B00CCYP714 EBOK by R. E. Bradshaw Read Free Book Online Page A

said, “Bring pajamas—no hospital—gown.”
    Rainey chuckled. “Okay, no gown. You hear that, Wiley? Tell Junior he better have some PJs for the big man or there will be hell to pay.”
    She heard Wiley laugh in her ear. “Will do, Rainey. Send Angeline and the kids out.”
    Rainey motioned to Angeline to move on out the door. She hesitated, looking toward the kitchen at her mother.
    Rainey said softly, “Go on now. Get those kids out of here. I’ll take care of your mother.”
    “You know, she’s not a bad woman, Rainey. She just had a hard life. Jacquie was her hope. She cleaned up after she got pregnant with Halle.” Angeline indicated the baby in her arms. “Jacquie was smart, going to college, going to break the cycle of poverty she said. She didn’t walk off and leave her baby. Momma just wants somebody to look for her.”
    Rainey knew better than to promise results, but she could make one pledge. “I will use every resource at my disposal to find out what happened to your sister. I will be honest with you and your mother. If she’s been gone this long, the chances of Jacquie being alive are very slim.”
    A tear fell down Angeline’s cheek. She kissed the baby on the forehead, before saying, “We knew that when she didn’t come home. If Jacquie was alive, she would have come back for Halle. She was a good momma.”
    Rainey looked down at the child, knowing that she would spend her very last breath attempting to get back to her own. She reached out to twine one of the baby’s fine curls around the end of her finger.
    “I’ll find out what happened, Angeline.”
    She let the curl drop and started toward the kitchen as Angeline and the children exited. The paramedics entered the door and went to work on Mackie.
    As Rainey stepped into the kitchen, she said into the microphone, “Wiley, leave the recorder going. I want this interview on tape.”
    “Interview?” A voice other than Wiley’s said. “She’s got a gun. How is this an interview?”
    Wiley interrupted. “Quiet the chatter. We’re rolling, Rainey. Anything else?”
    “Can you get me Jacquie’s missing person file and her record? I don’t need it right now, but I’d like to have it soon.” She paused a second and then asked, “And Wiley, could you tell Junior to call Katie and let her know everything is okay?”
    “Is everything okay?” Wiley hesitated to be as optimistic as Rainey.
    “Yes, everything is going to be just fine,” Rainey answered, as she pulled out a chair across from Maybelline and sat down.
    Without asking and with great confidence that her assessment was correct, Rainey picked up the pistol from the table, took out the clip, and cleared the chamber. A single bullet bounced off the tabletop onto the floor and rolled away, as Rainey spoke to Maybelline.
    “We’re not going to be needing this weapon, so I’m just going to put it over here.” Rainey slid the pistol away from both of them, but put the clip in the back pocket of her jeans. She was confident, not stupid. She refocused on Maybelline. “When we’re done talking, you and I are walking out of here with no further problems, right?”
    Maybelline leaned her elbows on the table and looked Rainey in the eye. “Your daddy done right by me. You say you’re going to do right by me, too. I’ll take you at your word. I’ll come on when we’re done.”
    Wiley understood the exchange and replied, “Okay, weapon secured. The two SWAT guys by the front door, you stay put. The rest of you stand down. This is no longer a hostage situation.”
    Rainey smiled at Maybelline. “Now, tell me about Jacquie.”

Chapter Three
     
    When Rainey stepped out of the house with Maybelline handcuffed and walking beside her, they were bathed in the glare of the camera lights. The cordoned-off area had been reduced, allowing the reporters to get closer to the scene. Cameras flashed and questions were being shouted, but Rainey paid no attention. That is, until one voice