Page 24 of Two Hearts
“It’s my fault you felt neglected.I just…I thought I was being careful with you.Maybe I was too careful.”
“Maybe you were,” she said.
“Maybe you should have said something.”
She shrugged.“I guess I should have.”
He let his eyes roam her face, thinking of all the wasted time.Damn, damn, damn.Too late now, but he wished to God it wasn’t.That he would have one more chance with her.
He let her go, because he had to.She walked around the car and got in, and Jack slid behind the wheel.
CHAPTER 8
“Daddy?”she said when she heard her father’s voice on the other end of the cell phone.
“Gracie?For God’s sake, what time is it, girl?”She heard the covers rustle as her father turned in bed to eye the clock’s luminous dial.She could picture it clearly when his face paled and his eyes widened.“What’s wrong?”
“Daddy…it’s a long story, but…but it’s Hope.”
“Is she all right?”her father demanded.“Areyou?”
Grace could hear her mother now, sleepy and distant.“What’s going on, Harry?”
“Daddy, Hope and Charlie are…they’re missing.”
“Missing?What do you mean, missing?”
A strong hand closed over Grace’s on the cell phone and gently tugged it away.A second later she managed to brush enough of the tears from her eyes to see Jack’s face, to watch him watching her as he drove and spoke calmly and clearly to her father, explaining what had happened.He didn’t pull punches, but he didn’t sound worried, either.His voice carried confidence and authority when he told Grace’s father it was only a matter of time before he had both his daughters home again.
The rain smacked against the windshield, and the wipers slapped it back and forth.It would be light in a few hours.But right now it was black as pitch.
“Yes,” Jack said.“She knows the truth now.”
Grace glanced at him, met his eyes.
“No, she hasn’t asked for a divorce yet.But your wife will probably demand one.”He pretended to smile at whatever her father said.“Maybe it’s time you told her, Harry.Mitsy would hate being the last to know.And don’t worry.I’ll take care of this.”
When he disconnected, Grace said, “My father knew?The whole time, he knew you were a cop?”
“He knew.”
She blinked, thinking back to the night she’d met Jack—the night her father had been mugged and nearly had a heart attack.The hero he’d made out of Jack.“What really happened that day?”
“Does it matter?”
She pressed her brows together.“You said you were going to tell me the truth from now on.It seems like as good a place to start as any.”
Licking his lips, he said, “I suppose it does.”He turned off the highway and headed back into the city.“The day I met your father, I was sitting across the street from a crack house, waiting for this Darius character to show up.”
She blinked and tipped her head sideways.“The same guy who just kidnapped my sister?”
“The same.I’d been watching the place for quite a while, but then your father came along.Some punks decided to roll him, and when one of them pulled a knife, I had to step in.”He shrugged.“And that’s about it.”
“How many of them were there?”she asked, suppressing a shiver.
“Five.”
“And they had a knife?”
