“How quiet?”
“Like this never happened. There can be no record, no trail, and only I get the results.”
He whistles.
I hold out two baggies. One has Everett’s hair, and the other has mine. “I need to know as soon as humanly possible if these are a familial match.”
Kent levers himself out of the chair and walks over. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“It’s that important?”
“If it wasn’t, I’d find a different way.”
With a nod, Kent takes the bags from me. “I’ll get you the results.”
“Text me one word, yes or no, when you get them.”
He nods.
“Thank you. Send me the bill. I’ll pay it.”
“For this.” He glances down at the baggies. “No charge. It shouldn’t take more than a day or two to get the results.”
“Thanks.” I turn to walk away. “Would an early gift be okay?”
“There really isn’t anything the baby needs.”
The Kentworths’ money is legendary. “My company has developed a patch that babies wear that monitors all their vitals twenty-four seven.”
“Really? I thought those weren’t accurate?”
“They are. They just cost too much for it to be practical for the general public.”
“And you changed that?”
“It’ll be launching next year.”
“Need any backers?”
Like money is an issue. I’m probably worth as much as them, if not more. “Nah, we’re fully funded.”
“Thanks. I’d love it. And if you change your mind, it would work well with some products my labs are working on.”
Makes sense that he became interested in babies when he became a father.
“We’ll talk. Give Liz and Cece my love. We’ll have to fly out and visit soon.”
***
What would it be like to have another child?
Hope was such a good baby. Fiona would make an amazing mom…
Why am I thinking about having kids with a woman who won’t even let me touch her hand? Is that the reason she’s stayed single all these years?
Did they hurt her that badly when she was living on the street?
