The Grayce Walters Romantic Suspense Series

by Jacki Delecki

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  Whatever shone in his eyes made Grayce get spots of color on her cheeks.

  “I already helped you with your little problem this morning,” she said. “Have you forgotten?”

  He would never forget Grayce’s lush lips around him. It was all he thought about during the long tedious meetings. Her hair brushing his thighs as her mouth… He was going to disgrace himself.

  “Little? Did you just say little?” His voice was teasing. Her eyes danced back and forth.

  “I’ve another problem,” Davis continued.

  “Another?” Grayce giggled again.

  “Would you keep Mitzi with you while I’m in DC? I’ve thought about how happy she is in your office. I won’t be able to take her to work, so she’d either be in my apartment or in doggie day care.”

  “But, Davis, she belongs with you.”

  “Yes, but if she’s with you, I’ll know she, you, and I all belong to each other.”

  “Davis, don’t get that look. I’m not leaving until I’ve had my shrimp diablo.”

  How could he live without Grayce Walters? She always knew, before he did, what he wanted. He was about to say “let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Brandon huddled next to Maddy on his sleeping bag. She smiled at him, and her soft, brown eyes twinkled. They were in the jungle on the west side of Beacon Hill above the freeway—a green belt of trees that the homeless and criminals had claimed as their own. Their group of misfits and losers hid among the homeless to prevent being tracked. Only one week before the big bang. He had started calling his mission, the big bang because it was going to be the beginning of a new and better world in which nature had equal rights with human beings, but he had to be careful not to slip.

  “Brandon, what do you think?” The tight, clipped and miffed voice came from their leader Jason, the dude with the golden fleecy hair, and it rattled him back to the present.

  Hell, he hadn’t been listening to Jason’s endless drone of “look how smart I am, look how handsome I am with my blond hair, blue eyes and seductive smile.” Maddy wasn’t here for the cause, she was here to sleep with Jason—as were half the women in their group. And didn’t Jason know it.

  Always alert to his flock, did Jason recognize his distraction? Their leader was getting increasingly suspicious of him. Or was he only getting paranoid as the big day approached?

  Jason’s light eyes examined his face, searching. It was important that he not let Jason see his anxiety. Did anyone else notice his nervousness? He needed to keep his shit together. Jason was no fool.

  “Sorry, Jason. I spaced out.”

  Maddy poked him. “Hey, this is important.”

  Too bad Maddy had been attracted only to Jason, or he might have spared her.

  He smiled at Maddy, giving her the full-watt smile. “Sorry, Mad. You’re right.”

  “Okay, D-day is almost here. Let’s review everyone’s job. Fred, you’re in charge of buying the balloons. Remember, they’ve got to be heavy latex.”

  “Like my condoms, heavy latex for a heavy workout.” Fred, who had terrible acne and greasy hair, was probably still a virgin. At least there was one guy in the group who was getting less than him.

  “Maddy and Teresa laughed, but Erika, a hard-core feminist, rolled her eyes in disgust.

  “I’ll get the vegetable oil,” Jason said in his usual commander-in-chief voice. He reminded Brandon of his CO in military school—always in charge, always the alpha male, and always beating the shit out of less than perfect cadets. Military school was just like home, the almighty male forcing his will on the powerless.

  “I still think it’s going to be tricky getting the balloons into the meeting.” Erika continued to fight Jason’s position as the leader. Obviously, she wasn’t sleeping with him.

  “Only four of us are carrying the balloons in our backpacks. Are you having trouble with my plan?”

  Shit, he really wasn’t up for rehashing the whole discussion of who was willing to be arrested for the cause. He had a record from his DUI and his shoplifting. He used his criminal past as an excuse for not wanting an arrest now. Maddy didn’t want to be arrested because of her juvie record. He and Maddy were assigned to protest in front of Pier 69 to provide a distraction when the others entered the building. What a great irony. He wished he could laugh out loud right now and tell them he had a distraction for them.

  “What’s so funny, Brandon?” Jason had his eagle eye focused on him. Sweat pooled on his back and under his arms. The urge to break into a sprint seized him. He inhaled slowly, trying to move his frozen lungs. “I was just visualizing the look on the asshole commissioner’s faces when you hit them with the oil.”

  “That’s exactly my point.” Erika stood. “I want to make sure the timing is right. Brandon and Maddy have to walk in with the pictures of the animals drenched in oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico when we belt them with the balloons filled with oil from the audience.” Erika continued to give Jason shit about his plan. Same old bullshit as in all his previous groups. Always boiled down to power and sex.

  “Brandon and I’ll disrupt whatever they’re saying when we walk into the meeting and chant “No spills in our waters,” Maddy said.

  “And when the audience turns back toward Maddy and Brandon, we’ll stand and throw.”

  “Tom and Susan are going to this Tuesday’s meeting to check out the space.”

  Tom and Susan were the only non-misfits of the group. From wealthy East Coast families, they came to college together and got radicalized in environmental issues at liberal Evergreen College. North Face jackets and expensive haircuts, they both looked and acted as if they could just as likely be working in corporate America as hatching illegal ecoterrorist plots. Except for Maddy, the entire group had been at Evergreen with Jason. How Maddy had met Jason remained a mystery.

  “Wherever we sit, we’ve got to nail the president and three commissioners,” Jason said.

  Teresa stood and addressed the group in a grave voice. “I’ll be in the front row, ready to record the entire proceedings, the surprise attack and the arrest, then immediately post on the Internet. We want the pictures of the oil-soaked commissioners to be front page on national news.”

  “Any questions?” Jason looked at each person.

  Was Jason suspicious? Jason seemed to be watching. Hell, he was getting paranoid. Only seven more days.

  “Everyone stay low. And only communicate on the World of Warfare site. We’ll meet in two days under the Ballard Bridge.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Grayce sat at her desk and recorded observations about the aging Golden Retriever she had just treated. Both she and the owner were grateful that acupuncture was relieving the pain of Blue’s arthritic spine.

  She heard a male voice and the sound of canine nails on the wood floor. She glanced at her schedule to make sure she had no more appointments. She was blocked out for the afternoon since she was holding a clinic for veterinarians on the use of acupuncture in the emergency room setting.

  She had developed different training sessions to keep her clinical skills current and to interact with her colleagues. She had no idea how in demand she would become. Her clinics were immediately filled. Everyone wanted her to do more, but she had limited the clinics to every three months. Now, with Davis leaving, she’d have more time to run clinics. The thought depressed her.

  She heard Hollie’s laughter. James must have appeared, although he avoided coming to the office. Intrigued by the mystery guest, she walked to the door. Sergeant Welby leaned over Hollie’s computer. Hollie didn’t allow anyone behind her desk, and no one touched her computer.

  “I had no idea that this site existed,” Sergeant Welby said, resting one bronzed hand on Hollie’s shoulder as they both gazed at her computer screen

  Mitzi was stretched on her side, her long body pressed against Talley, who had positioned herself in front of Hollie�
�s desk. Grayce was always impressed by Mitzi’s intuitive healing of the wounded animals who came to the office.

  Sergeant Welby whipped around quickly when Grayce opened the door. The hyper-vigilant solider moved closer to Hollie as if to protect her from the intruder.

  “Sergeant Welby?” Grayce couldn’t contain her surprise.

  The young soldier, dressed in a white t-shirt that hugged his muscular body and snug blue jeans, was a very attractive man. He had a tattoo of blue stars across his upper arm. Grayce intuitively recognized the sergeant’s loss.

  “You don’t have an appointment today, do you?”

  A flush of color crept up the young man’s weather-beaten neck into his face. He came around from behind the desk. “Talley and I were in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop by. I hope that isn’t a problem, ma’am.”

  Grayce felt like the ogre in a fairy tale about star-crossed lovers. “You and Talley are always welcome. I hope you’ll come whenever you’re in the neighborhood.” Sergeant Welby lived a good hour’s drive from Seattle.

  Hollie stood, almost bumping into the sergeant. They both moved at the same time to avoid each other.

  Grayce wanted to laugh at their comic discomfort, but she wouldn’t embarrass Hollie.

  “Sergeant Welby…” Hollie looked at Grayce. Patches of color shone through her pale make-up.

  “You’re to call me Nick,” he said, his voice lowered. Nick stared at Hollie, who was dressed in her feminine white dress, without her usual combat boots. The choice might have been practical since the temperature was hitting 85 degrees—absolutely sweltering for Seattleites.

  Hollie turned her face, her dark lashes covering her eyes and her feelings. “Nick plays World of Warfare. I was showing him a site a friend of mine developed. I’m sorry if we disturbed you. I know you have to teach this afternoon.”

  Nick was a very virile young man, and that combined with his obvious love for Talley and skill at World of Warfare had sealed the deal. He was allowed into Hollie’s space.

  “You didn’t interrupt me.” As if her office didn’t have endless interruptions. “I was worried that I missed someone on the schedule.”

  Mitzi continued to lean against Talley who had sat up attentively when Grayce came into the outer office. Grayce bent and petted Talley. “How’s my girl? You look rested.”

  With her owner enjoying a courtly interaction with a beautiful young woman, Talley had relaxed.

  “We swim after our run in the morning. And we swim in the evening. Seems to help both of us sleep better.’

  Nick’s face flushed bright red. She watched him watch Hollie. It didn’t take an intuitive to see that he had been fantasizing about Hollie at night.

  “I’m glad that you’re both enjoying the swimming.” Nick and Talley needed a disciplined regimen.

  Hollie said, “I didn’t want to disturb you when you were preparing your notes. I’ve a brilliant idea about Maddy’s t-shirt.”

  Hollie angled her head toward Nick, asking whether she should share.

  Grayce turned toward Nick. “We’re trying to help locate a missing Marine and her friend.” Nick might have a new perspective, since he had been a solider in Afghanistan.

  “Are you talking about the Teen Feed t-shirt?”

  “I can enlarge it and do a Google reverse search,” Hollie said.

  Nick’s smile widened. His eyes fixed on Hollie’s animated face. Seen through Nick’s appreciative eyes, Hollie was a stunning beauty, as James had said the first time he met her.

  “Back up. What picture?”

  Like a sunflower in search of sunshine, Nick leaned toward Hollie and her vibrant glow.

  It was going to be a long summer watching these two fall in love, especially with Davis leaving. “Hollie, what picture?” Grayce asked.

  “Remember when James was disgusted with Maddy’s t-shirt. It’s a World of Warfare customized t-shirt.”

  Unaware of Nick’s total absorption, Hollie excitedly explained to Grayce. When she looked at Nick, whatever she saw in his face, made her stopped midsentence.

  “So?”

  “It’s brilliant.” Nick’s voice was filled with wonder as if Hollie had just discovered the rules of gravity.

  Hollie’s almond eyes grew round, and she touched her tongue to her lip.

  Grayce heard the hitch in Nick’s breathing.

  A really long summer.

  “Hollie might be able to find the person who designed the t-shirt by downloading the image to Google.” Nick looked at Grayce.

  “I didn’t know you could do such a thing,” Grayce said.

  “It’s alright, boss, you know a lot of other things.”

  Now she definitely felt like an old, fifth wheel.

  “Can you give me the picture from Angie’s mom? I can take it over to Kinko’s to enlarge and then download the image while you’re teaching.”

  “Talley and I can walk with you to copy the picture.” Nick looked longingly at Hollie.

  Hollie looked shyly down at her non-booted feet and shrugged. “If you want to.”

  “Once we identify the designer of the t-shirt, we could look for her or him on the World of Warfare chat rooms—monitor their chatter,” Nick said.

  “That’s brilliant, Nick.” Hollie smiled, her whole face gleaming.

  “You would’ve thought of it eventually.” Nick gave a wide grin, looking very young and very handsome.

  Hollie turned with a gasp. “Boss, you’ve got to get going or you’ll be late.”

  Grayce couldn’t remember exactly when Hollie had taken total charge of her schedule. Grayce, not gifted with punctuality, now relied completely on the young woman to manage her time.

  “You never know what traffic will be like on I-5.”

  “You’re right. I’d better go.”

  “I forgot…” Hollie looked at Nick and stammered. “I forgot in all the excitement.” Hollie never stammered. She looked young and hesitant. Grayce’s heart expanded with joy for the young woman.

  “Louise Marley called you. She hopes you can come down and see Frank.”

  “Louise Marley, the movie star?” Nick looked at Grayce with a new appreciation. Maybe he thought she was hip after all.

  “Dr. Walters treats her schnauzer. She wanted Dr. Walters to become a Hollywood vet, but she wouldn’t leave Seattle.” Grayce was always touched by Hollie’s admiration.

  “Is Frank sick?”

  “She told me she was tempted to lie, but Frank isn’t sick. She just wants you to come down and visit.”

  Grayce had been thinking of a trip to LA after Davis left. She had a special connection with Louise Marley. She felt as close to her as a sister. She and Louise could discuss the men who left them. According to the tabloids, Louise was dating a bad boy musician. She hoped not. The guy was known for the string of heartbreaks he left in his wake.

  * * *

  Grayce returned to her desk to finish one last note before she left for the clinic. She missed not having Mitzi in the office. Her companion was spending the day with Davis because of Grayce’s afternoon teaching commitment. Grayce loved Mitzi’s calm presence and even breathing in the background as she completed her charting.

  A woman’s voice called from the outer office. “Anyone here? Dr. Walters?”

  Grayce didn’t recognized the voice. She stood and walked to the door.

  A tall, muscular woman with jet-black hair, in blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, held a large bouquet of red roses. “Dr. Walters?”

  The woman looked familiar to Grayce. With the Marine Corp’s motto, “Semper Fidelis,” written in bold white letters across her t-shirt, Grayce recognized her surprise visitor.

  “Angie? Angie Hines?” Grayce clasped her hands together in delight.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Grayce curbed the urge to wrap her arms around the somber woman. Angie Hines, like Hollie, wouldn’t be open to uninvited touch or hugs.

  “I’m so glad you’re bac
k.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Did your brother find you?”

  “A woman identified my picture from the posters that Hunter had put up in the University District and notified the police. The police found me on Brooklyn Street.”

  “This makes my day.” Grayce repressed all the questions she wanted to ask. The biggest question was what had prevented Angie from returning to her family.

  “I wanted to come and thank you in person. My mom told me that your help was huge. Hunter and the police were able to focus their search in the University District because of you.”

  “I didn’t do that much. It was Ossie. She wouldn’t leave your Teen Feed t-shirt alone.”

  “The crazy part—that-shirt isn’t mine. It belongs to my friend.”

  “Well, no matter. I’m glad you’re safely back. Your mother must be so relieved.”

  “She is.” She handed Grayce the bouquet of vibrant roses. “These are for you.”

  The price tag was still on the plastic wrap.

  “They’re beautiful. You didn’t have to get me anything, but thank you.” Grayce gestured to the open door. “Please come into my office.”

  “I don’t want to disturb you.”

  “Not at all. I’ve got to leave in a few minutes, but let’s chat.”

  Angie nodded and followed Grayce into her office.

  Grayce found a vase under the sink and filled it with water. She carried the vase with the flowers to her desk.

  “Please sit down.” Grayce pointed to the chair across from her desk. “I’m sorry your mom didn’t come.”

  “I needed to do a lot of fast talking to convince her not to come today.” Angie rubbed her face then crossed her arms in an anxious, tic-like manner. “I didn’t want my mom here, because I needed to talk with you alone.” Angie shifted to one side of the chair. “My mother will be upset when she learns about my plans. I’m going to continue to look for my friend.”