by M. J. Perry
“I’ve been trying to think but I’ve told you I just have no idea, my pads still blank.”
“We were going to write a list.” Jill explained to Jason when she saw his confusion.
“John if you come with me I’ll fill you in.” Peter said.
Peter ignored the glare Jason sent him. “He can help Jase and you know it. His badge will help get us more information. Do it for Grace.”
“Fine.” Jason gave in. He’d do anything for her even if it meant speaking to the man who very nearly ended up with Grace instead of him. Knowing that they’d never slept together made him feel better, but he still hated John. He could see he still cared for Grace and it pissed him off. She was his.
He led Grace over to the sofa and sat next to her. Jill followed and sat in the chair opposite them. “I want you to close your eyes Grace and focus on my words.”
Grace nodded and did as he asked.
“Ok ready Grace?”
“Yes.”
“Messy brown hair that curls over his ears and brown eyes with long eyelashes and high cheek bones, thin lips and always clean shaven. He wears shirts, usually stripy and blue jeans. Does this ring any bells, sweetheart?”
“Adam Cross.” Jill said before Grace could answer.
“Adam Cross?” Jason asked Grace.
“Yes. It’s him. He always dresses like that and he never has a stubbly face. He used to work with me at weekends after I received the first card he still worked with me up until I left.” Grace shivered. How could he do this?
“Adam Cross.” Jason repeated and Grace knew he would never forget that name.
“We hardly ever spoke; I don’t understand why he would do all this. Oh god. Does he still work here Jill?” Jill shook her head. “He left about a week after you did. I thought nothing of it because he’d said he had exams coming up and I figured he left because of them.”
Peter and John came out of the office and John looked like he wanted to punch something. Grace walked towards them hearing Jason follow behind her.
“Any luck?” Peter asked Jason.
“Adam Cross.”
“Fucking hell, he came to me after Grace left asking me if I knew where she was because he was worried about her. I thought nothing of it, just guessed they were friends and I was too busy trying to find her to question it more.”
“I met him didn’t I?” John asked Grace.
“Yeah, he was here one Saturday when you picked me up.”
“I wonder why he didn’t start then. It was obvious we were dating.” John asked.
“Maybe because you were only dating, she moved in with me.” Jason said smugly.
Grace turned to glare at him. What the hell was the matter with him? He’d slept with god knows how many women and he was getting jealous over the one and only man she’d ever dated except him.
“Yes but only after you realised she might actually move on from you. Did you expect her to wait around while you were out shagging every woman that moved?” John sneered.
“How the fuck would you know what I expected. She became mine though didn’t she?”
“Yes but not for long, she ran away from you.”
“At least I had her before she left; you didn’t get past first base.” Jason shouted causing Grace to stiffen.
“What the fuck is the matter with you two.” Peter barked.
Jason seemed to snap out of his anger and he looked at Grace with remorse on his face. “Fuck, sweetheart I’m so sorry.”
Grace nodded. She wasn’t sure if she felt embarrassed or murderous. Was she some kind of competition? Did Jason only chase her because it had looked like she was moving on? She didn’t want to think so. Jason put his arm around her and she stood still in his embrace. When she caught John’s eyes she saw his jaw lock.
“Now you’ve finished your pissing contest can we talk about what we’ve just found out?” Peter asked before he walked to Grace and pulled her out of Jason’s arms and into his. “Are you ok?” He asked her softly.
“Not really.” She whispered.
“You will be.” He said with conviction.
“I’ll go to the station and get all the information I can on Adam Cross. I’ll call when I have something.” John told Peter before he walked over to Grace and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Call me if you need anything. You still have my number?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He nodded to her. “See you later.” They all listened to the bell ding in silence.
Peter gave Grace a squeeze and let go of her before he motioned to Jill. “We’ll make the coffee while Jason does his best to grovel.” He smiled at Grace and gave Jason a stern look.
Jason took Grace’s hand and led her back to the sofa crouching in front of her he pinned her in.
“I’m such a dick Grace. I don’t know why I acted like that I was just over come with jealousy because you’d been with him, let him touch you and it makes me furious.”
“Is he right? Did you worry that I wouldn’t wait around for you so when you heard I’d met someone you had to put a stop to it?”
“No of course not,” Jason denied. He looked shocked that she would even think that, and it helped ease the tension from her body.
“It seems like it to me. I really liked John. He never once hurt me or made me cry and he always put me first.” She wasn’t sure why she was telling him this.
He tensed. “Why did you stop dating him then?”
“Because he wasn’t you, it’s only ever been you for me. After I saw you with that woman I avoided you, tried to forget you but I couldn’t. It sucks because you never had a problem forgetting about me.” She said sadly.
“Grace, I can’t change the past but when we got together I never even looked at another woman, I didn’t need to. I don’t need to now, you’re it for me.”
“Really?”
“Yes really baby.” He sounded sincere, and she believed him.
She smiled at him. “I’ll stop bringing up the past if you stop being a dick.”
“Deal.” He agreed quickly.
Grace raised her eyebrows, and he smirked. “I’ll try to stop being a dick.” He amended.
“I suppose I’ll take that. You have to be polite to John too. I’m not saying you have to be best friends but he is a good guy and I hurt him when I ended things.”
“I suppose I can try to do that for you.”
“Good.” She kissed him on the lips as a thank you. “How did you find out about us, anyway?”
“Peter told me. When you left I went to see if you were with John because I thought you’d left me for him. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Obviously not if you thought I would have done that.” She couldn’t be mad at him though.
“Are we ok now?” He asked her as he moved closer to her.
“Yes.” She sighed when his arms came around her and his scent hit her nose. The steady beat of his heart was a comfort. How on earth did she live without this for so long?
“Everything is sorted I see?” Jill asked as she came back into the room.
“Yes.” Grace smiled; Jill smiled back before turning with a glare to Jason.
“That was a dick move.” She scolded.
“I know. It won’t happen again.”
“Make sure it doesn’t she deserves better than that.”
Jason smiled at her before kissing Grace on the head. “She sure does.”
“Well while you were apologising Peter and I have been talking, and going through Adam’s employment file, it’s not huge, but it has an address in there. He might not live there anymore but it’s worth a shot. You and Peter are going to check it out while Grace and I check the social networks to see if we can find him on there.”
“That’s a good idea.” Jason said.
“I know. It was mine.” Jill said pleased.
“I would have said it but you beat me to it.” Peter groused as he came in.
“Yeah, ok.
” Jill winked at him. Grace had never seen Jill flirt with anyone but she was obviously flirting now, and she smiled.
“What are you smiling at?” Jill asked her.
“Nothing.” She answered. Jill looked at her suspiciously but didn’t say anything else. Grace hadn’t given much thought to Peter’s love life, but she knew he never had serious relationships, preferring to keep things casual. She hoped he wouldn’t try that with Jill because she was the complete opposite to that.
“Shall we go then?” Peter asked Jason when it was clear he didn’t want to let go of Grace. He gave Jason a look and Grace felt sorry for him. Peter was going to give him a hard time when they left. Jason had hurt her, it didn’t matter that he’d apologised, Peter will still rip in to him. It was clear Jason knew what was coming too.
“Yeah,” He grimaced and kissed Grace on the lips. “Stay safe.” He whispered against her lips.
“You too,” She whispered back.
He reluctantly let her go and after giving Jill a chin lift he walked to the door. Peter winked at Jill and she blushed. He kissed Grace on the cheek and followed Jason out. Grace smiled when she saw that Jill hadn’t taken her eyes off Peter and when she realised Grace had watched her watch him she blushed again.
Grace held in her giggle but it was hard.
“Coffee?” Jill asked before Grace could say anything.
“Sounds good.” She smiled and Jill quickly walked off to make it. Grace shook her head; this would be interesting.
Chapter Eight
After Jason and Peter left the library, it got really busy. Grace had a reading group in from the school around the corner. She loved reading the stories, and the children loved it, they always joined in. This was her favourite part of the job for sure, she loved making the characters come to life for the children. She’d never had that when she was little, her mum was always busy working to keep a roof over their head and then drinking what money was left over. Her mother had hated being a single parent which was something she shared with Grace constantly until Grace had left at 18 after finishing her college degree and getting her job at the library.
When the children left, she picked up all the scatter cushions they’d used and tidied everything away. Jill called for her and she went in search of her grabbing Jill’s hands when she caught sight of her face. “What’s the matter?”
“You need to sit down. I’ve called Peter and both he and Jason are on their way back to us.”
Grace’s stomach knotted because it must be bad if she’d called them back. “I can’t wait until they get here. Tell me now. Please.” She pleaded.
“I’ll show you, it’s easier. It isn’t nice to look at so be prepared.”
Grace nodded. She couldn’t speak; too many thoughts of what it could be were going through her brain. Jill pulled her to the office and to the desk.
“Look.” Jill pointed at the computer and Grace gasped.
It was Adam’s profile page, and the picture was a photograph of her and him. He had his arm around her and she was smiling into the camera.
“What the hell?” She whispered. She knew for a fact that the photograph had never been taken; she’d never even touched him let alone posed for a photo with him.
“It gets worse Grace; every photo is of you and him. There is even one of the two of you in bed, you’re covered by a sheet so there are no body parts on show but your faces are clear.”
Grace was so shocked. “Jill. I’ve never even touched his hand, how in the hell can he have photos like this?” She tried to level her breathing because she wanted to throw up.
“I’m not sure how he’s done it but I’m thinking Photo shop.”
She looked at Jill and realised she looked just as sickened as she felt.
Grace forced herself to study the photos more closely, especially the one of them in bed. She gasped when she saw it was her room at Jason’s house. “That’s how he knew I’d moved out of my room into Jason’s.” She whispered.
“What do you mean?” Jill sounded confused.
“This photo is of Jason and me in my bed.” She pointed to the tattoo on the man’s arm, it was an eagle. “That’s Jason’s tattoo and his body but obviously not his face. Adam must have used photo shop to put his face on Jason’s body.”
“Holy crap!” Jill exclaimed.
“He has a camera in my room; he’s been watching me for a long time!” she cried. “Do you think he’s still watching me?” She asked in a small voice. “I slept in there last night. I got undressed in there!” She wrung her hands feeling violated. Picking up the mouse she clicked through the other photographs, there were fifty in all. Six photos of her and John and the rest were of her and Jason, all with Adams face on the bodies of the males. It was sickening to see. Adam had been following her and taking these without her knowledge, he’d done it for a long time too because her and John had been over for nearly two years.
Her phone on the desk rang, and they both jumped. She eyed the phone like it would snap at her. It stopped ringing only to start up again.
“Hello.” She said, and all she heard was static. She was about to put the phone down when she heard something on the other end. “You should have stayed away from him Grace and you definitely shouldn’t have sent him after me.”
She clenched her hand around the phone. He’d never rung her before. Did this mean he was escalating? She didn’t know what to say, what could she say? His next words chilled her blood making her gasp.
“Your punishment will be so much fun, for me anyway.” He laughed, and the sound made her breath stick in her throat.
“I’ll see you soon Grace, real soon.” He added then he hung up. Grace couldn’t loosen her grip on the phone. He’d sounded deranged and she couldn’t put his words to the man she’d worked with. To think she’d been that close to him, sometimes alone. She shivered. She heard foot steps behind her and then felt hands come to her shoulders. Instantly she knew it was Jason, she smelt his familiar scent. Dropping the phone she covered her face with her hands before she burst out crying.
Jason pulled her up out of the chair and then sat back down with her in his lap. He said nothing; he just rubbed her back in a soothing motion and let her cry herself out. She’d never been much of a crier but she’d hit her limit today.
Jill pointed to the screen and Jason shared a look with Peter before he turned the computer towards him and started clicking through the photos himself. With his face etched in fury Peter turned the computer towards Jason. Jason felt his blood boil, but he tried to keep himself under control at least until Grace calmed down. It was hard though, nothing had come close to touching his control before but knowing his woman was in pain pushed it. Grace must have felt the fight he was having, and she looked up to follow his eyes to the photo of her and ‘Adam’ in bed. She knew he’d worked it out.
“He’s been watching us all this time? Watching you...” He growled. “When I find him he’s a fucking dead man.”
Grace took his face in her hands and kissed him softly, partly for his words but more to calm him down she didn’t want him getting into trouble with the police. His face softened just a tiny bit, but it was enough to tell her she’d got through to him. “There are photos of John and me too. He’s put his face on to them all.” She told him.
“He’s been watching you for a long time.”
“What if he’s watching now? How the hell did he get into our house to put a camera in? It’s locked up tight.” Adam didn’t seem smart enough to break into a security system. She always locked the doors, even if she was in because the guys always drilled it in to her to be safe. She racked her brain.
“Shit.” She shouted loudly enough to make Jason jump. “I think I know how he got the camera in.”
“How?” Jason asked her.
“My picture, you know the big one I have on the opposite wall to my bed. When I bought it I left it at the library for a couple of days as it was too big to cart about and I was going out straig
ht after work. He must have put it on that.”
“It explains the angle of the bed in the photo. We’ll check it out. This means you’re definitely sleeping in my bed from now on, you have no excuse now.” Jason told her.
“What if he has cameras in here?”
Peter was already shaking his head. “The only cameras are the ones I put in. I checked myself when I was doing the set up. There are no photos of you in here on his profile are there?”
“No.”
“Then he has no cameras in here, don’t worry.”
“We’ll sweep the whole house to check it just in case but I’m pretty sure your theory of him using your picture is right. No one would get past our security and you know better than to leave the door unlocked.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
“Are you recording our phone lines?” Jill asked Peter.
“Yeah why?” He looked between her and Grace.
“Grace had a phone call. I didn’t hear what he said but it must have been bad for her to go as white as she did.”
Jason took Grace’s face in his hands. “What did he say?” He asked softly.
Grace closed her eyes and whispered the words which she wouldn’t forget for a long time to him.
“Son of a bitch!” Jason snarled.
“Did you find anything at his address?” She asked.
“He surprisingly still lives there, and he obviously knows about our visit that’s why he called you. We’ve told John, and he has eyes on his house in case he goes back.”
“It’s unlikely he will though isn’t it?” Grace asked.
“He’s probably gone to ground now but we’ll still find him. The bastard won’t stay hidden for long.” Jason promised.
Grace nodded, she knew they wouldn’t stop until they find him but she hoped that the police found him because she worried what Jason would do.
“There were photos of you all over his bedroom. They were taken in a lot of places but most were of you in the park across from our house, none of them were in here.” Peter said.
“I go to the park to read.” She shrugged.
“Recently too?”
“Yeah, it made me feel closer to you.” She whispered to Jason.