The Complete Arms of Grace Series

by Eleanor Chance

  A recent picture of Grace and one of Johnny came on the screen. Mara moved closer to get a better look. There he was, her boy, her angel. He was so handsome and tall. She wanted to reach into the TV and stroke his silky blond hair.

  Interviewer: "Sounds intriguing. What's the title and when will it hit bookshelves?"

  Alec: "It's titled Baby John Doe and will be out in time for the holidays. It's available for pre-order at all major retailers."

  Mara pressed the off button and let the remote slip from her fingers to the floor. The back popped off when it struck the tile, and every eye in the room turned toward Mara as the batteries popped out and rolled under a chair. She ignored them and stormed out of the waiting room. She ripped off her staff ID badge as she passed the information desk and tossed it into the garbage. Fighting to quell her rage, she raced out of the entrance and headed for the parking lot without looking back.

  3

  Grace found Ryan watching a movie in his man-cave when she got home from giving a lecture at the hospital. She checked to make sure Johnny wasn't home before tearing off her coat and climbing onto Ryan’s lap.

  When she came up for air after planting a passionate kiss on him, Ryan said, "Welcome home. What's gotten into you?"

  "You were so seductive in your stained t-shirt and ratty sweatpants that I couldn’t resist. Want to go upstairs? Is Johnny in his room?"

  Ryan leaned forward. "He wasn't here when I got home. I assumed you said he could stay out late. Where was he going tonight?"

  "He didn't ask to go anywhere. He was here when I left." Grace jumped up and grabbed her phone to check the tracker app. "He's at Damien's."

  "Probably just playing video games."

  Grace shoved the phone in her pocket. "Still think the tracker was a bad idea?"

  "Yes. We could have just called and asked."

  Grace shook her head. "He knows he's not supposed to leave without telling us where he is. He's pushing boundaries."

  Ryan held out his arms and motioned for her to come back to his lap. She hesitated before giving in. She wanted to be mad at Johnny but knew Ryan would coax her out of her anger. He always did.

  "He should be pushing boundaries, Grace. He was a prisoner to a wheelchair for ten years. He wants his freedom. He's just a few blocks away. Call and calmly tell him it's time to come home."

  Grace took some slow breaths. “Everything he does makes me so crazy. It’s not like me to lose my temper. He’s an expert at pushing my buttons. How will I survive four more years of this?"

  Ryan chuckled. "Marie was the same way with Mark and look how well he turned out. This will get easier as Johnny gets older, but you've got to loosen your grip. He's a good kid, but he’s not going to be perfect."

  "I'll have to trust you on this." Grace leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder. "You call him, but put it on speaker."

  Ryan tapped Johnny's name in his list of recent calls. It only rang twice before he answered.

  "What's up, Dad?" he said, over the noisy background.

  "Your Mom and I are wondering where you are and when you're coming home. It's getting late and I’ll bet you didn't think to take your meds with you."

  "I told you I was going to Damien's. Didn't you hear me?"

  Ryan gave Grace a sheepish look. "I didn't. Next time make eye contact so you know I heard you."

  "But you’re right about my meds. Can I have thirty more minutes?"

  His question was in the whiny, sing-song voice they'd never been able to resist when he was younger. Grace hadn't heard it in ages and smiled at the fond memory.

  "Hi, sweetheart. It's Mom. Thirty minutes but no more. Should we come get you?"

  "Nah, Jason said he’d take me home."

  "Love you," Ryan said. "See you in a few." He put the phone down and grinned at Grace. "Please don't leave me."

  Grace laughed and kissed him. "We both screwed up. I'll never figure out this parenting thing. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

  "Disaster averted, but I hope you'll reconsider removing the tracker."

  Grace smiled without agreeing to reconsider. "Want to go upstairs and make out for thirty minutes?"

  Ryan stood her up and took her hand. They were up the stairs in record time.

  Grace pulled up to Johnny's physical therapist office the following Monday afternoon and said, "I'll get you checked in but then I have errands to run. I’ll be back before you're finished." She opened her door but Johnny didn't unhook his seat belt. "You need to hurry. You know Tony doesn’t like it when you’re late."

  Johnny didn't move. "Tony will have to deal with it. I'm sick of PT. Can’t I miss just once?"

  Grace set her purse down and faced him. "What's wrong? You hardly said a word on the way here. Did something happen at school?"

  "No, I'm just tired, and PT hurts. Why can't I be like a normal kid who doesn't have PT three times a week for the rest of his life?"

  "I know it hurts. Trust me, I know, but don't think about the rest of your life. Just focus on this session. What does Tony always say?"

  "One step, one day at a time," Johnny said, mimicking Tony's gruff voice.

  Grace bit her tongue to keep from laughing. "Is he right?"

  He furrowed his brows. "Maybe. I don't know."

  "Let's go in and see where it goes. Tell Tony you're not feeling up to much. He knows how hard you usually work. Maybe he'll go easy on you."

  "Tony? Right. He's never gone easy on me."

  Grace undid Johnny's seatbelt, wishing she could just take him for donuts instead of forcing him to go to PT, but as much as he hated it, it was vital that he go. "Come on, buddy. No backing out."

  Johnny groaned but reached for his crutches and struggled out of the car. After Grace checked him in, she walked with Johnny to the warm-up area. Tony met them with his usual enthusiasm.

  "My favorite patient," he said and held his fist up for Johnny to bump. Johnny gave a half-hearted effort and let his hand drop. "What was that? Forget your energy pills this morning?"

  "Johnny's not feeling it today," Grace said.

  "You sick?" Tony asked Johnny.

  "Just tired," Johnny said, without raising his eyes.

  "You’re entitled to be tired now and then. Let's start with the tank and stretching today. We'll see what you've got in you after that."

  Johnny perked up slightly. He loved getting into the warm, miniature pool that Tony called the tank. As Tony led Johnny to the pool, he turned and gave Grace a nod. She mouthed a thank you and heard him ask Johnny if he'd seen the latest episode of their favorite show. Johnny told him he had and rattled off his opinion on it. Grace breathed a sigh of relief and left them to it.

  She was grateful to Tony for the magic he'd worked with Johnny over the years. He'd been vital to Johnny's success in progressing from his wheelchair to crutches. None of them would have had the strength to stick to it without him.

  Grace was lost in her thoughts when someone bumped her as she walked to her car. Grace glanced up to apologize and froze when she recognized the eyes staring back at her. She’d seen those eyes only once before, on the day Johnny was abandoned in the ER, but they were indelibly etched on Grace’s brain.

  Before Grace recovered from the shock, the woman spun around and tore off down the street. Grace threw her purse in the car and sprinted after her. She’d never been a fast runner and was outdistanced in a hurry. By the time Grace rounded the corner, the woman had vanished. While Grace frantically searched for her, a blue sedan sped around the opposite corner with tires squealing. Grace didn't even have time to get her license plate.

  She leaned against a tree to catch her breath and try to make sense of what just happened. Had it been Mara or was her mind playing tricks? Why would Mara dare come back to Richmond and risk getting caught? Had she known the time and place of Johnny’s PT appointment or had their encounter been a coincidence?

  Grace’s hands shook so hard as she limped back to the car that it took three trie
s to unlock the door. Once in the driver’s seat, she took out her phone to call 911 but decided to try Ryan first. He'd know what their next move should be. She dialed his number, but it went to voicemail, and she remembered he was giving a safety protocol presentation to other rangers that day. A safety presentation of all things, she thought. His phone would be turned off for hours. She’d have to figure it out on her own.

  As she relaxed against the seat and tried to clear her thoughts, the dry-cleaning ticket on the passenger seat caught her eye. Picking up the dry cleaning and going to the bank had seemed like top priorities until she came face to face with her worst fear. Johnny was in danger. They were all in danger. Nothing else mattered.

  Leaving Johnny at the PT clinic was out of the question, so Grace went inside to wait. She picked up a magazine and pretended to read, but her trembling hands made that impossible, so she laid the magazine in her lap and closed her eyes. Johnny's session was almost finished. She only had to keep it together for ten more minutes.

  She sprang out of the chair when Johnny came into the waiting room and ushered him to the car in a hurry. After getting him settled, she climbed into her seat and gripped the steering wheel. Her heartbeat still pounded so loud in her ears that it was hard to hear Johnny’s words.

  He tapped her shoulder and she jumped. "Here," he said, and held out the dry-cleaning slip. "Where are the clothes? Didn't you go to the cleaners?"

  The cleaners? Grace thought and stared at the ticket for several seconds before taking it from him and sliding it into her purse. "They were closed. The power was out for some reason."

  Johnny bought her excuse and didn't interrogate her. She backed out of the parking lot and tried to stop the terrifying incident from looping in her brain. Johnny rattled on about levels and worlds from his favorite video game, but Grace only caught snatches of what he said.

  "What's the matter with you? You're acting weird, and why’s your hair messed up? It’s not windy," he said, when they were halfway home.

  Grace took a breath to center herself. She’d hoped the days of being controlled by fear were behind her, and she wasn’t ready to explain Mara to Johnny. "I'm just preoccupied about a patient at work. I got a call while you were with Tony. I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

  Johnny eyed her for several seconds but shrugged and went back to talking about his game.

  Grace paced in the kitchen while she waited for Ryan to get home from work and ran into the garage the instant the door opened. She pounced on Ryan before he was out of the car.

  "I saw her today, outside the PT clinic," she said in a rush.

  Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Who’d you see? Was it that Midge? She can be such a pain.”

  Grace held up her hands to stop him. “Who’s Midge? What are you talking about?”

  Ryan went into the kitchen with Grace following close behind. “That one receptionist in Tony’s office. She’s so rude.”

  Grace wanted to scream as she watched Ryan sit at the kitchen table and start unlacing his boots. "There’s no Midge at Tony’s office. It was Mara! I saw Mara. We need to call the FBI."

  Ryan's head shot up. "Mara? What are you talking about?" Grace dropped into a chair opposite him and told him about the incident in the parking lot. "She’d be insane to show up there, especially if there was a chance she’d run into you."

  "She is insane, Ryan. Have you forgotten that she kidnapped Johnny from the hospital nursery two hours after he was born? Who knows what else she’s capable of? We need to call Scott Michaels."

  Ryan stopped pulling off his second boot and stared at her. "You mean Special Agent Scott Michaels with the FBI? He's probably retired by now, but even if he’s not, what do you plan to tell him? That someone bumped into you in a parking lot?"

  Grace reached down and rubbed the ache in her leg. "She ran when I chased her."

  "I would have run, too, if some strange woman came chasing after me.”

  “I’m not some strange woman. She ran first when she recognized me. I’m sure of it.”

  “You saw Mara once, for less than a minute, fourteen years ago. Johnny’s got you riled up with all this interrogation about the past. He’s stirred up bad memories. That’s all this is. You’re seeing things."

  Grace moved her hands from her leg to her temples. "Why won’t you believe me? I’ll never forget that woman's face. Never!"

  "Even if it was her, why are you panicking? You keep a tight leash on Johnny, and you've got that damned tracker on his phone. What could Mara do? He's a foot taller than her, not a helpless infant."

  Grace glared at him, frustrated by his denials. “Even if she’s not after Johnny, she needs to pay for what she did. What if she kidnapped another child?"

  Ryan put his hand on her shoulder. "Take a breath, Grace. You only saw her for a split second fourteen years ago. You have a lot on your mind. You know better than I do the kind of tricks our minds can play under stress."

  Grace closed her eyes and replayed the incident in slow motion in her mind. The woman's hair was darker than Grace remembered Mara’s being, but it would have been simple to dye it. A hint of wrinkles framed her mouth and eyes, which fit Mara’s age, but that proved nothing. It was her eyes that struck a chord for Grace.

  She switched her thoughts to the memory of Mara and her husband, Rick, racing into the ER with Johnny hanging limp and wet in their arms. The events that followed only lasted seconds, but Grace and Mara had locked eyes as Rick tore Mara from Johnny and dragged her out into the storm. Grace would never forget the anguish and loss in Mara’s eyes. It was the pain of a mother losing her child. Grace understood that kind of pain.

  The anguish was missing from her eyes in the parking lot earlier, but the loss remained. Mara had only been Johnny’s mother for months after she kidnapped him, and it occurred to Grace that Mara could have remarried and had children of her own. The thought disgusted her, but could Mara still suffer the pain of losing him after so many years? It seemed unlikely, and Grace wondered if she had conjured Mara up out of her own fears.

  She opened her eyes and said, "I’ll admit there’s a minuscule chance I'm wrong, but whether or not that was Mara today, she's managed to evade the FBI all these years. Who knows if they’re even looking for her? We can’t afford to get complacent. Not ever."

  "I'm not saying we should. We'll continue to keep close tabs on Johnny and contact the FBI immediately if she shows up again, but we can’t go seeing trouble around every corner. Whoever she was, hopefully you scared her off." He finished removing his boot and glanced at Grace. "Did you tell Johnny what happened?"

  Grace shook her head and got up to put a plate in the sink to avoid facing him. “I made up a story for why I was shaken up.”

  "More lies? Isn’t hiding the truth about Mara more dangerous than telling him? If Mara is back in the picture, Johnny needs to be on his guard more than anyone."

  "I couldn’t talk to him about it. I was too freaked out. And if Mara is back, telling Johnny is the least of our worries."

  Ryan stood and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to change. Don't mention this to Alec when she gets here. She'll blow it out of proportion, and half of Richmond will know by morning."

  Grace groaned. She'd forgotten Alec was coming over to plan their Thanksgiving menu. All she wanted to do was climb into bed and hide under the covers. "I'll do my best, but she always knows when I'm keeping a secret."

  Ryan looked her in the eye. "So does Johnny."

  Alec read from the list she’d typed into her tablet two hours later. "Along with the turkey, wild rice stuffing, and red garlic potatoes, I'm planning to make my famous pumpkin Agnolotti. We just need to come up with a light vegetable. Is Ryan still insisting on broccoli cheese casserole?" When Grace didn't respond, she said, "Are you listening? Where are you tonight?"

  Grace's gaze shifted from the carpet under the dining room table to Alec. Despite Ryan's warning, she’d been battling with herself about whether or not to tell Alec
about Mara. Hoping for a more understanding response that she’d gotten from Ryan, she gave in and spilled the whole story.

  "I haven’t stopped shaking since I saw her. I wanted to call Agent Scott Michaels at the FBI, but Ryan thinks I'm paranoid."

  "Look at me," Alec said, and put her hand on Grace's shoulder. "It happened so fast, and you’ve had Mara on the brain lately. That lunatic wouldn't dare show her face in Richmond and risk getting caught. She’s most likely rotting in prison for some other crime."

  Grace rubbed her forehead. What Alec said made sense, but she was having a hard time convincing herself. "I'm losing my mind."

  "No, you're not. It's just all the stress with Johnny."

  "You sound like Ryan."

  "Just get the big reveal with Johnny over with. You’ve been agonizing over it for weeks."

  "I was happy to let it go. You and Ryan are the ones pressuring me, but you can relax. We're telling Johnny Thanksgiving weekend." Alec picked up her phone and started tapping. "What are you doing?"

  "Putting it in my calendar so you can't conveniently forget."

  "Don’t bother. Ryan will be holding my feet to the fire."

  "Good man." She squeezed Grace's hand. "I know you, better than anyone but Ryan. Maybe better than Ryan. You'll obsess about Mara until you drive yourself and the rest of us crazy. Johnny has all of us to protect him. Forget Mara and focus on reality, not ghosts. By Christmas, you'll be wondering why you kept Johnny’s past from him for so long and this Mara thing will be a faint memory. On another topic, have you considered that Johnny will want to meet Craig once he knows the truth?”