Leigh and Eric Grau lived in a nice two-story house in the outskirts of Omaha. The lawn was nicely manicured, despite the tragedy the family had just experienced, and from the outside, it appeared as if the couple had made a nice middle-class life for themselves with not a care in the world.
As Elliott and Cadence made their way to the front door, dressed in professional black suites, Cadence couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of sadness, not only for the poor girl who had died but for the reluctant monster who had claimed her life.
Elliott rang the bell and waited. A few moments later, a middle-aged woman with bleach-blond hair came to the door. She immediately looked worried. "Yes, can I help you?" she asked with bated breath.
"Mrs. Grau?" Elliott asked in as gentle a voice as he could. "I'm Detective Sanderson and this is my partner Detective Findley of the FBI." They both flashed their badges. "We have some information for you regarding your daughter, Sylvia. Would you mind if we came in?”
The distress in the woman's face seemed to double. "No, of course, come in," she stammered. "Eric!" she yelled as she led them into a nicely decorated living room. "Please have a seat and let me get my husband," she said, gesturing toward the couch. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, thank you," Cadence answered for both of them, unbuttoning her jacket and sitting next to Elliott.
Moments later, Eric Grau entered the room. A tall man with peppered brown hair, he looked just as upset as his wife. Offering his hand, he said, "Hello, I'm Eric Grau."
Elliott reintroduced the "agents" as Mr. and Mrs. Grau took seats in chairs opposite them. "We won't take much of you time," he continued. "We have recovered a piece of your daughter's property, and we wanted to return it to you."
As he spoke, Cadence pulled the ring out of her pocket. It was tucked safely inside a small plastic baggy. She handed it over to the father, whose mouth dropped open in disbelief.
"It's her ring!" he exclaimed quietly, showing his wife. "Where did you.... How..." he stammered.
Cadence explained. "We found the ring in the possession of a known criminal, one Jack Carol, who was involved in a shootout with our agents recently. Mr. Carol was killed in the shootout, and we found the ring on his person."
The couple exchanged nervous glances. "Do you think this Jack Carol person is the one who... who took our Sylvie?" Mrs. Grau asked.
"We believe so," Elliott replied. "Circumstantial evidence puts him in the vicinity of the restaurant Miss Grau was working at, at the time of her death. There is a very good possibility that Mr. Carol is the one who took your daughter's life."
"This... this ring was my mother's," Mr. Grau explained. "I didn't think we'd ever see it again. I can't tell you how much this means to us. Thank you so much," he said extending his hand to Elliott and then Cadence.
"It's our pleasure to do what little we can to comfort you in this time of overwhelming grief," Cadence added, standing as an implication that they would be leaving.
"Oh, thank you so much," Leigh Grau said as she hugged Cadence tightly. Then she embraced Elliott as well. "God bless both of you," she added.
As Elliott and Cadence headed back to the vehicle that would take them back to the airport and home, Cadence couldn't help but think that Aaron was right. She did feel like she had some more closure now that the ring was back where it belonged.
"You did it, kid," Elliott said, patting her on the leg. "How do you feel?"
"Better," she admitted.
"Good," he replied putting his hand back on the steering wheel. "You still leaving?"
"Yep," she answered quickly. "Just as soon as we get back to headquarters."
"I thought you were leaving tomorrow," he said, a bit stunned.
"That's what we told Aaron. But I just don't want to tell him goodbye," she said quietly.
"Oh. What about everybody else?" he asked.
"Well, I told Jamie and Christian goodbye this morning. And I caught Hannah yesterday afternoon. That's really it--there's no one else I need to say goodbye to."
Elliott nodded. "Meagan and Aurora already said their goodbyes, too, then?"
"To everyone but you," she assured him.
He shook his head. "I know you feel like you need to do this, but you sure the hell better not be gone too long, and I better hear from you every day."
"Hey, I'm claiming partial custody. I think I get you every other weekend and Wednesday nights," she joked.
"Sounds like a plan to me," he snickered. "One thing is for sure; the place won't be the same without you, kid."
"Thanks," she whispered, patting him on the arm and looking out the window, hoping to distract herself with the view of Omaha before she became emotional. Leaving wouldn't be easy, but it would be simpler than staying.
* * *
Pulling into the parking lot outside of a bar in Tucson, Laura climbed out of the stolen black Buick Enclave she had taken from LIGHTS and made her way to where the sound of a local country band poured from the building. From the sounds of it, these particular artists needed a little more time in the garage. She plopped herself down on a barstool and waited until she had the attention of the stocky, balding man behind the counter.
"What'll it be, miss?" he asked, his smile indicating that he was willing to give her more than a drink if she asked.
"Whisky, straight," she replied, slamming her folded arms down on the bar and sighing. It had been almost three weeks, and she was no closer to catching Giovani than she had been before this entire mess with LIGHTS. In fact, since she was frightened to turn her IAC back on for fear Aaron would hunt her down for shooting Cadence, she was relying on her human detective skills to try to find him. The last she had heard, he was headed to Tucson, but now that she was here, she had not been able to catch even a glimpse of him.
The bartender brought her drink and she gulped it down, raising her glass to indicate she wanted another before she even fully swallowed. She was aware that someone was approaching her on her right but thought nothing of it as the barkeep collected her glass and went off to refill it.
"Excuse me," a gruff voice said from the barstool next to her. "You Laura Comer?"
Laura eyed the man suspiciously. "Who wants to know?" she asked. Even though she was in Tucson, she still felt his outfit was a bit peculiar. Clearly, this man still though it was the 1880s and he was, in fact, a cowboy.
"Name's Sam," he replied, offering her his hand. "I think we have a few marks in common," he added.
He had her attention. "You after Giovani?" she asked. taking her whisky from the bartender.
"Yep," he nodded. Taking his hat off, running a hand through his thinning gray hair he added, "and Cadence Findley."
She smiled. "Well, you add Aaron McReynolds to that list and I think we have the start of a beautiful relationship."
Sam grinned. "If it were up to me, the entire LIGHTS team would be nonexistent."
Laughing, Laura said, "What’s your poison, Sam? Let me buy you a drink."
Finn and Camille made their way over, and Sam introduced them as well. "Wow, this is even better than I thought," Laura chuckled.
"If the four of us work together, I think we can bring the LIGHTS team to its knees," Sam said, ordering a round of drinks and raising his cowboy hat in the air.
"Vengeance is mine," Laura mumbled taking another drink. "All mine."