“When I was eighteen, I got pregnant.”
“Back then it was a different day and age, Becca. Unwed, pregnant women were considered unworthy.”
Becca rested her hand on her stomach to calm the churning she knew was coming next.
“Our parents sent Betty away to have the child and insisted she give it up for adoption. When she came back, she was changed.”
Becca’s heart raced.
Betty patted her sister’s arm. “I found solace in working for the FBI, trying to fight everyone else’s demons instead of my own.”
“There is an inexplicable bond between family members,” Becca’s mother said.
“And I had one with my son, just like I have one with you girls. It started with premonitions, only they weren’t mine. There wasn’t a night that went by that I didn’t think about my baby boy. Where he was, if he was okay. The premonitions got dark, and I knew what I had to do. I had to find and help my child.”
“She used her connections in the FBI to unseal the adoption records to find the family that adopted him.”
“It’s Michael,” Becca answered for them both. “He’s your kid…and Danny is his brother since his parents had adopted him.”
Betty nodded. “It’s no coincidence that your mother bought the house next door. After I went to their house, and I offered to help him with his abilities, his adoptive parents were furious. We argued, and I pleaded until they ended up throwing me out. I had no claim to him, and they were right.”
Hurt reflected in her eyes. The usual fun-loving light that sparkled back was gone.
“That’s why your dad and I bought this specific house. So your aunt could still be near him, even if she couldn’t be with him. We never expected our families to be more than neighbors, or that Danny and you would be so close. You two were inseparable. Danny’s parents couldn’t keep you two apart, no matter how hard they tried. You two had already become best friends before Betty even showed up at their door. It was too late to keep the families apart. It was strenuous at birthday parties, but over time, they realized Betty wasn’t going to tell Michael the truth.”
“Why not tell him the truth when he turned eighteen?”
Betty walked over to the window and glanced outside. “I thought about it, but what kind of person would that make me,for uprooting his life twice? What if he didn’t want anything to do with me…with us. By then, he’d been in and out of hospitals and institutions so I was afraid, if he ever found out about his adoption, he might lose whatever progress he was making. I couldn’t do that to him.”
“You were scared.” Anger seeped from her voice and she tried to reel the feeling back in. She tried to understand how it had to have been difficult for Betty for all those years. Being so close and yet so far away. Becca always knew that something had changed Betty from the hardnosed cop she’d once been to the flighty woman who owned a bar. She would have never guessed the secret would involve a baby.
“I was afraid I’d hurt him again. I don’t even know if his adoptive parents had told him that he’s adopted. Honey…if you never learn anything else in your life, know that it’s never too late to do right by what’s in your heart.”
Becca slowly rose from her seat. “And when his own family had him committed for killing the dog? Where were you then?”
Betty didn’t answer, and neither did Becca’s mother.
“Becca, she tried to do the right thing. She found him and offered to help,” Ian said. “Some people cannae be helped.”
She shook her head. “He was your kid. I can’t imagine what you went through.”
“I wanted to keep him. I begged my parents to help me until I could support him. I pleaded. I lost a part of myself; a feeling that I hope you never have to understand.”
Becca held up her hands and started pacing the length of the room. “Is that why he scribbled you out of the picture?”
“What are you talking about?” Betty asked, taking a step forward.
Becca slipped her fingers into her pocket and pulled out the copy of the picture that Michael had drawn for the shrink and handed it to Betty. “He knows about you. He drew this for Dr. Sylvia Cross. She’s been treating him all these years.”
A tear fell from Betty’s eyes down to land on the hand-drawn picture. “He was just released. I talked to Sylvia this morning.”
“It’s unethical to talk to you about her patients,” Becca said, placing her hands on her waist.
“I’m sure it went against policy to let you see this, also,” Betty said and handed the picture back.
“So, is this Michael guy the killer?” Ian asked.
“I don’t know,” Betty answered. “He’s somehow constructed a wall. I can’t see what he’s doing.”
