Wes took them to the bank of monitors that Grace was coming to know and detest, but that night she hoped they’d reveal the answers they sought. She settled in for the long haul, and Wes and Steph looked over her shoulder while she watched the prerecorded security footage from the timeframe where she saw Mara.
There wasn’t a camera in the hallway near the cafeteria, but they had recordings from cameras in that area. Grace’s heart pounded with excitement. Seeing Mara meant that not only was she still in the city, but they might also have a way to track her!
Once they’d studied the footage with no luck, a tech switched to the live feed that hospital security had allowed them to patch into. The feed rotated between zones of the facility. Grace’s heart rate slowed to normal after thirty minutes passed with no sign of Mara. Wes came and went during that time, but Steph stayed at her side. Even though she’d talked Alec out of coming with her, Grace was glad not to be alone.
She jumped when Steph broke the silence and said, “Does Dad know you’re here?”
Grace put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “No. I didn’t want him trying to convince me that I’d imagined seeing Mara, and I didn’t want to get his hopes up either. I’ll call him as soon as we confirm she was at the hospital.”
Steph nodded and turned her eyes back to the screens. Another hour passed while Wes came and went but still no sign of Mara.
When Wes’ phone buzzed for the tenth time, he checked it and said, “We have access to the HR records. A team is combing through them now. I’m going to join them. I’ll be more help there than here.”
Steph stood and stretched. “I could use a break. You must be starving, Grace. What can I get you?”
Grace hadn’t noticed how hungry she was until Steph mentioned it. “Just a chicken sandwich and salad. And something small and sweet would be nice.”
“I know just the thing,” Steph said, as she left with Wes.
Grace followed Steph’s example and stood to stretch, but she kept her eyes on the screen. It was after ten, so there were no visitors at the hospital, and the hallways were quiet. Grace wondered if staring at those screens all night hoping to see Mara was an exercise in futility. Mara could have been long gone by then.
Grace tried to figure out what Mara had been doing at the hospital. She hadn’t been wearing a uniform, but that could have meant she was getting dinner before starting her shift. That was Grace’s hope because it meant she might catch sight of her while she worked. The other possibility was that Mara had just come off her shift and had changed before getting dinner and heading back to her hideout.
Wes had insisted that Mara wasn’t foolish enough to try to get a job in the most likely place they’d look for her, but they hadn’t been looking for her there for that very reason. Maybe getting a job at Richmond City had been one of Mara’s evil-genius tactics.
Grace swung her arms and paced a few quick laps to get her heart pumping before dropping into her chair. She hoped the added blood flow to her brain would be enough to solve the Mara puzzle. If Wes was so insistent that Mara wouldn’t apply for a job, why else would she have been there? She was puzzling over her questions when the camera panned over a sign in the ICU that posted visiting hours.
Grace sprang out of her chair and leaned closer to the monitors. Mara hadn’t been at the hospital to work. She’d been there because Johnny was a patient. If Johnny was there, Mara wouldn’t leave him alone overnight. The ICU had a lounge for immediate family to sleep, eat and shower, so they wouldn’t have to leave their loved ones.
It only took two more minutes of watching the security feed to prove her hunch right. As the image of the ICU came on the center monitor, Mara stepped out of a patient room and went to the nurses’ station to talk to a doctor leaning against the counter. She wasn’t wearing the baseball cap, but her hair was pulled into the same ponytail. Grace tapped the button on the keyboard to freeze the feed just as Mara raised her face to the camera.
Grace grabbed her purse and raced down the stairwell. She retrieved her phone at the reception desk and opened the app for an Uber. Since it was Friday night, she wouldn’t have to wait long for one to arrive and carry her to her Johnny.
* * *
Wes rubbed his face and yawned before flipping to the next record in the HR file from the hospital. It was his third time through the records. It had been a revelation to him how many people are employed in a big facility like Richmond City, and he didn’t even have all the files. The team looking for Mara had split them up to save time, but much to Wes’ frustration, none of them had found anyone who remotely resembled Mara.
“Agent Reid,” someone said, startling him just as he was about to take a sip of coffee. Half of it spilled down the front of his shirt. “Ms. Walker is asking for you. She says it’s urgent.”
Wes jumped up and rushed to meet Steph in the hallway. “What is it? Did Grace see Mara?”
“Better than that. Come on.” Wes had a hard time keeping up with her as she ran back to the room where Grace had been watching the security feed. “I’ve been trying to call you for five minutes,” Steph said over her shoulder.
“I turned my phone off so I could concentrate. Explain what’s happening.”
They reached the AV room, and instead of answering, Steph pointed at the monitors. Mara was frozen on the screen looking directly into the camera.
Steph handed him a sheet of paper. While he read it, she said, “Johnny’s in the ICU. Grace has gone after Mara. You better get your team over there ASAP. Who knows what she’ll do?”
Wes didn’t wait to hear more. He got on his radio and barked orders for his team to gear up and meet him at the SWAT vehicles.
Chapter Twenty
Grace jumped out of the car the instant the driver stopped at the hospital entrance. As she raced through the halls after taking the elevator to the third floor, she racked her brain for anyone she knew that worked in the ICU but came up empty. Her only hope was that someone from her past would recognize her and buzz her into the unit. If not, she would fight her way in. She refused to let a little thing like a locked door keep her from her son.
The problem was solved for her when a middle-aged couple came out just as Grace arrived at the ICU doors. The man held tightly to the woman who was sobbing into a bloodied flannel shirt. Grace’s heart went out to them as she grabbed for the door before it closed. Her actions didn’t even register with them as they passed, consumed with their grief.
Grace stepped into the ICU and forced herself to stop and regain her composure before forging ahead. The ICU staff would recognize all authorized visitors. They’d toss her out in an instant if she barged in gunning for Mara. Grace had to act like she belonged there. She waited for her breathing to slow before continuing down the hallway.
The unit had been refurbished since she was last there, but the layout was the same. The circular nurses’ station was in the center with the rooms laid out in a larger circle surrounding it. There was a clear view of the patients from any angle of the nurse’s station, and few people were as familiar with that department as Grace was. From the video she’d seen of Mara, she knew exactly where to find her.
Grace turned in that direction, but the hallway was vacant. In the twenty minutes that had passed, Mara would have had time to get to the parking lot and speed off in any direction, but Grace’s gut told her the enemy was close.
Grace made a circuit of the floor without finding Mara. She had paused to step into an empty room if anyone gave her a second glance. She was about to make a second loop when Mara stepped out of room four and started for the exit. Grace crossed the ICU in record time and bowled into Mara with as much force as she could muster. The momentum slammed them into a wall. When Grace caught her breath, she spun Mara around and held her shoulders against the wall. Mara struggled to break free, but the adrenaline pumping through Grace gave her strength she didn’t know she possessed.
“Where’s my son?” Grace asked thr
ough clenched teeth.
Mara’s lips curled into a sadistic grin. “You don’t know? Then that’s too bad. I’ll never tell you.”
Mara braced her left foot against the base of the wall and pushed. The movement shoved Grace off balance and she fell backward. Mara tried to run past but Grace caught her foot and toppled her onto her back. The fall knocked the wind out of Mara, so Grace used the advantage to straddle her and pin her arms at her sides.
“Trust me, you’re going to tell me where to find Johnny.”
A cart stacked with medical supplies stood inches from where she held Mara. Grace grabbed a sterile suture kit off it and tore it open. A pair of scissors clattered to the floor. Grace picked them up and held the point half an inch from Mara’s throat.
Grace felt a hand on her shoulder but shrugged it off without moving the scissors. She watched as a pair of feet moved to the top of Mara’s head and stopped. “Grace, is that you?”
Grace recognized the voice. She tore her eyes from Mara and looked up to make sure. “Marci? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be to in Baltimore.”
“I started here as the charge nurse three days ago.”
“Touching reunion,” Mara said, “but could you get this maniac off me, Marci?”
Marci knelt next to Grace. “I’m not sure who you think this is, but she the mother of one of our patients. You need to hand me the scissors and let her go.”
“No! This is Mara Brennen. She’s kidnapped Johnny twice, the first time on the day he was born. Amanda and I saw her in the ER when she abandoned Johnny. I’ll never forget her eyes. And she’s done it again. She took my boy. She knows where he is. I’m going to make her tell me.” Grace faced Mara. “Tell me where he is now!”
Mara sneered. “You’ll never prove it,” she whispered just loud enough for Grace to hear. “Amanda’s long gone. I checked when I got to Richmond, so it’s your word against mine. I’m not afraid of you, Grace. You don’t have the guts to stop me. One thrust and I could toss you like a ragdoll. Johnny’s my son, and you can’t have him. He’ll always belong to me.”
Marci called for security as Grace touched the point of the scissors to Mara’s throat and imagined them piercing the skin. The violence of the thought frightened her but proved she was capable of more than Mara imagined. She squeezed her other hand into a fist and lifted it to strike.
“Mom?” The word dispelled Grace’s rage and pierced her heart. “Is that you, Mom?”
Grace kept the scissors at Mara’s throat as she turned her head toward the sound. Johnny’s voice was weak but close. “Johnny? Where are you?”
Mara chuckled beneath her. “That’s right. Your precious boy is on the other side of that wall. If you go to him, I’ll disappear again, and you’ll never find me. So, what’s it going to be, him or me?”
Grace glared at Mara not knowing what to do. Her little man was only feet away, but if she went to him, Mara would escape, and they’d never have another chance to capture her. But how could Grace ignore Johnny? The days and weeks separating them had been agony, yet there he was, right within her reach. She only had to take a few steps to hold him in her arms.
She threw the scissors to the floor and climbed to her feet. Mara would get away, but Grace didn’t care. All that mattered was Johnny. All that had ever mattered was Johnny.
* * *
Mara scrambled to her feet and started for the exit, but Marci blocked her path.
“You’re not getting out of here. Security is on their way.” Marci glared at her with her hands on her hips.
Mara sized Marci up. Grace was a tiny slip of a thing, but Marci was a different story. She was at least five-ten and looked like she was no stranger to a gym. Mara had hoped to get out of the hospital without having to play her last card, but there was no way she could take Marci down in a hurry, and security arrives any second.
“You’ll let me go,” Mara said and lifted the pant leg hiding the gun strapped to her calf. She pulled it from the holster and pointed it at Marci. “If you don’t want to add more patients to this ward, you’d better get out of my way.” Marci raised her arms and backed up to let Mara pass. “Good choice.”
Mara tore Marci’s badge from her uniform and used it to activate the scrub dispenser. She held the gun in one hand and grabbed a pair of scrubs with the other before running toward the ICU exit. She threw the scrubs over her clothes as she went and put on a sterile cap and surgical mask for good measure. She took time to stop and flip off the stunned ICU staff before heading out the door.
* * *
Grace ran to Johnny’s room but froze when she saw him lying on the bed with his head shaved and bandaged. She knelt at his bedside and whispered, “Is it all right that I’m here?”
She held her breath as she waited for his answer. Johnny lifted his hand to her and said, “Mom, it is you. I knew you’d find me.”
It was all she needed to hear. She pulled him into her arms and held him as tightly as she dared. Her tears spilled onto his pillow as Johnny shook with sobs.
When he quieted, Grace looked into his eyes and said, “I can’t believe you were here all this time. Why are you in ICU? Did Mara do this to you?”
“In a way.” He told her the story of his ordeal and said, “It only took two days to figure out what a creepy nutcase Mara is, but by then it was too late to escape. I tried but I couldn’t do it. If I hadn’t hit my head when I fell off the window sill, she would have hauled me off to Portland or somewhere where you never would have found me.”
“That didn’t happen. Mara’s gone. You’re safe. Let’s just be grateful for that.” She tenderly brushed her fingertips over his bandages. “I had her, but I had to let her go. She was in my grasp but getting to you was more important than capturing Mara. It was more important than anything. You have my promise I’ll never let that monster within miles of you again. Your dad and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
* * *
Wes divided his unit into three groups. He left four agents to guard the main lobby and prevent anyone from leaving. He’d tried to get hospital security to order a lockdown, but all they were willing to do was post guards at the remaining exits including those used by staff. Wes split his other two groups between the elevators and stairs. His team took the elevator.
He was silent and tried to steady his thoughts as they ascended to the ICU floor. He didn’t know how he’d bear it if Mara slipped through their net for the third time. Or was it the fourth? He’d lost track. His gut told him this was his last chance.
He was worried about Grace, too. After the way Mara had attacked the store clerk, Wes hated to think how far she might go if Grace threatened or cornered her. Dread rose in his gut at what they’d face in the ICU.
He sprang through the doors the instant they opened and led his team to the ICU entrance. A woman in scrubs wearing a surgical mask and sterile cap came out as they reached the door.
“FBI. Please hold that open,” Wes called as he pulled his credentials from of his pocket.
The woman pushed it open as far as it would go and stepped aside for them to pass. Wes gave her a quick glance as he brushed by. She had her eyes lowered, but he saw enough of her face to recognize her. She flicked her eyes at him for less than a second, but it was long enough to confirm his suspicion.
She reached into her waistband as she turned to run in the opposite direction. Wes grabbed the back of her scrubs and yanked her back through the ICU entrance. Mara thrust her weight forward and broke his grasp, but Wes tackled her, and they slid across the slick tile floor.
Mara fought to break free while Wes pulled the gun from her waistband and held it up for Agent Cameron. He flipped her onto her back and straddled her as Grace had done. He ripped off the surgical mask and cap to get a better look. Mara struggled beneath his weight, but Wes just held her tighter.
“Get off me, you brute,” she cried. “I’m a nurse here.”
“Glad to,” Wes said as he cl
imbed off and rolled her on her side to cuff her. “Mara Brennen, you’re under arrest for kidnapping, carrying a concealed firearm into a hospital, and resisting arrest. I’m guessing they’ll be adding illegal possession of that firearm and who knows what else. Now, before I send you away to be locked up for the rest of your life, tell me where Johnny is.”
“Bite me,” Mara said.
Wish I could, Wes thought as he handed her off to Cameron. “Get her out of my sight.”
Wes had agents Prince and Elliott start questioning witnesses while he went to find Grace and figure out what Mara had been doing in the ICU. He hoped it would lead them to Johnny. Capturing Mara was only the first step in ending this nightmare. His promise to Grace didn’t end until her son was safely home.
He saw one of the nurses watching him scan the unit for Grace. He marched up to her and took out his phone to show her a picture of Grace. “I’m Special Agent Reid, ma’am. I’m searching for this woman. Have you seen her? Can you tell me where she is?”
A smile crept up the nurse’s face and she motioned for Wes to follow her. “I’m Marci. I’ve known Grace for years.” She stopped outside room four and said, “In there.”
Wes raised his eyebrows at her. He was afraid Mara had shot Grace and couldn’t imagine why Marci was smiling. He went in and stopped in shock at what he found. Grace was seated next to the bed holding Johnny’s hand.
She jumped out of the chair and grabbed Wes’ hands. “Mara was here. You have to go after her. You just missed her.”
Little Lost Things Page 27