She couldn’t be sure of what was happening. Her best option was to hide until she could figure out who was telling the truth.

  She ran for the woods.

  “Mommy, we hide!”

  “Shh,” she urged. “Yes, but he’ll find us if he hears us,” she whispered.

  It was dark in the woods. Grace slowed. She couldn’t see well enough to move fast.

  A gunshot, then another rang out. She stumbled, almost fell. She darted behind the nearest tree and hovered there. She made soft shushing sounds to keep Liam quiet.

  “We hidin’?” he whispered as best as an almost three-year-old could.

  “Yes,” she whispered back.

  Gibbons was dead. The realization slammed into her all over again. Had Rob been shooting at someone? Or had someone been shooting at him?

  Fear twisted inside her. She couldn’t just hover here. She needed to get to a better hiding place or to find help.

  Like that was going to happen. She was in the middle of nowhere.

  She should call for help.

  She pulled out her phone and tapped the necessary digits. But the call failed. She bit back a curse. No service. But she’d had service before she came into the woods. At least for text messages.

  There was no time to figure it out. She had to hide.

  * * *

  ROB HUNKERED DOWN behind the unknown vehicle. It looked familiar but he wasn’t sure. It was getting dark, so it was difficult to make out all the details, but someone in the tree line had shot at him.

  He’d shouted for Grace, and then the shots had rung out.

  She had his handgun, but she hadn’t been the one to shoot at him. She’d gone in the direction of the barn. No way could she have gotten to the trees on the other side of the vehicle that had shown up unannounced.

  This was someone who’d come for Grace and Liam. His first thought was Gibbons. The trouble Rob had with that theory was why the detective would turn like that. Was he so thoroughly convinced that Grace was guilty too?

  Rob’s cell vibrated, and he scanned the tree line again before pulling it from his pocket. Reynolds.

  “Listen carefully,” he whispered before Reynolds could speak. “I’m under fire here at the cabin. I need backup.”

  “Heading that way.” The sounds of Reynolds running and then a vehicle door closing punctuated his words.

  “I’m going to move toward the last known location of the shooter,” Rob explained, “to make sure he hasn’t started toward the barn where I told Grace to hide with Liam. I need you and anyone else you can get ahold of here as soon as possible.”

  “You need to know something,” Reynolds said as he started the engine of his vehicle. “Cara Gunter disappeared today. Just vanished.”

  What the hell? Grace would be devastated if someone had gotten to Cara. “How did that happen?”

  “You got me, but it gets worse,” Reynolds went on. “When Cara didn’t answer her cell, I went to her grandmother’s looking for her. I thought maybe she’d gotten sick and Cara had to go to her. But old lady Gunter is dead, Rob. Has been for months. I’m guessing four or five, anyway. There are other remains with her. I can’t be positive about anything beyond the fact that the remains are a younger female with blond hair. I don’t know what to make of it, but Cara Gunter has been lying about taking care of her grandmother.”

  The realization of what that meant hit Rob like a sucker punch. “Gotta go,” he said. “Get me some backup out here.”

  He’d have to analyze the news about Cara Gunter when he had this situation under control. He had to keep the shooter away from Grace and Liam.

  Rob braced himself and made a dash into the open.

  * * *

  “HANG ON TO me tight, Liam,” Grace said as she prepared to leave the cover of the trees. “We need to hide better.”

  “There you are.”

  “Cara!” Liam started wiggling, trying to escape his mother’s firm hold.

  Grace turned around. Cara was walking toward them. A rush of relief made Grace’s knees weak.

  Then she saw the gun in her friend’s hand.

  Grace tightened her hold on Liam, ignored his protests. “Cara, what’s going on?”

  Cara didn’t stop until she was only a few feet away. “I have to get you and Liam out of here, Grace.”

  Heart pounding, Grace glanced at the weapon in her hand. “Why do you have a gun?”

  Cara smiled. “Don’t worry. I know how to use it.” She shrugged. “For protection.” Her attention zeroed in on the child in Grace’s arms. “Liam, come to me.”

  It was all Grace could do to keep her son with her. “Be still,” she ordered, fear funneling through her. “Cara, answer me. Why do you have a gun?”

  It was almost completely dark now but not quite, and maybe even if it had been Grace would have spotted something different about Cara’s eyes. They virtually glittered—the lightest, brightest shade of blue.

  Like Adam’s.

  No, that was impossible. Cara had green eyes.

  She laughed as if Grace had said the words out loud. “You see me now, don’t you? I have the same eyes as him.” She looked to Liam. “The same as his.”

  Grace stumbled back a step. Almost tripped over dead-for-winter underbrush. “I don’t know what you’re doing—”

  “I do.” She took another step toward Grace...toward Liam. “Do you have any idea how many fair-haired, pale-eyed women he had to go through before he found one who could give us what we wanted?”

  Adam’s victims—all with blond hair and pale eyes—flashed one after the other in Grace’s mind. Then her own image stalled there.

  “One couldn’t get pregnant.” She rolled her eyes. “She lied about that. Then DNA showed all these issues with the others. I suppose it had to do with the selection pool. I warned him about going so low-rent, but he was worried about taking someone who would be missed.” She smiled. “And then he found you. Completely by accident and you were perfect. And Liam is perfect.” She stared at the boy Grace held tightly against her chest. “Come to me, Liam.”

  He tried to turn and see her. Tried to get loose from Grace’s grip. “Don’t listen to her, Liam. She’s pretending so she can win the game. We still have to hide.”

  Cara’s face twisted in a sneer as she stepped right up to Grace and jammed the gun under her chin. “Put him down. Now.”

  Grace slid her right hand between her and Liam. “You know you don’t want to hurt him,” she said, buying time.

  “Of course not.” Cara smiled. “He’s mine. He was always going to be mine.”

  Fear and outrage rammed into Grace. She steadied herself. “Let me think,” she pleaded.

  Cara waved the gun in the air, but she remained toe-to-toe with Grace. “Put him down and we’ll talk about how to handle this. I’m sure we can work something out.”

  “Okay. Okay. Just give me a moment.” Grace glanced around as if uncertain, and then she hefted Liam higher with her left arm while snagging the handgun in her waistband with her right hand. She jammed the gun into Cara’s body and pulled the trigger.

  Nothing happened.

  Cara stumbled back in surprise. Then she laughed. “Were you going to shoot me, Grace? You might remember to take it off safety next time.”

  Before Cara could stop laughing, Grace pivoted the thumb lever on the weapon and fired again. This time the bullet left the chamber and struck the other woman in the abdomen.

  Cara lurched back a step.

  Gun clutched in her hand, Grace wrapped both arms tightly around her son and turned to run. She bumped into someone.

  Diane.

  Grace froze. Her heart thumped against her sternum. Why was Diane here?

  “You okay?” Diane asked, looking from Grace to Liam with concern.

  Grace blinked.

  Diane asked again, “Grace, are you okay? Is Liam okay?”

  Tears flooded Grace’s eyes. “Cara tried to—”

  Liam started to whine.

  “Shh, shh,” Grace shushed him. “It’s okay now.”

  “Really it’s not,” Diane said. She leveled a weapon at Grace. “Toss that little gun you’re carrying and put my grandson down.”

  Grace felt the air leave her lungs. This could not be real. Maybe she truly had lost it and none of this was actually happening. Dear God, where was Rob?

  The other woman’s words reverberated in Grace’s head. “Grandson?”

  Diane smiled. “Adam was my son. Adele—Cara—is his twin sister. She wanted a baby so bad but she couldn’t have one.” Diane made a sad face. “So Adam promised her a baby.” She motioned with her weapon. “Now toss the gun.”

  Grace allowed the handgun to fall to the ground.

  “But,” Cara announced as she joined the two of them, “Adam screwed it all up.” One hand was pressed to her abdomen, blood seeping around her fingers. The other hand still held her weapon. “The bitch shot me.” She glared at Diane. “Why haven’t you killed her already?”

  “Just shut up,” Diane, or whatever her name was, growled before swinging her attention back to Grace. “Give Liam to me and we’ll be done with this.”

  Grace understood that if she gave up Liam she was dead, and she could only imagine what would happen to her son then. Still, both these women had weapons, which meant running wasn’t an option. Grace’s heart twisted. Diane and Cara had been like family to her and she had never suspected a thing...because they were too good at hiding the truth and she had been desperate for a real family after losing her father.

  An idea took shape. That was her only hope. Family.

  “Why can’t we share him?” Grace urged, her mind frantically grappling for a workable escape plan. “We’ve been like family all these months. We can make it work.”

  Where the hell was Rob?

  Was he dead? Had one of them shot him? The memory of those gunshots echoing spiked terror in her veins. Her stomach dropped to her feet. Please don’t let him be dead or gravely injured.

  “She can’t be serious,” Cara—Adele said with disgust.

  Diane threw her head back and laughed. When she’d pulled herself together again, she demanded, “Why on earth would we do that?”

  Liam’s little body had started to shake. Grace had to do something fast.

  “All right.” Grace took a breath. “At least let me carry him back to the house. Give him time to calm down.” His whining had turned to sobs now, the sound breaking her heart.

  “Fine. Start walking,” Diane ordered. “And remember we’ll be right behind you. You make a mistake, and I’ll put one in the back of your head.”

  Grace summoned her fleeting courage. The way she saw it, she had maybe five minutes to come up with a better plan since the chances of being rescued looked pretty slim at this point. Her gut clenched again at the idea of what had likely happened to Rob.

  If he was dead... No, she couldn’t think about that.

  “I liked you, Gia,” Diane said. “I knew you were the one when Adam finally found you, but then he had to go and do something stupid like take someone else. I thought he’d broken that nasty habit since you were pregnant with Liam and his promise to Adele was fulfilled. Guess I was wrong.”

  “Ha,” Adele snarled. “He liked that part. He was never going to stop. Once you get the taste for killing, there’s no going back.”

  “Whatever his problems, you had no right to do what you did.” Diane was the one snarling now. “He was my son.”

  “He is the reason,” Adele fired back, “we’re in this mess. If he hadn’t decided he wanted to keep Liam for himself, none of this would have happened.”

  Grace took her chance while they were distracted. She lurched forward, pretended to trip and fall to her knees. She set her son on his feet. “Run, Liam,” she whispered in his ear before pushing him forward.

  Diane snagged her by the hair and tried to pull her up. “Get up.”

  “Run!” Grace screamed, urging her son to go with every part of her being.

  Liam rocketed forward.

  “Liam!” Diane shouted.

  “I’ll get him,” Adele grumbled.

  As Adele took off and Diane watched her disappearing grandson, Grace twisted just enough to kick her in the knees with every ounce of strength she possessed.

  Diane pitched sideways.

  The gun flew from her hand.

  Grace scrambled for it.

  Diane hurled herself on top of Grace. Grabbed her by the hair again and slammed her head against the ground.

  Pain reverberated through her skull. Grace rode it out. With all her strength, she bucked and clawed at the other woman’s eyes. Diane jerked her upward once more and banged her head against the ground. Grace balled the fingers of her right hand and punched her in the throat. As Diane grabbed at her throat, Grace bucked her off. She clambered away, got to her feet.

  Diane made a keening sound and scrambled after Grace.

  “Don’t move!”

  At the sound of the deep voice, Grace froze, then whipped around.

  Rob stood over Diane, the barrel of his weapon pressed against the back of her head.

  She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. But her relief was short-lived. “Liam...” Grace surveyed the woods. Where was her baby? “Adele...” She turned back to Rob. “Cara is Adam’s sister Adele. She’s after Liam.”

  Rob cuffed Diane’s hands behind her. He hitched his head toward the abandoned gun on the ground. “Watch her. I’ll be back with Liam.”

  Grace grabbed the gun. “You watch her. I’m going after Liam.”

  She took off before he could argue. Her son would likely run to someplace he recognized...a place where he felt safe. He would reach the barn first... Maybe the horses were still there.

  Grace ran through the darkness, straining to see the trees before she hit one. She wanted to scream for him but didn’t dare. When she burst into the clearing by the barn, the exterior lights had flickered on, parting the darkness. Cara—Adele lay on the ground, her body writhing in pain. She’d dropped her weapon and was clutching at her belly with both hands. Blood had soaked into her blouse, rose up between her fingers.

  The horses stood away from her, closer to the barn as if they knew the woman on the ground was trouble.

  Grace kicked the wounded woman’s gun aside the way she’d seen cops do in movies.

  “I need an ambulance,” Adele moaned.

  Grace ignored her. “Where is Liam? Liam!” She could call for him now that Adele was no longer a threat. “Liam! It’s Mommy. Everything is okay now.”

  “Mommy!”

  Her heart rushed into her throat as she looked frantically from side to side. Where was he?

  The horses stepped apart and Liam stood between them. Had they been hiding him?

  He rushed toward her.

  Grace grabbed her son and held him tight.

  Sirens wailed and lights flashed as two county SUVs bounced along the long driveway.

  Grace dropped to her knees, unable to take another step.

  Thank God.

  Help was here.

  And maybe...just maybe it was over.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department

  Thursday, February 22, 7:00 a.m.

  Grace sat in the office belonging to Sheriff Tara Norwood. Grace had not slept all night. How could she? Liam had crashed around midnight. Rob had helped her lay him across the small sofa in the private waiting room.

  Caffeine and adrenaline were all that kept her eyes open and her mind working, however sluggishly.

  Adele—aka Cara Gunter—was at Erlanger hospital in guarded condition. The shot Grace had managed to pull off had lodged in a precarious spot next to an artery. Then all the running and attempting to grab Liam had caused it to move, creating a small tear. The evil woman was lucky to still be alive.

  Diane Franks, the mother of Adam and Adele, was in custody. The FBI had arrived late last night and she had immediately gone for a deal. She was now singing like the lead vocalist in an out-of-control rock band. Apparently, there was a lot more to the Locke family than anyone had known. Grace suspected even more would come out in time.

  Diane claimed she had the twins when she was only sixteen, and she’d given them up for adoption—forced to do so by her parents. Later, she’d found them and taken them back after the adoptive parents had met with untimely deaths. She’d changed the twins’ surname to Locke, her own as well. Then she’d married a man named Franks and gotten a job with the LA Times. By then the twins were adults and doing their own thing. But they always stayed together, oddly so. When they got into trouble, they ran to Mommy and she took care of them until the heat settled.

  Adele had learned she couldn’t have children, and Adam had decided to “make” one for her. After he was arrested, Adele had flipped out and was institutionalized. But her mother had promised that she would find her baby for her. It had taken Diane more than a year, but she’d finally found Grace. She’d made sure Liam grew attached to her, and then when her daughter was well enough to be released, they had found an identity for her to assume and inserted her into Grace’s and Liam’s lives by killing Kendall Walls and making it look like an accident.

  Grace felt sick at the reality that Kendall had been murdered. On top of that, Diane had killed poor Mrs. Gunter and her daughter to give Adele a place in the community. Mrs. Gunter had been housebound and her daughter had moved away years ago, only visiting occasionally. So no one in the community realized that Adele wasn’t her.

  All the while, Adam had spent his time in custody deciding he wanted to keep his son for himself. He felt his mother and sister were ganging up on him. When he was suddenly released, he’d come to Lookout Mountain to change that situation.