Chapter 19 - KAREN'S VERSION
Karen did not deny it.
That surprised me.
She agreed to meet in Melissa's office the next morning.
No lawyer.
No dramatic entrance.
She sat down and looked directly at Claire.
“I should have told you.”
Claire didn't respond.
Karen turned to me.
“I should have told both of you.”
I wanted to be angry.
I was.
But I had learned anger worked better after facts.
“What happened?”
Karen folded her hands.
“Judith approached me before Noah was conceived.”
“You worked for her.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the embryo belonged to us.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would you agree?”
Karen looked ashamed.
“Because I was forty-one.”
That wasn't an answer.
Then she gave the rest.
Two failed IVF cycles.
No remaining embryos.
A divorce that had ended partly because of infertility.
Judith knew.
Judith always knew where people hurt.
“She told me you had abandoned the remaining embryos.”
Claire shook her head immediately.
“We hadn't.”
“I know that now.”
“You worked in the clinic.”
“I was in embryology. I didn't handle your consent counseling.”
Karen looked down.
“Judith showed me a disposition form.”
Forged.
Probably Paul's work.
It stated the remaining embryos could be donated to clinic personnel for reproductive use.
Karen believed it.
Or wanted to.
That distinction had become familiar in our family.
“What stopped the transfer?”
Karen looked at me.
“I did.”
I hadn't expected that.
She continued.
“The morning of the procedure, I asked to see the original donation consent.”
Judith refused.
Karen cancelled.
“Why?”
“Because something felt wrong.”
Claire's voice hardened.
“Something felt wrong the morning they were about to put my embryo inside you?”
Karen accepted it.
“Yes.”
“What happened to H-417B?”
“I thought it went back to storage.”
“It didn't.”
Karen frowned.
“What?”
Melissa showed her the ledger.
For the first time, Karen looked genuinely frightened.
“That's impossible.”
I leaned forward.
“You've used that word before.”
She ignored me.
“After I cancelled, Judith told me she would return it herself.”
“Did you see her?”
“No.”
“Did you see the tank?”
“Yes.”
That mattered.
“What kind?”
Karen described a portable cryogenic shipper.
Serial number recorded on the transfer log.
Melissa had already traced it.
Owned by Riverbend.
Returned eleven days later.
Empty.
Karen stared at the document.
“I didn't know.”
I believed her.
Not completely.
Enough.
Then Claire asked the question.
“Why didn't you tell investigators about the cancelled transfer?”
Karen closed her eyes.
“Because I was ashamed.”
Again.
Always shame.
Karen had eventually helped expose Judith.
She had testified.
Cooperated.
Told the truth about Noah and Maya.
But she left out the one part that made her look less heroic.
I stood.
Melissa said my name.
I didn't leave.
I just needed distance.
Karen looked at Claire.
“I am sorry.”
Claire stared at her.
Then said:
“You don't get points because you stopped before the last step.”
Karen nodded.
“I know.”
I looked at Melissa.
“Where did that tank go during those eleven days?”
She slid another record across the table.
The shipper had been scanned once.
A courier depot.
Cincinnati.
The destination field contained only a company name.
FAMILY PATHWAYS.
Lauren, Maya's mother, lived near Cincinnati.
May you like
But Family Pathways was not Lauren's clinic.
It was an adoption agency.
