“Right. Thanks, Duke.”
“Later, sweetheart.” He winked and she shyly looked away as Duke left the room.
When she looked up, she locked gazes with a very serious-looking Sandman.
“I’m going to get in touch with Frank and see if we can set up a call for you with your mom.”
“Oh God, really? That would be
great. Thank you.”
She picked up the e-book reader and looked at the screen. She wasn’t sure what to do.
“He didn’t show you, did he?”
She looked at him and shook her head.
“Just hit this button to get online, then press add to cart, and when it states that you’re at checkout, enter the password. Then the book will be downloaded instantly,” Sandman said as he stood right beside her. She was shocked at the emotions she felt. She was just as attracted to Sandman as she was Duke and she was certain even Big Jay. What in the world is happening to me?
“I’ll check on you in a little bit, just call if you need anything.” He stared at her a moment before walking from the room.
Grace fell into the long lounge chair that overlooked the windows and outside setting. She stared down at the e-book reader and looked for a book to read. She was a romantic at heart but for some reason as she scanned through the synopses of the stories, she found herself submerged in an excerpt from an erotic romance novel. The ménage story interested her and before long she was hitting download and reading the amazingly sexy story.
She knew that ménage relationships existed. She knew a few models that were involved in that type of relationship and they were very happy. Grace never really saw herself in any kind of relationship. She felt she had too much baggage and too many fears to let herself go and to trust fully. She couldn’t even imagine herself having a boyfriend. A lover was one thing, but believing that a man could be trusted with her every intimate thought or sexual desire scared the crap out of her. Therefore, she couldn’t even imagine two or three or more men committed to her at once.
Why would a man want that anyway? Weren’t men always jealous lovers? Didn’t they want to keep their woman under wraps and solely committed to them? She had a lot of questions and concerns about it but as she read this particular love story, she couldn’t help but wonder if it really were possible to love and be loved by more than one man. She could never let her guard down like that. Feeling the pain of a broken heart would be too much to handle again. She was so connected to her sister, her father, her mother, and brothers, but in losing Clara, she lost part of herself, too. That fear, the depth of her sadness was too much. Soon after, Grace began to build up a wall around her heart. Sure she wasn’t a selfish, unfeeling bitch, but she kept her distance. She never fully gave all of herself to anyone and that was the only way she knew how to survive, how to wake up every day and continue to live without Clara in her life.
Chapter 8
Jim Warner was standing in Donald’s office as the investigators clarified information on the bombs.
“It turns out that the package was delivered by courier. They were given cash in an envelope with instructions on the box. They didn’t think anything of it, because similar envelopes and packages had been sent in this way before. They assumed it was from the same individual,” Jim stated.
“The same individual? So this could be the guy we’re looking for?” Donald asked.
“Not really sure if it is a male or female. No signature was required.”
“I still don’t get that, Jim. I mean, in most circumstances, the shipping companies, whether US Postal Service or a private delivery service, need to confirm the contents of the package and its sender,” Teddy Warner added.
“I know. I think we should personally speak to some of the tellers down there. This is a serious situation and right now, the government has agents looking into a domestic terrorist attack as precaution. There’s nothing specific that proves the same individual that did this is also the killer,” Jim said.
“Something else isn’t sitting right with me,” Donald said.
“What’s that?” Teddy asked.
“As I glanced at the return address label, I’m not certain, but it looked familiar.”
“You saw the return address?” Teddy asked.
“I saw a logo. I can’t be positive that it’s the same, but the thought has been bothering me for days.”
“Why is that?” Jim asked.
“Well, a few months back, I received an anonymous letter threatening my involvement in the affordable housing construction. I didn’t think much of it, because the board and other members received a bunch of negative responses from the public. You know, people who feared that their property values would go down and crime rate would go up, just because of the affordable housing. That’s why we got the approval for the land outside of town. The nearest properties are a couple of miles.”
“Did you ever investigate who the people who threatened you and the board were?” Jim asked.
“No. I didn’t really take it as threats and more of displeasure. Even with the new development being approved, we’ve gotten some unhappy responses,” Donald said.