Courage (Partners in Crime Book 2)

Chapter 11

Once dinner was finished, everyone made their way to Grace's living room. She picked a spot right next to Hunter on the loveseat and sat down. Chloe and Dominic sat together on the lovesac. Damon pulled up a dining chair and sat in it. As did Nicole. Cole sat in her recliner. Jack took the spot on the other loveseat, and much to his dismay, Olivia sat as far away from him on the other side of it.

"So, we are gathered here today-"

"This is not a wedding Jack." Olivia quipped.

He shot her a pained expression but continued, "On this fine evening, we come together-" Chuckles came from around the room. Olivia simply glared. Jack rolled his eyes, "We are all here to discuss Grace's case. Ha. That rhymes."

"Cut to the chase, Jack." Nicole said with a smirk on her face.

"Fine. Dom, you do it."

Dominic cleared his throat, "We all know there has been a death threat against Grace. Marie Sills says that it could be her brother in law, Andy, who wants revenge. So far not many things have been found on this guy. Or any other details on why John held his wife hostage in the first place. So this is an unofficial meeting to discuss what we've found."

"Why is the FBI involved in this?" Grace asked.

"We're not really involved. It's just unofficial business. Jack and I thought our resources may be helpful." Dominic told her. Jack nodded in agreement.

"But Cole and Nicole? They can't do anything. No offense."

Nicole smiled, "None taken. And actually, I can. I have access to John's medical records. He came into the hospital once, because of a bad wound from a bar fight."

Chloe winced. Dominic squeezed her shoulder and whispered something into her ear that relaxed her a fraction. Grace knew that Chloe didn't like anything associated with wounds or people getting hurt. The woman was just too sweet.

Cole looked at Grace, "I can't help that much, but my brain and willpower got to do something right?"

Grace shot him a smile. "Thanks." Memories of the first night after John was killed flooded her mind. Yeah, no matter what Cole did, he would always be a big help. Rats. There comes her babyish self again.

"I have files from the crime scene too. They might not be much help but who knows?" Olivia dug into her bag and pulled out a pair of cute, oversized glasses. Grace thought they looked adorable on her.

So did Jack apparently. The poor guy was looking at her so intently that it hurt her heart that Olivia didn't really like him. Which made no sense since she had said herself they were good together, but didn't like him all that much.

"Grace?" Hunter whispered in her ear.

She perked up. "Huh?"

"Olivia asked you a question."

She looked around to see most everyone staring at her. "Right, sorry. Yes Liv?"

Olivia pushed her glasses up her nose and Grace could have sworn Jack was drooling. "Did Marie give you any other ideas on who might want revenge for John's death?"

Grace shook her head, "Nope. She said that John didn't have too many friends."

"And what was his job?" Damon flipped through files.

"He was a construction worker." Hunter answered. "But we talked to his boss and employer. They said he was a good man that didn't display many problems."

"Meaning the bar fight incident makes little to no sense." Jack piped up.

"Agreed."

When Olivia said that, Jack raised a brow, "Oh, so now you agree with me?"

By the looks of it, Olivia bit back a retort.

Grace cleared her throat, "I still don't understand why they come after me."

"Logically, it's because they think that you could have stopped the death from happening." Olivia started. "You were trying to talk him out of it and he all of a sudden gets killed. They blame you for not stopping him and his death."

Sometimes her sister's smartness confounded her. Hunter put an arm around her shoulders. "Olivia's right. The logic makes sense."

Olivia squinted at her computer with a puzzled look. Jack leaned in to see, and surprise of all surprises, she didn't push him away. She just pointed at the screen.

Grace's phone rang, causing her to jump. Crystal. She answered it and put it on speaker.

"Hi Crystal."

"Howdy. Listen, I searched and searched for Andy Sills and nothing came up. It says that John had only one sibling, a sister and she died of leukemia. There is no such thing as Andy. At least of what I know. He literally dropped off the face of the earth."

Grace nodded, "That's what I said."

Olivia jumped, "Crystal's right! Andy Sills doesn't exist. Just hack into the hospital system. You can see the birth record for all the Sills family. Andy simply doesn't exist. They have lived here for all their life so it makes sense that their birth records would be here. Andy was made up because-"

"Hold on a minute." Nicole stopped her. "You hacked into the hospital's system!?"

Olivia shrugged, "It's not that hard. You just need the right formula for the password and a basic idea of-"

She was cut off yet again by Dominic, "Okay smarty pants. We get it. But no record of Andy? That doesn't make sense."

Nicole sat dumbfounded, realizing that the hospital needed a better sense of security.

Olivia pushed her glasses up more and looked down, clearly embarrassed. Crystal said something about needing to go, and hung up. Grace noticed Jack's indecisiveness on whether to help Olivia or not.

"Okay everyone, here is what I propose." Hunter stated.

~~~~~

As the night drew nearer, people started to get tired. Chloe fell asleep on Dominic's shoulder and he seemed to love it. Nicole was yawning every other minute. Damon's eyes were closed. Grace was slowly nodding off against Hunter. Cole was taking a catnap on the recliner. Jack was almost asleep on the couch. Olivia was the only one who was wide awake, tapping on her computer.

Hunter stood up, making Grace immediately miss his warmth. "I think we all need to get some shut eye."

People started stirring. "Good idea." Jack stretched his body out.

"Chloe?" Dominic whispered to his fiance.

She shifted, "Yes?"

"Time to go."

Her eyelids fluttered open, "Mm. Okay."

When she made no point to move, Dominic grinned and picked her up. Carrying her to the door, he nodded to everyone. "We'll keep working tomorrow. See you all." He left and Chloe waved from her position in his arms.

Nicole put the dining chair back. "Thanks for letting us come over Grace."

Grace gave her a hug, "No problem. Love you sis."

Nicole smiled and left.

Damon patted Hunter on the back, "See ya man." He turned to the other guys. "Adios Cole. Jack."

The men nodded and saluted as Damon left.

Cole came over and engulfed Grace in a bear hug, "Stay safe. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too." And then he was gone.

Jack made to help Olivia up, but she ignored him and went straight to her sister, "Bye Grace. I'll do some more work when I get home. Talk tomorrow?"

She grinned. Of course Olivia wasn't finished working. She never would be. "Sounds good. Bye Liv."

Jack waved to the two and followed Olivia out.