Free Lullabies and Lies by Mallory Kane

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