Chapter 17 - THE KIT
Adam's old apartment had been cleared after the accident.
Ryan knew that.
He had helped.
Boxes went to Evelyn.
Tools went to Ryan.
Clothes were donated.
Documents were sorted by Grant.
At least that was what Ryan remembered.
Evelyn remembered differently.
“There were three boxes your father told me not to open.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Where are they?”
Her face changed.
“The basement.”
Of course.
Everything in the Hayes family eventually ended up in a basement, drawer, account, or envelope nobody was supposed to open.
Ryan followed her downstairs.
Evelyn stopped in front of a metal shelving unit.
Three gray storage bins.
ADAM — TAX.
ADAM — WORK.
ADAM — PERSONAL.
Ryan looked at his mother.
“You knew these were here.”
“Yes.”
“You never checked them?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Evelyn almost smiled.
“Because apparently avoiding difficult information is hereditary.”
Ryan didn't laugh.
They opened PERSONAL.
Photographs.
Old concert tickets.
A cracked watch.
Two birthday cards from Ryan.
Then Ryan found a pharmacy bag.
Inside:
A sealed DNA collection kit.
Expired.
Ryan's chest tightened.
Evelyn sat down.
“He bought one.”
“Looks like it.”
The kit had two cheek-swab packets.
One labeled ADULT.
One labeled CHILD.
Unused.
Ryan checked the date.
Six days after Lily was born.
“He didn't use this one.”
Evelyn looked relieved.
Ryan wasn't.
He kept searching.
At the bottom of the bin was an envelope from a laboratory in Maryland.
Opened.
Empty.
Ryan turned it over.
“Mom.”
“I've never seen it.”
The printed date was three weeks after Lily's birth.
Different company.
Different test.
Ryan pulled out his phone.
The lab still existed.
He called.
Privacy rules ended the conversation quickly.
Adam was dead.
Ryan wasn't the account holder.
No records without legal authorization.
Ryan expected frustration.
Instead he felt oddly calm.
There were procedures.
So he followed them.
Nora's attorney helped.
Adam's estate attorney confirmed Ryan was next of kin after Evelyn for certain archived records.
Two days later, the lab agreed to search.
Three days after that, Ryan received a secure email.
One file.
PATERNITY EXCLUSION REPORT.
Ryan stared at the screen.
Tested adult:
ADAM HAYES.
Tested child:
LILY SHAW.
Conclusion:
ADAM HAYES IS EXCLUDED AS THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
Ryan read the collection date.
Lily had been seventeen days old.
Seventeen days.
Adam knew.
Not suspected.
Not wondered.
Knew.
Ryan scrolled lower.
The test had been ordered by:
ADAM HAYES.
Results copied to:
GRANT HAYES.
Ryan stopped breathing normally.
His father had known too.
Five years ago.
Within seventeen days of Lily's birth.
Grant had known Adam wasn't the father.
Which meant when Grant later built the financial arrangement around Mara...
he wasn't protecting two possible sons.
May you like
He was protecting one.
Ryan.
