Read Online Baltimore [3.5] Broken Silence by Karen Rose - Free Book Online

you love this baby?’ Nurse asked coldly.
    Lana looked up, squinting because the sun was in her eyes. Nurse had the baby in her arms. Zarya would be cold. ‘Yes,’ she whispered. She’d promised her mama that she’d always watch over her, once her mama had gone to live in heaven with the angels. ‘Yes, I love her.’
    ‘Then you will remember where you hid your mama’s necklace or I will kill this baby. You need to believe me, Lana. I have nothing to lose.’
    Lana believed her so she made her feet walk, hoping someone would come. Maybe the nice lady with the pony . Lana prayed to her mama and papa and the angels. Please help us .
    And then a glimmer of color caught her eye. Pink. Bright pink against the white snow.
    The pony lady’s coat was pink. Then she saw the pony lady hiding behind a tree, tapping her finger to her smiling lips. Thank you, Mama . Lana kept watching for pink, even when Nurse shoved her again, making Lana walk. The pony lady was walking, too, hiding behind the trees.
    Then everything happened fast – a man’s voice was behind them, deep and sounding mean. But he was talking to Nurse. He was speaking English, but Lana heard two words she understood. Stop and police . Then she was snatched into warm arms and carried into the trees.
    Pink coat . The pony lady had her. Lana started to cry and the pony lady rocked her, saying words she didn’t understand but she knew she was safe. ‘Zarya,’ Lana whispered.
    ‘ Sestra ?’ The pony lady asked, then pointed.
    Another lady wearing a black suit had Zarya. And the pony lady’s man was putting handcuffs on Nurse.
    Safe . She and Zarya were finally safe.
    Tuesday, December 24, 9:30 P.M.
    ‘So this is what you call leave?’ Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Grayson Smith demanded to know. Daphne’s boss stood beside her, frowning at Amber through the two-way glass of the interview room. He was every bit as big as Brock had been, but Grayson had a heart of gold. With a gooey marshmallow center.
    The thought made Daphne smile. ‘Hey, I met the letter of the law. I didn’t come into the prosecutors’ office.’
    ‘No, you just assisted VCET in solving a double homicide and put your life at risk.’ He glared at Joseph as he said it. On the other side of her, Joseph just cocked a brow. He was cool in the face of Grayson’s wrath as only a brother could be.
    ‘I invited her down here for lunch,’ Joseph said. ‘It ran a little long.’
    ‘A two-day-long lunch,’ Grayson grumbled. ‘You purposely violated my leave order and that’s the best excuse you can think of? Dad will be so disappointed in you.’
    ‘Dad wouldn’t have made an excuse at all. He would just tell you to stop trying to be the boss of everyone,’ Joseph shot back, amused.
    ‘But I am her boss,’ Grayson insisted. ‘She needed to rest.’
    ‘I’m her fiancé,’ Joseph said with a shrug. ‘I disagreed.’
    ‘See?’ Daphne said, wriggling her fingers to derail the argument. ‘Pretty, shiny diamond.’
    ‘So you got Grandma’s ring out of the safe. Sweet,’ Grayson said. Then rolled his eyes. ‘Fine. I’ll let you have this skirmish, for an engagement present. Congratulations,’ he added in a disgruntled voice, then gave Daphne a wink.
    Daphne winked back. ‘We not only solved the double homicide, we also saved two little girls.’ Svetlana and Zarya were in emergency foster care, waiting for relatives who were en route from Moscow. ‘And given the opportunity, I’d do that two-day-lunch again in a heartbeat.’
    Grayson sighed. ‘I know. I don’t know who I thought I was fooling with all this leave stuff. Or that I was your boss, or that you’d do what I said, or anything like that.’
    ‘I’ll bring you muffins when I come in to the office tomorrow,’ Daphne said with a smirk.
    ‘Thanks,’ he said wryly. ‘But I won’t be here tomorrow. Today’s Christmas Eve, Daphne.’
    ‘Oh,’ she said, dismayed. ‘I forgot. And I’m not even close to