Chapter Fourteen
Max watched in amusement as Alex practically shoved his nose unto the sheet of paper in his hands. Alex reached for a fifth slice of pizza from the box and bit into it not breaking his gaze off the paper. Max let out a chuckle and saw just how determined his best friend was to solve all of this. In reality he hadn't expected for Alex to actually be right, but he could somehow understand him. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Vicky was still alive. She had changed of course but it still didn't change the fact that it was really her. She looked a lot healthier, the Vicky before was a lot thinner and pale. Now she was fuller, beautiful, with pink high cheekbones, fuller lips and those milk chocolate brown eyes.
Max shook his head and cleared his throat making Alex turn away from the page and look at him. Had he really just gone there? Fear creeped into Max as he tried to focus his attention on the pile of papers in front of him. His old days were over and he had to keep reminding himself that he was a new and improved Max Stevens.
"Something wrong?" Alex asked.
"Nope, just thinking." He replied. Max suddenly felt like he was betraying himself, Izzy and most of all Alex. How could he sit there and think just how lovely Vicky had turned out to be? He thought about Izzy instead, far away with her parents, he tried to think just how much he missed her. Izzy was a great girl, she didn't protest when he wanted to hang out with friends, nor complained when he needed to be alone. She was a great cook, and a hell of a girl in the bedroom. He smiled and picked up the paper in front of him, yep he had a great gal. One that he would be marrying soon.
"You want to slow down on that pizza?" Max said trying to steer his thought's elsewhere.
Alex looked at the seventh slice in his hand with wide eyes and tossed the piece into the box wiping his hands on his jeans.
"Sorry, It's been a while since I've had a cheat day." Alex replied a bit embarrassed.
"I've noticed how you've been starving yourself lately, not to mention the long hours at the gym." Max replied while wiping his hands on his couch.
"Come on Max, why do you have to be such a slob, use a napkin for Christ sake," Alex suddenly said tossing Max one.
"Sorry."
"I've been thinking about what you said, about investigating the Holiday family. The problem is where do we start?"
"I'll do some digging for you and let you know what I find out, meanwhile try to take Vicky on that date of yours and pull out some information on her family. Ask her random questions." Max said.
*****
Alex nodded and shuffled through a few more papers and then finally after a few hours gone by he gave up. By the time he rose off the couch and stretched Max was long knocked out on the couch. Alex chuckled and gently nudged him. Max simply snored, his mouth hanging open as a few papers laid on his chest.
He picked up all of the sheets and placed them inside his folder taking them back into his room and tugging them under his bed. Alex wasn't one to kneel down and pray, sure he believed in a higher power but he had never actually tried to reach out to it. For the first time in a while, maybe since he was five years old he sat on the corner of his bed and bowed his head.
"Please let me be right, please help me put the wrong things right," he whispered.
Alex sighed and kicked off his shoes tossing his shirt to a side and sliding unto the bed. He lay on his side starring at the alarm clock glow in the dark, the red color and buzzing coming from it suddenly made him doze off.
****
Grace lay in her bed feeling the sudden hot thick weather of the morning consume her. She had expected to rise in the morning and be consumed by freezing weather instead it was humid, sticky and hot. She immediately pulled off the sheets and rose off the bed stretching the fetal position off her body. She hurried into the restroom took care of freshening up and finally happily descended the stairs. It was the bickering of her parents that made her come to a halt. She frowned and sat at the bottom of the last step looking down at her bare feet.
It wasn't and ever say thing, but when they did argue it upset her because of course it was about her. She never liked to eavesdrop on their arguments even though her name was tossed around as they went about yelling at each other. She let out a sigh and decided that waiting for them to stop yelling would not beat the fact that her stomach was grumbling. But it was then when she passed the living room that Alexander's name made her halt.
"Betty you know she can't be seen around with that man, he is trouble for us." Her father hissed.
"How was I supposed to know that it was him trying to peruse her!" she screamed.
"We cannot not allow the Jewels to come anywhere near Grace do you understand."
"What am I supposed to tell her, that she can't work there anymore?" her mother snapped.
"Well do something, and Betty don't raise any suspicions. We've allowed ourselves to grow soft. I can't believe we didn't pay close enough attention." He warned.
Grace could hear the approaching footsteps of her father and quickly dove into the kitchen hiding her head inside the refrigerator. She felt her stomach clench as she heard him sigh and speak.
"Oh, Hi honey, I didn't know you were up already." He said.
"Just digging in here looking for something to eat." She replied still hiding inside the fridge. When she closed the door she looked over at her father. He simply sat at the round table looking down his newspaper acting as if nothing had happened. His face held no evidence that her mother and he had just had a bad argument over Alexander and her. Grace settled for a bowl of oat meal and stirred the gooey wheat watching as the vapor rose from it. She wanted to ask what the hell they had been arguing about but she somehow couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead she quickly finished her meal and rose to get ready for work.
"Heading for work?" He said as she passed him.
Grace simply nodded and was surprised as her father reached out and gripped her forearm stopping her from walking out.
"Grace...I don't feel comfortable you working there, I know it's been a dream of yours to bake cakes, I just...I'm concerned of who you work for. It been a while since you've been out on your own and it scares me that you might get attacked or jacked out in the streets while you go to and from work."
She looked down to her father, his features breaking into a painful expression mixed in with guilt. There was something he was hiding that he refused to tell her, but Grace simply smiled and placed a hand over his shoulder.
"Dad, you've always wanted what's best for me...and I respect your decisions, if walking home alone is what worries you then maybe you can get me a car to go to work every day. God knows you both can't drive there because you have work to attend to as well."
"It's not that...it's mainly the person you are working for, I don't get a good vibe from him. He looks dangerous Grace. I know you may not see it, but I know men." He replied patting her hand.
Grace felt her feet grow cold, her father had never been wrong about his superstitions. She considered it for a moment and decided to shake it off. Maybe he was just too concerned and if he didn't want her working there then he had to let her know why. He had to be honest, because it wasn't fair to say she simply couldn't without giving her a good reason. Alexander had seemed like a broken soul still mourning the loss of his beloved Victoria Elven. The very name made Grace's stomach turn in jealousy. But instead she pushed that thought away and bit down on her lip. There was nothing suspicious about him at all, except him showing up on her doorstep last night.
"When did you meet him?" Grace asked.
"I saw him a couple nights ago, he was at the towing business I work in, I didn't quite overhear what he was looking for but he left with a couple of papers. Said he was looking for information on some woman who had an accident not about three years ago."
"Vicky," Grace whispered. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and bit her lip regretting ever saying that name out loud.
"Honey...I think...I think he might have killed her, and he's trying to hide evidence." He said.
Grace furrowed her brow and felt her stomach flip with fear as she took a step back.
"Dad how can you say that?" she asked a bit surprised.
"He's well known in his town, they spotted him sneaking out of the morgue as well, the very same morgue were they had done an autopsy on his old girlfriend." He warned.
"How do you know all of this?" Something sounded awfully fishy to Grace as she stared at her father. All of this sounded so suspicious.
"A friend of mine works at the newspaper, said he was working on a new story to print and decided to talk about this man's recent where abouts. Grace I also know he was here last night and that you have been going to lunch with him. I deeply advice that you quit that job, you might become his next victim." He sighed rising from his seat. His eyes looked pained as he placed both hands over her shoulders and kissed her forehead. She felt the kiss send a chilling vibe over her spine as he let go and turned to leave the kitchen.
Her stomach turned as she stared down to the floor. She was confused and most of all suspicious of both men. She felt frozen in place, how was she his next victim? Was Alexander really a murderer? Had he taken Victoria Elven's life and pretended it to be a tragic accident? It kind of made sense why he suddenly wanted to have lunch and how he kept asking questions about her life. She shuttered and held herself taking a seat on the chair.
Then again her father knew to much about what had happened this past week. He was well aware of not only Alex's whereabouts but hers as well. Grace felt her heart accelerate in fear and confusion. She didn't want to become Alex's next victim and she wanted answers to her father's eerie actions.
Her mind began to function once again as she shook off the feeling of fear overcoming her body. Taking a deep breath she walked over to the house phone and dialed the bakery's number. She didn't want to involve her father in Alexander's life any further if he was right about his allegations and she didn't want to drag Alexander into her father's suspicions just in case he was wrong.
She needed to evaluate each mans motives. It was time to do a little detective work. She waited until the third ring and took a deep breath as he answered.
****
Alex sat in his office ready for the day's work, there were piled up on orders but that didn't concern him. The people that worked for him and turned out to be pretty good employees making his stress level at ease. The phone rang making him sit straight and reach out for his office phone.
"Hello?" he said.
"T-this is Grace Holiday...I'm just calling in to say...I won't be coming in for work anymore, I'm sorry." She sighed.
"Grace? Why, what happened?" He asked growing concerned.
"I can't discuss any further information just know that I am alright and it has nothing to do with the environment at work." The line went dead and Alex sat there looking at the phone.
"No, Vicky, no." He whispered. He quietly hung up the phone and rested his forehead on the desk trying to come up with a plan. Maybe during lunch he'd go and see what the deal really was. After all he needed an explanation, this was all so very odd. She had seemed happy and at ease last night. He wondered for a moment if the Holiday's had maybe threatened her, or better yet recognized him somehow. This was all a big mystery to him, but he'd get to the bottom of it, he was more than certain they knew about who she really was.