Harry
Harry and Natalie walked to the end of the hallway to the vending and lounge area. There had to be a coffee machine in this place. They rounded the corner. For a moment he truly believed the woman pictured on the front of the coffee dispenser with a mug up to her lips was an angel. He blinked twice, took out his credit card, and swiped the reader. His tension eased just a bit as a paper cup with beans printed on the side dropped and started filling. Steam rose from the cup. He picked it up, switching hands repeatedly. Hot. Hot.
“I’d like one too,” Natalie said.
“Oh, sorry.” Harry swiped his card again.
“Thinking of me, I see.”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “I think about you all the time.”
“You do?” she asked, covering her heart with a hand.
Harry smirked. “Yeah.” He leaned down, kissed her on the lips, and she blushed.
“Excuse me,” a man with shaggy brown hair said. He had a purple leather purse under his arm.
Harry and Natalie moved away from the coffee machine.
Grace had a bag like that one. Ordinarily, he may not have noticed, however, purple had been Annie’s favorite color, and his daughter had raided her mother’s things after she passed, including her purse collection. It looked familiar, as did the man.
“Nice bag you got there.” Jeez, he sounded like a homophobe. Maybe the man liked purses.
“Thanks, not mine.”
“Who’s—”
Natalie nudged Harry’s elbow.
The guy crinkled his forehead. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Now that you mention it…you work for Mikey.”
“Yeah, you’re that cop from the other day asking about a tat.”
Harry sipped his coffee. “That’s awfully specific.”
“What can I say? I’m observant.”
“That’s my daughter’s purse,” Harry pointed to the bag.
“I figured Grace was your daughter.”
“How’s that?”
“The way you and Mikey communicated at the shop. And he mentioned it.”
“You got a name?”
“Cam.” He stuck his hand out, which Harry slighted.
“Can I have the purse? And while you’re at it tell me how you happened to find my daughter.” Harry stared at Cam.
“Are you accusing me of something?” he asked, handing over the purse.
Harry snatched it from his hands. “Is that your car parked out front?”
“What if it is?”
“Got a lot of damage on the right side. Wanna tell me how it got there?”
Natalie inhaled loudly. “Harry…” He shook his head at her.
“I dunno, it was like that when I bought it.” Cam enunciated the ‘T’ in ‘it’.
“Watch your tone. You’re not looking so good right now.”
“How am I looking?”
“Guilty.”
“Of what? I was going to give her back the purse. I forgot it in my trunk.”
“Why was it in your trunk?”
“I put it there.”
Harry handed the purse to Natalie. “Turn around.”
“Why?”
“So I can pat you down.”
“Are you planning on arresting me? On what charge?”
“Attempted murder.”
“Harold Hunter, have you completely lost your mind?” Natalie stomped off.
* * *
Grace
Grace didn’t exactly believe Mikey when he said no one wanted to intentionally hurt her. Still, she held onto the belief, praying he was right. Her nerves settled though, and her heartrate returned to normal.
Natalie poked her head around the curtain. “Hi, guess what I found?” She dangled Grace’s bag by the strap.
“Oh wow. Thank you. Where did you—”
“Cam brought it in. He forgot he left it in his trunk.” Natalie stood at the foot of the bed and put the purse down.
Grace went through everything, verbally checking off the contents. “Looks like everything is here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “The last thing I needed was to have to call my credit card companies or get a new driver’s license.” Grace looked past the curtain. “Is my dad here?”
Natalie sighed. “Yes.”
“Uh oh. What’s he up to?”
“He’s arresting Cam.”
Grace gaped at the other woman. “I’m sorry, did you say my father is arresting Cam?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Cam is the one who saved me and called the police.”
“And he got your purse.”
“Yeah, I left it in my car.” Grace brushed past Mikey.
“Where are you going?” Mikey asked.
“To stop my lunatic father.”
Out in the hallway, Officer Rudy was hauling Cam out of the lounge.
“Wait, wait!” The cop glanced at Grace, although kept heading for the exit. “Cam, I’ll get this straightened out!” she yelled at her savior and Rudy’s back. “Thanks for my purse.” She pivoted on her boot. “We have to go to the station.”
Mikey’s face was stony. “Grace, we need to go home.”
“No.”
“They’ll sort it out.”
“Look at your clothes,” Natalie said softly.
Grace didn’t care about her clothes. Not now.
“Your face…”
“I’m fine, I—”
Mikey took a deep breath and held out his hand. “We have to go home, darlin’.”
Grace glanced down the length of her body. Her pants had been torn at the knees. Bruises and small abrasions covered her wrists and forearms. She touched her face and winced. The hair on her head falling forward over her shoulders looked stringy.
Natalie nodded to her unasked question. Did she look at bad as she felt? The answer was worse.