Lullabies and Lies (8 page)

“You can go insane thinking about all the
if onlies.
” His voice was rough with some emotion. “Don’t keep piling more guilt onto yourself. You’ll collapse. And that won’t do your daughter any good. Give me the notes. Let me help you.”

Her shoulders ached, her head pounded. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for a peek into his soul.

He sat there without moving, allowing her in for an instant. And in that instant she’d caught a glimpse of a sadness so profound it hurt her heart.

She moistened her lips and asked quietly, “Why do you do it?”

The sadness expanded, drew her in, until she felt consumed by it. On some deep visceral level he understood her pain.

Then he blinked and just like that, he withdrew.

“It’s a job,” he said dismissively. “I’m good at it.”

Sunny shook her head, still holding his gaze. “That can’t be why.”

He looked down at his cup. “That’s the best explanation I have. Now, are you going to make me get a search warrant for those notes?”

She tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry. “What about the other children?”

He frowned up at her.

“The other six cases you handled.”

His eyes flickered, looked past her for an instant before returning to her face. “Those children were older. I thought you were interested in infants.”

“I’m interested in your record.”

He straightened, almost imperceptibly, as if he were bracing himself. “Four were recovered safe and sound. The other two—”

Suddenly, the memory of a recent news story surfaced in Sunny’s mind. She blinked. “Oh, my God, you were the agent on the case of that Senator’s son, weren’t you?”

He didn’t answer, but she saw the self-recrimination in his suddenly stoic features, in the slight wavering of his gaze.

Details of the case came back to her in a rush. “Didn’t the boy’s father pay the ransom? He didn’t go to the police.” Fear sheared her breath. The Senator had thought he could handle the kidnappers himself.

“What happened?” she asked anxiously. “Why did the boy end up dead?”

Griff shook his head. “We were too late. The kidnappers fled as soon as they got their money. They never
revealed the boy’s final location. By the time we found him, he had died of exposure.”

“So, you’re saying that if the Senator had called in the police sooner—”

“No. The child’s safety was my responsibility.”

“But if you’d been called in earlier you’d have had a better chance.”

“Most of the time it’s the best course of action.” He leveled his gaze on her. “The most difficult infant abduction cases are the ones where the person wants the baby for themselves. Often those children are never found.”

Emotion roughened his voice. “The most dangerous are the cases where the baby is used as leverage or for revenge.”

He paused, and Sunny’s breath stuck in her throat.

“That’s what I think this is.”

“Leverage?” she croaked.

He nodded. “You have something they want. And they’re desperate to get it. You can’t deal with these people alone. You have to trust someone to help you.” Griff’s eyes probed hers. “Trust me.”

Tears filled her eyes and overflowed. His words, his eyes, called to her.
Share the burden. Let me help you
.

“They said they would kill her.”

Griff nodded solemnly. “I know.”

“But you might be too late.” She didn’t say
again
but she knew he heard it in her voice.

He winced and closed his eyes briefly. He touched her hand. “I promise you, I will die if that’s what it takes to save your daughter.”

The absolute conviction in his voice stunned her.
I will die.

She couldn’t move. All she could do was stare at his hand, so large against her smaller, paler one.

Finally she made a fist, then pulled away and pressed her knuckles against her lips.

“Why?”

He looked up at her, startled. “Why what?”

“Why would you die to save her?”

He swallowed and his jaw clenched. “I told you, it’s my job.”

She shook her head in denial. He wasn’t just a man doing his job. For whatever reason, this was personal.

“I’m so afraid.”

“I know.”

“They said they would kill her. How can I just ignore that?”

“I swear I will get your daughter back.”

The determination in his face was unmistakable. His violet eyes burned with fervor.

“I would, too.”

His brow furrowed. “Would what?”

“I would die if it meant Emily would be safe.”

A wry smile tilted one corner of his mouth. “Then we agree on that.”

Finally she stood on legs that threatened to give way, and retrieved her purse, her hands unsteady as she pulled out the two notes she’d tucked safely inside a pair of Ziploc plastic bags.

Griff blew out his breath in a sigh of relief as he rose and stepped over next to her. His hand brushed her shoulder in silent reassurance.

By the time he laid the bags on the table to study them, his pulse was already hammering.

“Torn from a cheap spiral notebook, just like the blank sheets on the other cars,” he muttered. “Block printing. Hard to analyze.”

The first note was crinkled and stained, a testament to Sunny’s attack, and the pencil marks were faint in places, but he could read it.

“You’ve messed with the wrong person this time Loveless. Tell the police anything about me and your kid will die.”

He looked up. “He knows your name.” So it
was
about revenge. A sliver of worry embedded itself under his skin. He’d hoped he was wrong.

“Where was this?”

“He stuffed it into my mouth, when he was on top of me. He whispered
Chew on this, Loveless
.”

“The leather gloves.” He pictured her struggling, injured, lying on the asphalt in the rain, while the attacker held her down, wadded up the note and pushed it between her teeth.

She nodded, her tension palpable, her green eyes burning his skin. She’d been through more than he’d imagined. As irritated as he’d been by her stubborn attempts to handle this herself, he had to admire her bravery.

He’d asked her to trust him, and she had finally agreed. He’d made her a promise. Now he had to live up to it. The hollow ache in his chest flared.

He scanned the second note as she sat back down across from him.

You’re spending too much time with the police.

Someone you know will be hurt.

Someone already had. He raised his gaze.

“What is it?” Sunny frowned, two tiny lines appearing between her eyebrows. She glanced down at the second note, and gasped. “Something’s happened. That’s why you came here.”

Her voice rose in volume and pitch. She stood so abruptly that the kitchen chair nearly tipped over.

“Ms. Loveless—”

“What’s happened? It’s not Emily, is it?” She covered her mouth, her eyes widening until white showed all the way around her emerald-colored irises. “Please—tell me she’s okay.”

“It’s not Emily,” he said, rounding the table and wrapping her ice-cold fingers in his, to warm them, he told himself. “But it is connected to one of your cases.”

She took a long, shaky breath. “One of my cases?”

He nodded grimly. “Come sit down. Are you okay?”

She nodded jerkily.

He watched her, listened to her breathing. He held her chair for her, then sat next to her.

“Joseph Mabry is dead. He apparently fell down the stairs at his rooming house last night. One of his tenants found him around midnight.”

“Mabry? The landlord from Jennifer Curry’s case?” Her head jerked. “Was he…?”

Frustration burned inside Griff. He’d been at the scene all night, dogging CSU, but nothing concrete had turned up. “The M.E. has made a preliminary ruling of accidental death.”

Sunny’s wide eyes searched his face. “You don’t believe it was an accident.”

He shook his head. “Your baby disappears on Tuesday and a man connected with one of your cases dies under questionable circumstances on Thursday? I don’t believe in coincidence. Tell me about Jennifer Curry.”

“Two months ago she came to me, wanting to find her biological parents. Her adoptive mother had died. Jennifer found her adoption papers and a note in her mother’s things. The documents weren’t legal, and the note said ‘Jane called. $20,000 by Friday.’ It looked like Jennifer’s mother had bought her from ‘Jane.’”

Her voice was bitter, reminding Griff of her own history. Jennifer’s case had been personal for her.

“The hospital and court records I was able to access didn’t tell me anything. I figured Jane had needed help with those forged documents, so I checked out Vanderbilt University. There were seven Janes listed in the school’s directory for 1989. Nine for 1990. I tried to find them all. But only one was the wife of a law student. Ed and Jane Gross lived at Mabry’s place until 1991.”

1991. Griff’s tried to ignore the sudden burning ache in his chest and concentrated on the information Sunny had just given him. “So what did you find out from Mabry?”

“Not much. He remembered them. Couldn’t swear Jane Gross had ever been pregnant. There’s no proof the Grosses are Jennifer’s parents.”

“But you think they are?”

She nodded. “I think so. You think the Grosses killed Mabry?”

“Yes, I do. Because of something Mabry told you.”

“But he didn’t tell me anything. Just that they’d lived there, and then one night they disappeared. I even flew to New York to talk to Ed Gross. He claimed he and his wife had never had a child. I let it drop and gave Jennifer her money back.”

Griff frowned. “Do you always give up so easily?”

She stiffened. “I draw the line at invading people’s privacy. I believe Ed Gross is Jennifer’s father, but he obviously doesn’t want to acknowledge it. He has that right.”

“Did you tell Jennifer?”

“No. That would be unethical, and it would hurt her unnecessarily. I told her I had contacted the most likely candidate, but that it was a dead end.”

“How did she take that?”

“Not well. She’s a very angry young woman. Her mother had never told her she was adopted.” She paused. “You think
Jennifer
did this? She’s only eighteen—a child!”

“An adult. And you just told me she’s angry.”

“Why would she kill Mabry? If she’s angry at anyone, it’s me.”

“Or the Grosses. When you met with Ed Gross, did he threaten you? Did he say anything suspicious?”

“No. He just snapped at me that he and his wife didn’t have any children. He was lying.”

“Yeah? How can you be so sure?”

Her mouth turned up in a tiny smile. “He was a terrible liar. He started sweating as soon as I told him why I was there. He couldn’t wait to be rid of me.”

“Well, someone thinks Mabry told you something. Something they didn’t want to go any further.”

Sunny stared at him with those wide green eyes that demanded loyalty and truth.

He didn’t have a shred of proof, but he knew in his gut that Mabry’s death had been no accident. “That means, Ms. Loveless, that not only is your baby in danger, so are you.”

She laughed, a choked, desperate sound. “You think I care about me? I don’t! All I care about is Emily.”

“I understand.” He did. All too well.

“Tell me the truth. Do you think Emily is okay? They’d need to keep her safe, right? To be sure I cooperate?”

He heard in her voice that she didn’t believe her own words. Reluctantly, he met her gaze. “I wish I could—”

“Just tell me.”

Griff spoke as calmly as he could. “I’m sorry, Ms. Loveless. We have no way of knowing if she’s still alive or not. I know how hard this is—”

Sunny’s anguished gaze met his, and a flame of fury glinted in her green eyes. “Do you have children, Agent Stone?” she asked coldly.

He winced. “No.”

She lifted her chin as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Then you cannot possibly know how hard this is.”

Chapter Four

Griff felt as if she’d slapped him.

During his years with the FBI, he’d heard those words before. And each time he heard them, they tore another hole in his heart.

He’d consoled frantic parents whose desperate fear turned into rage against the people who were trying to help them, because they couldn’t get to the kidnappers. So he’d always responded with respect, concern and assurance. Usually his calm demeanor consoled the terrified families.

He’d never taken it personally. His feelings didn’t matter. He was a professional. His job was not to share his private anguish, it was to offer comfort and find the truth. He’d never even been tempted to share his own personal feelings.

Until now.

He clenched his jaw against the urge to tell Sunny that he did know exactly how hard it was for her, that he’d been through it all himself. It would do her no good to know that he spent a part of every single day searching for his sister.

“I apologize, Ms. Loveless,” he said. “You’re right.”

Sunny looked at him curiously, her hands squeezed so tightly together that her knuckles were stark white.

“Some of the very best agents the FBI has are working on your little girl’s case right now. What I need from you is a promise to cooperate fully. The more we know, the better our chances. You can’t do this alone.”

Sunny nodded, her head bent. “I know that.” She lifted her head, her face taut with pain. “I hope I haven’t waited too long.

Her lower lip trembled. A tear gathered at the corner of her eye and slipped down her cheek.

He knew she was terrified of what the kidnapper might do.

So was he.

He read through the second note again.

Remember, I’m watching you.

“Have you noticed anyone following you? Any cars sitting outside?”

“People park on the street. I haven’t noticed any strange vehicles, but I’ve had other things on my mind. You should ask Lil.”

“I will.” He gestured. “You’re sure you don’t have any idea what the kidnapper is hiding?”

“I’m sure. I’ve never had an unhappy client.”

“Never? What about Jennifer? I’m sure there are others you haven’t been able to help.”