Chapter 13
I almost let the doubt in.
Almost.
Then Lily moved against my chest.
Tiny.
Warm.
Mine.
And Dad stood beside me.
Steady.
Mine.
I looked back at Victor on the screen.
“You still don’t understand family.”
His smile faded.
“Careful.”
“No. You used blood to excuse violence. My father used love to heal it.”
Dad’s eyes filled.
Victor’s face hardened.
“You will regret refusing me.”
“I regret not knowing my mother’s truth sooner. That’s all.”
He ended the call.
The trace gave only one clue.
A marina outside Wilmington.
Not enough.
Then Patricia asked to speak.
She had been moved under guard.
Her face was bruised.
Her pearls gone.
She looked human for the first time.
“I can help,” she whispered.
I did not soften.
“Why?”
“Because Victor will kill Harrison too.”
Dad scoffed.
“So now you care?”
Patricia cried.
“I cared once. Then I became afraid of losing everything.”
“Fear is not a pardon,” I said.
“I know.”
She told Detective Ellis about a boat.
Victor’s escape route.
The Blue Mercy.
He kept it registered under a church charity.
Judge Reed issued warrants.
Federal agents joined the case because of interstate trafficking, fraud, and Rebecca’s murder.
That night, they raided the marina.
Victor was gone.
But on the boat, they found medical records.
My mother’s missing evidence.
Photos of other women.
And a freezer containing labeled blood samples.
One had my name.
May you like
One had Lily’s.
The Vances had been testing us before Lily was even born.
