Lullabies and Lies (15 page)

Her skin was still damp from the shower and when
his eyes lingered on the curve of her breasts, she felt them tighten.

“All right,” Griff said. “So it’ll take a while. You’ve got my number. Call me as soon as you have something.”

To hide her blush, Sunny patted her face with the towel for a few seconds. She tossed it back toward the bathroom then spoke. “That was your computer person?”

“Natasha.” He nodded. “She has the location of the pay phone the woman used to call you. It’s in a little town called Oak Grove, about half an hour east of Philadelphia. My boss has talked with Carver, who’s coordinating with the locals there to check the phone booth.”

“I thought it was going to be just you and me.” She felt panic beginning to rise in her throat. “What if she’s watching the phone booth?”

“She won’t be. She’ll be at home waiting for your call.” Griff stood. “It is just you and me. But you knew I was calling about the phone numbers. Our best strategy is to locate the woman and talk to her in person.”

“You mean don’t warn her we’re coming. She promised she’d give me Emily, and I promised to come alone.”

Griff saw Sunny’s eyes grow wider and darker as her fear spiraled out of control. He stepped over and put his arm around her.

Her shoulders felt thin and fragile under his larger, stronger arm. A fine trembling gripped her, underlying a rigidity that he knew was grown from fear.

“Calm down, Sunny,” he whispered. When had he started calling her Sunny? He’d vowed to keep his distance. And her name brought him too close. “Natasha has contacts. The number the woman gave you is for a prepaid cell phone.”

Her voice was muffled. “If she can find out who sold it, the seller can give us the woman’s name and address.”

“That’s right.”

“But if the woman sees the police—” her breath hitched “—she’ll run.”

Griff tightened his embrace. “You’ve got to trust me.”

Then for the first time, Sunny slipped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the curve of his neck. “Just please get Emily back for me.”

He touched her hair, its damp coolness a shock to his heated skin. Bending his head until his lips brushed her hair, he whispered, “I promise you I will. I promise.”

Dear God, he hoped the woman wasn’t leading them into a trap.

HIRAM SWITCHED ON his windshield wipers again. The wiper motor struggled to life. The blades dragged noisily over the wet glass. Damn summer rain. On again, off again. If his wipers quit working once more, he’d be blind.

It had been a long night, watching the motel room’s door, to be sure neither Sunny nor the FBI agent left.

They had to have gotten a call. Probably from Bess Raymond.

Ed had told him that Janie had taken the Loveless baby to Bess. That was a mistake, in his opinion. He’d never met the woman who kept Janie’s babies. But he figured she’d been as relieved as he had when Ed and Janie had gotten out of the baby-selling business.

Then, like him, Bess had been jerked back into it. He wouldn’t be surprised if her conscience was eating at her. He could understand how she felt.

But he needed the money. Conscience didn’t pay the bills.

The motel room door opened. It was the agent, bringing out two bags. He turned around and said something to Sunny, then headed for the metal stairs leading down to the parking lot.

Good. They were on the road again. As soon as he could verify where they were headed, he’d call Janie. He wanted to be sure. He didn’t want to give Janie the wrong information. That could be bad for his health.

The rain got heavier as Sunny came out.

Hiram turned the wipers to high and listened to them stumbling over the glass as he cranked his car.

“Come on, old girl,” he muttered to his ancient Plymouth. “We’re back on the scent.”

“HOW CAN THE COFFEE be burned at nine o’clock in the morning?” Griff asked as he poured a cup.

“Probably because that machine hasn’t been cleaned since it was installed.”

He chuckled at the faint lift in Sunny’s voice. He hadn’t seen her smile yet, but she sounded more upbeat than she had in the four days he’d known her. “I notice it’s not stopping you from having a cup.”

She made a face at him. “Only because there’s no other choice.”

“We could have had breakfast at that restaurant—”

“No.” She pressed her lips together. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

Griff nodded. He agreed. He’d hoped to be well on their way before now. He expected a phone call from
Lieutenant Carver any second, berating him for not notifying the police of the phone call.

He laid the packaged sweet roll and bag of chips next to the yogurt smoothie Sunny had picked up on the convenience store’s counter. “That all you’re having?”

She looked down at his items then up at him, her brows arched.

“Point taken,” he acknowledged, and laid his left hand over her proffered bill as he handed the clerk a twenty. “I’ve got it.”

She slipped her hand from under his and took a small step away. “Thanks,” she said.

He glanced over at her but she dropped her gaze, busy returning the bill to a pocket of her purse.

He grabbed the bag and the coffees, handing one cup to her as they exited the store.

Even though it was raining, he slid on his sunglasses and glanced around as Sunny climbed into the passenger side of the rental car. His gaze lit on an old, dark green Plymouth parked on the far side of the convenience store parking lot.

It was the same car that had been parked at the motel. Griff was certain of it. He recognized the dent in the left front fender. He squinted. There was a front tag, which told him the car was from Tennessee. He was too far away to make out the numbers through the misty rain.

There was someone in the driver’s seat but he couldn’t see anything but a dark, shapeless form.

He debated whether to just walk over and confront the driver. But he didn’t want to endanger Sunny, nor did he want any further delay.

He’d just give them a run for their money and see if they could keep up. If they did, he’d snag their license plate and call it in.

After handing the sack of food to Sunny, Griff climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away. He turned back toward the motel.

“The interstate is north of here,” Sunny said, peeling the perforated tab off the lid of his coffee.

“Yep. I want to check something.”

“What?”

Griff didn’t answer. As he pulled into the right-hand lane, he glanced in the rearview and side mirrors. The green Plymouth followed suit, two cars back.

They were being followed.

“Hold on.” He took a quick right onto a side street, then an immediate left.

“We’re being followed?” She tried to look behind her.

“Hang on. Watch the coffee.”

At the next street, he whipped the wheel to the right at the last second and then turned right again. He watched the rearview mirror but couldn’t see the green car. He headed back toward the interstate.

Beside him, Sunny blotted up spilled coffee with a napkin.

“Are you burned?”

“No, no thanks to you.” She dried off the cup and placed it in the cup holder nearest him. “Who was that?”

Griff checked the mirrors as he guided the car onto the entrance ramp of the interstate.

“I don’t know. A green Plymouth. Old.” Finally satisfied that there was no sign of the green Plymouth, he pulled onto I-91 and relaxed minutely.

“Ever seen a beat-up green Plymouth hanging around?”

“No. What about the license?”

“Couldn’t see it, but there was a front plate.”

“Tennessee.”

“Yeah.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Ugh! Maybe we shouldn’t drink this. I want to get as far away from here as possible before we have to stop. How long can you hold out?”

“As long as you can.” Sunny’s voice rang with determination.

Out of the corner of his eye, Griff saw her fingers tremble as she pushed them through her hair. The idea of being followed had spooked her. She wasn’t as calm and composed as she was pretending to be.

She was terrified, but she had courage. Maybe as much as anyone he’d ever met. And her emerald eyes burned with the fire of hope.

He prayed he wouldn’t have to be the one to snuff that fire.

Chapter Seven

96 hours missing

“I don’t care what time it is.” Sunny glared at Griff. “That woman has Emily. I’m not spending another night without my baby. She said to call her when I got to Philadelphia. Well, we’re here. I’m going to call her.” To her dismay, her eyes filled with tears and her pulse pounded.

She dug into her purse for her cell phone, but her vision blurred and the purse slipped out of her fingers and onto the floorboard.

“Yeah, we’re here, and it’s ten o’clock at night. Look at you. You’re so tired you can’t even hold on to your purse. We’re only a few minutes outside of Oak Grove. We’ll get some sleep, and first thing in the morning, I’ll contact the local police and Natasha. We need to be prepared.”

Frustration burned in her chest. “Prepared? For what? The woman is waiting for me to call her. She has my baby.”

Griff exited the interstate and headed for a motel.

“Why won’t you listen to me?”

Griff didn’t answer. She glanced over at him and saw a sad look in his eyes.

We need to be prepared.

“You think
she’s
the kidnapper.” Her heart slammed painfully in her chest. She pressed her palm against her diaphragm. “You think that was Jane Gross who called?”

“No. The police in New York questioned Jane and Edward Gross today. Gross is running for Congress, and last night they were at a charity function with the other candidates.”

“But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have called.”

“I know. But they’ve lawyered up and threatened to sue for defamation of character. And anyhow it doesn’t make sense.”

“Why should it?” Sunny asked wearily. “Nothing else has.”

Griff squeezed her knee. “My gut tells me the woman who called you is sincere. She really does want to get Emily back to you. I just don’t want to make any mistakes.”

Sunny’s eyes brimmed over with tears that streamed down her face when she blinked. “Thank you.”

His dark eyes softened and his fingers on her knee tightened reassuringly. “Don’t cry, Sunny,” he whispered. “Do you trust me?”

She nodded, surprised to discover that she did. He might be just doing his job, but his integrity and sincerity burned in the violet flame of his eyes.

She prayed that her trust wasn’t misplaced.

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER, Griff had showered, and was sitting in front of his laptop, dressed in jeans and nothing
else, comparing the various elements of Sunny’s case to other cases in his database. It was a frustrating pastime. There were few similarities beyond the expected ones. She’d been alone. There had been no ransom request. It was unusual to see a physical confrontation.

Which was the main reason Griff was sure Emily had been taken either for revenge or for leverage.

He sorted the database to see how many other cases he had recorded that began with an attack. Only six. Three of those were family members. The other two, besides Sunny’s case, were unbalanced women who swore the children were theirs.

He sighed and raked his fingers through his wet hair, then sorted by city, although he already knew how many cases had occurred in Nashville. Just two. He stared at them.

A hesitant knock sounded at the connecting door between their rooms.

Sunny.
He jumped up and flung open the door. “What is it? Are you all right?”

She stood there, in a pink tank top and drawstring pajama pants, her hair caught up with a clip, and tears overflowing her eyes.

She was clutching something in her hands. “I’m sorry, Griff, but I couldn’t stand it anymore. I called the number.”

“Damn it!” He slapped his palm against the wall. “What’d you do that for? Didn’t I explain—?”

“Yes. Intellectually I knew it was a bad idea. But I’m having a really hard time listening to my logical side right now.” A tiny laugh escaped her lips as her eyes glowed with tears. “It doesn’t matter anyway. There was no answer. She’s gone. She took Emily and ran.”

“Hey.” Griff held out his arms and she walked right into them, still clutching the cell phone in front of her.

Silent sobs erupted like little earthquakes through her body. “I’m sorry. I should be stronger,” she whispered.

“You’re doing great,” he whispered, his heart breaking for her. It had taken him weeks to realize Marianne was never coming back. At fourteen, hope had lasted much longer.

“Emily is fine. She has to be.” He pulled her over to the bed and sat down with her. He pulled her into his arms, clenching his jaw against the feel of her soft skin against his bare chest and shoulders. “Didn’t you tell me the woman sounded kind and loving?”

God, what was he doing? He was lying to her, breaking his own code of honor. He’d never lied to a family, never given them false hope. He’d always been kind, gentle, but realistic.

He had no idea whether they would find Emily, or what might have happened to her. But suddenly, the most important thing to him was Sunny. He had to find Emily. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he let Sunny down.

But he had a problem. A big one.

No matter how many times he went over the evidence, he still couldn’t make the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

He was counting on the woman who’d called Sunny to fill in the missing pieces.

He gently took the cell phone from her unresisting fingers.

“I screwed up, didn’t I?”

“I should have taken your phone away from you yesterday.” He was the one who had screwed up. It was a critical error on his part. Now the woman was warned. She knew Sunny was here.

A tiny, ironic laugh escaped Sunny’s lips. “That wouldn’t have stopped me. There’s a phone in my room.”

Griff berated himself silently.
Of course
. The only way he could have stopped her from making the call was to stay in the same room with her and watch her constantly. But he hadn’t wanted to suffer through another night lying next to her, unable to touch her.