Grace Read online

  Ron stepped away from Grace and sat halfway on the desk.

  "Where the hell did you hear that?"

  As much as Grace hated gossip, it did come in handy to know what went on in both the professional and personal lives of other people.

  "I've got my sources. She's a nice young woman. She'd be good for you."

  "What do you mean ‘good for me?’”

  "She'd set you in your place."

  "Set me in my place? Bullshit, honey. There is no woman who could have complete control over me like that. Except for you, maybe,” he teased as he winked, then took a strand of Grace's long, chestnut brown hair between his fingers.

  He gave her the once-over, licking his lips.

  "I don't know how you haven't gotten swooped up by some great guy yet, Grace. You're the whole package from top ... to bottom,” Ron once again eyed her well-endowed figure as if she were a meal and he were starving

  Grace rolled her eyes, then got up from the chair as she gathered the folder and her things. She wore a long, slim-fitting, brown skirt and a black, low-cut blouse. The thigh-high slit on the side of the skirt she wore revealed her high-heeled brown leather boots. Ron apparently absorbed it all.

  She had court this morning and a lunch date that didn't go so well. Grace found it rather amusing once she settled down. The fact she nearly knocked the ‘eye candy’ of an accountant on his ass was a lesson well learned.

  Men were dogs and she just didn't need the hassle—obviously had been out of the game too long. Whatever happened to a nice dinner, a few other dates, then maybe some making out time? Get to know one another first before jumping into bed. Then there wouldn't be such discomfort if things didn't work out. When she agreed to lunch, he had it in his head Grace meant a quickie at the local motel around the corner.

  Grace shook her head.

  Ron crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Don't give me that look, Grace. I'll get ya to come around."

  This time, Grace gave him the once-over then smirked, hoping the look would do some damage to his ego.

  She had a lot of respect for cops in general and had made plenty of friends on the force even though Uncle Nicholas was now a captain.

  "I've got work to do, Ron, I'll catch ya later."

  "At Billy's?"

  "Doubt it.” She walked out the door. There was no way she was hanging out at Billy's Pub tonight.

  * * * *

  Captain Nicholas O'Connor sat at his desk smiling.

  "What brings you uptown, Max? I haven't seen you in years."

  "Ahh, what else would bring me into the world of the rich and easy life?” Max replied sarcastically, then embraced the captain.

  "Sit down, Max. Tell me what you've been up to.” Captain O'Connor leaned against the front of his desk and smiled.

  He hadn't seen Max Mathews in a good five years when they had crossed paths during a murder investigation. It was a gruesome one that brought together numerous departments, both uptown and downtown in the city.

  "I've been keeping busy, same shit, different day. You know how it is. Anyway, I'm working on a case that involves four missing women. There may be a connection between them all and now that the latest has gone missing in your district, I'll need some assistance from your people."

  "Whatever you need, Max. Tell me about the case."

  Max appraised Nicholas about the missing women and possible connection. Nicholas listened as Max told him where they currently were in the case and about the latest information.

  "I know Conway and Thatcher are working the first homicide that I think may be connected to mine. I've been keeping an ear out for any similar homicides with the same MO or even close.” Max ran a hand through his hair.

  Nicholas noted that Max still looked the same and hadn't aged too much in the past few years since they had last seen one another. Max was tall, a little over six feet, and if Nicholas’ memory served him right, Max was an incredible martial arts expert. Max always had a rough, tough personality and told it the way it was.

  Which unfortunately got on a lot of people's nerves, but Max didn't give a shit.

  Max had an excellent reputation when it came to investigating homicides and that's what really mattered.

  Remembering having that same attitude around his early thirties, Nicholas smiled. Now he was closer to retirement age.

  "I'll keep an ear out, as well. Do you have any suspects?” Nicholas asked.

  "As of right now, no suspects. No leads whatsoever and thus far, none of the missing women seem to know one another.

  "They're all brown-haired, short to medium height, with athletic builds, professional or college-aged, and disappeared out of thin air like they decided to leave their perfect lives behind them."

  "Sounds like a tough one. How many detectives do you need?"

  "How many can you spare?"

  "I've got a bunch of detectives working the Parkinson murder, but I can spare a couple for you and get you whatever you need. Lewis and Martin are working the case you feel is connected to yours. I'll let them know what's going on. They're good detectives. You'll have the department's full cooperation."

  Max stood up and shook Nicholas’ hand.

  "I appreciate it, Nick, and it was good seeing you again."

  "Good seeing you, too. Let me know if you need anything else."

  "Thanks,” Max said then left the office.

  * * * *

  As Max exited the department, he noted the nice cubicles, gourmet coffee center, and fresh donuts and pastries in the break room.

  In his department, he was lucky if there was any coffee around that wasn't stale and days old, and as far as snacks, he was on his own. It was overcrowded, dirty, and far from the country club he presently stood in.

  Max shook his head, smiling. As much as he hated the shit hole he had to work out of, he also loved it and the people he worked with.

  There was no room for niceties and being delicate. Downtown cops were right in the middle of the shit. They handled things head on, kicked ass and took names later instead of worrying about proper protocol or messing up the brass’ schedule.

  This current case he worked on would bring the two very different types of cops together, working side by side. It might go smoothly or it could cause more chaos than there already was. Either way, he was determined to get to the bottom of this case and fast.

  He walked out of the precinct and to his unmarked Crown Victoria, finding it humorous once again that there were empty spots dedicated to visitors. At his precinct downtown, only the brass had dedicated spots and if one made the mistake of parking there, his/her ass was guaranteed to get chewed. The yellow lines that separated each parking space were practically invisible and no one paid attention to them, anyway. There was an unwritten rule of parking as close as you could to the next vehicle, so that they could fit as many in the small lot as possible.

  This place was the lap of luxury.

  He got into his car and immediately saw the file sitting on the front seat. It contained some information on the missing victims and Max's own notes based upon his instincts. There were certain individuals who committed numerous types of crimes. It was way too early to come up with any kind of profile of what type of suspect he should be looking for.

  The circumstances and appearance of each victim's apartment just didn't make sense to him. The similarities of their physical appearance, professional status and education were the only links to each victim. He wasn't even certain whether this were a sex-related homicide. He still felt a need to search VICAP for any other similar unsolved cases.

  Max ran his hand through his hair as he drove back downtown through the commuter traffic. It was a nightmare out there, and he found himself thinking about his warm, comfortable bed and a good night's sleep. That just wouldn't happen any time soon. He pushed away the thoughts and turned up the radio, thankful for the twenty minutes of downtime.

  * * * *

  "H
ey, Grace, don't you answer your cell phone? What the hell is the use of having that thing if you don't answer it?” Barry reprimanded as Grace entered the office.

  She smiled, then shrugged her shoulders. “Oops!"

  "I wanted you to stop by Captain Morris’ office and pick up some papers for me. You were already downtown. It would have saved me a trip,” he scolded while following her to a small cubicle.

  Grace gave a wave and a smile to her boss, Commander Don Nikko, as she passed his office door. Don was on the phone and he looked kind of serious.

  Grace waved at a few fellow detectives and her partner, Felix Lewis. He was translating for another officer who tried to get a statement from a civilian. Later, Felix would definitely be pissed because the department was always using him as a translator. Right now, he had more important things to do, like solve homicides.

  Grace walked across the room and opened the office blinds. The sun shone in and Grace embraced it a second.

  New York was a bit of a change from Las Vegas. She did, however, prefer working in Vegas Metro, but it had been time for her to come home, to face her demons and plant some roots. She had been back eight months now, which had gone by rather quickly, and she was grateful her uncle pushed the paperwork through for the lateral transfer. Of course, she'd wanted to be working out of downtown, but he wouldn't hear of it.

  Uncle Nicholas wanted her close by where he could keep an eye on her and keep her in line. He wasn't too happy to hear about her crazy stunts, high-speed chases, risky undercover work, and other not-so-protocol performances as a cop.

  Who was he kidding? She knew he was so damn proud of her because he laughed at the stories her superiors and fellow detectives told him.

  Grace smiled. It wasn't so bad having fresh coffee and snacks on hand, especially while investigating a homicide and barely getting in two meals a day.

  She was happy being a homicide investigator, even though Aunt Delores and Uncle Ted didn't want her to pursue the law enforcement avenue. She tried it their way, but she just wasn't happy. She went as far as taking the bar exam and passing with flying colors. They nearly fainted when she decided to ditch the law degree and move to another state. She needed to.

  No one in her family even knew she took the Las Vegas Metro police exam, passed, and went to the academy. She would have held off telling them even longer, but she was so excited about the whole thing, and then Uncle Nicholas, Leeann, and May showed up at her graduation. She would never forget that day.

  Nicholas wanted her to come back to New York then, but she refused. She wanted to make it on her own and she did just that. It was hard to leave her friends and fellow detectives behind, but it was time to go home.

  Grace had been a detective for six years now.

  "You know how hard I've been working on the Filonie case? I finally caught that scumbag cheating on his wife red-handed with the bimbo who stabbed his wife. The pictures are awesome. Anyway, thanks for hooking me up with Detective Jones. He's a character.” Barry sat down in the office chair across from Grace while she flipped through her mail.

  She hadn't looked twice at the large yellow envelope. She knew what the return address was.

  Grace rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Jones is a character, all right. I'm glad he was able to help."

  "By the way, he's got the hots for you. Kept asking me personal information about you, like what's your favorite flower? Do you date a lot?” Barry leaned in closer to her. “What size bra do I think you wear?"

  Grace looked up in shock. “He didn't!” then she shook her head. Why was she so surprised? Everyone who knew Detective Jones was aware of his reputation as a womanizer.

  "What did you tell him, Barry?"

  Barry smiled and tilted his head to the side, staring right at her chest.

  "I said I had no idea what bra size you wear, but if I were him I would watch those kinds of comments around you since you're a black belt. He seemed to like that little fact even more. Anyway, how did the questioning go?"

  "It went nowhere. I was stuck with Ron for thirty minutes trying to avoid knocking him on his ass."

  Barry laughed. “I didn't know he was working the case?"

  "He's not! Some other jerk, Max Mathews is and he's unwilling to discuss the case right now. Too busy or some crap like that. It doesn't matter, anyway. Felix and I like to work alone."

  "Oh, no, that sounds right up your ally, Grace. Why don't you call Uncle Nick? I bet he could straighten things out."

  "No worries."

  "Well, be careful, Grace. You know how the downtown cops are."

  "Don't remind me, Barry. I made the mistake of dating one once. Huge mistake."

  Barry laughed, then headed toward the door.

  "Speaking of Jimmy, I saw him this morning at the department. He asked about you. But then again, so did Larry Sullivan. Man, Grace, when you think about it, you could have your choice of men."

  "She can't! We need her right here,” Don Nikko interrupted as he entered the office.

  Barry smiled.

  "Still, boss, it's kind of cool working with a celebrity. Our own little Vegas showgirl."

  "Celebrity? Cool it, Barry.” She gave Barry a dirty look.

  There was no room in her life for sexist, overbearing, and macho males.

  That was Jimmy's fault. He tried to control her and they had only dated for a month.

  "I thought I heard you say something about Max Mathews,” Don said as Barry excused himself and headed back to his desk.

  "Yes, I did. Do you know him?” Grace hoped her boss did.

  "Oh, yeah, I know him, all right. He's a real hard-ass. As tough as they come and a real no bullshit kind of guy. He's practically a legend."

  "A legend, huh?” Grace asked sarcastically.

  Then she took a seat at her desk and listened to her boss.

  "Phillips and Dickins were working a missing persons case two years ago when the police found a body downtown near one of the piers. Mathews was lead detective on the case and he figured out who the killer was.

  "Phillips and Dickins worked a little bit with him because the body they found belonged to the missing girl they were searching for.

  "It turned out to be the girl's father. It was sick, really bad.

  "The father almost got away with it, but Mathews didn't give in so easily. Gut instincts, I guess."

  "Great. I suppose this ‘super cop’ has a huge ego, as well? Ron told me Mathews was too busy to discuss the case he's working on with me."

  "I haven't seen him in a while, but the guy is not easy to get along with. He likes to work alone. However, he's a great detective, been trained by the best. That retired commander of Bronx Homicide, Geberth.

  "I wouldn't trust Ron. I hate to say it, Grace, but the guy could have lied just to make a move on you."

  "I don't know about that. I've made it perfectly clear that I'm not interested. Felix and I will continue to investigate this homicide."

  "Hey, don't you have your sister's party tonight?” The commander looked at the clock on the wall.

  "Oh, shit! I totally forgot."

  "I figured you would. Why do you even have a cell phone and a desk calendar if you don't bother to use them?"

  "I keep forgetting and then when I do remember, I forget to charge it. I promise to make it one of my New Year resolutions."

  "Don't you just love it? It's not even Halloween yet."

  Don smiled, then left the room. Grace picked up a picture of herself, Nicholas, his wife, Leeann, and their daughter May. She was about sixteen and May was seven. Boy, did Grace love being a big sister to May.

  Both Nicholas and Leeann treated Grace like their own daughter and they had raised her since she was nine years old. She sighed, trying not to mix the happy thoughts with the sad ones.

  All of that was behind her. She had needed those eight years to pull herself together, be independent and rid herself of anxiety and fearfulness. She was a freaking mess most of her childhood, then
shy and reserved through high school and college. She needed to break free. Grace needed to leave the life she had and start over. It was the only way to get control of her life, her emotions and the fear. There was no better cure than looking fear in the face, learning to never back down and finally feeling complete.

  The police academy provided that for her and gave her the training and the skill she needed to be successful at her vocation. She was glad she hadn't wasted any more time on the whole law degree and career. That surely would have been disastrous. Despite all the studying, hours of hard work and the year as a lawyer, she just knew in her heart she would never be happy in that career.

  Law enforcement called to her and the need to follow her heart led the way. It was a decision she made on her own and taking the test without her uncle's knowledge added to her determination to succeed.

  Grace sighed, remembering feeling guilty and just waiting for Nicholas and Leanne to tell her she was making a mistake and that her decision stemmed from the loss of her father and mother. Grace questioned the motives in her decision, but eventually fate stepped in. They had no idea what she had gone through trying to commit and make the decision. When that letter came with the results of her tests and her acceptance into the academy, she was thrilled. Most importantly, she knew right then being a cop like her dad was her destiny.

  Coming back home and facing the events of her past was a struggle in itself. Especially this time of year when the season changed from summer to fall and winter memories threatened to weaken her strong spirit and state of mind.

  She turned to look out the office window, annoyed at herself for trying to pretend the bad memories of her childhood were fading.

  The trees had lost most of their leaves. The temperature dropped now. A sure sign the fall was coming to an end along with the warm sweaters soon to be replaced by winter coats.

  She had just taken hers out of storage over the weekend in preparation for the frigid temperatures. The kids were surely going to be wearing layers under their Halloween costumes tomorrow.