Page 65 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"Negative," I whispered finally. "The results came out negative. I'm not related to Gavin Clarke."
Those were the last words I expected to say. I almost couldn't believe I was hearing them from my own mouth. This wassupposed to be the one answer I got that would settle one big question. Science would tell me I was his daughter and somehow we'd figure out the rest of it.
But science gave me nothing but cold words on a bright screen. Negative. Like that wouldn't shatter me right down to my bones. I thought I found myself, but it turned out I was as lost as ever.
"Wait, what?" Fiona was the first to break the shocked silence that followed my words. "You're not?" She reached over to take the phone from my hand and read it for herself. "This doesn't make any sense." She blinked a couple of times, but read the email over again.
"So you're not Coral Clarke?" Holly asked, her lips apart in confusion. "But we all saw the photo."
"Yeah, we did," Whitney said. "It was definitely Leah in that photo." She seemed to be thinking hard, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together even though most of the pieces were missing. As if somehow it could still match the picture on the box if she kept trying.
"What bullshit is this?" Connor asked. He stared at my phone like it insulted him personally. Or the DNA lab had. If anyone would storm down there and demand an explanation, it would be him, but what would be the point? The results were what they were. He didn't like it, but science had spoken.
I glanced over to Josiah. His tanned face was slightly paler than usual. "I don't know what this means." The last thing I wanted was for people to start pointing fingers at him again just because of this. Whatever was going on here didn't change what happened that day. It didn't change the fact he didn't let a little girl die. If anyone was going to suggest otherwise, they'd have to go through me first. Including anyone in this room.
He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. "I don't know either. It doesn't change what I saw."
"I know," I said. "It raises more questions."
"Are you going to speak to Gavin?" Fiona placed my phone down on the table.
I considered for a moment before dismissing the idea. As rattled as I was, I had enough sense not to create more trouble for him.
"He's been through enough. Whatever's going on here, my mother might have the answers. I'm going to have to go down and speak to her, face-to-face." She wasn't going to like it, but there was no other way. The only chance I had to resolve this was to ask her in person.
"We'll come with you," Riley said immediately.
"You have work," I reminded him.
"Not if we go tomorrow," Connor said. "We don't have any tours booked for Monday."
"And the pub is closed," Brooks added. "I'm not letting you confront her unless I'm there too."
"Me either," Josiah said softly. "I can get away from the lodge for a while. I'm owed a bunch of sick days."
Whitney leaned forward, her elbows on the table. "You better keep us updated with everything. If I wasn't working tomorrow, I'd be right there with you."
"We will," I assured her. She'd call and text every chance she got if we didn't fill her in regularly. Fiona and Holly too. They'd become almost as invested in this as me. They all had.
"We'll leave first thing," Connor said. He turned to Brooks. "Don't say anything to your dad. I want to see the expression on their faces when Leah asks about all of this."
Brooks rolled his eyes. "No shit, Sherlock. I could have told you that."
"Yeah, well you didn't," Connor said with a shrug. "So I did."
"Are you going to be at each other's throats the entire time?" I asked. "Because I'll leave you behind if you are."
Connor turned his glare on me. "The hell you will. Don't make me tie you up so you can't leave."
Riley grinned. "Can we do that anyway?"
Whitney threw her hands over her eyes. "Can we have this conversation when I'm not here?”
"What are you doing?" Connor asked her. "You know you can still hear us with your hands over your eyes, right?"
"I can pretend." She peeked at us from between her fingers.
Riley chuckled. "I remember that time we were watching a horror movie and you covered your ears, but kept on watching."
