The Grayce Walters Romantic Suspense Series

by Jacki Delecki

  “Are you going to call Mrs. Hines tonight?” Hollie asked.

  “I’ll call her tomorrow. There isn’t anything she can do tonight. Hunter already knows that Angie went to Teen Feed. I’m sure Angie came to the house to look for Maddy, but there isn’t any proof.” Grayce was disappointed that she didn’t have more to offer Mrs. Hines. But at least this was a beginning.

  “She can call the police and have them come out here and look around. Might be something in the rubble,” Grayce said.

  “If that was blood on the floor,” Hollie said, “maybe they could do a DNA sample?”

  “You’ve been watching too much CSI. No way they can get DNA from that spot,” James said.

  “You don’t know,” Hollie challenged.

  “You’re right. I don’t.” James laughed. “T-squares and protractors for me—not test tubes and body fluids.”

  They walked around the house to 65th street.

  “Not sure what it means. Did Angie find Maddy? Go with her? But why would they both disappear? Doesn’t make sense. And why haven’t the police found Angie or Maddy?” Grayce spoke the questions out loud, as if hearing her own thoughts might reveal some logic.

  “I’ll never be able to wear these shoes again.” James looked down at his beige, canvas shoes.

  “If Maddy wants to hide from the police, she can easily stay under the radar,” Hollie said.

  “What do you mean stay under the radar?” Grayce asked as she dug into the side pocket of her purse for her keys.

  Hollie opened the back door for Mitzi to jump in.

  “If you’re on the run, you evade detection by changing locations.”

  Grayce’s stomach clenched with the knowledge that Hollie knew too much about being on the run. What had this young woman lived through?

  “You don’t stay in the same spot. I’m not trying to be a bummer, but the chance that Maddy left anything for the police to find is small. Sounds like she’s lived on the streets before.”

  “But we do know that Maddy is hanging with that weird guy with the beard. That might give the police a lead if Tom describes him,” Grayce said.

  “Tom won’t talk to the police. You’ll have to do it.”

  “I’ll give Mrs. Hines the information, and if the police want to talk with me, that’s fine.”

  “I’m not sure, Grayce, that it’s a good idea for you to share that we broke into the house,” James said.

  “I’ll tell Mrs. Hines about going to the house but let the police search the house again.”

  Grayce had no clear vision about Angie’s presence, but she somehow knew the woman wasn’t dead.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Brandon stood behind the Cypress tree and watched three people and a French Poodle go into the house. What the fuck was with the poodle? He immediately recognized the take-charge attitude in the pert, blonde woman. She had the same determined look as his mother.

  Watching the smiling woman brought all the horrendous feelings back. His mother, pushing, pushing, always pushing. His gut twisted into a tight knot. His hands fisted at his sides.

  He’d moved his shit from the house after Gator told him a dude who looked like a cop was asking questions about Maddy and his missing sister. He had Gator stationed at Teen Feed, watching for anyone asking questions.

  No one gave a shit about Maddy, but her friend obviously had people looking for her. He didn’t tell Maddy about the search.

  Maddy didn’t give a rat’s ass about her military friend or oil tankers threatening the Orcas in Harrow Straight. She mouthed the ecoterrorists platitudes. He recognized in Maddy the same insatiable rage to destroy.

  He strained forward, attempting to hear the intruders. The blonde turned around as if she sensed him lurking in the trees. Stupid-ass yuppies clustered together on the back porch to discuss whether to trespass. It’d be hilarious if they weren’t playing a dangerous game.

  The woman with the ink had been around, but the other two in their expensive threads definitely belonged with his parents at the tennis club on Mercer Island.

  Like his decisive, surgeon-mother, the blonde woman led the group into the house. They wouldn’t find anything. He had moved the materials to Pioneer Square and planned to keep moving the stuff until D-day.

  He waited in the trees. A damn poodle wasn’t trained to detect explosives, but he had to make sure. He was getting paranoid.

  The woman led the group out of the house after only ten minutes. The guy had the most hilarious look of disgust on his face. Bet he never got a smell like that in his penthouse.

  He leaned in further, enjoying the little game of cat-and-mouse with the bitch. She scanned the yard again as if she suspected his presence in the trees. The dude definitely wanted to get away.

  They faced away from him as they went down the steps, but he clearly heard the bitch say that she was going to call the police. What the fuck?

  Another memory raced into his brain—his mother, with tears in her eyes, telling him she had to tell his father about his latest lapse with the law, but she’d soften his father’s rage.

  He had been shipped off to military school so his father wouldn’t be reminded of his one failure—his son. His mother thought it was for the best.

  The bitch was doing all the talking, but he couldn’t hear. He’d need to follow them to find out about her and her meddling.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Grayce sat alone in her office—rare that Hollie and Mitzi, who spent most days at Grayce’s office, would both be absent. Hollie had gone for Grayce’s favorite lunch, a Vietnamese veggie Banh mi. Grayce had sent Mitzi to Davis’ office, anticipating that her next patient, a military bomb-sniffing dog, needed a non-threatening space.

  The click of canine nails on the wood floor announced the arrival of her client. She restacked her charts and walked to the office door.

  Talley and the sergeant stood in the doorway. Not surprising, the Golden Lab was on high alert. Her lean, muscular body was tense. With the leash gripped tightly in his broad hand, the man and dog both looked combat-ready.

  “I’m Grayce Walters. You must be Sergeant Welby and Talley.” Talley’s ears flicked at the mention of her name.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Despite his close-cropped hair and military posture, the blond sergeant had a boyish vitality reflecting his youth.

  “Please, come into my office. My receptionist is on an errand.”

  Talley walked next to her handler, eyes focused ahead. Her nose twitched, searching for a scent. Talley was fully engaged, on the lookout for danger.

  “Please have a seat.” Grayce indicated the chair across from her desk.

  The sergeant sat with his spine erect and not touching the back of the chair.

  Grayce sat down behind her desk. “Talley is a beautiful dog.”

  Grayce didn’t mention highly strung-out. The anxiety radiating from the dog and handler was palpable.

  “Thank you, ma’am. She is one of the best we have. She is relentless when she’s on a mission. She can work for hours.”

  Both man and dog were locked in, ready to spring into action. They had good reason to be vigilant. The sergeant had been injured in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Their world had proven to be unpredictable and dangerous.

  “I’m a bit surprised by Talley’s breed. I thought the military used Belgian Malinois, Dutch and German Shepherds. Golden Labs are more likely to be companion dogs, since they aren’t known for their aggression.”

  “Talley is one of the few Golden Labs in the military. Her Labrador nose combined with her Golden Retriever focus and loyalty make her a perfect soldier.”

  “I can see her incredible concentration, but away from the battlefield she might have trouble turning her intense focus off.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s been hard for both of us to adjust.” The sergeant’s eyes were war-weary and drained.

  Both dog and man’s haunted look attested that they had suffered and were still suffering. Her job w
as to help them feel safe again.

  “I see that Mike Samson referred you. I’m surprised. I thought his veterinary practice was horses.”

  “Yes, ma’am, he treats only horses. My family raises horses in Auburn. Doc Samson has been our family vet since Doc Corin retired. You came down to Auburn and treated one of Doc Samson’s patients. He thought you might be able to help Talley.”

  “I did treat one of Mike’s racehorses.” Grayce chuckled. “You should’ve seen Mike’s face when I arrived. I wasn’t the vet he was expecting.” She was consciously trying to ease the strain in the room. She gestured, reaching toward the ceiling. “Probably a much bigger woman.”

  The sergeant laughed. With his enjoyment, the muscles above Talley’s eyes relaxed.

  “The horse was seventeen hands and nervous. I was able to calm him and treat his injured knee.”

  “Doc Samson said he wouldn’t have believed what you did if he hadn’t seen for himself. He was really impressed, which is saying a lot. Doc Samson is a man of few words.”

  “I was able to help the horse, and I’ll be able to help Talley.” She wanted the sergeant to know she wasn’t afraid of their demons.

  “I’ve read the referral from Mike,” she said, wanting to protect Talley from hearing her symptoms recounted. Discussing anxiety heightened fears. “Is Talley still taking the Prozac that the military veterinarian prescribed?”

  “No, ma’am. I weaned her off of it. I just couldn’t drug her anymore. Didn’t seem right. We’ve both been working out and running more to get rid of the jitters.”

  “Will Talley allow me to approach her with you sitting here?” Grayce already knew she could approach Talley but wanted to respect her handler.

  “No problem, ma’am. She isn’t aggressive. She’s very protective of me, and I do worry some when people approach me. She’s been through a lot.”

  “I’m not surprised that Talley would be more protective after your injury.”

  “Since the explosion, she’s become hyper-vigilant and listless. It’s the reason she’s on military leave. The vet doesn’t know if she’ll ever have her determination to work again.”

  “I don’t have a lot of experience working with military dogs, but I’ve treated loads of anxious animals. Right now, Talley’s using lots of energy to suppress the anticipation that something terrible is going to happen. Once I help her release the fear, she’ll get her energy back.”

  Grace stood. “She’s a young dog?”

  “Five years old.”

  Grayce walked around her desk and spoke in her quiet, gentle voice. “She’s got lots of years of working and playing ahead of her.”

  Talley remained on alert. Her soft, tired eyes focused on Grayce. The dog had remained calm, non-aggressive—her muscles hadn’t tensed, and her fur hadn’t bristled in warning.

  Grayce, in her usual blue jeans, slowly knelt down next to the dog. “You can relax, Talley. This office is a safe place.”

  Grayce looked up at the sergeant. “Let’s have Talley lie down.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The sergeant gave one tug on Talley’s lead. “Talley, down.”

  Talley lay on her stomach but her spine was rigid, still ready to jump into battle.

  Grayce had taken the precaution to bring the acupuncture needles in her pocket. It was best to minimize the activity in the room.

  “You’re doing a great job protecting Sergeant Welby. He isn’t in any danger now. He’s safe, and so are you, Talley.” Grayce moved her hands above the yellow dog’s back to assess heat.

  Talley stretched out her front paws—her first non-threatening movement since she had arrived.

  “You are a solider, Talley.” Grayce used a relaxed tone, a humming mantra. “And sometimes soldiers need to rest.” With her hands still above the dog, Grayce closed her eyes and tried to shift the frenetic energy swirling around Talley.

  Bright, hot lights burst beneath Grayce’s eyelids. She absorbed the burning heat of the volatile energy stored in Talley’s body. Visualizing a rushing waterfall, the sound of cool water flowing over smooth rocks, Grayce envisioned the frenetic fear leaving Talley’s body, moving down the sun-dappled stream.

  She threaded the tiny needles along both sides of Talley’s vertebrae to open the flow of stagnant chi. She focused on regulating the liver by placing needles at the Curved Spring, the center of stored emotions, on the inside of each back leg.

  As Grayce rotated the liver points, Talley laid her head on her front paws and slept. She whispered close to Talley’s ear. “You got the job done with your fierce heart. You can rest now.” Grayce balanced the needles on Talley’s head and spine one last time. “You protected Sergeant Welby and brought him home, like the good solider you are. It’s time to let go of the fear.”

  Grayce pretended not to notice the tears gathering in the sergeant’s eyes. Her deep place always brought the words to heal.

  After Grayce removed the needles, Talley rolled to her side and slept against the sergeant’s leg.

  Grayce walked to the cabinet. She busied herself for a few minutes to give the sergeant time to compose himself.

  “Thank you, ma’am, for what you just did. I haven’t seen Talley relax since the day we got injured.”

  “You’re welcome. Acupuncture will help Talley calm down. Have you ever drunk too much caffeine, sergeant? To the point that your heart’s speeding, your perceptions are super-acute, your skin hurts because you’re revved up?”

  “Yes, ma’am. That’s every day in Afghanistan. You’re always wound up because you and your unit’s existence depends on remaining focused.”

  Talley and Sergeant Welby had survived four years in Afghanistan by remaining vigilant—not an easy transition coming home. “I’d like to treat Talley once a week for the next three months. Auburn is not close. Will it be a problem?”

  “Not a problem, ma’am. I’d do anything for this dog.”

  “Do you swim, sergeant?”

  His eyes widened in question. “Excuse me?”

  “I’d like you and Talley to start swimming in a lake or deep river. It’s important that you do it together.”

  “I do swim, ma’am, and Lake Youngs is close by our family farm.”

  “Water will soothe Talley’s ratcheted up nervous system.” Grayce omitted. “And yours, too.”

  They both needed to float, to suspend the pressure on their nervous systems. Getting them into the water would be a beginning.

  “Don’t do any training around the swimming. Talley needs a real break from her work. Her senses, especially her focus and her nose, are working overtime. She’ll have a break in the water.”

  Grayce used water therapy for injuries and arthritis, but had never before prescribed hydrotherapy for anxiety.

  “Let’s see how this week goes. I can hear that my assistant is back. She’ll make your appointment for next week.”

  * * *

  Hollie stood on a stool and reached into the cupboard above the file cabinet. With her back to the door, she was unaware of an audience. Grayce was afraid to speak and startle Hollie.

  The sergeant’s entire body tightened at the sight of Hollie in her short skirt. She heard him take a deep breath.

  Hollie hummed a Nirvana song as she searched in the back of the cupboard. Her tight skirt rode higher giving a full view of her upper thighs in fishnet stockings.

  Under his breath, Sergeant Welby said something in a desperate tone. Grayce was pretty sure she heard. “Oh, hell.”

  Hollie turned quickly with the sound and almost fell backward into the cabinet.

  “I didn’t hear you come out of the office.” Hollie jumped off the stool in one agile move unfazed by her high-heeled boots.

  Hollie and the sergeant locked eyes for several seconds, neither uttering a sound. Grayce watched, fascinated. She could almost see the sparks flowing between them.

  “Galachel!” The sergeant broke the awkward silence. His eyes were focused on Hollie’s black t-shirt
with a mythical female figure with flowing golden hair. Unlike last week’s avenging goddess, this woman was ephemeral and mystical.

  Her chatty office assistant was dumbstruck. A wash of color crossed her cheeks. “You know…Galachel?” Her voice came out in a breathless whisper.

  The sergeant angled his body closer to Hollie. “The radiant daughter.”

  The charge between the two people was electrifying. Grayce hated to interrupt the painfully wonderful moment.

  “Hollie, can you give Talley and Sergeant Welby…”

  “Please call me Nick.” His lowered voice was focused toward Hollie.

  Hollie looked young and sweet despite her heavy metal piercings and tattoos. Grayce sometimes forgot Hollie’s young age.

  “Can you make an appointment for Nick and Talley next week?” Grayce asked.

  “Can do.” Hollie bent over Talley and rubbed her head. “What an amazing dog.”

  Talley, relaxed from the acupuncture treatment and sensing Hollie’s empathy, raised her head to continue the petting.

  Nick eased his tight control on Talley’s lead. His face had softened, and his lips parted in a smile.

  Hollie looked up into Nick’s face and whatever she saw caused the red to creep up her neck and face.

  Grayce remembered the first moment she had looked into Davis’ eyes, and she felt an amazingly joyful and exhilarating connection.

  Grayce cleared her throat. “I’ll look forward to seeing you next week.”

  Grayce hummed “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as she walked into her office. Moments like this were important to savor. The universe had provided a serendipitous path to help heal the sergeant.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The dappled sunlight shone on Dr. Z’s round, brown face, creating the beatific countenance of an enlightened saint. The ritual was always the same; Grayce smiled then her mentor smiled.

  His stillness washed over her, opening her to his deep gaze. In the brief moment’s exchange, she couldn’t hide from his soul scrutiny.