The Complete Arms of Grace Series

by Eleanor Chance

  Grace kept her hold on Alec. “He’s going to add to the reward.” Alec glared at Craig but kept her mouth shut. “It could help Johnny. Nothing else matters but Johnny.”

  Craig held his hands up in surrender. “She’s right, Alec. I told Grace how out of line I was on the phone. I’m sorry for accusing her. Johnny’s disappearance stirred up dark memories. It was a knee-jerk reaction.”

  Alec turned to Grace. “You’re buying this?”

  The kitchen door opened, and Ryan, Mark, and Steph filed into the living room.

  “What’s with all the shouting? We’ve been waiting-” Ryan said but stopped mid-sentence when he saw Craig. He turned to Grace. “You let him in?”

  “Yes,” Grace said. “Let me explain.”

  “What’s to explain?” He glared at Craig. “You offended my wife at a most vulnerable time. What kind of man are you? I want you off my property.”

  Alec chuckled. “Get in line.”

  Grace stepped between Ryan and Craig. “As much as I appreciating you defending me, it’s not necessary. I was just telling Alec that Craig has apologized. He’s here to offer his help.”

  “It’s true, and I need to tell you how sorry I am, too, Ryan. This is a traumatic situation. We’re all on edge.”

  “Have we all forgotten that Craig lost Samantha and his firstborn child on that horrible day fourteen years ago? He suffered for two years before learning Johnny was alive. He’s as invested in this as we are.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Alec said.

  Grace scowled at her. “We’ve all said and done things we regret this week. Which of us has the right to point fingers?”

  Ryan stepped back, and Alec relaxed her shoulders. “You’re lucky to have Grace in your corner after what you’ve done. I’ll allow you to stay, but I’ll be watching,” Alec said.

  “I’ve made many mistakes in my life but giving Johnny to Grace and Ryan wasn’t one of them, Alec. I love Johnny, but I wasn’t prepared then to give him what Grace could, and has.”

  Alec put her arm around Grace’s shoulders. “Truest thing you’ve ever said.”

  “Do I have your permission to stay, Ryan?”

  Ryan dropped onto the couch and rubbed his face. “Why not? We’ll take help from anywhere we can get it.”

  “I’m grateful. I hope we can all remember the real target for our anger," Craig said. “I can’t believe Mara had the brass to do this twice. We can’t allow her to disappear with Johnny this time. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop her and get him home. Melanie and I agreed we can add twenty-five grand to the reward.”

  Grace sank down next to him and took his hand. “That’s as much as the FBI is offering. You can afford that?”

  “Yes, and more if we need to.”

  “So, you do love Johnny,” Alec said. “You can definitely stay. I was about to tell Grace and Ryan that Adam and I are planning to donate the same amount.”

  Grace’s eyes glistened as she looked at her friend. “You would do that?”

  “We’d sell our house if it would bring Johnny home sooner.”

  Ryan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I don’t know what to say. I’ll call Agent Shepherd to get the word out about the reward.”

  “I’ll do it, Dad,” Steph said and started dialing her phone before she reached the kitchen.

  Craig stood and smoothed his pants. “I’ll get out of your hair. I need to check into my hotel and contact Melanie. She was worried about me coming here.”

  “Smart woman,” Alec said.

  “You don’t have to go. We were about to eat, and we can get you up to speed on the investigation,” Grace said. Ryan grimaced, but she ignored him. “You’re family. Please, stay.”

  It was Craig’s turn to tear up. “It’s more than I deserve, but I accept. I’d like to know more than what they’re reporting on the news.”

  “Good, then let’s eat,” Grace said and led her family into the kitchen.

  Reid, Prince, and Elliott waited in the van outside the motel for their target to make an appearance. A Richmond PD officer had gotten a tip from one of his informants about the blue car and passed it to Reid. They’d staked out the motel for two hours, but the car hadn’t shown. Reid was beginning to think the tip was a bust.

  He was getting ready to call it when the car pulled into the parking lot and drove behind the motel, out of their line of sight. Prince started the van and followed, but the car was empty by the time they got to the back of the motel.

  “What now?” Elliott whispered. “She got inside pretty fast. Johnny must not have been with her. Do you think it’s the room where the car is parked?”

  “She could have parked in front of a different room to throw us off. We can’t go busting through every door,” Prince said.

  “Mara probably has no idea we’re this close but get the desk clerk out here just in case. We’ll start with the room by the car and go from there. Stay here, Elliott. There’s no way to get out the back, so if she makes a run, she’ll have to come out the front.”

  Prince was back in three minutes with the motel clerk. Reid was climbing out of the van when the motel door in front of the car opened. A rough looking guy in his mid-twenties came out carrying a backpack and unlocked the car. Reid called out for him to stop, but the man tossed the backpack in the car and dove into the driver seat. Reid and Elliott were on him before he got the key in the ignition.

  Elliott cuffed him while Reid and Prince had the clerk unlock the door. The room was small with a tiny bathroom, so it only took seconds to see no one else was inside.

  “Not them,” Prince said. “Doesn’t look like they’ve been here either.”

  Reid went out and slammed the door behind him. “So, who’s our mystery man?”

  “Richmond PD has a unit in the vicinity. They’re on their way,” Elliott said. “Turns out they’ve been looking for Amos here for some time. He hit a liquor store and shot the clerk. The victim is alive but just barely.”

  “So, Amos, you might be looking at a murder charge to add to armed robbery,” Reid said and left Amos lying face down on the sidewalk with Elliott watching him. “We might as well start looking through the car and room to give Richmond PD a head start. We’ll head back to the office as soon as they get here. I don’t want to waste a second more on this than we have to.”

  Reid found Shepherd going over the pharmacy evidence with Michaels just after their dinner break.

  Michaels waved him into his office. “I can tell from your face that I’m not going to like what you have to tell me.”

  Reid went in and leaned against the desk with his arms folded. “Bad news and good news,” he said. “We located the car which the neighbor identified, but it has nothing to do with Mara. Good news is that it was used in an armed robbery and shooting at a liquor store. It led to the capture of Amos Jackson. Richmond PD has been after him for more than a year.”

  “Another dead end is so not what we need,” Shepherd said. “Glad they got Jackson, but this is a blow to our case. Mara could be holding Johnny anywhere in a hundred-mile radius.”

  “And she’s probably ditched any ID tying her to the house she vacated. Who knows how many ID’s or disguises she has, and now she has enough of Johnny’s medications to last a month,” Michaels said.

  Reid stroked his beard. “Did she fill all of his prescriptions? If not, she’ll have to crawl out of her hole to get them. If we keep eyes on every pharmacy from that chain in the city, we might get her.”

  “Can you imagine the manpower that would require?” Michaels asked.

  Reid dug through the stack of papers until he found Johnny’s pharmacy records. “There are two medications Mara won’t be able to fill until next week. That’s much further off than I’d like, but if we haven’t captured her by then, we could use locals to augment my team. Is there a way to red-flag Johnny’s account if Mara attempts to get refills?”

  “I’ll get the techs working on it with the phar
macy, but it’s a long shot. Like you said, she has a week’s cushion, so we’ll keep it as plan D. We need a plan A.” Michaels said.

  “Working on it, sir. If we’re done here, I’ll take the unpleasant task of informing the Walkers. And I know, put a good spin on it,” Reid said.

  “No, call first. If Grace is willing, I want her to go over the security footage tonight. I told her to come in the morning, but I don’t want to wait. We can’t waste time chasing the wrong person,” Michaels said. “Shepherd, I know it’s been a long day, but have the footage ready in the tech lab when she gets here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shepherd said and brushed past Reid on her way out.

  Reid followed her and went to call Grace.

  Grace sat next to Steph, staring at the computer monitor. She’d been there for thirty minutes and was already having a hard time keeping her eyes focused. She’d been excited to get Reid’s call, and Steph had jumped at the chance to go back to the field office with her, but the reality of scanning through the security camera videos was nothing like she’d imagined. As much as she wanted to ID Mara, it was ten-thirty and studying the feed was about as exciting as watching grass grow.

  Agent Shepherd had started the video from the mark forty-five minutes before Grace got the text alert. Grace had watched ten or twelve customers approach the pharmacy counter, but none had looked remotely like Mara. Watching the unsuspecting, anonymous people made Grace uneasy. They had no idea they were being filmed, and she felt like a creeper.

  The current customer on the screen was an older man who couldn’t figure out how the debit card machine worked. The pharmacy tech patiently helped him complete his transaction. The customer before him was a young woman with a little boy who kept picking his nose. Steph had groaned and suggested they bet about whether he’d eat what he pulled out of his nostril. Grace had given her a gentle smack on the arm and told her to focus, but she wondered how many times someone had watched her when she wasn’t aware her actions were being recorded. She made a mental note to be more aware of her actions in public in the future.

  Shepherd returned with a Diet Coke for each of them thirty minutes later. She pulled up a chair and sat next to Steph. “Anything yet?” she asked.

  “Nothing but a new appreciation for people who do this for a living,” Grace said. “Have you seen the video of Mara?”

  “I have, but we want to see if you ID the person the pharmacy tech thought was her.”

  Reid came in and stood behind Steph with his arms crossed. Grace caught the slight upward curve of Steph’s lips when she glanced at him. She turned back to the screen before Steph saw her watching.

  At that moment, a woman with a large-rimmed neon-pink hat stepped up to the counter. Her face was only visible for an instant before the woman lowered her head, but it was long enough for Grace to get a look at her eyes. She leaned closer to the monitor and studied the woman’s movements and body shape.

  She pointed at the screen and turned to Reid. “It’s Mara. That’s her. Does she look at the camera again before she leaves?”

  Reid shook his head. “She knows what she’s doing. She kept her face hidden with the hat.”

  “Can you rewind it and freeze it where you can see her face?” Steph asked. Shepherd reached over to the computer and did as Steph asked. She paused the video on the frame where Mara’s eyes were visible. “You’re sure that’s her?”

  “Positive,” Grace said. “She cut and bleached her hair, but that’s her.”

  Shepherd looked at Reid and dipped her chin. “That’s the person the pharmacy tech IDed.”

  “Have the techs print that frame and try to clean it up so we can disseminate it,” Reid said.

  “You got it, boss. This is a huge break.”

  She left in a hurry, and Reid said, “Thanks for coming in so late, Grace. If the techs can get a clean print for the media, someone might recognize her. Even though the tip on the car was a bust, having a shot of her face for the public may bring new leads. The increased reward is making a difference too. The tip line has heated back up. I’m hoping to have Mara in custody by morning.”

  “Do you ever sleep?” Steph asked.

  “I’m heading to the hotel now. I’ll keep my phone close by and call the second we have anything promising.”

  Grace picked up her purse and walked to the elevator a few feet ahead of Wes and Steph. She heard Wes tell Steph that he’d leave a visitor badge for her at the front desk if she wanted to come by in the morning. Steph eagerly agreed, and Grace smiled to herself, still hoping for that one bright spot to emerge from the darkness. She knew Johnny would have been happy about it, too.

  Mara’s eyes were glued to the TV while she flipped through the morning news cycle. Johnny watched her while he ate his cereal at the small table in their room. She’d become obsessed with searching for any mention of them in the news, but Johnny was sick of it and wondered if she’d only taken him from the Walkers for the attention.

  “Can’t we watch a movie or something?” he asked, through a mouthful of cereal. “They’re just repeating the same report. We’ve heard it all.”

  Mara swung around and glared at him for a second before turning back to the TV. “Fine, we’ll watch the news.”

  He would have asked if he could watch YouTube, but Mara had changed the unlock code on the laptop and restricted his use to homework with her staring over his shoulder. She was afraid he’d try to contact one of his friends. She was smart to do that because that was his exact plan. He missed his friends. He even missed school and would gladly trade a PT session with Tony to another day cooped up with Crazy Mara.

  He finished his cereal and out of absolute boredom and desperation, decided to read one of his textbooks. Just as he reached into the backpack to get one, Mara sprang off the chair and stared open-mouthed at the TV. There on the screen was a slightly blurred picture of her in that stupid pink hat. He chuckled, and she turned on him and grabbed him by the neck of his t-shirt. Not again, he thought.

  “You think it’s funny? That’s from the pharmacy. I had to go there because of you. Now I have to figure out a way to change my appearance again or I can’t leave this room. It’s your fault.”

  Johnny had gotten used to her tantrums and wasn’t afraid of her. He easily pulled her hand free of his shirt and pushed himself up by pressing on the table.

  “Back off. I didn’t ask you to bring me here, and it’s your fault I need the meds in the first place. All of this is your fault. If you’d left me in that hospital with Craig when I was born, I wouldn’t be a damned cripple.”

  Instead of backing down, she did the last thing he expected and backhanded him across the cheek. The force of the blow knocked him off balance. He fell back, missing the edge of the dresser by less than an inch. His elbow struck the floor hard, and he felt the sting of carpet burn. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest without daring to look at Mara.

  She crouched next to him and tenderly patted his back. “I’m so sorry, Johnny. I just didn’t expect you to talk back to your mother that way. I thought Grace had taught you better. You’re right that you wouldn’t have your disabilities if I’d left you in New Mexico, but it’s Rick’s fault you got hurt, not mine. I wanted to stay in our house during the hurricane, but he insisted we leave. It’s all his fault. I promise never to hit you again, but I expect you to be respectful.”

  Johnny stared at her, shocked by her sudden mood change and excuses, but he nodded to shut her up. She grinned and helped him into the chair. His elbow hurt when he rested it on the table. When he pushed the sleeve of his hoodie up to examine it, blood dripped onto the table.

  “I’m cut. Do we have any bandages?”

  Mara pressed a napkin on his cut and told him to put his hand over it and press hard. “I have first aid supplies in my purse, but we’ll need more. That’s a bad cut. I can’t go to the market in the lobby until I do something with my hair.”

  She dug in her purse and pulled out some antiba
cterial ointment, gauze, and tape. She chatted away at high speed like nothing had happened while she cleaned and bandaged his cut. Johnny became more concerned with each word. He’d never seen someone shift emotional gears on a dime like her, and it disturbed him.

  “They have a market in the lobby?” he said to distract her.

  She finished with his arm and smiled at her work in satisfaction. “A small one. Not much there.”

  “Do they have snacks?”

  “What’s with you and the snacks? I’ve never seen anyone eat like you. You haven’t touched the fruit.”

  “I had a banana with my cereal.” He held up the empty peel to prove it.

  Mara looked around the room and sighed. “We need to find somewhere to live that’s more permanent and affordable with a real kitchen so I can cook. Not sure how we’re going to manage that. I didn’t even get my last paycheck from the hospital. It’s probably in the mailbox at my house, but that place is most likely crawling with feds.”

  “Don’t you have any friends that could get your mail? And I don’t know why you’re so worried about getting caught. If you can prove you’re my real mom, they can’t arrest you.”

  “Not if. I am your mother but proving that will be tricky. What would happen to you in the meantime? And I haven’t been here long enough to make friends. No one would want to help anyway. They’d think I’m a kidnapper.”

  Because you are, Johnny thought but kept his mouth shut. He watched Mara put on her hoodie and pull it tight around her face to cover her hair.

  “I need hair dye and extensions, or maybe a wig except they’re expensive. My poor hair will never be the same.”

  She went on mumbling, talking more to herself than him. Johnny took the remote off the table and went to his bed. His elbow was throbbing, and he had a headache. He changed the channel away from the news and turned up the volume hoping to drown out Mara.

  “Turn that down,” she said. “It’s giving me a headache. I’m going out and may be gone for a few hours looking for a store outside of Richmond where no one will notice me. You have plenty of food here to last until I get back.” She put both hotel key-cards in her purse. “Don’t answer the door to anyone, just like before, and lock the bolt and bar behind me.”