Dark Impulse Ch. 21

"What do you believe, Mose?"

He rubbed his hand over his short hair, as confused as she was.

"In my opinion, the timing is a tad suspicious. Everyone's attention was on Anami, and then suddenly this mountain of evidence magically appears and clears him... oh, Grace. I'm sorry to speak about your husband this way. You must be devastated."

Grace shook her head. "Don't worry about me, really. Of course, it's awful to feel this way about someone that I've pledged to spend the rest of my life with, someone I've raised a child with... but my marriage was doomed from the beginning. Whether David's a killer or not, it's over. We're going to divorce."

Mosely was silent for a long moment. "Have you said anything about this to Gabriel?"

Her tone grew cold. "No, not at all. Why the hell should I?"

"Because I believe that he's serious about wanting to be a part of your life again, that's why. Grace, I know that he hurt you in France, and God knows I wanted to tear him apart when you left. But I also saw how your leaving affected him. He locked himself up in that hotel room and refused to come out for days. He couldn't eat or sleep, couldn't do anything but sit on the bed and think about you. He brushed off Madeline as if she was a worthless piece of lint..."

Grace couldn't stop herself from interrupting. "Good! That nasty bitch..."

Mosely ignored the comment and pressed on.

"And he hasn't so much as looked at another woman since that night. When he returned from the underground caverns and found you gone, he was going to confess that he loved you. Damn it, when it comes to matters of the heart the man can be as thick as a tree. But when he loves, it's with everything he has."

She remembered how long it took for him to get over Malia, and she had to agree.

Mosely continued. "Please, just consider what I'm telling you. Grace, I know what it's like to lose someone dear to me, and it is the closest to Hell I ever want to get."

Grace's eyes moistened with emotion, and she nodded silently.

He knew that she was listening to his argument in Gabriel's favor, and he needed to say one last thing. Something that had been on his mind for the last two days.

"Think it over. If not for yourself, then for the child."

She instantly snapped out of the peaceful cocoon that Mosely's words had weaved around her. "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

"Come on, let's stop pretending. I know that the boy is really Gabriel's. Are you seriously willing to let your five-year old anger towards him rob your son of his rightful father? It's time to let it go, Grace. Please. Find it in your heart to forgive him before the resentment and guilt over what you're doing to Gabriel and your son eats you alive. You have to tell him. You have to tell them both the truth."

Panicking from Mosely's accurate words, she looked at her watch.

"Oh, wow! Look at the time! It was really great talking with you, Mose, but I'm afraid that I should get going. I've got a lot to do before I can rest. See you tomorrow."

"Grace, I..."

"Bye bye, now!"

She hung up the phone, the sound of hard plastic colliding with metal ringing in her ears as she tried to pull herself together following the harsh realization of what she was really doing to her son. By denying him the knowledge that he had the right to know, she had become everything that she hated: a lying, deceitful manipulator who plays around with other people's emotions and lives for their own twisted amusement.

But I never saw it that way, and it was never for amusement! It was out of necessity. I wanted to protect my child from a person who wouldn't have given a damn about his existence if he had known, someone who always looks out for Number One and to hell with everyone else!

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her next thought from being voiced.

Is Gabriel Knight really that person? I'm not so sure anymore.

Grace slowly stepped out of the phone booth and sat down at a nearby table. When the waitress came, she ordered a vodka straight up instead of her usual cup of tea. She felt the need for a good stiff drink to help her sort things through.

The tunes on the jukebox were in high demand that evening. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another customer put change in the slot and select a song. As her drink was placed before her, she recognized the voice of Mariah Carey singing the chorus of "Breakdown," and her thoughts returned to Gabriel.

Well, I guess I'm trying to be

Nonchalant about it

And I'm going to extremes

To prove I'm fine without you

But in reality I'm

Slowly losing my mind

Underneath the guise of a smile,

Gradually I'm dying inside...

She tossed her head back and drained the glass, the alcohol burning a trail all the way down before hitting a stomach that had been empty for days. Her head swam slightly as she went to the front of the establishment to pay for the drink, still humming along to the chorus and feeling sorry for herself.

Friends ask me how I feel,

And I lie convincingly,

'Cause I don't want to reveal

The fact that I'm suffering

So, I wear my disguise

'Til I go home at night

And turn down all the lights

And then I break down and cry...

She left the bar and hailed a taxi to take her back to the studio apartment to pick up Rafe and Leon. She said goodbye to her father for the day before taking the kids to Evelyn's. She needed a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on.

The Saint Mark

As soon as the two boys disappeared into Leon's room to play, Grace crumpled into sobs in her best friend's arms and told her everything that had happened that day. Evelyn said nothing while she poured her heart out, giving only the comfort of her presence. When Grace finished, Eve finally spoke up.

"Why do you insist on fighting it, sweetie? The fact that he loves you is obvious to everyone except you. You are blinded by your past pain, and it's distorting everything around you and making you miserable. Let it go."

Grace wiped her face with a handkerchief. "It's not that easy."

Evelyn's eyes were warm as she looked at her friend.

"I never said that it was, but you have to try for your sake as well as Rafe's. Open your mind, if not your heart. Listen to what he has to say and follow your instincts."

Grace scoffed. "Instincts. You know what I think about my instincts? They're a complete crock. I thought that I was following my instincts when I suspected David of murder, but now it turns out that Cooper was killed by a bunch of militant crazies with a hard-on for killing wealthy and powerful men to spread their sick message. I thought David had a hand in trashing my office, but when I confronted him on the phone about it, he reacted as if I was crazy. Hell, maybe I am going crazy!"

Evelyn laid a hand on Grace's arm, grasping it firmly.

"No, you're not! Stop talking like that. I'm not in the habit of keeping company with lunatics, much less trusting my only child to one, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that you're one of the most stable people I know."

Grace released a shuddering breath at her words, relaxing a bit.

"Thanks for that, hon. But what on earth am I going to do now? David's been cleared, and I still have to dispose of the evidence. I still have the appointment with Mosely, but... do I give it to him or throw it away? Now that I know what happened in London, I can't help but feel ashamed of what I thought before about David. I'm supposed to be his wife, for God's sake!"

Evelyn let go of Grace's arm, allowing it to slip from her fingers.

"You said yourself that the marriage was over before it even began, so why are you suddenly retreating back into the role of dutiful wife? Is it because you truly feel sorry for the error in judgment - if it was indeed an error - concerning his character, or because you're so afraid of becoming available to Gabriel again?"

Grace closed her eyes at Eve's dead-on words.Both, but mostly the latter.

She was thankfully spared from answering the question when a high-pitched scream erupted from Leon's room, and both women rushed to investigate.

They opened the door and entered, their maternal eyes automatically searching their children for injuries. Leon was holding his knee in his hands, tears in his eyes. In contrast, Rafe's expression was calm, his own hands on top of Leon's.

Reaching for her son, Evelyn spoke first. "Boys, what happened here?"

Rafe carefully removed his hands from Leon before replying.

"We were running around and Leon hit his leg on the cabinet."

Evelyn touched her son's hand, which was still over the wound.

"Let me see it, honey. I'll need to put something on it right away."

Leon shook his head. "No, Mom! Don't look, it's nasty!"

Grace knelt beside Leon. "Sweetie, let your mother see it. If it's nasty it means that it has to be taken care of quickly so it won't hurt you more or make you sick."

Leon sighed in defeat. "Okay."

His little hands fell away from the wound to reveal flawless, healthy skin. He stared in shock at the spot where the skin of his knee had previously been peeled away by his rough play and had bled, amazed and frightened by the sudden transformation.

Grace and Evelyn, unaware of the miracle that had occurred, looked at each other in frustrated disbelief. They turned their heads back to the surprised Leon.

Evelyn gave her son a stern look.

"That wasn't funny, baby. I thought you were really hurt."

Grace nodded in agreement. "That was a very dirty trick, Leon."

The two women kissed their sons on the forehead before leaving the room.

Leon called after them. "I skinned my knee! Honest!"

Confused, he turned to Rafe. "What happened?"

Rafe said nothing, slowly raising a finger to his smiling lips. "Shhh."