Chapter 18 - THE FALSE RESCUE
I agreed to meet Alex once.
Not alone.
Rachel attended.
Captain Torres was informed.
The meeting took place in a mediation office with glass walls.
Alex looked ten years older.
He sat across from me.
“Was Ava yours?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation now.
“Did you know before she died?”
“No.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“How long after?”
“Two weeks.”
“And you hid it from me for three years.”
“Yes.”
“Did you sleep with Valerie during our marriage?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The word hurt less than I expected.
By then betrayal had become arithmetic.
Another number to add.
Another lie confirmed.
“How long?”
“Several months.”
“Then you ended it?”
“Yes.”
“But you kept seeing her.”
“Because of Ava.”
“And after Ava died?”
“I didn’t know how to walk away.”
I studied him.
“Because you loved Valerie?”
“Because I blamed myself.”
“For what?”
“Ava’s condition was genetic.”
I went still.
“What condition?”
“A cardiac channel disorder.”
That explained Valerie’s obsession with heart symptoms.
“She inherited it from you?”
“Possibly.”
My hand moved instinctively to my belly.
Alex saw.
“No.”
His voice became urgent.
“Lucy, we already tested.”
I froze.
“What?”
He realized too late what he had said.
“Tested who?”
Silence.
I stood.
“Alex.”
“Sit down.”
“Tested who?”
“Our baby.”
My blood turned to ice.
“You had genetic testing done without telling me?”
“It was through the prenatal panel.”
“No.”
I knew my panels.
“I never consented to that specific test.”
He looked at Rachel.
She was already writing.
“How did you get fetal DNA?”
Alex said nothing.
Then I remembered the blood drawn at twelve weeks.
A clinic Alex insisted on using.
A laboratory his friend recommended.
“You used my prenatal sample.”
“It was for her safety.”
“You tested our daughter without my informed consent.”
“I needed to know.”
“And?”
His face softened.
That scared me.
“She doesn’t have the mutation.”
Relief hit first.
Then rage.
“You had no right.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“You keep calling control protection.”
The meeting ended.
For one hour afterward, I thought the worst was finally behind me.
Then my phone rang.
Captain Torres.
“Lucy, where are you?”
“Rachel’s office.”
“Stay there.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Alex left twenty minutes ago.”
“So?”
“He took his old department gear from storage.”
I looked at Rachel.
“What does that mean?”
Torres’s voice sharpened.
“Valerie was just located.”
“Where?”
“At the Oak Park house.”
The house they had planned to buy.
“What is she doing there?”
“We don’t know.”
May you like
Torres paused.
“Alex is on his way.”
