Lullabies and Lies - By Mallory Kane Page 0,15

parties from her recent cases.

It was working, too. Loveless hadn’t contacted the Grosses again.

But Janie couldn’t leave well enough alone. She’d come to Nashville to check on Hiram, and ended up stealing Sunny Loveless’s baby. Now Hiram was in too deep to get out.

He knocked again.

The fellow who opened the door looked eighty-five if he was a day.

Hiram flashed his fake badge and smiled at him. “Good evening.” He paused for effect, like the cops did on TV. He liked playing a detective. It made him feel important.

“Mr. Joseph Mabry? Hate to bother you so late. We just need a few minutes more of your time. Need to straighten out a few things.”

“Police yesterday and twice today? I told that detective this afternoon that y’all know everything I know.”

The police had been here this afternoon? Hiram swallowed nervously. “Uh, we’re all pitching in on this case. You know how it is when a kid goes missing.”

Why had the police come back here today? Had Loveless told them something else? His stomach churned. “Well, I just need to confirm a couple of things. Now, how long ago did Ms. Loveless first contact you?”

“Month or so ago. She said she was looking for someone named Jane from back around ’91. I told her everything I remembered about Ed Gross and his wife. I’d plumb forgot about those two until Ms. Loveless showed up asking all those questions. Hell, I hardly ever saw Ed Gross, and that wife of his was more scarce than him. She never stuck her nose out the door. The police think they stole the Loveless woman’s baby?”

Hiram took a ragged envelope and a stubby pencil from his pocket. “We’re looking at all Ms. Loveless’s cases. Trying to eliminate suspects in the disappearance of her baby. You know how it is. She mentioned your name in her police report.”

“Right. She said there were four Janes that she was trying to track down. Looking for her client’s birth parents.” Mabry squinted at him. “Say, haven’t I seen you before?”

“Nope. I just need to see the apartment where they stayed.”

The old man sighed and looked behind him, toward the pallid blue light flickering in the darkness. “Awright, but can we hurry? I’m watching Law & Order.”

Hiram followed him up the stairs.

Talk to him, Janie had said when she’d seen Mabry’s name in the Loveless woman’s case file on Jennifer Curry. Make sure he hasn’t told the police anything. If he remembers me being pregnant, or the day we left town, he could ruin us all. He’s got to be ninety, so he probably doesn’t remember how to pee, but I can’t take that chance.

At the top of the stairs, the old man was hardly out of breath. Hiram, on the other hand, was wheezing. He hitched up his pants and wiped his face with a handkerchief.

“So, it’s real sad, her baby being stolen, isn’t it?” Hiram struggled for breath.

“Yep. Real sad. She was a nice young lady. The Grosses stayed in apartment number four.” Mabry pointed a gnarled finger at a door that was tucked in behind the stairwell. “I can’t let you inside. It’s rented. Summer students. Mostly the apartments are empty this time of year.”

“Then why’d you drag me up here?” Hiram huffed, struggling to catch his breath. “You could have told me that downstairs.”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to see the apartment. Them other detectives were interested in how the door’s hidden by the stairs.”

“Right, right.” Hiram tucked his handkerchief back in his pocket.

“I told Ms. Loveless I thought the wife was in the family way, but it was hard to tell. She stayed to herself and always wore them baggy dresses. But I never did see a baby. Then they up and left June 30, ’91. Just disappeared in the night.”

“You remember the exact day they left?” Hiram hadn’t remembered. All he knew was, he and Ed had been job hunting together, up until the day he’d come by to pick up Ed and discovered they were gone. Surprised the hell out of him. And scared him, truth be told. He hadn’t slept for weeks, afraid the police were going to show up on his doorstep.

He’d have bet his right arm that skipping town had been Janie’s idea. He’d never liked Janie. She’d always been weird, and ruthless. He wouldn’t have put it past her to turn him in for his part in their baby-selling racket. He’d been petrified that he’d go down alone. Nothing