Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“I’m not sure that’s true, Ava. As you say, she reached out to you for a reason. You. Not me, not your sister. You.” Dad looks at me then. Stares at me, as if he’s memorizing my face. “You know? I always thought you had your mother’s eyes. But now I realize… They’re hers. Wendy’s.” He takes a step back.
I swallow. I was thinking the same thing myself. My eyes are a brighter blue than Mom’s.
They’re just like Wendy Madigan’s.
“But that doesn’t make genetic sense,” I say. “Anything from Wendy would come through you, and your eyes are brown.”
“Genetics don’t always make sense,” Dad says. “Living on a ranch, you find that out quickly. Sometimes you put your best stock together for breeding, and the calf that results is substandard. There’s no way of knowing.”
“Right…”
“I think, Ava, that you might be the key to all of this.”
I don’t reply to Dad because I’m realizing that I’ve known this the whole time. I’ve only just now allowed the words to come together in my own head. Darth Morgen. Grandmother. The acrostic that says Wendy Madigan. Pat Lamone. The Murphys.
Brendan.
The woman inside that room is the key.
And perhaps I’m the key to that key.
Why did she choose me? I may never know.
But perhaps it’s the same reason why my maternal grandmother thought I was an old soul. Maybe there’s something about me that speaks to Wendy Madigan.
If I’m going to find out why she’s come back into our lives now, why Uncle Talon was shot and then poisoned, we need to get her to communicate.
And yes.
I am that key.
Chapter Eleven
Brendan
When Dad and I arrive at the Foster Diagnostics at ten a.m. sharp, Jack is already there.
“Hello, Brendan, Sean,” he says, holding out his hand.
Dad and I both shake Jack’s hand, and then sit down.
“They’ll be with us soon.”
“Good,” I say, “and after this, we need you to come with us to another clinic.”
Jack raises his eyebrows.
“Ava’s mother, Ruby Steel, is an ex-cop and a private detective. She has labs she works with that will get us the results within twenty-four hours.”
“Why would we need two results?” Jack asks.
“Just to be sure,” I say. “It doesn’t hurt to be sure, right?”
“I suppose not.” Jack fiddles with his phone. “That’s fine. I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll text the address to you.”
He nods, and seconds later, we’re called back individually for our blood draws.
“Do we have an appointment at the other place?” Jack asks.
“We don’t need one,” I say. “We’ll see you there in a few.”
Tucker Madden tightens the rubber band around my upper arm to get my veins to pop out. His lab, so to speak, is in the basement of his small house. A wine rack sits along the back wall, but other than that, it’s all science geek stuff down here.
“How’s Ruby doing?” he asks.
That’s a loaded question. Ryan and Ruby are a big mess. “She’s good,” I say.
“I haven’t talked to her in a while,” he says. “She and I used to work together a lot when she was active on the force, and then we stayed in touch, but it’s been nearly a year since we’ve talked.”
“She speaks highly of you.”
“She’s the best.” He grabs a clear cylinder. “So you think you’re related to this other guy, huh?”
“It’s possible. We don’t know for sure. How does this testing work, anyway?”
“We look for similar strands of DNA, try to find a common ancestor up three generations or so. Past that, it gets kind of difficult.” He pokes the needle into my vein.
The guy’s good. I hardly feel a thing.
“Got it. Well, whatever you can find out, we appreciate it.”
“Not a problem.”
“What do we owe you?”
“Not a cent. Like I said, Ruby and I go way back.”
I hold up my hand. “Let me pay something.”
“I won’t hear of it. You just give Ruby my best.”
“Good enough.” I shake his hand. “I appreciate it, man.”
It’s eleven a.m. by the time we’re done, and my stomach is starting to growl. I skipped breakfast this morning.
“Dad, feel like some lunch?”
He looks at his watch. “It’s a little early for that.”
“Make it brunch, then. Do you want to join us, Jack?”
“Sure. Where do you guys want to go?”
“There’s a Waffle House down the road,” I say. “It’s a little on the nose, but it’s inexpensive and satisfying.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jack says. “My treat, for your trouble.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Dad says.
“I’m happy to.”
Fifteen minutes later, we’re sitting at a table, drinking black coffee.
“There’s something you should know, Jack,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“Apparently your grandmother is no longer in the hospital.”
Jack nods. “Oh, yeah. I know that. Ryan Steel called my mother yesterday. Her number was listed on Wendy’s medical records.”
I nearly drop my jaw. “So you know where she is?”
“No. I don’t. All I know is that my mother gave Ryan permission to do whatever the hell he wanted with her.”