Chapter 9 #2
Grady was back in the booth a few minutes later. Lucy had crayons and was coloring on a piece of paper that Dee must have provided. His coffee cup had been refilled too.
“What are you looking at?” Lauren asked as he opened the laptop. “Did you find anything useful last night?”
“I found a criminal record from two years ago on Archer Bloom for drug possession.” He shrugged. “Not sure that means he’s helping Nelson, but it’s possible.”
“Hard drugs?” Lauren asked with a frown.
“Yeah. Cocaine.” He eyed her over the top of the computer. “Did Nelson do drugs?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” She grimaced. “Although as it turned out, I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.”
He nodded, then turned back to the computer. “I didn’t find any criminal records on his other frat brothers, not even an underage drinking ticket from their college days.”
“I guess that’s sort of good.” She stared down at her coffee cup for a long moment. “I keep thinking of that woman, Karla. Nelson could be charming when he wanted to be. The more I think about these attempts, the more I lean toward believing she’s involved.”
“Hopefully, we’ll hear more from Agent Braun soon.
” If they didn’t, Grady had no doubt Lauren would follow through on her threat of contacting the governor and other political leaders of the state to get things moving.
“My next plan is to check their social media sites to see if that gives us any clues as to what these guys are up to.”
“I’m sure they’re not so stupid as to post something like that,” she scoffed.
“Not a blatant post,” he agreed. “But there could be group photos of these guys hanging out together.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Good point.”
He reached over to take her hand. “Lauren, we’re going to get to through this.”
“I know.” She squeezed his fingers. “Thank you, Grady.”
“Anytime.” This was the job she’d hired him to do. Yet he also knew that he was allowing Lauren and Lucy to get too close on a personal level.
He’d never forgive himself if he failed to protect them.
* * *
Lauren clung to Grady’s hand for a long moment. When Dee arrived with their meals, she had little choice but to release him. Flustered, she looked away, fearing her growing feelings for Grady were clearly etched on her features.
This was a temporary arrangement. Despite her request to pretend they were engaged, she knew her world and Grady’s would never mesh. Yet the more time she spent with him, the more she couldn’t help comparing him to her worthless ex-husband.
Any man would be better than Nelson. But she had no interest in dating any of the men in her social circle. Even those who had plenty of money of their own left her cold.
“Looks yummy.” Lucy lowered her head to swipe a dollop of whipped cream.
“Hold on, Lucy. We need to say grace.” She glanced over to where Grady was watching her daughter’s antics with amusement. “Grady?”
He nodded and bowed his head. “Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless this food we are about to eat. We ask again that You please protect us from those who would do us harm. In Jesus’s name. Amen.”
“Amen,” she and Lucy echoed.
“I don’t understand why we pray,” Lucy said, then she licked another dollop of whipped cream. “We’re paying for the food, right?”
“Right.” She glanced helplessly at Grady. “We’re very fortunate to have money to pay for our meal. Not everyone does.”
Lucy scrunched up her forehead. “So if they pray, God gives them food?”
“I think the point is that we need to thank God for what we have.” She wasn’t an expert on faith. Jesus had fed the poor and hungry, but mentioning that may confuse the issue.
“Your mom is right; we are blessed to have money to pay for our meal. And we need to thank our Lord for keeping us safe.” Grady smiled at Lucy. “Look at how long we’ve been able to stay away from the bad guys. That’s partially because our Lord and Savior is always listening to our prayers.”
“But I don’t see God. Do you?” Lucy asked.
“No, but I can feel Him in my heart.” Grady put his hand on his chest. “If you pray, you’ll feel Him too.”
Lucy didn’t look convinced but dropped the subject to dig in to her waffles. Lauren tried not to sigh as her daughter ate the whipped cream first, before trying the waffle itself. Grady’s farmer’s omelet was huge; she was glad she hadn’t ordered something similar.
Her eggs were good, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Dee came and refilled their coffee mugs. When Grady finished eating, he reached over and opened the laptop, clearly intending to go back to work.
“What time do you want to head into Madison?” She glanced over to where Lucy was still eating her waffles. Coloring aside, she knew her daughter would get bored if he really intended to sit there for a while.
“I’m checking the rental agency’s hours of operation now.” His gaze remained focused on the screen. With his thick dark tousled hair and the shadow of his beard darkening his jaw, he looked incredibly attractive.
Completely different from the men she normally associated with.
And maybe that was the reason she was so drawn to him.
He was different, in a good way, from the men she knew.
Then she frowned, abruptly realizing that if her daughter hadn’t been targeted by a kidnapper who’d taken the wrong girl, she never would have met him.
Divine intervention? No, that didn’t seem right. She was the one who’d gone to Grayson’s Guardians to hire him based on her father’s recommendation. She was reading too much into the past thirty-six hours they’d been together.
Time to focus on the present. They’d managed to escape the kidnapping threat thus far, but they still needed the police and FBI to do their part to find the men or women responsible. And if they didn’t get cracking soon, she’d climb up the chain of command to add pressure.
“Okay, looks like we need to stay here a few minutes longer,” Grady said. “The rental agency opens at seven thirty.”
That was only a half hour from now. She stacked her empty plate with Lucy’s and set them aside. “Sounds good. Lucy, why don’t you finish coloring your picture?”
“Okay.” Her daughter pulled the coloring supplies over to pick up where she’d left off. Grady worked the laptop computer, which left Lauren with nothing to do.
She sipped her coffee, staring out at the dining room that was slowly filling up with patrons.
Would they make it back to Chicago in time for the Heart Ball for St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital?
As much as she wanted to support the charity that was deeply personal to her, she wouldn’t risk putting Lucy in harm’s way to attend.
No matter how much she’d been looking forward to seeing Grady in a tux.
Enough. She leaned over to watch Lucy. Her daughter was intently coloring the entire paper placemat Dee had given them.
“Looks nice,” she praised.
Lucy smiled, then set her crayon aside and held the drawing up toward Grady. “Grady, do you like my picture?”
Grady shut the computer and nodded, giving Lucy all his attention. He took the drawing from her fingers and admired it. “It’s beautiful, Lucy. You did a nice job. I love all the different colors you used.”
“Thanks. I colored it for you.” Lucy held the drawing out for him. “It’s yours. I hope you can put it up on your refrigerator.”
“Wow, really? Thank you so much!” Grady gushed as if Lucy had given him something of value. “I love it. And of course I’ll put it up on my refrigerator.”
“I’m glad.” When Lucy blushed, Lauren realized her daughter was crushing on Grady, seeing him as a father figure she could look up to and admire. It was probably something Lauren should have anticipated but hadn’t. Hard to blame her daughter considering Lauren felt the same way.
They were quite the pair, mooning over a man they wouldn’t have met under normal circumstances.
The worst part was that she didn’t want Lucy’s heart to be broken when this nightmare was over and they never saw Grady again. Just imagining Grady pulling on his leather coat and walking out of their life forever made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest.
And this, she thought wryly, was why she shouldn’t even consider dating. She wasn’t the only one who would be impacted by her decisions. Lucy would be a part of it too. And the last thing she wanted was for Lucy to suffer any more than necessary.
Bad enough that Lauren was living with the impacts of her past mistakes. No need to pile on with more.
Enough. She really needed to get a grip on her unruly emotions. She abruptly slid out of the booth and stood. “Come on, Lucy, let’s go to the bathroom again before we leave.” Lauren gestured for her daughter to come along.
“Aw, Mom,” Lucy whined.
“Now, Lucy.” Her tone was firm. “We might be in the car for a long time.”
Lucy sighed, but then scooted out of the booth. Lauren urged her daughter toward the restroom, glancing briefly back over her shoulder to find Grady gazing down at Lucy’s drawing with an intense expression.
Almost as if nobody had ever given him a simple gift like that before.
Lucy made things for her at school all the time. Something she’d taken for granted. Now, seeing the impact through Grady’s eyes, she realized how precious these small tokens of appreciation really were.
When they returned to the table, Grady stood. “My turn. When I’m finished, I’ll pay the bill, and then we’ll head out.”
“Sounds good.” She grabbed Lucy’s coat from the bench seat. “Here, put this on.”
Ten minutes later, they were back outside.
Grady sat behind the wheel for a minute, rubbing his hands together as the car slowly warmed up.
This make and model didn’t have accessories like heated seats or a heated steering wheel.
Not that she was complaining. After all, they’d stolen the vehicle from someone who probably desperately needed it.
She still felt guilty about that. At least once they were able to get to the rental car agency, the stolen car should be recovered and returned to their rightful owner.
To that end, she opened the glove box and searched for the registration.
Finding nothing, she closed it. Surely, she’d be able to find the owner to properly reimburse him or her once this was over.
Grady glanced at Lucy, then at her. “Be prepared.” His voice was low and husky. “We may attract attention when we get near the city limits.”
She swallowed hard and nodded, understanding his concern that the stolen car might get flagged despite his efforts to alter the license plate.
A tampering, now that she thought about it, that was completely illegal.
Honestly, she was surprised they’d lasted this long without being caught and arrested.
Grady put the car in gear and slowly backed out of the parking lot. Driving around to the back, he left the restaurant, turning right toward Madison.
There was more traffic now, and she found herself craning her neck to see if there were cops nearby. Not that she could stop the officers from pulling them over if there were.
Turning to look behind them, she saw a dark car pulling out from a side street. She frowned. Were those tinted windows?
“Grady? Do you see this SUV?” The words barely left her mouth when the driver of the SUV put on a burst of speed and caught up to them.
“Get down, both of you!” Grady barked as the driver’s side window slowly lowered. She saw the metal barrel of a gun just as she ducked her head.
Grady wrenched the wheel, sending her sideways against the car door. She heard metal screeching against metal as the two cars collided. The sharp report of gunfire had her praying for safety and that Grady hadn’t been hurt.
Or worse.
“Mommy!” Lucy cried. “We crashed!”
“We’re going to be okay.” Grady’s voice was calmly reassuring. “I just need you and your mom to keep your heads down.”
Her daughter started to cry, which only made Lauren feel worse. Why was this happening? And how on earth did the gunmen find them?
Grady hit the gas, going as fast as possible, the car engine practically screaming in protest from the effort. She didn’t know much about cars, but this one didn’t have nearly as much power in the engine as her Porsche did.
Then another sharp crack of gunfire rang out. There was no sound of shattering glass, but that didn’t mean much. Lauren closed her eyes and prayed that God would grant Grady the strength and ability to keep them safe.