The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (58 page)

Grac
i
e
was nowhere to be seen
.

Her feet heavy as lead, Gracie
trudg
ed
through
icy
semi-darkness
to Elena’s blood-red
door, but waite
d in the shadows
to allow
the
ache
in her heart
to recede before she face
d
Jason and Elena.
She’d lied to Matt again, but she had no choice.
As soon as
she’d seen Jason
’s car in the shadow of the
oak tree and allowed
Matt’s comment
about pathological disorders to
register, she
knew
what she
ha
d to do.

Sh
e
momentarily
zoned out, her
mind
on
Jason’s odd behavior the last time they’d been together, her brain immediately accessing infor
mation from
college psych
class. His possessiveness and on-off behavior—how could she have missed it? The answer came
in a split second. Because she
’d
turned him into a living, breathing illusion of what she wanted him to be
—an idol built not with her hands, but with her thoughts
.

She brought her
palms to her mouth
and released a heavy breath
, both a sigh and a way to warm her
frozen finger
s
. A
s much as it had hurt to get rid of Matt,
it had to be done
, especially with his head bandaged from whatever had happened to him. Neither Elena nor
Jason held a high opinion of Matt, and h
e would only be prey for them in what could poss
ibly be a volatile
situation.

After gathering her courage, s
he rang the doorbell
on the beautiful rock house
, a sudden insight washing
over her. No longer did the
earthly trappings of this
life enthrall her like they once had.
It was almost as if a veil had lifted
from her heart and her eyes. Now she could
see what was
truly
important. A fancy house, a great career with great pay, nice clothes, and a nice car could never replace peace of mind, some
thing
both Jason and
Elena obviously lacked
.

The door opened, and
Consuela appeared, h
er face
lined with anxiety
.
“Y
ou couldn’t have come at a better
time. Hurry, t
here’s no time to waste.”
S
he latched on
to
Gracie’s
hand and pulled her through the house
toward
Elena’s suite of rooms. “She just went
in
to
her office.”

In a blur of movement, one of the
wooden
double
door
s
swung open, and Grac
i
e found herself once more in the presence of
her enemy
.

H
air disheveled and unkempt, and her face stained with tea
rs, the woman sh
e once feared
now seemed shriveled and small as she raised her gaze to Grac
i
e’s face. An almost maniacal laugh sounded from her throat.
She
brought the shot glass she held in one hand down to the desktop with a bang. The amber-colored contents sloshed over the side and sent the unmistakable odor of hard liquor throughout the room.
“You!
Of all people
to see me like this it would be you.” The crazed cackle continued for a minute more, then turned to
sobs. “It’s all a stack of cards
.” She broke into fresh t
ears and lowered her head to the
intricately-carved
desk.

A compas
sion she didn’t expect
erupted in Grac
i
e’s chest
,
and she moved quickly to Elena’s s
ide and knelt. “It’s okay
. I want to help anyway I can. What can I do?”

Her former boss sobbed even harder.

Gracie eyed the woman and struggled to make sense of the situation. Yes, she was in serious trouble, but nothing that should cause this type of reaction. Her thoughts flitted to the night she found Millie dead. In retrospect, her
own
response had been over-the-top, but only because of her heightened fear.

Alarms rang in her head, and sent a slow shiver down her spine.
Was Elena
experiencing something similar
, or was her behavior based on one-too-many drinks
? As Graci
e considered the possibilities
,
Jason’
s dark fac
e filtered through her consciousness.
T
he torn-up fence, the mailbox ripped from its post. All this time, she’d suspected Elena, but it had never quite added up. How
could
someone as small as she
—someone so polished that she always looked like she’d just stepped out of the salon—be responsible for such destruction?
Now Jason’s
car was parked outside, almost invisible in the shadows.
Grace glanced around the room. Where was he?

Elena lifted her head, her eyes red and swolle
n
. “Why would you want to help me after what I’ve done to you?”

Why indeed? The woman had destroyed her life and left her dreams in a
pile of ashes.
“I don’t know how to answer that question. I just know that we all go through rough patches, some of our own making and most beyond our control. I want to help. Believe it or not, I care about you.”

The other woman searched her face as
though
not quite sure how to believe her.

Gracie rose to her feet
to remove her coat
, but stayed close.
“I read in the paper that you’re under investigation.
Is that why you’re
so
upset?
”

Elena nodded and star
ed off into
space
, her eyes un
blinking.

Should she ask if t
here were another reason for the
tears? Gracie took in Elena’s fragile emotional state and decided against bringing up Jason directly. Maybe a backdoor approach was best.
“Did you take a
bribe to affect the outcome of the Simmons
case?”

Again
she
nodded
.

Graci
e tossed her coat to a nearby chair.
“Why?”

“He would’
ve killed me
. He also threatened to have our daughter institutionalized if I didn’t cooperate.
”

The words chilled Gracie to the bone
. Was he capable of such
behavior? The answer flashed to
her brain in neon red. “Jason?”

“Yes. He’
s more powerful than anyone realizes. His grandfather is the head of the drug cartel in Columbia, and is responsible for buying off political positions in the state government to get drugs smugg
led into the country
.”

“Columbia? How did he get the British accent?”

“His father was a British diplomat. His mother is Columbian.”

Gracie searched the woman’s face, but found no evidence
to suggest
she was lying. The story Jason had
told her at his house by the lake had only been partially true, while Elena’s story explained so many things, like how she and Jason could afford to live so luxuriously. But there were still unanswered questions. “I asked your mother for information about Jason, but she told me she didn’t know him.
”

“His real name is Alessandro Delgado.”

Her brain revved to high speed. If what Elena said was true—and she had no reason to disbelieve it—then Jason was more dangerous than she could’ve ever imagined. And he was somewhere nearby. Of that she was certain. She knelt beside Elena, intentionally keeping her voice low. “Wher
e’
s Jessie?”

“Asleep in her room.
Why?”

“And how quickly can we get her and your mother and get out of here?”

Elena paled. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Her whispered words blasted the scent of alcohol.

Gracie nodded.
“His car was hidden behind the big oak tree next to your house when I got here.” If Matt hadn’
t shown up, she wouldn’t have
even seen it. How she wished she hadn’t been so quick to send him away.

A
closet
door
open
ed
and shut
behind them, snapping them both to a standing position
. Jason, his face an impenetrable mask,
approached slowly, and something glinted from his gloved hands.

A
gun.

24

M
a
tt steered onto the
side of the road
and killed the engine
, his heart in turmoil. He groaned and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Something just didn’t add up. He’d seen
with his own two eyes
how glad Gracie had been to see him
, had
glimpsed the loving concern in her eyes when she’d brought her fingertips to the bandage on the side of his head. Then, in
less than
a heartbeat, she
’d
told him
she and Jason were in a serious relationship and
it woul
d be best for him to leave.

Frozen rain
spattered against
the windshield
and stuck there
.
He forced the torturous
thoughts and pictures
of his last encounter with Gracie
through his brain. There had to be a way to unravel
all of
this. One minute he’
d actually hoped
he was getting through to h
er about Jason, and then . . .

He sat up in the seat,
his back ramrod straight
.
His car.
She’d seen Jason’s car and immediately sent him packing. Matt’s mind travelled
to the night he’d found her screaming on
the
doorstep. O
n
e minute she’d been practically catatonic
, but
after
he’d checked
outside, he
returned to a totally different Gra
cie. She’d sent him packing that night
, too.

Matt pounded a palm against the steering wheel, partly in excitement that she knew the truth about Jason
, but mostly in fear
she was in danger.
She
’d
intentionally lied both times, all for
the purpose of protecting him.

Gracie loved him.

H
is chest tightened and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end
in spite of the new revelation
.
She was in danger, and
n
ow it was time for him to
protect her
.
He reached for his cell phone. Ernie needed to know about
the si
tuation brewing at Elena
’s house
. He clicked the
button
to turn on his phone
, but the phone
diddly
-dinked and the screen went dark. No time to waste. He’d drive to the police station and tell
Ernie
what was going on
, then hurry back out to Elena’s house
.
But what if he got there too late?