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“Thanks for this,” she said.
“Of course. I’ll call or text after the sun is up. Hopefully, I’ll have something on the prints by then.”
She kissed him quickly and got out of the car. She made her way to the front door and punched in the security code, again feeling a bit like a rebellious teen sneaking in after curfew. She locked the door behind her and made her way into the kitchen, where she saw that the note she’d left just three hours ago was untouched.
As quietly as she could, she made her way upstairs and into her bedroom. She stripped down and got into bed, her mind thrumming with the many possibilities the case could have in store. Yet, somehow, she felt sleep coming on quickly; apparently, she was more tired than she’d thought. She drifted off in a comfortable sort of exhaustion and didn’t open her eyes again until her morning alarm went off.
***
The morning played out the same as they had over the course of the past few weeks (with the exception of yesterday morning). Rachel, Paige, and Grandma Tate had breakfast together—pancakes, eggs, and bacon on that particular morning—and then they all headed out to take Paige to school. It was a Friday morning, so Paige was showing a bit more excitement than usual. The only real difference in that morning than any other was that Rachel was very aware of her cellphone in her pocket. She trusted Jack and knew that he would call her with any updates. But she also knew that it was still early in the morning, and it often took more time than expected to get results back from prints. And trying to sway the judge to release those medical records after having already denied access yesterday was going to be just as monotonous.
After dropping Paige off, Rachel and Grandma Tate picked up coffees and eclairs on the way back home. The talk was all just filler about weekend plans to maybe take Paige to a movie she wanted to see, to get out into the backyard and finish weeding out one of the flowerbeds.
It was during this particularly uninteresting exchange that Rachel’s phone rang. They were two blocks away from her house, and it was 8:52. Despite having only gotten three and a half hours of solid sleep the night before, she felt surprisingly refreshed and awake.
Seeing that the call was from Jack, she said,“It’s Jack. You mind if I take it?”
Grandma Tate waved her hand dismissively as if to sayPlease.
“Hello, Agent Rivers,” she answered. “How are you this morning?”
“Tired, but things are moving along.”
“Yeah? How so? Did you get a hit on those prints?” She didn’t realize it until the question was out of her mouth, but this may have been enough to get Grandma Tate suspicious. She said nothing, though. It wasn’t like she knew every single detail of everything she and Jack talked about. She knew he would occasionally talk to her about work, sometimes getting her to take on smaller cases.
“No, not yet. Forensics sent a digital copy to DC, hoping a specialist up there can decipher them. That pinky print wasjustsmudged enough to where it was really hard to get an accurate read.”
“Any word from the judge?”
“Yes, and it’s good news. I got the call about ten minutes ago. Someone from both hospitals are due to send me what we need within the hour. And I was hoping I could come by your place and we could go through it together.”
“Yeah, that would be great. How soon are we talking?”
“I’m on the way over right now. Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“That’s actually perfect. I’ll see you then.”
They ended the call, and Rachel looked over to see Grandma Tate smiling at her. “When is he coming over?”
“In about fifteen minutes. He’s got some new information on this case he’s working on and he wants me to help him out.”
“Does it have anything to do with the note you left for me last night?”
Rachel knew she did a poor job of masking her surprise. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. She’d taken up the note from the night before and tossed it in the trash before going to bed just after three in the morning.
“I’m an old lady,” Grandma Tate explained. I woke up around 1:30… went downstairs, and got a bit of water. I saw your note.”
“And you didn’t mention it to me this morning?”
She shrugged as she pulled the car into Rachel’s driveway. “I had no reason, too. I think I’ve made it quite clear that I think it’s a mistake for you to continue working. And yes, I do stand by that even with this working-but-not-really-working situation. But I know what your job means to you. In all honesty, I’m not going to keep griping about it. As long as you remain loyal and true to Paige and keep yourself out of harm’s way, you won’t hear a peep out of me. I trust you to make the right decisions.”
Rachel felt tears coming on but did her best to keep them at bay.“I appreciate that. And, yes…I’m going to be much smarter. Jack is looking out for me, too. He’s being a hard-ass in terms of what he will and won’t let me help with.”
“I doubt that,” Grandma Tate said as she got out of the car. “I’ve seen how he looks at you. I can’t imagine him telling younoabout much.”
Grandma Tate parked and killed the engine. They walked inside in silence, and Rachel couldn't determine if it was a natural silence or if there was some tension between the two of them. She had always known that her insistence to work whenever she could head bothered her grandmother from the very first day she had moved in with them. She hadn't detected any anger in what Grandma Tate had just said, but there was still some guilt on her end.
On the other hand, her involvement,in this case, was now out of the bag. It was no longer a secret she needed to keep. Naturally, Rachel wouldn't divulge yesterday's activities on Archer Street if she could help it.
