Page 66 of Good and Gone

"Nor am I."

"So what? You wanted out, and you figured I was your ticket?"

"It's not like that."

"I'm sure it isn't," I say. I take a long sip of coffee. “But anyway,” I tell her, knowing I’ll catch more flies with honey, “I didn’t come to meet to discuss any of that.”

Her brows raise. "Why did you agree to meet?"

“I want to know who delivered your baby.”

“Why do you ask?” Her eyes narrow. “I’m guessing you're not looking for a recommendation.”

“Don't you think all those children out there deserve to know the truth about who they are? About where they came from?”

Rose shrugs. "They were donor babies."

"Not exactly, though, right?"

"Guess it depends on how you look at it."

"And you don't want to find any of the children you gave birth to?"

Again, she shrugs. "What good would it do to go ruining people's lives?"

"You tell me."

"I want to know where JD is and whether I need to be looking over my shoulder. I want peace of mind, Hailey. Also, he's my son's father. I have a right to know.Hehas a right to know."

“Do you hear yourself, Rose? You literally contradicted everything you just said.”

"It's different. Those people wanted a child, and they got one. Why mess that up?”

I feel the rage building inside, and I take a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “If you’d have given me Mark Simpson’s name in the first place—or JD’s—my family would not be in the situation we’re in. We’d be free, Rose. But we’re not.”

“No,” Rose says. “They’d be in prison.Maybe.But you and I? We’d still be looking over our shoulders.”

I can’t really argue with her on that. “Still,” I say. “Those women and their children—theyhave a right to know, too, Rose.”

“What are you going to do? Break apart families? Rip children out of their homes? You, of all people, should know what that's like.”

"I think what you're really saying is you don't want to go to prison."

"Why would I go to prison?"

"For aiding and abetting human traffickers, for one."

"Weird," she says. "Because your husband murdered a man, maybe two, and he's walking around scot free."

"It's not the same thing, Rose."

She smiles. "Isn't it?"

50

Tyler

It feels like I’m riding a seesaw on the edge of a cliff, like things could go either way. There’s that saying that the wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine, and I believe it. Also, it works both ways. Whether you’re guilty or innocent, it appears nothing in the court of law happens swiftly. Which is all to say, we are still waiting to see whether the DA intends to file charges against me.

---