“You got it.” Nick strode to the door.
“Thank you,” Ainslie called after him. “I appreciate all your hard work.”
He looked back at her. “Hold that thanks until I actually make a difference. Then go for it. Heap on all the praises you want.” He grinned and exited the lab.
“I love his attitude.” Ainslie rolled the cart into their storage room. “I need to learn to lighten up.”
“I don’t know.” Grady trailed her. “I like you just as you are.”
Personal. He’d gotten personal again. She wouldn’t go down that path. She looked back at him. “I can handle this if you want to grab some sleep.”
“It’ll go faster with the two of us.” He stepped past her, grabbing a muddy case and walking to a small sink on the far wall to start washing off the dirt. “When I’m done with this, I’ll wipe down the cart and then walk you up to Sierra’s place.”
She picked up a tote. “I can find my own way, you know.”
“I know.” He set to work cleaning the cart.
She stowed a large tackle box kind of case that held evidence recovery supplies and watched him work. He stroked the stainless steel with a wet paper towel, and she watched the muscles in his shoulders bunch and release. Watched the fluidity of movement, his body lithe and fit. She focused on the handgun strapped to his belt and imagined him on the front lines as a Delta Force operator. He’d likely been splendid at the job, but all she could imagine was a sniper bullet piercing that broad chest and taking him down.
The room suddenly felt small and airless. Shocked at her response, she took deep breaths. She wasn’t just attracted to Grady. She cared about him. Big time. She’d been running from that, but why? Sure she wanted to focus on Ethan only, but obviously she’d failed at that. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have developed feelings for Grady.
He looked up. “You okay?”
“Fine. Just a bit tired. We should go.” She hurried to the door and stepped into the hallway, not waiting for him, but marching to the elevator. They rode in silence, his focus pinned to her, but she kept quiet before she said something about her discovery.
She raced across the skybridge, barely noticing the sparkling stars above.
“Hey,” he called after her. “What’s the hurry?”
“Tired,” was all she said and dug in her pocket for the condo key. She turned the corner and slammed into her boss.
Ainslie righted herself. “Sorry.”
Sierra looked at Grady over Ainslie’s shoulder. “You running from something? Or someone?”
Ainslie wasn’t about to talk about Grady right now. “You look refreshed.”
“The shower did wonders.” Sierra smiled. “Oh, and Reed stopped by to stock the fridge for us. Help yourself. Maybe feed Grady, too.”
“I’m sure he’ll want to head to his place for some sleep,” Ainslie gave him a pointed look.
“Yeah, what she said,” he replied but didn’t sound convinced.
“I’ll catch you both later.” Sierra hugged Ainslie and whispered, “Sweet dreams. At least they will be if they’re of Grady.”
Ainslie shook her head as she watched Sierra depart. She was really trying to throw Ainslie together with Grady, but that was not going to happen.
Ainslie marched down the hall, got the condo door unlocked, and turned to Grady. “Good night. Thanks for walking me.”
“You’re welcome.” He studied her face. “If you need anything in the night, just call me.”
She sighed.
“You know you can accept our help. It’s different. It’s from people who care about you. In the same way you help Ethan. You do it because you care. So do we. I…” He shrugged.
She was moved by his insecurity in sharing and didn’t think but let her feelings dictate for once and reached out to touch his shoulder. “And I do appreciate it. It’s just going to take me some time to learn when to accept help and when to go it alone.”
He nodded, but his eyes glazed over as if he’d mentally traveled somewhere else. “It’s hard to forget the past. To let it go. We get labeled or pigeon-holed, and we believe the labels, even if they’re not the truth. I know God wants us to forget all of that. Not to live under the weight of ‘should haves’ that stop us from believing in who God wants us to be and embracing His plans for us.”
Grady took a breath and shook his head. “Listen to me preaching to you when I don’t have things together at all.”
“I don’t know, mister.” She gently poked his shoulder. “You seem like a pretty together guy to me.”
“If you only knew.” He took her hands. Drew her closer. He smelled like sunscreen and the outdoors, and she wanted to free her hands and slide her fingers into his hair. Draw his head down and kiss him. Hug him. Hold tight to him and let him offer any kind of help he wanted. To give in. Finally give in and let go of her past. Of her need to be in charge. To be in control.
And just be who God wanted her to be.
He looked deep into her eyes, and she stood mesmerized by his power over her emotions. He gently touched the side of her face. Opened his mouth as if to speak, then planted a quick kiss on her forehead and walked away.
She watched him go, wondering. Wondering. What had he been alluding to? What had happened to change his mood so abruptly?
He was nearly to the corner when he looked back. His face was a mask, and she couldn’t read his emotions before he disappeared around the corner.
She went inside and closed the door. She wanted nothing but to collapse in bed, but after that strange encounter she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Besides, she needed to wash the day from her body. Wash off the Texas dust. Maybe wash off the old feelings of less-than that had intensified on their trip to Texas.
She headed to the shower and willed her mind to let go of thoughts of her past, letting them wash down the drain with the water.
Is Grady right, God? Did You put him in my life, make this all play out, to help me see how much I’m clinging to the belief that I’m somehow less? But I’m not, am I? You chose me. Have a plan for me. For my future. To prosper me.
She turned off the water and stepped into a heated towel. “Question is, does that plan include Grady?”
Grady quietly entered his condo so he wouldn’t wake Jackson if he was asleep, but Grady found him sitting on the couch watching ESPN.
“You’re back.” Jackson pointed the remote at the TV as if he planned to turn it off.
“Nah, leave it on.” Grady dropped down on the other end of the couch. “I haven’t heard a sports report since the swat on Ainslie.”
Jackson looked at him, held his gaze for a moment, then looked back at the TV. “So you have a thing for her or what?”
Grady’s mouth fell open. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on, man, Coop and I aren’t blind. It’s pretty obvious.”
“Yeah,” was all Grady felt like saying.
“Sounds like you’re not happy about it.”
Grady didn’t know Jackson well enough to have this conversation and was shocked that he’d brought it up. Time to shut him down. “We aren’t in a place to take it anywhere. End of story.”
“Hey, I get it. Trust me.” He shifted to look at Grady. “When I met Maggie, we were in the same situation. But man, working it out was a very good thing. Now, I’m a dad, and wow. That’s like…I mean, wow. Can’t even put it into words.”
A pang of jealousy stabbed at Grady. “Noah, right?”
Jackson nodded enthusiastically. “He just turned one. He’s super inquisitive, getting into everything, and I love it.”
A broad smile on his face, he dug out his phone and showed Grady the lock screen photo of Maggie holding a chubby toddler with Jackson’s dark coloring. Reminded Grady of his siblings who frequently sent pictures of his nieces and nephews, followed by nagging him to get married and have a few kids of his own.
He wanted to. Now even more than before he’d met Ainslie. But again, h
e wasn’t going to have that conversation with Jackson.
“Cute kid,” Grady said. “And Maggie looks really happy.”
“She loves being a mom.” Jackson leaned back, a contented smile on his face. “You should totally work out your issues with Ainslie. I promise you’ll be glad you did.”
“I’ll think about it.” Grady got up. “I’m gonna hit the hay.”
He left the room, knowing he was running from Jackson just like he’d nearly run from Ainslie. If he’d learned anything in his time with her, it was that he now wanted more out of life and couldn’t keep carrying this secret. He had to report his uncle. Even if revealing his past made her think less of him. Even if it meant they wouldn’t be together. Even if the uncle he loved had to go to prison. It was time to end this once and for all. Time to rectify a wrong. He needed to take care of his issues. Take responsibility. Report his uncle.
How, though? That was the question. What did he do? Call up his mom and dad and say, “Oh, by the way, Uncle Tommy killed someone. I know because I saw his damaged vehicle before he fixed it.”
Grady plopped down on his bed. He couldn’t resolve this issue over the phone. He had to handle it in person. Which meant it would have to wait until after Ethan was released, Wade was in prison, and Ainslie was safe.
Yeah, he had to wait to tell his parents, but he didn’t have to wait to tell Ainslie. He could break the news to her whenever the opportunity presented itself. He’d look for that time, man up, and confess. Then, everything would be in her hands. Hers and God’s.
17
Ainslie fumbled for her ringing cell phone in the dark and glanced at the time. Three a.m. And the screen displayed Sierra’s name.
News on Ethan? Had something bad happened?
Ainslie answered.
“Sorry to wake you,” Sierra said. “But we’ve been called out for a drive-by shooting that killed two people. I’m still in the lab so if you’d come down we can ride together.”
Far worse than Ainslie expected, and her heart dropped. She thought about arriving on scene to find two people who’d had their lives cut short, and she swung her feet out from under the covers so she could get to the job of helping find the person who gunned them down.
She slid out of bed. “I’ll be right down.”
Ainslie slipped into jeans and a T-shirt, pulled her hair back in a ponytail, and brushed her teeth. She grabbed a jacket and her camera bag and started for the door, then came to a sudden stop. Should she call Grady and tell him she was leaving the building? He would want her to, but did he really need to be disturbed?
Nah. She was headed to a crime scene with copious police officers. She would be perfectly safe. She would let him sleep. Drake, too, who was passed out on the couch, his face buried in a big pillow, and she tiptoed past him and into the hallway.
Sierra was waiting at the lab door, a navy blue Veritas Center windbreaker on, keys in hand. Without a word, they hurried to the parking garage and climbed into the crime scene van that was loaded with all the equipment they would need, minus Ainslie’s cameras.
Sierra got behind the wheel and cranked the engine. It roared to life in the quiet of the night.
“You should know,” she said pressing her fingers on the reader to open the security gate. “The victim is a mother and young child.”
Ainslie’s stomach clenched. “How young?”
“Toddler.”
Tears wetted Ainslie’s eyes, and she looked up at the roof of the van to stem them. Being tired didn’t help her gain control of her emotions, but she couldn’t very well arrive in an official capacity at a crime scene blubbering like a baby.
Sierra plugged the digits into the GPS for a northeast Portland address and got them on the road while Ainslie looked out the window. The night was clear and rain-free. That meant it would be cold at the scene, and she would be glad for the warmth that the Tyvek suit added. Not that she would notice the cold once she got to work. She would have to devote her entire concentration to the scene because there was no way she was going to let someone get away with murdering a toddler and mother. No way.
Sierra merged the van into the light morning traffic on the Sunset Highway. “I’ve made some progress on Neil’s shirt.”
Ainslie faced her boss. “Does that mean you found something to help?”
“Not sure if it will help. At least not yet. But not only did I find saliva on Neil’s shirt, I also found blood. I don’t know if it’s his or the killer’s yet, but it could be a strong lead.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
Sierra nodded. “Emory’s already processing the DNA.”
“Then hopefully we’ll know something by this time tomorrow.”
“Could take longer. She said she was having some issues with quantifying the samples.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“She doesn’t think it’ll be a problem. It’ll just take her a bit longer.”
Ainslie shook her head. “Before I came to work at Veritas, I thought processing DNA was so easy. You popped the sample into a machine and presto. DNA. And I always wondered why it took so long. I had no idea how much human involvement it takes to run it.”
“That’s true of a lot of the forensics, isn’t it? Gives a whole new meaning to job security.” Sierra tapped her thumb on the wheel. “I didn’t get to the soil samples yet, but I want to start as soon as possible. Once I walk this scene, if I think Chad can handle processing it, I’ll give him a call.”
Ainslie’s mind went to the upcoming job, where there would be a great deal of evidence to recover. Especially ballistic evidence from the drive-by. “Do we know anything about the family or the shooting?”
“Just that the woman was the girlfriend of a gang member who’s known for his brutality.” Sierra shook her head. “Of course, he wasn’t home at the time, so he didn’t get hurt. The police are looking for him.”
“Any witnesses?”
“None that they know of yet, but it’s early in the investigation.” She frowned, not speaking for the longest time. “So, you and Grady? I thought you were moving right along when we were in Texas, but when I bumped into you in the hallway, things seemed tense.”
Ainslie had to work hard not to let her mouth drop open at the sudden change in subject. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.
Sierra glanced at her. “Am I being too nosey?”
“Maybe just a little.”
Sierra grinned. “It’s okay. You can tell me to mind my own business. It’s just that, when you fall in love and are deliriously happy, you want everyone to find the same happiness. And you’re such a special person, you really deserve it.”
Ainslie’s heart melted at her kind words. “You’re so sweet to say that, but I don’t know about the deserving part.”
“What?” Sierra gawked at her. “Why would you think that?”
“I’ve got a lot of baggage from growing up poor and having others judging me and my family.”
“I see.”
“In fact, that’s what Grady and I were talking about before he left for the night.” She took a breath. “Something’s holding him back, too. He hasn’t said what, so I figure it’s a big deal.”
“Would explain why a great guy like him is still single.” She gave Ainslie a pointed look. “Why not come right out and ask?”
That answer was simple. If she asked, he might tell her something they could work through, and then what would keep her from falling head over heels for him?
“Okay, I get it.” Sierra mocked zipping her lips. “I’ll let it go. For now.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
They made the rest of the drive in silence, the air growing tense the closer they got to the home. Sierra pulled up to the scene, and parked while Ainslie mentally prepared herself to see the victims. She scanned the area. Three patrol cars blocked the street outside a forsaken duplex hunkered in the shadows from nearby commercial buildings. An unmarked de
tective’s car was parked at the curb, and an older man with a sagging suit jacket stood on the sidewalk and stared at the house. Ainslie looked for the medical examiner’s vehicle, but they hadn’t arrived yet.
“Let’s do this.” Sierra sounded like she needed to motivate herself to face such a tough task.
Ainslie totally got it. When children were involved, the work was far more difficult, but also more motivating. She jumped down from the van, and strong winds that were rippling the yellow tape cordoning off the area hit her head-on. She went straight to the back of the vehicle, as did Sierra. They dressed in protective clothing in silence and approached the cordoned off area.
The detective lifted the tape for them to duck under.
“Sierra,” he said and looked at Ainslie with a question mark in his eyes.
“Richard, meet my photographer, Ainslie Duncan,” Sierra said. “She joined us a few months ago, a real asset to the team.”
“Detective Richard Gaines.” He looked back at the house.
Sierra moved next to him and frowned.
He glanced at her. “You see it, too, right?”
“Bullet spray is all wrong for a drive-by.”
Ainslie joined them. “Too high for a car. Maybe a truck or van. Or they were on foot.”
“Exactly,” Gaines said.
“Let’s not take any chances on getting this wrong.” Sierra got out her phone. “Time to call in an expert. Time to call Grady.”
Grady stared at the chipped white paint flaking from the dilapidated duplex in the strong wind barreling in from the Gorge. This duplex was located in a known drug area, and Grady wasn’t surprised by the drive-by shooting at all.
He was surprised by the callout though. As far as he was concerned, it came at the worst time. He didn’t like getting hauled out of bed to go to a crime scene when he desperately needed a good night’s sleep. Especially with the thought that he might get Ethan’s gun and the CT scan soon. He wanted to do his very best for Ainslie, who was busy snapping photos outside the home.
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