Page 7 of Lie for a Million

“Sure.” She was wearing a black tee that outlined her swollen breasts.

Lila slid into the booth and ordered a Coke with lemon from a passing server. “Just a few questions for now,” she said, skipping the usual pleasantries. “How far along are you?”

“I took one of those drugstore tests last week,” she said. “I’m already getting morning sickness, so I figure about three months. Once I start to show I’ll probably have to quit my job. That’s when I’m really going to need help.”

“And what’s your job?” Lila asked.

“I’m a hostess at the Jackalope Saloon down the street. That’s where I met Frank.”

“And you’re sure your baby is his?” Lila forced each word.

“Oh, absolutely. Whatever you might think, I’m not a tramp. I loved Frank. He was . . . the only one.”

“Did Frank know about the baby?”

She shook her head. “I was going to tell him, but . . . you know.” Her voice broke in a muffled sob. “Now I don’t know what to do.”

Was she grief-stricken or just acting? Lila took a deep breath. “Now comes the big question. Are you willing to submit to a paternity test?”

A startled look flashed across her face. “Can they do that—even before the baby’s born?”

“It’s done all the time these days.” Lila squeezed the lemon slice into the Coke that the server had left. Sipping the drink, she studied Crystal’s reaction. After a moment, she took a business card out of her purse. “Here’s the number and address of a doctor in Abilene. He’s agreed to take the sample and set up the test. I will pay, of course, and furnish a sample of Frank’s DNA. He’ll phone me with the results. If it’s a match, then we’ll talk. If not, we’re done. Give him a call. All right?”

Crystal looked confused. “But won’t it hurt the baby? And what about me? I’ll have to miss work to drive to Abilene. I know the baby is Frank’s. Can’t you just take my word for it?”

Holding back a storm of rage, contempt, and fear, Lila laid a $10 bill on the table for the drinks, slid out of the booth, and stood. Given free rein, she would have grabbed Crystal by the shoulders and shaken some sense into her. Instead, she kept her icy demeanor.

“Miss Carter, until you take that paternity test, this conversation is finished. If the baby is Frank’s, I’ll contact you. Otherwise, you and I will have nothing more to say to each other. Do you understand?”

Crystal’s chin quivered slightly. “Do you need my phone number?”

“I already have it.” Fighting her emotions, Lila turned away from the table, left the restaurant, and drove away in her car.

She had hoped to get some answers from Crystal. But she’d only come away with more questions. Was the young woman as naïve as she’d appeared to be? Had she loved Frank or simply seized on a rare opportunity? Was he really, as she’d claimed, the only one?

For now, all Lila could do was wait for the results of the paternity test.

* * *

By the time Crystal finished her Coke, the lunchtime customers were arriving. For a moment she was tempted to pocket the money Lila Culhane had left for the drinks. But someone could be watching, and she didn’t need that kind of trouble.

She left the restaurant and then climbed into the beat-up blue Hyundai parked at the curb. Earlier, she’d glimpsed the white Porsche through the window. Lila, that cold bitch, had everything. The lady was a real ice queen—probably that way in bed, too. But in the end, Frank had found a woman who could give him the love he needed.

When she turned the spare key she’d found, the Hyundai’s engine coughed to life. The car, which needed a valve job and a muffler, wasn’t hers. Judd, her ex-boyfriend, wouldn’t need it until he got out of jail—if he got out. Dealing crack could get him months, even years, behind bars.

By the time he got out, she wouldn’t need his crappy car anymore. She would be sitting on a pile of money—unless her baby turned out to be not Frank’s but Judd’s.

She shifted down and pulled away from the curb, her sweating hands locked on the wheel. Why hadn’t she been aware that the paternity test could be done so soon? She’d hoped for more time to get help from Frank’s family, maybe a new car and a decent place to live. The reckoning wasn’t supposed to come until the baby was born. By then, even if the DNA wasn’t a match to Frank’s, she would have gained something.

But that time window had closed. Lila wanted proof now. Unless the test proved that Crystal was carrying a Culhane, Frank’s widow wouldn’t even talk to her.

If Frank was the father, that would put Crystal in a strong bargaining position. Lila would want that baby, or at least want to see it well cared for. With luck, she’d be willing to pay.

But if the kid was Judd’s, that would be the end of her hopes. Crystal didn’t want Judd’s baby. She didn’t want to have it or raise it. She would have a decision to make.

What were the odds? She hadn’t slept with Judd after she’d hooked up with Frank. But the last time had been close enough for the count. Her periods had never been regular. And she’d never bothered with birth control. Too expensive and too much bother.

There was one thing she needed to do. She had never made a clean break with Judd. Now that Frank was gone, Judd could be expecting her to come back to him. She needed to see him one last time, to make him understand that they were through.

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