Chapter 8 - The Result Daniel Feared
The DNA test took less than twelve hours because the federal lab marked it urgent.
Daniel Carter was Lily's biological father.
Emily laughed when Grant told her.
Not from relief.
From fury.
"So he lied."
"Apparently."
"Why?"
"Possibly to impress whoever he was speaking with."
"No."
Emily shook her head.
"Daniel lies when he wants control. That wasn't control. That was fear."
Grant watched her.
"What do you mean?"
"He wanted whoever was listening to believe Lily wasn't his."
"Why?"
Emily looked toward her daughter.
"Because being her father made him vulnerable."
Grant considered that.
"Or responsible."
Emily nodded.
By then Lily was sitting up for several minutes at a time.
She ate half a popsicle.
She complained about the taste.
Emily almost cried from happiness.
Dr. Bennett said the crisis had passed.
Not the illness.
But the immediate crisis.
"The medication worked," he said.
Emily looked at Lily.
"So she can transfer?"
"Tomorrow, if nothing changes."
Emily exhaled.
For the first time in four days, she allowed herself to imagine Lily leaving the ICU alive.
Then Dr. Bennett placed a tablet on the counter.
"I need you to see this."
Emily frowned.
Security footage.
Hospital corridor.
Timestamp: six months earlier.
Daniel appeared, walking beside Pharmacy Director Charles Whitmore.
Between them was a silver transport container.
Emily watched.
"What am I seeing?"
"The supposed refrigeration failure."
"The medication you mentioned."
Bennett nodded.
Footage continued.
Daniel and Whitmore entered an elevator.
The camera switched.
Parking garage.
They exited carrying the same container.
A black SUV waited.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
His face turned toward the camera for less than two seconds.
Emily stopped the video.
"Go back."
Bennett did.
Emily leaned closer.
She knew that face.
Not personally.
From photographs.
Family photographs.
Her father's funeral.
A man standing near the back of the church.
She pointed.
"He was at my father's funeral."
Bennett looked at her.
"You know him?"
"No."
Emily called her mother.
Helen arrived twenty minutes later.
One look at the frozen frame and she began trembling.
"His name is Adrian."
Emily stared.
"Adrian Vale?"
Helen nodded.
Grant immediately stepped closer.
"You know him?"
Helen's voice became barely audible.
"Samuel Vale's son."
Emily felt as though the floor had moved.
"The doctor next door had a son?"
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
"He left after his father disappeared."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Did Dad know him?"
Helen looked away.
"Mom."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Robert helped Adrian leave."
Emily stared.
"Why?"
"I never knew."
Grant asked, "When did you last see Adrian Vale?"
Helen looked at the screen.
"Your father's funeral."
Emily's heart pounded.
"Seven years ago."
Helen shook her head.
"No."
Emily frowned.
"You just said his funeral."
"He came to the funeral."
"Then seven years."
Helen looked at her daughter with a terror Emily had never seen before.
"I saw him again last month."
Silence.
"Where?"
May you like
Helen's lips trembled.
"Outside Lily's school."
