The Complete Arms of Grace Series

by Eleanor Chance

  “You mean like you did the day he was born.”

  Grace cringed as soon as the words spilled out of her mouth. What she’d said was inexcusable. Craig had been at his dying wife’s side when Mara and Rick took Johnny. No one was to blame but them. That Mara, Grace thought. She’s the cause of all this anguish not Craig. No one but her.

  Grace jumped up as the memory of chasing Mara across the parking lot flashed into her mind like a giant, orange neon sign.

  “I’m sorry, Craig. I’ve got to go.” She hung up, ignoring the protests she heard before the line went dead.

  Grace ran to her bedroom and clicked on the light.

  Ryan sat up and pulled off his headphones. “What the hell, Grace? Did they find Johnny?” She put her hands on his shoulders. “No, but I know where he is. Mara has him.”

  Ryan rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on her face. “Did you say Mara?”

  “Get dressed. We’re going to the FBI.” Ryan started pulling on his jeans without questioning her. “I told you it was Mara I saw in that parking lot. You and Alec convinced me I was just paranoid. I forgot about the incident until I was just talking to Craig…”

  Ryan froze with his leg halfway into his pants. “Craig? You called Craig? Are you insane?”

  “I didn’t. He called me. He had to make sure I understand what a terrible mother I am, but our conversation reminded me of Mara. She has our son. We have to find her.”

  Ryan nodded as he zipped his pants and slipped on his shoes. “I’m ready.”

  As he held out his hand to Grace, she felt the first glimmer of hope since Johnny vanished.

  Grace had called Scott Michaels on the way to the FBI field office. By the time they reached the lobby, Agent Shepherd was waiting for them. After checking them through security, she escorted them to a small conference room adjacent to Scott’s office. He came in two minutes later with Agent Reid from the CARD team and a man he introduced as Anderson Nettles, their forensic sketch artist.

  “Please, give Mr. Nettles a description of Mara before we do anything else. Then, explain to me why you think she has Johnny. She’s eluded us for years. I’m skeptical she would come back and risk capture,” Scott said, “so, convince me.”

  “I agree,” Agent Reid said, “but we don’t have any concrete leads at this point, so I’ll take whatever I can get. We’ve been getting hundreds of calls on the tip line, but none of them look promising yet.”

  Mr. Nettles took out a spiral bound book with pages of headshots and asked Grace to point out ones that had facial aspects like Mara’s. Once he had the base elements to go on, he began to sketch on an artist's pad. He finished the initial sketch quickly and asked Grace if the drawing was close. She suggested some minor changes. After Mr. Nettles made the corrections and Grace approved them, he uploaded the information into facial composite software. Grace was shocked at how much the full-color finished product resembled Mara.

  “That’s her,” Grace said. “The likeness is remarkable.”

  “Odds are she’s changed her appearance since you ran into her, but if the facial structure is accurate, someone might recognize her,” Agent Shepherd said.

  Scott asked Agent Shepherd to get the sketch to media outlets immediately. When she left the room, he turned to Grace. “Tell me what happened when you thought you saw Mara.”

  “I don’t just think I saw her. I did see her. I remembered her from when I saw her at the hospital when she abandoned Johnny. I’ll never forget her eyes. She was older, and her hair color was different, but it was her."

  “I believe you. Please continue,” Agent Reid said.

  Grace glanced at him and nodded, relieved he didn’t discount her statement. “I dropped Johnny off for his appointment with the physical therapist. Mara bumped me as I was walking to my car. Our eyes only locked for an instant, but it felt like slow motion. When she saw me staring at her, she took off running, but she was too fast, and I lost her. She had a car waiting around the corner. She sped off a minute later, but I couldn’t get her license plate.”

  “Why didn’t you report it at the time?” Scott asked. “Having a heads up that she was back in town might have prevented this.”

  Grace glanced at Ryan and started to answer, but he stopped her. “That was my fault. I thought she had imagined seeing Mara, and I discouraged her from coming to you.”

  “Alec did, too,” Grace said. “She and Ryan convinced me I was just paranoid, but it was real. It happened several weeks ago. I’d forgotten the incident until today.”

  “If it was Mara, Johnny’s disappearance makes a whole lot more sense. We’ve been hunting Mara for twelve years and zilch. Your description is the only lead we have,” Scott said.

  Grace stood and faced Scott. “Mara has Johnny. She considers him to be her son, so I don’t think she’ll hurt him. She’ll slip up eventually, or Johnny will find a way to alert us. He’s smart. We’re going to find him.”

  “I’m convinced,” Scott said. “Talk to Alec. If you two remember anything else about Mara, no matter how insignificant, call immediately.”

  “I’ll make sure she does,” Ryan said. “If that psycho does anything to hurt my boy, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “I’m sick about this,” Ryan said on the ride home. “I got our son kidnapped.”

  A portion of Grace agreed with him, but she said, “We’ll talk about it when we get home. Alec should be there. I don’t have the energy to go through it twice.”

  “I noticed that you didn’t disagree with me,” Ryan said and was silent for the rest of the drive. Grace resisted the urge to comfort him. She was at fault for listening to him, but the lion’s share of the blame was his. She wanted him to feel it. Maybe then he’d learn to listen to her more closely in the future.

  Alec and Adam were in the living room with their kids when Grace and Ryan got home. Poor Rosie had a neon pink cast on her arm, but she was happy to see Grace. They all were. Grace hugged each one and asked Rosie about her arm.

  “That stupid Thomas Landon pushed me off the slide,” she said and cradled her cast against her stomach.

  “Don’t say stupid,” Alec said.

  “But he is,” Rosie whined.

  “I’ll take the kids home,” Adam said. “You and Alec have things to discuss and don’t need us underfoot.”

  “I want to stay with Aunt Grace,” Graham said and wrapped his arms around her calf. “Where’s Johnny?”

  Adam pulled Graham off Grace and lifted him onto his shoulders. “You’ll see Johnny later. How about we get pizza on the way home?”

  “Yes,” Graham said and pumped his fist.

  Once Adam shuffled the kids out the door, Alec said, “Let me have it.”

  “What’s the point?” Grace sat on the couch with her elbows resting on her knees. “Will it bring Johnny home sooner?”

  “No, but it’s not healthy to bottle up your feelings. Scream at me, slam the door in my face, kick me out.”

  “She’s right,” Ryan said. “Because of us, our son is with that madwoman. If you’d reported seeing Mara, they would have been on the lookout for her. We would have protected Johnny better, like keeping the tracker on his phone. We could have prevented this.”

  “What do you want me to say? That I’m furious with both of you? I am furious, but this isn’t about the three of us. Our total focus needs to be on finding Johnny. Nothing else matters. I’ll save the screaming for when he’s home.”

  “Fine, but for what that’s worth, I am deeply sorry,” Alec said. “What do you need from me now?”

  “Scott wants us to rehash that phone call from Mara twelve years ago. We might remember some clue that will lead the CARD team to her. There has to be something.”

  “It was so long ago, but I’ll try,” Alec said and sat on the loveseat facing Grace.

  “What can I do?” Ryan asked.

  “Heat up some dinner. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I have an appetite for the first time in days.�
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  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t care. Between Mark and the neighbors, there’s enough food for an army. Just throw something on a plate.”

  “I’ll pack up some of it and put it in the freezer. It’ll give me something productive to do.”

  “He’s a good man,” Alec said after Ryan went to the kitchen. “He loves you, and he’s devoted the last twelve years of his life to you and Johnny. More importantly, you owe him your life. He may have been wrong about this, but don’t let that get in the way of what you’ve built with him. You need a united front more than you ever have.”

  “Why do you always have to be right? It’s infuriating,” Grace said. “Give me my two minutes to be pissed at both of you. I’ll be the martyr and bigger person after that. I just need my two minutes.”

  “Deal. Let’s talk about Mara.”

  10

  Johnny ignored the news at first, but his curiosity got the better of his reluctance. The fact that the whole country was watching news reports about him was too tantalizing. He flipped to a cable news channel, but the story was about a sleazy politician. What’s the news in that? Johnny thought and smiled. It was five minutes to the hour, so he decided to wait for the headlines to start.

  His patience paid off, but instead of a picture of him, a color sketch of Mara appeared on the screen with her first name in the caption. He was shocked that they’d found out about her so fast. He watched the report for fifteen more minutes and felt another pang of guilt when the newscaster begged the public for any information on him or Mara.

  She’d been gone a long time, and Johnny started to worry she’d been caught. That meant the FBI could be coming for him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her getting arrested for kidnapping. Mara had taken him from the hospital as a baby, but she’d done that out of love. She kind of was his mother. He’d also gotten into the car willingly on Monday night, so had she committed a crime this time?

  His emotions flitted between wanting to punish the Walkers and wanting to get away from Mara. He wondered if Tony would take him in until he figured out who his real family was? He wondered the same about Craig Stuart. He was the only person in the whole mess related to Johnny by blood.

  He went to Mara’s laptop and searched for Craig’s name. The results turned up his name, address, architectural firm, and Facebook account. This guy should safeguard his info better. He was about to click the link to Craig’s Facebook when he heard Mara’s key in the lock. He closed the browser and went back to the couch.

  Mara came in with her arms full of grocery bags. “What were you doing? You look guilty.” She dumped the bags on the counter and glared at Johnny.

  His face twisted into a sneer. “Nothing, just reading my homework. What’s your problem?”

  “Lose the attitude. It won’t work with me, and I’m in no mood.”

  “What’s for dinner?” He got up and started rummaging through the bags, hoping she would let it go. “Did you get my prescriptions?”

  “I got some salad and chicken. You can’t just live on pizza.”

  “You sound like Grace.” He fished a plastic salad container out and took it to the table. “I happen to like salad and chicken though.”

  She put a rotisserie chicken on the table in front of him. “There you go. I couldn’t get your meds. Do you know which pharmacy Grace uses? Do you think you could log into the pharmacy app to order refills?”

  “Sure, I do it all the time. I’m not sure if I remember the password, and since you got rid of my phone, we might have to recover it.”

  “Which pharmacy?” He told her, and he made a note of the PIN she used to unlock her phone before she downloaded the app. “I’m too stressed to deal with it tonight, and you have enough doses to last until the day after tomorrow. Try to remember the password.”

  He repeated her PIN in his head while he ate. He went upstairs as soon as he finished. Mara hardly noticed him leave. If becoming the sudden mother of a disabled teenager was getting to her after two days, there was no hope of her being able to handle it forever.

  Johnny hung out in his room and forced himself to stay awake until Mara turned off her bedroom light. She’d gone to bed earlier than the night before, but he gave it an extra half hour to be safe before sneaking into her room. His crutches clicked on the wood floor, so he had to sneak along at a snail’s pace.

  He held his breath as he opened her door an inch at a time, terrified that it would squeak in such an old house, but it didn’t make a sound. He was relieved when he got inside that the faint glow from the streetlamp outside her window made it, so he didn’t need his phone flashlight. The outline of her cellphone was easy to spot on the nightstand. He stretched his arm forward without budging another muscle and curled his fingers around the phone. He slid it a millimeter at a time to the edge. Once he had a good grip, he picked it up and slid it into his pocket. Mara hadn’t even stirred.

  He risked getting out of there faster than he came in and made sure to close the door securely. He stopped in the bathroom doorway between their rooms to catch his breath. Once he stopped shaking, he went downstairs without clicking on the hall light. He sat at the table and opened Mara’s laptop to pull up the page with Craig’s information. It was two hours earlier in Albuquerque where Craig lived, so it wouldn’t be too late to call, but Johnny had another call to make first.

  The full moon reflected off the glass patio table in the backyard. As Grace stared through the back door, ghosts of backyard family cookouts on long summer days shimmered across the lawn. It was a time when she’d learned to allow herself to accept happiness. She imagined Ryan lifting Johnny into a swing while Alec’s twins toddled in the grass. So many pleasant memories. Would there ever be more?

  Ryan came up behind her. “I know you’re furious with me,” he said softly, “but can I sleep in our bed tonight?”

  “Not furious. Frustrated,” she whispered. “I love you with my whole soul. I’m just angry and feeling betrayed. My emotions have taken on a mind of their own in the past two days. You may sleep with me if we can call it sleep.”

  Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned into his warmth. “You were very far away just now.”

  Grace closed her eyes. “Not far away, but long ago, remembering Johnny as a little boy. Such carefree times.”

  “Carefree isn’t the word I would use to describe Johnny’s childhood. There was always a crisis around the next corner.”

  “As hard as those times were, Johnny’s medical problems were expected. We knew how to face them. I would take all those times over this nightmare. I feel paralyzed.”

  Ryan turned Grace to face him and cupped her chin in his hand. “This isn’t all on you. There’s a mass of experts around the country doing what they can to recover Johnny and capture Mara. Like you said, she’ll slip up. We’ll have them both.”

  “My confidence is slipping. I was so hopeful after I remembered seeing her, but we have zero leads. Alec and I racked our brains for anything Mara may have said on that phone call twelve years ago that will lead us to her. We came up empty.”

  “It’s after eleven. Let’s go to bed. Maybe the answers will come in your sleep.”

  Grace’s phone buzzed and she jumped. Her hands shook as she took it from her robe pocket. The number was blocked, but she answered in case it was news of Johnny.

  “Hello,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Johnny,” the voice on the other end said.

  “Johnny?” she gasped.

  “Speaker,” Ryan said and waved to the two police officers guarding the front door.

  As Grace clicked it to speaker, Johnny said, “Yes, remember me? Your pretend son?”

  Grace’s legs gave out, she nearly dropped the phone. Ryan helped her to a dining room chair.

  “Where are you? Are you safe? Are you hurt? We’ll come to you now.”

  Officer Layton walked to the kitchen and made a ca
ll while Officer Perez motioned for Grace to hand him the phone. He opened the app the FBI had installed to record her calls before handing it back to her.

  “I’m with my real mother, and I’m not going anywhere with you,” Johnny said, almost spitting the words. “Mara’s taking good care of me. She told me how she gave birth to me in New Mexico, but my biological father was going to take me away from her. She escaped with me to Richmond, but Rick made her leave me at the hospital after I got hurt during the hurricane. You had my whole life to tell me the truth. Too late.”

  “That’s a lie. We can prove it. Don’t listen to Mara,” Ryan said. “Tell us where you are. We’ll rescue you and explain everything. Are you still in Richmond?”

  “Shut up, Ryan. Like I told Grace, it’s too late. I’ll never trust anything you say. I’m going to live with Mara. She’s my new family. My real family. Call off the FBI. I don’t need them to find me.”

  “I’ll never stop looking for you until the day I die,” Grace sobbed. “Mara’s an insane and dangerous criminal. Don’t trust her. She’s not your mother. She kidnapped you.”

  The line went quiet for five seconds. Grace prayed that she was getting through to him, but he said, “I have to go. This is the last time you’ll ever hear from me. Forget me and call off the feds. I’m staying where I am.”

  The officer signaled for Grace to keep him talking.

  “Johnny, this is us. We love you more than life itself. Haven’t we taken good care of you and loved you? We’ve given you a happy life with everything you wanted. I saved your life when you were a baby. Mara’s the one who kidnapped and abandoned you. She doesn’t care about you.”

  “You’re the liar. I hope you get what you deserve.”

  The line went dead. “Johnny,” Grace whispered. Nothing but silence answered. “Johnny,” she cried. “Don’t go!” Officer Perez tenderly took the phone from her hand. She stared at him uncomprehending before doubling over as waves of nausea washed over her. “Call back. Get Johnny back,” she told Officer Perez between gasps.