Glamorous - A Grace Bishop Novel - Chapter 32
© Denise Bossarte
Grace raced to the kitchen,
grabbing the lighter from the table where she left it when she went to take her
shower. She flicked open the top and struck a flame, getting ready to put the
card into it when she stopped herself. The chances were small, but it was
possible that the Glamour wrote the card and brought the flowers himself. It
was within the realm of possibilities that he was that arrogant, and destroying
the card eliminated the opportunity to check for finger prints.
Reconsidering, Grace closed the lighter and grabbed a small
plastic bag from the pantry, shoving the card into it. She placed the bag in
the refrigerator to help preserve the evidence on it. She planned to reach out
to one of Billy’s relatives on the force to see if it helped find out more
about Billy’s attacker. That would be all they needed to know to follow through
on investigating the card with the forensic group at the station. Only that
Billy’s attacker was the reason behind her request.
Grace returned to the living room and grabbed the vase full of
flowers and headed back into the kitchen. She threw the flowers and vase into
the trash can and slammed the lid, then changed her mind, opening the can
again. Pulling out the flowers, she left the vase in the trash. Grabbing a pair
of scissors from the knife block she began savagely cutting the stems and
petals into the sink. After shredding the bouquet to manageable pieces she fed
them through the disposal until nothing remained.
Thanks for the
flowers, she snarled, dropping into one of the
chairs from the kitchen table to catch her breath.
She still couldn’t believe the Glamour found who she was and
where she lived this fast. It confirmed their suspicions he wasn’t the only one
involved in the case. He must have resources at his disposal to be able to find
her and her friends after the confrontation at the warehouse.
At the thought of her friends, Grace stood again and paced
around the room. She was right to ask Anthony to stay with Billy, and for Danny
to keep an eye on DL and Beth. It was tempting to go back to the hospital
herself and give more protection to them, but they couldn’t afford for her not
to go see Eli.
The arrangement with Eli made it impossible to call him with her
questions. She had to be there in person to do the readings in order to get
answers she needed from him. She must have faith in Anthony, Danny, and the
ghosts Danny recruited to stop the Glamour if he showed up at the hospital.
Grace realized the worse thing to do was spend time tormenting
herself about Billy’s and the others’ safety. She needed her full attention on
meeting Eli, and making plans to capture the Glamour as soon as possible.
The Glamour was hoping to keep her off guard by threatening her
friends. Trying to get and keep the upper hand in what was becoming a contest
of skills and will. But if he didn’t realize it already, he would soon learn by
threatening them he made this personal. Now Grace would never back down. Not
until she dealt with him permanently.
Grace thought back to her conversation
with Sophie. Sophie mentioned Paranorms might try to get into her house out of
curiosity. The Glamour had more reasons than other Paranorms to get into her
home. Grace felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she realized the
flowers arrived while she was in the shower.
Returning to the table, she
grabbed her Glock from the holster lying there. She didn’t notice anything suspicious when she came home from the
hospital. She wasn’t surprised she missed something given her state of mind and
physical exhaustion. No dead bunnies boiling on the stove, but she wasn’t
paying much attention when she returned home. She had only dropped off her
stuff in the kitchen and went right to the shower.
Grace left the kitchen to begin a circuit of the house, starting
with the front rooms and working her way up to the second floor. She checked
all the security locks on the windows and doors as she went, making sure there
was nothing broken and there weren’t signs of forced entry.
She checked each room, with particular focus on her bedroom and
Danny’s room. But nothing appeared moved or taken. Although with the mess in
Danny’s room it was anyone’s guess if it remained unchanged from when he was
last there. It would need to wait until he came home and checked for himself.
Grace went back to the first floor, realizing she had not
checked the kitchen windows or back door. The locks on the windows and the door
were fine, but something caused her check the back yard. She unbolted and
opened the door, leaving the screen door closed for the moment. Two flowers
lying on the top of the steps drew her attention: a daisy and a red tulip.
Grace stood there staring at
them in a daze, wondering how the day could get more surreal. The Glamour had
found her home and knew about Billy and her friends at the hospital. But
somehow he also knew about her parents, the graveyard, and the flowers she
brought to them. She hated the feeling she was an insect underneath a
microscope watched by unseen observers. She decided it was time to be paranoid.
Holding the pistol in one
hand, Grace cracked open the screen door. She slid past it, making sure it didn’t make noise when it closed. The kitchen light silhouetted her
where she stood in the doorway. It was pointless to attempt stealth now, but
her instincts were kicking in for scouting the back yard.
Grace stepped over the flowers as she descended the back steps,
avoiding the cracked and roughened concrete on the bottom. She surveyed the
ground at the base of the steps using the light from the open door to help her
search the area. There were no obvious footprints in the grass, but there was
enough time since the delivery for evidence to disappear.
She turned from the steps and looked out into the back yard,
letting her vision adjust to the dim light. She walked the fence to make sure
nothing was hiding in the shadows. She realized the Glamour was long gone. He
most likely let himself in by the gate and out again. But she couldn’t help
herself from checking around the house to give some sense of control over her
environment again.
As she suspected, Grace found nothing unusual and returned to
kitchen, avoiding the flowers on the steps. The flowers she left to rot where
they were. She was finished with mind games and being pushed around by the
Glamour.
She would postpone her meeting with Eli. She needed time to make
a trip to the hospital to check on everyone and tell them the Glamour was a
real and immediate threat. She had to talk with Danny about how they would
tackle the case and deal with the Glamour without the help of Billy, Anthony,
or DL.
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