The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (59 page)

Matt tossed the phone to the
passenger
seat and cranked the ignition, his mind on one thing and one thing only—to get back to Gracie as soon as possible. The starter whirred for a moment, but died down to a click. No. This couldn’t be happening.
He tried the key again.
This time
just a click.

He
yanked a flashlight from the glove box and
opened
the car
door just as a gust of wind sent bits of ice biting into his face
.
His body shivered in response, so he
zipped
his coat and pull
ed the collar
up  over
his ears
.
In a few seconds time
, he had the hood raised and
located the problem.
The
posts on
the battery
were
corroded. He
wiggled the cables back and forth to dislodge
the
powdery-white
deposits
then tried the car again
.

This time
t
he Pinto
started right up
. He quickly lowered the
hood and climbed back in
, trying to decide what to do.
Lord, keep her
safe,
and give me wisdom
.

Matt turned the defroster to
high and flipped on the windshield wipers. Though the lights of Miller’s Creek beckoned ahead, he’d already used up too much time. He put the car in gear, pulled the steering wheel hard
to the left, and turned
around
. Hopefully he’d be able to use E
lena’s phone to call the police—
if he needed to.

In horror, Gracie watched
Jason
moved to the large double
door
s
, flick
the locking mechanism into place
,
and
gaz
e
around the room
with unnerving calm
.
“Beautiful space, Elena.
You alwa
ys did have an eye for beauty.”

He focused his attention on
Grac
i
e. “Yo
u’
re too good for her, Graciela.
While I applaud your good heart,
d
on’t waste your time
trying to help her.” Without blinking or any change in his demeanor, he
took a step
closer to where the two women stood.

Beside her, Ele
na
shiver
ed
violently.
Lord,
help me
.
Though her heart pounded furiously in her chest, Gracie quietly
drew
a
breath,
pulling from
a power deep within.
No matter what, she had to protect Elena. The woman’s eternal destiny depended on it.
“Jason, you don’t want to do this.”
How could her voice sound so calm, when her heart threatened to leap from her chest?
She moved slowly
in his direction
until
she stood a few feet away
and gazed
up into his always-hooded eyes
, the same
eyes
that had drawn her
in
like a moth to a flame on
more than
on
e
occasion
.

Sobs once more erupted from El
ena. “Alex, please
.” Her
trembl
ing
voice pleaded
in the midst of her tears
.

“Alex?
Your name is Alex?”
Maybe questions would provide a diversion while she figur
ed out a way to get the gun
from him.

He brought his stead
y
gaze back to her.
“Alessandro, but don’t let it worry you, love
. I’
ll explain everything. After I do what I have to do, we’ll go away where we’ll be safe. You don’t have
to be afraid. You belong to me, and
I have the means to keep you safe.
”

A shudder coursed through her bod
y like an electrical shock. Sh
e tried her best to not appear afraid, but if he hadn’t already seen
her shiver, surely he sensed the fear in her heart
.

Graci
e faced Elena
. “Why didn’t you tell me the
two
of you
were once married?” Sh
e intentionally raised her voice
and infused her tone with anger
on the off chance Consuela would hear.

“Once?”
Elena shot a po
isoned glance at Jason
,
and a laugh loaded with contempt
sounded from
her throat.
She raised the shot glass to her lips and downed the remaining liquid.
“
We’
re still married. I wanted a divorce but he wouldn’t give it to me without dragging my name and reputation through the mud and putting our daughter away in a home.”

The
words rang true.
“Is that
the truth
?” She directed her
question at Jason this time, and
tried to sound hurt. “All this time, you were married to her?”

He glanced quickly between the two women. “I told you I can explain. You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

“Don’t believe him, Grace.
He talks a good game, but i
f you go with him, you’ll never escape.”

Jason smiled coolly. “Oh, but you escaped, Elena. Remember?”
He waved his left hand around the room
. “And you sure weren’t living as well as this when I found you.”

Gracie’s brain vacillated between the
opposing stories
that unfolded in their conversation
, and tried
to
think of
a way out of the situation.
Time.
She had to buy time. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”

“
Elena and I had a great life as part of
a law firm in
San Antonio until she decided to run away.” He laughed in derision. “
She should’
ve known
my people have eyes ev
erywhere. I found her in a
hovel
in southern New Mexico,
reduced to digging in
dumpsters
to feed herself and our daughter.”

“I would’ve eaten worse than that to stay away from you!”
Elena’s eyes flashed vitriol, and she moved toward the fireplace.

Gracie stepped between the two again
, careful to keep her body in the line of fire
.
“And h
ow did you both end up in Miller’s Creek?”

“Just another part of his grandfather’s evil plan.”
Her tears apparently spent, Elena now seemed bent on revealing everything. Why?
To warn her?
To protect her?
“
The
S
immo
ns case brought us here
. The
cartel
protect
s
their own,
and as advisor to the Attorney General of Texas, David’s father plays an important part in the scheme.
As long as he plays their game, he’ll always be protected. I was brought in to throw the trial.
”

“Watch it, Elena.” Jason’s tone
and
features
held portent. “Your attempt t
o warn Graciela away
might just backfire. Say too much, and I’ll be forced to kill you both.”
Jason raised the pistol
.

Elena
began to weep and tremble once more
.
“What about our daughter? Don’t you care what happens to her? Or are you as heartless as I think you are?”
She returne
d to the desk and slumped in the
chair.

Fear built in
Gracie’s
chest
with each
careless
word Elena utter
ed. Was she intentionally trying to bait him?
And why?
With
bravado she didn’t
feel
and couldn’t explain
, Grac
i
e hurried to Jason’s side and wrapped her arms around him. The best thing to do was play along until Consuela had a chance to call the police. Maybe she could at least delay the worst-case scenario. “Jason, please let’s leave. We can go away right now. You don’t need to do this.”

He stared at her calmly as if he had all the time in the world, his gaze penetrating through her
.

Could he
sense her underlying motivation?

“I have to do
this, Grace. If I don’t, they’
ll come after me. Besides, she deserves it after what she’s done to both of
us. W
hen I think
of how she
made you the scape
goat . .
.
”
His voice broke off, and he slowly and methodically lowered his gaze and the gun directly at Elena, who sobbed louder now and covered her face with trembling hands.

Grac
i
e moved in front of the gun. He wouldn’t shoot her, at least not at this point. “Jason, I care too much
about you to let you do this. Please l
et me have the gun.”

“Move out of the
way.”

A commotion sounded in the hallway, and the doorknob jiggled. Someone pounded on the door.
“Open up
!”

Matt!
Raw terror ripped through her veins
.
If Jason could kill his
wife in cold blood without blinking an eye, he wouldn’t stop there
. “Jason, please
. We can leave through the window. There’s still time.”

Matt
pounded on the door again
and
then grunt
ed
as the weight of his body slammed against the door.
“Gracie!
Get out of there!” His voice
held sheer panic.

In an unexpected mov
e, Jason hurled her to one side.
She landed against a chair, and h
er
fore
head
clipp
ed the
chair’s
wooden arm. Gra
cie sat up quickly, the room
spinning from the force of the blow. The metallic taste of blood lande
d on her tongue
. She pulled herself to a standing position, still clutching the chair
for support
.

Jason
once more
r
aised the gun slowly at Elena, a look of pure satisfaction curling his lips. “
Good-bye
, Elena.”

“No!
” Grac
i
e
flung
herself toward the gun just as
it
went off
. P
ain
seared through her lower
a
bdomen, followed by
the softest, most beautiful light she’d ever
felt or
seen.

25

T
he
door gave way
against Matt’s shoulder
just as a
gunshot
pierc
ed
the air and
Gracie slump
ed
to the floor
in a heap
.
His heart stopped.
Lord, please
keep her alive.
A sudden rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins
and a
smoky
smell developed in his nostrils
.
Matt
tackled Jason at the knees,
toppling him to the floor as
the gun
dropped
.
He
kicked
at the gun
and sent it spiraling across the room
and
wrestled
the tall attorney
into position ben
eath him.
Dent outsized hi
m by at least
several
inches, a fact which made Matt
immediately grateful for the
training he’d had on the college wrestling team.