Less Than Graceful: Prologue
"My name is Detective Mac Taylor."
The little girl grinned up at him with twinkling green eyes. "Mac? Like macaroni only without the aroni?" she asked.
Mac was a little taken aback by the girl's forward attitude. Her tumble of brown corkscrew curls and cherubic little face apparently made her look a lot more shy than she actually was. "Uh, yes," Mac said.
"Well, I'm Grace, like graceful only without the ful and I know grace is already a word, but I don't like it because I'm more like graceless and I like your name because I like macaroni and I'm six." She held up her fingers as if Mac wouldn't have got that from her super long run-on sentence.
Mac looked around the front of the apartment building. Apartment 371 was the crime scene. The police had come to the small apartment to take Holly Daniels in because of a warrant. She hadn't appeared in court for multiple DWIs and a warrant for her arrest was submitted. When they had come into the apartment, they'd found little Grace Daniels sitting in the middle of the dining room table and Holly's bedroom door locked.
One of the policeman had jiggled the doorknob a little and opened the door. Holly was on the bedroom floor dead and the bedroom window was wide open.
"The pleeceman with the funny hat went into mommy's room. She's gunna be mad," Grace warned when the silence extended longer than she thought it should.
Mac crouched down to the little girl's level. "When was the last time your mom came out of her room?" he asked gently.
Grace though about it. "Yesterday night. I was watchin Arthur and she told me to get my lazy ass up and take a bath." Grace grinned with pleasure at the curse word. The edges of Mac's eyes crinkled in worry. Grace patted his cheek. "It's okay. She doesn't usually talk to me like that."
Mac smiled slightly. "Where's your father?"he asked.
Grace sighed sadly. "He died when I was a baby." There was a little sadness, but she seemed to have come to terms with his death.
"Did anything unusual happen last night?" Mac asked, knowing by the way the little girl talking that she would understand him.
Grace looked at him suspiciously. "Do I need a lawyer?" she asked seriously. Mac frowned in confusion and Grace shrugged. "That's what they say on the cop shows." She deepened her voice. "Where were you at 3 a.m. Wednesday night?" She let her voice go back to normal as she batted her eyelashes. "I was at home..." She deepened her voice again. "Do you have an alibi?" She smiled charmingly. "I wanna lawyer!"
Mac watched Grace act out her won little play. She didn't seem to care whether or not he was listening to her; it was obviously for her own entertainment. "I don't think you'll need a lawyer for this," Mac said.
"But I do have the right," Grace reminded him. "I have freedom of speech and all those good things from the Constitution and I can read so I know Green Eggs and Ham by heart."
Mac smiled as he caught sight of a familiar face. "Can you stay here for a minute? I want you to meet someone."
Mac didn't mind kids, really. They confused him more than anything. With little kids, nothing was connected, at least not to anyone else. "Stella," Mac said, catching up to her.
Stella turned around. "Hey Mac. I was about--"
"I need youto ride with Grace to the hospital," Mac interrupted.
Stella blinked. "Okay," she said without question. "Who's Grace?"
Mac led Stella over to where Grace was crouched watching a cricket hop across the sidewalk. The two adults watched curiously as the little girl gently picked it up. "You're Bob," she informed it solemnly before putting it in his pocket.
"Grace," Mac said.
Grace turned to him with an innocent look. "My new friend is a bug. I like bugs--wow, you're really pretty!" she exclaimed, turning to Stella.
Stella grinned down at the charming little girl. "I'm Stella."
Quite unexpectedly, the girl dropped to her knees, clutched her head, and bellowed, "Stell-a!" Stella and Mac peered down at Grace with bemused expressions. "Me 'n my mommy was watchin this show about movie quotes and this weird lookin man did that." Grace shrugged. "I thought it was funny."
Stella turned to Mac with a wide smile. "I guess I'll see you later then," she said. She turned to Grace and offered her a hand.
"Where are we going?" Grace asked curiously.
Mac headed into the apartment building while Stella led Grace to the ambulance. "The hospital," Stell answered.
"Why? I'm not sick, and I didn't break anything. One time I went to the hospital 'cause I broke my head and another time 'cause I hadda get sewed up." Grace looked up at the woman beside her. "Does my momma know where I'm goin?"
Stella hesitated. "I don't know," she said finally.
The ride to the hospital was anything but silent. Grace was practially bursting with questions about every little thing. The paramedic patiently answered the little girl's questions, but Stell finally made Grace be quiet when she noticed how the man was grinding his teeth.
Just the thought of spending time with the little girl brought a smile to Stella's face. Grace was so joyful and refreshing.
TBC...