Amazing Grace (The American Soldier Collection 3)

She was silent a moment and Grace felt her heart sink. Would her mom hate her or be disappointed?

“I’ve heard of relationships like that before, Grace. Just be careful and be sure. You’re special and a man or men should love you entirely, not just for now.”

“I know, Mom. It’s all new to me, to them, too, but we’re taking it one step at a time.”

“I’m happy for you, Grace. Just be sure. So, how are you holding up, honey?” she asked her as Grace continued to talk to her mom for about fifteen minutes. Then John got on the phone along with Frank.

By the time Grace hung up the phone, she was in the happiest of moods.

She prayed to her sister Clara, thanking her for keeping the family together and helping her find Sandman, Big Jay, and Duke.

Grace came out of the office and found all three men standing by the table. They looked at her with big smiles on their faces.

She ran to them and jumped into Big Jay’s arms.

“I love you so much. Thank you. Thank you.” She hugged him tightly. Big Jay kissed her deeply and began to caress her ass as he squeezed her body closer to his.

“Hey, I want some of that ‘thank you’ loving, too,” Duke teased and Big Jay reluctantly passed her off to Duke, who held her close and kissed her deeply. When he released her lips he smiled at her.

“It was Sandman’s idea,” he whispered.

Grace looked over toward Sandman who stood with his arms crossed and smiling at her.

“I needed that, Sandman. How did you know how much that would mean to me today?” she asked him. He stepped closer and Duke passed her over to Sandman who held her tight in his arms. He stared down into her eyes and she held his gaze.

“I’ll do anything for you, Grace.”

She smiled before she kissed him then hugged him tight.

* * * *

Back at the Houston Police Department, Detective Federal Agent Lancaster and his team were going over some leads and kept coming up with the same name, connecting the person in minor ways to the Clara Thompson murder and two other women after that.

“Take a look at this, Justin. This guy was at every crime scene, he was one of the first to respond, he kept in contact with the family and friends. He’s been right next to them from the beginning and he knew that we were going to the Thompson place to question Grace,” he told his partner Justin and their team of agents.

“It can’t be anything, sir. He’s a cop, a Lieutenant. What would be his motive? Yeah, he has easy access but still he’s like family,” Sullivan added as Agent Lancaster stared at the papers.

One of the other agents spoke up.

“It could explain why he’s evaded capture for so long. The killer uses handcuffs, he knows everything about the family. Friedman would have access to all that.”

“You’re reaching, sir. I’m telling you he’s not the guy,” one of the others added.

“It won’t hurt to ask him a few questions. Donald is Tod’s father. Where is he anyway? He left over an hour ago,” Lancaster said as he looked through the office windows and toward Donald’s office.

Chapter 14

Grace was sitting at the dining room table looking over the files. Big Jay told her she didn’t have to look at them today if she didn’t want to but she felt it was the right thing to do. She wanted to catch this killer as bad as anyone and move on with her life. See her family again and be with Sandman and his brothers.

“What about the cases before Houston, the ones dating back nearly ten years ago? Were there any suspects at the time, anyone who seemed suspicious or hanging around?” she asked as Big Jay handed her a pile of files. Then Duke and he kept the rest.

“What are you thinking?” Duke asked her.

“Well, maybe those were his first time. Maybe he messed up somewhere and the detectives didn’t catch it at that time. They weren’t looking for something minor. We are.” She opened up the first file.

They were at it for a while until Duke got up to start making some cheeseburgers.

“Do you need help, Duke?” Grace asked and of course he told her no as he went about preparing dinner.