Longing and Lies by Donna Hill

own needs outweigh good judgment over just being a decent human being.
    He squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing good could come of this. They both enjoyed a crazy, sexy romp, but that was it. It couldn’t go any further. Besides, when this case was over, there was no telling how far they would send him on his next assignment or for how long. He couldn’t become entangled with anyone, Ashley Temple in particular. It would be much too easy to fall for her, and falling for anyone was not his M.O.
    â€œWhat made you come to my room?” Ashley whispered softly into the darkness that covered them.
    Her question momentarily caught him off guard. It was as if she was reading his mind. “I thought I heard you crying.” When he didn’t get a response, he turned slightly toward her. “Were you?” He could feel her nod her head against his chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”
    She inhaled deeply and expelled a shaky breath. “It goes back a long time,” she finally said. “What does?”
    â€œThe reason why I was crying.” She hesitated, uncertain how much she should say. “It’s a long story.”
    â€œWe have all night.”
    â€œIt’s about the case. I’ve never told anyone, noteven the girls. But this is very personal. I think it’s the opportunity I’ve been praying for. And I can’t let The Cartel know that I have my own agenda.”
    He turned fully toward her, gathered her close against him. “Tell me. I’m listening.”
    â€œIt happened a long time ago, but it still feels like yesterday. I was just a kid, an only child. I thought I would be the only child all my life. My mother and father gave me everything and then my mother got pregnant and everything changed. My parents were ecstatic. They never thought they could have any more children, and suddenly I wasn’t at the center of their universe anymore. This new baby was. It was all that they talked about.”
    She paused as those days and months ran like a bad movie in her head. “I wanted to be happy, too. But I wasn’t. There was a part of me that wished the baby away. I just knew that when it arrived my life would never be the same. I didn’t want to share my parents’ love with anyone.”
    Her chest heaved. Elliot stroked her hair. “It’s normal to feel that way. Sibling rivalry. I hated my younger brother for years until he got old enough to hang out with.”
    â€œI wished her away,” she said, her voice laced with an anguish that Elliot couldn’t understand. But instinct told him that her story was going to take an ugly turn. This was something more than sibling rivalry.
    â€œWhen she was born, my dad took me to the hospital to see her. My mom was so happy. I’d never seen her sohappy. And I wished her away,” she said again. “I wished so hard that it ached inside.” Her voice cracked. “And my wish came true.”
    Elliot frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? What happened?”
    â€œThe day she was to come home, the nurse went to bring her to my mother and the baby was gone.”
    â€œGone? What happened?”
    â€œShe wasn’t in the nursery. She wasn’t in any of the bassinets. She was nowhere in the hospital. Someone had taken her.”
    â€œOh, Ashley…” His voice dropped off into emptiness.
    â€œTo this day no one really knows what happened. My mother…had a breakdown. My father turned into a ghost. The police looked for her for two years. Nothing. No trace. No clue. Layla was never seen again.”
    He squeezed her tight. Felt the wetness of her tears against his chest. “You can’t possibly blame yourself. You know better than that.”
    â€œThe rational part of me knows it. But my heart reminds me of how desperately I didn’t want her to be a part of the family. And then she wasn’t. I’ve lived with the ugliness of those