, she didn’t have anything.

  Grace Under Fire

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The front door to Emily’s house slammed behind Grace, and Cord’s world crumbled in around him.

  Her face had said it all. She hated him for not telling her about Vince’s affair.

  Why the hell hadn’t he remembered the letters were in his car? What was he going to do now?

  An O’Hare ticket agent spoke. “Detective, we show that they had reservations on flight two-sixty-three, but they never picked up the tickets.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  Cord closed his phone, his gaze still glued to Emily and Charlie’s door.

  He had to make this right with Grace. He loved her too much to lose her now. But first he had to find out what had happened to Grace’s parents. It worried him. Two people couldn’t just vanish into thin air. Someone had to know where they were.

  What did he know? They didn’t make the flight. So what had happened to them between Grace’s house and the airport? What a dilemma. Six months was a long time to try to retrace someone’s steps, but it wasn’t impossible.

  Where should he start? Had they rented a car? Taken a taxi to airport? This was a question only Grace could answer.

  He walked up the drive to the door and knocked. Emily answered it, her face blazing with anger. “What? Haven’t you done enough?”

  “Emily, I’m sorry I didn’t tell Grace what I found out. I need to talk to her.”

  “She doesn’t want to talk to you. So go away.” Emily tried to slam the door, but Cord stopped her.

  “I need to know how your parents got to the airport.”

  She looked confused. “What?”

  “Did they take a taxi that day? Do you know?”

  “Yes, they did. Why?”

  “Because they never made their flight, which means something happened to them on their way to the airport. Can you recall the service they used?”

  “Yes, Windy City Cab. I called them myself.”

  “All right. This is at least some place to start. I want you to know that I love Grace, Emily. I’m not going to let her throw away what we have. You tell her that.”

  Emily leaned her head on the door. “Okay, but she’s very angry right now.”

  Cord threaded his hand through his hair. “I know. I should have told her about what I’d learned, but I didn’t want to hurt her.” He sighed. “I’m headed to the cab company. I’ll call you if I find out anything.”

  Emily nodded, then closed the door.

  Cord spun around and raced to his car, determined to find out what
happened to Grace’s parents.

  He had a bad feeling in his gut about them and just hoped his stomach’s reaction was wrong.

  ****

  Grace wiped at her eyes. How could her husband have done this to her? Who was this Heather in the letters? Heather?

  Why was that name so familiar? The hospital. Emily’s roommate had been a Heather. Grace remembered how strangely the woman had looked at her. Like she’d seen a ghost. Oh, God. Was she the woman Vincent had been screwing around with? Grace had thought she’d seen her somewhere before. Would she have the nerve to show up at the shop?

  Think, Grace.

  She racked her brain. Think about the woman not pregnant.

  Her hands flew to her mouth, strangling a sob. The woman was pregnant. Was she carrying her husband’s child?

  Intense anger filled her and left her shaking. If Vincent were here, she’d kill him. “I think we should wait a few years to have children, Grace,” had been his words to her when she mentioned having a child. So he didn’t want children with her, but he could have one with this woman?

  Grace swiped at another tear.

  No wonder he’d been too tired to have sex with her. He was getting it somewhere else.

  Images of her husband in this woman’s arm buckled her knees. She fell to the floor, sure the magnitude of his betrayal would kill her. It hurt so bad, she wanted to die.

  “Grace.” Emily sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “It’ll be okay.”

  Grace shook her head. “No, it won’t. How can I ever trust anyone again? My husband was having an affair. Screwing around with some woman named Heather. Do you remember your roommate in the hospital? Wasn’t she a Heather? She gave me such an odd look when I was there. Could she be the one he was messing around with? And is the baby she’s carrying Vincent’s?”

  “I don’t know, Grace.”

  “What about Cord? Did he know who she was that day? As I recall, he seemed in an awful big hurry to get out of there. Maybe he knew and was worried she’d say something.”

  Emily brushed a tear from Grace’s cheek. “If he did, and he didn’t say anything, I’m sure it was because he didn’t want to see you like this.”

  “You don’t know that. He probably knew about the affair from the beginning. He and Vincent were best friends, remember? Wouldn’t Vincent have told him what was going on? Bragged about his hot conquest? The unbelievable sex he was having? Isn’t that what men do?”

  Emily pulled back to look Grace in the eyes. “I don’t believe that. Look, Grace. You’ve been intimate with Cord. Do you think he’d be able to keep this from you after Vincent died, knowing you were in such pain? He’s a caring man. I think if he’d known, he would have told you.”

  Grace inhaled a ragged breath. “But you know how men want to keep their secrets. Especially cops.”

  “Some, but I don’t think Cord is one of those men. The way he looks at you just melts my heart. He loves you so much, Grace. If he kept this from you, it was because he couldn’t stand the thought of you being hurt.”

  “I don’t know. I need time to think. I have to get out of here for a while. I’m going to go down to Lightly Seasoned and work.”

  Emily grasped her arms. “No, Grace. I don’t think you should. It could be dangerous.”

  Grace sniffed, then brushed her sister’s hands off and stood. “I’ll lock the doors. I’ll be fine. I just need some time alone.”

  Emily rose and hugged her sister. “All right, but I don’t feel good about this.”

  She squeezed Emily tight. “I’ll be fine. I’ll call you as soon as I get there and right before I leave, okay?”

  Grace turned and grabbed her handbag. She’d go and spend some time working. Hopefully space would help to clear her mind enough to make some decisions.

  ****

  Cord pulled in front of the precinct, his stomach in knots. The cab company had been able to give him the name of the driver who’d picked up Grace’s parents that day, but all the man could tell him was that he dropped them at the airport terminal.

  Cord was at a dead-end and had no idea where to go from there. Something had happened to them at the airport, or they’d flown somewhere else that day, under a different name. The latter made no sense, so he’d have to concentrate on an event at the airport. They had security. No one could just vanish like that. Someone had to have seen them. Maybe a surveillance camera had caught something.

  He jumped out of his car and headed into the building. He’d call the airport and see how far back they kept their security tapes.

  As he headed for the elevator, his cell phone ran. He flipped it open and pressed talk.

  “Cord, this is Emily. I hate to bother you but I’m worried about Grace. She was upset and insisted on going to the shop to work for a while. She called me when she got there, but that was hours ago. I called the shop and got a busy signal. I’m afraid something’s happened to her.”

  Cord’s heart jumped in his chest. “Okay, Emily. I’m headed over there right now. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

  He quickly retraced his steps, racing back to his car, an even sicker sensation forming in his belly. Once out on the busy thoroughfare, his mind wandered.

  Was Grace on the phone with someone, or had something happened to her? Vince was out there somewhere. Would he have the nerve to show himself to her? Now, after all this time? And if he did, would he hurt her?

  The flowers Grace received had to have come from him. Who else would think that way about her? Tidwell wanted Grace. He’d have nothing to gain by calling her a whore.

  Vince, on the other hand, might think of her affair with Cord as infidelity. For some sick reason, Cord thought that fit Vince somehow. An I can mess around as much as I want, but my wife can’t mentality.

  Cord gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles whitening. He narrowly missed a car as he weaved into another lane.

  Slow down. You’ll be no help to Grace dead.

  Relief flooded him when he pulled into the store’s parking lot. Grace’s car was parked in front of the door.

  He leaped out of his car and pulled out his revolver, noticing the shop’s door was ajar. With a sinking heart, he eased the door open further and slipped inside.

  Nothing. Dead silence.

  With his back against the wall, he slid to the front room. The lights were on, but no one was there. A clothing rack of dresses was turned over, a sign to Cord that there had been a struggle.

  The phone was off the hook and buzzing. He walked to the counter and, with a scarf he grabbed from a basket to protect any existing prints, hung it up.

  He flung open his cell to contact the Ninth.

  If Vince Diaglo had his wife, he’d better hope he didn’t hurt her in any way, or Cord would kill him—and make sure he stayed dead this time.

  Grace Under Fire

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Cord closed his cell phone and spotted a piece of folded paper on the counter. He must have missed it when he’d hung up the receiver.

  He opened the note, shocked that it had his name at the top.

  Dear partner, come to the Bay Court Motel and ask for Martin Andrews at the desk if you want my wife back. Come alone. If I see anyone who remotely resembles a cop, I’ll kill her.

  Sirens blared in the distance, and Cord knew the Ninth was close. He tucked the note in his pocket. He couldn’t chance telling Harris about it, not when Grace’s life was at stake.

  He’d have to bide his time until he could slip away unnoticed. The sirens became intense, then abruptly stopped.

  It was show time.

  Cord made his way to the back and met Harris at the door. “What happened? I thought Grace was safely tucked away at her sister’s?”

  “She was upset today and told Emily she was coming here to work.”

  “What was she upset about?”

  Cord inhaled, then answered. “She found out about Vince’s affair with that stripper. I
found some letters in his locker. They were in my glove box and she found them. She was upset I didn’t tell her about what Vince had done.”

  Harris scratched his head. “Why did her sister let her come down here alone?”

  Cord placed his hands on his hips. “I’m sure Emily tried to stop her, but you know Grace. She can be pretty stubborn at times.”

  “Women.” Harris rolled his eyes. “Okay, so lay the scene out for me.”

  “The phone was off the hook, buzzing. I’d have the receiver dusted for prints. That rack of dresses was turned over, and an earring rack was off on the other side of the counter. I knew right away there had been a struggle.”

  Cord’s cell rang. “Hang on.” He flipped it open. “Rawlings.”

  “Cord, have you found her?” Emily’s panicked voice asked.

  “No. I think someone has her.” He heard her deep intake of breath. “I’ll find her, Emily. Tell me everything you know.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t know anything.”

  “What did she tell you before she left?”

  “Nothing. Just that she needed time alone and she was going to the shop to work. She promised to call me when she got there—which she did—and when she was about to leave. When she didn’t call, I called the shop and got a busy signal. That’s when I called you. Maybe she’s just out driving around?” she suggested.

  “Her car’s here.”

  Cord knew Emily would take that last announcement hard. He could hear her sob, and it ate at his gut. “Emily, I promise I’ll find her. Try not to worry.”

  He knew exactly where Grace was, and if Vince even looked at her wrong, Cord was going to wring his crooked-ass neck.

  “Emily, I’ll call you as soon as I find her.”

  “Okay.”

  He re-clipped his phone and turned around. Five uniformed officers had arrived, one now talking to Harris.

  This could be his chance to slip out unobserved. Without looking back, Cord exited the shop and raced to his car.

  He had to get to Bay Court before Vince decided he wasn’t coming and hurt Grace.