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She thought about Maggie and the way she died. This killer wanted to send a message and he knew Grace’s family and her loved ones, and he could easily get to any of them.
Suddenly Grace was in a panic as she paced the room, her mind spinning out of control with every thought. She was dizzy and nauseous all at once, her body was sweating, perspiring, her blood felt like it was boiling as she grabbed the wooden bedpost. Her head fell forward and she collapsed to the floor, passing out.
* * * *
Sandman was walking up the stairs to check on Grace. He shouldn’t have given in so easily. He should have refused to let her see the poems. He thought about how angry she got him with her persistent attitude. He was used to being in charge and having people take orders from him. What did she know about investigative work, about murder and death? The majority of his life as a soldier and as a special investigator forced him to become almost desensitized to it. Grace didn’t need to be exposed to such things.
Just as he got to her bedroom door, he immediately saw her lying on the floor next to the bed. He was in a panic as he called down to his brothers.
She looked pale and her clothes were damp. He knew instantly she had passed out as he glanced at the poems that lay strewn across the floor.
“Goddamn you, Grace. Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?” he stated with his teeth clenched.
He picked her up and placed her on the bed
then went to get a cold washcloth.
“What the hell happened?” Duke asked as he and Big Jay entered the bedroom.
“She fucking passed out. I knew I should have followed my gut. Fuck.” Sandman walked over toward the bed with a cold washcloth.
He sat next to her gently pushing the loose, wet strands of hair away from her face. He placed the washcloth on her forehead and spoke softly to her, trying to wake her up.
“Come on, Grace. Wake up, baby.” He ran his index finger gently along her cheek and jaw. He watched her chest rise and fall with even breath. She would be okay. She just passed out. He looked at his beautiful woman. The emotions, the fear that something could happen to her struck him hard to the chest.
“Sandman?” Big Jay said his name.
“Yeah.”
“She’ll be okay. She probably had information overload and panicked. Her coloring is already getting better.” Sandman felt both his brother’s hands on each shoulder. He eased his breath, and took comfort in their support.
He thought he would never need anyone. He was wrong.
* * * *
As her body cooled down Grace slowly began to open her eyes, unaware of what happened to her.
“You must have passed out, baby. I found you by the bed on the floor.” He told her as he held the washcloth to her forehead.
“I knew this was going to happen. It’s been so long.” She spoke slowly, still a little groggy.
“What do you mean? This has happened before?” Big Jay asked her and she didn’t answer him. She didn’t want them to worry more. She had passed out a few times in her hotel rooms in Europe as she thought about her sister Clara, her family and all that had happened to her. She did it mostly when it was close to the anniversary of her sister’s death.
Then it hit her that tomorrow was the day. Three years since her sister was killed. Grace began to shake and tears filled her eyes as she tried to turn away from Sandman and lie on her side.
Duke stopped her, holding her arms as he looked at her face. She was scared and sad and she said she had passed out before. What was Grace not telling them? He wondered as he spoke to her.
“Grace, what is it?” Duke asked her. “You’re shaking.”
She tried to open her eyes. They were red and filled with tears that now escaped down her cheeks, past her neck, and onto the comforter. “I can’t breathe, Duke. The pain in my chest, in my heart, I can’t breathe. I just can’t take it,” she struggled to say as she began to weep.
Duke’s heart ached, and one look toward Sandman and Big Jay and he knew they felt it, too. They surrounded her on the bed now and tried to calm her. Each of them began to caress her thigh or her cheek and make her focus on them and nothing else.
As Duke watched her cry, he saw and felt her sadness, her pain, and her loss. He lay down next to her on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against him as she continued to cry.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay,” Big Jay said as he lay down on the bottom of the bed and caressed her ankles.
Sandman moved in behind her on the other side, pushing strands of damp hair away from her cheek.
