The Cradle Mission. Rita Herron

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СКАЧАТЬ you have a baby. Is the little one all right?”

      Wariness darkened Alanna’s features. “Why, yes…thank you for asking.”

      “You need anything? Formula, diapers?” Phyllis smiled, revealing fake crooked teeth. “Anything for the baby?”

      “No, we’re fine.” Alanna opened the door just enough to take the blankets. “And thanks for these.”

      Wanting desperately to get a look at the baby, Phyllis tried to peer inside, but the damn woman had the door blocked. Then she heard the baby’s cry. A soft little gurgling sound that squeezed at her heart.

      “I’d better go feed him,” Alanna said.

      Phyllis nodded and fisted her hands as the door closed in her face. Despite the disappointment, excitement stirred in her chest, along with a deep longing. Ducking into the shadows of the trees, she hurried to the cabin she’d rented next door.

      She would know when it was time to play her hand. When it was time to reveal herself and take Simon. And she would fight for him when that time came.

      Until then, she’d be a shadow trailing Alanna Hayes’s every move.

      One day she would have it all. She would claim Simon as hers, the way it should have been. She would have him and everything that went along with being his mother.

      Because she knew all their dirty little secrets.

      The researchers’. Dr. Polenta’s. Arnold Hughes’s.

      Even Alanna Hayes’s.

      CAIN SAT IN THE CAR in the blinding rain and studied the small cabin where Jane Carter, or whoever the hell she was, had hidden out for the night.

      There was no question in his mind that she was hiding.

      From whom, he didn’t know. But she’d even acted suspicious when the old caretaker had taken her blankets.

      Most likely an abusive boyfriend or husband. Eric tended to have a soft spot for women like her. They’d both known the reason why. He’d even understood Eric’s actions, had wanted to cross the line a time or two himself, but he’d taken an oath to uphold the law and he intended to keep it.

      Still, this woman’s sudden appearance seemed too coincidental.

      Did it have anything to do with Eric’s death?

      He parked out back near her car and settled in his seat. Surely she wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave during the night, not with the bad weather and a baby in tow, and that fever. He’d sack out in the car and get some sleep and question her in the morning. If she did know something that would help him find Eric’s killer, he didn’t intend to lose her.

      But when he closed his eyes, he couldn’t shake the image of Eric’s burning car from his mind.

      THE CLOCK GLARED at Cain in the dimness of the predawn sky, its bold numbers mocking him with the time. Five-thirty in the morning—almost twenty hours since the explosion. Twenty hours since he’d told his brother goodbye.

      He hadn’t realized it would be the last time.

      He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the woods, an image of the explosion, the burning car, his brother’s charred remains tormenting him. They’d haunt him for the rest of his life.

      Dammit, he’d told Eric that eventually something would happen to him, but even as he’d issued the warning, he’d never imagined the worst coming true, especially so soon. Eric had always managed to beat the odds. He’d acted invincible. Maybe somewhere deep down, Cain had believed it, too.

      Anguish overpowered him. He’d felt helpless yesterday when his captain had ordered him to sit out the case.

      Today he would start investigating.

      After he made the arrangements for the memorial service.

      Eric had been only twenty-nine; how could he choose a plot of land to bury his ashes in? His cell phone rang. Not wanting to listen to another awkward condolence, he let the voice mail pick up, then retrieved it in case it was important.

      “Caldwell, this is Flack. Just let me know when the service is and I’ll be there.” Cain’s captain cleared his throat, an uncharacteristic bit of emotion resonating in his voice. “And don’t plan on coming in for a while. We all know you need time to deal with this. Pirkle and Wade caught the case, so try and get some rest. We’ll find out who killed your brother.”

      A bitter snort escaped him. Rest? Like hell. He wouldn’t rest until he found out who had turned his brother into a…no, he couldn’t think it. And he couldn’t sit around and let two half-cocked rookies handle the investigation.

      Eric had devoted his life to helping victims, the vulnerable and the needy. In honor of his mother, Eric had said. If the cops had done their jobs, she wouldn’t have killed herself.

      What if the locals or the feds discovered his brother had taken the law into his own hands a time or two? What if Eric had something to do with Charlene Banks’s husband’s death?

      Could Cain bring himself to cover it up to protect Eric’s memory?

      Jane Carter suddenly opened the door to the cabin she’d rented. She cuddled the baby to her chest and stumbled over the gravel, her face ashen, the dark circles beneath her eyes even more prominent this morning.

      She was going to run. He recognized the fear in her agitated pace.

      He opened the car door and stalked toward her, his gut clenching when she gripped the baby tighter and threw a terrified look his way.

      FEAR SHOT THROUGH Alana at the sight of the imposing man standing before her. “You…you followed me?”

      He held his hands out, palms up, to assure her he wouldn’t hurt her. “I wanted to talk, that’s all.”

      “I…I have to go.”

      She tried to sidestep him, but he caught her arm. “Listen, Ms. Carter, it’s obvious you’re in trouble. I can help you.”

      Huge blue-green eyes stared at him, the tension palpable as she clutched the baby protectively against her. “I don’t need your help, Mr. Caldwell. I needed to see your brother.”

      “About what?”

      She hesitated, the faint line around her mouth twitched. “That was between the two of us.”

      “Why won’t you talk to me? Because I’m a cop?”

      Her sharp intake of breath echoed in the quiet morning air. “I just want to leave.” She glanced pointedly at his arm. “Now, please let me go.”

      He stared at her for a long minute, trying to gauge the emotions in her eyes. He wondered at the secrets. But he didn’t bully women. And judging from the bruises around her arms, that was the kind of man she’d known. So he released her and took a step back, giving her space.

      “I have to find the person who killed my brother.” The СКАЧАТЬ