Grace Anne

chapter 17



Thomas looked around the room again. He was waiting for his chance, and the man who’d taken his blood pressure an hour ago said when it came, he had to be ready. The gun lying beside him made him feel that he’d be able to do just about anything. And the fact that the man had opened each of the cuffs before he’d left was amazing to Thomas. The fire alarm nearly startled him into a stupor. He pulled his hand free as soon as the cop stepped out of the room.

Thomas hid behind the door and waited. His arm was throbbing, but he was about to be set free so, he thought, as soon as he could he’d get himself something to take care of it and to help him deal with the stress of this shit. As soon as the door started to open Thomas tensed, ready to take out who ever came in. He was thrilled when he saw it was Michael.

He hit him three times with the gun, twice in the head. Michael was down after the second time, but he hit him again for good measure. The blood that was spilling from his stepbrother’s head made him giddy with power, so Thomas kicked him twice in the ribs because he could. Stepping over his body, Thomas moved to the slightly opened door to see the cop coming toward him. Instead of bolting like he wanted to do he pulled back into the room and waited.

As soon as the prick walked through the door Thomas hit him too. He didn’t want to waste any more time so he took the cop’s gun, phone, and radio and left the room. He was nearly to the elevator when he realized he should have put on something more than the stupid gown he had on. Thomas slipped into the first room he came to and was glad it appeared to be a man’s room. After going through the suitcase he’d found still laying on the bed, he went into the bathroom and changed.

The clothes were cheap and ill-fitting but so much better than the gown he’d had on. He tried to adjust them to fit him better, but he couldn’t seem to get it right. He was going to leave the name of his tailor, but decided that he’d better get moving. The shoes fit, but again were cheap and well-worn.

He was about to leave when he noticed that a purse was lying there alongside of a wallet and keys. Knowing that he had to get away before he was noticed, he grabbed up the wallet and the keys. While he was stuffing the wallet away he rummaged through the purse until he found cash. Seventy bucks was all he could find, but it was better than nothing. Going out the door, he was out of the building when he heard the alarms sound. Christ, he was finally free.

The car was just where the man said it was, but Thomas walked by it. He was actually a little nervous about accepting help from someone he didn’t know. Not to mention, every time he’d asked him why, the “nurse” would change the subject. He used the automatic unlock on the keys he’d stolen to find the other car. He heard the beep just as he saw the man who’d helped him.

Nurse was standing next to a lamp post with three other men. Thomas was beginning to think he’d been set up. Opening the gun for the first time, he found it was empty and that the clip in the boot of it held nothing more than air. Thomas leaned heavily against his new ride and thought of the implications of what had just happened.

Whoever “helped” him wanted him to get into some sort of shootout with the cops. And with the gun he’d been given they fully expected him to die. Taking out the cop’s gun, he checked it. Loaded and one in the barrel. Walking toward the car that had been provided for him to get away with, Thomas smiled at the men. By the time he was ten feet away he lifted his gun and shot all four of them with the cop’s gun. Hurrying over to them before anyone noticed the blood or called the real cops because of the noise he took each of their weapons and wallets.

Sitting in the stolen car he took all the cash he’d stolen and put it on the seat beside him. He now had just over nine hundred dollars in cash, three Glocks, and two revolvers. He pulled out of the lot, trying to think where to go. He decided that it was time to pay the bitch who he felt had started this all with a little visit. By the time he got to the Washington building he had a plan and he was a happy man.

But pulling up in front of the building made him pissed all over again. Cunningham Construction was moving shit out. He wasn’t sure what had happened. He had only just found out the Washington building belonged to Grace a couple of days before. The fact that Grace owned it didn’t really surprise him; it was the fact that no one had bothered to tell him that she did. He felt, as a Cunningham too, he should be privy to the entire goings on of the company. He frowned when he realized why he might not have been told, but someone might have said something.

Thomas thought about going over and seeing if he could find out where she was. On the off chance that one of the peons might have a clue, he nearly had the door opened when he saw one of the guys from the office he sort of knew. Thomas thought maybe he was some mail clerk, but didn’t really care enough to waste much time on trying to figure it out. He slipped up beside him when he wasn’t paying attention. The man jumped when he noticed Thomas.

“Where are we taking all this stuff? I thought I was supposed to be here now, but I guess someone had the times wrong about when we were supposed to show up.” Thomas leaned against the car and smiled. “I’ve been working on some other project and forgot I was supposed to be here for my brother.” He hated referring to Michael as anything but his stepbrother. He loathed the man and everything he stood for. He told himself all the time that had he been the son of the new squeeze, he would have gotten all his father’s attention too. Thomas resented anything that came from Michael and hated that he called himself Cunningham.

“Supposed to be taking this to the main offices. Mr. Cunningham said we were to unpack it just like we packed it up. Even had us taking pictures of her stuff so we could set it up just the same. I guess she’s some sort of dressmaker.” The man said it like he was impressed.

“That’s right. I forgot.” Thomas snapped his fingers like he’d just remembered. “I’m having a brain fart of a day. Grace wanted me to call her when things were starting to get set up. I can’t seem to find the number she gave me. I don’t suppose you know where she might be, do you?”

“Yeah, she’s in Ohio with her family. Heard tell that they went there for a visit or something. Might be popping the question any day now is what I heard.”

Thomas shuddered to think about a dressmaker being in his family as the man continued.

“If you wanna be the one to call her, you’ll have to find the number from Mason. He’s over there near the truck.”

Thomas nodded and stood up. “Thanks. I’ll just go and see him now. Might get me in better with my brother if I call her and tell her that things are moving the way Michael said. She is a might bitchy when things don’t go her way.” Thomas laughed and walked toward Mason. He kept to the side of the truck as Mason directed things being loaded in the moving van. Thomas needed him to be alone and, the sooner he could get him there, the better. But luck was on his side. Mason was called away and, when he put his clipboard down on one of the chairs and walked away, Thomas walked up and took it off the seat.

“There you are,” he said as he found the address. Taking off the top sheet he stuffed it in his pocket and, after tossing the clipboard back on the seat, he walked away quickly. Like he was concerned about where her shit was. As far as he was concerned she was going to be a widow, long before she was associated with his family for very long.

~~~

“The doctor said I’m going to be fine. As soon as he clears me I’m coming back. My parents are coming with me and we’ll all sit down and talk about this mess.”

Grace wiped at the tears. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. I wish I could be there for you.” She looked over at Trace as he sat staring at her from the other chair. “Trace said you’d be all right. He seems to think you have a hard noodle.”

“I do. Tell him I’m fine. He worries as much as my mother. I’m going to be home by nightfall. Then I want to find you in that big house and make love to you several times.”

She grinned at the phone as he continued.

“At least you’ll know that I will never complain about a headache when you want to jump my bones someday.”

She tried not to think about making love with him whenever she wanted. He simply made her melt like she was an ice cube on the sidewalk in mid-July. Glancing over at Trace she decided to change the subject. “I’ve set up a meeting with my family. I…if you’re not here I’m going to start without you. It’s time they knew everything.” Grace knew that she should have told them any number of times she’d been home over the years, but just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Cain is worried I’m going to tell them I’m pregnant. I assured him that I’m not.”

“Do you want to be? Pregnant, I mean. I know we haven’t really talked much, but I’d like to have a child or several with you. The thought of you big with my baby makes me smile like a sap.”

Grace glanced at Trace before she answered. “We’ll all need to talk about that, including Trace. If we’re going to be a family then we’ll need to make those decisions as one too.” She lowered her voice enough so that only Michael could hear. “He thinks I’m going to send him away when you and I have a child. I couldn’t do that to any of us.”

“It happened to his buddy,” he told her just as quietly. “We’ll talk more when I get there. The doctor is here now. I’ll call you from the airport. I have a car already here, ready to get me there.”

After telling her he loved her and she him, they hung up. Trace looked at her with a smile. She was beginning to think that was all he did and it made her feel good.

“He’s leaving the hospital soon. He’ll call from the airport. He should be here very soon.” She laughed when he nodded. “What is it? Are you so bored with being my protector that you have nothing to say to your dad coming home?”

“No. I was thinking about what you said about talking to your family. Are you scared?” he asked her. “I would be. I’d be really scared they’d be mad at me.”

“I am. A little anyway. They’re not going to be very happy with me for not telling them. But I’ve…” Grace took a deep breath. “Trace, if you ever need me, ever to just talk or anything, I want you to know that I’m here.”

He got up and came to her. “I know that. And Grace, why don’t you and I go tell them together? I’ll have your back and if they give you any crap, I’ll…I’ll tell my grandma and she’ll kick their butts for them.”

Grace laughed and pulled him to her lap. She was so in love with this little guy that she ached from it. She kissed his forehead and laughed again at his groan. Watching him become a man was going to be a blast.

They entered the room that had been set up to accommodate them all with snacks a few minutes later. Connor had wanted to take Trace to his playroom, but he said he wanted to stay with her. She assured him she’d be fine. After a few more tugs on his arm Trace went with her nephew and closed the door behind him.

“Nothing you have to tell us is as bad as you look like it might be,” Cain told her as he sat down. “We all love you very much and whatever it is, we’ll work it out. I swear.”

Grace nodded. “I know that, but…I guess I should start at the beginning. And before you interrupt me after I start, I know that I should have…I know that I should have told you before. Before all of this started happening, before I left home, and long before…” She took a deep breath. “Mother has split personalities. Several, as a matter of fact. I’ve been in cont—”

“Wait. You can’t just jump in like that and expect us not to have questions.” Quinn looked around the room as she continued. “We all know she’s a little off, but split personalities? The next thing you’re going to say is that she is the one who has been killing all the people surrounding us and has been the one who tried to have us kidnapped.”

“She is,” Payton said quietly. “We didn’t know about the personality disorder, but the rest, we figured it out a few days ago. She’s also the one who has been stealing the money from Alyssa and Cain’s account.”

Quinn got up and jerked away from Drew when he tried to pull her back. “No. She can’t have killed anyone. You’re wrong. If she is the one who… Oh my God, are you saying that she is the one who shot Payton, the one who tried to… No, I won’t believe it. A mother just wouldn’t do those things. Not to her own child.”

“You knew,” Sin said as she watched Quinn. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew what she was too and you didn’t say anything thing either.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Quinn said as she began pacing the room. “You’re all wrong. It was just a fluke of the lighting that’s all. I didn’t see anything.”

“I saw her too,” Jazzie said suddenly. “The day I was kidnapped from the restaurant. I remember thinking it was her, but I…she was different. More…aggressive, I guess. I remember thinking that she was younger looking and more put together too.”

“That would have been Ginny. Their names are Ginny, Guinnie, Verrie, and of course, Mother. Ginny is the thinker. She’s also the most organized. Verrie is violent. She is the one who murders, and Guinnie is…she’s a child. I would say if she hasn’t grown up over the years, she’s about ten or so.” Grace started to reach for a glass of tea and noticed her hands were shaking so she dropped them back in her lap. “I spoke to Guinnie more than the others. She’s the one who made me understand what was happening.”

“Maybe you should start from the beginning. Start with the first time you talked to…did you say her name was Guinnie?” Shamus grinned. “Their names, they’re all just variations on Guinevere’s, aren’t they?”

Grace shuddered. Yes, she knew that because Guinnie had told her that they were all a part of the whole so they had to share the one name. She looked up at her brother-in-law and began. “I was six and father had just beaten me with an orange race track thing that boys race their cars on. Mother was in the kitchen and…”

She talked until Michael called and said that he’d landed at the Columbus Airport.