Hard to Fight

“Grace, what’s happening?” Don asks, narrowing his eyes.

“Can we do this in your office.”

He studies me a second more, then he nods. “Okay.”

We all move to his office and I keep my head down the entire time. I know what I’ve risked, I know what I’m about to lose, but I have to tell the truth. The only way I can help Raide is to be honest. When we’re all in Don’s office, I turn and face them. “I have something to tell you all.”

“Grace?” Vance questions.

“Please,” I whisper, shooting him a pained look.

He nods and sits back.

When they’re all focused, I speak. “As you know, I was assigned the Raide Knox case. I knew when I took it on, it would be a challenge. He’s a big man and even with all my training, bringing him in on my own was pretty much impossible. So I decided to work it a different way. I thought if I could get his attention, I could just call it in when we were alone together.”

“There’s no rules against doing that, Grace,” Don says.

“I’m not finished,” I say softly, and he nods. “So I followed Raide, I got in his face, he became interested. This is where—” I swallow. “—it goes bad. The night before I called him in, when he was squatting, I … I slept with him.”

Gasps fill the room.

“This is outrageous—she should be fired on the spot!” Julio roars, leaping up.

“Julio, sit down!” Don barks.

Julio sits, spitting curses at me.

Don turns to me. “Grace, you know you’ve broken the rules.”

“I’m still not finished,” I say, and tears prick my eyelids.

Don closes his eyes and rubs his temples, then he mutters, “Go on.”

“I found him again after that, and I spent the last two days with him up in his cabin in the mountains.”

More gasps, and I look up to see Vance staring at me with such a pained expression, my heart breaks even more.

“On the last day, I found out he was up there looking for his sister’s killer. It’s why he skipped bail in the first place. He doesn’t want to go down without avenging her. I knew I had to act, I knew the best thing I could do for him was to bring him in, because he was going to do more damage if he was out. He found out who I was when he looked at my phone and saw I had contacted all of you, and he tied me up, then fled.”

Silence. Long, draining silence.

“I fell in love with him,” I whisper, dropping my head. “I know what I’ve done, I know what I’ll lose, but he’s innocent. I want to help him.”

“Grace,” Don says, his voice broken. “I put all my faith in you.”

I look up and the tears spill down my cheeks. “And I let you down, I know, Don. I’m so sorry.”

He sighs and stands. “Do you know where Raide is?”

“No.”

“Grace, no more lies.”

I shake my head. “I really don’t.”

He nods. “You understand I have to report this?”

I nod and swallow.

He shakes his head and exits the room.

Julio stands and glares at me. “I knew you couldn’t do it. You’re a girl and girls will always get tangled up the way you do. You’re too weak,” he spits, then he, too, storms out.

I slowly turn to Vance, who is staring at his clenched fists.

“Vance,” I say softly.

He jerks his head up. “I knew you wanted this job. I knew you were taking a risk seducing him, but even I thought you were smarter than this, Grace. This is all you’ve worked for. Is it really worth losing over some criminal murderer?”

I flinch. “He didn’t do it. He’s a good man.”

Vance stands and roars, “He would tell you anything you fuckin’ want to get into your pants! Tell me, Grace, if he’s not a murderer, then why is he running from his trial to find a man who he claims killed his sister?”

My body goes tight.

“I don’t think he’s going to thank him. He’s going to kill him. That makes him a murderer.”

“Don’t, Vance,” I whisper.

He shakes his head. “You mean a lot to me, Grace. You know that. Right now, though, I’m disgusted by you.”

He storms out and I drop to my knees, pressing my face into my hands. I knew this would happen. I knew I would suffer for my choices.

I just didn’t know it would hurt so much.

Chapter Twenty-two

“Grace?”

I look up from my spot in Don’s office. I haven’t moved. I’ve just sat here, waiting to hear the verdict. Preparing myself to pack up my desk and leave. The funny thing is, that doesn’t even hurt anymore. All I can think about is Raide, and how my heart is aching for him. Suddenly, I realize my job means far less to me than his happiness does. I never thought I’d question everything I’ve worked for like this.

I stare at Don, knowing I’m about to hear it. “Yes?”

He walks in and closes the door. “I’ve presented your case, and we’ve decided our next course of action.”

I nod numbly.

“We’ve decided that you didn’t intentionally do the wrong thing, and that an effort was made on your part to bring Raide in. That works in your favor. We’ve decided the best course of action would be to suspend you for a period of three months. In this time, you will only work office duties. When the three months are over, depending on your performance, you’ll be given only small cases for the next twelve months. After that, we’ll look at allowing you to step up further once more. Though there won’t be a third chance, Grace. This is your only warning. You fuck up again, I’ll have to let you go.”

Wait … what? I’m not losing my job? I blink. “You’re not firing me?”

He shakes his head. “It took a lot of promises on my part that it wouldn’t happen again, but no, you’re not fired.”

“You had my back,” I say, and tears burn once more.

“I believe in you, Grace. I know you’re capable and I know you’re a good person. I also understand how it feels to fall in love. I’ve been there, I’ve experienced it. You did the wrong thing, and you’ll pay for that, but I believe you’ve learned a valuable lesson.”

I nod. “I … Thank you, Don.”

“I want you to take a few weeks off.”

I nod again. Right now, I don’t even want to be here, so having a few weeks off isn’t a bad thing. All I can think about is finding Raide. I’m grateful I’ve got my job … but what is it all worth when I feel so damned broken?

“Paid, of course.”

I swallow.

“And Grace?”

I meet his eyes.

“Don’t let me down again.”

With that, he’s gone.

* * *

“Oh, honey,” Kady says, rushing through the front door and charging toward me. I got a few of my things from my desk and have been waiting for her to come and collect me, because I’m not sure I can drive in my emotional state.

Kady wraps her arms around me and I let her hug me for the longest moment. When she pulls back, she cups my face in her hands. “You’re going to be just fine. Two weeks off, that’ll be so much fun. We’ll go shopping.”