Behind the Shadows

by Potter, Patricia;

  “Well, you don’t have it, either,” Seth said. “Max does.” This time, some bitterness did creep into his voice.

  “He’ll take care of this reporter,” she said, trying to reassure herself.

  “Don’t worry about it, Cous. If he doesn’t, I will. I’ve fought for judge and district attorney pay raises and helped several to raise funds. They’ll listen to me.”

  She said to him what she didn’t say to Max. “What if it’s true? She was so … convinced that it was.”

  “Con artists are always convincing,” he said. Then he stood. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I would have heard if there had ever been any question about your birth. But I’ll do a little digging myself.”

  “Don’t,” she said. “Let Max do it first, and please don’t say anything. Not yet.”

  “For you, princess, anything. But let me know if you need anything.”

  “I really do want to get more involved in your campaign after the horse show is over,” Leigh replied. “I need to keep busy.”

  “Great. I’ll tell Jack. You would be great with fund-raising events. You know people; you know possible venues; you’re a great hostess.”

  Not so much. She was always terrified something would go wrong, but she’d developed a calm mask that covered the butterflies in her stomach.

  Can’t you do anything right?

  Her grandfather’s voice came from the past. Her ex-husband’s voice. God, she’d tried to drown them out.

  She nodded. “I would like that.”

  “Good. It’s settled. Hey, I have a fund-raiser tonight. Why don’t you go with me? Get a taste for it?”

  Max would call later. “Not this time,” she said. “I’m expecting Max to call.”

  “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”

  Slowly, she nodded. She didn’t want to be alone. “I’ll do that.”

  Kira’s heart pounded as she approached Max’s office. It was in a high-rise office building near Olympic Park. She noticed from the directory on the ground floor that Westerfield Industries had two floors of offices. She asked the security guard for Max Payton’s office and took the elevator to the sixth floor.

  A large reception desk guarded the rest of the floor. It was empty at the moment.

  Then Max stepped out of an office and stood aside for her to enter.

  “No one else here?” she said.

  “Nervous?” he asked, baring his teeth in a smile.

  “No,” she lied. His face was expressionless as he studied her. For the fleetest of moments, she wished she had brought Chris along. But she had to do this herself. Especially after the dinner this man and she had shared. Regret struck her hard.

  He went to his desk and sat down. She felt like a schoolgirl left to fidget before a headmaster.

  To hell with that. She sat down as well.

  The silence lengthened as she felt herself being taken apart piece by piece. She found it hard to believe there had ever been warmth in those cold eyes.

  “What game are you playing?” he finally said. His voice was diamond hard.

  “What did Leigh tell you?” she asked instead.

  “That you claimed to be the real Westerfield heiress. That’s impossible.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Babies aren’t just mislaid, Ms. Douglas.”

  Ms. Douglas. Not Kira. “It has happened,” she said. “There was a case in Georgia, another in California.”

  “I did some quick research. A very few in many millions of births.”

  “So you admit it happens?”

  He shook his head. “It would have been discovered by now, just as the others were.”

  “You know my mother is dying,” she said. “She needs a kidney. I wanted to give her one of mine. I underwent tests to see if we were compatible. I wasn’t, but during the test I discovered I’m not her biological daughter. The doctor suggested I might be adopted, but I was born at the hospital, and her name is on my birth certificate.” She paused, then added, “I was angry, furious, disbelieving, so I know exactly how Leigh feels.”

  “Why Leigh? How did you come up with Leigh?”

  “I hired a private investigator. His name is Chris Burke.” She took a card from her pocket and handed it to him. “He’s a licensed private investigator, a former captain of detectives with the Atlanta police department. You can check his reputation. He ran down all the babies born near the time I was born. I was critically ill … a heart defect. I was immediately taken to the prenatal unit. So the switch, accidental or planned, had to take place within a few moments of my birth. Leigh was born three minutes before me.”

  His cold eyes didn’t change. Not a flicker of acceptance or understanding and certainly none of the ease and warmth of last night. He simply waited for her to continue. She would bet her last dollar that a recorder was running somewhere. Silence was a great interrogator technique. She’d used it herself.

  “No one else?” he asked after a silence.

  “Two others. Not immediately but within an hour.”

  “Then why Leigh?”

  This was the question she really didn’t want to answer. She hadn’t broken any laws, at least not any she or Chris were aware of, but she’d most certainly been devious and underhanded.

  “There was the timing. And then she’s the only one in Atlanta. If she wasn’t the one, then I would have gone to the others.” She paused, then added, “The day I interviewed Leigh, I got some of her DNA,” she said, hoping he didn’t hear the catch in her throat. “It matches my mother’s.”

  Something flickered in his eyes. “The coffee cup.” His lips thinned into a straight line. “Aren’t you the clever little reporter? You know, of course, that would have no value in a courtroom. It could be anyone’s DNA for all I know.”

  “Why? All I want is a kidney for my mother. Nothing else. I’m just asking Leigh to test.”

  “Are you quite sure about that?”

  She met his gaze directly. “Yes.”

  “Sorry, I have a hard time believing you would turn down the Westerfield fortune. Especially since we both know you’re a liar. A very good one.”

  It was as if he’d plunged a sword through her. His eyes glittered as he said the words. His mouth curled in contempt. She had expected it, but she hadn’t known it would hurt this much.

  She deserved it. She knew it. He could probably have her fired for using the newspaper in the way she did.

  “I didn’t lie.”

  “By omission, you told a whopper. I don’t like liars, Ms. Douglas.”

  “I wanted to be sure before I approached her,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want her to go through what I went through if it wasn’t true.”

  “How nice of you.”

  He didn’t believe anything she said. Going out with him Friday night had only made it worse. She could have told him then. She hadn’t, and now her credibility was paying for it.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Maybe I could have handled it better. I could have gone to the hospital, to the courts, but that would have taken months, and Mom doesn’t have months. She may not have weeks.”

  A muscle throbbed in his neck. “Well, that’s exactly what you will have to do, Ms. Douglas. Leigh does not have to be tested, because she is not the person you think she is. She is a Westerfield. Hospital personnel are too careful, particularly under the circumstances you mentioned. How do you accidently switch a healthy baby with a sick one?”

  “Talk to Chris Burke,” she pleaded.

  “I’m not going to talk to anyone. Leigh was given into my charge by her grandfather. She’s had one hell of a bad time, and I’m not going to let anyone take advantage of her.”

  “What if it is true?” she countered. “What if she discovers after my mother’s death that Katy Douglas was her mother, and she could have saved her? Can she really live with that?”

  His jaw set. “A little honesty would have helped your cause.”

  “I th
ought she had the right to hear it first,” she said steadily. “I didn’t know what your relationship was. Or wasn’t.”

  “Dammit, I don’t for an instant believe some conspiracy to switch children at birth.”

  “How do you explain the DNA match?”

  “Since there’s no chain of evidence, I put little credence in it. That DNA sample could have been yours, or a friend’s.”

  The air between them was tense. Electric with accusation. She was only too aware that he was barely repressing his anger, and she her desperation.

  She remembered how she felt Friday night in his presence. The thunderbolts that had struck her so unexpectedly. That made today so much more painful.

  “There was another reason I didn’t go to the hospital directly,” she said. “Publicity. I didn’t want my mother to hear what had happened. It could kill her, and once the news gets out …”

  “And you thought Leigh would just give up a kidney?”

  “No. Not like that. I knew she would want tests of her own. I want them, too. But I had to know without putting her through the anger and grief I felt when I was told of the first results. I had to be sure. For me. For Mom. For Leigh.” She held back tears. That would be the worst thing she could do. Another subterfuge in his eyes.

  “I probably shouldn’t have used my job to make sure,” she said. “But I just had to know, and I couldn’t wait for an investigation, for the courts. There’s no time.” She paused, then tried again. “I truly don’t want anything Leigh has except to convince her to donate the kidney. I have a great mom. I have a job I love. I don’t need or want anything else.” Believe me, dammit.

  “And you’ll sign a contract to that effect?”

  “Yes. Anything you want.”

  “I want to see the DNA report,” he said abruptly.

  She reached in her purse and took it out. Silently handed it to him.

  He read it, then stood and left the room. He was back in a moment with a copy. He handed her back the original and very deliberately placed his copy on the desk.

  The tension grew even deeper, broader. His eyes were just as cold as when she’d entered his office. She couldn’t tell whether he believed her or not. Whether he was accepting anything she said.

  She’d thought he would understand once she explained. She’d obviously been wrong.

  She sat and waited, knowing that the next few moments might mean her mother’s life. And her career.

  13

  Max had glanced at the DNA results in the copying room.

  They were explosive. If true.

  He would check out the detective Kira mentioned, then the lab. But he really didn’t buy the switched babies idea. As an attorney, he knew the liability issues and how careful hospitals were.

  He tried to ignore the plea in the eyes of the woman across from him, the fingers that flexed compulsively in her lap.

  He knew what her claim would mean to Leigh. If true, it would devastate her just when she was finding her own way.

  He looked again at the DNA results. Kira was smart enough to know that he would ask for independent verification. As a matter of law, the paper in his hand was meaningless. But it might be enough to prompt a judge to ask for another test—a well-monitored one. That could take time, though. He could delay it. Repeatedly.

  Until her mother was dead.

  He didn’t want to do that. Nor did he want put Leigh through the hell that might be coming her way. The publicity could destroy her newfound confidence.

  There was no good course of action. He didn’t like the way Kira had obtained the DNA. It had been a lie, and on Leigh’s behalf he was enraged about it. If Kira had come to him directly, or to the hospital or to an attorney, then he might accept what she was saying.

  “What do you plan to do now?” he asked.

  “I wanted to keep this private, if possible,” she said. “I don’t care about the estate. I just hoped that Leigh would want to help my mom. Our mom.”

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  “I’ll go through the courts. If Mom dies, I’ll try to get everything she has.”

  His eyes hardened. “Do you think blackmailing will make her prone to donate a kidney?”

  “I don’t have a choice. Mom has a month, if that.”

  “And if there isn’t a match for a kidney transplant, you want her to believe you’ll step away and never say anything?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a naïveté about the short answer that stopped him. Either she was sincere or the greatest con artist in history. And where did his loyalty to Ed lie? With the granddaughter Ed knew, or the one that might carry his blood?

  He didn’t want to play Solomon.

  He stood. “I’ll talk to Leigh. It’s her decision as to whether she wants to talk to you or agree to a test. You didn’t exactly instill a sense of integrity in this.”

  She visibly winced at his words. But he was as angry as he’d ever been. He had liked Kira, more than liked her. And he felt like a fool. He certainly had been taken for one.

  He stood. “I’ll be in contact with you.”

  She stood as well. “My mother doesn’t have much time. Right now, Leigh is her only hope.”

  He merely nodded. He went over to the door and opened it.

  She paused, though. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to make sure before approaching Leigh.”

  He didn’t answer, and she turned and left.

  He returned to his desk and sat down. He leaned back in his chair. Goddamn it. This was something that wasn’t going away.

  Kira Douglas obviously believed the story to be true. His first impression after talking to Leigh was that Kira Douglas was a dishonest opportunist. No longer. He was a good judge of character, and he believed her. The fact that she went about this in the wrong way, at least as far as he was concerned, didn’t change the fact that she believed she was right.

  What if she had come to him, or Leigh, without any proof?

  They probably would have laughed her out of the room.

  “Take care of Leigh.” That had been Ed’s last words.

  Max closed his eyes. What if he couldn’t take care of Leigh? What would Ed have wanted?

  She’d made a complete mess of it.

  Kira leaned against a wall outside his office for a moment. She took a deep breath. Her legs didn’t want to work. It was as if they’d turned to rubber. And her mind to mush. She would never forget that look of distaste in his eyes when she walked into the room.

  After a few seconds, she finally felt able to walk again. She hurried down the hall to the elevator. Maybe if she reached the hospital quickly, she would see the doctor who usually stopped in around 6:00 p.m. before going home. She wanted an update on her mother’s position on the donor list.

  Even if her mother neared the top, so much depended on whether the available kidney was compatible. She could still have to wait months.

  What if she had made a new hope impossible?

  She blinked back a tear. She’d not shed them in months, but frustration forced them out. She found her car and headed to the hospital.

  Leigh went down to the barn as soon as she got back home. Rick had left, and she put Silver Lady into her stall. Maude followed behind.

  She checked the water and feed. As usual, both were fresh. But she always checked. There was something about Rick that had disconcerted her from the beginning. Maybe it was the way he showed so little emotion. But Mrs. Baker said he he’d been stationed in Iraq as a dog handler and had lost several friends, as well as his dog …

  She gave both Silver Lady and Maude pieces of an apple, and leaned her head against Lady’s.

  What if none of this belonged to her? She would lose Lady. Maude.

  Fear darted through her and took hold.

  How long before Max called?

  She went back into the house and to the office that had once been her grandfather’s. She turned on the compute
r and did a Google search on Kira Douglas, something she should have done before inviting her to her home. A short biography came up, as well as a number of articles. A native of Atlanta, graduate of Georgia State University, recipient of an Associated Press award for a feature she’d written in 2005.

  Nothing about her character that resembled, in Leigh’s opinion, a bottom-feeder. She had never been good about people. She’d always taken them at face value, and although that character quirk had resulted in disaster several times, she’d stubbornly stuck to it. Maybe not again.

  She felt betrayed. Tricked. She detested being made to feel the fool.

  She took comfort in Seth’s words. In Max’s take-charge personality.

  The pretender would be exposed.

  When the doorbell rang, she dashed for it. Anyone but Max or the groom or Seth would have had to phone from the fence to gain entrance. She stilled at the expression in Max’s face.

  “You met with her?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s a fraud,” she said confidently. Surely Max had reduced the woman to tears and a confession. God knows, he’d done it to her ex-husband and several times to herself.

  “Let’s go inside,” he said, and she froze. That wasn’t what she expected to hear.

  She led the way to the study. Max went to the bar and poured himself a bourbon and water.

  “You saw her,” Leigh said.

  “Yes. She had the DNA test with her. That doesn’t mean the DNA belongs to you. It only means that she has something to take to a judge who could order a controlled test.”

  “How can she do that?”

  “There’s a substantial claim involved. Millions of dollars.”

  Anger mixed with an all-too-familiar feeling of helplessness. “What can you do?” she finally asked.

  “You have a choice. You can agree to take a DNA test and, if her claim is true, a test to see if your kidney is a match. In return she will give up any right to the name or estate. Or we can fight it. I can probably get repeated delays, but eventually you’ll be required to submit to a DNA test. By then, Mrs. Douglas might well be dead, and if the tests confirm what Kira Douglas says, she will probably go after your throat for not helping.”