A/N: For those of you trying to connect the dots and aren't fans of the TV show "In Plain Sight" - I thought I would give you a brief outline. Mary Shannon and Marshall Mann are US Marshals, working in the branch of Witness Protection. Mary has a no-sense, kick ass, take no prisoners approach to work. Her father robbed banks and abandoned the family when she was six, leaving her to raise a baby sister (Brandi) and care for a blackout drunk mother (Jinx). Marshall is a fifth-generation marshal, loves trivia and Star Trek, and cares deeply for his witnesses and his partner, Mary. He has gotten tired of waiting for her to wake up and see there could be more between them, however, and has been dating an APD detective, Abigail, for almost a year.
US Marshal Offices, Sunshine Building
Albuquerque, NM
15 MONTHS AGO
"Okay, onto page 114-"
"I'm sorry, but I need another break, please. My stomach-"
Mary rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly as Marshall bumped her elbow. She didn't need to look at him to know that he was giving her the evil eye. She pasted a smile on her face. "Of course – you remember where it is? We'll be right here-"
She frowned as she watched the young Chinese woman bolt from the conference room, one hand covering her mouth. Mary threw her pen down and exchanged a look with her partner before turning to glare at the DEA agent sitting at the end of the table.
"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or-"
Agent Glenn's eyebrows drew down in confusion as he looked up from his phone. "What elephant?"
"Are you even paying attention, jackass? That's the third time she's gone to the bathroom in an hour – and I don't think it's to pee."
"I don't follow-"
"Mary-" Marshall tried to warn her as their latest witness returned but Mary plowed ahead and blurted out the truth.
"She's pregnant."
"What?"
"Mary!"
There was a gasp from the doorway and all three heads swiveled to see their witness, Grace, frozen in the doorway, her eyes wide and terrified. Marshall shot Mary a dark look as he stood and approached Grace carefully, his hands out from his sides in a non-threatening manner.
"Grace-"
Her eyes darted up to his face. "Please don't let them take my baby away from me. I'll walk out that door and disappear -"
"That would be inadvisable-" Marshall murmured as he reached her side. "You and your baby will be safe in WitSec. We can protect both of you."
"You won't separate us?"
Mary snorted. "Of course not – this isn't prison."
Marshall turned and glared over his shoulder. "Not helpful, Mer. Come on, let's see if we can find you some crackers or tea to help with your upset stomach." He kept his hand on her elbow and they left the room together.
Mary swung her gaze back to the startled DEA agent. "I had no idea – none of us did. I have to make some phone calls."
She didn't even attempt to hold back her laughter as the agent bolted from the room.
Five minutes later, Marshall brought Grace back with a steaming mug of tea and a handful of saltines. She didn't know how he did it – but she was always grateful for the magic that her partner worked to calm the nerves of their flightier witnesses coming into the program. She knew that she didn't have the best bedside manners, and that she was impatient about getting the paperwork done. But she cared about her witnesses and was ready to protect them with her life, if necessary.
And Marshall knew that about her too.
He placed a fresh mug of coffee in front of her. "Behave," he chided her softly as he walked around to reclaim his seat.
Mary took a huge swallow of the dark brew before looking at Grace. "How far along are you?"
"Two months."
"Did you know you were pregnant-"
Grace nodded, lifting a hand to brush hair back from her face. When she did, her sleeve fell back, and the marshals saw the deep bruising around her wrist. Mary glanced at Marshall, who nodded slightly. He made some notations on his notepad before speaking.
"Where did you get those bruises?"
Grace looked down and seeing that her wrist was exposed, she tugged on her sleeve to cover the skin again. "My parents were killed in a car crash when I was a baby, so my uncle took me in and raised me. He was in the import/export business: tea, spices, silk. From the time I was six, I served tea and refreshments to his business partners during meetings. And when I turned fourteen, my uncle – he – had me entertain in more intimate ways-" Grace swallowed nervously and dropped her gaze to the table.
Mary curled her lip in disgust. "Sexual favors."
"Not at first –but over time, yes. The day after my sixteenth birthday-" Grace's voice broke. "My uncle told me that he'd arranged a marriage for me – with his boss, Weng. I knew that he hadn't had much say in the matter because even he was afraid of him – the man was a demon – we were all afraid of him. We were told to call him Weng – it means 'wind' in Mandarin – but I've always had the feeling that it's not his name."
"You have no idea what his name is?"
Grace shrugged. "I've never even seen him. Whenever we were together, he blindfolded me."
Mary blinked. "Even during sex?"
"Yes. He liked to blindfold and tie me up – and he was furious that my uncle had allowed the other business partners to be intimate with me – so he often-" Grace swallowed again, the emotion thick in her throat.
"He hurt you – gave you those bruises?" Marshall inquired.
Grace nodded.
"Did you ever say 'no'?"
Grace looked faintly surprised. "That would only have angered him further – made the beatings worse."
Agent Glenn strode back in. "Okay, we've got to talk about-"
"The elephant in the room?" Mary quipped.
"Ha ha, very funny. Listen, Grace, you should have disclosed your pregnancy when you first came to our office."
"Why? The raid was still successful-"
"Mostly – but the big fish is still out there."
"Fish?" Grace repeated in confusion.
"Don't tell me-" Marshall groaned.
"You don't have Weng-" Mary finished.
"That's right. I don't know if Grace has told you all the details yet – her uncle was killed in the raid by a DEA agent, and we did manage to scoop up the other three business partners and they are in California State prison awaiting trial. But Weng-"
"Is in the wind – pun intended."
Glenn let that one go. "So, we've either got to expediate this trial or file a continuance to put it off for a year."
"But why?" Grace interrupted. "I'm ready to testify – I want to put this part of my life behind me and move on, build a new life with my child."
"And we want to help you do that-" Marshall soothed but Mary leaned forward, her voice low and intense, cutting him off.
"But if those partners get one look at you pregnant and pass the word back to Weng, you and your baby are as good as dead. He's still out there somewhere, looking for you – and if he knew you were carrying his child too? Marshall and I will do our best to protect you, but you need to do your part by following the rules and staying out of sight."
Grace nodded and looked at Agent Glenn. "No one can know. I won't testify until after the baby is born."
Present Day
Sedillo, NM
Grissom House
"Mommy!"
Sara turned the heat down on the eggs as arms wrapped around her lower legs, making her feel like an octopus had attached to her body. Smiling, she looked down into the upturned faces of her girls, both of which wore identical expressions of worry.
"What's wrong, angels?"
"E's not going to school?"
"Yeah, is he sick?"
"He's going to see Dr. Tim?"
Sara turned the burner off and bent down to be eye level with Edie and Emma. "You heard me on the phone this morning?"
Two heads nodded.
"I'm just taking your brother to Dr. Tim for a little check-up, that's all. We'll be back this afternoon."
"Can we go too?" Edie begged.
Sara reached out and tugged on a pigtail. "Not this time, Cricket."
Emma's lower lip jutted out. "No fair. Grasshopper gets a mommy day."
She pulled Emma and Edie in for a hug. "Moth, I promise that I will take the two of you on a mommy day soon – but for the record-" she pulled away and looked both her girls in the eye. "Going to the doctor doesn't count as a mommy day!"
Her husband, the entomologist, had given their children bug nicknames shortly after birth. Eden was Cricket, Emma was Moth, and Ethan was Grasshopper. The cutest thing was as they aged, they began to call each other by their nicknames and had begged for personalized T-shirts with their bug names.
Edie cocked her head to the side in such a perfect imitation of Gil that Sara bit her lip to hold in the laughter.
"Are you going to Hot Diggity Dog?"
Sara pursed her lips. "Maybe."
"No fair!"
"Daddy!"
Sara laughed as she watched her girls take off to enlist their father's help to plead their case to skip preschool and be allowed to go with her and Ethan into the city.
Ten minutes later as they sat around the table, Gil patiently explained to their twins why mommy needed to take just Ethan into the city to see the doctor.
"He's the only one that has an appointment- Mommy needs to focus her attention on him, not be distracted by looking after all three of you," he said slowly, turning his gaze first on Edie and then Emma.
"Daddy, we'd be good!"
"Yeah, we promise!"
"Moth – Cricket. Not this time, okay?"
Emma opened her mouth to continue protesting but Edie nodded her head.
"Okay, Daddy," they chimed, and Gil smiled.
The girls pulled Ethan out of his chair and ran down the hall to the enclosed patio, their shrieks echoing off the walls.
"Triple terrors," she murmured as she stood to clear the table but paused as Gil laid a hand over hers. She sank back into her chair and looked at him expectantly. "What is it?"
"How are you this morning?"
"You mean, have I recovered after last night's mini breakdown?"
He quirked an eyebrow.
She leaned in and looped her arms around his neck. "It's amazing what a good round of sex followed by sleep in your arms will do-"
"Glad I could help-"
She pulled back a little. "What is it – you seem a bit – this isn't your fault, Gil. I'm not blaming you for this-"
"I do – it's my genetics after all-"
She huffed. "If you want to talk genetics – what about my contribution to the gene pool – alcoholism, paranoid schizophrenia-"
"We're more than the sum of our parts-"
"Exactly." She dropped a quick kiss on his lips. "I'm thinking more clearly this morning and I'm going to remind you of what you told me last night – there have been more medical advancements made for people with hearing loss in the years since your surgery, remember? If Ethan does- if the worst happens, we'll help him cope – his sisters are pretty amazing, if you haven't noticed. The three of them will probably develop their own language!"
He cupped her cheek, caressing her skin. "I wouldn't be at all surprised."
Albuquerque, NM
It had taken nearly a year and a half, but he had found her.
In the beginning, all he had wanted was revenge. She had ruined his business, destroyed his supply line to the West Coast, which essentially derailed his entire chain across the States. He spent the first part of the year daydreaming about how he would find her and slowly take his time in exacting punishment for double crossing him.
But as he rebuilt his headquarters in Seattle and acquired new business partners while managing to evade the authorities, he realized that his heart had softened. He no longer wanted to find Grace to silence her, but to make her his wife. But he still had the problem that he could never trust her – she could never be out of his sight or control. The best plan was to take her back to China and have her live on his private estate under guard. She would be safe there – and he would never have to worry about her talking to the wrong people as no one ever came to his estate without an invitation and no one ever left without an armed escort.
With a firm plan of action in place, the past six months had been dangerous as he had come out into the open to find her. But it had paid off – everyone had a breaking point, and everyone could be bought for the right price.
He had been observing her, day and night for four days now, and to his knowledge, she was completely unaware of his presence. He knew her habits and routines and was amused to see that she spent most of her time at the University or a nearby bank where she worked part-time. She didn't go out in the evenings with friends – he hadn't seen any friends come to her apartment either. He wondered what she did with her evenings, but he kept his distance, not wanting to risk a neighbor seeing him come into the building. He knew that the perfect opportunity to snatch her would come – he just needed to be patient a little longer.
The slam of the apartment building's front door startled him out of a light doze, and he sat up straight in the rental car's seat when he saw Grace bounding down the steps, a backpack on and holding a large bundle. He squinted in the faint winter sunshine. What was she holding? It was moving a bit in her arms – a pet, perhaps? He hadn't seen her walking a dog-
The covering slipped and he gasped as a baby's head appeared. Grace leaned her head down, kissed the top of the baby's head, before covering it again, and jogging down the street, away from his car.
He felt like he couldn't breathe. A baby? Grace has a baby. My baby?
His head thudded against the headrest.
This changes everything.
"This is a school field trip, Ms. Ling, not a day care center."
Grace clutched Bowen to her chest but made sure he was facing outwards, so that her teacher, Mr. Holgate, could see him and perhaps take pity.
"I know, Mr. Holgate, but my sitter canceled at the last minute, and I don't have a back-up. Please, Bowen is a good baby. He doesn't cry or have tantrums; he won't be any trouble-"
"Ms. Ling-"
"He won't be a distraction-"
"Grace! Is this your baby? He's so cute! Can I hold him?"
Mr. Holgate frowned. "You were saying?"
Grace shifted Bowen to her other hip. "I really didn't have any other-"
"Well now, what do we have here?"
Grace turned in relief at the sound of Paulie Brown's voice, the head of the criminalistics department.
"Mr. Brown, sir, I have everything-"
"Please, Mr. Brown – I didn't have-"
Paulie held up his hands. "Holgate, let this young lady explain herself, all right? Grace, is it?"
She nodded and the story poured out of her, how she was a single mother raising Bowen on her own while going to school and that she had had to bring him today since her sitter cancelled last night.
Paulie nodded and held out his hands, Grace barely hesitating as Bowen fell forward into his arms. "I was planning to tag along today – there are some things I need to discuss with Dr. Grissom. How about I watch this little guy during the field trip?"
Grace shook her head. "I can do it-"
"Nonsense! You need to focus on the tour – besides, I have two kids of my own – he'll be in good hands, I promise."
"I don't know what to say – thank you, Mr. Brown."
"You're welcome, Grace."
"All right, Ethan, why don't you go with Nurse Violet and pick out a prize from the treasure chest for doing such an awesome job on your test? I'll just talk to your mom for few minutes," Dr. Tim suggested.
"Okay," Ethan whispered.
Nurse Violet held out her hand and Ethan glanced at Sara who smiled and shooed him out the door.
"Well?" she asked, as soon as her son was gone.
"There is some hearing loss on the right side-"
"How much?"
"Let's sit down."
Sara perched on the edge of the chair. "How much?" she repeated, her voice tight.
Dr. Tim steepled his fingers and looked at her over his glasses. "Sara, I'm not an ENT doctor – I'm a pediatrician. I can do routine physicals, and administer hearing tests but for anything more in-depth, you need to take Ethan to see a specialist."
She swallowed. "So, it's serious."
"It has the potential to be, yes. So far the hearing loss is one-sided, but I have no way of knowing if it will remain that way or if it will progress to the left side as well. I'm going to make a referral to a colleague of mine, Dr. Laura Silverton. She's in this same building, and she's great with kids. I'll send over Ethan's file, along with the hearing test results, and ask her to fast track an appointment."
"Thank you," Sara spoke faintly, all of this overwhelming her a bit.
"A word of advice in the meantime?"
Her eyes snapped back to the doctor's. "Of course."
"Let Ethan and the girls know what's going on, answer their questions, and then drop it. Go on with your lives – you don't know that anything's going to change, so until you know-"
Sara gave Dr. Tim a small smile. "In other words, don't make a mountain out of a molehill. Raising triplets is hard enough – don't make it harder."
Dr. Tim grinned. "Exactly."
Grace couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
She'd had the feeling all day.
It started when she left the apartment with Bowen and had only grown stronger as the day had progressed. As she bounced in her seat in the back of bus with Bowen, she glanced around, studying her fellow students. Most of them were familiar to her in a general way, as they were all in the same field of study and had most of the same classes together. A few people she didn't recognize, but Mr. Brown said that they were students from the police academy, hoping to be police officers one day. No one was paying any special attention to her except for Michelle and Stacey, two fellow classmates who loved children and therefore had spent most of the ride begging to hold Bowen.
"Hey, has that car been following us since we left the University?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Look – that dark blue sedan – two cars back- I swear it's been there since we left town."
"I think you've been studying the manual too hard- or watching too much Law and Order."
"Hey!"
Grace listened to this conversation between two police academy cadets with increasing suspicion, her blood pressure rising in fear and anxiety. When their attention was diverted elsewhere, she glanced over her shoulder to have her own look at the car they were talking about.
It was still there.
Had it been there all along?
It had been there long enough for those cadets to notice – but why wouldn't it pass a slow-moving school bus? Was that car the source of her uneasiness?
Grace pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and her finger hovered over the number four. What was she going to say if he picked up? Marshall, I have a funny feeling that I'm being followed? Can you drive out to Sedillo and check it out?
Ridiculous. She'd done nothing to blow her cover identity.
She and Bowen were safe.
Bowen whimpered softly in her arms; no doubt due to her tense body language. She shushed him and rocked. "Everything's fine, Bo-Bo. Mama's just being silly."
Grace was so focused on her baby that she didn't notice the dark blue sedan also took the turn off for the body farm.
A/N: Dun dun dun - what's going to happen to Grace and Bowen? Should she have called Marshall? Stay tuned to find out - and drop me a line in reviews! They feed the muses!