by Sean Black
“So what about you, Sofia? Working on any interesting cases?” Tim asked. Tim was a true-crime fan so he’d been delighted by Sofia’s career change.
“Yeah, but it’s kind of confidential for now,” said Sofia, hoping to fend off the question. She really wasn’t in the mood to discuss work.
“Oh, come on,” said Janet. “We’re family. We’re not going to tell anyone.”
Except a bunch of people Sofia could think of straight off the top of her head.
“Yeah!” said Van. “We can pinky-swear we won’t say anything.”
“Is it a murder?” said Violet. She put her hands together in prayer. “Please let it be a murder!”
Sofia had a feeling that the questioning wouldn’t let up unless she gave them something. “No, it’s not a murder. We’re trying to help someone find their birth-father.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Violet.
“It’s the man who made their mom pregnant,” said Emily. “Now, Sofia said she didn’t want to talk about it, so can we please talk about something else?”
“Good idea,” said Janet.
“But, Mom!” protested Van.
“I meant it,” Emily said, raising her voice to seriously-angry-mom level, something she rarely did with the kids.
Sofia noticed Tim studying the tablecloth and playing with a spoon. The subject of Emily and Sofia’s birth-father wasn’t exactly forbidden, but no one ever really brought it up. Sofia knew that Emily, possibly because she was the eldest, really hated to talk about him. He’d walked out on them and their mom when they were little kids and that had been that. Anytime Sofia had mentioned their father, Emily had always changed the subject.
“So, Tim,” said Ray, picking up on his wife’s discomfort, “how’s your golf game?”
* * *
AFTER DINNER, Sofia helped Emily clear the table. Ray was wrestling the kids into their pajamas before they headed home. Tim was out on the patio smoking a cigar, and their mom was nowhere to be seen.
Sofia rinsed some dishes in the sink and handed them to Emily to stack in the dishwasher.
“So why does this person want to find their birth-father?” Emily asked.
Sofia was pretty certain she could count on Emily not to tell anyone about the case. “He’s sick and he needs a kidney transplant. We’re hoping that his biological father might be a match.”
“That’s awful. How old is he?”
“Thirteen.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Yeah,” said Sofia. “It’s pretty bad.”
“You found the guy yet?” Emily asked.
“Not yet. It’s kind of complicated.”
“So what’s the deal with the father? Did he skip the country or something? I mean, it can’t be that hard to track someone down in the States anymore. Not with the internet.”
“That’s the thing. We don’t know who the father is. There’s kind of more than one candidate.”
Emily looked puzzled. Sofia explained as best she could about Candice’s extreme party-lifestyle when she’d fallen pregnant. She left out the baseball team but Emily was still shocked. “I can see why it’s complicated,” she said, when Sofia had finished. “Do you think you’ll find him in time?”
That was the question. Not just whether they’d find him―Sofia was fairly sure they would―but if they would find him in time. And if they did, would it make a difference? She said as much to Emily.
“That’s horrible! How could someone have a child and not agree to save their life if they could?”
Sofia shrugged. But it was possible that if Daniel’s father was found, and turned out to be a match, he might refuse to give up one of his kidneys to save a kid he hadn’t known he had.
“Do you ever think about getting in touch with our dad?” Sofia asked.
Emily froze. “You mean Tim? He’s just outside on the patio.”
“You know who I was talking about,” said Sofia.
Emily slammed the dishwasher shut. “He walked out on us when we were little and our mom really needed him. We haven’t heard from him since. Why would you think I’d want to see him? Unless it was to tell him what a selfish asshole he was.”
“Okay, I get all that, but you’re not curious?”
“Nope,” said Emily. “Are you?”
“I wasn’t. But I guess this case has made me think about it.”
“So what are you saying?” Emily asked. “That you want to try to get in touch with him?”
“No . . . I mean, I don’t know. Maybe. But only if you were okay with it.”
“It’s up to you,” said Emily.
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t know either. I’m happy with Ray and the kids. Even though they drive me demented. I don’t know what good it would do dredging up the past. And there’s Mom. What would she think?”
“You’re right,” said Sofia. “It’s a dumb idea. Forget I mentioned it.”
* * *
AFTER EMILY and Ray had bundled the kids into the back of their minivan and set off for home, Sofia had helped her mom and Tim finish tidying up. She was exhausted, and the last thing she wanted was to fall asleep at the wheel. “You mind if I stay over tonight?” she asked. “It’s been kind of a long day.”
“That’d be great,” said Janet. “We haven’t seen nearly enough of you since you started working with Brendan and Aidan.”
Sofia wandered out to the patio to say goodnight to Tim. He was sitting, his legs dangling into the swimming pool, finishing his cigar.
Sofia took off her shoes and socks and sat next to him.
“Nice night,” he said.
She lowered her feet into the water. “Yeah.”
“You think you’ll find this kid’s father?”
“We have to,” said Sofia.
“If you or Emily ever needed a kidney and mine would do the trick, I’d happily give one up. Who needs two anyway?”
Sofia put her arm around his shoulders. “I know you would.”
“But promise me you won’t let Van take it out.”
CHAPTER 38
Sofia was dreaming she was back in high school. A bell rang somewhere, and she was late for class. But she couldn’t remember which class, or where it was. It was a particularly strange dream because she’d never actually attended high school. By the time she was high-school age, she was starring in Half Pint Detective and had a series of on-set tutors who taught her between shooting.
She woke up suddenly, still freaked out by the dream and the unfamiliar surroundings. It took her a second or two to remember she was in her mom’s house. The ringing was real enough. She reached over to the night stand and picked up her cell phone. Aidan’s name flashed on the screen with the time: 05:35.
She hit the answer icon. “Hello?”
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“At five thirty? No, I’ve been up for hours,” said Sofia.
“Good,” said Aidan, blowing straight past the sarcasm. “So, I finally got some good news.”
“About Daniel?”
“No, well, yeah, I guess. About Wes, or Veronica, whatever name we’re going with. I just got an email from the lab and, bingo, it’s positive. Veronica Adams is Daniel’s father. Damn, that sounds weird.”
“They’re sure?” Sofia asked, propping a couple of pillows behind her back so she could sit up.
“As sure as they can be. But it’s like a couple of million to one that it’s a coincidence. Those tests are pretty rock solid.”
Sofia’s head was spinning. It was great news. They had set out to find Daniel’s father, and they’d done just that. But then she remembered that Veronica might not be able to help. Had they come this far only to fail because of something no one could have predicted?
“What did I tell you? I knew it! I just knew it!” Aidan crowed.
“So, what now?” said Sofia.
“We have to break the news to both parties. And we have to tell my old man―explain
about Wes and his whole transgender deal.”
“Right,” said Sofia.
Brendan was going to want to know why they hadn’t mentioned it yesterday. They could only hope he’d be so happy they’d located Daniel’s father that he wouldn’t dwell on it.
“When can you be at the office?”
Sofia did a quick calculation. If she left by six thirty she could probably miss the worst of the commuter traffic, which would make the drive to Malibu about twenty to thirty minutes faster. That gave her just under an hour to get herself together and out the door.
Easy.
The guest bedroom had an ensuite bathroom. Sofia ducked inside, found a towel and took a quick shower. She dried off, walked back into the bedroom and got dressed, brushed her hair, pulled it into a ponytail and gathered up her stuff.
The rest of the house was quiet. Her mom and Tim were still asleep. Sofia wandered into the kitchen and made coffee. While she waited for it to brew she made some toast, then sliced an avocado to put on top. She was guessing that a busy day lay ahead and she might not get a chance to have lunch.
She poured coffee into a travel mug, grabbed her bag and headed for the front door. She threw back the lock, stepped outside and set off the house alarm.
An ear-splitting wail filled the air. Sofia opened the door, found the alarm key pad and punched in what she thought was the code. The last four digits of her mom’s birthday.
No luck.
Damn.
She went for the first four digits of her mom’s birthday. No dice with that either. One last try. The four middle digits.
Nope.
She was already getting a headache from the burglar alarm.
Her mom and Tim came stumbling down the hallway toward her. Tim was in boxer shorts and a T-shirt and her mom was wearing a robe. “Don’t touch the key pad!” Janet shouted.
“Too late.”
“It locks us out after three failed attempts. The alarm company have to come and reset it,” said Tim.
Oops.
“I’m really sorry,” said Sofia. “I already tried three times.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Tim. “You go to work.”
“You sure?”
“Get out of here,” said Tim. “It’s not like you can fix it.”
She gave them both a hug, headed outside, got into the Tesla and pulled down the driveway. At the bottom of the street she made a right. She had to try to refocus on Daniel.
There was the whoop of a siren and flashing lights filled her rear-view mirror.
Oh, great. Just great.
She pulled over to the side of the road. The patrol car drove in front of her, blocking her way. Two cops got out, both with their hands resting on their guns.
“Keep your hands where we can see them!”
CHAPTER 39
T wo hours later, Sofia finally walked into the Maloney Investigations office. Aidan was in his usual space. Beyond him she could see Brendan hunched over his desk on a call.
“Where the hell have you been?” Aidan asked.
“Traffic was bad,” said Sofia. “I came through Topanga Canyon and there was an accident. Sorry.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. She had driven from the Valley to Malibu via the canyon, and there had been a minor fender-bender, but that wasn’t why she was so late. The delay was mostly down to forty-five minutes talking to the cops about why her car had been called in by one of her mom’s neighbors who had heard the burglar alarm going off and thought there had been an actual robbery.
The cops had been fine―at least they had once they’d called Janet. But one of them was taking acting classes and had wanted to get some tips from Sofia about breaking into the business. Given that they could have cuffed her and thrown her into the back of their car, Sofia had tried to be polite, which had eaten up a lot of time. Especially when the would-be actor came up with a few dozen supplementary questions about agents, and where to get good headshots.
Sofia put down her bag and scooted her chair over next to Aidan. “You told Brendan about the DNA test?”
“I was waiting for you,” said Aidan. “Didn’t want to steal all the glory.”
“Yeah, right.”
“What?”
“You mean you didn’t want to have to explain to him about Veronica by yourself,” said Sofia.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Aidan, a picture of innocence.
“You don’t remember that we forgot to mention anything to Brendan about Wes now being Veronica?”
“Didn’t we?” said Aidan.
Sofia stood up and practically yanked Aidan out of his chair by the scruff of his neck. “You know we didn’t. But you’re going to have to tell him now.”
“Me? No way. You should tell him. Women are better at that kind of stuff anyway.”
They walked together to Brendan’s office. He was still on the phone but starting to say goodbye. They waited till he’d hung up. Then Sofia said, “Brendan, Aidan and I have some news for you about locating Daniel’s father.”
Brendan waved them into his office. “I hope it’s good because I saw Candice last night, and she’s right on the edge. That lady needs a break about now.”
Aidan shot Sofia an evil look but dutifully followed her into his father’s office where they both sat down.
“So,” Sofia began, “we do have some good news. The DNA sample we took from the ex-NBA player was a positive hit. He’s Daniel’s father.”
Brendan clapped his hands together with a broad grin. “Wes Adams? That’s terrific. Great work.”
They were staring at the carpet.
“There’s a but coming,” said Brendan. “I can feel it.”
Sofia nudged Aidan. “Tell him.”
“Tell me what?”
“You tell him,” said Aidan.
Brendan slammed his hands down on the desk and fixed them both with his death stare. Sofia and Aidan flinched. “One of you’d better tell me before I fire you both and find some investigators who don’t sit in my office like a couple of third-graders.”
Aidan took a breath. “Wes isn’t Wes any more. He’s Veronica.”
“Say what?” said Brendan.
“He’s transitioning,” said Sofia.
When Brendan still looked blank, she added, “From being a man to being a woman. She’s called Veronica.”
“I know what transitioning is,” said Brendan. “I was just absorbing the news. What did Veronica say about Daniel?”
“That she’d help out if she could but that with all the hormone stuff she’s taking, she’s not sure if she’d was a viable candidate to become a donor.”
Brendan put his elbows down on his desk and steepled his fingers. “Let me speak with Veronica.”
“Are you sure?” Aidan asked him.
“Jeez,” said Brendan. That was as close as Brendan ever got to cussing. “Can I remind you two that I was a cop for thirty years? That meant I had to deal with every kind of person there is, and treat them all equally, and with respect, at least until they gave me a reason not to. I was dealing with the LGBT community before it was even called that. And, believe me, I saw a bunch of discrimination and prejudice against them.”
Now Sofia really did feel like a third-grader. By the look on Aidan’s face, he did too.
“I’ll go talk to Veronica,” Brendan announced. “See if I can figure out if she just doesn’t want to be a donor or whether the medical reasons for ruling herself out are legit. In the meantime, you two can go down to UCLA and tell Candice that at least we know who Daniel’s father is. It’s up to her how she handles telling Daniel. You think you can manage that?”
CHAPTER 40
“Y ou want to take this one without me?” Aidan asked Sofia, as they pulled into a parking space outside UCLA Medical Center.
Sofia bristled. “What? Because I’m a woman?”
“No,” said Aidan. “You’ll relate a little better because of your dad . . . You know wha
t I mean.”
Sofia did. Aidan had a point. She could indeed relate better to Candice and Daniel’s situation than Aidan could. “No problem,” she said. “You sit with Daniel, and I’ll talk to Candy.”
“Done.”
They got out of Aidan’s Porsche and walked toward the main entrance. Aidan hesitated as they reached the doors.
“What?” Sofia asked.
He looked up at the building. “I don’t think I’ll ever like hospitals.”
“They make people better too,” said Sofia. “People come in sick. They get better. They leave.”
“I know,” said Aidan. He didn’t sound convinced.
DANIEL WAS asleep when Sofia and Aidan reached the pediatric ICU. Candice sat in a chair next to him, leafing through a celebrity gossip magazine. She smiled and waved for them to come in. “Hey,” she said. She sounded cheerful but looked completely drained.
“We have some news,” Sofia told her.
Candice stood up. “You do?”
“Yes,” said Sofia. “Why don’t we talk outside? Aidan can sit with Daniel.”
The look of hope on Candice’s face was the hardest part for Sofia. What if finding Daniel’s father didn’t help him? Sofia thought of an old half-remembered saying about hope being the thing that killed you in the end. Although maybe it was hopes being suddenly raised, only to be dashed again. That was the cruelest thing of all.
Candice got up and followed Sofia out of the room.
Daniel stirred a little as Aidan hunkered down next to him. “Hey, champ, how are you feeling? Ready to go kill some more zombies with me?”
* * *
SOFIA AND CANDICE found a quiet side room. Candice took a seat while Sofia closed the door. Sofia sat down opposite her, their knees touching.
“The doctors actually said Daniel’s vitals are looking a little better this morning,” said Candice. “He still needs the transplant, but he’s not quite as sick as he was. They think he might be able to hold on for a while longer. Maybe even another month.”
