by Brenda Novak
Unfortunately, she found nothing.
“Damn.” She had no doubt a cigarette butt would be a good source of DNA. She would’ve been thrilled to find one.
Shaking her head in disappointment, she started back to the house. She was thinking she’d hire a different private investigator, one who had no contact with Matisson and would simply research Julia—her birth date and medical history—when she spotted a bit of white tucked up against the foundation of the house.
She held her breath as she went over to investigate—and felt a smile stretch across her face as she bent down. She’d discovered a cigarette butt, all right, and one that could easily belong to Matisson.
* * *
“I hear you’re seeing someone,” Craig said.
Hudson picked up his drink. They’d finished golfing—Hudson had lost to Craig for the first time since they’d started playing together, which hadn’t improved his day—and were seated in the bar of a swanky steak and seafood place. The restaurant boasted five stars, but it was in Bel Air, not far from where Hudson had been found as a newborn. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal. Hudson was used to living in close proximity to that neighborhood. But with everything on his mind today, he wished Craig had chosen someplace else. “I am. Her name’s Ellie Fisher.”
“She’s a scientist or something?”
“Yeah. Specializes in immunology.”
“Sounds smart.”
“She is. We’re expecting a baby this summer.”
“Congratulations.”
He was sure Craig had already heard about the baby, too. Bruiser had likely mentioned it when he’d mentioned Ellie, probably when Craig had struck up a random conversation and asked how he was doing, but it wasn’t a secret, so Hudson didn’t mind. “Thank you,” he said, forcing a smile. He had no problem doing favors for Craig—showing up at his house for parties and meeting his family and friends—but he wasn’t in the mood today. He kept wondering if he was being foolish to refuse Matisson. Was he letting his pride get in the way of making a sound decision?
That would be like him. What would he do if he opened the paper tomorrow and saw the kind of headline he feared—Famous NFL Quarterback Child of Incest?
His phone buzzed. Although it was rude to reveal how distracted he was by focusing on that call at the table, Craig’s friend hadn’t shown up yet, so Hudson excused himself to go to the bathroom. Then he checked caller ID.
It was Ellie—as he’d thought.
“Hey, I’m still with Craig,” he said. “Can I call you after?”
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she responded. “But I need to swing by and have you step out for a second to swab your cheek.”
“Whoa, wait. You’re here? In LA?”
“I am. Will you be able to give me a minute?”
He twisted his head to see around a big plant that hid him from Craig. The team owner was standing and shaking hands with another man. Craig’s friend had arrived. “I can make it happen. But why are we doing another DNA test? What about the one I sent?”
“This is for our own test, one we control.”
“What good will it do without Matisson’s DNA?”
“I’m pretty sure I have Matisson’s DNA. I also have a technician standing by at a trustworthy lab.”
Hudson stepped aside to avoid a waiter who was coming through. “How’d you get Matisson’s DNA?”
“I have what I hope is one of his cigarette butts.”
“From...”
“Outside, by the front door.”
“You didn’t mention my name, did you? When you called the lab?”
“No, of course not. I just offered to pay double if someone would wait for me. Figured you wouldn’t mind the added expense.”
“Not at all. Thanks.”
“No problem. Anyway, I need to focus so I don’t screw up and miss a turn. Can you drop me a pin so I can find you?”
“Doing it now.”
“Perfect. We should get the results on Wednesday, Hudson. I’ve also hired a different private investigator—another expense I assumed you wouldn’t mind.”
“I don’t, but...what for?”
“She’s digging up everything she can find on Julia—so we don’t need to wait for Jones to do that, since he’s dealing with Matisson right now and getting to Arizona.”
Since Hudson had been tied up all day and could only stew about his troubles, he was grateful for her help. “Do you really think all this will make any difference?”
“It’s worth a shot—small beans in comparison to a million dollars.”
Hudson lowered his head to stare at his feet. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I hope that’s a good thing,” she joked.
“It is. I’m glad I spotted you in that nightclub—and hit you up.”
“So am I. I love you, Hudson—even though you warned me not to.”
She spoke fast and hung up. He got the impression she was afraid of how he might respond, so she didn’t hear him mutter, “Thank God you didn’t listen.”
26
When Hudson finally got to his LA house, he found Ellie asleep on the couch in front of a TV even bigger than the one he’d purchased for Silver Springs. Whenever he saw it, he had to chuckle. It reminded him of the pissing contest he’d gotten into with some of the other team members—which was what had compelled him to track it down and buy it. He loved that TV, and so did the other guys. They always came to his place to watch whatever fight or other sporting event they wanted to see together.
Some reality show was playing now, droning on although no one was listening or watching. Ellie looked as if she’d been asleep for a while. She’d mentioned that she was often fatigued in this stage of the pregnancy, and according to what she’d told him over the phone, she’d had a couple of long days since he’d been gone. She’d stayed up late with that file, gotten up early to return to her research and then jumped into action when she found that cigarette butt.
“Hey.” He knelt down beside her and lifted up her shirt to kiss her belly. “I’m home.”
She raised sleepy eyelids to focus on him, and a sweet smile curved her lips. “I’m glad.”
He kissed her tummy again. “How do you like the house?”
“What I’ve seen of it is nice.”
“You didn’t look around?”
“I was afraid I’d get lost,” she joked.
He put down her shirt. “Believe me, I would’ve found you.”
She combed her fingers through his hair. “Actually, it felt a bit intrusive to let myself in and go snooping around when you weren’t home. I decided I’d let you give me the tour.”
“Only you,” he said. “I don’t know one other person who wouldn’t have searched through everything.”
She laughed. “Is that what you did to my house in Miami?”
He winced. “I glanced around. But then, I’m not as thoughtful as you are.”
“Are you being facetious?”
“I wish I was.” She always seemed to take other people into consideration, and that made him feel he could trust her. Maybe that was why he did trust her—more than he’d ever trusted any other woman. “Sorry I’m so late.” Craig had insisted Hudson come home with him for after-dinner drinks and a visit with his family. Ellie had texted to tell him that she’d delivered the DNA test to the lab and found his house, and he’d called his housekeeper, who lived off the premises, to let her in. But he still felt bad that she’d been waiting for so long and hadn’t felt she could make herself comfortable. “You should’ve gone up to my bed.”
“This was fine. It’s a huge couch. And I’ve never seen a TV that size.”
He glanced back. “Yeah, I went a little overboard.”
“
Everything in your life is big. Your name. Your bank account. Your houses.”
“Don’t stop there.” He winked at her, and she laughed.
“Is that what you’re most proud of?”
“I’m a guy. What can I say?” He lifted her hand and rubbed her knuckles against his cheek. “So you got the DNA to the lab?”
“I did.”
“And we’ll find out day after tomorrow?”
“The guy who waited for me wouldn’t commit, but he said it was possible.”
All his levity vanished as he rested his head in her lap. “I spoke to Jones before the meeting today.”
“I know. Bruiser told me.”
“Did he tell you that Matisson threatened to go to the press if I didn’t fork over the money immediately—without any proof?”
“He did. That’s a concern on the one hand. But on the other...I see it as hopeful.”
He lifted his head. “In what way?”
“If he’s pushing that hard, maybe he can’t offer proof. And if he can’t offer proof, maybe it’s because he isn’t telling the truth.”
“Don’t I wish...”
“Even if he sells the story to a magazine, they’re going to need substantiating documents, so he’ll have to support his claims.”
Taking the remote from the coffee table, he turned off the TV, then got up and sat next to her on the couch. “Tell me something.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t like the attention I attract—you’d rather I wasn’t famous. You’ve made that clear in the past.”
“It’s true, but—” she grinned “—no one’s perfect.”
When he didn’t smile, she put her hand on his arm. “Don’t overthink it. You are who and what you are, and I’m willing to accept that.”
He raked one hand through his hair. “But if you don’t like the positive attention I receive, how will you cope with the negative attention?”
She took the remote away, set it aside and pressed him back so that he was lounging on the couch. “I’ll deal with it the same way you will. We’ll pull through by focusing on better things.”
“Like...”
He watched as she popped open the top button of his jeans and pulled down the zipper. “This.”
* * *
Hudson wasn’t in bed when Ellie woke the next morning. She pulled on a robe and went down to see if he was in the kitchen but didn’t find him until she reached the gym. She stood at the door, watching him lift weights for a while. She could see the concentration on his face and the strain he was putting on his body and knew he was doing what he could to stay busy.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He glanced over once he realized she was there. “If you’re asking whether Matisson’s come forward—” he pushed himself to do another rep “—I don’t think so.” The barbell clanged as he dropped it the last few inches to the floor. “Not yet. I can’t find anything new about him on the internet. So...we’ll see what happens today.”
“Is that why you’re down here so early? You couldn’t sleep?”
He walked over and, despite her attempt to fend him off, pulled her into his arms.
“What the heck?” she complained. “You’re sweaty!”
“Exactly. My plan is to get you sweaty, too. Then you’ll want to shower with me.”
He looked as if he was about to return to weight lifting before their shower, so she made sure that didn’t happen. Opening her robe, she brought his hand to her breast and tugged him in for a deeper kiss. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Nowhere,” he replied as his hand slid lower. “I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Last night wasn’t enough?” she teased.
“I could never get enough of you.”
She felt the same about him, which was why the whole precarious situation with Matisson scared her so badly. She tried not to think of how rough the rest of the week could get—easy when Hudson urged her into the closest bedroom and onto the bed. But after they were both satisfied, reality intruded yet again. Shelly Gomez, the private detective she’d hired, sent her a text with pictures and a short video, which Ellie received the moment they stepped out of the shower.
“What is it?” Hudson had noticed she wasn’t dressing. He’d put on his boxers and jeans but wasn’t wearing a shirt when he walked over.
She lifted up her phone so he could see for himself. “Julia Matisson, who now goes by Julia Bowers, looks pretty darn healthy to me.”
He slowly swiped through the pictures. “This woman is Julia?”
“According to Shelly Gomez, it’s her and her two sons.”
“How’d Gomez get these photos—and so fast?”
“She lives in Phoenix, not far away. That’s partly why I chose her. I told her I’d pay twice her usual fee if she’d find Julia immediately and get me some concrete information.”
“Apparently she took you seriously.”
“She must’ve jumped on the case as soon as I contacted her.”
“She has the two boys,” he said. “That wasn’t a lie. But Julia Bowers is severely overweight. And she has all her hair.”
Those things weren’t conclusive, but they were fairly decent indicators that she wasn’t on her deathbed. “She’d be hooked up to a morphine pump or something if she was about to die,” she agreed. “And did you see the video?”
He tapped the arrow and watched it play. “Damn. She also seems to have plenty of energy.”
The video showed Julia screaming and fighting with some guy who looked like a biker dude in front of what Ellie could only assume was her house. “She seems almost as strong as he is, right?”
Hudson whistled as he watched the video again. “If this woman has cancer, there’s no way she’s at the stage Matisson claims. You’re positive this is Cort’s daughter and not some other Julia?”
“Let’s find out.” She texted Shelly Gomez and got an immediate answer.
It’s the right Julia. She accused her father of impregnating her and had a baby thirty-two years ago.
Thirty-two years ago? What about the newspaper article I sent where she put her baby at age thirty?
She wasn’t being specific when she made that statement. I checked first thing and was able to verify the date through her testimony at her father’s trial. Her baby would be thirty-two.
Ellie sighed. There wasn’t any discrepancy on the dates after all.
“What’d she say?” Hudson asked as he pulled on a shirt.
“She said it’s the right Julia.”
He gestured toward her phone. “Could that really be the woman who gave me life?”
She knew he was referring to the video and Julia’s less-than-stellar behavior, which seemed especially bad since she’d been acting like that in front of her children. “We’re going to find out.”
“At least she’s not sick.”
“True.”
He caught her arm. “You don’t seem pleased by the news.”
She’d been holding out hope that Hudson wasn’t really Julia’s child. “I’m relieved she’s not sick,” she said. And not only because of the money. After what he’d been through with Aaron, she was glad Hudson wouldn’t be subjected to the difficult emotions of that struggle. Especially if Julia was his mother, which now seemed more likely than ever.
* * *
“I can’t put Ellie through that,” Hudson told Bruiser, using his Bluetooth the next day as he got onto the freeway heading toward Orange County. The results of the DNA test Ellie had delivered to the lab were due anytime. He wanted to sit by the phone with her. But since he was in town, he’d promised Craig that he’d do some media stuff, including a visit with some sick kids at a nearby hospital.
“Wait. You just said Julia wasn’t on her deathbed.”
“She’s not.”
“But I thought that was the only thing that could change your mind.”
He accelerated as he switched lanes. “She doesn’t look sick to me. But I have Ellie to think about now. And our child. I don’t want her to be embarrassed, and I sure as hell don’t want our son growing up with this story being bandied about in the press every time my name’s mentioned.”
“Things seem to have changed a great deal between you and Ellie in the past week or so,” Bruiser said.
Hudson had to slow for traffic. “I’d rather not talk about Ellie.”
“Still? Why?”
“I’ve never felt like this about anyone else. I’m afraid to jinx it.”
“Stop being so superstitious,” Bruiser said with a chuckle. “Nothing can jinx it. She’s in love with you.”
“All the more reason I should act to protect her.”
“Ellie wouldn’t want you to give him the money for her sake.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know what’s good for her.”
“And maybe she does. Trust her, Hudson. Her love is tougher than you think.”
“That would be a pleasant surprise,” he said, since he had no experience with love that could endure.
He and Bruiser talked about a few other things—his dinner with Craig and how Craig kept asking him for favors—but as soon as he reached his exit, he got off the phone. He needed to use his GPS to navigate since he’d never been to this particular hospital.
He was just pulling into the parking lot when he got a call from Samuel Jones.
Seeing the private detective’s name pop up on caller ID made Hudson wish he had the results of the DNA test with that cigarette butt. But he didn’t, so he had to proceed without that information. After checking his watch to make sure he had a few minutes, he hit Answer. “What’s going on now?”
“Good news,” Jones replied.
Hudson angled his Porsche into a parking space and cut the engine. “Did you say good news?”
