“How did you wind up in the vault at the cemetery?” Mo asked.
The boy frowned with the effort to remember. “We were going to New York City,” he said dully. “We were going to visit some of Mom’s friends. She was going to take me to a play. And we were going to see the Statue of Liberty.”
“But what happened? Had you left your house?”
J.J. nodded. “Then what?” Mo asked softly.
“We were going to hear a man speak at the convention center. After the speech, Mom said, the traffic would be better and it would be an easy drive. If we were tired, we’d just stop outside the city and stay in a motel for the night. We were s’posed to have a great adventure!”
“Did you make it to the convention center?” Aidan asked.
“Yes...”
“And then?”
J.J. began to cry silently, with tears streaming down his face.
“Take your time, J.J.,” Mo said.
“We got there. We got out of the car. We started walking over to the building.”
“What happened after that?” Mo pressed gently.
“Mom started to turn around. Someone was behind us. I started to turn around, too. But it went dark. There was something over my head. And...I smelled something that was sort of sweet. And then...”
“What?” Aidan asked.
“Then I woke up in that horrible place. And I couldn’t see anything, and I screamed and screamed and screamed but no one could hear me. I tried to move around in the dark and I...I touched dead people! There were dead people on slabs and I screamed again and...and there was blood. I touched blood, and there was a hatchet and a knife and...”
He started crying once more. Mo kept on holding him.
A nurse was standing at the door. “No more right now,” she said urgently.
Mo and Aidan nodded. “I’m expecting one of his mother’s friends,” Aidan explained. “Can you let her stay with him, please?”
“Yes, of course.” Mo glanced across the boy’s bed at Aidan. A moment later, there was a tap at the door and she turned to look.
To her surprise, she knew the woman standing there. She hadn’t seen her in a few weeks, but when they were all young, the two of them had gone to many of the same parties. Her name was Debbie Howell. She was dancing at a strip club now. She’d always been nice to Mo, and Mo liked her. Debbie was still a beautiful woman. There was a sense of joy about her, something in her face that said she expected the best from people and from life. Debbie reminded her of Grace. Even without a bit of makeup on—or maybe because of that—she looked young and innocent.
“Debbie!” she said, hoping her shock wasn’t evident.
Aidan rose quickly.
Debbie cast her a grateful smile but then made a beeline for the boy. J.J. dropped his hold on Mo and immediately reached for Debbie.
“Oh, J.J., J.J., you’re safe and sound and alive and...Oh, J.J.!”
She hugged the boy, tears in her eyes. When she pulled away, she threw herself at Aidan, hugging him.
She startled him as no armed enemy could, Mo thought. He could hardly keep himself from stepping away, and he looked decidedly awkward as he patted her on the back.
“It’s okay, Debbie! J.J. is okay.”
“Thanks to you,” Debbie told him.
“No. Thanks to you. And thanks to Mo—and Rollo.”
Debbie turned to Mo, who was prepared for the hug that came her way.
“Of course, you and Rollo. I should’ve known that!” Debbie said. “Thank you.”
“Nothing could have made me happier,” Mo murmured.
“What will happen to me, Debbie?” J.J. asked. “They won’t say it—but my mom is dead. Like my dad. What’ll happen to me? Debbie, my mom...she was the best mom.”
He cried again, this time clutching Debbie Howell like a koala. She reassured him. “I can’t be her. You’re right, she was the best mom ever. But you’ll have me, J.J. You’ll have me forever and ever, I promise. Your mom and I talked about this. She had a will and made it clear that you’d be with me.”
The nurse was back at the door. “He needs to get some rest,” she said sternly. “If the doctor comes by, you’ll be out in the hallway. She can stay—” the nurse pointed at Debbie “—but no more talking.”
Mo noted that J.J. hugged Debbie even more tightly.
“J.J., I need to leave,” Mo said. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
He pulled away from Debbie’s embrace for a minute. “Thank you,” he whispered. “And thank...Rollo. Rollo is a dog, right? I wish I could see him.”
“Actually, he’s a certified service dog so, legally, I can bring him in here. He’ll come to see you tomorrow, J.J. You can thank him yourself.”
She wasn’t sure if a dog coming in thrilled the nurse, but it seemed to brighten the world for J.J.
If she could do that at this moment, she just didn’t care what others thought.
Aidan, too, stepped around the bed to leave. “J.J., we’ll be back to see you when you’ve had some time to rest,” he told the boy.
When they left the room, Mo saw a police officer in the hallway.