by VK Powell
She finished collecting and labeling the specimens and held them up. “I’m going to get these off to the lab. On the way back, I can pick up lunch.” Trip pulled her attention away from Jamie long enough to nod, and Dani couldn’t get out of the exam room fast enough. Whatever was happening between Trip and Jamie was personal and none of her business.
She drove into town slowly, giving Trip and Jamie time to finish the intake forms and have a real talk if they wanted. She could kill some time before collecting their lunches. She parked near Main Street but sat in her car for a while with the windows down. Seeing the interaction between Trip and Jamie had spun her thoughts down that emotionally uncomfortable but physically pleasurable path of thinking about Grace again, until a loud commotion across the street distracted her.
“I’ll only be here a minute, Grace.” A hulking, hairy man flying Hell’s Angels colors on his leather vest squared off with Grace beside a cherry apple red Harley.
“I can’t let you park here, Will. We’ve had this conversation before. My new deputy has a hard-on for illegal parking. I’m just doing you a favor.”
“All right then, Grace, you know what has to happen.” The man stepped closer and reached around her waist at the same time Grace placed her right hand on his left arm.
Dani imagined the cop in Grace flying hot at having her warning ignored and her personal space violated, and the big man protecting his machismo by standing up to a woman. Dani ran across the street, grabbed the man’s right arm, swept his feet from under him, and threw him to the ground. She jammed her knee in his spine and wrenched his arms behind his back. “Cuff him.” When Grace didn’t move, Dani looked up. “What are you waiting for?”
“What are you doing, Dani?”
Grace’s irritated expression said Dani had done something stupid. Again. What was wrong with her? She didn’t overreact, except where Grace was concerned apparently.
“Grace, will you get this person off my back before I smash her like a bug.”
Dani looked from Grace to the man under her. “What’s going on?”
“Let Will up, Dani. He’s not going to hurt me or anyone else.”
Heat rose up Dani’s neck as she released the man and slowly stood to face Grace. “He put his hands on you.”
Will brushed off his clothes and grinned at Grace. “This your new girlfriend?”
Grace shook her head. “Go get your mother’s lunch. I’ll watch your bike.” When Will walked away, Grace turned back to Dani. “Care to explain?”
“I thought he was going to hurt you.” Grace stepped closer, and Dani thought she was about to touch her but stopped short.
“I appreciate your concern, really, but maybe you should ask next time, especially if I’m on the job.”
Dani tried for nonchalance, but she burned with embarrassment. “He grabbed a deputy sheriff. You grabbed him. Where I come from that means things are going to get ugly. What was happening if you weren’t going to arrest him?”
“It’s an old shtick from our teens. When we disagree about something, Will and I dance it out. The first one to step on the other’s toes loses.”
Dani shook her head. “You’re one strange law enforcement officer. Excuse me for overreacting…and for caring.” She glanced at the ground. She’d admitted that she cared for Grace, but out loud this time.
“You care about me? That’s certainly news.” The lines around Grace’s eyes and mouth softened, followed quickly by a wide grin.
“We had breakfast together at the diner, with the rest of the town. You stopped me from getting a bad haircut. I practically live with you at the B and B. I’ve been in your home. We almost kissed at your place once, sort of kissed, twice, at the cookout. Guess I must like you a little, right?” She tried to make light of her blunder, but Grace slid her hand down Dani’s arm creating a deep stirring.
“I’m just surprised you admitted it. I’m flattered but also having trouble keeping up with the back-and-forth. Do you want to talk about what happened at the cookout?”
“Not really. Sorry.” Dani looked around and their little scene had attracted more than a few curious bystanders. “I apologize for my macho bullshit, then and today. Every time I’m around you, I get…”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Grace stood up to Dani when she lashed out, gave advice about small town survival, and offered emotional comfort. Grace mesmerized and pulled Dani in, made her feel safe and cherished, like family only better. But Grace also gave her hope for a love and home she’d never imagined, and that was the first step toward pain. From Grace’s viewpoint, Dani was a very bad gamble. From Dani’s perspective, Grace was a chance at the lottery, but could she take the risk?
“O—kay. Unnecessary as it was, thanks for trying to protect me.” Grace touched Dani’s hand and held it briefly before adding, “I was wondering if you’d do me a small favor.”
“Sure. Seems I need to atone.”
“Help me get Harry back home.”
Not exactly the request she’d expected, or possibly wanted, but easy enough to accommodate. “Sure. When?”
“MJ will have the sunroom ready tomorrow afternoon. Bring him with you from work?”
“I can do that.” She wasn’t ready for Grace to go but struggled for something else to say, something meaningful that needed saying, but then she nodded and walked toward the diner. When Grace was around, Dani turned into a malleable, eager to please butch, groveling at the feet of her femme Dom—a thought that both excited and terrified her. But Grace deserved more.
* * *
Grace forced herself to leave Dani outside the diner, though she’d felt a powerful urge to stay and help Dani tweeze the words she was struggling with to the surface. But she hadn’t asked for Grace’s help. As she walked toward her patrol car, her walkie-talkie crackled with Jamie’s voice. Had something gone wrong with Petunia’s exam this morning? When she looked at her watch, more time had passed than she realized while she and Dani chatted. The woman made her lose track of time and herself, probably not a totally good thing.
“Sarge, you on?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Can you come by Clay’s garage? We’ve got a situation over here.”
“On my way.” When Grace pulled up a few minutes later, Trip, Jamie, and Petunia headed toward her. Clay was on the phone and didn’t look happy. “What’s going on?”
“P alerted on a toolbox in the back of the garage.”
Grace took a second to register the information, her mind still partly on Dani, and the improbability of Jamie’s words. “Drugs? Here?”
Jamie nodded. “Clay suspects they belong to Bo, one of their mechanics.”
Grace turned toward Clay, but the question she was going to ask stalled when she saw the fear on Clay’s face. “What’s wrong?” Grace took a step toward her.
“Bo, why are you answering River’s phone?” Clay said as Grace moved closer and leaned in to hear the conversation.
“Cause me and your girl are taking a little drive.” There was static or wind noise in the background. “Let’s just say you’ve got something I need, and I’ve got something you want.”
“I’ll bring your shit, Bo. It’s not like I want it, but you better not hurt River.”
Grace touched Clay’s arm, trying to keep her calm so they could get more information. “Where is he?”
Clay punched the button to end the call. “He’s got River and wants me to bring the drugs and meet him at the mill to trade.” Clay stomped around, dust flying up from her boot falls. “Damn it all to hell.” She stopped and looked at Grace. “I’m going.”
“No.” Grace was firm. These situations could get out of hand quickly enough without a loved one nearby escalating things. Grace needed to focus on River, not divide her attention worrying about Clay.
“He said for me to come alone. He specifically told me not to bring you. So, I’m going.” She squared off in front of Grace.
“No, you’re not. You�
�re staying here with Jamie.” She looked at Jamie. “Call for backup. Tell them we have an active hostage situation and drugs are involved. Who knows if Bo is under the influence of something right now.”
“It would explain a lot.” Clay swept her fingers through her hair. “God, I’m an idiot.”
Trip rested her hand on Clay’s shoulder. “Leave it with Grace, pal.”
“But he’ll see her and do something stupid. He said no cops.”
“Clay, I’ve got this.” Grace’s voice was steady, calm. “He’s not going to hurt River. Besides, she’s smart and will be trying to escape. At the least she’ll distract him, throw him off his plan.” She walked toward her patrol car, planning her route, with Clay on her heels. “He’ll take the Mill Road, that’s fastest and the most secluded, and I’ll be on the loop road. Trust me, he’ll never see me coming. I’ll approach on foot once I get there. Now, let me do my job.”
“Aren’t you going to wait for backup? Isn’t that how this works?” Clay asked.
“I can handle one redneck.” Grace closed the patrol car door and backed away from the garage. Dust and gravel swirled as she whipped the cruiser onto the paved road.
Things like this didn’t usually happen in Pine Cone, and Grace hadn’t expected the adrenaline that flooded her system and made her feel like Super Woman. She stomped the accelerator flat out, lights and siren blaring, and leaned forward as if her body weight would propel the car forward faster.
When she reached the Mill Road fork, she veered to the right following the loop road which would be less conspicuous and have less traffic. Finally, she saw dust clouds in the distance on the main road and gunned the gas again. She caught sight of Clay’s old pickup that River drove ahead of her and to the left. The vehicle was weaving in the road, and it looked like the two people inside were fighting.
River was one feisty woman, and she wouldn’t give up easily. “Good girl. Keep it up,” Grace said as she watched in disbelief as the pickup suddenly swerved off the shoulder of the road, down the embankment, and into the Altamaha River. “Oh, no! This can not be happening.” She skidded to a stop at the spot where the truck left the road and saw it sinking slowly, water pouring in through the windows.
Grace unsnapped her seat belt while opening the door and ran toward the bank. River popped through the surface and started treading water. “Swim this way, River. Over to me.” The top of the truck was almost completely under water and disappearing quickly. River glanced back and forth between the sinking truck and Grace before diving back under. “What are you doing? River, no.”
Grace pulled at her heavy utility belt and dropped it on the ground. She’d sink like a stone if she tried to swim with all the equipment around her waist. She stripped off her uniform shirt to release the bulky vest and toed off her shoes. As she started toward the water, River emerged dragging Bo behind her.
“Are you all right?” Grace asked.
“I’m good…” Her breath came in gasps. “But I need…to get away…from him. He’s all yours.” River swept her hands through her wet hair and started walking barefoot back the way they’d come.
Grace grabbed her gun and pointed it at Bo who was still spitting and coughing on the ground. He wasn’t going anywhere. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Clay and Trip pull up in Trip’s truck. Clay would take care of River now. Grace reached for her walkie-talkie, canceled further police assistance, and requested an ambulance, non-emergency.
When Bo recovered enough to breathe properly, Grace handcuffed him and pulled her shirt and utility belt on. The only things left to do now were fill out the paperwork back at the office and keep Clay away from Bo until the ambulance arrived.
Chapter Twelve
Dani pulled off her smock the next afternoon and threw it in the laundry bin on her way to pick up Harry. She’d thought about seeing Grace again all day, and Michelle had called her out for being distracted several times.
“So, where you off to in such a hurry? Thought we’d grab a drink on the way home since we’re so friendly and civilized now.”
“Can’t. I’m taking Harry back to Grace’s this afternoon. It’s time to see what happens.”
Michelle cocked a hip to the side. “See what happens with Harry or with Grace?”
“Seriously, it’s time for Harry to be resettled wherever he’s going.”
“Let’s keep it real, boss. You’re more interested in Grace Booker than you want to admit. I’ve seen the same look you’ve got in more than a few women’s eyes.”
“You’re imagining things. I’m taking Harry to the B and B because I live there, for the time being. It has nothing to do with Grace.” A tiny flutter inside begged to differ, but what was the point of sharing that? “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Whatever, but if you come to work with that fresh-fucked look on your face, I’ll bitch-slap you hard with an I told you so.” Michelle tossed a flirty wave over her shoulder.
Dani tried to push the image of having sex with Grace out of her mind by concentrating on Harry’s resettlement. Being near Grace again was challenging enough physically without fighting her own traitorous feelings, which she hadn’t bothered to acknowledge or share with Grace.
She threw a towel over Harry’s cage and strapped it in the passenger seat of her SUV.
“On the road again,” he chirped happily along the way.
“Yes, my little friend, and I hope you like your new home.” She also hoped Harry’s sabbatical had somehow resolved his dislike of Grace, or he could end up re-homed, which was not good for a parrot with attachment issues.
When Dani pulled into the B and B driveway, Mary Jane greeted her. “Grace got detained by the sheriff but will be along as soon as she can. They’re wrapping up that drug bust and chase from yesterday.”
“I heard all the commotion. Is everybody okay?” Dani asked.
“Yeah, just paperwork now. Can I help with anything?”
“I’ve got Harry. Is his large aviary already in the sunroom?”
“We didn’t have time to move it this morning, but Grace said she’d take care of it when she got home. You can just park Harry on the coffee table for the time being. We’ll fix him up later. You probably have other things to do.”
“I told Grace I’d help get him settled, so I don’t mind sticking around.” She’d never been alone with Mary Jane without a meal between them. Their only other common topic was Grace, sort of, and she wasn’t comfortable having a conversation about her. She followed Mary Jane into the house and placed Harry’s cage on the coffee table in the sunroom, taking in the changes Mary Jane had made to accommodate him. “He’ll love it out here.”
“I think so too. What about a glass of sweet tea while we wait?”
“Sounds good.”
“I might even have a leftover slice of peach cobbler from dinner last night, if you’re interested.”
“I’m always interested in your food, Mary Jane.” Her initial caloric concerns about Mary Jane’s cooking had faded, along with the weirdness of eating with strangers. She almost looked forward to meal times now, sampling the latest recipes, and chatting with the small group of people who were becoming more familiar every day and the ones passing through.
Mary Jane heated the cobbler, added a dollop of ice cream, and placed it along with a glass of tea in front of Dani at the counter. “Enjoy.”
“None for you?”
“I’m watching my schoolgirl figure.”
Dani gave Mary Jane a visual once-over. She was verging on being too thin. “How do you and Grace stay so fit eating like this all the time? My grandmother used to say, never trust a skinny cook.”
“My motto is never trust anyone who doesn’t enjoy their own cooking, and I probably eat my weight in food every day. Just have a high metabolism I guess.”
Dani shoveled the cobbler like she hadn’t eaten all day and savored the blend of peaches with sugar and a crusty top. One thing Southerners got right was comfort food. H
ad her mother ever prepared a meal? Nothing about her home life seemed normal—fast food, strangers, and constant bickering over money—not one of her childhood memories was nearly as sweet as Mary Jane’s tea or cobbler. She’d gone quiet, and Mary Jane was staring. “This is fantastic, Mary Jane. Really good.”
“Please, call me MJ, honey.”
“I can see why people keep coming back here year after year. It feels like a home, or what I imagine one should feel like.”
Mary Jane’s broad smile made her look younger and even more welcoming. “Thank you. That’s probably the best compliment you could pay a Southerner.” She refilled Dani’s glass. “You mentioned your grandma. Is she still alive?” Mary Jane leaned casually against the stove as if she’d inquired about the weather. She had no way of knowing her question cut through Dani like a finely honed blade.
But she’d opened this door and couldn’t ignore Mary Jane’s question. “N—no.” She choked down the unexpected flood of emotions that brought tears. She pretended to sip her tea but couldn’t swallow. “Died years ago.”
“You were close.”
Dani nodded.
Mary Jane moved to her side, rubbing her hand soothingly down Dani’s back. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
But her kindness did exactly that in the most bittersweet way. Dani wiped her eyes and looked away. “Granny was the best. Caring, understanding, and always on my side. She used to say home was the most important thing in life, whether with blood relatives, family of choice, friends, or lovers. She was the only real family I had, and I miss her every day.”
“And your parents?”
Dani shook her head, emotionally unwilling and physically unable to speak.
Mary Jane hugged Dani and held on, probably sensing the subject of her parents wouldn’t be covered today. Besides, a woman as compassionate as Mary Jane would never understand her parents’ poor life choices and preference for drugs and booze over their only child. She’d tried to erase the painful memories, but occasionally a soft touch or kind word reminded her of what she’d missed.
