“Did you forget that I’m intimately acquainted with that story? I know it better than Alec. Why in God’s name would I read it? How would you feel if someone wrote a book about the months Marie suffered through her cancer before she died and then asked you to read it?” The pained look in Ryan’s eyes was her answer. “Now, you understand.”
“This situation is completely different, but I wouldn’t mind if the story could lighten even one person’s burden.” Ryan rubbed his face. “I’m too exhausted to talk about this now. I’m going to bed. You coming?”
Ryan stood and held his hand out to her, but she didn’t take it. “I won’t be sleeping tonight. I already texted Brad and told him what happened and that I wouldn’t be in tomorrow. Maybe I’ll scrub the kitchen floor.”
“That’s ridiculous. Staying awake for days won’t bring Johnny home or turn back the clock. Come to bed, take a sleeping pill and watch a movie with me until you fall asleep.”
Grace scowled at him. “You know I can’t stand taking those things. Scrubbing the floor works better than any sleeping pill and without the side effects.”
Ryan knelt in front of her and cupped her chin in his hand. “Look at me.” When Grace raised her eyes, he said, “I’m not your enemy. If we’re going to reunite this family, we need to support each other. I’d give anything to undo this, but I can’t. Neither can you. I love you. Don’t push me away.”
She looked into his eyes and remembered all he had done for her. He’d stood by her and Johnny through their worst trials and greatest triumphs. More than that, she owed him her life.
She kissed him tenderly and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll never understand why you stay with me. Forgive me for acting like the old Grace. I feel like I’m in a scene from a TV movie.” She held his hand and let him help her up. “I’ll come to bed and even let you pick what to watch.”
“I stay because there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Stop worrying, Grace. I’m not going anywhere.”
Grace woke in a fog. Damned sleeping pills. She pushed herself to a sitting position and squinted at the clock. Nine-thirty! Ryan’s side of the bed was empty and the house was quiet. He probably thought he’d done her a favor by letting her sleep, but she’d wanted to get up early and find Johnny before he left for school. She grabbed her phone, but there were no messages or texts. At least the hospital hadn’t called. Too much stress could cause Johnny to have seizures. What he’d gone through the day before was the worst shock he’d ever had.
She climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom, but she stopped when her phone rang. She went back to the bed and checked the caller ID. It was Johnny’s school.
When she answered, the attendance secretary said, “I’m calling to find out why Johnny’s absent since you didn’t notify us that he wouldn’t be here. Is he ill, or did he have an appointment this morning?”
“He’s not there? You’re sure?” Grace asked, trying to steady the tremor in her voice.
“His homeroom teacher marked him absent. I can check with her, but he’s kind of hard to miss.”
Grace didn’t want to get into their problems with the school secretary, so she said, “I just checked my phone and remembered that Johnny did have an appointment this morning. His father took him. He should be back after lunch. I’ll call if his appointment runs long.”
“No need. Just let us know if he’ll be absent tomorrow. Thank you,” she said and hung up.
Grace didn’t know who to call first. Ryan would have told her if he’d talked to Johnny, so she dialed Jayda. She hated to bother her at work, but it was an emergency.
When she picked up, Grace said, “Did Johnny stay at your house last night? The school just called, and he’s not there. Do you know where he is?”
Grace heard Jayda’s hesitation. “You don’t know where Johnny was last night?”
“He found out about the kidnapping and Craig. He knows everything. It’s a long story. Was he at your house?”
“No, Grace. I’m sorry. I haven’t seen Johnny since before Thanksgiving. Do you want me to help you find him?”
“No, you’re the first person I called, and you’re at work. I’m sure he spent the night with Ty. I’ll try Ashley.”
“Please text me as soon as you find him. Good luck.”
“Thanks, I will.”
Grace hung up and called Ashley as fast as she could. Once she explained what was happening, Ashley said, “I haven’t seen Johnny, but the boys were playing video games in the basement pretty late last night. Maybe they sneaked Johnny in.” Ashley paused and Grace heard her walk downstairs. “He’s not here. Let me check Ty’s room. Johnny shouldn’t have been here last night. Besides the fact that it was a school night, Ty’s still grounded from that stunt they pulled over the weekend. If Johnny was here, Ty’s going to get it.”
Grace gave a fake laugh. She couldn’t have cared less about Ty’s punishment. She just needed to find her son.
“He’s not here. I’ll text Ty to see if he knows what’s going on, but his phone is supposed to be turned off when he’s in class. He may not get back to me until lunch. Please, let me know if you find him before then.”
“I will and call as soon as you hear from Ty,” Grace said.
She ran her hand through her hair and started pacing the room. She called Ryan next. He needed to know Johnny was missing. She ran through the places he could be while she waited for Ryan to answer. If Ty and Darnell hadn’t seen him, it was worse than she thought. Her last hope was that he really was with Ryan and he hadn’t wanted to call and wake her.
“You’re up,” Ryan said and chucked. “You were dead to the world when I left. I thought you’d sleep…”
“Johnny’s missing,” Grace said. She told him what was going on in a rush. “Is he with you? Have you heard from him?”
“No, Grace. Oh my God! Where do you think he is? I’m coming home now.”
“Call your kids and see if he contacted them. I’m going to try Alec and Adam. I know that’s a long shot since he’s probably mad at them, too. I’ll call Kyle and Damien’s parents after that.”
“Call the instant you know anything.”
“You do the same.”
She was calmer after talking to Ryan and working with him to find Johnny made her feel less alone.
She dialed Alec next, and she picked up after the first ring.
“It’s about time,” Alec said. “I knew you wouldn’t hide from me forever. Does this mean you’ve forgiven me for writing the book?”
“That’s not why I’m calling. Johnny’s missing. Did he call you last night?”
“What do you mean Johnny’s missing?”
Grace told her about the blow up the night before and her role in it, but she didn’t care about blame. If Alec was in the dark, it meant she hadn’t heard from Johnny.
“I’m sick about this, Grace. Johnny hasn’t contacted us. I’m coming over, and we’re going to find him. You shouldn’t be out looking alone.”
“Don’t come over. Ryan’s on his way home. We have more people to call. Maybe he’s at Steph’s. If we don’t find him soon, I’m calling the police.”
She hung up before Alec could protest, and dialed Kyle’s mom, but got the same response, and with Damien’s mom, too. The last person she could think of was Tony. She felt like she was going to burst out of her skin waiting for the PT receptionist.
When she asked for Tony, the receptionist said, “I’m sorry, but Tony’s out with the flu. We don’t expect him back until Thursday.”
Johnny had Tony’s cell number, but Grace didn’t, and she knew the receptionist would never give it to her. “I know Tony’s sick, but it’s extremely urgent that I talk to him. Could you please call him and ask him to call me as soon as he can?”
The receptionist hesitated. “Can one of the other physical therapists help? I hate to bother him.”
“No, I need to speak to Tony. I’ll take full responsibility for bothering him.”
> “Fine, Mrs. Walker. I’ll give him your message.”
“Thank you. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t an emergency.”
She hung up and took the phone into the bathroom so she’d hear it while she showered and dressed. Half an hour passed with no calls or texts.
She called Ryan as soon as she toweled off and threw on some clothes. “Where are you? Please, tell me you found him.”
“I guess that means you haven’t had any luck either. None of my kids know where he is. Steph is freaking out. She’s on her way to the house. I’ll be right behind her”
“My last hope is that Tony will call and tell me he knows where he is. He’s out sick with the flu so Johnny could be with him.”
"He would have let us know. If Johnny is missing, Tony would know the anguish we’re going through.”
Call waiting beeped. “There’s Tony. I’ll put it on conference call.”
She told their story one more time, desperate to hear good news.
“I’m sorry to say I have no idea where Johnny is. Call the police immediately. And please keep me posted. I’m sure he’s fine. Probably hiding out somewhere you haven’t thought of yet. Check and see if he’s been on social media.”
“We will, Tony. Get better.”
After Tony hung up, Ryan said, “I know I probably don’t need to ask but have you called Johnny’s phone?”
“Ten times. It rang the first few times, but now it's going straight to voicemail.”
“It’s time to call 911.”
“I’m calling Agent Michaels. He knows Johnny’s history, and I don’t want to waste time with the local police.”
“He wasn’t kidnapped. He ran away. Local cops will know where to look for a runaway.”
“I’m calling Scott Michaels.”
“Do you think he’s still at the Richmond office after twelve years?”
“Why are you arguing with me? If I’m wrong, they’ll point me to the police.”
“Do what you think is best. See you in twenty.”
Grace dug through the pile of business cards she kept in her bedside table until she found Agent Michael’s number. He’d been the agent to handle the search for Johnny’s biological parents when he was a baby, and he knew about the kidnapping. Even if he’d left the Richmond office, she hoped whoever answered could tell her how to find Johnny.
“Michaels,” Scott said when he answered. “Who is this? How did you get this number?”
Grace recognized his voice without him identifying himself. “It’s Grace Walker. Do you remember me? You might know me as Grace Ward.”
“Of course, Grace. How are you? Scratch that. I’m guessing this isn’t a social call to catch up.”
“Johnny’s missing. We haven’t seen him since about six-thirty last night. We thought he spent a night with a friend. When the school called to say he didn’t show up today, Ryan and I started calling everyone we could think of. No one has seen him.”
“Hang on,” Agent Michaels said and put her on hold.
Grace was irritated that he cut her off so abruptly. What could be more important than a missing, disabled teenager? She took a breath and told herself to trust that he had a good reason. He’d come through for them when Johnny was a baby when they were desperate to find out where he’d come from. Agent Michaels would know what to do.
He kept Grace waiting for almost five minutes before he came back on the line. “Sorry for keeping you waiting so long,” he said. “It took a minute to pull Johnny’s file. While I scroll through it, give me the details of why you think Johnny’s missing? Has there been any family trouble?”
Grace dreaded having to divulge what she’d done to one more person. She felt guiltier and angrier with herself after each retelling, but Johnny’s disappearance wasn’t about her. She’d suffer whatever it took to find him. Grace gave Agent Michaels all the details and held her breath while she waited for him to respond.
He whistled and said, “That’s rough. Why didn’t you tell him about his past? You hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, you saved his life.”
“Long story. I had my reasons. Does that matter now?”
“No, you’re right. You can sort that out once he’s home. You’ve done the right thing to contact me. Most likely he’s holed up at a friend’s house licking his wounds, but given his health issues and history, we need to treat this as a missing person’s case. I just gave instructions for one of my agents to enter him into the missing person database,” he said. “I’ll need some updated information. We’ll need recent photos too. Give them to Agent Shepherd when she gets there.”
“You don’t want us to come to your office?” Grace asked. That’s what they’d done when they worked with him in the past.
“No, stay where you are. It’s better to set up a base of operations in your home. Agent Shepherd will take the lead on the case and coordinate with local law enforcement agencies. We won’t stop working until Johnny is safe at home.”
“You’re not coming?” Grace asked, disappointed that they’d have to work with a stranger.
“No, I’m the Special Agent in Charge of this field office now. I’ll be involved in the case, but Agent Shepherd will head operations. Hopefully, Johnny will be home before she has time to set up. Now, how tall is Johnny? What color is his hair? Oh, and he’s not in a wheelchair?”
“No, he walks with crutches. He’s six foot, has broad shoulders, but he’s kind of gawky. His hair is still blond.”
Agent Michaels whistled again. “Six foot? Big boy. And on crutches. Shouldn’t be hard to locate. How’s his health? Does he have his meds?”
Grace broke down at the question. He’d taken his backpack but hadn’t gone to his room before he stormed out. She was sickened that she had no idea if he had his meds. Grace wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and cleared her throat. “I don’t know.”
“That’s fine,” he said and continued to ask her a series of questions. Grace was grateful that she could answer them. “The majority of runaways in a similar situation show up after a day or two. I’m sure Johnny’s a smart kid with you as his mother. He knows where his bread is buttered. Agent Shepherd knows her stuff, and she’s a mom, too. Trust her as you would me. I’ll stick my head in when I can. Don’t hesitate to call at this number any time.”
The doorbell rang as she was about to thank him. “Someone’s at the door. Maybe it’s Johnny,” she said and disconnected the call.
Johnny’s eyelids felt like lead weights. It took three tries and fierce concentration to force them open. He looked around the unfamiliar room and snapped them shut again. His heart started to pound, and his breath quickened. He had no memory of how he’d gotten into this room. The last thing he remembered was calling Ty to come rescue him, but he’d ended up on a narrow, creaky bed in a small shabby bedroom he’d never seen.
He swung his feet to the floor and raised himself into a sitting position. The room spun for a few seconds, but he focused on a paper tacked to the wall across from him to make it stop. When the dizziness faded, he was relieved to see his crutches leaning against a table next to the bed. He wasn’t steady enough to stand yet, but he was glad he’d have his crutches when he was ready to make his getaway.
He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that didn’t belong to him and wondered who’d changed his clothes. He pulled the waistband of the sweatpants down to check his underwear. At least those were his, so whoever changed him hadn’t seen him naked.
There was a terrible taste in his mouth, and his head pounded as hard as his heart. Did I have a seizure? he wondered. He didn’t feel like he usually did after a seizure. This feeling was something new.
When his head cleared, he realized he needed to pee. As nervous as he was about standing, he was more afraid of wetting his pants. He reached for his crutches and pushed himself onto his legs. He took a few seconds to make sure he was stable before moving when it occurred to him that he didn’t know where the bathroom was.
He de
cided to risk finding out who had brought him to that strange place. “Hello,” he said. The word came out like a croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Is anyone there?”
Seconds later, footsteps thumped on what sounded like wooden stairs. His heart raced faster, but he didn’t back down. He had to know what was happening to him. He braced the backs of his legs against the bed in case he had to use his crutches as a weapon.
The woman who entered the room looked familiar, but Johnny couldn’t remember why. She wore a nurses’ uniform, and her black hair was pulled up with a clip. He wondered if she worked with Grace or in one of his doctors’ offices. She was a little taller than Grace, but not by much, and she had a slight build. Johnny was sure he could take her if she attacked him.
He shifted his weight to his left leg and pointed his right crutch at her. “Stay there. Who are you? Why’d you bring me here?”
“I guess you figured out that I’m not Ty’s aunt,” she said, with a smile.
Memories from the night before flooded his brain. That was how he knew her. “How did you know about Ty? Where are we?”
“Calm down, Johnny. You have nothing to fear from me. I’d never hurt you. Sit down. Let me explain.”
She took a step toward him, and Johnny leaned away with his crutch still pointed at her. “I said, stay there.”
She stopped and held up her hands in surrender. “I’ll stay here but sit down before you fall. I can see your legs shaking.”
Johnny stared at her for a few seconds before slowly lowering himself onto the bed. She was right. His legs were about to give out. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself very well if he was flat on his back.
“That’s better.” She gestured to a chair in the corner. “Do you mind if I sit, too? I can’t reach you from there.”
She continued grinning at him, probably trying to put him at ease, but Johnny thought it was creepy. He nodded anyway. He’d rather have her sitting.
The Complete Arms of Grace Series Page 36
