Falling Grace

by Melissa Shirley

  “And now all the sudden she’s here?” Prudence didn’t buy it either. “Why?”

  They didn’t spend the time working with the ugly side of life that Charity and I saw every day in our jobs, so their life-experience didn’t provide them with a defense mechanism for our mother’s brand of evil. I sighed, hating that I had to enlighten them further to her sins. “Because he died. Because she thought she would inherit it all, since they’re still married.” Luckily, Dad had taken steps to make sure she didn’t.

  “Did you know he cut her out?” Temperance glanced at me when I nodded. She motioned to the doorway. “You need to take care of that?”

  I turned to find Blane leaning against the wall. Instead of answering, I walked to where he stood holding my phone. “You have a call.” Instead of waiting for me to answer, he picked up his luggage and stalked outside. I checked the screen--Jamie--hit ignore with a shaking finger, and shoved it in my pocket.

  Dealing with my guilt over my country-road escapades with Blane and hiding it from Jamie while I still sat on the wrong side of tipsy was not a good plan. The screen door banged as I stepped onto the porch.

  “Hey. Where you going?”

  “I’m flying home.”

  “What?” He’d told me we were staying two more days.

  “You’ve ignored me since we got here.”

  “What do you want me to say, Blane? This trip isn’t about our alone time or lack of it. I have a little bit going on.” Selfish, inconsiderate--selfish…

  “And instead of dealing with it, with me, all you do is drink. I don’t have time to be your babysitter. I have to get home.”

  I grabbed his shoulder, yanked until he faced me. “To your wife, right?”

  “Not now, Grace. Sober up first.” His whisper, just out of earshot of my sisters, did nothing to mask the contempt I couldn’t believe I’d earned.

  “What the hell are you talking about? You’re the one who kept ordering me drinks, and you’re the one who--”

  “I want to love you, Grace, but you make it difficult.” He opened the door to the waiting taxi and climbed inside.

  I closed my eyes and blew out a big breath. I’d had about enough. Heading back to Texas sounded good to me too.

  Chapter 19

  The phone ringing in my pocket, the sweat pouring down my back, and the headache pounding against my temples, all needed to be dealt with, but I decided to deal with the easiest to tackle first. I pulled out my cell, answered, and waited.

  “Grace? Oh my gosh. I’m sorry about your dad.”

  Rory. Someone sane. “It all happened too fast. I should have called, but Blane made all the arrangements and I failed to think.”

  “I understand. Don’t worry about it.” She paused. “Things are happening here, with the case and with a bunch of others. When do you think you’ll be back?”

  “I was planning on leaving tomorrow and driving through the day. It takes about fourteen hours, so tomorrow night?” I hadn’t planned anything. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “You sure you want to talk about it now?” Her voice dripped with concern I couldn’t bear to hear.

  “Absolutely. I need some normalcy. Go. Tell.”

  “The State’s Attorney’s office is being investigated. Everything from witness intimidation to jury tampering. Jamie told me about it this morning.”

  I shook my head. “He told me he was leaving because of my drinking. He never mentioned this.” What a liar. My stomach rolled, whether from the alcohol or the anger, I couldn’t say.

  “Leaving? Who was leaving?”

  “Blane.” I bit my lip, wishing I could organize my thoughts into some semblance of sanity.

  “He was with you? I thought he just had your phone for some reason.”

  “No, he was here until about five minutes ago.” I chewed my nail as she peppered questions at me like a machine gun. Instead of responding, I changed the subject. “I need to sleep for a little while, but I’m leaving tonight. I’ll be back in the morning.” Nothing like a little work to calm my bleeding heart and mind.

  “Let me know when you get here, and we can head to the office. This is big. If we can prove there’s any flaw in the case, the judge will have no choice but to drop it.”

  I had news for her. I wouldn’t be winning by default. I would win because it was the right thing. Or I wouldn’t win at all.

  * * * *

  “You’re leaving?” Temperance frowned. I’d stowed the last of my bags into the trunk of Daddy’s car and slammed it shut as my sisters crowded around the car.

  “I have to go. I have a case. There’s nothing more I can do here anyway. Hope has to figure it out on her own. Like we did.” That little piece of wisdom came during a long nap that afternoon. “All we can do is help her through it when Mom lets her down.”

  I hugged Prudence, then Temperance and Joy.

  Charity stepped forward. I’d explained the issues I had with the Quinns, the evidence I’d seen, and what was missing. “I’ll be there in a couple days. I have to wrap up some things at work then I’ll fly out Saturday morning.”

  “Sounds great.”

  She pulled me in. “I’m bringing Hope back with me,” she whispered. “I’ll need your help to keep her there. Away from Mom.”

  “I don’t know if she’ll listen to me.”

  “She didn’t run to any of the rest of us.”

  I sighed and stepped back. “Right.”

  Hope pulled up in a cute little sports car she hadn’t owned that morning and threw her arms around me. “I’ll miss you.”

  I hugged her tight, sad for what I knew she’d go through if she stayed with our mother. “You could come back with me. Help me work, see Jamie, finish your classes.”

  She pulled back, held me by the tops of my arms, and smiled. “I know you’re worried, but I’m not a little girl. I won’t let her hurt me.”

  “Call me a lot. Let me know you’re okay.”

  She nodded. “I love you, Gracie.”

  “Take care of yourself. I love you too.”

  I hopped in Daddy’s car, and with a last look in the rearview at my sisters gathered in the yard, I drove away. Stomping down the sadness that everything had changed, I focused on getting back to Texas. I wasn’t sure how Rory’s news would affect my case, but my gut feeling said it would be good for Gabrielle Quinn.

  * * * *

  A fourteen hour drive, by myself, with no one to chat with or to keep me awake might not have been my best plan, but after eight cups of coffee, two energy drinks, and a soda, I made it, pulling up in front of my apartment right before lunch.

  The flowers on my stoop had been cleared away, and I dragged myself up the steps. I sent Rory a text telling her I’d returned, then received one in reply telling me she would be right over. When the doorbell rang and I answered, I expected to see a petite blond woman instead of a tall, dark, and dreamy sheriff.

  His uniform fit exactly as I remembered, in a way that emphasized every good thing about his body. Black pants hugged his long legs as a gun belt hung low on one hip. His dark T-shirt highlighted the wide span of his shoulders and tapered where it tucked in at his slender waist.

  Wow. Some genius woman had definitely designed that uniform with Jamie in mind. “Hi.”

  His mouth compressed, thinned to almost nothing while his eyes flashed an angry fire. “Can I come in?”

  I stepped back. “What’s up?”

  He walked past me, turned, a frown tugging at his lips. “You called Blane when your dad died?”

  “He had your phone, Jamie. I tried to call you.” I hadn’t expected Blane to answer Jamie’s phone, but hadn’t fought to speak to Jamie either. Since the information wouldn’t help my position, in true lawyer fashion I kept it to myself behind closed lips.

  “But you knew he had my phone. I told you.”

  I had an explanation, but the set of his mouth, the hard anger in his
eyes said he didn’t care, and I was past the point of finding the motivation to defend myself.

  “He couldn’t wait to get back here to tell me how you dragged him out to a country road and gave yourself to him on the hood of a car.”

  I winced and he stepped back. When I reached out a hand and laid it on his crossed arms, he flinched away.

  “The hood of a car.” His whisper echoed with disbelief that chipped away at my apathy.

  “It wasn’t like that, Jamie. I was drunk and stupid.” I stepped closer. “Please, let me explain. I couldn’t separate the you from the him.” Oh, if only I could make this worse. Even my brain shouted sarcasm at me. How could I make that mistake? What the hell had I done?

  “I thought we were working on something.”

  “We are. Please. I made a mistake.” I blinked back the tears for a full four seconds before they won the battle and slipped down my cheeks. “Jamie, I made a mistake.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t do this right now.” He brushed past me and paused at the door. Without bothering to turn and look at me, he said, “I’m sorry about your dad.” Before I could reply or beg him to hear me out, he squeezed around Rory as she walked in the still open front door.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and shut the door behind him.

  “What was that?”

  “Long story.” I shook it off for later inspection, dried my cheeks with clammy hands, and turned to her. “Tell me about this investigation.”

  She opened her shoulder bag, full of files and folders, and spread them out onto the table. “Okay. I don’t have all the details, but there is some sort of corruption going on in the office, and Blane is taking some serious heat right now. There are investigators here from the Texas Bar Association and the Attorney General’s office. I saw him at lunch and he looks a little flustered.”

  Served him right, in my book. “What does it mean for Gabrielle Quinn?”

  “It means we need to go over every piece of evidence, examine the chain of custody, and we need to check the interrogation videos and techniques. No mistake is too small for us to pick at. We’re looking for anything we can use to scar up his work.”

  “What about the police department? Are they involved?” Were both brothers in on it? My stomach twisted, and my head ached at the thought.

  She shrugged. “I haven’t heard anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  “You think Jamie is involved too?”

  “Think about it, Grace. They’re brothers. Twins. What do you think?”

  * * * *

  We worked through the evening, long into the night, until Jack called and she rushed home not realizing the late hour. Exhausted, I tumbled onto the sofa with every intention of resting, possibly even sleeping, until I could figure out what to do about the disarray in my life. Despite my best intentions, the shambles I’d made of everything brought forth images of my dad shaking his head, that same disappointed frown on his face whenever he tried to help me straighten out what I’d made crooked. All I had to do was figure out what wonderful words of wisdom he would impart to get my life back together.

  Without the ability to talk to him, I couldn’t hear his voice, and a batch of tears floated over the edge of my lashes. I cried until the sun started peeking over the horizon then I traipsed down the hallway and fell into my bed.

  Before I closed my eyes, I picked up my phone to call Jamie. I wanted to set things right, to beg forgiveness, but instead, I set the alarm for two hours later.

  Chapter 20

  The text Meet me in my office at 11 offered no clues as to what he wanted, and I could only guess…dropping the case against Gabrielle? Well, if so, it was a meeting I didn’t want to miss.

  I dressed in my lucky verdict suit, spritzed on an expensive perfume, and walked out of my apartment minutes before my command performance. The skirt, long enough to be respectable, but short enough it elongated my legs, hugged my ass as I climbed the steps to his office.

  His secretary’s desk was unattended--she’d left her door guarding post?--and I lifted a hand to knock. The door swung open, and in a barely audible whisper, he said, “Keep your mouth shut.”

  I raised my eyebrows and followed him to a seat next to a woman whose coffee colored hair was pulled back so tight she’d never need plastic surgery. Her skirt fell past her knees and her shoes were the same make and model as the sensible ones my grandma wore as a nurse. The entire ensemble was the same shade of brown as the piles left in the dog park back home.

  “Grace Wade, this is Valerie Chelsior. She’s going to be taking over the Quinn case for me until I can get this investigation sorted out.”

  Instead of taking the hand I extended, she stood and stalked her way behind Blane’s chair. I let my hand fall to my side, cocked my head, and regarded her with a haze of uh-oh surrounding me.

  She braced both hands on the high leather back and shot me one of those looks meant to kill.

  “Miss Wade.” Her voice was tight, not concealing an anger I hadn’t yet earned. “Before we get too friendly, I want you to know I have looked at the evidence in this case.” Had I somehow wronged her? I’d heard that tone often enough to recognize the hostility and scorn. “I won’t be offering a plea bargain of any kind.”

  One of the first things I’d learned in law school was to never underestimate my opponent. The second was to not make unnecessary enemies. Well, I’d become good at one because I always seemed to fail at the other.

  I glanced from Valerie to Blane and back. “Okay. Since we’re exchanging love letters here, I have a couple things I’d like to say. First, I don’t see us getting friendly at all. Not that you don’t look like a fun person.” She didn’t. “But I have plenty of friends. I just don’t have room on my calendar for another.” I ignored Blane’s narrowed eyes, the glare transforming his normally handsome features into something worthy of a scary movie villain. “Second, plea bargains are cheats and I lose.” I cocked my head to the side. “Make no mistake, Miss Chelsior, I don’t have to cheat, and I never lose.”

  “Well, maybe that’s because you only take cases any lawyer with a matchbook degree could win. Maybe that’s because Illinois is a place where the law isn’t upheld to as high a standard. But this is Texas, Miss Wade”--Good God, what was it with these people and their hatred for the single ladies--“and you can’t use your perky little body or your bought and paid for assets”--she pointed a finger at my semi-obvious, but tastefully designed chest--“to win. I know you came here hoping to ride Rory Allden’s coattails to victory, but in Texas, our murderers go to jail no matter how attractive their lawyers are.”

  Match book degree? Rory’s coattails? What the hell had I done to this woman?

  “I also know you have a thing for my husband. He had to take his brother’s phone in order to get you to leave him alone? That’s pathetic. We’re having a baby. Stay out of our lives or you’re going to have more to worry about than losing a case.”

  Blane’s skin flashed scarlet, and my blood boiled. I wouldn’t have expected him to tell her the truth, to say how he’d come on to me, but I couldn’t control my wide-eyed shock. “A baby?”

  “That’s right. A baby. And we don’t need some white trash Yankee slut coming in the way of the vows we took before God and all of our family and friends.” Her left hand, adorned with a ring that had more carats than a farmer’s market, slipped off the back of the chair to rest on Blane’s shoulder.

  “Well, cue the happy music.” I stood.

  “Honey…” Blane turned his head, picked up her hand, and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I need to speak to Grace alone.”

  “For what?”

  Seriously? Could the man make it any worse? “No, Blane. She’s right. There’s nothing you could say I’d want to hear.”

  He looked up at his wife--even thinking the word while seeing her in more than abstract thought form curled a ball of guilt into my stomach. “Please, Val.�
�

  “Fine.” She glared at me, her eyes never straying even as she passed by me.

  When the door slammed behind her, I whirled to face him. “Wife and pregnant. Nice, Blane.”

  “We were separated when I met you. She came home because of the baby.” His voice, no longer the curved sounds that pleased my ears, dropped to a beaten growl as though he’d been boxed into a corner.

  “When?”

  “When what?”

  “When did she come home?” Oh, did it even matter? Maybe.

  “A few days ago.”

  “Before you went to my dad’s funeral with me?”

  He nodded, toyed with a pen on his desk, rolling it between his long fingers.

  “You screwed me knowing you were coming home to her? Your wife and your cookie cutter family?” I wasn’t sure what upset me more. That he’d known he was coming home to her, or that he knew it and had sex with me anyway.

  On the hood of a car. On a field road.

  His eyes flashed and his other personality, the one I’d briefly glimpsed when he left Illinois, came out to play. “Like I’m the first married man you spread your legs for.”

  I flinched as though his words reached out and slapped me. “Wife, Blane. As in till death do us part.”

  He opened his mouth to speak.

  “And you better be careful, pal, because you’re awful close.”

  “What do you want me to say, Grace?”

  “Well, I don’t know, Blane. What did you want to be alone with me to say?”

  He looked up, shook his head. “I wouldn’t be staying with her if there wasn’t a baby on the way.”

  I laughed, though the feeling never quite reached the happy place that normally inspired the sound. “Does she know that?”

  He shook his head once more.

  “Wow.” I rooted around in my bag. “Well, in that case, Rory and I are probably gonna branch out, start taking on divorce cases. Here’s my card.” I slapped it onto his desk blotter and stalked my way to the door. “Tell little Susie Scorned I’ll see her in court. And I hope it all works out for you.”