Glamorous - A Grace Bishop Novel - Chapter 23
© Denise Bossarte
Grace adjusted her ear piece
as she settled herself into a more comfortable position in her car. She had
parked the car far from street lights. She wanted it in a dark place where she
was able watch the street without being too obvious she was there observing.
She was taking a break to finish a quick sandwich, but was eating on automatic
pilot was she scanned the street.
When making their plans to capture the Glamour, the group argued
whether to involve the police and set up an official sting. Billy was on the
side of using the resources at the police department. But Grace restated her
earlier arguments. It would be difficult to convince the police to believe
their story without more non-paranormal evidence. More than DL’s notes on the
girls and the sketchy arrest records for the prostitutes.
The deciding argument that convinced Billy was the Paranorm
would “Glamour” officers in the area. The risk was too great to the officers.
Having multiple people involved also meant a higher risk of the Glamour fleeing
before they ensnared him. Outside the arguments shared with Billy, Anthony and
Grace were in agreement the risk of exposing the Paranorms was too high to
involve anyone else beyond their group.
It took her longer to convince Billy and the others on the next
part of the plan. The best option for catching the Glamour was for her to go
undercover as a prostitute. Grace had to spend more time reminding them how she
and Billy had been in the academy together. She would still be on the force
with him if her and Danny’s accident didn’t interrupt her career plans.
DL did not like the idea of using her as “bait” but agreed she
knew best how handle herself. Even though they didn’t think it was helpful, DL
insisted he should warn his “girls” off that street while the rest did their
work to stop the Paranorm.
The next argument from DL was about joining them in the chase.
He wanted to be there to help them capture the Glamour. But everyone else
agreed it would be too dangerous and distracting. Anthony could help protect
Billy, but he couldn’t deal with protecting two Norms at one time.
Grace needed her full attention on playing the bait and couldn’t
worry about protecting DL too. He submitted to their arguments and stayed
behind to keep the rest of the girls off the street.
Their plan was a simple one in theory. Grace would be on the
street looking for suspicious cars and drivers. Watching up close for signs the
Glamour was influencing women. Anthony and Billy would be at the end of the
street opposite where Grace parked her car. They could help watch for the
Glamour, but be as inconspicuous as possible to not alert him to their presence
and give away the plan. Grace had Danny with her keeping an eye on things for
her.
Between the four of them, they would have a chance of spotting
the Glamour and intercepting him before anything violent happened. No
guarantees, but better than the other option they came up with together.
Grace was surprised Billy and Anthony managed to get along,
being cooped up in a car together for a week. It could be challenging for
partners who had been working together a while and knew each other’s routines
and personality quirks. Let alone two strangers from different worlds having to
get along with each other while stuck in a tiny space.
When she asked Billy how it was going with Anthony, he shrugged.
He told her Anthony was a decent enough guy and it was fun to talk with him.
She was happy for Billy’s sake Anthony was behaving himself. But she was
skeptical this version of Anthony would continue to show up if they needed to
work the case much longer.
“Keeping your eyes open,
kiddo?” she asked Danny. “I know it’s
been a long week, but the Glamour might show up any time.”
“Yeah. We need some better
gadgets, Gracie. More than just a lousy ear microphone.”
“That’s for the backup, in
case things get out of hand,” she reminded him.
Danny sighed and returned to his “surveillance.”
“How did Anthony say we’re
supposed to spot this guy, again?” Danny asked, his eyes moving from one
prostitute after another. “Look for
anything unusual, like people not seeing something that is there?”
Grace smiled at his clear captivation with the ladies.
“Yes, Anthony said the
best bet is if we can spot evidence of the Glamour using his ability on the
people or maybe one of the girls. Anything that is out of place.”
“Like that car?” Danny
asked, pointing to a car down the street.
Grace focused her attention on the beat up blue Toyota Camry
Danny pointed to, which was parked between the street lights in a darker
section of the street. People were acting weird around it. Ignoring the car
completely, going by without a second glance, or swerving at the last minute to
avoid the car. They did not notice the vehicle but avoided it without
registering what they were doing.
Grace spoke quietly, maintaining an intense focus on the car.
“Billy, check on this license plate number. I think we may have
something, here.”
Billy’s voice came back over the ear piece.
“What do you see, Grace?”
Grace filled him in on the car.
“Ok. I will call this in to dispatch. Don’t do anything for a
minute, Grace, until we can find out more on whom we’re dealing with, here.”
Grace was about to confirm when she noticed a blond prostitute’s
attention focused on the Camry.
“That’s strange,” she said.
“What’s strange, Grace?”
“There’s a woman going for the car. She sees it while everyone
else is oblivious.”
Anthony spoke up over the radio.
“It’s the Glamour, Grace. He’s luring her in to kidnap her.”
“Dammit!” Grace said, opening her door. “Not tonight, buddy!”
She jumped out of her car and hurried down the street trying to
be as inconspicuous as possible, Danny at her side.
“Grace, god dammit! I told you to wait until we know more about
this guy,” Billy shouted in her ear.
“I don’t think we’ve got time for that. He’s going after her,
now! I’m going to intercept. Be ready on your end in case he makes a break for
it.”
Grace moved through the crowd on the sidewalk trying to head to
the car without giving herself away. As she neared the vehicle, she saw the
blond was a few feet away from it, hesitant to cover the last feet to the open
window.
“Gracie,” Danny said.
“Be careful. I can see his aura now and
it’s bad, really bad!”
Grace slowed her pace a bit at the warning, trying to decide the
best move forward. It dawned on her Eli had stated the Glamour did not have the
power to use his ability on other Paranorms. But she was not another Paranorm.
She had not confirmed with Eli that Paranorms’ abilities did not work on Aperto
Rottos.
“Great time to be thinking
of the details,” she chided herself.
She would need to trust Eli wasn’t setting her up, and she was
as immune to the Glamour’s powers as Anthony.
The prostitute was still hesitating, not yet engaged with the
man in the car. Despite herself, Grace was impressed by the sheer power the
Glamour possessed over the Norms. He was able to keep the car hidden until he
was ready to entice a victim. He was capable of mesmerizing whichever women he
pleased. Grace decided she would gain control of the situation with bravado and
quick action.
She sauntered up to the car, keeping her eye on the prostitute.
“This is your lucky night,
honey,” she thought to herself. Then said out loud “This one’s mine, Bitch.
Go take your skanky ass self on down the line.”
The woman’s unfocused eyes turned to Grace and she had a hard
time registering Grace’s presence. With a jolt of recognition, Grace realized
her eyes were the bright green shade of Beth’s eyes. The woman shook her head
groggily and then turned back to the car.
She stared at it, perplexed. “What the fuck? Where’s my Lexus?”
She moved backwards from the car and jumped when she realized
Grace was standing near her.
“Shit! Who the fuck are you?!”
Before Grace could reply, the woman turned and dashed away,
checking over her shoulder, her face full of fear.
“Her lucky night for sure,”
Danny commented, watching the woman as she rushed away.
“Yep,” Grace
agreed. “Now let’s see if it’s ours, too.”
Grace turned her attention to the man in the driver’s seat of the
Camry. She was not surprised to recognize the man from Beth’s reading; the
gelled and styled salt and pepper hair, strong jaw, and high cheekbones. She
thought he might use a glamour to cover his appearance, but Beth had seen the
real Glamour. She suspected he didn’t need to worry about changing his
features. The girls who saw him were not going to live long enough to tell
anyone about his appearance.
The gray eyes from the reading met Grace’s eyes, and then looked
her up and down, appreciating what he saw. Grace was grateful she was running
that she was able to pull off her undercover outfit. She hoped it didn’t matter
she wasn’t the woman he wanted to grab at first. If she kept his attention long
enough they could still corner him.
He met her eyes and smiled a broad, confident smile full of
those capped teeth. After a moment, his gaze intensified and then his smile
faded to an angry scowl. Grace had a happy suspicion things were not going as
planned for him. For once his Glamour was not having the usual affect.
This was the riskiest part of the encounter. What would his
reaction be once he figured out Grace was not someone he could Glamour to his
will? That he wasn’t in control? Grace pressed the issue by moving toward the
car.
At her movement, the man’s head jerked back in surprise. His
face became distorted by rag and his eyes shifted to brown, like Beth saw when
she was attacked. Grace prepared herself. But instead of leaving the car, he
turned away, throwing the car into gear and squealing the tires as he peeled
away from the curb.
“Dammit, he didn’t take the bait. He’s coming your way,” Grace
said into her microphone as the car careened away and turned into an alley. “He
went into the alley by the bakery,” she shouted as she ran after the car.
“Hurry Gracie, he’s
getting away!” Danny yelled racing along with her.
“Fuck!” Billy shouted, as Grace saw his car turn into the alley
right as she reached the corner.
“What?” she barked, a bit out of breath.
“He’s heading for the highway,” Billy said, distracted trying to
avoid the dumpsters.
“Christ!” she heard, followed by the squealing of brakes and a
series of thumping noises.
“Are you all right?” she asked, running down the alley toward
the red taillights of Billy’s car.
“We are ok,” Anthony’s voice came over the radio. “Billy is
taking vengeance on the steering wheel because some…”
“Asshole!” Billy yelled over the top of Anthony’s voice.
“Some ‘asshole,’” Anthony continued, “parked his car in front of
the alley right before we were able to get out.”
“The Glamour got away,” Grace said as she slowed down to a walk.
“Yes,” Anthony replied. “He did.”
Grace responded by sharing her own series of thumping noises
over the microphone as she began smashing trashcans in the alley.
“And the best news of the night,” Billy said in exasperation “is
I heard back from dispatch. That plate is for a car reported stolen right off
the rental car lot last week. We’ve got nothing.”
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