PART 8 — THE DNA REPORT
No one spoke.
The words on the screen echoed in my mind.
Only one of these children is Arthur's.
I looked at my father.
He looked back at me.
For the first time in my life...
I couldn't tell whether he was frightened...
Or guilty.
The emergency lights flickered.
Officers rushed through the corridors trying to restore the police network.
Detective Rachel Morgan never took her eyes off the frozen screen.
Finally she turned toward me.
"We're going to verify everything."
"How?"
"Science."
An hour later...
The state forensic laboratory had already begun emergency DNA testing.
My sample.
My father's.
The old hairbrush recovered from my childhood bedroom.
Even the toothbrush Leo had left behind when he visited my house.
Morgan wanted answers before sunrise.
My mother sat alone in another interview room.
She hadn't stopped crying.
I walked in quietly.
She looked up.
"Olivia..."
I didn't answer.
Instead, I placed Lily's photograph on the table.
My little girl smiled up at us in her school uniform.
"When she died..."
I whispered,
"...she waited for you."
My mother's shoulders began shaking.
"I know."
"No."
"You don't."
"She kept asking if Grandma would come."
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I lied to her."
"I told her you loved her."
My mother buried her face in her hands.
"I did love her."
"Not enough."
Several minutes passed.
Finally she looked up.
"There are things your father never told you."
"I've noticed."
She nodded slowly.
"But there are things..."
"...I never told him."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What do you mean?"
She stared at Lily's picture.
"The day you were born..."
"...another baby disappeared."
I froze.
"What?"
"The hospital went into lockdown."
"They told everyone it was a false alarm."
"It wasn't."
Before she could continue...
Morgan opened the door.
"The DNA results are back."
The laboratory was silent.
The lead forensic scientist placed three folders on the table.
He looked unusually tense.
"I've worked here twenty-three years."
"I've never seen anything like this."
Morgan crossed her arms.
"Tell us."
The scientist opened the first report.
"Arthur Collins..."
"...is Leo's biological father."
My father closed his eyes.
He had expected that.
The second report.
"Arthur Collins..."
"...is not Olivia's biological father."
The room disappeared around me.
I heard someone gasp.
It took several seconds before I realized...
It had been me.
I looked at my mother.
She had gone completely pale.
"No..."
she whispered.
"No..."
My father stared at her.
"Eleanor..."
"What is he talking about?"
She couldn't answer.
The scientist quietly opened the third report.
"We compared Olivia's DNA against the unidentified profile recovered from Victoria Bennett's birth records."
He swallowed.
"There is a ninety-nine point nine percent probability..."
He looked directly at me.
"...that Olivia is Victoria Bennett's biological daughter."
No one moved.
Not even breathed.
I looked at my mother.
"You knew."
Tears streamed down her face.
"I found out..."
"...three days after bringing you home."
"What?"
"The hospital called."
"They said there had been..."
"...a paperwork mistake."
My voice shook.
"What kind of mistake?"
"They wanted us to return."
"But then..."
"The call was canceled."
"They said everything had been resolved."
My father slowly stood.
"You never told me?"
She looked broken.
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"That they'd take her away."
The room erupted.
"You let me raise another man's child for twenty-eight years?"
"I loved her!"
"So did I!"
Morgan stepped between them.
"Enough."
She turned toward the scientist.
"What about Victoria's son?"
The scientist opened another file.
"We don't have enough DNA."
"But..."
"But what?"
"We found a partial familial match."
He typed a name onto the screen.
Every officer leaned closer.
The name appeared.
Michael Torres.
David's best friend.
The man who had rescued Victoria.
Morgan frowned.
"That's impossible."
The scientist nodded.
"It surprised us too."
"Michael Torres is closely related to Victoria."
"Most likely..."
"...her son."
My heart stopped.
"Lucas."
The scientist nodded.
"Yes."
Everything suddenly fit together.
Michael Torres had never been David's friend by chance.
He had been protecting his own mother.
Protecting Victoria.
Protecting the truth.
Morgan immediately ordered every available officer to locate Michael.
Minutes later...
An FBI agent hurried into the lab.
"We've got something."
"What?"
"Michael just emptied a storage locker."
"Did we lose him?"
"No."
"He left something behind."
The evidence box arrived under armed escort.
Inside was an old cassette recorder.
One cassette tape.
And a sealed envelope addressed in David's handwriting.
For Olivia.
I pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then David's voice.
"If you're listening..."
"...Michael finally trusted you."
I closed my eyes.
He sounded alive.
Close.
Real.
"I know you're learning about Victoria."
"But that's only half the truth."
He paused.
"Olivia..."
"...you were never the target."
My eyes opened.
What?
"Lily was."
The room fell into stunned silence.
David continued.
"They weren't following us because of you."
"They were following us because of Lily."
My blood ran cold.
"She inherited something..."
"...they've spent thirty years trying to erase."
The tape crackled.
David spoke one final sentence.
"If they realize Lily left something behind..."
"...they'll come for it."
The recording ended.
No explanation.
No clue what "it" was.
Only silence.
Then...
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
May you like
One message.
They just arrived at Lily's school.
