Hush Little Baby Read Online Free

necessary evil and treat us accordingly. They want our help and expertise because they want to catch the bad guys. The flipside of that particular coin is that by calling us in it’s almost as if they’re saying that they’re not up to the job.’
    ‘But they’re not.’
    Winter’s face was as open and honest as a child’s. As far as he was concerned what he was saying was unequivocally true and he couldn’t understand how the rest of the world couldn’t see it.
    ‘Maybe so, but nobody wants to be reminded of their shortcomings. At best our presence is tolerated. At worst we get met with out-and-out hostility. However, and this is really important, so listen carefully: there is nothing to be gained by reacting negatively when they’re being idiots, and everything to lose. Our job is to catch the killer, don’t ever forget that. Sometimes that means you’ve got to bite your tongue.’
    ‘And I’m supposed to believe that. I’ve seen you in action, Special Agent Tanaka. You don’t strike me as a tongue-biter.’
    ‘I’ll admit that it doesn’t come naturally, but I try. At the end of the day, I do what I need to do to catch these monsters.’
    ‘Even if that means stepping over the line?’
    Yoko glanced over and waited for Winter to meet her eye. ‘No, Jefferson, we never step over the line.’
    ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire.’
    She turned away quickly and stared at the road ahead. In her mind she was tallying up the number of times she’d stepped over the line today alone.

Chapter 5
    Yoko pulled into the first motel she saw. The sign outside said the Lucky Star, but the place didn’t look particularly lucky. The letters on the sign were picked out in red, white and blue, the colours muted by road grime, and the squat two-storey building had faded from white to grey. Too much concrete and not a hint of greenery. She parked in an empty slot outside reception and killed the engine.
    Winter looked at the motel building, then looked at Yoko. ‘No offence, but if you’ve got some weird Mrs Robinson fantasy thing going on, I’m going to have to take a rain check.’
    ‘Don’t flatter yourself.’
    Yoko got out of the car and headed for the sidewalk. She heard Winter’s door open then close, heard the patter of his hurried feet on concrete. He caught up with her and they walked into the reception area. The inside of the building looked better than the outside, which gave Yoko hope. If this area was okay, then maybe the rooms would be okay, too. The fake-marble tiles on the floor were arranged in diamond patterns and the desk was laminated with beech. A chunky old-fashioned computer monitor sat on top of the desk next to a rack of leaflets advertising the local tourist attractions.
    ‘I thought we were going to the police department’s HQ,’ said Winter.
    ‘There’s something we need to do first.’
    ‘What?’
    Yoko answered with an enigmatic smile.
    ‘Why have I got a bad feeling about this?’
    The girl behind the desk couldn’t have been much older than fifteen. Her lank, greasy brown hair fell to her shoulders and there were braces on her teeth. She gave off a vibe like she’d already given up on life. Given her age and the size of the motel, Yoko was betting she was the daughter of whoever owned this place. The girl closed the gossip magazine she was reading and put it down. She got up from her chair and came over.
    ‘Help you?’
    ‘Two rooms, please. And I’d like them next door to one another. First floor, if possible.’
    The girl pecked at the computer keyboard with her index fingers, eyes fixed on the screen. Yoko wanted Winter on as short a leash as possible. Another thing she remembered from their last meeting was how unpredictable he was.
    ‘Six and seven are empty. They’re on the first floor.’
    ‘Great. We’ll take them.’
    Five minutes later they were back in the car, driving the short distance to the rooms. Yoko parked in a slot that had a faded white 6 marked on it,