Angel's Dance (28 page)

As sick and twisted as he was, he had
a certain fondness for Bella. He had kept her close, burying her
near a koi pond in the shared courtyard behind the flats. Clear
couldn’t fathom how he had been able to bury her with no one
noticing. But the smell was not noticed because of several garden
boxes put in by the other citizens. The freshly mulched dirt stunk.
Anyone smelling her would have assumed it was from the boxes. He
had buried her near a tree and that may have provided extra cover
in the dark, then he had covered the burial site and the whole base
of the tree with stones. His contribution to the beautification
project; his neighbors had thought he was so very
generous.

Clear shook her head, fighting back
tears. She felt someone standing behind her and turned to find
Inman watching her.

“
Well, I guess our job is
done here,” Inman said matter-of-factly. Clear nodded, watching
them take Bella’s body to the ambulance.

“
So, where to? Do you want
to go to the hospital?” Inman looked around, obviously
uncomfortable with the fact that she was about to cry
again.

Clear sighed. She didn’t want to
intrude on Grant and his family at this time. She knew Laura
despised her. “You know, it has been a really long week,” Clear
said. “Can you take me to a motel?”

Inman looked at her for a moment then
shrugged. “Yeah, I think I can arrange that. Then what will you
do?”

Clear shrugged. “Sleep. I don’t really
have any plans past that.”

Inman helped her up and they got into
his SUV. “You know you will have to come back for the inquest,” he
said as he turned onto a side street.

Clear nodded. “I suppose.”

“
I think I have everything
else we need until then. So, how long are you going to stay in
Chicago?”

“
I hadn’t really thought
about it,” Clear murmured. She didn’t want to drive back to Montana
with Grant. Besides, she didn’t think he would be leaving any time
in the very near future. She certainly couldn’t see herself hanging
around as he took care of his daughter. Kat was tough, but she had
been through a lot. She was going to need him for a
while.

“
If you don’t need me for
anything else, I’ll probably leave tomorrow or the next day.” She
rubbed her eyes and could feel the grime. Shower, then the bed.
Definitely.

“
Any preference on a
hotel?” Inman asked, eyeing her.

“
Somewhere reasonably
priced,” Clear sighed. How much would it cost to get a flight out
of Chicago? Maybe she would be better off getting a rental. The
thought of that long drive by herself was even worse.

“
This is cheap, but safe.
No ordering in, though.” Inman looked to her and she glanced up. It
was your typical motel.

Clear turned to him with a smile. “I
think I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

Inman came in with her and got her a
police discount on the room. “Thanks,” she smiled. “Well, until
next time, I suppose.” She headed up to the room. She didn’t have a
change of clothes or any food. The little soap and hair products
did not look promising, but there was a cheap robe made of the same
material as the towels.

Better than putting on dirty clothes,
she figured. Clear sighed as she turned the water on full blast,
stripped down and climbed in the shower. The water wasn’t hot
enough to scrub away the filth she had felt in that man’s mind. But
it slowly released all the built up tension in her shoulders. She
scrubbed her hair thoroughly with the cheap products and then
scrubbed her skin until it stung, but she still couldn’t feel
clean.

Settling for just standing under the
water and letting it rinse her body, she leaned against the wall
and cried. When she realized she was starting to fall asleep in the
shower, she forced herself to turn the water off, wrap her hair in
a towel and slip the robe on. She stumbled blearily into the room
and collapsed on the bed, too tired to even climb under the
blankets.

Chapter Twenty

Clear awoke to someone banging on the
door. She was extremely cold, and realized that was probably
because her hair was still damp and the towel had slipped free.
Pulling the robe tighter around her body, she stumbled to the door,
feeling like death. Peeking out the window, she was surprised to
see Detective Inman. He had her bags. She slipped the lock and
opened the door, keeping it tight and just poking her head
out.

“
Um hi,” she said
groggily. The smell of hot greasy food greeted her nose.

“
Hi,” Inman nodded. “I’m
sure you are probably still pretty tired, but I figured I should
bring you some clothes and food for later, if you want?”

“
Wow, um… thanks.” She
felt very rude not letting him in, so she opened the door, standing
behind it. “Come on in, I guess.”

He walked in and set her bags on the
bed. “I.. well, I got food for both of us… but if you’re not up to
it, then… I’ll just get mine and go.”

Although it was very forward, Clear
admired his blush and realized that he was extremely
nervous.

“
Uh, no. It’s fine. I..
just… well, let me change. I’ll be right back.” She pulled her bag
open and grabbed some clean clothes then bolted to the bathroom.
She threw the clothes on quickly and gave herself a once over in
the mirror. She tried to fluff her hair out, but it was still
completely soaked. She threw it back up in the towel. Sadly that
looked better than the alternative.

She came out of the bathroom, a little
embarrassed, but starving.

Inman smiled at her. “You
look…”

“
Like crap?” Clear
scoffed.

“…
No, like you’ve been
through hell,” Inman said with a wry grin. She could feel herself
flushing. He was too perceptive and that scared her.

“
You don’t really do this
much? Do you, ranch lady?” he asked, forcing a casual
tone.

“
I would have thought you
would have your hands full with everything… yet you found time to
go researching me?” Clear tried to seem glib, but was pretty sure
he wasn’t buying it, with his piercing eyes. She was somewhat
surprised that the only thought going through her head was that his
eyes were like a stormy sky. She kind of liked that.

“
Well, I guess the cop in
me just won’t quit.” He bit into his sandwich offering her one as
well. She sat on the bed next to the table, not comfortable sitting
so closely to him.

“
Thanks,” she murmured.
Ignoring his questioning gaze, she bit into the burger.

“
So?” he pulled her
attention back to him.

“
So?” She returned his
steady gaze.

He smiled and offered her a drink. She
took it.

“
Really?” he
asked.

She just shrugged.

He chuckled, “Come on, you aren’t
gonna give me anything?”

“
I don’t make that a
habit, no,” Clear replied tightly.

He sucked air through his teeth. “Hmm…
so, you won’t even tell me why you came here? Why a smart girl with
a Doctorate in Psychology, turns all that education away and
instead runs a horse ranch?”

Clear leaned back on the bed, gazing
out the window. “There’s good money to be made in
horses.”

He stared at her, waiting.

“
Why?” she asked
flabbergasted.

“
Because… I’m curious
about you, Clear Angel.”

“
Curiosity killed the
cat,” Clear murmured.

“
Ahhh… but satisfaction
brought him back,” Inman replied cheekily.

Clear couldn’t help but laugh. It
wasn’t a good laugh. This guy was unnerving.

“
What can I say? You do
this every day… you know how hard it is. I guess… I guess I’m just
not tough enough to handle it every day.” She sighed, hating that
what she was saying was partially true.

Inman looked at her then shrugged. “I
don’t believe that.”

“
Well, you don’t really
know me then,” Clear quipped.

“
Bryce says you came
because of Grant, but that both of you insist that there is nothing
going on between you.” He took another bite of his burger and
chewed slowly, thoughtfully. Clear took a bite of her burger, to
avoid answering the question.

“
So, if there is nothing
going on between you, then why would you come here and go through
this, when you say you can’t handle the job?” He looked quite
pleased with his question.

Clear swallowed her bite and washed it
down with a sip of coke. “I guess I owe him.” Clear shrugged. “I’m
sure you read about what happened in Montana?”

He nodded and his eyes shifted to
stare blankly at a carpet. “And from what I could tell in that
report, you were in danger because he asked for your help there,
too.”

Clear couldn’t help rolling her eyes
at that. No, she got herself into enough trouble without Grant’s
help. “Hardly,” was all she would say. “He saved my life after a
lunatic kidnapped me.”

Inman returned to staring at her.
“Fine, don’t tell me anything. You hardly know me and have no
reason to trust me. I’m guessing you don’t trust very many people
at all.” He looked away from her again. A pregnant pause filled the
tiny motel room. He cleared his throat. “I want to thank you, for
helping us.” His eyes darted to her. “And for what it is worth, he
has very deep feelings for you.”

Clear looked up at him shocked.
“Excuse me?”

Inman smiled at her. “Hey,
love is complicated.” At the shock on her face, he pulled back.
“And maybe love isn’t the best word… feelings.
Feelings
are complicated. Look, the
point I am trying to make is that… I saw your… I know
disappointment isn’t really the right word… but for lack of a
better word… you looked abandoned and adrift when he left with his
daughter like that….”

Clear shook her head vehemently. “No,
of course he left with her. He did what anyone would do. And if he
had done anything differently, then what kind of a father would he
have been?!”

Inman held up his hand. “I’m not
saying you were a bad person for what you felt. I’m also not saying
he was bad for doing what he did. I’m just telling you what I saw.
And something you probably need to know.” He crossed his hands and
leaned forward on his knees. “When I went to the hospital, the
first thing he asked was if you were ok.”

Clear was more than a little surprised
to hear this.

“
He was the one who asked
me to get you your clothes and some food.” Inman indicated her
things. “Now… I’ll admit, I didn’t know Grant when he worked here,
but the general consensus from the people who did know him was that
he is a great detective, at the expense of other people. His wife,
his partner… even his own kid, to an extent.”

Clear started to protest,
in an effort to defend him, but Inman held up his hand. “Look, I’m
not judging him. I am just telling you what I know. He cares about
you. I get the feeling he doesn’t really know how to tell you that,
but he does. And if he is a cop anything like my dad, then he will
never be able to tell you that. Hell, he probably thinks that it
would make your life worse if he did. Especially after everything…
you two have been through. Just because he doesn’t know how to tell
you how he feels, doesn’t mean he
doesn’t
feel
.”

“
So, Grant reminds you of
your dad, huh?” Clear sighed.

Inman chuckled. “A little bit, yeah.”
He scratched the back of his head. “And so, I am telling you this
because my dad couldn’t tell me or the woman he loved how he felt
and we didn’t find out until after he died… and it was too late to
have the relationship we wanted with him.”

Clear sighed. “What do you hope to
achieve?” She looked at him pleadingly.

“
Well, maybe to help you
understand?” Inman spread his hands wide in a supplicating manner.
“Some men… well, they need people and when they realize that, it…
it scares them. So they distance themselves from those people,
living in kind of their own private hell and… putting the people
who love them most in their own private hell. It’s hard to love
people like that, but we can’t help loving them…. But we feel the
need not to let them know, so that they can’t hurt us more.” He
looked at her and shrugged. “Maybe I am way off base, but if you do
care about him… you’ll have to do the work. That’s all I’m
saying.”

He stood up and moved toward the door.
“Uh, if you need anything, just give me a call.” He handed her his
card.

Clear took his hand when she took his
card. “Thanks… for giving me your perspective… I don’t know what
I’ll do with it, but… it helps to know.” She smiled.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Grant was surprised to find out that
Clear had gotten a plane ticket back to Montana and had already
left. Detective Inman had dropped her off at the airport and she
had asked him to give Grant a note.

Grant stared at the envelope that he
had set on the coffee table. They had brought Kat home this morning
and her mom was sitting with her in her room. He might not get
another chance to read it in private, at least not for a while. Kat
was really messed up from all that had happened and he was staying
to help her through it. Of course, Laura was icily accepting it.
She needed someone to stay with Kat during the day while she was at
work. But she was more cold each day and barely civil, even in
front of Kat.