“We were all getting into our cars, including the victim’s family. Lithscom never even paid attention to any of us. The Keshena Police were there, but he warned them too,” Tag added, then stopped eating and stared at the front of the diner, giving Grace’s leg a little nudge. Luckily, Jay had his back to the cash register.
AJ stood at the checkout with several boxes on a cart. Right ahead of her was one of the men from the motel with a young girl beside him. AJ was turned away from them with her head down, studying the clipboard in her hands. She slid a glance at Tag and Grace before she turned away to the manager. The place was busy, and she pulled it off easily. Grace’s hand briefly covered Tag’s hand under the table.
“Everyone took cover,” Jay continued the story. “I’ll never be able to look at him without thinking of that. He isn’t shy about his feelings for the Menominee. Any time he can create a problem down there, he works at it. I salivate every time I get him on the stand in court.”
Tag changed the subject, keeping Jay’s attention. “I caught a ride into town with Gabrial and left my car at the resort. Do you need me this afternoon?”
“Actually, here’s what I’d like from you two.” Jay wiped his hands on a napkin and stood. “Take Gabrial to my office and show her our computers or whatever you think she should see. I’ve told my staff that I’m thinking of upgrading so she can pose as a company rep for a new system. That way, when it gets around town that I was seen with her, it’ll look like she belongs to my office.”
“It’s the least I can do.” Grace smiled at him, and Tag grinned watching him react to that smile. She knew exactly how he felt.
“Then all ‘fees’ are covered,” he said and stood to go. “I have a meeting in Iron Mountain. I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Later, in Jay’s office, Grace ran through the home site and a list of his clients. Everyone was introduced to “Gabrial Frank,” and she did a credible job asking the right questions. Her interaction with Jay’s employees intrigued Tag. She listened carefully to everything they said to her.
Grace bumped her with her elbow. “You told me to remind you to make a phone call.”
“Thanks, I forgot,” Tag said and dialed her friend Dr. April Stewart at the hospital about the autopsy results on the young girl from the motel. After a brief conversation, they agreed to take a coffee break at the little shop around the corner.
* * *
The doctor was easy to spot in the crowded café. April Stewart was the only person in scrubs with long black hair over her shoulders and skin that matched Tag’s. She reminded Grace that April was the head of the hospital’s pediatrics department. Tag introduced Grace as “Gabrial,” but April didn’t take much time for small talk.
“I have to be quick,” she said, checking her watch. “As to what you called about, something’s off. Officially, it was an overdose, the usual mixture of local drugs, but our gossip says a lot more. There was evidence of rough, severe sex and some kind of mutilation. My gut says they’re covering this up.” She raised her dark eyebrows over a sip of coffee and looked at Grace. “My grapevine also says a woman was at the motel that night and got arrested by the sheriff’s department. Jay was involved…and you?” She lifted an eyebrow at Tag and left the question hanging.
Grace spoke before Tag could say a word. “That woman was me.” She faced April. “I was on my way back to the resort, saw the ambulance and sheriff’s vehicles, and stopped. It was just curiosity but a dumb thing to do.”
April gave them both a shrewd look. “I was in Keshena with my folks and ran into your parents, Tag. They said you’d be working with Jay for a while but you’re going to work for a government agency?”
Tag thought a little honesty would work here. “I’m just taking a little rest before I have to get back to full-time. Gabrial is Jay’s consultant while he changes his computer system.”
“I see.” April leaned back into the booth. “Have you seen Jay’s new office and home he’s building out by the lighthouse?” She turned to Grace. “You’ll be out there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only looked at his system and it’s doable, so far.” Grace took a long drink of coffee and looked out into the crowd.
“And I ran into Emma yesterday morning. She’s got a new honey,” April said to Tag. “She hasn’t changed a bit, has she? Goes through men like Kleenex.”
Tag laughed. “My mother keeps me informed. We had dinner and Em seems happy. I’m proud of her work too.”
April checked her watch again and stood. “You’re a lot, Tag. Emma’s always fighting to keep up with you.” She tossed some money on the table and bent, holding Tag’s necklace in her fingers for a closer look. “What’s this?”
Tag moved away from April’s fingers. “My unit’s Dragon necklace that we all wore.”
April let go of the silver chain and ran a finger down Tag’s neck. “Gotta go. Nice to meet you, Gabrial, but I’d stay away from that motel if I were you. I’m trying to get this one out for dinner, but no luck so far.” She gave Tag a mischievous smile and left, threading her way through the crowd.
Grace blew out a breath. “If one more person tells me to stay away from the motel…” She gave Tag a long look. “You know her well?”
“Ah, we were young and in college. She went her way. I went mine.”
Grace grinned and gave her a light punch on the shoulder. “Should we go back to Jay’s?”
“Let’s go to the resort. I’d like to check some things on the computers.”
“I’m going to the stables to check on Crow.”
“Can I go too?”
“I was hoping you would.”
* * *
The day held on to its beauty as they checked the horse. Grace read the notes Emma had left and put a lead on Crow, walking her out into the ring.
“Stand here, beside me,” she said to Tag. “I want to see how she runs.” She urged the horse forward to circle around them. A little breeze picked up and the horse trotted away, tail up.
“She looks great, Grace.”
“And that’s a big load off my mind.” Grace turned slowly with the lead held firmly. “Who do you think shot at me?”
“No idea. It’s the same question as why someone shot at AJ in Milwaukee. Where are the trees that AJ and the police talked about?”
Grace pointed up the hill. “Those two tall pines are where Lithscom said they found tracks.”
Tag scoured the area. As far as she could see, no one was there now, but there was plenty of cover to be had.
“So…what do you have against helicopters?” Grace said.
“What do you mean?” She turned and faced Grace.
“Twice. Two times. I’ve seen you freeze when there’s a helicopter above us. Once in Milwaukee at the Owens house and the other night at the sheriff ’s office here.” Grace kept turning slowly with Crow, her voice calm.
“I can’t get past the sound of them. It was our last day as Dragons,” Tag said, the word stumbling out of her mouth and every muscle in her body rigid. She looked up at the sky. “This was all in the notes when I arrived.”
“It was there, but just stats. It was only who was there, a kind of vague description of the action, and that was it.”
“After we were ambushed, we ran toward the incoming helicopters, people going down all around me. My second-in-command, Jane, was running toward me. I had one of the medics, one of the first hit. I got there and turned as Jane went down. She didn’t make it, and I almost didn’t either. It’s the one thing I still have nightmares about. I think I have a handle on it, and then, wham, it gets me.”
Grace stood very still, a sad look on her face. She dropped Crow’s lead and hugged Tag hard. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her breath warm against Tag’s neck.
“I don’t talk about this. Maybe I should.” Tag swallowed hard. “When I was recovering in the hospital, I had a great therapist, but that was a long time ago. I’m never prepared. The sound of a helicopter brin
gs it back in a heartbeat.” She held on to Grace, heart racing. It still hurt worse than anything she knew.
They stood for a moment, unmoving, until Grace picked up the lead and reined the horse back. “Let’s go back to the resort.”
* * *
AJ used her private phone to dial the number Donna Seesom had given her, but a man answered and she hung up. She called Sam and asked him to call the same number in about twenty minutes and, if Donna answered, set up an appointment. Driving toward her next delivery, she tried to remember the information they’d found on the computer, the taxes and assessment of Seesom’s house, but her memory was fuzzy. She called Grace and pulled over to the side of the road, jotting down the numbers as Grace gave them to her.
“Sam and I are trying to set up an appointment to see Donna Seesom’s house that she’s selling. It might make us a little late, but I want a meeting with everyone tonight. Did you see Sam’s notes from this morning and the bank? Oh, and how’d it go at the police station?”
“I read Sam’s notes and am adding the police information right now,” Grace said. “They found footprints and shell casings but they don’t have a clue, and I don’t think they cared much. That cop we talked to, Lieutenant Lithscom, has quite a history with Jay and the Menominee. Good cover in the diner, by the way.”
“Is Tag still with you?”
“Yes,” Grace said, lowering her voice. “She just went to change clothes. I talked to her about the helicopter business, and it’s exactly what you said. Something she brought home.” She raised her voice to normal. “You want me to remind Greg and Jeff about the meeting tonight?”
“I do and I’ll get back to you if we get an appointment to see that house tonight. You were asleep when I was there last night. Everything okay with you about the shooting yesterday?”
“It just scared me,” Grace said, and AJ heard her pull in a breath. “I left some information on our private email for you. Talk to you later.”
AJ pulled out onto the road, thinking about Tag’s conversation about Grace last night. It had left her staring at the dark for a long time before she slept. If Tag had been unprepared for Grace, she had not been prepared for either of them. And she hadn’t been prepared for Grace’s childhood either.
Sam called her back and confirmed a six o’clock meeting at Seesom’s house. “Let’s have a meal at the meeting tonight,” he suggested.
They left it there and ended the call.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tag changed her clothes and opened her bedroom windows. A pine-scented breeze slipped into the room. She stretched out on her bed, listening to Grace on the phone, and the conversation at the stable replayed in her mind. The image of her Dragons and helicopters swiped her memory one more time, and she shifted, feeling restless.
“Tag,” Grace said from the doorway. Gone was the professional black suit, replaced by jeans and a T-shirt with the word Wild across a running horse. The bed tilted a little as Grace settled down beside her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have intruded.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s my own stupid mind.” Tag turned to her side. Her eyes lingered. “No apologies.”
“I’ve never been in a battle. Never even been shot at like that until yesterday.” Grace pushed up on an elbow, fingers tracing Tag’s hand. “I’m still sorry.”
Tag shifted closer, catching Grace’s light fragrance. “Are there things you don’t talk about? Things you never say to another living soul?”
Grace stretched out on her back, face turned away. Something changed and the air went flat. “Of course,” she finally said.
“This is mine. The thing I never talk about.” Tag’s mouth was dry, and she licked her lips. “That therapist in Afghanistan said I’d know the right time and person. That’s why I told you. It felt…right.” She touched her heart. “Right here.”
“Your heart? That’s romantic.”
“Right,” Tag said with a grin.
“Romantic…as in love?” Grace turned, sneaking a look at her. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been in love but I’ve been in like a lot. Does that count?”
“Of course it counts. Like is important and makes you sparkle.” Tag reached for Grace’s hand. “And I really like it when you sparkle.”
“I’ve never done this before, lain on a bed and talked…” Grace gestured at the bed.
“I get to be a first?”
“In lots of ways.” Grace topped her words off with a blush.
Tag inched closer. “Maybe that’s why it feels right.”
“This feels—”
The phone began to ring in the other room, and Grace bent with a quick, shy kiss. “Come with me. I made some coffee.” And she was gone, running toward the phone.
This feels…what? Tag’s heart thudded. If she stayed here on the bed, Grace would come back and that would lead to something she didn’t think either one of them was ready for. She didn’t quite understand what Grace did to her. It was more than just the need to touch. She needed to share words and ideas.
Teetering emotionally, she hauled herself upright. The timing was wrong.
She entered the room just as Grace ended the phone call.
“AJ and Sam are posing as buyers, meeting with Donna Seesom at that house she’s selling. She wants a meeting and dinner here with all of us after they get back.” She held up a cup of coffee.
“I want to look at Maddie’s new information,” Tag said and took a sip of coffee. “I care about those little girls.” She smiled and Grace’s face relaxed. “I’ll add what April said today to the computer, but also, show me Frog. She’s important.”
“Frog’s a recovering addict and, as far as we know, still clean. You’ll like her. Look. Maddie’s group found three more names. That’s over half of the girls, including Frog.” Grace sped across the keys until she found Frog’s information, and they read the notes together, including the time Frog had been at Hannah’s House and Grace had worked with her.
“She’s nineteen? That’s old for that group even though she looks younger. Most are ten to fifteen. That girl that we saw in the diner this morning couldn’t have been over thirteen, and did you see how afraid she looked? Did you find anything on the girl dressed up older that AJ saw at Clint’s place?”
Grace nodded. “I’m into the surveillance they already have in place.” She hit a few more keys and went over to Clint’s new lodge. “Here’s yesterday’s video.”
Tag could see they only had basic video running, but it showed AJ leaving, passing the man and the girl, then later an older man guiding the child toward the back just as Greg and Jeff had said. Jay was on video later talking to that older man. That caused Tag to pause.
She knew Clint’s security would sharpen the surveillance to a room-by-room camera soon. She checked the calendar. Not much time until the grand opening. She reread some of Frog’s information and went on to Maddie’s notes about the girls she’d identified. Two had been sold by parents, but the rest were all abducted from the Milwaukee area, mostly from foster homes. That surprised her. She’d expected out-of-state kids and said so to Grace.
“I had the same thought, but Maddie’s system is huge and she’s had some success. These girls are so young they’ll be reported by schools, parents, or the foster system. If they were older, there’d be less chance of finding them,” Grace said. “God, who’d sell their kids?”
“Why don’t we just go get them and take them back to Maddie?”
“Both AJ and I have asked the same question, but Maddie says to wait and see what develops.”
“But that little dead girl can’t wait,” Tag said. “This is just wrong.”
Grace sighed, nodding, and turned to the clock, scanning the room. “AJ and Sam are at Seesom’s by now. I’ve got to get this place ready for the meeting.” She moved to the table and began to clear off the things they had scattered across it.
* * *
AJ and Sam stood next to Donna Seesom in the spacious livin
g room.
“It’s beautiful,” Sam said. “Is this your furniture?”
“My parents did a lot of entertaining,” Donna said. “He did the wood, but she did the colors.” She pointed at the long beams across the low ceiling. The whole room was light blue and green with deep brown accents. The furniture leaned toward formal and appeared hardly used.
AJ let Sam do most of the talking. They’d already been over most of the structure questions like the age and quality of the furnace and cooling systems, the roofing, plumbing, and appliances.
She had liked the kitchen and smiled to herself thinking of Katie taking this tour. The bricked-in oven and huge stove in the kitchen would have made her scream with joy. Not to mention the large carpenter-style wooden table. The colors there had been deeper as well. It was a working kitchen. Someone had liked to cook.
Sam was right. Whoever was redoing the motel should have located their “club” here. Each of the four bedrooms had a bathroom and made the motel look cheap. She wandered into the even more formal dining room while Sam kept Donna occupied over the window frames. The house appeared to have been recently cleaned. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere.
AJ took a more thorough look at Donna Seesom. To be fair, she did look like a much older version of the real daughter in the high school yearbook they’d found. Since both so-called parents were deceased, most of the people in town had only their memory to depend on. Neither Henry Adams nor his wife had seen her since she was in her twenties. Right now, Donna seemed nervous and a little edgy, and where was her car? When they’d driven up she’d been standing in the empty three-car garage, no vehicle in sight.
“Do you mind if I take a look at that beautiful deck?” AJ asked.
Donna jerked around, mid-conversation, and nodded at AJ.
AJ walked outside, turned slowly, noting all the exits. She looked at the surrounding forest and the sky. The day was quickly draining into night. The place was perfectly isolated, and Crooked Lake was less than two miles away. Her mind tracked back to the motel. This was a puzzle, she thought, walking back to Sam.
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