Free Gone by Mallory Kane Page B

Because you’re her son.”
    Joe didn’t answer her. He’d stopped pacing and was staring toward the window with a pained expression on his face.
    “Joe? What is it?”
    “Hmm?” His gaze met hers. “Oh. Nothing. I was just thinking about Joshua. About how much of his life we’ve missed.” He held out his arms to her and she stepped into the circle of his embrace, sighing as he enveloped her in the warm strength of his arms.
    “I know. He’s a big boy now. I need to change his room. Convert the baby bed into a toddler bed, get him a table and chairs where we can work on his letters and numbers.”
    Joe’s arms tightened. “Hey, you’re not going to cry again are you?”
    “It’s just that I’m afraid that man will hurt him.”
    “Hey.” Joe pulled away to look down at her. He touched her cheek. “Rhoda’s there. You saw from her house how well she was caring for him. She’ll keep him safe.”
    “Promise me,” she said. “Promise me we’ll have our baby back here wi—” She stopped before the words with us could escape her lips.
    Joe bent his head and placed his mouth near her ear, his warm breath playing over her cheek and jaw. “We’re going to get him back, Marcie. I swear.” He pressed his lips to her ear, then scattered small kisses across the line of her jaw, up her cheek and temple to her forehead and down her nose. He drew in a deep breath and touched the corner of her mouth with his lips.
    She parted her lips and sighed and Joe kissed her. It was soft yet firm, not deep or sexual. It was a reassuring kiss, a comforting kiss, and it brought tears to Marcie’s eyes.
    “Our son is coming home,” he whispered, then pulled her close and tightened his embrace.
    She hugged him back. “Thank you, Joe,” she said softly. “Thank you.
    “You look worried,” she said, laying her head against his shoulder. “Are you afraid we don’t have enough money?”
    “Not really,” he replied, pressing his cheek against her hair. But then he let go of her and backed away. “But it’s going to take a while to get it all together. So I’d better get going.”
    “What should I do?”
    “Stay by the phone, just in case. I’ll unforward it from my phone. I sure don’t want to be talking to him while I’m trying to withdraw every dime we have.”
    “But, Joe, I don’t want to talk to him, either. What if I say something wrong?”
    “Just follow your instincts. I don’t think he’ll call back until tomorrow, like he said. But if he does, you just yell and scream at him like I know you want to, okay?” He kissed her forehead. “You’ll do fine.”
    Marcie watched him walk out to the car, then she glanced around her. The kitchen was clean. She’d vacuumed the whole house just a couple of days before. There was nothing else she could think of that needed to be done. On the hall table, just inside the front door, she saw the pile of newspapers that she’d tossed there. That’s what she could do. She’d have a cup of coffee and see if she could catch up on the past few days’ news. She doubted she could concentrate enough to get through all the newspapers, but she could at least glance through them. She picked them up and headed to the kitchen. Maybe they would keep her occupied until Joe got back.

Chapter Six
    “Joshy!” Rhoda said sternly. “I know you’re tired of hot dogs, but that’s all we’ve got, other than cereal and an apple.” Thanks to that idiot Howard, who had no idea what three-year-olds ate. “Want some cereal?”
    “Ceweal!” Joshy said. “Gramma has ceweal!” He toddled over to where his bouncy ball had rolled to a stop and picked it up. He threw it with all his might. It sailed about four feet and bounced against the metal wall and came back toward him. He giggled and tried to catch it.
    “Get over here then. I have to hold the bowl, because stupid Howard didn’t give us a table. He was probably afraid I’d take one of the legs off and hit him over the