GWEN GLANCED TOWARD AARON, knowing he’d overheard Clayton’s accusation. His expression remained neutral, but he placed a comforting hand on her upper arm. With this simple gesture, she was somehow reminded that she was not a bad mother. For once, she didn’t let her ex-husband get under her skin.

“Do you know why your mother isn’t answering her phone, Clay?” she asked, staying focused on getting her son and Benjamin to safety.

“She’s in Italy. I told you she was going. You don’t pay attention to anything I say. That’s why we could never get along. You won’t listen. I need someone who will give a damn about what I think, what I want. But you just do whatever you think is best, no matter what.”

She couldn’t remember him ever telling her anything about Charlotte in recent months, and for the first time while talking to this man, she didn’t question her own certainty. She just moved on to the next question.

“Do you know why Josh would want to go see her? He left a note saying Gramma Haverty would fix things.”

Clay’s voice became less accusing. “My mother is good at fixing things, but Josh wouldn’t go see her by himself when he knows she’s in Europe.”

“He’s with his friend and I’m not sure he would remember that she went overseas. They aren’t with you, so they must have gone off on their own. We’re not going to overlook any possibilities. Are you sure you told him about your mother being in Italy?”

Clay didn’t answer right away. It was the first time she’d questioned his memory. And because of the gravity of the situation, he was complying. He might have been an awful husband, but she could no longer doubt his love for his son.

“Maybe he didn’t hear me,” he admitted. Gwen knew this was as much as she was going to get from him.

“The police in Pittsburgh have been to her house and no one is there. So if that’s where the kids are going, they’re still in transit.”

He gave a derisive laugh. “Or they’ve run away because Josh can’t stand living with you and they’re hiding out somewhere until I get back.”

She saw Aaron spin away and turn in a tight circle of frustration as he heard this latest accusation from Clay. Somehow, his reaction helped her stay calm. “None of us know for sure why they took off. The focus needs to stay on finding them.”

Clay hesitated, then said, “I’ll be there in an hour to help any way I can.”

Gwen couldn’t hide her surprise that he’d give up tormenting her so easily. Apparently, Clay lost interest when she didn’t react to his gibes. She could have used that knowledge years ago. “Keep your phone on,” she said. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”

She clicked off and Aaron took the borrowed phone and handed it back to the police officer.

“So he’s not with his father?” It was Officer Clark.

“No, his dad doesn’t know where he is,” confirmed Aaron.

Clark called over her shoulder to her partner, “Cancel the Amber Alert.”

Gwen gaped at her. “What?”

“This is a runaway situation now,” Officer Clark explained. “Amber Alerts are for abductions.”

While Gwen understood the police had no choice, the cancellation of the alert was a terrible blow and she could feel herself start to fall apart again. The darkness outside didn’t help, either. With a heavy heart, she started back up the stairs and toward Joshua’s room.

“Gwen,” Aaron started to say.

Without looking at him, she held up her hand for silence. It felt wrong to continue listening to Aaron’s promises that the boys would come home safely. She stood in the center of her son’s room a moment, just looking at his things. He’d recently replaced a poster of Ironman with one of Stephen Strasburg, a pitching phenomenon playing for the Washington Nationals. It told her he was growing up and shifting to real-life idols instead of pretend ones. But it saddened her that she didn’t know when he’d actually made the switch.

She sat on the edge of his unmade bed and let her eyes wander over her son’s treasures. After a few moments, she realized she was clutching one of the shirts he’d worn and tossed aside. Lifting the cloth to her face, she breathed in the scent of her child, her boy, her baby. Her eyes filled and her throat tightened. But she didn’t allow herself the weakness of letting the tears flow. As she sniffed them back, her gaze fell upon Joshua’s laptop, sitting on his desk under the window. For the first time, she realized it was on, even though the screen had gone to sleep. Had anyone checked it?

“Aaron!” she called, ignoring the fact she’d pushed him away only moments before.

Aaron came running. She could hear his feet pounding up the stairs. When he appeared in the doorway, she asked, “Did we check the computer?”

“Do you know his password?”

She thought a moment. Hell, she hadn’t even known he revered a Nationals pitcher. She certainly didn’t know his password. She shook her head.

“Well, let’s see if we can find out something anyway. Maybe it’s not locked.” He sat down at the desk and woke up the monitor. He tapped away for a few minutes as Gwen looked over his shoulder. After a few moments, he was able to get to the web history.

“Look,” she said, leaning over him and pointing to one entry.

“They checked both plane and train schedules for Pittsburgh. I guess that confirms what we figured out from Joshua’s note. But it doesn’t really tell us anything new.”

“No, I guess not,” she admitted. “Where would they get enough money to buy tickets?”

“Huh.” Aaron’s fingers danced over the keyboard. She could see he was calling up his own banking connection, so she looked away, giving him privacy. “Just as I thought,” he said. “Ben used my credit card. I keep getting new ones after he figures out the numbers, but somehow, he keeps getting into the accounts.”

She stared at the back of Aaron’s head as she absorbed her shock at Ben’s actions. “What do you do to him when he does that?”

He swiveled the chair so he could look at her. “I do what other parents do. I ground him for a week, take away whatever he bought for a while. But usually it’s a book or an educational product, so I don’t really have the heart to keep it from him forever. Generally, he’s a good kid, and I want him to explore his world. Frankly, I admire his tenacity on the credit card thing.”

“So, basically, he gets away with it in the long run,” she said. It came out sounding more judgmental than she’d intended. But she was angry again that Ben had provided the means for Josh to run away. If it hadn’t been for Ben, Josh would be home right now.

Aaron shrugged. “I guess he does. But it’s not like he uses the cards to buy porn or bomb-making equipment.”

“No, Aaron. He buys tickets so he and my son can run away from home.” She’d raised her voice, barely able to keep herself from shouting. She remembered how she’d lost complete control of herself with John and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

Aaron stood and faced her. “You’re right,” he said softly. “I can’t deny it. Maybe if I’d been a better disciplinarian, none of this would have happened. I’ve never been good at punishing Ben. After Beth died, he was all that kept me together and I pretty much let him do whatever he wanted, gave him whatever he asked for.”

That speech sapped some of her anger. “None of us really have any idea what we’re doing as parents,” she admitted in a much softer tone. “It’s not like there’s an owner’s manual.”

He smiled, despite their mutual worry, and Gwen could see the weariness in the fine lines around his eyes. He’d been hiding his fatigue well until now.

“I could learn a few things from the limits you set with Josh,” Aaron told her.

“Ha. Everyone else who knows us tells me I’m too hard on him. You should hear my mother encouraging me to give Josh some freedom.” Her eyes began to sting again. “Look where giving him some freedom got us all.”

“It must be human nature to blame ourselves even as we search for someone else to accuse.”

She nodded, wiping at her eye. Aaron reached out and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. Against her better judgment, she shifted forward into his embrace. He wrapped his strong arms around her as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. She could hear his heart beating steadily. He smelled like coffee and cinnamon, though she didn’t know why. When was the last time she’d eaten anything, she wondered.

As if plucking the thought right out of her head, he said, “Come down to the kitchen and eat something. Your neighbors have brought over enough food for the Chinese army.”

Her neighbors? “I don’t even know any of my neighbors, other than to wave hello as we rush off to work each day. And I know the kid who mows the lawn for us. Can’t remember his name. Oh, and there’s the girl who draws in chalk all over the sidewalks. I see her all the time in the summer. I think her name is Kate.” She was babbling now but couldn’t really stop herself.

She kept on trying to remember names, asking Aaron about the kids in the karate class the boys had been attending, trying to recall more of the weak personal connections she’d never had time to develop. As she rambled, he urged her down the stairs and into the kitchen. He put a plate of oatmeal cookies and a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. He remembered how she liked it and moved a pitcher of cream and the sugar bowl in her direction across the island where she sat. He made her a cheese sandwich, and she ate it without tasting anything at all.

“I need to do something,” she announced, as the nonsensical flow of words wound down. “I need to be out there looking for them, even if it’s just to make me feel better. I can’t just sit here going slowly insane.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” he said. “But there’s not much to see at this time of night. The local airport and train stations have already been checked and double-checked.”

She dropped her head onto her crossed arms, resting on the countertop. “Why doesn’t one of them call?”

“Joshua’s phone is here, for some reason. Ben’s isn’t anywhere around, so I think he must have it with him. But he’s not answering. It goes right to voice mail, as if it’s off. Or the battery is dead. He’s always forgetting to charge the thing.”

When Aaron’s phone rang, both parents jumped. Her heart pounding with hope, Gwen watched him work the BlackBerry out of his pocket and push the talk button.

“Hello?” he said.

Gwen could hear the voice on the other end. It was deep and male. Not a child. Her shoulders slumped once more and she looked away as her vision blurred and a sob threatened.

“Gwen.” Aaron said her name very softly. “They’ve been found.”

AARON HELD THE PHONE to his ear and listened intently.

“Me and Opal are on our way to get them,” Omar told him. “My friend Rudy saw them sitting in the Philadelphia train station. They missed their connection and weren’t sure what to do. So they been sitting there all day, trying to figure out what to do next.”

“So, they’re okay?”

“Yeah. They’re a little shook up. Rudy is an intimidating guy to look at. Teddy bear on the inside, though. He’ll stay with them until I get there.”

“He should call the police, let them take over—”

“No.” There was no room for compromise in Omar’s tone. “Rudy’s not gonna be comfortable with that and I don’t want him finding an excuse to take off.”

Fear coursed through Aaron’s veins again. Would Rudy the teddy bear take off with or without the kids? “Okay,” he said as euphoria drained out of him.

“And I gotta tell you, it’d be better for your boys to not be mixed up with police, if they can help it.”

Aaron understood Omar’s reluctance.

Gwen had come to stand close to him. “Ask him if he talked to the boys.”

“Did you talk to them?”

“Yeah, my buddy put ’em on speakerphone. I told ’em they both had to stay there with Rudy and they said they wouldn’t be any trouble. They said they were sorry.”

Aaron realized he should switch to speakerphone, too, so Gwen could hear the whole conversation. He pushed the button. “I’ll come get them myself. Just tell Rudy to stay put. I’ll pay him back if he needs to buy the kids some food or whatever.”

“I got it covered, man. And me and Opal were already on Ninety-five North when Rudy called us,” Omar added, referring to the highway that joined Baltimore to Philadelphia. “So we’re gonna get there before you. I could just drive ’em home.”

“Thank you, Omar, but I can’t sit here and wait anymore. I’m leaving right now. Will you keep them there until we arrive?”

“Whatever you want.”

He kept talking to Omar, asking for more details as he grasped Gwen’s hand and led her directly to the front door and out to his car. He realized Judy and Edward had overheard the speakerphone.

“The boys are okay,” Gwen called to her parents. “They’re about two hours away. We’re going to get them now. I’ll call from the car with more details, okay?”

As Aaron slid into the driver’s seat and buckled up, he saw Officer Clark and her partner sauntering to their squad car. Case closed, as far as they were concerned. Aaron wasn’t sorry to see them go. They had done their best to find the boys and he was grateful for that. But the story of Gwen staying the night would surface in the legal community now that the cops knew. And it had been Omar and his connections—not the police—who had finally tracked down the boys.

“Is this really happening?” Gwen asked as he backed the car out of the driveway a little faster than he should have. “Are they really okay? Are we going to have a happy ending to this ordeal?”

Aaron slapped the car in Drive and hit the gas, leaving a little rubber on the pavement but so damn glad to be going toward his son that he didn’t care. “We’re going to get our kids, Gwen. The hardest part will be to keep from getting a speeding ticket on the way.”

“I’ll check the GPS and traffic report to make sure we don’t run into delays.”

Aaron grinned, feeling the smile all the way to his toes. “That’s why I love you,” he said. “You know exactly what I want, even before I do.”