Lullabies and Lies - By Mallory Kane Page 0,14

to come clean. A lot of people deserve to know the truth. Including my own daughter.”

Anxiety and loss stabbed through her. She’d been such a coward. She’d never told Mia all the details of her adoption. Mia would hate her when she found out Bess had kept stolen children for Janie. That Mia herself had been stolen from her family.

“But that’s okay.” Tears wound their way down her weathered cheeks. “I had her this long. I love her as much as if I’d given birth to her, just like your mommy loves you. I guess I always knew it would end one day.”

Sniffing, Bess turned to the last page, where she had carefully recorded Emily’s information.

Cleveland, Ohio. Emily Rose Loveless. June twenty-first.

She crossed out Cleveland and wrote in Nashville.

“Janie didn’t want me to know she’d been back to Nashville, where all this started.” She tickled Emily’s chin and was rewarded with a toothless smile.

“I can’t let her get away with this again. There’s been too much heartache already.” She raised her chin.

Determination flared inside her as she secured the delicate anklet between the pages of the notebook, then pushed it back down into the drawer, beneath a stack of papers.

“That should be hidden well enough.” Bess picked up Emily and bounced her on her lap as she reached for the bottle. “Emily, don’t tell anyone where that book is, okay?” She chuckled. “If anyone ever gets their hands on it, I’ll go to prison. Now here’s your bottle. Isn’t that good? You’re such a little sweetheart. You’ll see your mommy soon. I promise.” She shifted the small weight in her arms. “Tomorrow evening, we’ll go for a drive, and find a pay phone to call from, so the police can’t trace us.”

Bess nodded to herself. Janie had never come back for a baby inside of a week. She liked to make sure everything was set up before she had to pick up the child.

She shook her head. “God forbid Janie should be bothered with a baby herself for even one day.”

She tried to ignore the small voice that kept warning her that something was different about this child. Janie hadn’t been acting like her usual cool-as-a-cucumber self.

She’d been agitated. What if she came back early? Or called while Bess and Emily were gone? What if she found out what Bess was planning to do? Janie was ruthless. Bess had no doubt Janie could provide evidence that would put Bess in jail and leave Janie in the clear.

That didn’t matter. Bess held out a finger and Emily Rose grasped it trustingly. Bess’s eyes filled with tears.

The only thing that mattered was this child, and all the other children.

Janie’s baby stealing was about to stop.

46 hours missing

HIRAM COGBURN KNOCKED on apartment number one. The foyer of the old house on a backstreet near Vanderbilt University had two apartments downstairs and two upstairs. He remembered it from back in the day, when Ed and Janie had lived upstairs in apartment number four.

A twinge of irritation cramped his ample belly. It soured his stomach to think about how his old law school buddy had ended up in the money and was running for the New York State Legislature, while Hiram was reduced to chasing ambulances and advertising on cable for DUI cases. Life just wasn’t fair.

When he’d gotten the call from Ed’s crazy wife, telling him she needed his help diverting a private investigator’s attention from Ed, Hiram had refused to get involved. But Janie had threatened him with exposure if he didn’t help her. Ed’s future is at stake, she’d told him.

As if he cared.

He’d reminded her that for every illegal act he’d committed, she’d done a dozen, but then she’d mentioned a dollar amount that had set his mouth to watering.

Still, it was a tough decision. He’d always liked Ed, but Janie Gross scared the spit out of him. She was nuts. There was no predicting what she would do if he pissed her off enough.

Her final words on the phone still rang in his ears. I’ll squash you like a bug, Hiram, and you know I can do it. She was right. He knew.

Still, he needed the money. And Janie was clever. She wanted Sunny Loveless off their scent, and she’d planned the break-in at the investigator’s office to take care of that. Hiram had mined Loveless’s case files for ideas to distract her from Ed and Janie. He made mysterious threatening phone calls, pretending to be disgruntled clients or injured