Grace Anne (21 page)

~~~

Joey watched her son. She knew he
was hurting, but there was very little she could do about it. She was in pain
as well, but it was more a guilty kind of pain than the kind he was going through.
Thomas had never been a good son.

She’d tried so hard to like him.
She didn’t feel guilty for not loving him. That would have been impossible. Thomas
hadn’t made it easy on anyone after she and Lucas had been married. He resented
her and he hated Michael. She’d seen it and was powerless to figure out how to
make the stepbrothers get along.

Then when Michael had joined the
service it had gotten a little better. With Michael gone and no longer there to
remind him of whatever demons he had he actually could go for several days
being pleasant. Of course, when he heard anyone mention her son’s name he would
go into a rage that would scare even his sisters. Even the threat of putting
him back in the hospital hadn’t worked. He would simply hide for several days,
sometimes weeks, before he would show himself again and things would be better.
She looked over at Alyssa when she sat beside her.

“When are you due?” she asked the
pretty young woman. At her expression Joey thought maybe she’d been keeping her
secret close. “I could see the way you looked at dinner. Like you weren’t sure
if you wanted to toss your cookies over it or cry. I did that a lot with
Michael.”

“I just found out yesterday. I
haven’t told anyone yet. We had so much trouble conceiving the first time that
I thought for sure I would this time as well.” She looked over at her husband. “Cain
is going to be so happy. He loves having a big family.”

“It was just Michael and I for so
long. He was about Trace’s age when I married Lucas. We dated for some time
before I said yes.” She smiled at the memory. “Michael was so happy when I
finally said yes. He loves Lucas so much.”

“I wouldn’t have known they weren’t
blood if Trace hadn’t told me.” They both looked over at the little boy who was
reading a story to all the children. “He’s a wonderful kid. If Grace and
Michael weren’t already getting married, I might have kept him for myself. Connor
just loves him.”

Joey watched Trace. She could see
the sadness there too. He kept looking up at his father every time the phone
rang and she knew he was feeling guilty for not watching Grace. She wanted him
to talk to his dad, but he said he’d wait until Grace was home. He said his dad
had enough on his mind.

Joey turned to Alyssa. “They’ll
move here, won’t they? Grace and Michael, I mean. He seems to love it here and
Trace really enjoys having family too.” She felt panicky for reasons she didn’t
want to think about. Growing old and being alone were scary thoughts. “And I’d
forgotten how close Payton and Michael had been. They went to the same college
then, when Payton went on to get his police commission, Michael went into the
service.”

“There’s no reason why you can’t
live here too, or just come to stay as long as you need,” Alyssa said softly. “There’s
plenty of room in this house and there is always the hotels. I can have you and
your family a special suite set up so that it’s always here for you.”

She looked at Alyssa then back at
her son. “He’s all I have. All I have that is all mine. I love Lucas and his
daughters, but…”

Joey looked at her again when she
handed her a box of tissues. “I understand. I have…my mother was killed awhile
back. My other brother killed her and…well, it was horrible to say the least. I
didn’t get along with her.” She laughed. “Actually, I couldn’t stand her. Nathan
and I have gotten really close since her death and I’m so happy for that.”

Joey had read about it in the paper.
Billionaire’s Mother Murdered by Brother. And when his trial had ended in a
guilty verdict, the entire household had rejoiced. Justice had been served as
far as they were concerned. She decided that she really liked Alyssa Waite and
the others. She smiled for the first time in days.

“Lucas and I have talked about
moving out of the city. And Michael could do his business anywhere. He just
needs Internet service, a phone, and an airport.” She grinned again at Alyssa. “And
having a designer, an author, and a billionaire in the family wouldn’t be all
that bad either, would it?”

“No, not so much. And we get a
great discount on all the clothes and books we want too.” Before Joey could
comment Payton came into the room. He looked tense.

“The limo stopped about twenty
minutes ago. We’re going there now. You all should stay here until we can—”

“I’m coming with you. Either you
take me or I take you,” Michael said as he pulled out his gun. “I don’t want to
have to hurt you, buddy, but if you don’t help me get to Grace I will shoot you
in the nuts first.”

“Why is it that men always go for
the jewels? Do you have any idea how much the woman has to suffer when you do
shit like that? Christ, put that thing away before I have to disarm you in
front of your kid.” Sin tapped her foot until he did it.

Joey was relieved.

“Now, let’s play nice or you’re
going to piss me off and, trust me, you don’t want to piss me off today.”

Joey burst out laughing and turned
to Alyssa again. “And then there is all the free entertainment.”

Chapter 21

Michael stared at the house from
his cover behind the cruiser. Grace was less than twenty yards from him and he
couldn’t get to her. He glanced over when Sin slid in to his right side. She
glanced at the house before she settled her back against the car.

“Hey. Cain wants to speak to you.
Here,” she said as she shoved the phone at him. “And just so you know, we all
agree with him. But I’m going to help you or I’m beating the shit out of you.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re
a tad violent? You should have some anger management classes as soon as this is
over.” He put the phone to his ear. “Listen, Cain, do you think this could
wait? Grace is—”

Cain cut him off. “Go get her. Go
into that house and bring out my sister,” he said with a hard tone. “You do
whatever it takes to get her to us.”

Michael looked at Sin again as
what Cain was saying sank in. “Cain, she’s your mot—”

“No. No, she stopped being
anything to any of us the second she started this whole thing. She is a woman
who killed and hurt to get what she wanted. You do whatever it takes, do you
understand me, Michael? Whatever it takes to bring Gracie back home and this
nightmare to end.”

“Yes, I understand. But do you? Do
you know that Grace is going to be my wife? I have no problem bringing her home,
but you’re the one who is going to have to live with what you’re telling me to
do here. Not just today, but for the rest of our lives.”

“I’ve made my peace. My mother is
gone as far as I’m concerned. The woman inside there? She’s a monster and, what’s
worse, she’s a sick monster.” Cain signed heavily. “She hated us all. I can see
that now. She hated us so much she stole from us, lied to us, and murdered to
get what she thought was hers. Yes, Michael, I can live with this. It’s all I’ve
thought of since this started.”

Michael wasn’t sure what to say to
him so he simply closed the connection. He handed it back to Sin and leaned his
head back against the car. He looked around the mess that was here.

He could see several media vans
parked just beyond the yellow tape some agency had put up. Beyond that there
were several dozen cars and vehicles parked along the road all trying to see
what was going on. Within shouting distance to him and Sin, there were several
vans with letters embossed on the sides, men with the same lettering on flak
jackets and vests. There was a tent set up with people milling around a large
console and more phones than he’d ever remembered seeing in one of his offices.
Michael looked over at Sin when she cleared her throat.

“When I had just joined the Army I
met you. I doubt you’d remember. I think they had you pretty doped up on
something at the time. You’d been injured, we’d been told, and we weren’t to
ask you about it. Do you remember being at the base in Texas?”

He’d been hurt a great deal in the
years he’d been in the Special Forces. Nothing to the extent that she’d been,
but hurt all the same. Shamus had told him that his wife had also been a
probable target of the women in the house and he was lucky to have her alive
afterwards.

“I’d been held captive for several
weeks. I’d been beaten and starved for the better part of that time and, when
they weren’t doing that, they were trying to get information from me by other
means. I just managed to get my ass out when I was mowed down by someone who
couldn’t read Red Cross on the side of the chopper I was in.”

Sin grinned at him. “Yeah, seen
that a time or two when I was out of country. Not a pretty thing to see one of
those monsters go down like that.”

He waited for her to say whatever
it was she had been leading up to, but she simply grinned again. When she did
finally speak he was more confused than before.

“My husband is very smart, did you
know that? I don’t tell him often enough, but he is.” She pulled out her gun, checked
the magazine, and then the other clips she had in her belt. He did the same,
hoping the two of them weren’t going to have a show down. He just wasn’t in the
mood today. She started talking again as they each shoved their weapons in
their holsters.

“Payton said that if she lives she’ll
be institutionalized. My mother, not Gracie. Drugged up every day and then
maybe someone will write an epic story about her life and times. People will
copy her and she’ll be famous.” She grabbed his chin and brought his face to
hers. “I want her dead, not famous.”

He nodded and stood when she did. He
took the vest she handed him and slipped it on as she did the same. When he
pulled his Glock out and fit it in his hand he was as ready as he was ever
going to be.

“I go lead. You okay with that?”

She nodded.

“The boys aren’t going to be happy
with us when we come out. You know that, right? They’ll be pissy about our
messing with their show. Gonna take some fancy talking to keep us out of jail.”

“Nah,” she laughed. “You’re lead
asshole, remember? I’m just making sure you don’t get dead in the process. You’re
gonna have to talk yourself out of more than this one if this goes down the way
it should.” She nodded to a very well-dressed man that had been staring at them
for some time. “That’s my boss. He’ll cover both our asses.”

There stood Lieutenant Colonel
David Patterson and, before Michael could make any sort of comment, David
saluted him. And out of respect for his retired status, Michael returned it. He
turned back to Sin with a huge grin. “You do know everybody, don’t you?”

They turned as one and strode
toward the house. Both ignored the shouts and men scrambling behind him. In
less than one minute they were on the porch. With a single kick to the door
from Michael they were both inside.

A glance around the room showed a
couch, chair, and nothing else. When the first person came through the door in
front of them, Sin took him out with a single shot to the head. He dropped to
the floor without so much as a whimper.

Michael signaled for her to go to the
right and he went to the left. Michael walked into what appeared to be the
kitchen. Grace was lying on the floor with a woman standing over her with a gun
pointed at her.

“Move and she’s dead.”

Michael nodded once, raised his
gun, and fired. He felt a bullet hit him full in the chest seconds before he
dropped to his knees. He heard someone shout, but couldn’t wrap his mind around
the pain and the fact that the woman hadn’t shot Grace. He closed his eyes
thinking this was a way to go.

~~~

“Do I look like I give a good damn
who the fuck you are? And just in case you can’t fucking tell, let me explain
to you that I don’t. Not one fucking bit.”

Trace watched the police woman
pace as she yelled at the man in the suit. She sure had a potty mouth, Trace
thought. And the man she was yelling at seemed to think she was really funny. Grownups
were weird. He looked over at his grandma and grandpa while the nurses and
doctors ran around the room.

They didn’t say much. Trace knew
that his uncle Thomas was dead. He’d heard one of the other officers talking
about the mess on the highway, but didn’t really understand. He almost asked
his grandparents, but changed his mind thinking he might not want to know.

The man in the suit sat down next
to him on the couch. He sighed really big like his dad did after he got home
from work. Trace looked over at him and tried to smile. He was worried and didn’t
want to talk to anyone right now.

“My name is David Patterson. You
must be Trace.” Trace took his offered hand and shook it. “I understand from
your dad’s doctor that he’s got a couple of busted ribs and his arm is
fractured.”

Trace sat back and closed his
eyes. He hadn’t heard that part. He just knew that someone had called the big
house and he was put in a car and brought here. The little kids stayed with the
nanny. He kind of wished he had, too, until now.

“That’s not so bad,” he told
David. “My mom? Do you know how she is? The man at the desk over there seems to
think she’s in bad shape. I need for her to be okay so that she and my dad can
get married. She isn’t going to send me away like my friend’s new mom did.”

Trace flushed. He hadn’t meant to
sound so whiny, but the man didn’t comment. He’d noticed that around this
family. They never made you feel bad or stupid if you said the wrong thing. He
liked them all a lot. Trace hoped he got to stay close to them when this was
all over.

“Grace is a Waite. She’s too mean
to do anything but get better.”

Trace wasn’t sure how to take
that. He wasn’t sure if the man was insulting his new mom or not so he didn’t
say anything.