Chapter 13

Grace had dropped off Lyric and was on her way to the Aldrich farm. She had a decision to make about the hacker. Should Grace let her go or not? It wasn’t that Lyric didn’t add value because she did. In fact, her skill set was ideal for the investigation side of the business. And Janice had asked her to hire the young girl.

The problem was Lyric’s teenage attitude. Mandy had taken Grace aside and admitted that Lyric annoyed her. She’d pointed out some of the phrases Lyric uttered that got on her nerves, such as I don’t like drama. This was the go-to phrase of people who loved to create exactly that.

Other stuff included things Grace had heard herself. Can’t you see I’m busy? was one that irritated her the most because everyone was busy at work. I’m sorry if I offended you, So what? and Sorry, not sorry were all outbursts she’d never had to deal with when she worked with adults.

Then there was the relationship between Lyric and Alex. Alex had tried to accept his new foster sister into his life. It was less about them not liking each other than that each resented the other for the intrusion into their lives.

Alex had grown up an only child, and suddenly, Lyric was moved into his home without him even being consulted. Considering his control issues, Grace was surprised he’d handled it as well as he had.

Grace knew it wasn’t fair to compare Lyric to Alex because he’d worked with his dad. But Lyric’s work ethic was abysmal, and she got distracted or bored quickly. Lyric also saw the responsibility that Grace gave Alex and chafed at what Lyric called ‘busy work.’ That was why Grace had put Lyric in charge of finding the bad eggs in the sheriff’s department. But even that wasn’t enough to hold the girl’s interest for long.

Grace decided she would talk to Janice first, but the reality was that Lyric hadn’t worked out. Grace didn’t have time to babysit a nearly sixteen-year-old.

Mrs. Aldrich had directed Grace to the drying barn, where she found an interesting sight: Tanya, who was afraid of dogs, was rubbing the belly of a caramel-colored pit bull. Meanwhile, Alex was teaching Decker and his dad how to log into their security system.

“Let me guess: Alex insisted on some nonsensical combination of letters and numbers as your passcode that he claims is easy to remember,” Grace said with a knowing grin.

“Maddie promised to change them for us once he leaves,” Decker stage-whispered.

“He keeps saying we have to treat this like a business,” Mr. Aldrich said.

“Don’t I know it,” Grace said.

Alex gave them an irritated look and asked Tanya, “What’s Decker’s password?”

She rattled it off with no problem.

Grace glanced over at Alex. She expected he would gloat that a ten-year-old could remember it and not her dad or older brother. What she saw instead was his expressionless face; Alex’s eyes were completely empty.

When Alex didn’t point it out as vindication, Mr. Aldrich conceded, “Decker and I will learn the passwords.”

Grace was glad she showed up because Alex explained all the ins and outs of the security system. She found him a patient teacher who accepted all questions without a hint of irritation. She had to admit that she couldn’t have done any better—given the subject matter, probably not as well, in fact.

“Call me if you have any questions,” Alex said to wrap up the training session. “I’ll be out at the end of the week to check up on you.”

“And thanks for taking Snickers,” Mr. Aldrich said.

“I’m not sure Janice will let me keep her, but I promise to find her a good home.”

When Alex stood up, the dog forgot all about Tanya and was instantly at his side.

“Come on. I’m sure Grace will give us a ride home,” Alex said.

That was when Grace noticed that Alex had a noticeable limp.

“What happened?” Grace asked.

“I’ll tell you on the way home.”

“What is it with women over a certain age that they all want to look at my butt?” Alex asked.

Grace had called Janice when she heard the Cooper boy had almost killed Alex.

“Quit complaining and show us,” Janice said.

“No pointing, no laughing, and no flash photography,” Alex said with a serious expression.

Grace and Janice almost laughed at that but knew if they did, Alex would storm off and lock himself in his room.

Alex only pulled his pants down enough to show them a glimpse of his road rash.

“Carl Cooper sent his son, Dave, to stop you from testifying?” Janice asked.

“I plead the fifth,” Alex said with narrowed eyes. “And if you even think of trying to force me to testify, that’s all I’ll say.”

Grace was glad Alex wasn’t her worry because he was stubborn as a mule when it came to anything that made him look like a ‘rat.’ It would be a cold day in hell before he’d ever testify in open court, and she knew Janice was aware of that. That didn’t mean that her best friend wasn’t beyond giving the boy a hard time.

“We’ll see. I’m not going to let something like that go,” Janice said.

Alex finally chuckled.

“Who said I was?”

’Shit!’ Grace thought.

Alex on a revenge rampage wasn’t something she ever wanted to see.

Janice looked at her as if to say, ‘What do I do with this?’

“Go take a soak in my tub. There’s an antibiotic ointment in my medicine cabinet. Let me know if you need help putting it on,” Janice said to end the standoff.

Alex started to leave but stopped and asked, “Do I get to keep Snickers?”

“Absolutely not. Grace will take her home with her,” Janice said.

“I will?”

“Yes. Yes, you will,” Janice said.

Snickers went with Grace without a problem because Alex was nowhere to be seen. Grace stopped at the grocery store and spent almost a hundred bucks on dog supplies. When she got home and let the dog inside the house, she wondered if the pit bull was Alex Junior because the dog went through the whole place to check it out.

When Snickers was done, she found Grace and mentally communicated that it was time to feed her.

To be honest, Grace had always wanted a dog, but her lifestyle wasn’t ideal for caring for one. Now that she had a permanent home base and got home at a reasonable time, maybe this would work.

Lyric returned from spending the afternoon at the pool and found Janice waiting for her.

“We need to talk,” Janice said and pointed to a seat at the kitchen table.

Lyric was shocked to discover Grace had fired her, and her day went south from there. Lyric either had to find another job by the end of the week, or she’d be sent to church camp, aka reeducation camp. If she gave Janice any lip about it, she could violate her ‘get out of jail free’ agreement. The scary part was Lyric believed her.

That didn’t mean Lyric was done, though. This all had to be because of Alex somehow. So, when Janice sent her to her room to ‘think about it,’ Lyric instead went to the basement where Alex was working in his computer room.

“What did you do?” she seethed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, if you don’t mind, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

His attitude caught her off guard. Alex might have been cold or distant, but he’d never said anything like that to her—or anyone else, so far as she knew.

“What’s wrong?” Lyric asked.

She saw him close his eyes and take a deep breath before answering.