The Pink Bonnet

by Tolsma, Liz;

  The child whimpered.

  Gladys froze.

  What had she been about to do? She released Fanny and stroked her arm, a big black and purple bruise marring the fair flesh. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry. So sorry for what I done to you. Don’t you worry about nothin’. I’m gonna take care of it all. It’ll be fine, you’ll see. You just go on to your room. Ma’ll clean up the mess.”

  Without a backward glance, Fanny scampered away behind the curtain that separated her room from the rest of the house.

  Her innards in knots, Gladys pulled the pieces of china from the water and threw them in the trash bin. She’d almost beaten Fanny herself. But it was up to her to protect the child.

  Tonight, she’d have to confess to Willard that she’d broken the dishes. And take Fanny’s punishment.

  Chapter Ten

  What did you say?” Percy stood in front of Tann’s oak desk, crushing the handle of his leather attaché case, his mouth gone dry.

  She slid the newspaper across the desk to him, the page folded so he could make out the headline with no trouble: WILLIAM KEARNY, LONG-TIME MEMPHIS COUNCILMAN, MISSING.

  He skimmed the article. According to the reporter, Mr. Kearny had fallen out with those in power and had made more than one enemy in the city’s political machine. Many more than one.

  “How does this pertain to me?” He tossed the paper in Tann’s direction.

  “It’s a shame what happened to him.”

  “What happened? He’s missing. Possibly on vacation in the mountains.”

  “I fear a more sinister fate.”

  Feared or knew of? The room closed in on Percy. “Why?”

  Tann pushed away from the desk and lumbered to the single, small window, parting the almost-always closed curtains. “Making enemies in this city is detrimental to one’s health.”

  Did she have any involvement in Mr. Kearny’s disappearance? Percy stepped backward, ready to dive for the door if necessary.

  “You’ve angered some influential people, Mr. Vance.”

  Namely, her. “That was never my intention.”

  “Intention or not, there are those in power around here who are most unhappy with your antics.”

  Yes, she spoke nothing but the truth of a risk he knew he was taking when he offered to assist Mrs. Dowd.

  He gazed at her desk, rings from coffee cups marring the surface. Did she keep her revolver in one of the drawers? Was it in her purse somewhere in the room? He gulped. Or in her pants pocket?

  She broke off gazing out the window. “I don’t know how much longer I will require your services. Mr. Waldauer is capable of handling my affairs.”

  “But he is a busy man. I lessen his load.” Losing this position would devastate him. No more Packard. No more home on Poplar Avenue. The room swirled. And it would complicate the investigation into Cecile’s missing daughter. How would he get information about her if he was no longer in Tann’s employ?

  “Mr. Kearny also believed himself to be indispensable, but he was wrong. Just a bit player that Memphis could do without.” She ambled to her desk, the rotten-egg stench of her drifting toward him.

  Rotten not only on the outside but also on the inside. “Then I suppose I have to work to make you see you can’t do without me.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” Tann snorted. “I like to keep my friends close and my enemies closer. Have a good day, Mr. Vance.”

  Even those most innocuous words, when spoken from her mouth, composed a threat. “Thank you.”

  Once he stood on the street, breathing in the stale summer air clogged with car fumes, he loosened his tie and slung his suit coat over his shoulder. He hadn’t taken full advantage of his time working for Tann. File cabinets lined one wall of her office. There had to be information in there. Well, he couldn’t stand on the street corner all day. He planned on meeting Cecile on one of the wooded trails in Overton Park at noon. Seeing her sweet, trusting face would brighten this dreary day.

  Storm clouds brewed overhead, rising as the foam on a choppy sea, the bottoms dark and heavy with rain. In the distance, thunder rumbled.

  He rode the streetcar, much as he had done the day he followed Cecile to the park. This time, however, their meeting had to be clandestine. He disembarked a couple of blocks from his destination and made his way there on foot, meandering down several side streets instead of taking a direct route.

  Once he reached Overton, he headed for the walking trails. For a while, he left the path and hiked through the bramble. Thorns scratched his flesh. A vine tangled itself around his ankle, and he tripped. He caught himself, scraping his tender palms.

  The air hung still. Motionless. Like the world held its breath. Another peal of thunder, this one closer and longer. A breeze blew up, rattling the leaves above him.

  “Mr. Vance?”

  Cecile’s voice behind him weakened his knees. He locked them to keep from slumping to the ground. “You startled me.”

  “I’m sorry. I suppose with the storm you didn’t hear me coming. Do you have information on Millie?” She widened her green eyes and leaned forward.

  “No. Not yet. But I’m working on it. Trying to get into that office alone to have a glimpse at the files.”

  “Oh dear. When you called, I got my hopes up, I’m afraid. I thought …” Cecile, pretty in a pink polka-dotted dress, deflated. A single tear sparkled like a diamond on her eyelashes.

  “But don’t worry. I will get into that office. Alone. And I will get the information we need.”

  “I’m coming with you. I insist.”

  “Haven’t we had this argument once before?”

  She laughed, transformed from just moments before, the music of her giggle like the rain now pattering on the canopy above. “Then let’s not argue. I won then. I’ll win now.”

  “You still don’t trust me?”

  “Not yet.”

  He chewed the inside of his cheek. “An accomplice would be handy.” Especially one as beautiful as she, the day’s warmth bringing color to her cheeks.

  She smiled, a dimple appearing in her right cheek. Funny how he had never noticed that before. She touched his arm, only his thin, white cotton shirt between them. Even so, a bolt of electricity raced up his arm, and it had nothing to do with the lightning flashing overhead. “Thank you for understanding.”

  “Your insistence on being included has given me an idea.” He shared with her the plan he’d devised for getting into Tann’s office.

  “Perfect.” Her eyes glittered in the dim light. “Let’s go. I don’t have much time before I have to be back at work.”

  “Tann always takes a lunch break right on the dot of twelve.”

  They dodged raindrops as they scurried from the woods toward the tram. He waited several minutes after she disappeared from sight, took a different path out of the forest, and caught a later tram. So far, so good. No one followed him. At least, that’s what he counted on.

  By the time he arrived at the Goodwyn Institute, it was ten minutes past twelve. Perfect. He strode up the stairs, taking them two at a time, praying all the while their plan would work. It had to. There was no other option.

  With Miss Tann out for lunch, the key to the operation was to get Miss Stewart from the office. That’s where Cecile came in. While she entered the office, Percy waited down the hall from the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, plastered against the wall. Not that it would do any good. If anyone came out of the elevator or one of the doors, they would spy him. But the strength of the wall supporting him helped him keep his breathing steady and even.

  Miss Stewart’s shriek emanated from the office. “What have you done, you lazy oaf? Look at my blouse. Ruined, for sure.”

  Percy couldn’t stop the smile that teased his mouth at Miss Stewart’s outburst. So far, so good.

  “I’ll take it to the lavatory and wash it out.”

  “I’m not going to trust my silk blouse to you. Look at the mess you’ve already made. You shouldn�
��t be here, Mrs. Dowd.”

  “Of course. My apologies for my clumsiness.”

  Both ladies exited the office. Percy scooted around the corner to be sure Miss Stewart didn’t catch a glimpse of him. When the washroom door clicked shut, he popped out of hiding. “Let’s go.” He motioned for Cecile to follow.

  “She locked the door.” The breath of her whisper tickled the back of his neck.

  “Do you have a hairpin?”

  “No, but I have a hatpin.”

  “That will do.”

  She pulled the long, slender pin from her blue hat. Though it took him a moment longer than he’d hoped, he jimmied the lock. He ushered Cecile inside. “Hurry. We don’t have much time.”

  Cecile held her breath as Percy shut Miss Tann’s office door behind them. The bittersweet odor of coffee and creamer lingered in the air, churning Cecile’s stomach. Flashes of lightning from the window in Miss Tann’s office sent their shadows writhing on the wall.

  Any moment, Miss Stewart might return. Any moment, they could be caught. She gulped down breaths to keep from screaming. The life of a criminal was not for Cecile.

  As Percy entered Miss Tann’s office, Cecile stood rooted to the spot as if her limbs had turned to stone. “Come on.” He motioned to her.

  The throbbing in her head just about drowned out his words. Though it was the only way to get information about Millie, this was insanity. He returned to her and clasped her hands, his grip strong and warm. Some of that energy flowed from him to her, driving away a bit of the iciness.

  “We have to be quick. This is for Millie. Keep that in the front of your mind.”

  For Millie. Yes, that’s why she had broken into this office. That’s why she stood here quivering like a bowl of Jell-O. That’s why she risked her livelihood and even her freedom. Whatever it took to bring her daughter home. “What do you want me to do?”

  He motioned her deeper into the office and pointed to the wall on their right. “I’ll search this cabinet. You look through the one next to it. I don’t know what she keeps in each drawer. Just search for anything that might have to do with the adoption of a girl around Millie’s age about the time Tann snatched her.”

  “Okay.” Cecile could do this. She took the time to inhale and exhale once and steel herself.

  Only a green and brown art deco lamp lit the office. Outside, the sky blackened and shimmered green. Every now and again, a flash of lightning provided a bit more illumination. The building creaked in the wind.

  She tugged open the top drawer, the metal cabinet’s handle cool in her hand. Neat manila folders stretched all the way back, and she thumbed through them, the tabs labeled in precise block handwriting. Nothing but receipts for office supplies.

  With a bang, she slammed the door shut. She jumped back.

  “Shh.” Percy gestured for her to be quieter.

  “Sorry.” She hadn’t meant to do that, but the handle slid out of her grasp. Her hands now sweating, she opened the drawer beneath. Payroll information and financial records. They didn’t have time to comb through these.

  “Anything?” Percy searched his third drawer.

  “Nothing. You?”

  He furrowed his brow. Shook his head. “This is taking too long. We have to be faster.”

  Cecile also searched through her third drawer. Picked up speed. Read each label as fast as possible. One folder near the back was marked letters. She pulled it up. Skimmed the contents.

  Dear Miss Tann,

  You told me my son was stillborn, but I heard him cry.

  Please, help me find him.

  Dear Miss Tann,

  I was groggy from anesthesia when I signed those adoption papers. But I don’t want to give away my daughter.

  Dear Miss Tann,

  Please return my children to me. My father had no authority to sign those papers on my behalf.

  Cecile gasped. On and on the letters went. Each one tore away another piece of her heart.

  Rain slashed against the windows. The wind howled outside, rattling window panes.

  Cecile flipped through a few more. Her chest tightened with each she read. A few had pictures stapled to them. One of a young girl with long braids caught her eye. Such a sweet, beautiful child. Every single one of these letters claimed Georgia Tann had stolen a woman’s child. Among them, in Cecile’s own shaky handwriting, was Cecile’s cry for help.

  “Percy.” She elbowed him.

  “Hmm.” He didn’t glance from his work.

  “I’ve found something.”

  Now he turned his attention to her.

  “Letters. Just like the one I wrote to Miss Tann. Several dozen of them, all saying their children were snatched from them.” Her voice broke. There were so many. Just like her. She hadn’t been the only one.

  He grabbed the folder and scanned it. “Let’s see if we can find adoption records for any of these children.”

  With the clock on Miss Tann’s desk ticking away each precious second, they flung open drawer after drawer. Soon, Percy located one containing some records, but none of the names matched. “Falsified, is my guess.”

  Tiny hailstones tinkled against the panes. Bolt after bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

  “Or in another spot, maybe? Millie’s papers have to be here. Keep looking.” She wasn’t going to give up. They were so close to the answers.

  They scanned a couple more drawers. No matches. The clack of heels on the hall’s tile floor brought them to a standstill. Cecile’s heartbeat came to a screeching halt.

  Just then, a bolt of lightning split the sky. At the same moment, such a roar of thunder rolled that it shook the windows. The office lights flickered then snuffed out.

  Chapter Eleven

  R.D.’s head pounded and every bone in his body ached as he climbed the steps to his gray bungalow. Coming from an average family in Mississippi, he’d worked hard for everything he had. And it had been worth it.

  Overhead, a crack of thunder split the peace of the neighborhood. He made it home just before the storm hit. He inhaled a deep breath and huffed it out then swung open the door. “Darcy, I’m here.”

  “I’m in the kitchen. You have a phone call.” Her sweet voice carried through the house.

  Pearl ran to greet him, her chubby little legs carrying her through the living room and into his arms. “Daddy, Daddy, you’re home!”

  He tossed her in the air and caught her, sending her into a peal of giggles. “Of course I am. Wild horses couldn’t keep me from my girls. Let’s go see who’s calling.”

  With Pearl still in his arms, he crossed through the living room and dining room to the kitchen. Darcy stood at her new electric stove and stirred something in a pot, her blond hair loose, a curl falling over her shoulder. And she was all his.

  He kissed her cheek and picked up the receiver that sat on the round kitchen table. “This is Griggs.”

  “I’ve had an interesting phone call.”

  “Mr. Landers?”

  “Not Santa Claus,” the man growled. “That lawyer I spotted you with, a Percy Vance, has been nosing around where he shouldn’t regarding Tann’s adoptions. The woman he’s helping to get her child returned showed up at the office today.”

  “I don’t know what this has to do with me.”

  “Everything.” R.D. held the phone away from his ear as Landers bellowed. “You disappeared together the other day for a good amount of time. Makes me wonder what you might have been discussing.”

  “Absolutely nothing. I refused to help him and sent him on his way. Nothing worth reporting to Tann.”

  “She wanted to know if anyone in my office might have been giving Vance a hand. What could I say? Had to tell her something. I value my career. And my life.”

  R.D. thumped into the white, rounded-back kitchen chair. “And put mine on the line.”

  “Memphis is a rough city.”

  Pearl and Darcy both stared at him, their eyes wide. No need to alarm them. “Than
k you for phoning.” He ended the call.

  “What did your boss want?” A V appeared between Darcy’s eyebrows.

  He kissed her forehead to ease it away. “Nothing. Just a small matter at the office.” The tangy odor of onions and the sweet smell of roasting beef overtook him. He lifted the lid of the pot on the stove. “Stew. My favorite lunch.” Another roll of thunder sounded, and rain pinged against the window pane.

  “You say that no matter what I make.” There was a hint of teasing in her voice, but her blue eyes didn’t gleam like they usually did.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Pearl, honey, go play upstairs. I’ll call you when lunch is ready.” Darcy paused until their daughter trotted out of the room. “Earlier today I had a call from Miss Tann at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.”

  A lump formed in R.D.’s throat. “Really? Maybe they have another child for us.” But his stomach turned rock hard.

  She gripped the wooden spoon until her knuckles turned white. “No, that’s not at all what she wanted. Miss Tann would like to come today and check on Pearl, see how she’s adjusting to our home. The woman who called, Miss Tann’s assistant, said that they’ve received reports that our home is not up to standards and that Pearl isn’t happy.”

  Just what he had feared. That lawyer, Vance, called every other day, badgering him to break into the sealed adoption files. There was one file they wouldn’t find. Because he had it. And Percy could upset everything R.D. had labored to build.

  One mistake. That’s all it took to ruin a man in this town. Crump didn’t easily forgive. Neither did Tann.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “She’ll be here within the hour.” With a clatter, Darcy dropped the spoon on the floor and flung herself into R.D.’s embrace. “What are we going to do? We can’t lose Pearl.”

  The tot, who must have returned to the room at some point, tugged on R.D.’s rumpled suit coat. “Why’s Mommy crying?”

  “No reason.” He glanced at Pearl over Darcy’s shoulder. “Please run upstairs and play with your doll for a while. Mommy will be better soon, and then we’ll eat.”