Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (28 page)

Grace was hyperventilating.
‘
I didn
’
t mean to look at it
,
I – I – it happened and I couldn
’
t help it.
’
Her head was muddy from the accident
,
from the kiss
,
from the shock of finding out Jake
’
s true identity.

‘
I
’
m sorry
,
Grace
,’
he sat down next to her.

‘
Don
’
t touch me
,’
she threw his arm off
,
stood up and moved away from him.
‘
You lied to me. You told me you had your own business as a private investigator and you were doing surveillance work. You were taking pictures of a man with a bad back
,
that
’
s what you said. Now I know why you were being slippery. No wonder you wanted to help me. It was all to uncover your own
,
your own – whatever it is you
’
re trying to do. Whoever Sleen is and whatever he is up to with whatever is going on and you lied. You lied to me.
’
She could feel her face was red hot.

‘
Your memory is good. I am doing surveillance
,
I wasn
’
t lying about that part.
’

‘
Oh
,
yeah? Sleen
’
s trying to make a dodgy worker
’
s compensation claim for a bad back he doesn
’
t actually have
,
is that your case? Please
,
I
’
m not the idiot you apparently think I am.
’

Jake shook his head with his hands on his hips as he looked at the floor.

‘
And lunch
,
another diversion to keep me from asking you questions about why you spend all this time with me and not at work. I get it now
,
I am your work.
’

‘
You know that
’
s not true. Cast your mind back a minute to when I told you I
’
m in love with you and you avoided responding.
’

‘
You deviate from the point.
’

‘
Grace
,
I couldn
’
t tell you. I wanted to
,
I was going to
,
I promise.
’

‘
You
’
re making promises now?
’

‘
I should have told you. There wasn
’
t an opportune time. This is big and I could not put you in any more danger. I wanted to protect you
,
to be there for you and to help you. I wasn
’
t making lunch as a diversion
,
I wanted to do it. Yeah
,
I
’
m a guy but I like cooking.
’

She looked at him as his whole body said
‘
sorry
’
but she didn
’
t care whether he was sorry or not.

‘
I was going to tell you
,
I promise.
’

‘
Don
’
t say
,
‘
I promise
’
when it doesn
’
t mean anything.
’

‘
You
’
re overreacting
,
please
,
Grace. Let
’
s talk about this calmly.
’

‘
I
’
m overreacting?
’
She wanted to rip his head off.

‘
Okay. There
’
s nothing I can say right now you
’
ll believe.
’

‘
You
’
re right
,
there
’
s not. If there
’
s no truth between us then we have nothing
,
Jake.
’

‘
What was the closeness on the couch about? It was real. Grace
,
I can
’
t get you out of my mind. You
’
re my every thought. I want us to be together. The rest of it is my job and you were caught up in the middle of a complex situation.
’

‘
It was purely desires of the flesh.
’

‘
What? Where do you get these sayings from? Please don
’
t say it like that because it
’
s not true.
’

‘
I can
’
t think about this right now. I have to go and meet The Voice. I don
’
t know what you
’
re up to and I don
’
t want to know
,
at least not now. I can
’
t believe I let you seduce me.
’

‘
You kissed me first
,
at the hospital.
’

Her eyes were like saucers and she flailed her arms around
,
paced and was breathing like she had recently run a marathon.
‘
I
’
ll talk to you later. I
’
m going alone.
’

‘
You
’
re not getting rid of me
,
I
’
m coming with you. I don
’
t care if you
’
re angry. After all that
’
s happened and with what
’
s going on
,
you are not going alone. Besides
,
I
’
m the one with car
,’
Jake picked up his car keys
,
threw Grace her jacket and met her stare and attitude with equal defiance.

‘
Great
,
my car is still at the mechanics.
’
She let her guard down a notch as despite all this drama
,
she still wanted to crack the case.
‘
So
,
what is going on?
’
She would not look at him.

‘
We
’
re not sure yet. We think we know
,
however
,
there are a few loose ends we have to confirm. I
’
ve been following de Silva and Sleen for a long time and I have a feeling the evidence The Voice is giving you could help us all. We need the final link to put it all together. The fact you are involved was a big shock. I would not have imagined this is how it would go but fate has a curious way of playing out.
’

‘
One question. Is your mum an Aussie?
’

‘
Of course
,
why would I lie about that?
’

‘
I don
’
t know
,
Jake. I think I
’
m losing it because I don
’
t know anything anymore.
’

‘
Come on
,
let
’
s go.
’

He tried to help her to the car as she was still weak from the accident but she refused to accept any help from him. They drove into the city and it was Jake who broke the silence.
‘
Do you want to talk about what happened on the couch this afternoon
,
Grace?
’

She made a scoffing noise and continued to stare out the window.
‘
Typical
,
your first thought is to talk about the physical side of our relationship.
’

‘
Grace
,
you could at least play fair and that
’
s not true. It
’
s not physical
,
it
’
s closeness and caring. Everything about you captivates me.
’

‘
Yet lying to me comes naturally. I do not understand.
’

‘
I didn
’
t lie. I have wanted to tell you everything. Can
’
t a guy get a break?
’

She contemplated whether to bring something up. Something that had been playing on her mind since the first night they met.
Oh
,
what the heck.
‘
I
’
m guessing charges should have been laid at the bar the other night. So
,
it wasn
’
t your PI status which enabled us to walk away it was the AFP or Interpol ID that did it?
’

‘
Yes. Grace
,
let
’
s concentrate on what we have to do for this impending meeting and come up with a plan of attack. If we
’
re the ones with the upper hand we can come away from this knowing exactly what all these packages mean
,
what the story is and where we go from here. I can
’
t do any more and I don
’
t want to upset you further.
’

‘
Agreed
,’
she sighed.

Jake found a parking spot near to where The Voice said he wanted to meet. The words from their conversation on the phone ran through her mind. Jake warned the mystery man not to mess them around with changing locations as Grace was in a fragile state and he would not put up with any nonsense in making them run all over the city to covert meetings. He was to meet up with them where he said the meeting was to be or they were out of there.

Jake opened the door for Grace and gave her firm instructions to stick by his side.
‘
I don
’
t want anything happening to you while we
’
re on this undercover operation or I
’
ll feel responsible
,
especially considering you
’
re under doctor
’
s orders to rest. In fact
,
come here
,’
and he placed his arm around her and pulled her tight into his side.

‘
Jake –
’

‘
You can be cranky at me later.
’

‘
–
s
omething
’
s sticking into me.
’

‘
It
’
s my gun.
’

‘
You have a gun?
’

‘
Say it a bit louder
,
Grace
,
then everyone can hear
,’
he said whispering.
‘
Of course I have a gun
,
I
’
m a cop.
’

‘
This is too much. I can
’
t cope with all of this.
’

‘
You
’
re a strong
,
tough chick
,
you can cope. Most women would be lapping up the attention of the medical staff in hospital. Ah
,
not you. You
’
re out cracking an international story with an Interpol guy
,’
he smiled.