Camden scraped the last bit of pie off his plate and took the final bite. He hummed with satisfaction. “Delicious.”
Grace sat beside him and nodded. “Good idea to stop. I didn’t know that I needed a break, but I did.” She pushed her plate back with a finger.
A clock above the kitchen doors read 2:37 a.m. Without a doubt, this had been one of the longest workdays in recent memory. Camden was comfortably full and ready for several uninterrupted hours of sleep. Yet, he didn’t want the night to end.
“Can I get you folks anything else?” Mike asked. “A top-up on your coffee?”
“I’m good,” said Grace, placing her hand over the cup. “It’s late. I better get going.”
“We’ll just take the check,” said Camden.
“Two checks.” Grace held up two fingers.
“I’ll make it easy on you both. You each owe five dollars,” said Mike. “And you can figure it out on your own. I never interfere in anyone’s love life.”
Grace’s cheeks reddened. “Oh, we’re not a couple.”
“Yeah, right.” Mike drew out his words.
The last thing Camden wanted was to let things get uncomfortable for Grace. Despite the fact that he’d had a better time with Grace than on his last three dates combined, they weren’t involved. What’s more—they never would be in a relationship.
Pulling his wallet from his back pocket, Camden found a twenty-dollar bill. He threw it on the counter. To Mike he said, “Thanks for the pie and coffee.” He stood. “C’mon. You’re right, Grace. It’s late. Let’s go.”
Grace stood and picked up the duffel she’d stowed on the floor. “You don’t have to pay for me,” she said. “I’m completely capable. I have a job...” She blanched. He could only guess what she was thinking—at least, she used to have a job.
Camden didn’t want anything to get weird. “I was the one who invited you. I can cover the tab for coffee and pie.” He walked to the door and held it open as she passed. The street was silent. The heat from the day had finally broken, yet the air was heavy with humidity. “It feels like rain,” he said.
“Maybe the storm will chase away the protesters tomorrow.” She started walking down the sidewalk. “I believe that everyone should exercise their First Amendment rights. Still, it’s a little different when a group is calling for me to be fired.”
Camden jogged to her side. He wanted to offer her some kind of comfort, to tell her everything would be okay. But would it? Besides, he worked for Internal Affairs. In stopping at Mae’s Diner, he’d come dangerously close to crossing a professional line.
They walked the next few blocks in silence. Grace stopped in front of a brick apartment building. Narrow with four stories, it was much like all the other buildings on the block. A set of steps led to a security door. “This is my place.” While retrieving a set of keys from her black duffel bag, Grace climbed the short flight of stairs.
“You’re okay to get into your place yourself?”
Sliding a key into a security-door lock, she said, “I’ll be fine. See you in the morning.”
And now what? Did he follow her up the steps? Shake her hand? Hug her? God help him, in a flash he imagined Grace’s lips on his own. “Well,” he said stepping backward, “I have to get my car from the police department.” A rumble of thunder sounded, and a far-off flash of lighting glowed at the horizon.
Grace turned her gaze to the sky. “I think that’s the storm you predicted.”
Without a backward glance, Grace slid into the foyer. He only caught a glimpse of the cramped space—just a tiled area, with a bank of mailboxes set into the wall. The door closed, the lock engaging with a click.
Remaining on the sidewalk, Camden watched the building. A moment later, a window glowed as a light inside a room was illuminated. It was Grace’s apartment—second floor, unit on the left.
A breeze blew, sending leaves skittering down the street. There was the hint of a chill in the wind. Had he been right? Was a storm coming?
Camden turned toward the police station. As he walked, he tried to think of everything he knew about Grace and her case. Yet, his mind continued to wander to another time and another cop who hadn’t been given the benefit of a fair investigation.
At the diner, he’d been tempted to share what had happened to his father. He never spoke about his pop anymore. So why now? Why with her?
It’s not that Camden lived like a monk. He dated but nobody had created a spark of excitement for a long time. Grace had definitely awakened feelings that he dared not examine too closely.
Lights over the parking lot of GGPD’s headquarters still blazed bright. Fewer cars filled spaces now than before. The protesters at the front of the building were gone. The only sound was the slapping of Camden’s shoes on the pavement. He crossed the lot to his car. Using a fob, he unlocked the door. As he slid behind the passenger seat, the first raindrop fell. The storm had finally come.
As Grace woke the next morning, she felt her head throb. Her tongue was thick, and her mouth was dry. Was she hungover? What had she done the night before? The alarm on her phone continued to blare the opening chords of a pop song. With a groan, she rolled over and silenced her phone.
Then it hit like a wave crashing on the shore. Everything from last night came back in an instant. The break-in. The chase. The shooting. And, worst of all, the missing gun and damaged body camera. A cramp gripped Grace’s middle. With a moan, she curled into a ball.
Breathe, she told herself. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Just like the yoga teacher had instructed when she, Annalise, Desiree, and her mom had taken that class in the spring.
The controlled breathing, along with the happy memory, settled her stomach. Flopping to her back, Grace stared at the ceiling. Her curtains were pulled tight. Outside, rain tapped against her window.
In a flash, she recalled standing next to Camden Kingsley on the sidewalk. He had held out his hand and looked to the sky. “Feels like rain,” he’d said.
She guessed that he’d been right.
Honestly, she didn’t know what to make of Camden. They both knew he had to investigate her—never mind that he spoke only of finding the truth. It was the truth about her that he hoped to find. Yet, he’d been kind. Concerned. Almost caring.
He wasn’t at all what she’d expected. And it had nothing to do with the fact that he was good-looking. He was distractingly handsome, in fact.
Was Camden really as good a guy as he seemed?
Or was it all an act—like Melissa warned it might have been? Was he trying to get Grace to share incriminating evidence?
There were other worries, as well. Had she really shot someone? Her palm ached with the recoil from her gun and her chest tightened. There was a part of Grace that hoped it was all a bad dream. She knew it wasn’t. Being the cop who shot a civilian was now a part of her new reality.
Sitting up, she stretched her arms above her head. There was no sense in lying in bed all day. She had to get up and face whatever came next.
As she set her feet on the floor, her phone began to ring.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, she swiped the call open. “Morning, Mom.”
“Baby, how are you? I saw what happened on the news and wanted to call you last night. Your father said to wait. He said that you’d call us when you wanted to talk. But I haven’t slept.”
Grace’s stomach cramped again, this time with guilt, not anxiety. She knew her parents—especially her mother—would be upset. She should’ve reached out before now. “Sorry for not calling earlier. I didn’t get home until after two o’clock this morning. Then it was too late.”
“You can call me anytime, you know that.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Tell me everything,” said her mother. “What happened?”
Grace had only given herself forty-five minutes to get ready. “I have a meeting with the guy from IA in less than an hour. I wish I could talk more, Mom...”
“IA? Why do you have to talk to someone from Internal Affairs? Are they saying that you’re in the wrong?”
Rising from the bed, Grace walked down the short hallway to the kitchen. “Nobody is saying anything. Camden is trying to gather all the facts, which is what everyone wants.”
“Camden, is it? Well, he’s only after one thing—to make you guilty. Watch what you say to him, Grace. Don’t let him ingratiate himself with you. I saw a movie on TV last week. Wait, no. It was last month. Or the month before that.”
“Mom,” she interrupted, “I really can’t chat.”
“It doesn’t matter when I saw the movie. The point is that a police officer gets wrongly accused of stealing from the precinct. Then someone from Internal Affairs gets involved. It’s almost like what happened with Evangeline. You remember that, right?”
“I remember, Mom. But really...” she began, trying to get off the phone.
“Oh, yes. The movie,” her mother said. “After an investigation, the officer is found guilty. He’s fired. His wife leaves him. He develops a drinking problem.”
“I don’t have a drinking problem, Mom.” Grace set her phone on the counter and actuated the Speaker function. With both hands free, she scooped coffee grounds into a paper liner. “I’m running late, though.”
“Well, I’ll make this short. The guy knows something is wrong. So he launches his own investigation of the investigators. Guess what? It was the person from Internal Affairs who embezzled the money. The police officer had been set up from the beginning.”
“That sounds like an interesting movie, but it has nothing to do with me. Internal Affairs didn’t force Mr. Grimaldi to run when I told him to stop. Or to pull a gun on me in order to escape.” She filled the coffee maker’s reservoir with water and started a pot brewing. The nutty aroma filled her kitchen.
“I’m just saying,” said her mother, “I don’t think that people from Internal Affairs are to be trusted.”
Wasn’t that what Melissa had said already? And Desiree? “I appreciate your concern,” said Grace. “You always look out for me.”
“That’s because you’re my baby, even though you’re twenty-five.”
“I love you, Mom. But I really do have to go.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Tonight?” Grace echoed. What was happening tonight?
“Don’t tell me you forgot,” her mother began. “I know you got the invitation because I handed it to you myself.”
“Umm...” Invitation?
Her mom sighed. “Remember? Your dad and I are hosting an engagement party for Palmer and Soledad. Six o’clock at the restaurant.”
Grace’s father, Geoff, owned the Grave Gulch Grille. It was one of the nicest restaurants in town. Her mom, Leanne, worked as the hostess—which was perfect for her mother’s bubbly personality. More than that, it was a convenient place to celebrate all special occasions. That being said, she’d completely forgotten about the party for her brother and his fiancée.
“You wouldn’t believe the outfit I found for Lyra,” her mother gushed about Soledad’s adopted daughter. “All pink and frills. It has these little bloomers. She’ll be adorable.”
“That baby could wear anything and be adorable,” said Grace, smiling. Actually, the whole family was pretty darned cute.
It really did seem like everyone in the Colton clan was finding love. Of course, Grace knew she’d be the final one to settle down. As the baby of the family, she always was last.
It’s just...
Unbidden, Camden’s face came to mind.
“So, you’ll come to the party tonight?” her mother asked.
While pouring a cup of coffee, Grace opened her mouth, ready to remind her mother that she wouldn’t be able to attend. After all, she was supposed to work the night shift for the next month.
Then she remembered. Until further notice, Grace was on administrative leave. She wasn’t expected at work tonight, or any other night. Disappointment, like a boot heel to the gut, hit her hard.
“I’ll see what I can do about the party,” she said, breathless. “But I really do have to go, Mom.”
“Call me later.”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
Grace stirred a spoonful of sugar into her coffee. “I promise.”
“Love you, baby.”
“Love you, too,” she said, before ending the call.
After setting her phone aside, Grace picked up her mug and took a sip. Three times she’d been warned about Camden—well, not about him personally. But she’d been warned not to trust anyone from IA.
Did her family want her to be extra cautious?
Or was there something more to Camden Kingsley?
He was good-looking. What’s more, he’d seemed like a decent person who was looking only for the truth.
She couldn’t help but wonder, what if she was wrong?
What if he was only interested in finding a way to make Grace pay?