Jacob's Grace

by C. P. Rowlands

  Grace looked up. “Have you told Katie about your plan with Sam?”

  “Of course.” AJ smiled. “She’ll meet Sam and Maddie tonight. We’re having them over for dinner.”

  “I’ll bet that was fun,” Tag said with a laugh.

  “No, it wasn’t, but she’s okay now. Grace, you and Tag come over to the house tomorrow. Katie’s sister, the one that owns the hair salon, is going to do our hair.”

  Grace frowned, running her hands through her long brown hair. “I just had it done.”

  “Don’t even start. It’s just a month and you get your horse and your dream truck. Are you picking it up today?”

  Grace sighed. “Yes, later. I’m going back to Hannah’s House after we’re done here and see how things worked out with Sandra and the little girl. I’ve already talked with Maddie. She’ll meet us there, and I can keep in touch with her while we’re up north.”

  “Sure.” AJ studied Grace’s face. “How do you feel? You see the doc tomorrow.”

  “I’m much better, and Tag will go with me. I’ll stop for my truck after.”

  “Let me know.” AJ began taking the maps off the wall. “These maps are on our phones. I’ll be at the Milwaukee task force with the chief this afternoon if you need me. We’ll look over video and information about Robert Owens and those two men. If we need help, I’ll let you know.”

  Tag pointed at her own hair. “I could use a cut too. Do you think Katie’s sister…?”

  AJ nodded. “Consider it done.”

  “Nice suit, by the way,” Tag added as she turned to go, hand on Grace’s back protectively. The chief watched them too and turned to AJ, eyebrows raised in a question. She only smiled.

  * * *

  That evening, Katie and Maddie talked in the kitchen. They’d bonded almost immediately over the roast chicken. Apparently, Maddie loved to cook as much as Katie. AJ took the time to talk with Sam, walking around the yard, looking at the plants and shrubs.

  “I fought terrible depression after my wife died,” he said, bending over a special ground cover curving around the grass. “Then, a stroke of luck. I met Maddie.” AJ waited to see if there was more, but he added nothing, so she covered the silence talking about her time in Ecuador. Finally, Katie called them inside.

  Later in bed, she remembered what he’d said about meeting Maddie and told Katie.

  “She told me that Sam was staying with her,” Katie said. “I wondered, but we got into a discussion about herbs and recipes and never went back to that.”

  “Maddie said she had him covered down here, but it never occurred to me she meant staying with her. We probably shouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “Aren’t you glad we don’t have to worry about that?”

  “God yes, unlike Grace and Tag—”

  Katie shot straight up in the bed. “What?”

  AJ looked at her, realizing she’d never mentioned this. “Some of it is work-related, but I talked with Grace the night Tag cooked those great ribs. Grace turned bright red. It’s the first time I’ve seen her genuinely interested in anything…besides horses.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell me?” Laughing, Katie punched her in the shoulder.

  “Hey…ow. You’re stronger than you think.” AJ rubbed her arm and then stretched out on top of Katie. “I wasn’t keeping a secret. I just happened to notice them…in meetings, working together, and other times. Grace made my life a living hell over you last winter and spring. I’m going to pay her back, believe me. Watch them tomorrow when your sister’s here.” She started to say more, but Katie stopped her with a super-nice kiss and the subject was forgotten.

  Chapter Eighteen

  AJ set the drill down and tested the back gate. It was the last house repair on her list to be done before she left, and she put the drill away in the garage.

  Laughter filtered into the garage from the deck, and she walked into the kitchen to see what was up. Katie was describing something with her hands, causing her sister and mother to howl with laughter.

  She turned away, missing Katie already. At least the shootings have stopped rolled through her mind just as Katie put her arms around her.

  “How do you do that? Know when I’m having a moment?” She leaned back into Katie.

  Katie tightened her arms. “I’m a witch.”

  “One of the good witches.” AJ grinned. It was true. Katie was the only one who could make her mind fully settle, and that actually was magic.

  “Quit messing around, you two. I need your help,” her sister grumbled behind them, gathering things off the counter.

  AJ backed away, thinking of the victims at Hannah’s House. They hadn’t had any magic in their lives. Unless, maybe Maddie. Yesterday, the Milwaukee task force had nothing but great words about Maddie and the help her group had given them as they’d gone over all the videos.

  “Come on. It’s time to begin.” Katie grabbed her hand and gave her that teasing smile that mirrored her mother’s.

  “Want to change clothes? We’re talking major overhaul here,” her sister said, placing bottles, scissors, and other things onto the table on the deck.

  AJ straightened. “Wait. I just want…”

  “Not what I had in mind,” Katie’s sister said with an evil grin. “You’re mine.”

  AJ swore good-naturedly and sat on the stool.

  About an hour later, she stood and undid the cape. Even her eyebrows felt battered. Now she was almost a brunette. Her hair was layered and shorter, the color of medium oak. She washed her face in the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. There were streaks of very light yellow, like the memory of being blond. Maybe it was the eyebrows that made her face appear longer and her eyes bigger?

  “I like it,” Katie said, stepping inside. “Not what I’m used to, but it’s really nice.” She walked around her. “It makes you look softer, but you’ll never disguise those eyes. I love you, no matter what color your hair happens to be.”

  AJ sighed. “I know it’ll grow out.” They heard voices in the kitchen. “There’s Grace and Tag. I’m going to change clothes.” Katie ruffled AJ’s hair, placed a kiss on her cheek, and left with a grin.

  AJ tossed the clothes in the hamper. She wanted pizza and beer for dinner. Lots of beer.

  Grace and Tag stared at her as AJ turned in a circle in front of them.

  “Holy hell,” Tag finally said. “I’d know the eyes anywhere, but…”

  “I’m afraid,” Grace said, shrinking back toward the door. “I wouldn’t recognize you at first glance, maybe even a second. I’m hiding at home afterward.”

  “First you’re having pizza and beer with us. Then you can go home.” AJ pushed her toward the deck.

  “Another lamb to slaughter,” Katie said and introduced Tag to everyone. Grace had met them all when she stayed with Katie last winter and spring.

  “Let’s feed everyone pizza and beer after this mayhem,” AJ said to Katie.

  Katie only grinned with another long assessing look. “This is the most fun I’ve had since last night,” she whispered in her ear. “Look. You’re right. Tag can’t keep her hands off her, and see how close Grace is?”

  Katie’s sister ran her hands through Grace’s long, dark brown hair, and everyone was quiet as a long swatch of hair fell onto the deck. AJ felt the anticipation and peeked at Tag, who looked absorbed in the scene. Katie’s sister worked steadily, constantly moving Grace’s head to look at the shape. Now it fell just below her ears, and she ended up with a much younger, tousled look. Then came the color.

  Finally, Grace stood, stamping her barn boots and brushing off her black T-shirt and snug well-worn jeans. It was an amazing transformation. Grace didn’t look a day over twenty with much shorter light blondish hair, including her eyebrows. The sun glinted off her bright hair. Grace was pretty, even with a black eye, but at this moment she was beautiful.

  They all clapped and Katie’s sister grinned and bowed.

  Grace looked at the group. “
How bad is it?”

  “Come with me,” Tag said, leading Grace to the bathroom. The rest of them waited, and then it came. The scream.

  “What did you do?” Grace demanded of Katie’s sister. “I look twelve and I’m blond. Even my eyebrows.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Tag mumbled, totally bemused, but Grace didn’t look reassured.

  “Okay, okay,” Grace said. “Mission accomplished. No one will recognize either of us.”

  “Wait.” Katie grabbed her phone, pushed AJ next to Grace, and took photos. Tag had her phone out, taking pictures.

  “Enough,” AJ finally said. “Tag, sit. She’s going to give you a trim too.” She called in the pizza order just as the doorbell rang, and she hustled down the kitchen steps to the door. To her surprise, the chief stood there, out of uniform. She could count on the fingers of one hand the times she’d seen him in casual clothes.

  He stared at her, equally startled. “AJ?”

  “I know, quite a change. We just finished. Come on inside.”

  He followed her in and they all settled at the kitchen table as AJ did the introductions. He was still staring at both AJ and Grace.

  “No one will recognize either of you.” He turned to Katie’s sister. “My youngest is looking for a new hairstylist. Where do you work?”

  AJ smiled at Katie. Her sister had her own shop that did quite well, especially with the younger crowd. The chief tucked the card into his shirt pocket and looked at AJ. “Something came up and we need to talk. Tag and Grace too. Can we use your office, Katie?”

  “Do you want to stay and eat with us?” Katie said.

  “I’m on my way somewhere and I’ll be in meetings all day tomorrow, so I thought it would be wise to speak to these girls now. They’ll be gone soon.”

  Katie’s smile dimmed, and it made AJ’s stomach clench.

  In the office, the chief handed AJ a thumb drive. “From this point on, your offices are locked at work, and I’m glad you took the maps off the wall in the conference room,” he said. “Bonnie and I ran the last three days of security at the station this morning. Those parking lot men have been there, twice. The first time, around three in the morning two days ago, and again this morning about the same time. Oddly enough, they didn’t go into any of the offices or the conference room. They simply walked the hallway and looked into our offices, then they were out the door to the parking lot. We have their pickup truck license plate, and Jock ran that. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I won’t stand for this. I’m on my way to the watch commander’s house and we’re going to have a few words.”

  AJ stared at the video on the computer. “I don’t understand. We’ve never had anything like this happen, have we?”

  He shook his head. “Tag, thanks for the information on Owens and his two friends from the military. We would never have gotten that deep on our own. Have you read her notes, AJ? They’re both using an alias here and employed by a nursery service, planting trees.”

  “I planned on talking with her today,” AJ said. “I’ll review it and leave you an email.”

  “Let me know when you’re leaving. Ladies, you look amazing.” He grinned and left.

  Tag sat on the edge of the desk, staring at the floor. “We had this problem constantly on base. It’s hard to spot.”

  “At least they caught this,” AJ said with a deep breath. “Wait until we’re up north, out of our comfort zone. You know what that’s like, Tag. And, Grace, remember Arkansas?”

  “What happened?” Tag said, looking at both of them.

  “Grace and our GPS had a little misunderstanding,” AJ said. “We were lost for at least half a day.”

  “You exaggerate,” Grace said. “It wasn’t more than an hour…or three.”

  “Not by the time we retraced our miles.” AJ stood to go. “I smell pizza. Let’s remember to ask how long the color will last on our hair.”

  “I don’t know,” Grace said, tentatively touching her hair. “But it’ll definitely alter my wardrobe.”

  AJ looked at her. She was right. Of course it would.

  “What did the doctor say, Grace? And is your horse ready?”

  “I’m good to go but still have to take meds for a few days, and yes, I have the pickup and the trailer. I called the stable up north too.”

  “Let’s eat first and then, Tag, show me what you found on Owens and his friends.”

  * * *

  Later, Tag and AJ went back to the office to look at the information. Tag took a healthy drink of beer and tapped the screen on AJ’s laptop. “I talked with these two men’s commander last night. The names they’re using here are the names of men who have been dead for over a year. I sent him their photos and he came right back to me. See their real names? They served with Robert Owens.” She tapped the screen again. “I don’t know why they’re using those names since they both had honorable discharges. They’re breaking the law using false IDs, Social Security numbers and more, but this is your call.”

  “Did you put this on our notes to Maddie?” AJ said. “I know you’ve been talking with her.”

  “Maddie said she talked to you about my situation. Want to talk about that now?”

  “I would have expected that in our first conversation. In my office.”

  “I was under orders, AJ.” Tag’s face was carefully neutral.

  “I understand, but someone should have notified me. Okay, just tell me what’s going on.”

  “We stumbled on some intelligence last spring. I took it to my commander and he put us on it, full-time. We went back and checked it out, but then none of us were sure what to do with the information, including my commander. It’s going to be political. They sent it up the line and we ended up talking with one of my ex-Dragons that now works for the FBI on the East Coast. What followed was intense, to say the least. It won’t interfere with what I’m doing here, but it’s damned serious.” She walked to the office window, her back turned to AJ. “That’s all I can say right now.”

  “All right. Keep it between the two of us. Don’t share with Grace or anyone else. I’ll let Maddie know we’ve talked.”

  “Fine.” Tag paced a little. “It really is a big deal and scares me to death.”

  “Tag, I felt something was off, right from the beginning.” AJ stood and locked her desk. “Back to our assignment up north and the two men. If we arrest them now, we lose our connection to whatever it is they’re doing here. I think we’d be better off just tracking them. I’ll talk with the chief and let you know.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Four days later, Tag got into her car at Jay Yardley’s office in Niagara and sat for a minute. Was this even real? She was actually here, in northern Wisconsin. Last weekend’s meal with her family still felt like a dream. The familiar smells of the house, their voices, even the squeaky front door sifted through her memory. There had been so many moments when she’d been sure she’d never see them again.

  She drove toward the Crooked Lake Resort where the task force was staying. AJ had placed her and Grace in the business suite, a large meeting room in the middle with a bedroom on each side. All of their computers were on the long desk in the big room with a large table for meetings or group meals. It would work well for their purpose.

  The motel where Frog and the girls were being held was less than a quarter mile from the resort. She slowed a bit for a better look at the place. After midnight last night, she and Sam had tricked out the place, giving Grace many angles on her computers.

  In the daylight, the motel looked a bit run-down, but the parking area was clean, the grass mowed, and the colorful flowers well tended. The old box truck was there and another vehicle. A new black Lincoln sports sedan.

  After she topped the hill ahead of her, she pulled off to the side of the road and dialed AJ on their group phone.

  “Tag?” AJ said. Tag could hear her shift the delivery van.

  “There’s a new car at the motel.”

  “About time,
” AJ said. “I’m at the gas station on the north side of town. What’s the quickest way to get there?”

  “Take a right at the first big intersection with all the lights. That road takes you past the motel. I’m on my way to the resort to change clothes. The new car has a rental license plate.”

  “I’ve got a delivery at the motel. I’ll see it. I want a meeting in your suite around seven o’clock tonight. Find some pizza and beer for us,” AJ said and disconnected.

  Tag looked at the roof of the motel in her rearview mirror. She had lost girls in Afghanistan, but she was not going to lose this group. She stared at the phone. She’d heard nothing from Maddie about her possible testimony in Washington DC regarding the information her group had found on base. She’d done what they’d instructed—stay quiet and as out of sight as much as possible. She dialed Maddie but got her voice mail and left a message.

  Tag pulled back onto the road and turned toward the stables. Grace might be there. After being together every day in Milwaukee, the days up here apart had been an adjustment, and she missed her. Grace’s new pickup was there, a big reddish-brown Dodge. She’d been over the moon with this truck, like a kid at Christmas when they’d shopped at the dealership.

  Tag grinned at the memory and got out of her car, feeling the tiny bite from the cooling sun. Autumn was on its way. The sumac in the woods and the trees around the lake were beginning to turn. Afghanistan might have had trees but nothing like the ones that surrounded her now. She loved this land she’d grown up on with all her heart. With a deep breath, she imprinted the scene on her mind.