Did he know already? “Why would you think that?”
He was in full cop mode, even if he wasn’t a cop anymore. Or had that changed? She didn’t see a badge on his belt so maybe not.
“Usually that’s the reason people move.”
She leaned back in her chair, her finger tracing a line around the top of her oversized coffee cup. “People move around for lots of reasons. Wanderlust. Better jobs.”
He leaned his elbows on the table his gray gaze taking in all of her. She wouldn’t have been any more vulnerable if she’d been naked.
“Do you have wanderlust?”
His voice came out low and gravelly. The sound touched a primeval part of her, saying, “This is your mate.” This was as if she’d met her other half. Oh. My. God. Should she do things differently with Zach this time?
She smiled, pushing away her scary feelings. “Yes, I think I do.”
With his head cocked, he flashed her some teeth. The gesture wasn’t actually a smile, but something more predatory. “What would make you settle?”
“Hm. Good question.”
“You don’t have the dream of the picket fence and kids in the yard?”
She did, but never expected it to happen. “Not sure that’s in the cards for me.”
His smile this time was softer as if what she’d said appealed to him. “So what do you do, Miss Harmony?”
“Grace, please. I have a feeling we’ll be getting to know each other.” She wished she could predict what the next person ordered so she could set him on the path to believing her. This time was different, even more different than the last time she came back in time. This made her job more difficult. “I’m a medic at Centre Community Hospital.”
“Shift work. That’s why you look a little ragged.”
Was her hair sticking up? Had she forgotten to brush it this morning? A self-conscious hand nudged a lock out of her face. “My apartment is presently on fire.”
“Jeez, then you look pretty calm. You have a place to stay?”
“Dolores is letting me move in tonight. Not that I have anything to move in this time.”
“This time?”
She bit her lip. “The move to this place as opposed to my move to Mill Hall.”
“Oh,” he said.
The pager on his belt made a noise. He stood and switched it off. “Well it’s been nice chatting with you, Miss, er, Grace. I hope to see you again.”
The way his gaze lingered on her she figured he’d be making the effort for that to happen.
Chapter Thirteen
Zach whistled his way to his car, feeling better than he had in awhile. A chat with a gorgeous blond could do that for him.
Now onto the grim business of a fire at an apartment complex. “This must be the fire Grace was talking about.”
He appreciated his old partner asking for his advice. Knowing Ed, he really needed it and wasn’t trying to cheer up Zach.
The scene had been declared safe by the fire company so Zach, his ex-partner, Ed, and some crime scene techs from the Prosecutor’s Office traversed to the first floor apartment. At least where it had been before fire consumed it.
“Whose apartment is this?” Zach studied the techs as they went to work. Not much evidence to gather. Most had gone up in flames. Still, the team had to search.
“A Grace Harmony,” Ed said. He’d been on the scene prior to Zach’s arrival
His face didn’t reveal that he’d just been with her. “You have a number?”
“Yeah, but you’re just our consultant. We’ll interview her.”
He’d put Zach in his place, reminding him he wasn’t on the team anymore. The jagged pill of reality threatened to choke him. “Fine. Who called in the fire?”
“The landlord. He was coming by to fix something. We can’t locate him right now.”
“That’s odd,” Zach said, the stench of charcoal invading his nostrils. He’d never get over that smell. “You think he started it?”
Ed shrugged. “We’ll have to see.”
“Right. Guess you’ll start with the wife.
Grace’s cell phone rang. “Hello Mark.”
“Hey, Gracie. How’d you know it was me? Are you doing that back in time thing again?”
She sat in her new apartment, lounging in sweatpants and a t-shirt. She didn’t have the energy to unpack. Time travel took a piece out of her. Having done it twice in less than a week, exhaustion attacked her bones. “Yes, I am, but things are odd. The days are not repeating themselves. I don’t know what it means.”
“How so?”
“Well I’m meeting people before I’m supposed to and my apartment burned down early this time. It didn’t the first two times.”
“Back up this truck. You’ve been through this twice? Has that ever happened before?”
“No, never. The first time the person was murdered anyway.”
“But that happened last time, too. That murder victim died also. Gracie, I see a trend.”
She shuddered, thinking about her last town and her last murder victim. Shaking her head she cleared it of the bad reminders of a failed job. “Yes, but the murder victim didn’t talk to me the next time. This one did. I’m scared.”
“I wish could be there, but I’m in California. Got a gig on a commercial. We start shooting tomorrow. Won’t be done for a week.”
Ever the struggling actor, Grace didn’t know how Mark even paid his own rent. Should she ask him if he was on his way here? That could be different, too.
“This will all be over in two days.”
“Two days? Is that when she’d killed? On your birthday?”
“My birthday’s in three days.”
“Check the date, Gracie.”
She grabbed for a newspaper and sure enough, Mark was right. Her eyes drifted closed as her heart thumped in her chest. How could she possibly do this in this short a time?
“Do you usually get that little time?” Mark asked.
“That’s another strange thing. I usually have three weeks. I have some ideas about where to start and who to check off my list, but that’s it.”
“Doesn’t sound like fun.”
“No it isn’t. Gotta go Mark, someone’s knocking on my door.”
Dolores had brought Chinese food and she and Grace had devoured it when the inevitable knock came on the door. For a moment, Grace wanted to tell Dolores everything. How else could she save her?
Zach stood on her doorstep scowling. He was going to be even grumpier than last time. Why did she find this man attractive?
“We meet again. Come in,” Grace said.
Zach strode into the apartment as if he owned it. Technically when he was married to Dolores he had.
“Hey, Zach, what brings you here?” Dolores asked.
