“I’m good, Sarah. I was just worried about you. I wanted to see if you heard from Grace at all.” She was quiet a moment.
Then she whispered, “I’m not supposed to say anything. But yes, I did. She’s safe. It doesn’t mean I’m not worried though.”
“I know. That special investigator is really good. More thorough than any of us ever expected or considered being detectives in this small town. I’m sure he’ll keep her safe.”
“There’s others with them, too. He’s being very cautious.”
“Others?”
“That’s all I know. I’m sorry, Donald. I need to go. Eric just got here and he’s giving me that look. I know it was safe to tell you. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Later, Sarah.”
Donald hung up the phone and leaned back into the chair. That guy was never too far from her side. Eavesdropping on her phone calls. One thing was for sure, Eric hadn’t been hamming it up with the media as much as when Clara went missing. God, he remembered those days. That guy had the media everywhere. It was difficult to ditch them so he could get his personal business done. Donald ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t like being out of the loop. He wanted to be part of Sarah’s life. Her sons came to talk to him about their personal lives and about their professions, not Eric. Donald felt his blood pressure rising. There wasn’t a thing he could do about that. He had to lie low and observe from afar. After all, he loved Sarah.
* * * *
The following morning Grace awoke alone in bed. She was a little sad they hadn’t stayed in bed with her, but when she turned over and saw the time she was shocked.
Grace couldn’t remember the last time she slept until 10:00 a.m.
But she was so comfortable and felt so safe in their arms. She hadn’t even had a bad dream last night and she knew it was because of Sandman, Big Jay, and Duke.
She took a quick shower then headed downstairs. As she came around the corner to where the kitchen was, she saw Sandman and Big Jay standing around the large rectangular kitchen table.
Sandman was on his cell phone and Big Jay looked at her as if he was shocked to see her but recovered nicely.
“Good morning, Grace. Did you sleep well?” Big Jay asked her as Sandman spun around with the same surprised look that Big Jay had.
“
Yes, I did, thank you. Now why don’t you tell me what’s up?” she asked Big Jay who turned to look at Sandman.
Grace watched him and she could tell the news was bad as the little veins by Sandman’s temples pushed out. His teeth clenched and his shoulders tensed up as he looked at her. He gave a nod with his head indicating for Big Jay to take her out of the room. She shook her head. “What’s going on? What’s wrong? Tell me.” He continued to listen attentively to the caller and ignored her demands.
“Come with me into the living room, Grace. Let Sandman finish the call.”
She looked up at Big Jay. He caressed her arm and then her back with one hand then took her other hand and led her out of the room. She planted her feet. She wouldn’t leave the room.
“No, damn it. Something is wrong. I can tell by his face, his body language. Something happened. Tell me please?”
* * * *
“Her eyes were taped closed, she was raped and tortured. The medical examiner’s report isn’t back yet but her throat appeared to be cut open with some sort of thin, sharp weapon. We’ll know soon enough, Sandman, then I’ll call you back,” Jim told Sandman.
He couldn’t respond and Jim got the message.
“Grace is there now?”
“Yes.”
“Shit, she’s going to take this badly. This could send her over the edge.”
“I know. I’ll handle it,” he responded.
“Good luck and I’ll call back soon enough. This is terrible. We have to find this asshole and soon.”
“I know.”