“I know how adoption works,” I said, cutting her off. “Don’t try to make me feel sorry for you.”
“Then maybe you’ll understand how desperate we were. I don’t know which one of us got the idea first, but we decided to kidnap a newborn from a hospital. I was a nurse and knew my way around, so we just had to wait for our chance. Kyle’s parents, I mean Johnny’s parents, presented the perfect opportunity, and we took it. I took Johnny from the nursery on the day he was born.”
“So he was kidnapped!” Alec said. “Agent Erikson was right.”
“You already knew? How could you have known?” the woman asked.
I shook my head at Alec to stop her from volunteering any more information. “Just a suspicion. We didn’t know for sure,” I said into the phone. “How did you get away with it?”
“Easy, but that doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that we brought him to Richmond to raise as our own son. We loved him and took good care of him until the day of the flood. We were trying to escape in our boat, but it capsized. I didn’t want to leave Kyle in the ER, but Rick forced me to. We went into hiding until we were sure that no one knew we were responsible.”
“I can’t believe this. How could you do such a horrible thing?” I said, still reminding myself to breathe.
“Believe it, lady. It’s true. We were on the move together for a while, but the guilt tore us apart. I left Rick and made my way here. He’d kill me if he knew I was talking to you. I’ve watched Kyle from a distance all this time. I feel like he’s still a part of my life. I know I have no claim to him, but I want him to be happy and grow up where he belongs. His parents need to know he’s alive and well. I’ll tell you where to find them if you do exactly what I say.”
I sank to my knees and gripped the table for support. I wanted to smash the phone and pretend I’d never heard that woman speaking pain into my ear, but I couldn’t do that to Johnny or his parents. All that time not knowing where their baby was or if he was even alive. If what she was saying were true, I’d lose Johnny, but I had to get him back to them. Johnny had a right to know who he was, who his real parents were.
I jumped when the woman said, “You still there, Grace?”
“I’m here,” I whispered.
Alec put her hand on my shoulder, reminding me I wasn’t alone.
“I know you’re shocked, and you probably don’t believe me, but it’s true. I can give you the names and address of his family.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“My name is Mara but knowing that won’t help you. You’ll never find me. I’m leaving this place now that Kyle’s with you, and I can trust you to care for him. I’m going to find a place to have a real life of my own and bury this forever.”
“You think you’ll just escape unpunished? You can’t run away from the terrible crimes you’ve committed, the lives you’ve destroyed. We’ll find you. We’ll never stop hunting you until you pay for what you’ve done!” I said and got up off the floor.
“Pay? Don’t you think I’ve paid for this for the past eighteen months, always living in hiding, fear, and regret? I’ve done my time and paid the price. If you don’t promise to leave me alone, I won’t tell you where to find his family. I’ll just disappear, and you and your precious Johnny will never know,” she said.
I could hear the agitation in her voice. I had to act before she hung up. I could say I’d leave Mara alone and then go to the authorities after I had the information and let them handle it. I was afraid she could do something to hurt us if I went back on my word, but I had to take the risk.
“What’s your answer, Grace?” she whispered.
“I promise that I won’t go to the FBI until you have time to get away. If you’ve watched me all this time as you claim, then you know that all that matters to me is Johnny’s happiness and safety.”
“I do know, or I wouldn’t have called. Fine, in a few days, you’ll receive an envelope containing all the information you need. I’ll be long gone by then. No one will know where to look for me. When I drop that letter in the mail, this is over for me, but I’ll never forget Kyle. For a time, he was my son too.”
I heard a click, and the line went dead. My mind reeled in a haze of fear and confusion. My first memory of Johnny in the ER with Mara and Rick flashed in my mind. They almost killed him. They kidnapped him. He wasn’t my son. Fear gave way to a terror that crept over me like a suffocating fog. As I reached for Alec, she grew dim and then faded into blackness.
My eyelids felt like they were made of lead when I forced them open. The ceiling above me blurred in and out of focus, so I blinked a few times to clear my eyes.
“There you are,” Ryan said. “Can you see me?”
I rolled my eyes to the right. Ryan leaned over me by the side of the hospital bed. I tried to sit up, but the room faded, so I dropped back down onto the pillows. I couldn’t remember what had happened or how I’d gotten there.
“Water,” I croaked through desert-dry lips. Ryan put his hand under my head and lifted me to take a sip from a straw in a Styrofoam cup. When he laid me back down, I said, “Why am I here?”
He sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
I searched my mind for anything that gave me context. “You and Adam leaving to go rock climbing,” I said.
He brushed a lock of hair from my forehead. “That was twelve hours ago. You don’t remember the phone call from Mara?”
At hearing the name, memories of the night before flooded back. I struggled to get up again, to get to Johnny. “Where is he? Where’s Johnny?” As Ryan gently pushed me back down, I realized that my head was pounding. “What happened to my head?”
“Johnny’s safe. Alec and Adam have him right out in the hallway. I’ll tell them to bring him in when you prove to me you can handle it,” he said. “You passed out from the shock and whacked your head on the coffee table. You have a concussion and five stitches.”
That explained the headache. I pushed the button to raise the head of the bed and asked Ryan for another sip of water. “I’m feeling better,” I said. “I want to see Johnny, and please get something for my headache.”
Ryan told Alec and Adam to bring Johnny in. He reached for me as soon as Alec was close to the bed, and she almost dropped him. She laid Johnny in the crook of my arm. He ignored me and grabbed the remote that operated the bed and started pushing buttons. When the bed moved, he giggled and pushed the button again.
I closed my eyes to fight the nausea and said, “Please find something else for him to play with.”
Adam pulled Johnny’s favorite truck out of the diaper bag and handed it to him. Johnny dropped the remote and stuck the truck in his mouth.
I mouthed a thank you to Adam. He leaned over me and opened my eyes to shine his penlight at my pupils. “How’s your pain?” he asked.
“Excruciating,” I said. “That light’s not helping.”
“Be right back,” he said and went out to find my doctor.
Alec and Ryan were standing at the end of the bed staring at me. “Are either of you going to say anything?” I asked and put my hand up just in time to deflect Johnny from banging his truck on my forehead.
Ryan picked him up and said, “Let’s put you in the stroller, buddy.” He strapped him in and pulled a pack of fruit chews from his pocket.
That’s my Ryan, I thought, always prepared.
He sat in the chair next to my bed gave me some more water.
Alec leaned against the windowsill and crossed her arms. “When you blacked out, I called an ambulance and hightailed it over here with Johnny. I called Adam and Ryan on the way and told them to get back here. I didn’t black out and hit my head, but I’ve been a wreck since the phone call. That was terrifying. I still think we should call the cops, but Ryan and Adam agree with you that we should wait.”
“They’re right,” I said. “We can’t risk her finding out if we alert the police.”
“Then sleep in your office,” I snapped at her. I was in no mood to argue.
Adam came back with Dr. Aggarwal, a new neurology resident who was on call. I’d only met him once and thought he looked fifteen years old. He shined his light in my eyes like Adam had done.
“How’s the nausea?” he asked.
“Nauseating,” I said.
“Good to see a sense of humor,” he said. “I’ll order something for the pain and nausea, and I’m keeping you overnight. Call the nurse if you need me.” He rushed out.
I looked at Alec, and she said, “No need to ask. I’ll take Johnny to my office.”
“I’m sorry,” I said and started to cry, which only made my headache worse. “What are we going to do, Ryan?” I squeezed his hand between mine. “I’m losing him. After everything I’ve been through, I’m losing Johnny.”
Ryan kissed my forehead. “I know, sweetheart. Let’s wait for the letter and take it a day at a time from there. I’m staying here tonight. We’ll get through this together.”
Adam said, “You should handle the letter with surgical gloves when it comes and put it in a plastic bag.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Ryan said. “From what Grace says about this Mara person, she probably knows better than to leave fingerprints, but you never know. Hopefully, the FBI can find enough evidence to go after her.”
“She’ll be out of the country by the time you notify them,” Alec said. “She’s dodged the authorities for a long time.”
“That’ll be the FBI’s problem. I want Mara and Rick caught, but my priority is Johnny. I can’t think beyond that,” I said.
Dr. Aggarwal released me the next morning, so we went home to everything just as Alec and I had left it, including the bloodstain on the living-room carpet. I’d wanted to go to a hotel, thinking it would be safer, but Ryan convinced me that Mara could have hurt us or tried to take Johnny at any time, but she hadn’t. Even so, I agreed with Alec that the thought that Mara could be watching us was creepy.
I jumped out of my skin when the mail came the following Monday. I looked out the window for the hundredth time and finally saw the mail truck driving off. I ran to the mailbox and didn’t wait until I got inside the house to rifle through it. It was nothing but junk and bills. The letter wasn’t there. Ryan had warned me that it might take a few days. Mara could have mailed it from anywhere. I should have listened to him, but I’d convinced myself the letter would come that day. I was angry and disappointed, but I had no one to blame but myself.
Ryan came home from work an hour later to find me still sitting on the sofa with the pile of mail on my lap. “I take it the letter didn’t come,” he said. “Why aren’t you wearing gloves? You were supposed to wear gloves.”
“Who cares about the stupid gloves?” I said and pushed the pile of mail onto the floor. “She wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave her fingerprints on it.”
“Whoa, excuse me. I’m just trying to help catch a kidnapper,” he said and knelt down to pick up the pile of mail.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that, but this waiting is torture,” I said. “How am I going to survive until that letter comes? What if doesn’t come? What if she decided not to risk sending it? Maybe we should go to the FBI and take our chances that they’ll put the pieces together and find Johnny’s parents.”
Ryan sat next to me and said, “That’s too big a risk, and we only need to wait another day or so. Besides, why would Mara have gone to the trouble to call if she didn’t plan to send the letter? You’re getting worked up over something that hasn’t happened. You can’t freak out every time the letter doesn’t come.”
I sighed. “I’ll try to get a grip, but tomorrow, you’re getting the mail.”
Sounds of Johnny crying came over the baby monitor.
“It’s a deal. I’ll cook dinner. You take care of that,” Ryan said, pointing to the baby monitor.
I nodded and went to Johnny’s room. His face lit up when I opened the door. “Mama,” he said and held his hand up to me.
I picked him up and held him close. In the days since “the call,” I’d started to think in terms of lasts. I wondered when I would give Johnny his last bath or do his exercises with him for the last time. Every time he said Mama, I wondered if that would be the last time I’d hear it. I savored each moment, imprinting it in my mind and on my heart.
Johnny raised his head and planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek. I brushed my hand against it and prayed it wouldn’t be the last time.
I pretended to be busy in the kitchen the next day when Ryan came in with the mail. “You can stop the act. It came,” he said and held the envelope up between his gloved fingers.
I wiped my hands on a towel and said, “Don’t open it. Get Johnny. We’re going to the FBI right now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and saluted to break the tension.
I glared at him.
“Sorry. I’ll just get Johnny then.”
We were on our way in record time. I sat in the back and held Johnny’s hand. He didn’t scream for once but quietly stared out the window.
After we went through the security checkpoint at the FBI office, the security guard asked why we were there. When we explained that we needed to speak with Agent Erikson, he raised his eyebrows and asked us to follow him. He led us to a waiting area and told us to wait.
Three minutes later, Special Agent Scott Michaels walked into the waiting area and introduced himself. “Why are you asking for Agent Erikson?” he asked.
“Because he worked on the case that we’re here about,” I said. “I met him about eighteen months ago. He said if I ever had more information to contact him.”
Agent Michaels rubbed his chin, and said, “I’m sorry to tell you that Agent Erikson died in the line of duty six months ago, but I can try to help you.”
When I recovered from my shock at the news of Agent Erikson’s death, I looked at Ryan, not sure what to do. He nodded and said, “Go ahead. Tell him.”
I took a deep breath and told him Johnny’s story from the beginning. When I finished, I held up the envelope in the plastic bag for him.
He took the bag. “You should have come to us immediately, but I’m glad you came at all. I understand what you risked by coming here.”
“We wanted to make sure she was telling the truth,” I said. “I was afraid if we came to you before we got the letter, she wouldn’t send it.”
“No need to explain.” He looked at Johnny and smiled. “I remember hearing about him on the news, and I helped in the initial investigation. Agent Erikson was adamant about Johnny being the kidnapped child. His hunch was right. This case is one tragedy after another.”
“Like my life,” I said under my breath.
“What’s that?” he asked. When I shook my head, he said, “Let’s go to the conference room.”
We followed him down a long hallway.
When we were settled in the conference room, he put on gloves and said, “Let’s open this and see what it says.”
He read the letter, and I could tell that Mara had been true to her word. He told us she’d listed the names of Craig and Samantha Stuart with their address in Albuquerque. She also gave the name of the hospital and the date that she and her husband had kidnapped Johnny two years earlier. Agent Michaels pulled open kidnapping cases on his computer and found the one from Albuquerque that fit the time frame.
He read the file for several seconds and then rubbed his chin again. “Like I said, tragic. There’s a kidnapping that fits.”
I slumped against Ryan and cried on his shoulder.
Agent Michaels looked away and said, “Now, don’t do that. This doesn’t prove that Johnny is th
e missing baby. Mara may have heard about the kidnapping, and she’s using the information to torment you.”
I glanced at Agent Michaels. It was clear he didn’t believe that any more than I did. Mara hadn’t asked for money or anything else. She had nothing to gain by causing us trouble.
“We’ll take a DNA sample from Johnny and compare it to the sample on file from the Stuarts. We won’t notify the family until we’re certain, in case this turns into a dead end.”
I sat up and pulled a hankie out of my purse, glad that I’d thought to bring it. Tissues weren’t going to cut it.
Ryan put his arm around me and said, “How long will this take?”
“At least a few days, but I’ll try to rush it and contact you as soon as the results come in. In the meantime, go home and continue on with your lives as before. This may turn out to be nothing more than a hoax.” He stood and walked around his desk to face us. “I’ll lead you back to the lobby.”
As we followed Agent Michaels back down the long, tiled hallways, Johnny chatted happily in his stroller. I was grateful he was too young to comprehend the massive upheaval we were about to face. Agent Michaels had told us to go on as before, but that life had been wiped away. Johnny was no longer my son. He belonged to Craig and Samantha Stuart of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I wanted to sit in the front seat with Ryan on the way home, so I gave Johnny a sippy cup filled with juice to keep him happy. Ryan and I rode in silence for the first few miles. I turned away from him and looked out the window, not wanting him to see my tears.
“You have every right to cry. You don’t have to hide it from me,” he said. “Giving Johnny up will be incredibly hard. We’ll have to work through that, but this isn’t only about us and our future with Johnny.”
I wiped my face with the hankie and looked at him. “You’re talking about the Stuarts. As much as I want them to have their son back, it doesn’t mean I won’t mourn losing him. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it.” I took his hand.
Arms of Grace Page 27