Lullabies and Lies - By Mallory Kane Page 0,55
in there.”
“She’s—not?”
She stood and grabbed his forearm with both hands. “What did Bess say? Where’s my baby?”
He gently set her away from him and her gaze lit on what he held.
“Oh, God, it’s hers!” She reached for the cloth-wrapped rattle.
He held it out of her reach. “I can’t let you touch it, Sunny. It’s evidence.”
“Eviden—” Her cracked voice ripped at his soul. She pressed her lips tightly together and nodded. “I’m sorry. Of course it’s evidence.”
Her attention turned toward the house. “What are the EMTs doing?”
“Bess has been shot.”
Sunny swayed, and he caught her shoulders, feeling them trembling. “Shot. Is she—dead?”
“No. We’ll know more in a minute. Officer!” He caught the eye of a female officer, who stepped over to them immediately.
“Officer Linda Akin, sir.”
Griff squeezed Sunny’s shoulders. “Let Officer Akin take you to one of the police cars. You’ll be safe with her.”
Sunny nodded, moving stiffly. Her face was white and pinched, and her eyes were dilated. He’d seen the symptoms before. She was close to being in shock.
Griff felt the crack that she had opened inside him become a gaping chasm. If Bess Raymond died, if Sunny’s daughter was never found, she would never heal. And neither would he.
But as hard as he tried to hold on to his professional distance, he knew in this instance he was not just an FBI agent. He was as invested in Sunny’s daughter as she was.
“We’ll find Emily, I swear on my life.”
As Officer Akin led Sunny away, Griff spoke to her. “Ask the paramedics about giving her a sedative.”
“I do not want a sedative!”
Griff caught the officer’s eye. She nodded as she led Sunny over to the second police car.
The EMTs came out, carrying Bess Raymond on a stretcher. Griff crossed the short expanse of yard between them. He stuck the wrapped rattle into his pocket and then pulled out his badge.
“Griffin Stone, FBI.” He nodded toward the stretcher. “How is she?”
The EMT in charge waved the two carrying the stretcher on into the ambulance. He peeled off his gloves.
“Small caliber gunshot wound to the chest, point-blank. Hard to believe she’s still alive.”
Griff’s heart sank. He glanced toward the police car where the female officer had placed Sunny.
“I’ve got to talk to her. There’s an infant missing. And this woman knows where she is.”
The EMT shook his head. “She’s lost too much blood, and she’s got to be close to eighty years old. I doubt she’ll make it to the hospital.”
JANIE WATCHED IN HORROR as the ambulance pulled out onto the street, sirens blaring. She dropped her cigarette to the ground and stomped on it.
Bess was alive. Hell and damnation. She hadn’t meant to shoot her, but damn if she didn’t wish she’d killed the old hag.
Now what was she going to do? She wrapped her fingers around the weapon in her pocket as she hunkered down farther and watched the activity through the trees.
As the ambulance pulled away, Janie saw Sunny Loveless sitting alone in the backseat of the police car. A relieved sigh escaped Janie’s lips as she studied her.
At least Bess hadn’t been able to give her the kid.
Damn Bess, and damn Hiram. And damn Eddie, too. If they’d just come to her first, let her handle everything. But no…
Everybody had to try to think for themselves. And Janie always had to straighten everything out. Now the police were involved. Who knew what Bess had told Sunny. For all Janie knew Hiram could have been picked up. She snorted. He was such a pansy and a coward. He’d spill his guts for a hot cup of coffee.
There was only one way to protect Eddie and her now.
She slid her gun out of her pocket and aimed it at Sunny Loveless, closing one eye.
“Bang,” she whispered.
No more problem.
111 hours missing
WHEN SUNNY CAME to consciousness, she felt an all-encompassing emptiness. Emily. Was Emily dead?
She tried to open her eyes, but when she did the world tilted at a funny angle, so she closed them again.
Sharp, clean smells filled her nostrils, and the surface upon which she was lying was hard, but she felt the scratch of starched sheets against her arms. She was in a hospital.
Steeling herself against nausea and dizziness, she finally managed to open her eyes. When she did, she found a nurse hovering around the bed, checking an IV bag, adjusting the automatic blood pressure cuff around her arm.
She looked down. She still had on her jeans and T-shirt but a huge needle and tubes were