Cry Mercy Read Online Free PDF

addressing
her
. “Yes.”
    “You're expected.” He smiled and returned to the small booth he'd been sitting in. “Go on through and follow the drive to the circle on the right. You can leave your car there. Someone will meet you at the door.”
    “Thanks.”
    More curious than ever, she drove through the opening gates.
    “Mommy, is this a castle?” Chloe asked from the backseat. “Are we going to see a prince?”
    “Sort of,” Emme mumbled and followed the guard's instructions to the front door.
    “Who lives here, Mommy?”
    “A very wealthy man who puts his money to good use to help people who have problems.”
    “I have problems,” Chloe told her. “I don't have a school.”
    “Not that kind of problem, sweetie.”
    “What kind?”
    “He helps to find people who are lost.”
    “Do you think he could help me find Bobo?” One of Chloe's favorite stuffed animals had been inadvertently left behind when her mother had grabbed a few cherished items from Chloe's room.
    “I think he only looks for people.”
    “Bobo was people,” she heard Chloe whisper.
    When they reached the circle, Emme parked and got out, and couldn't help but stare at the Tudor mansion that seemed to go on forever.
    “I bet a princess lives here too.” Chloe unbuckled her seat belt and eagerly jumped from the car without waiting for assistance. “Will I get to see her?”
    “There's no princess, sweetie,” her mother said as she took her hand. Together they started toward the front door.
    It opened almost immediately. A woman of indeterminable age stood at the threshold. She was dressed in a denim skirt that had faded from too many washings, a blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, and a bright red apron dotted with spots of flour here and there. White tennis sneakers worn without socks were on her feet, her white hair was wrapped into a bun at the nape of her neck, and her glasses sat upon the very end of her nose.
    “Come in, Emme Caldwell.” She gestured with onehand. Seeing Chloe, her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. “And who might this be?”
    “This is Chloe, my daughter.” Emme's words began to pour out in a rush. “I'm sorry, I know it's highly unusual to bring a child to an interview like this but we just arrived in town last night and I couldn't leave her in the hotel. I probably should have mentioned it when I spoke with Ms. Russo. I promise she won't be a bother to anyone. She's very well behaved. She has a coloring book and her crayons and she can sit on the floor outside the office while I meet with Ms. Russo.”
    “Nonsense.” The woman shut the door behind them. “Chloe can give me a hand in the kitchen. Do you like to bake, Chloe?”
    “I baked cookies one time for Mr. Pendergast. He lived next door to us and he had his …” Chloe frowned and tugged on her mother's hand. “What did the doctor take out of his stomach?”
    “His appendix.” Emme stood in the vast entry and fought the urge to gape at the paintings that lined the walls. They all looked authentic.
    “That.” Chloe stared up at the woman in the apron. “What's your name?”
    “Trula.”
    “Like truly, only not?”
    “Exactly.” The woman smiled at Emme. “Mallory knows you're here. Her office is the third door down this hall on the left. Chloe and I will be in the kitchen when you're finished. Don't feel the need to rush. Cookies take time.”
    Emme prayed that Chloe would remember the conversation they'd had several nights ago—and everynight since—about their new last name. Convincing Chloe that her name was now Caldwell, not Nolan, and that her mother's first name was now Emme, not Ann, had not been as much as a trial as she'd feared.
    “Why, Mommy? Did my name change because I moved?” she'd asked the night before.
    “No. It's because …” Emme had tried to come up with something plausible. “It's sort of like a game, sweetie.”
    Even to Emme, that sounded beyond lame.
    “That's a silly