Page 58 of Grissom
Damn it! Now Tanner would have questions. He’d think his dad lied when Grissom said his mother would never hurt him again, that she was gone for good. Why the fuck was Pam even here? How could she be in his house? Why wasn’t she dead? How the hell was she still alive?
Grissom’s jaw cracked as it shifted to one side in his big dumb head. If Pam hadn’t been in Estes’ plane when it went down, then who was? Some woman who looked like her? Was this one of Pam’s elaborate schemes to destroy everyone Grissom held dear? How had that she-devil even tracked him down?Shit!
“She might be outside, Dad. It was kinda noisy in here, and I think she has a headache,” Tanner offered quietly.
“Who?”
“Miss Tuesday.” Tanner frowned. He didn’t understand how frazzled his father was, now, when Grissom needed to man up and be everything to everyone, to be everywhere at once. Now, when panic was storming the fragile hold he had on his control. To stay or go, the eternal dilemma of every service man or woman with orders to deploy. To leave behind the people he loved most. To have to choose between them and all that was good in the world. To fight the evil that threatened everything, damn it. This couldn’t be happening again, not on Christmas Day.
Tanner tipped forward and pressed his sweaty hand to Grissom’s cheek. “Dad, I’m a big boy now, and me and Maverick’ll go find Miss Tuesday for you. Don’t worry. We got your six.”
Grissom grabbed his six-year-old boy into a tight hug at the manly words of comfort pouring out of him.
“Yeah, Grissom,” Maverick added. “Go with Luke and let us guys locate Miss Smart. The medics are waiting. I’ll stay in touch.”
“Thank you.” Tousling Tanner’s head one last time, Grissom ran for the door, knowing Tanner would be okay and praying with all his heart that Luke would be, too. Hoping Tuesday hadn’t left him. She wouldn’t do that to his boys, would she? To him?
Grissom looked back one last time, not sure he was making the right decision. Never sure that he ever had.Lord help me. Do I stay or do I go?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
She stared into the blissfully silent white blizzard pouring down on her. Covering her. Hiding her. So peaceful. So white. So many flakes, all drifting like tiny downy feathers. Reminded Tuesday of the time she’d encountered those three beluga whales on her first solo photo shoot in the Arctic. They’d called out to her from a narrow stretch of ice-cold water, chirped and grunted like three friendly pets who’d wanted human company.
Hmmm.Or maybe they’d sensed her paranoia at being left alone in one of Mother Earth’s harshest climates.
Whatever.Those whales had followed her for as long as they could, along the edge of the ice shelf she’d walked that day—like comfort animals. Sleek. Pure white, devoted companions. In a world as untouched as them. Who was she kidding? Those three chatty, whistling guardian angels had been as untouched by any man then, as she was now. Still a virgin. Always would be.
Only Grissomhadtouched her. Barely, but—enough.
Enough.Was there such a thing as ever having enough of the one thing you craved more than anything else? Enough companionship? Enough hugs and kisses from the handsome, kindly man you treasured most in your life? Enough home? Security? Money? Tuesday had more wealth than she knew what to do with, but what had it gotten her, all the wise investments Freddie’d made on her behalf? All those portfolios and bank accounts? Trusts? Offshore accounts? Real estate? Plans for a future she didn’t want now and hadn’t wanted then?
It had gotten her here, that much was certain. Here, on her back, staring Heaven in the eye and wondering what oneperson’s life was worth. Did it matter in the grand scheme of things?
There was no pain and not as much blood as she’d expected from a gunshot wound. Hmmmm. Maybe she was in shock. Or numbed by the cold. She’d fulfilled the last measure of her creation, and yes. She would’ve liked ending up with Grissom, at his side, in his bed, instead of just being in his guestroom. That would’ve been a perfect ending.
But it was never meant to be. She’d always known he’d be better off without her. He’d surely live longer. Look at Shane. Look at Heston. They were still alive—because they were safely out of her life. Out of danger. They’d never loved her like Grissom did, and she’d never loved them. Had never even thought what it’d be like to end up romantically involved with either of them. Not like she’d thought about spending forever with Grissom, Tanner, and Luke. It hurt knowing her disappearance would hurt the people she loved most. But in the end, it was happening again. She was losing everything and everyone, this time by choice—to save Grissom and his boys.
She was the reason Pam had come back from the dead. Something about Tuesday attracted evil. She was the common link between her parents’ deaths, Freddie’s murder, and the heinous murders of Maeve Astor’s poor husband and tiny children.
Her. Tuesday Smart. The common denominator of all those miserable, horrible, ugly deaths. Life and the execution of it was always about math and reason. About balance. The yin and yang of things. And logic. Logically, Tuesday chose the ending this time around. No one would die because of her, and the only way to make sure of that was for her to leave everyone she cared about behind, permanently and forever. Then and only then, could Grissom and his boys live.
What a beautiful, peaceful place to die, here in the snow. Alone, like so much of her life. But knowing Luke and Tanner were safe, that they were with Grissom…
Their dad…
The best father in the world…
Well, second to her dad…
Tuesday opened her eyes, not recalling when she’d closed them. It took more effort with tiny crystals of snow welled in her eye sockets and blanketing her face. She blinked to clear the frosty flakes away, pursed her lips, and blew what she could off her face. Lacy evergreen boughs overhead framed a gray, snow-laden sky. The view reminded her of what had once been her favorite hideaway at the far north end of Resolute Bay in Canada—the tiny hamlet of Inuktitut, also known as the‘place of no dawn.’
A memory of Grissom and his boys tramping through his tree farm—like kids—on their way to choose the perfect Christmas tree rolled over her. Three kids. One extra-large. Two tiny. Laughing. Loving each other so, so much, it brought tears to her freezing eyeballs. She’d shared the very same family outing one wintry day with her mom and dad in Minnesota, back when life was still perfect, and she’d naively believed all people were good.
Tuesday exhaled again, her breath a thin puff of frosty air between her and heaven, content to lie there and wait for her mom and dad, maybe even Freddie, to come take her home. Wasn’t that how death worked? The people you’d loved most came to be with you at the end?
Instead, a stranger’s face loomed overhead, blocking her view. Whoever he was, the guy dropped to his knees beside her, his dark brown eyes scrolling over the wound in her side, then over her bloodied face. “She hurt you? Damned lying bitch. I toldher not to touch you, but” —he shrugged— “things happen, don’t they?”
Even as dazed as she was, Tuesday sensed the wrongness in this man. “Do I know you?” she asked, willing her brain to come up with the place and time she might know him from.
