The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (40 page)

“What’s going on?
E
veryone okay?”

“Trish and the kids are fine, but you’d better come in. In fact, you might
wanna
sit down for this one.”
He
slung the bag over his shoulder
and
moved to the garage
.

Panic skittered through Matt’
s in
sides as he followed him
in the kitchen door.

Andy d
ropped his bag to the
floor
,
rummaged in the fridge
,
and
produced a
Dr. Pepper.
“Want one?”

Matt shook his head.
“You’re hitting the hard stuff early, aren’t you?”

H
is brother
popped the top and took a
swig. “
Betw
een phone calls, the airport, and a pretty
flight,
I’ve been up all night. I n
eed the caffeine to keep from
draggin
’ my wagon.”

Matt straddled a bar stool at the kitchen island. “The suspense is killing me. What gives?”

“The law firm was broken into this past weekend.”

“And
now
you tell me?
”

“
J
ust foun
d
out
last night.”

Why did he get the di
stinct impression there was more—much more—
to this story? “Did they catch the guy?”

“Girl.
And yeah
.”

“Anyone we know?”

Andy lips
com
pressed
in a grim line,
his eyes sorrowful.
“Gracie.”

Matt’
s breath bottled in his ches
t and his mouth flew open. “She wouldn’t do
that. There’s
gotta
be a mistake.”

“Exactly what I told Ernie, but he says they have proof.”

“What kind of proof?”

“Photos.”
His brother took another swig. “And she confessed.”

Matt
closed his eyes and brought a palm to his forehead
. What had gotten into her?

Andy clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry,
Matt
. As soon as I shower
, I’m headed to the police station.
Wanna
come?”

“
Sure
.”

Fort
y-five minutes later they parked
at
the Miller’s Creek p
olice
station, an old rock building with bars on the windows
.
The elderly attorney w
ho worked
with Andy approached as they
climbed from
the car.
Would Jason be here too?

“
M
ornin
’, Ben.” Andy’s tone
carried
fatigue. “Sorry to
pull you away from your family.

“Part of the job.”

E
rnie met them as they entered, his
hand
outstretched
.
“
Mornin
’,
everyone.
Sorry to call you on
your vacation,
Andy,
but I thought you’
d
wanna
know. You guys want
coffee?
”

“Please.” The word barged
from
Matt’s mouth without permission. He moved to the machine in the far corner and poured the black brew into a Styrofoam cup. Not that he really needed another cup, but under the circumstances he certainly wanted it. He
sipped the liquid
and grimaced. The stuff t
asted like it had been made a few weeks ago. He
retraced his steps
to
where
the other
men
stood,
Andy’s face
grim as he addressed the Ernie
.
“
So w
hat’s the scoop?”

The balding police chief mov
ed into his office, motioning to
a few
chairs. “Have a seat
.” He parked himself
at the desk
an
d swiveled to face them. “Yesterday
Ms. Delgado and a private investigator—”

“Wait a minute. Elena
Delgado?
From the DA’s office?”
A frown darkened Andy’s face
and he exchanged a look with Ben
.

“That’s the one.” Ernie’s moustache crawled up and down as he spoke. “Anyway, they came to my office late yesterday afternoon with pictures of Gracie letting herself into
your building
at
2
:30
a.m. on Saturday morning. The
pictures show her leaving
three hours later.”

“Have you questioned her?”
Andy’s
face held a frow
n.

Ernie nodded.
“Yep.
She’s been very cooperative.
Said something about l
ooking for a file
.
I figure
d you’d know more about that. I
f you
wanna
talk to her, you can.”

Matt
sat up
his seat. “
You mean
sh
e’s still here?”

Again, Ernie
bobbed his head
. “I gave her the chance to use the phone
, but she said there was
n’t anyone to call. She spent
the night in the cell. All she asked for was a Bible.”

A stony part of Matt’s broken heart melted
, and he lowered his gaze to the floor
.
The thought of her locked in a cell overnight affected him in a way he hadn’t expected.
Where was her
dad?
He glanced
at Andy, his insides twisted in knots.

His brother
shot
a look of encouragement
then turned to Ernie. “Can we see her now?”

The man
rose to his feet and pulled a set of
ke
ys
from
his desk
drawer
.
“
Yep
.”

Matt followed the other three
, his
thoughts
focus
ed
on
one thing and one thing only—to make sure Gracie was okay
.

Grac
e
rose to her feet
in the dingy gray cell
at the sound of approaching footsteps
and voices
, her fingers tightly clutching the Bible Ernie had provided.
She’d spent all last night preparing for this, prayi
ng God would help her through
, praying that Andy would understand.

The men
emerged from the darkened corridor, and h
er eyes immediately focused on Andy
and Ben
then shifted to Ma
tt
, his sandy brown eyes full of questions. She ducked her gaze and stepped back until she felt the small cot
on the back side of her legs
,
her knees threatening to
buckle
.
Why had Matt come
?
His presence would only make things more difficult
.

Th
e keys rattled against the steel
bars as Ernie unlocked the door.
Strong arms encircled her, a familiar cologne teasing her senses.
She’d know Matt’
s scent in a
pitch-black
cave, the same scent and same arms that had comforted her so many times. Tears welled in her eyes and slipped unbidden down her cheeks.
Hard as it was, sh
e forced herself to stand completely aloof, not daring to give him any encouragement.
He deserved better
.

When he pulled away a minute later, she kept her eyes
trained
on the floor, and simply raised
a finger
to her face to catch a stray tear.

“
It’s
okay, Gracie. Why don’t we talk?”
Andy
’s voice held kindness, and he stepped forward to pat
her
back.

She nodded
and
collapsed
to
the bed,
finally
garnering enough courage
to make
eye contact
with Andy
.
“I want you to know how
sorry I am, and though
i
t sounds contrary to belief,
I did it in an effort to find out the truth so I could protect you.”

“Protect me?”
He looked doubtful.
And really, really tired.

“L
ong story, but
it’s
also
why I took the prosecution job.”

Her former boss
scratched his face,
then
trudged across the cell and back again. “
I don’t follow.
How’
s the DA’s office involved in this?”

“I don’t exactly know. That’s what I’ve b
een trying to figure out. I’m pretty certain
Elena
’s up to something, but she’s good
at covering her tracks.
I think she’s
influencing the outcome of cases.
In fact, I think she intentionally threw the Simmons case.
”
The thought that had plagued her all night returned.
“
But
I have
absolutely
no
concrete
evidence
.”

Ben spoke from the back
of the
cell where he leaned against the black bars. “What makes you think she threw the case?”

“
She gave me
research on calling classmates of David Simmons on Thursday afternoon, which I completed
late Thursday night
. I gave it to her first thing Friday morning and she us
ed it Friday afternoon. She said she thought I’d disclose the
inform
ation to the defense so you’
d have time to prepare. I know it makes me sound incompetent, but it’s almost like she planned it to happen this way.”

Matt
shifted positions and crossed his arms across his chest, his eyebrows puckered.
“You’re not telling us everything
.
”

His
comment
would’ve
angered her
at one time, b
ut
not now
. Not after what she’d done. Instead she released a sigh and stared at the concrete floors.
“
I ca
n’t make
accusations without proof.”

“
Yet you broke
into my
office
.
”
Anger edged Andy’s tone.

Her eyes pleaded with him
.
“
Elena
said something about you being
investigated
for illegal and unethical activity
.”

“Me? And you believed her?”