Chapter 3 - The Baby at Riverside
The hospital named the newborn Baby Jane until her identity could be confirmed.
Claire disliked the name immediately.
“She deserves something warmer,” she told Bear after receiving permission to let him hold the child.
“Then call her Sunny,” Bear said.
“Why Sunny?”
“My wife used to say even the darkest room changes when sunlight enters.”
Claire smiled.
“Sunny it is. At least between us.”
Bear sat with Sunny while hospital staff examined security footage from the emergency entrance.
At 4:12 that morning, a figure wearing a hooded coat had placed the infant carrier beneath the covered entrance. The person remained out of clear view, touched the carrier once, and hurried toward the parking garage.
The camera did not capture a face.
Inside the carrier, staff found the handwritten note, two bottles of formula, a small bag of clothing, and a silver necklace shaped like a star.
The prescription bottle was discovered beneath the carrier lining hours later.
It carried the name Tessa Reed.
When Claire noticed the matching tattoo on Bear’s wrist, the truth spread rapidly through hospital administration.
Bear agreed to provide a DNA sample.
While they waited for the result, he continued holding Sunny.
He studied her face, searching for Tessa.
At first, he saw only a tiny nose, closed eyes, and soft cheeks.
Then Sunny frowned in her sleep.
Bear’s heart nearly stopped.
Tessa had made the same expression as a baby whenever a room became too loud.
“That’s her,” he whispered.
Claire stood beside him.
“You believe she is your granddaughter?”
“I know she is.”
“Then where is Tessa?”
Bear looked toward the elevators.
“I don’t know.”
The DNA result arrived late that afternoon.
The probability of biological relationship exceeded ninety-nine percent.
Bear was Sunny’s maternal grandfather.
For the first time in three years, he had undeniable proof that Tessa had been alive recently.
The knowledge brought hope and terror in equal measure.
A hospital social worker named Denise Landry explained that Sunny would remain under protective supervision until her legal guardian was determined.
Bear immediately requested temporary custody.
Denise opened his background report.
Twenty-five years earlier, Bear had been convicted of aggravated assault after a bar fight. The record did not show that he had intervened when two men attacked a teenage employee. It showed only the injury he had caused while stopping them.
He had served eight months.
There had been no criminal charges since.
Still, Denise’s expression became cautious.
“You live alone?”
“Yes.”
“You operate a motorcycle repair shop?”
“I own it.”
“And the Iron Harbor Riders?”
“A registered charitable organization.”
“It is also classified by local police as a motorcycle club requiring observation.”
Bear leaned forward.
“Are you asking whether I sell drugs or whether my friends wear leather?”
“I am asking whether your home is safe for an infant.”
Bear’s voice hardened.
“My home was safe enough for my daughter until a man convinced her otherwise.”
Before Denise could respond, the elevators opened.
Cole Reed stepped out beside a lawyer.
He appeared older than Bear remembered, but the same controlled confidence remained in his eyes.
Cole looked at the sleeping baby.
Then he looked at Bear.
“I heard you finally found something that belongs to me,” he said.
Bear stood slowly.
The entire corridor seemed to shrink around him.
“A child does not belong to you.”
Cole smiled.
“She is my daughter.”
Bear moved between him and Sunny.
“Then why was she left outside a hospital?”
May you like
Cole’s smile vanished.
“That is what I intend to find out.”
