Dale and Isaac walked James outside. They sat down at a table to discuss what had happened. The weather seemed to fit the mood. It was a gloomy day, grey, windy. By the looks of it, it looked like a storm was moving in.
Dale sat next to James, never letting go of her hand, trying to comfort her. �What is it you need to know, Agent Malone?� Dale asked as James composed herself. She needed to get a grip of herself � for her friends� sakes.
�Do either of you know if there was anyone that harassed, bothered, or did something along those lines to anyone of the women?� Isaac asked, ready to take notes.
�No,� she shook her head. �There was no one. They were the kindest, sweetest people I�ve come to know. I don�t know anyone that would ever wanna harm them,� she finished as she stared off into the distance, not really looking at anything in particular.
�Red�s right. I don�t know anyone that�d wanna hurt those girls. They�re well liked by everyone,� Dale added.
�What about their husbands? Anything there?� Isaac asked, hoping that that was the motive for the attack on the women.
�I don�t know anything about the guys. Dale would know more about that,� James answered, pushing her wind blown hair behind her ear. It was getting windier. The clouds rolling in were bring in a fierce storm. The smell of an oncoming rainstorm was strong.
Isaac�s eyes shifted over to Dale, who responded, �There was no one botherin� the guys. I mean, you have the usual � overzealous fans, press, and a friendly rivalry. Nothing out of the ordinary.�
�Were there any strange occurrences leading up to the day of Mrs. Kenseth�s abduction?� Isaac asked.
James thought about it. In fact, it was all she seemed to think about since the day Katie was taken. She thought about every little detail, but there was nothing. She spent the last few months beating herself up over it.
She thought that she should�ve known something was going to happen, but she didn�t. She was a company kid as well as being an armed forces brat. Both of her grandfathers were Navy, her Gran was a Navy SEAL. Her father was an Army ranger and her husband was Air Force. All the men in here life were in some government agency. She was trained to notice things.
Her childhood weekends and family get-togethers were spent training. Her friends use to make fun of her, saying that her Gran and dad weren�t raising a child, but a warrior. But she knew that they didn�t want her to be a warrior, they just wanted her to be prepared. They taught her to be aware of her surroundings and be on guard in case anything should happen. Yet, years and years of having that drilled into her head didn�t do her friends any good.
�Dr Grace?� Isaac said with a bit more force, trying to get James� attention.
Dale squeezed her hand, getting her out of her �trance.� She looked over at Isaac and then Dale then back at Isaac. �I�m sorry,� she apologized. �There was nothing. If there was I�� she trailed off.
She looked down at her hand in Dale�s as he answered the question Isaac posed. Dale ran his thumb over her hand, trying to comfort her. She pulled her hand away from his abruptly, not wanting to be comforted.
Dale was taken by surprise. He turned to her, looking at her with sadness and a bit of confusion. Isaac noticed and asked, �Is everything all right? Dr. Grace? Mr. Earnhardt?�
�Yes, I just�� she started but stopped. The wind whipped her hair across her face.
�Actually, no. It�s not all right. Nothing about this is all right. I�ve had enough. It�s been too damn long and there�s been nothing,� she said, getting louder and more upset. The storm was getting stronger, almost seeming angry.
�There�s been no news, no suspects, no arrests. Nothing!� She got up to leave, but Isaac stopped her.
�Dr. Grace, I under- � he started.
�Don�t tell me you understand, Dr Malone. You couldn�t begin to understand unless you�ve had this happen to you,� she said loudly, drawing attention. Her eyes started to tear as the rain clouds loomed above them. She continued, �Unless you�ve had a loved one vanish, without a trace and you�re left to wonder, wonder about--�
She stopped mid sentence. She looked around and realized people were starting to stare at her.
A lone tear fell from her eye. She wiped it ways and whispered, �I�ve had enough,� as it started to sprinkle down on them. �Excuse me,� she said before rushing off.
Dale and Isaac watched her rush inside as they got up from the table to take cover under the patio.
�Don�t mind her,� Dale explained, �This has been really hard on her. Katie and Krissie were two of her closest �if not best � friends.�
�Yes, I�ve heard,� Isaac said, watching the rain fall down. It had gotten harder in just a matter or seconds. Dale did the same. The two stood there for a while before Dale said, �Is there anything else you need?�
�No,� Isaac said. He turned and faced Dale, �At least not right now, Mr. Earnhardt.� He got out his business card and handed it to Dale. �If you think of anything or something comes to you, just give me a call. Perhaps you can have Dr. Grace give me a call as well. I can finish interviewing her another time.�
Dale took the card. �I�ll make sure she gives you a call,� he said, extending his hand.
�Isaac shook it and said, �I�m sorry, for upsetting her,� before leaving Dale. Dale stood there a while longer, just watching the rain falling, pounding into the ground with such force, much like James� tears at night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback: A few weeks after Katie�s disappearance
Dale laid next to her, looking peaceful, probably dreaming. She couldn�t bear to wake him.
He felt her stir on her side of the bed. He pretended to be asleep, hoping she would wake him and finally want to talk to him, but she didn�t.
She wanted nothing more than to do so. Just wake him up and have him hold her, hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right, but she didn�t. Instead she got up. She walked over to the French doors that opened to her balcony and stared out the doors.
It was a night of a new moon so she couldn�t see anything, not that she was looking for anything in particular. Well nothing she wouldn�t be able to find out there. She knew what she was looking for and it was in her room, sleeping next to her.
Dale spent the last few weeks with her, sleeping over at her place on his nights home. He practically lived there. He brought some work, clothes and even his cats.
�It was a good thing Macgyver was use to cats and other animals,� she thought. She looked back over at him and smiled slightly.
James was glad he was there. She liked knowing he was there for her and yet at the same time, she felt guilty for having him there. He has his own life and yet there he was playing babysitter to her helpless, needy self.
She turned away from him and looked out the door. She just stood there, not stirring or anything.
Dale watched her, just standing there for a while, like a statue. Then, what seemed like out of nowhere, she started to cry.
Everything had been too much for her. Her life alone was already a tragic story, which she thought she could handle. But adding on the disappearance of her friends got to be enough for her.
She muffled her sob with her hand, trying not to wake Dale. He wanted to get up and go to her. He wanted to hold her and let her cry, but he knew that if he did that she would just push him away. He figured that she would go to him when she was ready and she wasn�t ready.
BACK HOME NEXT