Chapter 33: Not His Case

Zach bit his tongue. He wasn’t helping Grace this way. Besides it wasn’t his case despite the fact that he was taking it personally. “Pack a bag. We’re going to my place.”
She blinked at him as if not understanding. “I have a bed here.”
He jammed a hand through his hear, yanking out a lock from the band that held it back. “And you aren’t safe, here. The cops have a guy posted on the street, but he may not be able to stay here all night.”
He stood signaling that the conversation was done. At least in his mind. Opening a closet door, he discovered an empty backpack. He dropped it onto the bed next to her.
“I don’t like running.”
“Oh? I think now might be the best time to run.”
Grasping her hand, he pulled her to her feet. She gasped and tugged at her hand. “Why would the killer come back?”
“He knows he didn’t get you.”
“If he knew I wasn’t there he wouldn’t have shot at the bed.”
Good point, but he wasn’t leaving her here. “Maybe in the dark, the covers looked like a person.”
She didn’t believe him. “No, he was making a point.”
“Which would be?”
“That he was going to get me.”
He gritted his teeth, then worked to relax his jaw muscles. He hoped his voice didn’t come out strained. She was trying his patience. “Then you should come with me.”
Her frown told him she hadn’t realized her argument was circular. She hadn’t wanted to come back and prove his point correct.
Her shoulders slumped further. “Okay,” she said, defeat tinting her words.
She stood and as if on autopilot, then threw clothes into a backpack. When she finished, she looked at him her eyes lidded. “Let’s go.”
***
Grace just wanted to sleep. She didn’t care if she did it leaning against a wall. Or in the front seat of Zach’s car. He’d refused to let her drive and promised to drop her back home later in the day.
Thankfully, she had the day off, but she knew she had to be back for when Dolores would come home.
Zach led her into his apartment. “Sit. I need to put some clean sheets on the bed.”
“I’ll take the couch.”
She had to catch some shut eye before the afternoon.
“No. You’ll take the bed. I don’t have any appointments this morning, but I need to get stuff done here.”
Grace nodded, the fight out of her for the moment.
She must have dozed off because Zach shook her. “Grace.”
“Huh?”
“Go get undressed. You want a bath or something?”
“No.”
He took her hand. His warmth infused into her as the usual colors dance. Today they were yellow and green, leaving her wondering what that meant. She didn’t understand anything anymore.
Right now, she couldn’t wrap her brain around any explanation, but the colors were inviting. She didn’t feel dizzy, but she couldn’t see so she let Zach lead her.
He left her to her undressing which she did quickly, leaving on her underwear. Sliding into the sheets, her body sighed as if this were her own bed returned to after a long absence.
Something wasn’t right. She tossed and turned. She couldn’t get comfortable.
“Grace?”   
Zach stood in the doorway. His shape was silhouetted by the beam cast by the hall light.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
He came into the room and settled on the edge of the bed.
“I guess I can’t sleep. My birthday is today. I was born in the afternoon so I’m not officially thirty until it’s seven in the evening.”
“And why is that significant?”
“I’ll lose my powers when I’m thirty. Not just the day, but the exact time I was born. I have to solve this murder.”
“You have the weight of the world, on you.”
He ran a finger down her jaw line. She turned into his hand.
“It feels that way some days.”
“Will you be sorry you don’t have the power anymore.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If I save Dolores, I’ll be glad to be rid of it. But if she dies and I can’t help her then I’ll regret the loss of it.”
“Mm.”
His hand went through her hair. The colors appeared on the fringes of he vision. They didn’t obscure her view of Zach in his pajama bottom and no top.
She reached out and touched the muscles on his chest. He didn’t flinch. The colors didn’t deepen.
“Hold me.”
“I’m not sure I can just hold you, Grace.”
“Then don’t just hold me. Make me forget about all this.”
“You won’t be sorry in the morning?”
“No.” Because I’m falling in love with you. She couldn’t utter those words. She couldn’t reveal that much of herself.
“If you say to stop, I will,” he said as he took her into his arms.
“Go.”
It was better than her dreams.
***
Grace snuggled closer to Zach. His breathing steadied and she knew he was asleep.
What seemed like a minute later, she entered the dream world. Someone was chasing her. She knew the person, but couldn’t see him. Her dream self wanted to stop and look, but couldn’t risk being caught.
Her breath, ragged now, caught in her throat. She ran, stumbling in the darkness. She couldn’t figure out where she was.
Then someone called her name, shaking her, but she couldn’t see anyone.
“Grace.”
Zach’s voice invaded her unconscious brain, waking her up.
She buried her head into his chest as he arms enveloped her. They became a haven from her dream. Maybe even a haven from her world. No one could hurt her as long as Zach stayed close. She’d felt this before, but it hadn’t worked. Why would it work this time? Some part of her wanted to stay here warm and secure.
“You screamed.”
“Someone was chasing me. Someone I knew.”
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see them.”