by Alton Gansky
“You arranged for all of this while you were out of the country?” Luke asked.
“Of course. Distance no longer matters. That changed with the telephone. The Internet has made it even easier.”
“Why?” Judith asked, her anger coming to the surface. “Why me? Why Luke? We were almost killed.”
“Because, Judith, you could be manipulated. You were always inclined to carry guilt with you. It was your weakness decades ago and it is your weakness now. The same goes for you, Luke.”
“What you did is nothing short of heinous.” Judith started to stand, but Luke placed a hand on her arm.
“Hear her out.”
Judith froze.
“Please let me get through this, then I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?” Judith snapped. “You have the nerve to ask favors after what you did to us?”
“Yes, I do.” Corvino seemed unbothered by Judith’s outburst. “The first thing we must do is clear the table of secrets. I plan to tell you mine, and then it’s time you tell each other yours. Or shall I tell it?”
“I don’t see that we have to do anything you suggest, except call the police.” Judith’s temper had not settled.
“If you want to send an old woman to jail, go ahead. I’ll never see trial and I have enough money to bail me out of any jail. Even if I could live long enough to stand trial, I can hire enough attorneys to stall things for years.”
Luke looked puzzled. “What do you mean, ‘live long enough’?”
“I’m dying, Luke. Cancer. It’s spread to enough organs to make me terminal. My existence is measured in weeks.” She looked at Judith. “It’s not a sob story. We’re all dying. I just happen to know what’s going to get me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Luke said.
Judith said nothing.
“I’ve worked through the emotion and am at peace with it, but I don’t want to go to the grave without you two knowing the part of the story that affects you. It’s one reason I’m here. I tell you now, or you will never know.”
Luke turned to Judith. “I began my career in graduate school. My father hired me on as a stockbroker in his firm. It turned out I had a knack for it. My instincts were good and some considered me a bit of a prodigy, a whiz kid at the market. I became interested in a growing industry — the biotech sector. Most of the brokers in the firm were still pushing the industrials and the growing silicon market. I did well in those, but my interest lay in the biotech companies. I didn’t always understand what they were researching but I could pick those that had potential. I became aware of Dr. Corvino’s work in infertility and research through a professor who wanted my opinion on investing. I approached her with an idea that I felt would make us all rich. I pulled together investors.”
He paused as if waiting for the memories to catch up with his words. “I didn’t care about her techniques. Actually, I didn’t know enough to ask. What I saw was the desperation factor. Infertility treatment had everything going for it. It helped others, women desperate to have children. Any time the desperation level is high, the potential for high fees is present.”
“So you funded her research?” Judith said.
“In a way. I brought in the money people. My father followed my lead and invested his clients and himself. Then she left. She just took off. My people lost truckloads of money. Some lost everything because I invested too aggressively. My father’s reputation was tarnished and mine ruined. The Securities and Exchange people investigated me and although I was cleared I never worked for another firm.” He looked at the table. “Some of the people I invested for didn’t take the loss lightly. Two attempts were made on my life. I moved and locked myself away in my home, always looking over my shoulder.”
Corvino shook her head. “I didn’t just disappear. I fled for my life.”
That was more than Judith could take. “You fled because you left scores of women infertile.”
The old woman didn’t respond at first. “Where did those women come from?”
Judith’s jaw tightened.
“Judith?” Luke took her hand.
“Some of them came from me. She hired me to recruit women to donate eggs. Back then a woman could make a few thousand dollars donating her eggs.”
“How does that make them infertile?” Luke asked. “I’m under the impression that egg donations have been done safely for many years.”
“I’ll answer that,” Corvino said. “I got greedy. You both know about greed. I could no longer harvest eggs and treat patients as fast as I would like. And the research was eating away most of my day. I wanted everything, so I hired people to help and taught them the procedures.”
“People who were not qualified to do the work,” Judith said. “They mismanaged medications, screenings, and technique. In the end, close to one hundred women were rendered infertile — including me. I’m partly responsible for leading women to barrenness — women who felt they were doing something noble and making needed money. Most were college kids like me.”
Corvino looked to the blue sky as if trying to read her next line. “I had an associate then, a fresh-faced young man just out of med school and internship. He started as a tech while an undergrad. I paid him well and helped with tuition. I was pretty good at buying silence. Lawsuits were mounting against me, and I took the coward’s way out. I fled the country and found a new home in Singapore. Alex Zarefsky took over my clinics, research, and everything else.”
The revelation stunned Judith. “Zarefsky worked with you? I never met him.”
“Why would you?” Corvino said. “Think, Judith. Other than those who performed your procedure, how many of my doctors, nurses, and techs did you meet? Not many. Of course you never met Zarefsky. Your functions were vastly different. Anyway, he kept the inventory.”
“Inventory?” Luke said. “You mean — ”
“The harvested eggs and frozen embryos.” Judith felt certain her conjecture was right, and she hated the use of “inventory” to describe the zygotes and embryos.
“Yes. In that inventory were several zygotes I had been experimenting with. You know of Dr. Robert Graham’s work?”
“We’ve discussed it,” Luke replied.
“He combined sperm from high IQ men and combined them with ova harvested from the mother in order to produce brighter children. I wanted to go a step further. I selected donations from men and women of special skill and intelligence, or beauty or athletic prowess. Remember, we were still on the cutting edge of things back then. We know a lot more now. I noticed certain zygotes reacted differently after conception. I’m still not sure why. I froze them waiting for a suitable donor. That’s when my legal troubles began. Years later, I learned that Zarefsky had begun implanting the zygotes I left behind. Medical science had made the likelihood of success greater so he was willing to risk what I had described as my special babies.” She waved a hand at the playing children. “You see the result.”
“This is so hard to believe.” Judith had to ask. “Why are they different?”
“I don’t know,” Corvino said. “At first, I thought it was all my doing. Serendipity is a powerful force in science. Now, I don’t know if I’m the cause or just an observer. Maybe we should be talking to someone with more knowledge.” She pointed to the sky.
“If you’re the Puppeteer, you sent a photo to us — ”
“Yes, a photo of Abel and you’re wondering how I could have a picture of Abel in Zarefsky’s home. Zarefsky sent it to me.”
Luke narrowed his eyes. “And why would he do that?”
“Blackmail,” she said. “Once he became aware the children were different, he wanted to do some testing and felt he stood a better chance of doing that without legal interference if he set up shop overseas. He needed a place to work and convinced a Singapore biotech firm to help him for a full share of the knowledge and any marketable product that could be developed from the study. That’s where Cal- Genotics comes in. On the surface it looks like
a U.S. company headed by Zarefsky but under the skin was a group of biomed businesses. I owned one of those interests — something not known to Zarefsky. It was one of the ways I kept tabs on him. Since he thought I’d never return to the U.S. and was getting too old to care, he cut me out of all operations in the States. I funded all his clinics and took a share of the profits. Once he had money flowing in from the Singapore people, he felt invulnerable — or at least he acted that way. He sent me the photo to extort money from me. He had promised to deliver twelve children and he had thirteen. One was expendable. I could have the child for a large sum of money. I knew he’d never honor that promise.”
“So you sent us?” Judith said. “Not the police. Not the FBI. Us. Two business people. Why?”
“Because you’re smart, you’re caring, and you have resources. I had no idea where Zarefsky lived. I know that he kept several homes all bought under various names. That and I feared everything would be traced back to me. Singapore is fairly safe for me and I didn’t want to take a chance on losing that.”
Luke tapped the table. “And Zarefsky wouldn’t go to the police because they might start asking questions that could ultimately implicate him.”
“Correct. He doesn’t have to lose his freedom to be ruined, just his reputation. Trust me, I know. People will go to great lengths to protect their image. Isn’t that true, Judith?”
“I don’t appreciate the implication.”
“You don’t debate the truth of it either.” Corvino winced. Something inside her was causing pain. For a moment, Judith felt sorry for her. “I’ve been getting treatment for my cancer and was hospitalized for a time and unable to participate in the Cal-Genotics decision making. Part of my requirement for participation was that my name or picture never be used. I was afraid it would tip off Zarefsky. Some decisions were made in my absence.”
“To bring the children to Singapore?” Luke said.
“That and to hire the man you know as Pennington. The pretense was that Pennington was helping Zarefsky gather the children from different states. The truth was, Pennington was the guarantee the children would be brought to Singapore. Zarefsky thought he was in charge. He never was. As it turns out, neither was I.”
“Why not hire a private detective?” Judith asked. “You entrusted Abel’s life to two amateurs.”
“Because they would want information I couldn’t give. I had to press you two into ser vice. I had something to hide and I needed people with something to hide working for me. I could motivate you with your secrets, and I could hold them over your head later if I needed to.”
Luke looked like he had aged several years. “The children never arrived. I’m guessing there are some unhappy corporate types in Singapore.”
“Unhappy is one word. You must be careful. They may try the whole thing over again. I won’t live long enough to stop them.”
“And you never found out why the children are special,” Judith said. “You actually have no idea or are you just trying to keep us in the dark?”
“I honestly don’t know. I do know one thing.” She looked Judith in the eyes. “Three of the children are yours.”
Judith felt like a candle in an oven. “What?”
“Like those you brought to the clinic, you donated eggs. And it’s true our carelessness left you infertile. We did, however, harvest eggs during those procedures. I know that’s a lot to take in, but I’m not feeling well so forgive me for getting to my favor.” She motioned to the car and the driver reappeared carrying a briefcase. He set it on the table and returned to the limo.
“Money doesn’t solve everything,” Corvino said. “It doesn’t take away a single ounce of guilt, but it can be used for good. I’ve made a great deal of money through my research and investments. It won’t do me any good in the grave. I want you to oversee the use of it for the benefit of the children. I’ve set aside more than enough to meet my needs for several years although I doubt I’ll live several months. No strings. This is the last time you’ll see me.”
She motioned to the limo again and the back door swung open. “I’m afraid you’ve been laboring under a misconception. There aren’t thirteen children — there are fourteen.”
A boy about the age of twelve emerged and walked slowly their way. Even at a distance, Judith could see the familiar eyes. “No need for great detail here. Suffice it to say that his mother was a surrogate and Zarefsky didn’t get all the inventory. She lived with me for a year prior to Isaac’s birth. After he was born, she went home a wealthy woman.”
“Isaac?” Judith said.
“It’s a Hebrew name that means ‘laughter.’ In the Bible, Isaac is born to Sarah, a barren woman. I was well beyond childbearing years when I implanted the zygote in the surrogate woman. That was ten years ago, a year before Zarefsky started experimenting with my research.”
The boy stood quietly by Corvino.
“Hello,” Judith said.
“You have much truth on you.”
“Thank you,” Judith said. “I think you probably do too.”
Corvino took Isaac’s hand and patted it like a grandmother does with a grandchild. “At about six he started talking about seeing truth and evil on people. As time passed that ability grew. I hate to tell you what he saw on me. A year later, he developed a fascination with spiritual things and with the Bible. Have you found that true with the children?”
“Yes, very much so.” Judith studied the boy. He seemed unworried and comfortable around strangers.
“I wish I could be around to see what other talents develop.” She winced again and looked more frail than when she first arrived. “Over time, he convinced me that I needed the Truth. That’s Truth with a capital T. By that he meant I needed Jesus. I haven’t had much need for spiritual things in my life, but that’s probably because I never looked at myself. If I had, I might have seen what I had become. Isaac saw it every day. He never preached at me and never condemned me, but also never held back. The thing about truth is that it is so clear when you look for it and so hard to see when you don’t. I saw it just a few months ago. I wish I had seen it decades ago. If I had, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The Truth changed me. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” Luke said. “We understand it very well.”
“Take care of Isaac. He needs a place where he can be among his own. I don’t want to leave him alone.” A tear ran from Corvino’s eye.
“We will,” Judith said softly.
“The briefcase has all the papers you need. Just countersign them and have your attorney file them with the appropriate banks. The money will be yours to use for the children.” She stood and wavered a moment. “Take me back to the car, Isaac.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Judith and Luke walked with them. The driver opened the back door, but before Corvino seated herself, she turned to Judith. “You never asked.”
“Asked what? ”
“Which of the children are yours. I’ve been able to find out.”
Judith looked around the grounds and noticed the children walking toward them. A few moments later, they had all gathered around Isaac. Judith pulled a couple of them close to her. “Dr. Corvino. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all my children now.”
acknowledgments
Special thanks goes to Kenny Adams for taking my calls about determining property ownership and Lieutenant David Cavanaugh of the San Diego Police Department for insight into police work. As always, any mistakes are mine.
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Also by Alton Gansky
The Prodigy
The Madison Glenn Series
The Incumbent
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Dies Director’s Cut
J. D. Stanton Mysteries
A Ship Possessed
Vanished
Out of Time
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