Nothing in his posture indicated any uncertainty about her driving, but she was nevertheless sure that hed rather be behind the wheel.
Well, that was too bad. Riding to Philadelphia together had been his idea, after all. Hed said his car was in the shop, and if she thought he wanted to drive the police car on an errand like this, shed better think again. Hed ride down with her and get a rental car for the return.
The trip had been accomplished mostly in silence, except for the occasional chirps from Emilie in her car seat. Mitch probably had no desire to chat, anyway, and her thoughts had twisted all the way down the turnpike.
Was she doing the right thing? A blood test was the obvious solution, of course, and shed recommended it often enough to clients. She just hadnt anticipated the need in this situation. Shed assumed a man in Mitchs position, faced with the results of a casual fling, would be only too happy to sign the papers and put his mistake behind him.
But it hadnt worked out that way, and his willingness to undergo the blood test lent credence to his denials. She was almost tempted to believe him.
What was she thinking? He had to be Emilies father, didnt he? Tina would certainly know, and Tina had said so.
They passed a sign directing them to the hospital, and her nerves tightened. Maybe she shouldnt have agreed to let Mitch make the arrangements, but it sounded sensible, the way he had put it. They could be assured speed and secrecy through his connection.
I hope your friend is ready for us. She glanced at her watch. Dr. Brett Elliot had given them an afternoon appointment, and they should be right on time.
Hell be there. Mitchs granite expression cracked in a reminiscent smile. In high school Brett was always the one with the late assignment and the joke that made the teacher laugh so she didnt penalize him. But medical school reformed him. Youd hardly guess he was once the class clown.
Somehow the title didnt sound very reassuring. She glanced sideways at Mitch, registering again his size and strength. Let me guess. You must have been the classs star athlete.
He shrugged. Something like that, I guess.
The hospital parking garage loomed on her right. Anne pulled in, the sandwich shed had for lunch turning into a lead ball in her stomach. In an hour or two, she might know for sure about Emilies father.
Mitchs friend had said hed be waiting at the lab desk. Actually, he seemed to be leaning on it. Unruly hair the color of antique gold tumbled into his eyes as he laughed down at the woman behind the desk. So this was the boy whod charmed everyoneall grown up and still doing it, apparently.
Mitch! He crossed the room in a few long strides and pumped Mitchs hand. Good to see you, guy. Its been too long.
Bretts face, open and smiling, contrasted with Mitchs closed, reserved look, but nothing could disguise the affection between them. Mitch clapped him on the shoulder before turning to Anne and introducing her.
Brett gave her the same warm grin hed been giving the woman at the desk, but she thought she read wariness in his green eyes. Then he turned to Emilie, and all reservation vanished.
Hey, there, pretty girl. Whats your name?
This is Emilie.
What a little sweetheart. He tickled Emilies chin, and even the eight-month-old baby responded to him with a shy smile and a tilt of her head.
Brett gestured toward the orange vinyl chairs lining the empty waiting room. Since weve got the place to ourselves, lets have a chat about what were going to do.
The woman behind the desk muttered an excuse and disappeared into the adjoining room. Anne took a seat, Emilie on her lap, and vague misgivings floated through her mind. These are Mitchs arrangements, she cautioned herself. This is Mitchs friend.
Brett pulled his chair around to face them. The first step is to do a preliminary screening of blood type and Rh factors. Well be able to give you those results right away.
Theyre not definitive in establishing paternity. She didnt mean to sound critical, but shed handled enough cases to know it usually went farther than that.
Not entirely. Brett didnt seem put off by her lawyer-like response. But there are some combinations that can exclude the possibility of paternity, and thats what we look for first.
Another objection stirred in Annes mind. Dont you need the mothers blood type to do that?
Yes, well, actually I got the information from the hospital where Emilie was born.
He exchanged a quick glance with Mitch. Obviously theyd arranged that when they talked, too.
My military records show my blood type. Mitch frowned. We could have gotten them.
This is faster than waiting for the military to send something, Brett said, before Anne could voice an objection. And in a legal matter, we cant just rely on your word.
Mitchs mouth tightened, but he nodded.
Okay, so if the screening rules Mitch out, the doctor continued, we stop there. If it doesnt, that still means hes one of maybe a million people who could be the father. So we go to DNA testing at that point. It takes longer, but itll establish paternity beyond any doubt.
Emilie stirred restlessly on Annes lap, as if to remind her shed had a long, upsetting couple of days. Anne stroked her head. I understand.
Lets get on with it. Mitch seemed ready for action, and she half expected him to push up his sleeve on the spot.
Fine. Brett started toward the laboratory door.
Ready or not. Anne picked up Emilie and followed him, suddenly breathless. Shed know something, maybe soon.
Mitchs stony expression didnt change in the least when the technician plunged a needle into his hard-muscled arm. Emilie wasnt so stoic. She stiffened, head thumping hard against Annes chest, and let out an anguished wail that tore into Annes heart.
Hey, little girl. Mitchs voice was astonishingly gentle. One large hand wrapped around the babys flailing foot. Itll be over in a second, honest.
When the needle was gone, Emilies sobs subsided, but Anne didnt have any illusions. The baby was overtired and overstimulated, and she desperately needed to have her dinner and go to sleep. That wouldnt hurt her mother any, either.
Its all right, darling. She stroked Emilies fine blond hair. Well go home soon.
Brett nodded. This wont take long. Make yourselves comfortable in the waiting room, and Ill bring you some coffee.
A few minutes later they were back in the same chairs theyd occupied earlier. Anne tried to balance a wiggling Emilie while digging for a bottle of juice in the diaper bag. The juice remained elusive.
Here, let me hold her. Before she could object, Mitch took the baby from her. He bounced Emilie on his knees, rumpling the knife-sharp crease, his strong hands supporting the babys back.
The ache between Annes shoulder blades eased. She watched Mitch with the baby, realizing the ache had just shifted location to her heart. If Mitch was Emilies father
She bent over the diaper bag to hide the tears that clouded her eyes. Ridiculous to feel them. Nothing had changed. She blinked rapidly and fished the juice bottle out.
Ill take her now. She flipped the cap off and dropped it in the bag.
Ill take her now. She flipped the cap off and dropped it in the bag.
Mitch shook his head and reached for the bottle. Give yourself a break for a few minutes. I can manage this.
She leaned back, watching as he shifted Emilies position and plopped the nipple into her mouth.
You didnt learn that inthe Army, was it?
He nodded. Military Police. Matter of fact, I did. A couple of my buddies had families.
She thought she heard a note of censure in his voice. You have something against that?
His eyes met hers, startled, and then he shrugged. Up to them. I just never figured family mixed very well with military police work.
Emilie snuggled against him, fingers curling and uncurling on the bottle, eyes beginning to droop.
I see you hung around enough to learn how to give a bottle.
His face relaxed in a smile. The effect was startling, warming his whole countenance and demanding an answering smile she couldnt suppress.
Not too difficult. Besides, I could always give the babies back if they got fussy.
Of course.
Something hardened in her at the words. The three of them might look, to the casual observer, like a family. That observer couldnt begin to guess how skewed that impression was.
Emilie had fallen asleep in Mitchs arms by the time Brett pushed through the door, a clipboard in his hand. Anne inhaled sharply and saw Mitchs already erect posture stiffen even more.
Well? Mitchs voice rasped. Whats the verdict?
Bretts green eyes were troubled. Skipping all the technical details, the bottom line is the tests dont exclude you, Mitch. Your blood type means you could possibly be the father.
Me and a million other guys, he snapped.
Annes mouth tightened. Hed obviously been hoping against hope he hadnt been caught. Maybe now hed give up this pose of innocence and sign the papers. But she had to show him shed keep pressing.
About the DNA test she pinned Brett with her gaze Id like it sent to McKay Labs. Ive dealt with them before. And I want a copy of the results sent directly to me.
Brett blinked. Thatll need Mitchs permission.
Youve got it. Mitch moved, and Emilie woke. Her whimper quickly turned into a full-fledged cry.
Brett looked ready to escape. Expect the results in three to four weeks, then.
Anne nodded goodbye, trying to reach for the diaper bag and her crying child at the same time. Let me have her.
Mitch handed over the baby.
There, sweetheart, its all right. She rocked the baby against her, but Emilie was beyond comforting. She reared back in Annes arms, wails increasing.
Mitch picked up the diaper bag. You cant drive home alone with her in that state. He took her arm. Come on. Ill drive you and then call a cab.
She wanted to protest, but Emilies sobs shattered her will. She nodded, letting him guide her from the room.
The babys wails seemed to fry Mitchs brain as he followed Annes directions through the city streets to a high-rise apartment building. He needed to think this whole thing through, but thought proved impossible at the moment. Who would imagine one small baby could make that much noise?
He took a deep breath as the cry reached a decibel level that had to be against the law inside a small car. Okay, he could handle this. It was no worse than artillery fire, was it?
Besides, it would soon be over. Hed deposit them at Annes and call a cab. Hed be back in Bedford Creek in a few hours, and the only contact hed have with Anne Morden and her baby would be when the DNA test came back, proving he hadnt fathered this child.
A padded, mirrored elevator whooshed them swiftly to the tenth floor. He took the baby, wincing at her cries, while Anne unlocked the door. He wanted only to hand her back and get out of there.
She scooped the baby into her arms as the door swung open, and her eyes met his. This may not be the best time, but I think we should talk the situation over, if you dont mind waiting while I get the baby settled. She managed a half smile. It wont take as long as you might think. Shes so exhausted, shes going to crash as soon as shes been fed.
He pushed down the desire to flee, nodded, and followed her into the apartment. Anne disappeared into the back with the baby, and he sank onto the couch, wondering when the ringing in his ears would stop.
Anne had sold the house shed talked about and moved here with the baby. Hed found that out in the quick background check hed run. He glanced around. Expensively casualthat was the only way to describe her apartment. Chintz couches, a soft plush carpet, a wall of books on built-in shelves with what was probably a state-of-the-art entertainment center discreetly hidden behind closed doorsall said money. Assistant public defenders didnt make enough to support this life-style, but there was wealth in her family. This woman was really out of his league.
No question of that, anyway. All she wanted from him was his signature on the parental rights terminationnot friendship, certainly nothing more.
Sometime in the last twenty-four hours hed given up any thought that Anne was somehow attempting to frame him. No, all she wanted was to safeguard her child.
Unfortunately the one thing she wanted, he couldnt give her. Someone else had dated the unfortunate Tina; someone else had fathered her child. But who? And why on earth had the girl said his name? The answers, if they could be found at all, must lie in Bedford Creek.
The babys cries from the back of the apartment ceased abruptly. Anne must have put some food in Emilies mouth.
He got up, paced to the window, then paced back. What did Anne want to talk to him about? What was there left to say?
He sat back down on the couch, sinking into its comfortable depths, and reached automatically for the book on the lamp table. A Bible. It nestled into his hand, and he flipped it open to the dedication page. To my new sister in Christ from Helen. The date was only two years ago.
Anne came back into the room, her step light and quick. She glanced questioningly at the Bible in his hand, and he closed it and put it back where hed found it.
She settled down, did she?
Out like a light.
Anne sat in the chair across from him. Her dark hair curled around a face that was lightly flushed, probably from bending over the crib.
Youre probably as beat as she is by this time. Shed put in a couple of high-stress days, driving all the way with a baby, and on a mission like this.
I could sleep a day or two. But Emilie wont let me.
She leaned forward and her hair brushed her shoulders, moving like a living thing. He had an insane desire to reach out, let it curl around his fingers, use it to draw her close to him.
Whoa, back off. Of all the inappropriate things he could be feeling right now, that was probably the worst.
You wanted to talk.
Yes. She nailed him with those deep blue eyes. I hoped that you might be ready to sign the papers now.
He should have seen it coming. She still wanted what shed wanted all along, and the inconclusive blood test results had just given her another bit of leverage. But it wasnt going to work.
I know you dont believe this, but I never went out with Tina Mallory. I did not father her child. He took a breath, hoping he sounded calm.