Chapter 7 - The First Test
Eleanor Cole answered from a number Nathan did not recognize.
"Nathan?"
"Did Dad test Lily's DNA?"
Silence.
"Yes."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"When?"
"After she was born."
"How?"
"He had someone take a used pacifier from a daycare trash bin."
Nathan felt sick.
"And the result?"
"She was yours."
The room seemed to tilt.
His father had known for four years.
"What happened to the report?"
"He burned it."
"You let him?"
"No."
Eleanor's voice cracked.
"I photographed it first."
A message arrived.
Nathan opened the image.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%.
Alleged father: Nathaniel James Cole.
Child: Lily Bennett.
His hands began to shake.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried. Edward threatened Grace's family and mine. He said if I contacted her, her brother would be charged with theft and her mother would lose insurance coverage."
"So you stayed silent."
"I chose cowardice."
Nathan had no answer.
"Why Victoria?" he asked.
Eleanor hesitated.
"Because Martin Vance knew what Edward had done."
Blackmail.
The marriage had never been simply about love or status.
It was a seal over shared crimes.
"Come home," Nathan said.
"I don't know if I can."
"Grace was attacked in my kitchen."
"By Victoria?"
"Yes."
Eleanor inhaled sharply.
"Then it has started."
"What has?"
"There is a safe-deposit box at Hudson National. Edward kept records there--payments, judges, investigators, Vance."
"Give me the box number."
"No. Listen first."
Her voice suddenly changed.
Controlled. Careful.
"Nathan, if anything happens, tell Grace that Daniel Cross did not die because he fell asleep."
Grace, standing in the doorway, heard her.
Nathan straightened.
"Mom, where are you?"
A man said something in the background.
Eleanor went silent.
"Mom?"
Her whisper returned.
"I'm not alone."
The line died.
Three seconds later, Nathan received a photograph.
Eleanor sat tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Martin Vance.
May you like
And beneath the picture was one message:
BRING ME GRACE'S RECORDING.
