“So, how did Anchali go from not wanting a baby to adopting a baby boy in secret, and what the fuck does Kendrick have to do with it?” Boone asked, shaking his head.
“I wish Anchali was here to tell us,” Park said. “Kendrick doesn’t know about what happened yesterday, right? With Aspen?”
“No,” Boone said.
“Not on our end anyway,” Mac said. “You really think it was Kendrick who sent Aspen after Gift?”
Park looked to Boone. “Who gave you Aspen’s paperwork? Who told you he’d been cleared for employment.”
Boone sighed. “Kendrick.”
“Exactly,” Park said. “He’s into this up to his wrinkly neck.”
“But why?” Mac asked. “Why does Kendrick want Gift dead? Revenge?”
Boone reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of bourbon, flicking the cap off and taking a swig before offering it up for grabs. “Well, I’m not exactly Sherlock Holmes, but if Kendrick is the only one who knows Anchali isn’t Gift’s mother and, suddenly, Kendrick is trying to silence both of them, I’m going to deduce that it has something to do with Gift’s birth.”
Park took the bottle, taking a slug, letting the burn spread through his limbs. “How could Gift’s birth be worth killing two people twenty-one years later?”
“You don’t think…” Mac started, then drifted off, staring hard at Archer as if they were having a silent conversation.
“No,” Archer said. “There’s no way.”
“No way what?” Park snapped.
“You don’t think Gift is Kendrick’s kid, do you?” Mac asked.
Park scoffed, disgusted. “What? No. Why would you say that?”
“Because Kendrick has a history of disappearing his offspring when they make him look bad,” Archer said. “I would know.”
“Fuck, he’s right,” Boone said.
Park frowned. “Is this about that rumor that he murdered one of his own sons?”
Archer closed his eyes like he was trying to call on some higher power. “He didn’t kill him, but he did make him disappear.”
“Then how do you know he’s alive?” Park asked, doing his best to follow the conversation.
Archer looked him dead in the eye. “Because he reappeared as my adopted brother, Aiden Mulvaney. Well, my stepfather now.”
Park tried to process his words. “Your brother, Aiden, is Kendrick’s missing son.”
“Yep.”
“So, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Gift was also disappeared as his son and reappeared as Anchali’s,” Mac said.
“Let’s say you’re right,” Park said, standing to pace the small space. “Let’s say Gift is Kendrick’s son and he gave him to Anchali to raise. One: Why would she agree to it if she never wanted a baby in the first place? Two: Why choose now to decide to cover it all up by trying to kill Anchali and Gift?”
“Maybe he blackmailed her into taking Gift? Maybe Kendrick saw an opportunity once Gift was in the Watch and took it?” Boone theorized.
“But someone tried to kill Gift before he got here. That’s why he’s here in the first place,” Park recalled. “Anchali gave him to me to keep him safe.”
“We could volley theories back and forth all day but only two people know the truth,” Archer said. “And we don’t know if one of them is still alive.”
Park shook his head. “No, Anchali is still alive. I know it. Especially if this has something to do with Kendrick. She would have seen him coming a mile away. He’s always had a thing for her but she’s always hated him.”
Boone nodded. “I hope you’re right.”
