by Brenda Novak
“Yeah. I made it to Arizona and spoke with Matisson.”
“And?”
“I told him he can’t expect you to part with so much money, not without giving you something in return. So he’s agreed to provide the proof you requested.”
“Are you saying he’s going to let me meet Julia? Talk to her?”
“No, he can’t do that. Like I told you before, he’s afraid she’ll guess the truth. But he said he’d email you her medical records. And I got a swab of her DNA, so we can test you against both of them.”
Hudson rocked back in his seat. What the hell was going on? “You’ve seen her?”
“I have,” he replied. “Left the hospital only a few minutes ago. That’s how I got her DNA.”
Hudson put his phone on speaker so he could scroll through the pictures Ellie had forwarded to him yesterday. “How long has she been bedridden?”
“I don’t know. A couple of weeks or more. Pancreatic cancer is serious shit.”
Hudson knew that. But how could they be talking about the same woman? He had a copy of the video that was taken yesterday morning, which showed Julia striking a guy who was probably her boyfriend, given what she was shrieking about another woman.
“Hudson? You still there?”
Hudson scratched his head as he swiped through Julia’s pics yet again. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“I have good news on the DNA tests, too,” Jones told him. “I’m going to deliver the kits to a lab here in Phoenix for testing. They’ve promised they’ll put them first in line. We should have an answer by tomorrow.”
Hudson pinched the bridge of his nose. Either his private investigator or Ellie’s had to be wrong—and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew which one was lying. “Sounds good,” he said. “Call me as soon as you get word.”
“I will, but...there is a bit of bad news.”
Although he was still in his car, Hudson straightened his leg so he could shove his keys in his pocket. “What’s the bad news?”
“Matisson’s demanding $2 million now.”
Hudson remained silent for so long, Jones cleared his throat.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, right? You’ve got the money.”
Although Hudson felt his muscles tighten, he tried not to let his anger leak into his voice. “Yeah, I’ve got the money.”
“Great. I’ll email you wiring instructions. Once you receive the proof, you’ll have twenty-four hours to move the money into Matisson’s account. Understand?”
Hudson stared out across the parking lot, but he wasn’t really seeing anything. He was remembering how much it had bothered him that Jones would be stupid enough to hand Matisson his card. “I understand.”
“You’ll have everything sometime tomorrow, so be ready with the money,” Jones reiterated and disconnected.
Hudson sat still for several seconds. Then he called Ellie.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. She was obviously surprised to hear from him, since he’d just left her.
“Jones is in on it,” he said.
“On what?”
“The blackmail. I believe he’s the one who’s behind it.”
“Are you serious?”
He told her what Jones had said about Julia being in the hospital.
“He’s lying. He’s got to be lying. He’s probably not even in Arizona.”
“I’m guessing once he figured out who Matisson was, he realized how badly I wouldn’t want that information to come out and decided to take me for more than his usual fee.”
“So he set it all up with Matisson—they’re in it together.”
“Have to be. Can you imagine a guy like Matisson—someone who doesn’t blink at sleeping with his own daughter and tossing her child away like trash—turning down the chance to make an easy mil?” Or two? Remembering how coolly Jones had raised the price made Hudson’s blood boil. “I bet he’s the one who gave Matisson my address in the first place. Not some poor local.”
“Wow,” she said on a long exhalation.
“He might even be the one who made up that part about Julia being on her deathbed as a way to twist my arm.”
“But he has to know it wouldn’t be all that difficult for you to check...”
“I’m sure he was banking on the fact that if I asked anyone to verify Matisson’s claims, it would be him. He’s a PI, after all. His plan might’ve worked if you hadn’t hired Shelly Gomez. He didn’t see that coming.”
“Thank God for her.”
“Thank God for you.” A final glance at his watch told him he had to go or he’d be late.
“You would’ve found out,” Ellie said.
“Probably not in time.”
“So what kind of proof are they going to offer?” she asked.
He got out and hurried toward the entrance. “We’ll see soon enough.”
“Falsifying records—convincingly—wouldn’t be easy for a low-level crook like Matisson,” she said.
“But it wouldn’t be hard for Jones.”
“True. That means whatever they send will say there’s a match whether you’re related to him or not.”
“I know—but because you found that cigarette butt, we’ve got our own test.”
“If that butt really belonged to Matisson. We don’t have any guarantees there.”
None of his gardeners smoked. He’d never seen another butt around his house. But if the tests weren’t consistent, they’d have to take a third one. “So we’ll get the police involved and force an in-person test to determine, once and for all, if there’s any relation between us.”
“You do that, and this thing will go public for sure.”
“Then they won’t have anything to blackmail me with.”
“You’ll still have to deal with the humiliation you’ve been trying to avoid.”
“Which is why I’m praying your test has the right sample and comes back negative.”
“Yikes. I hope you won’t blame me if this all blows up.”
He thought of her in the shower with him this morning, the way he’d enjoyed touching her and kissing her even though they’d already made love. It reminded him that she was different from all the other women he’d known. He was going to ask her to be his wife. “I won’t. We’re in this together, remember?”
Her voice softened. “Yeah, I remember.”
They ended the call, and he found the entrance to the hospital.
“Hudson, there you are!” Craig said as soon as Hudson opened the front door and the media reporters who’d been waiting with him came rushing forward.
27
Hudson didn’t get home for several hours. “Sorry I was gone so long,” he said as Ellie slipped into his arms to welcome him. “That was a bigger deal than I was expecting.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad you could visit those kids. I’m betting it meant a lot to them. And I’ve been busy, anyway.”
“Doing what?”
“Working out,” she said proudly.
“You?” he asked, joking.
“Yes, me!” She gave his arm a playful slug. “Why does that surprise you?”
“I guess there’s a first for everything.”
She rolled her eyes. “Have you heard from Aaron?”
“Just talked to him on the drive home.”
“How’s he doing? He can’t be happy that you got called out of town so suddenly.”
He tossed his keys from hand to hand. “He’s doing great. He understands that I have my own life to lead and can’t be at New Horizons all the time.”
“Any more news on his condition?” Ellie was almost afraid to ask, especially
today, when Hudson was already so wound up, but he’d said Aaron was doing better lately, so she thought it might be okay...
“I talked to Aiyana, too. She told me the doc thinks the cancer’s in remission. They’ll keep checking him, of course—once a year. It could crop up again.”
“But for now he’s in the clear?”
“That’s the latest,” Hudson said. “Any news from the lab?”
She glanced at her phone as she’d been doing all day. “Not yet.”
“Have you tried calling them?”
“I have. They say they’re working on it.”
“Do they close at five?”
She nodded. That meant they had two hours before the end of the day.
“Let’s go grab an early dinner. Maybe that’ll make the time pass more quickly. There are a lot of good restaurants in LA I can introduce you to.”
She went to put on her shoes and get her purse. When she returned, she was surprised to find Hudson looking at her with a strange expression. “What is it?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not ready to eat—unless you’re hungry.”
“I had lunch a couple of hours ago, so I’m in no rush. What would you rather do?”
“Look for a ring.”
“A ring?”
He took her hands and pulled her close. “If you’ll marry me...”
Ellie felt her jaw drop. “You’re proposing? Right now?”
“I should’ve waited. Planned something special, but... I don’t know. I can’t delay gratification on this.”
She gently touched his cheek.
“Is that a yes?” he asked. “Because I’d really like to hear you say the words.”
“That’s a yes,” she said. “I love you. I’ve told you that.”
“Do you know what the next few weeks—what football season—will be like if Matisson is my father? The media storm if that comes out?”
“Doesn’t change anything.”
She saw his chest lift as he took in a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go buy you a diamond.”
If she’d made a mistake by falling in love with Hudson, she was only making it worse by pledging the rest of her life to him. But she could no longer believe that loving him was a mistake. Sure, there’d be hard times, but every marriage had those. She felt they were meant to be together, that she was the luckiest woman in the world to have found him. “When would you like to have the ceremony?”
“I don’t care—as long as it’s before the baby comes.”
“That only gives us a couple months! And it puts me in a wedding dress looking like this!” She pressed her hands to her pregnant stomach.
“You look gorgeous to me.”
“This isn’t how I want to be seen as a bride!”
“Do you really mind that much? Because I always wanted a traditional family, so that’s what I’d like to give our baby.”
“It’s not just putting on a wedding dress while I’m in my final trimester, Hudson. Do you feel confident making this commitment? There’s no rush. Don’t marry me unless you’re sure you love me. Why not wait until we’ve been together a year or two? See how it goes?”
He raised her chin with one finger. “I’ll be honest, Ellie. I’m not sure what love is. I guess that’s why I haven’t said the words. But if it’s feeling as if I can’t wait to see you whenever we’re apart, then I love you. If it’s wanting to touch you constantly, even if we just had sex, then I love you.” His voice dropped as he grew more earnest. “If it’s feeling like I’d rather die than let anything happen to you, then I love you.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. The answer is yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you dressed in a tent, if that’s all that’ll fit me.”
He couldn’t help chuckling as she rose up on tiptoe to kiss him. “We can always wait to have the reception until later.”
* * *
Ellie had gravitated to the side of the store that displayed the less expensive, modest-size diamonds. She’d said she didn’t see any reason to waste money or buy anything ostentatious, but Hudson refused to let her be conservative about this. Now that he’d found the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with, he planned to give her everything he could—and that included a giant, three-carat round-cut solitaire.
“Someone’s going to murder me for my ring,” she muttered as they left the jeweler’s, but Hudson could tell she was secretly thrilled. That she would’ve been satisfied with less, that she didn’t demand expensive things, made it so much more fun to splurge on her. She’d smiled shyly and blushed when the jeweler had encouraged her to try on the ring he’d ended up purchasing. But then she’d stared at it as if she’d never seen anything quite that beautiful before. So even though, once she heard the price, she took it off immediately and handed it back, Hudson had ignored her protests and bought it, anyway.
“Are you positive this whole marriage thing isn’t just a reaction to the fear and stress you’re feeling?” she asked as they drove home.
“I’m positive.”
She kept glancing at the rock on her left hand as if she thought it might disappear if she didn’t keep an eye on it. “Still, I don’t think we should’ve bought a ring that costs as much as a house. What if you decide to give Matisson that ransom? You might need the money.”
“Quit worrying. I’ve got this.”
“But I’m not working. I can’t contribute anything right now.”
“You’re carrying our baby. That’s your contribution. Even if you weren’t pregnant, you wouldn’t need to work. You won’t ever need to work.”
She bit her lip. “What if I want to? That won’t bother you, will it?”
His incredulous look told her she was crazy to even ask. “Why would it?”
“Because it might make me less available and unable to travel with you.”
“I’m not going to demand that you sacrifice what you love just because we’re getting married. Besides, I’m proud of what you do.”
“Okay.” She held her hand out. “Jeez, this is huge. It’s hard to imagine being as rich as you are. Please tell me you won’t spoil Garrison.”
“Garrison? That’s the name we’re going with?”
“Do you still like it?”
“I do. But I can’t promise I won’t spoil him. I’ll probably spoil both of you.”
Her phone rang before she could respond. “Oh, my gosh, it’s the lab!”
He pulled to the side of the road because his heart was beating like a piston. “Is it a match?”
She signaled for him to be quiet so she could hear the technician. “But you said you’d have it today...So when will it be?...You’re sure? I can’t tell you how important this is...I understand...Fine...Tomorrow, then.”
“Well?” Hudson said when she was off the phone. “What’d he say?”
“One of their technicians went home sick this morning. This guy—Dane something—thought he’d be able to get to it, but he couldn’t. Promised me he’d call with the results tomorrow.”
Hudson let go of a long sigh. “Damn. More waiting.”
“Just one more day.” She was obviously trying to encourage him, but he could tell it sounded like an eternity to her, too.
* * *
It wasn’t until eleven that night that Hudson received the “proof” and wiring instructions in an email from Samuel Jones. Those documents—and the fact that Jones would try to cheat him, especially in such a devious way—made him so angry he knew he’d never be able to sleep.
“Wait till I get my hands on him,” he said as he paced in the living room where he and Ellie had been watching a movie. “Even if Matisson is my father, Jones is going to be sorry he tried to cash in on my misfortune.”
“He sees you as having more mo
ney than you can spend. He probably doesn’t even feel bad about it,” Ellie said.
“I’m going to make sure he feels bad. I’ll invite him over to get the money. Then I’ll show him what happens to guys who—”
“Hudson,” she broke in, “you can’t touch him or you’ll be the one who goes to jail. And you don’t need that. You don’t need the negative press you’d get from breaking his jaw, either.” She made a fist with her small hand. “But I wish we could ambush him. I bet it would hurt if I hit him with this rock.”
Hudson couldn’t laugh, although he knew she was trying to get him to relax. “You stay away from him. With my luck, he’d kidnap you and hold you for ransom.” He glared down at the DNA results he’d printed out that were supposedly from some lab in Arizona. “Based on testing results obtained from the analyses of the DNA loci listed, the probability of paternity is 99.9998 percent.” He had one for Julia’s supposed maternity, too. Those documents turned his stomach, even though he’d expected whatever Jones sent to signify a match—to both people. “We know Julia’s medical records are bogus. But are these results real?”
“Anyone could make a document like that,” Ellie told him, “and put whatever lab name and address on top, then turn it into a pdf file. There are samples of paternity test results online. I checked earlier, while you were on the phone, hoping I’d be able to spot an obvious fraud when these arrived.”
“And?”
“It’s not that easy. He did a nice job.”
“Good thing we’re double-checking him.”
“Yes, but I’m glad he doesn’t know that. If he did, I doubt he would’ve sent these, since they’ll provide strong evidence against him if he’s lying.”
That was probably why he’d tried to get the money without any documentation...
Hudson thumbed through the medical records Jones had sent along with the results of both DNA tests. “These look legit, too.”
“I wonder if he had Matisson ask Julia to request her medical records. Then he added in the pancreatic cancer diagnosis, as well as the medications.” She frowned. “On second thought, I bet he downloaded the sample medical record of a cancer patient from the internet and changed out all the personal information to make it coincide with Julia’s. How else would he know the names of the medications—and the dosages and so on?”
