The Gift, page 16
part #1 of McKenna Mysteries Series
“Close, honey—it’s July. You were one month off.”
“I know Kenzie’s birthday, though! It’s March thirteenth, right around when that scary green leprechaun comes out.”
Grace tried not to look too happy about receiving the exact answer she wanted, but couldn’t help the smile that spread from ear to ear. “And when is your mommy’s birthday?”
“Ummm . . . Daddy, isn’t mommy’s birthday when I get dressed up and go treating?”
“That’s right, honey. Mommy’s birthday is October thirteenth, two weeks before Halloween, and the same day of the month as Kenzie’s.”
“Oh yeah! Miss police officer, when’s your birthday?”
“My birthday is February ninth.”
“Penny, do you know what holiday is close to February ninth?” Anthony asked as if he was asking an important history question.
“Ummm, no, wait . . . is that when the Easter bunny comes?”
“Nope, February is the month when you make daddy and your classmates Valentine cards.”
“Ohhhh! And it’s when you get mommy all those flowers. Hey, Miss police officer, when can you come back to our house to play? Mommy and daddy have been fighting a lot.”
“Penny! What did daddy tell you about spreading rumors?”
“It’s bad.”
“Yes, spreading rumors hurts people’s feelings. Now why don’t you go pick out a cereal in the next aisle, okay?” And just like that, Penny was skipping down the aisle singing about which cereal she was going to pick.
“Sorry about that. She’s right, we have been fighting a lot,” Anthony straightened his chin and looked Grace directly in the eye. “Well, I should say, we had been. We’re better now. Just a lot of miscommunication and typical marital things. And of course, the stress of Mackenzie going off to college. Mackenzie’s just so fixated on it which, personally, I think is good. But, Beth feels like she’s been so focused on school all these years, she never got to be a kid.”
“I can imagine. She seems like quite the perfectionist,” Grace said, the nerves in her body romping around. She was practically dancing with her grocery cart, pushing it forward and back in tiny movements.
“Vanilla Blast Teddie Bear cereal!” Penny said as she raced toward them and tossed the box into the cart.
“Well, we better get going. Lots of prep for Santa’s big visit.” Anthony winked as he turned his cart.
“If you ever want to talk—I mean off the record and all, I’d be happy to listen.” Grace couldn’t believe she was saying this to the parent of someone she was investigating, but there was something about Anthony Waterford, and his wife seemed skeptical of Mackenzie, even though she’d raised her. Maybe Beth had doubts about her DNA, Grace thought. There were so many things that she wanted to ask the two of them, but she had to stop herself when the words came to the surface. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the cardholder that her mother had made her so many years ago, and handed a card over to Anthony. “Where is Beth today, anyway?”
“Oh, she’s home getting prepped for Christmas dinner.” Anthony gave an exasperated smile. “Thanks, Detective McKenna.” He took the card delicately and gave her a close-lipped smile before turning down the aisle.
Grace looked at the list that her mother had emailed her for the required food for Christmas day. Under the long list of food, she wrote Carl is a vegetarian so we’ll have to make some sort of veggie casserole or pie? Grace couldn’t help but smile, thinking about Mark and how he loved his baby sister so much he converted to vegetarianism.
Every year, Grace was responsible for doing the grocery shopping and hosting the Christmas gathering and her mother was responsible for doing the majority of the cooking, at least the difficult stuff. Grace could throw together a green bean casserole but that was about it.
A calendar alert rang on her phone as she pulled out of the parking lot, stealing her from her shopping trance.
Reminder: station Christmas party in one hour.
“Shit!” Grace accidentally said the word out loud. She had completely forgotten about the department’s party and missed all those in-office reminders because he had been spending so much time on the road gathering information on Jenny Silva. If she was fast enough, she could get to her house and drop everything off, freshen up a bit and slip on some jeans, then get back to the station.
Unlike most work Christmas parties that were held in hotel ballrooms and high class venues, Bridgeton Police Department didn’t have the funds nor did most of the staff care for getting dressed up to go out on the town. Instead, they celebrated creatively, with a few appetizers, limited drinks, and a gift swap. And if things got really wild, select officers would hit up the local pub after the party died down. Grace considered herself lucky that she could show up in jeans with a used gift and store-bought cupcakes.
She decided to put a little more effort into her appearance this year, knowing that Mark would be there. After she put away the groceries she ran up the stairs, in a hurry to get ready for the party. Opting for a slightly darker shadow and gray eyeliner, as opposed to her usual light brown pencil, she went to work accentuating her lips with a raspberry color instead of the usual clear gloss. She wore her best-fitting pair of jeans with knee-high black boots and a dark green sweater that drooped slightly off one shoulder if she moved the right way. She pulled out her ponytail and ran the hair straightener through her hair for a quick touchup. It didn’t take much to pull out Grace McKenna’s natural beauty and transform her from cute detective to bombshell.
As Grace made her way to the station, she rehearsed how she would act in front of Mark, throwing random scenarios at herself. She wasn’t sure if he would be openly friendly in front of their colleagues, or if he would hide his feelings.
She balanced the plastic container of cupcakes in one arm and slid the gift bag over her other wrist before using a free hand to pull open the station door. Even the front office had been transformed into a cheesy Christmas wonderland with tinsel strung from the console to the top of the cubes and continuing to the shelf that housed the standard operating procedure manuals. Grace was nearly blinded by the glistening of different colored tinsel and the blinking lights that were strung on the Charlie Brown tree that stood on top of a little table in the corner of the entryway. “Wow . . . this certainly looks like Christmas,” said Grace to the two newbies who were stuck working during the party and probably the rest of the week.
“A Griswald Christmas, maybe.” The newbie rolled his eyes and swiveled around in the chair.
“Here’s something for you guys. I know it’s no fun working the holidays for your first few years, so maybe this will help cheer you up. Off duty, of course.” Grace pulled a bottle of Bourbon out of her bag and leaned over to set it on the console. “Shhh, don’t tell anyone.” Grace held a finger to her lips. She slid the bag of wines that she promised Joe into his cubby.
“Aw, thanks, Detective McKenna. You rock.”
“OFF duty.” She transformed her voice from friendly to stern as she turned on her heel and walked back to breakroom where the noise was coming from.
As to be expected, Barb was standing in the middle of a group telling some joke about a guy in a bar, her Boston accent heightened, probably because of the cup of cheer she had in her hand. She grew quiet and her eyes lifted off her audience and turned toward Grace as she entered the room. She was not going to let this Eric thing go. It had been nearly three days since they had spoken, and Grace wanted her friend back. She longed to be in cahoots with Barb and hear her daily jokes. Mark stood out from across the room, his hazel eyes standing out against the deep green shirt her was wearing. As soon as Mark saw her, he left the huddle and marched toward her, a beer in one hand.
“Hey, can I get you anything from the elaborate bar?” Mark waved a hand toward the two lunch tables that were pushed together to make a mock bar. The recycled high school lunch tables were covered in a shiny red plastic tablecloth, the awkward rectangle shape of the table made the cover dip and rise in certain spots, revealing a stash of cardboard wine boxes underneath.
“I’m assuming we aren’t serving martinis at this year’s party?” Grace joked.
“I wouldn’t be so sure; I think Barb brought a couple flasks of something. I’m sure she could whip one up for you.”
“I’ll take a glass of the boxed wine,” Grace said, surveying her options. Bud Light, boxed white zinfandel, or Bud heavy for the cops who didn’t believe in light drinking. She wasn’t sure how she was going to avoid anyone noticing the strife between her and Barb, but she certainly wasn’t about to ask the woman to make her a cocktail. Barb had deep Boston connections, and there was a good chance she was armed with some type of drug that she could easily slip into Grace’s drink. The woman was ruthless when she was angry with someone, and unfortunately Grace could already feel her former friend’s eyes looking her up and down like she was about to ask for a face-off.
Mark sauntered toward the display and slid a small plastic cup off the stack, filling it with the pink liquid. He turned on a heel and brought it back to her, maintaining eye contact the entire time.
“Are you trying to take advantage of me?” Grace asked, analyzing the wine cup that was filled to the brim.
“Are you saying that you need wine for that?” Mark said under his breath as he looked out at their colleagues, cautious of keeping the flirting between the two of them. Grace giggled, smitten like a schoolgirl. She was kicking herself for falling for this guy. Dating co-workers had been on her list of things not to do since she was old enough to work. She had made it this far in life passing up opportunities to date those who she punched the clock with, surely she could keep her record going. She wouldn’t even give in to Jeffrey Owens, her super cute co-worker at the ice cream shop when she was fifteen. She remembered that crush like it was yesterday. She would never forget the time that Jeffrey cornered her in the walk-in freezer while she was taking inventory. He leaned in to kiss her, his cold breath creating a cloud of smoke between them, his blonde hair overgrown and curled up on the ends underneath the red Moo Cow Ice Cream baseball hats that they had to wear as part of their uniform. As soon as he leaned into her, she pushed him so hard he fell backwards and his sinewy body was wedged in between two tubs of mint chocolate chip ice cream. She’d stepped out into the warm air and went back to work scooping ice cream for the line of patrons at the carry-out window, never to speak to Jeffrey Owens about anything non-work related again. Nearly twenty-one years later, she was surprised to find herself confiding in a co-worker. She had known other cop couples that met while on duty and went on to get married and start families, but the women typically ended up quitting the force to avoid having both parents in strenuous careers with hours that interfered with family time. Grace was not willing to leave her position, so if she opted for a man who was a public servant, he’d need to be willing to stay home with the children. And she couldn’t imagine any male police officer giving up their pride to stay home with babies.
“Well, you two look awful cozy over here,” Officer Jeffries said as he ambled toward the two of them, his arms held away from his sides like he had so much muscle he couldn’t possibly allow them to relax like a normal person.
“Did mommy press that shirt for you, Curtis?” Mark asked, stepping in and changing the subject.
“Very funny! Hey guys, I got a joke for you.” Curtis positioned himself in front of them, setting himself up like he was about to give the most enlightening presentation in the world. “What comes before part B?” he said, a big goofy grin spreading across his overly whitened teeth.
“Gee, I don’t know Curtis.” Mark elbowed Grace in the side. “This should be good.”
“Part-AYYY!” Curtis raised his hands in the air and did a little spin, spilling liquid out of his cup. Grace guessed that the liquid was from one of the flasks that were circulating around.
“You’re such a cheese ball, dude,” Mark said, but he couldn’t help but release a small giggle.
“For real, though. You guys wanna go out and get wild after? The rest of us are gonna hit up Amendment, in da city.” Curtis’s eyes were so big, they looked like they were going to pop out of his head.
“Wow, well as tempting as that sounds, we may have to pass. I mean, I may have to pass.” Mark stumbled across his words before catching himself. “Grace here has her own mind, I’m sure she’d love to join you.”
“Well thank you, Mark, for speaking on my behalf,” Grace joked, starting to have fun with the little exchange and secret between the two of them. “But, I think I have to feed my dog tonight.”
“Whatever, lame-o’s. If you change your mind I’ll be over there getting crunked!” Curtis danced his way back to the rest of the staff who were getting louder by the minute.
“Hey, need any help feeding that dog later?” Mark winked at her. “Then again, you gotta admit—it might be kinda fun to watch that doofus hit on girls in the city.”
“I’m sure we’d get a few laughs, but I’m pretty sure I could stand right here for the next hour and get just as many laughs.” Grace looked ahead, her eyes focused on Curtis, who was now attempting to do some type of rapper dance move in the middle of the other officers. “He does realize we’re in an old lunch room and not a dance club, right?”
“You can’t always be sure with that one.” Mark leaned into her side.
Just as Grace was starting to feel settled at the Christmas party, Barb came stumbling toward her. As soon as Grace saw the pointed finger waggling in her direction, she knew things weren’t going to end well.
“Hey, everybody! I have an announcement to make,” Barb slurred, the entire sentence blending together in one long word. It was typical for Barb to get sloshed at the annual Christmas party, but it was mostly harmless. Usually she would just be overly flirtatious with a younger officer while everyone laughed with her. Grace had always been the one to drive her home in the past, but she assumed she’d convince someone else to do the driving this year. “Grace . . . tsss . . . Detective McKenna . . . is a liar.”
Grace could feel the heat in her face funnel its way up from her neck. She suddenly cared a lot about what Mark thought about her, and she certainly didn’t want him thinking she was a liar.
“Barb, come on. Let’s go talk—in private.” Grace tried to put an arm around Barb’s wide-set shoulders, but the woman moved surprisingly fast for someone who was drunk and she shrugged the arm off of her while giving Grace a shove that was packed with anger.
“Hey, hey. What is this all about? Barb, maybe it’s time to go home?” Mark interjected.
“I got this, Mark,” Grace said, trying to steer him away.
“No you don’t GOT this, Grace.” Barb’s face exploded with anger, her drink unsteady in her hand. “How dare you make up lies about Eric . . . how dare you? I always thought you were a good kid, but you’re just like all the others. A fake and a liar.”
Barb stormed out the door, leaving Grace to feel the sting of her words. Mark had heard the whole thing, and now she would have to figure out how to explain herself. Maybe Barb was right, because her life was starting to feel like a tangled web of lies. Trying to conceal her visions was like having a deep dark secret.
Chapter Nineteen
Grace clenched the steering wheel as she guided her Jeep around the tight turns that cut through Cabotville. After making her rounds at the Christmas party and making sure that she said hi to Joe and the chief, Grace got out of there as fast as she could, thankful that only Mark was in earshot to witness the scene that played out between her and Barb. Nobody seemed to notice, as they were all caught up in eating and drinking and focused on Curtis’ antics. For the first time, she was grateful for the boy’s presence. She couldn’t worry about Barb now though, she had to focus on getting her house straightened up before Mark arrived. As her emotions were flying from the pain of Barb’s words, she had invited Mark over to her house. She was already regretting the decision and had made a promise to herself to keep it innocent, a casual meeting between two friends. Grace was up against a big challenge, as she felt herself sinking deeper into Mark’s allure.
The tires crunched through the snow, leaving a fresh path of tire treads in the driveway. She still hadn’t shoveled and she nearly slipped on the ice as she raced to her front door, counting off how many minutes she had before Mark arrived. He had agreed to take the boys into the city so they could continue the party well into the night.
As expected, Brody was lying by the front door, his one-hundred-fifty pound body curled up into a big black ball of fur. As she pushed the door open, his body moved with it like a carpet, before he looked up and saw her, his ears perking as he used all his strength to slide his body up off the slippery tiled flooring. He bounded from side to side, finally settling his head up against her hip to receive pets.
“Hey, Brody bear, how’s my boy?” She bent down in front of him, his big head towering over her. “Don’t be mad, but a boy is coming over.” She looked down at him as if she were having an everyday conversation with a friend. “But, he’s really nice, and I’m sure you two will get along great.” Grace thought about Mark’s commitment to being a vegetarian and while Brody never seemed to come up in conversation, she imagined they would get along just fine. He may even end up falling in love with the dog.
Grace went to work clearing countertops and tables and shoving miscellaneous items into drawers and cabinets. She scoured her fridge, but all she had was the ingredients for Christmas day and a half bottle of Cabernet, three yogurts, and a lonely apple. There was no shortage of condiments, but she certainly couldn’t offer Mark a bowl of mustard.
“Shit!” she said loud enough to startle Brody, who was back in his ball on the floor. He raised his eyebrows at her, as if reprimanding her for the foul language. She raced up the stairs to assess her face and give her outfit a once over. The full-length mirror that hung from the back of her bedroom door reflected a slight weight loss in her already small frame. She had been so busy consumed with Jenny Silva that there had been days that week where she had forgotten to eat meals entirely. She pulled her jeans slightly outward and observed the additional space and a slightly jutting hipbone. Her face even showed signs of caving in near the cheekbone region, making her look a little malnourished. This shouldn’t be hard: Eat more and obsess over crimes less, she thought to herself. Just as she was fluffing the comforter on her bed for some unknown reason, there was a knock on the door and she could hear Brody’s legs slide to a standing position and his paws tap along the hardwood floor. She drew in one strong, deep breath and held it in for as long as she could before releasing it.
