and fixed her skirt. He almost thanked her for covering herself. For reasons he didn’t want to explore, his body reacted to hers in the most basic male way it could react. It was purely a lust thing. No doubt about it. But he didn’t even want lust playing into this.
He wanted no connection whatsoever with this woman.
She plowed both hands through the sides of her short choppy blond hair and took several harsh breaths. “If I weren’t on the receiving end of these thug tactics, it might please me to know that you’re going to such great lengths to take care of William. You’re making sure he isn’t kidnapped by someone out to earn a quick buck. But how about you just hear me out before you start tossing around any more accusations?”
He gestured for her to go ahead. But hopefully the scowl on his face would let her know that her explanation meant nothing.
“Thirteen months ago, on October eighth, I had a son, and four days later, I left the birthing center with the child I thought was mine.” Her bottom lip started to tremble, and tears glistened in her eyes. She quickly blinked them back. “This isn’t easy for me. I love my son, Joseph, more than life itself. And he’s all I have.”
He nodded. Nick could understand that. He felt the same way about William.
She returned his nod. “I’m not asking for sympathy, even though heaven knows I might need some before this over. Still, I don’t expect I’ll get it from you.” Rather than look at him, she stared at the mural behind him. “About a week ago, I got a visit from a woman named Collena Drake. She’s been going through files and records from an illegal adoption ring that the San Antonio police uncovered and stopped. Collena found a memo indicating that someone paid for two babies to be swapped at Brighton.”
Nick shrugged. “Why would anyone pay for something like that?”
She paused. Seemingly to steady her breath. But that pause didn’t do much to steady him.
Hell.
Nick didn’t like where she seemed to be going with this, but he reminded himself that she was almost certainly a liar.
“I have no idea why someone would want to switch babies, but I can’t dismiss that it happened. In fact, I have some proof that it did.”
“What proof?” he fired at her, feeling more and more uncomfortable with this whole conversation.
“My late husband and I had the same blood type,” she continued. She moistened her lips. “Joseph doesn’t. And before you ask—no, I didn’t cheat on my husband. In fact, he’s the only man I’ve ever had sex with.”
Nick had conditioned himself not to respond instinctively to anything, but this was testing the limits of his training. “And why would you think any of this would be of the slightest interest to me?”
Kelly Manning looked him straight in the eye. “Because it’s my guess that William and Joseph were the babies who were switched.”
After getting past the initial punch of shock, he gave that some thought, looking for a flaw in her theory, and he found one immediately. “There were probably dozens of babies born on that day.”
“Five boys,” she quickly furnished. “I’ve checked all of them. Either through blood type or ethnicity, I was able to rule them out. Except for William. He’s the last name on my list.”
It was a good attempt to get him to believe her. Very good. But it didn’t work. “If you suspected a baby switch, why didn’t you just go to the police?”
She flinched. Yet more of the proof that Nick was looking for. Well, maybe it was proof. If so, now he had to wonder why she was doing it. Money, maybe? Or maybe she really did work for his brother.
“Put yourself in my place,” Kelly Manning explained. “My husband, a police officer, was shot and killed when I was barely two weeks pregnant, and then I learned the child—our child—wasn’t really ours after all. I was afraid the police or social services would take Joseph from me until they could investigate what happened. So, I decided to try to get to the truth on my own.”
There was more to it. He’d bet his life on it, but Nick didn’t push it because frankly it didn’t matter. “If you carry this illogical speculation out to its equally illogical conclusion, then you’re saying that this baby, Joseph, is really Meredith’s biological son?”
“I think so, yes.” Her gaze snapped to his. “But she’s dead so she can’t take him away from me. And I checked—she has no living relatives. None. That’s why you agreed to raise William, right?”
Nick didn’t bother to answer that. It wasn’t any of this woman’s business that he’d felt an obligation to his former lover.
Kelly stared at him. “You don’t believe a word I’ve said, do you?”
“You’re a very perceptive woman. Which makes me wonder why you came here with this outlandish story in the first place. Did my brother, Eric, put you up to it?”
“No!” She repeated it, groaned and slapped her hand against the wall. “I don’t even know your brother. And I didn’t come here to kidnap a baby or do anything else that would harm him.” The outburst was short-lived, but it seemed to drain her. Her chin lowered a notch, and she turned away from him. “I just want to know the truth, all right? I want to know for certain if William is my son.”
He heard her breath shudder again. He heard the pain. And he saw her wipe the tear from her cheek. She was either a very good actress, or else…
Nick put a chokehold on that particular thought. He didn’t intend to give her any concessions until he had that background check from Cooper.
“All I’m asking for is a DNA test,” she said almost in a whisper. “A simple saliva swab.”
“That’s not going to happen. Not until I know more about you. And even then…”
Her sigh was long and weary. “Then just listen and do the math yourself. My late husband and I are both O negative. That means our child must be type O, as well. Notice the operative word there. Must.” She paused a moment. “Joseph is type B. B negative, to be exact.” Another pause. “So, this is more than a wild guess, but William has type O blood, doesn’t he?”
He did.
So did millions of people.
However, that wasn’t what sent Nick’s mind racing and his heart pounding. It was the added remark his visitor had tossed out there. The other child’s blood type.
B Negative.
Nick’s own rare blood type.
His mind continued to race until the possibilities crashed down on him like an avalanche.
If Meredith had lied to him. If his first instincts had been right after all. If she had indeed been pregnant with his child when she walked out and left him.
Then, maybe he had a son.
If that were true, then he would certainly come face-to-face with his worst nightmare.
Because any son of his would automatically
