Chapter 18
Grace woke to the sound of glass breaking. Chiefy barked and ran to the bedroom door. Finding it closed, she ran to Grace who reached out and petted her. ”It”s okay, girl.”
She hoped it was anyway. Breaking glass sounded again. Her heartbeat sped up and her throat dried. The bed moved as Sid stood and pulled on his underwear. He dug through a drawer in his dresser and pulled a pair of sweatpants from inside. He slipped those on. His voice was gravelly when he said, ”Stay in here.”
He quickly stepped from the room and closed the door behind him. Grace sat up, but listened, Chiefy ran to the door. A loud sound like something hitting something hard, then glass shattered again. Chiefy barked.
Grace hurried to pull on her panties and Sid”s t-shirt. She got brave and rummaged in the drawer she saw him pull his sweatpants from and found a pair of sweatpants for herself. She shimmied them on, then waited with Chiefy for Sid.
The door opened and he stepped inside. ”Nothing here is broken, but as I looked out the kitchen window, I heard another window break at your place. I heard them laughing. Then they heard Chiefy barking and began looking over here. You call the police, I”ll call Jace.”
Grace fumbled for her phone and dialed 911.
”911 what”s your emergency?”
”Hi, my name is Grace Murphy and I live at forty-two Sunset Beach Road. Someone just threw something through my windows.”
”Okay, I”m sending officers over there now. Are you safe?”
”Yes, I was staying across the street with a friend.” Her cheeks burned. She felt like a teenager sharing for the first time she”d slept with a man. But, good grief, she was fifty years old. And they were consenting adults. She simply didn”t share details like that with anyone. Not that she did just now either.
”Okay. Stay there, police are on their way.”
”Thank you.”
The call ended as Sid finished tying his shoes. He pulled his phone off the bedside table and dialed up Jace.
Sid put his call on speaker so she could hear it. Jace”s voice sounded wide awake. ”Hey, what”s up?”
”I think the bikers broke windows at Grace”s and heard Chiefy barking here. I”m afraid they”re focusing on this place now.”
”Come on over. I”m on Classified Drive. I think you”ve been cutting across my driveway to and from the Garage.”
”Are you shittin” me?”
Jace laughed. ”No. I don”t tell a lot of people where I live. Quinn only knows because he”s the only one I trust to do work for me. So, there”s that.”
”How do you know I”ve been cutting across?”
Jace chuckled. ”I have security cameras.”
”Shit. Well, I”m sorry if I shouldn”t have been crossing there.”
”Bud, if I cared, I”d have said something. Come on over.”
”We”ll be there after the police leave.”
”I”ll be ready.”
Sirens began breaking the silence of the area and Chiefy started barking again.
He tapped the end-call icon and looked at Grace. He grinned when he saw her in his sweatpants. ”Glad you found something to wear.”
”Thank goodness you had something with a drawstring.” She held up his t-shirt to show him how much of the string hung down.
”Okay. We”ll get in my truck and drive over. I don”t know what those assholes are willing to do and I don”t want to take chances. We”ll head to Jace”s after the police leave. We”ll figure out tomorrow - tomorrow.”
”Okay.” She scrapped her hands through her hair and took a deep breath. Never in a million years would she have thought she”d be in a situation like this. ”Can I grab some things from my place too?”
”Of course. I”ll help you gather up some things for Chiefy while you pack your things.”
He opened the bedroom door and Chiefy ran out, still barking. As Grace started through the door he dropped his arm to stop her. Turning her head to look at him, he grinned. ”I need a kiss first.”
She chuckled, then rose up on her toes and kissed his lips. Not a hardship at all and she liked that he”d taken the time to ask for a kiss when they needed to meet the police.
She stepped into the hallway then stopped short. Would this cause him to have an attack? She”d watch carefully, and Chiefy would be with them too, so she”d certainly take care of Sid.
Sid bumped into her from behind. ”What”s up, Grace?”
She shook her head quickly. ”Nothing. A thought ran through my head, and it caused me to stop. It”s all good.”
Sid”s strong hands on her shoulders turned her around. They stood toe to toe. She tipped her head back to look up at him.
His voice was calm. ”I”m okay. I know you”ve seen me have a PTSD attack, and one close call, but I”m fine.”
She swallowed. ”Do you feel them coming on?”
”Sometimes. Not the day of the fireworks though. Those caught me off-guard. That”s why it happened.”
”Okay.”
She took a deep breath, kissed him quickly as sirens drew closer, then turned and found her shoes in the living room. She tied them as Sid put Chiefy”s leash on her collar.
He nodded to her, ”Ready?”
”Yeah.”
He opened the door and Chiefy ran out first. Grace chuckled as Sid was taken off-guard at her strength. Chiefy stopped to pee and Sid unlocked his truck with the key fob.
Her fingers shook slightly as she climbed into Sid”s truck. Soon, he opened the back door and Chiefy jumped inside and gave Grace”s cheek a big sloppy lick. Chiefy loved car rides.
Sid jumped in and started his truck. He backed out of the driveway and swung the truck toward Grace”s. They were basically across the street from each other, but he was right, she felt better in the truck rather than standing outside and being vulnerable to those bikers.
The police cars had already parked in her driveway, and she got out of the truck and waited for the officers, who had flashlights and were walking around her place, to approach her.
”Ma”am, is this your house?”
”Yes. I”m Grace Murphy. I called 911.”
”My name is Officer Isak Voss.”
”Hello, Officer Voss.”
”It does appear there are two windows broken. Do you have any idea who did this?”
”Yes. I”m reasonably sure it was that biker gang who”ve been hanging around town the past week or so.”
”Why do you feel it”s them?”
”Because they”ve been sitting here on the road, watching my place, which is why I stayed with my friend.”
Sid approached from the driver”s side of the truck. She smiled at him, though it was dark and he likely couldn”t see her. ”This is my friend, Sid Hoffman. Sid, this is Officer Voss.”
”Mr. Hoffman, I”ll ask you some questions in a moment.”
Sid nodded but stood by.
Another officer approached them. Officer Voss turned briefly, then introduced them. ”Officer Erin Moody, this is Grace Murphy, owner of the home and Sid Hoffman, her friend.”
Officer Moody nodded. ”I found bricks laying inside on the floor in the glass. Do you mind opening the door and letting us inside?”
”No.” Her fingers shook as she pulled her keys from her little shoulder bag. Never in her life, that she could remember, and she”d have remembered this, did she have to let police officers in her home.
Sid stepped closer and held his hand out. ”I can do it, Grace.”
Tears sprang to her eyes instantly. She sniffed, but nodded and handed Sid her keys. Then she took in a deep cleansing breath. She”d done nothing wrong.
Officer Voss moved with Sid to the house and Officer Moody stayed with her. Her voice was soft, but confident when she asked, ”Have you had issues with this biker gang before today?”
She swallowed, ”Only since two days ago. They bothered Sid...” She pointed to the house. ”At the Garage two days ago. I stopped in right after, and they had a biker sitting on his bike, watching the Garage and saw me and Sid chatting. One of them followed me home. He sat outside on his motorcycle all day. I”m remodeling. Anyway, they watched my house all day.”
”Why do you think they did that?”
”They want Sid to be their main mechanic. He said no. They”re trying to scare us. Him. Scare him into saying yes. He doesn”t want to work with them. Last night we went to the Sandbar to eat dinner and they were there. They started trouble and Jace...he”s the owner...called the police and the bikers were asked to leave. It made them mad. They drove back and forth up and down the street for a while until the police...you guys...girls...officers made them stop.”
Grace swallowed. ”I”m sorry. I”m nervous.”
Officer Moody chuckled slightly. ”There”s nothing for you to be nervous about.”
Grace shrugged, ”Except the bikers are beginning to escalate their actions.”
”Right. Except that.”
Grace turned to the officer. She was pretty. Her hair was pulled back, but her skin was clear and her eyes were a pretty light blue. She looked to be a little bit younger than Grace. Though Grace was terrible at guessing ages.
”Isn”t there anything we can do to protect ourselves against these guys?”
Officer Moody turned to face her. Her lips turned down into a frown. ”I”m afraid there isn”t much we can do to help you. If you feel threatened and they are watching your place, we can ask them to move on. But until they do something, like this, we have to operate under the law and that is they haven”t done anything until they have.”
”But they”ve been a nuisance in town for a while now.”
”Yes. But they”re smart and they know how far they can push things to not get in too much trouble.”