Page 102 of Forged in Steele

“Luna.” He pointed at the carrier. “Or so her mother called her, but that’ll be changing. She’s my child, and there’s no mistake about it.”

“That’s impossible,” Bristol said. “I met her father at the hospital.”

He raised his shoulders. “You met the man that Sonya claims is her baby’s father, but I’m the dad.”

“How?”

“How do you think?” He laughed. “We work for the same company, and I was in town for a week. One day she was all upset over failing in vitro again. My wife was having a hard time conceiving too, so I could empathize with her. I took her out after work, and we got drunk together. Ended up in a one-night stand. And now, nine months later, here’s our child.”

Seemed like quite a reach. “Did Sonya tell you that?”

“Nah. We agreed to never speak again after the fling. No point in breaking up our marriages.”

“Then how did you know about Luna?” Bristol asked.

“Social media. Sonya posted a picture of the baby, and her ears gave it away.” He reached up to tug on his earlobe. “Connected earlobes just like the baby. Thanks to my genetics class in school, I know with neither Sonya nor her husband having that trait, she has to be mine.”

Bristol had read genetic studies in the past, and the facts he claimed were in question, but it was a possibility. “Do you know your blood type?”

“O positive, why?”

Bristol wouldn’t confirm that the blood type made it possible for him to be Luna’s father. “What’s your name?”

“Nowthat’snone of your business.” He chuckled.

His response didn’t surprise Bristol. She knew he was likely planning to kill them. The only question is why he didn’t come out firing. Maybe he didn’t want to risk hurting Luna.

Bristol had to keep him talking. That was her only hope that he wouldn’t kill her and Reya to take the baby. “How did you figure out Reya had Luna?”

“Stupid Holloway, that’s who.” He clamped his hands on his hips. “You know who he is?”

“Adoption attorney,” Bristol said.

“Yeah, well he screwed this up big time. Sonya told us about him when my wife and I couldn’t get pregnant. We were going to adopt through him. But then I found out about Luna. Why not have your own kid instead of someone else’s?”

“If she really is yours, you could’ve fought for custody,” Bristol said.

“Best we could hope for is part-time custody, if that. We wanted her full-time. Holloway said he had someone who could bring Luna to us.” He fired an angry look at Reya. “You were supposed to give her to Holloway, but you took off with her.”

“I didn’t take her from the hospital,” Reya said.

“Her sister did,” Bristol clarified. “And Reya killed her sister to get the baby. Still doesn’t say how you found us tonight.”

“I tried going through Holloway, but he disappeared, and I couldn’t get any information on him. So I did the only thing I could think to do. Watch Reya’s house. Turns out it was a good idea. Saw you both arrive and Luna too. I knew I didn’t want to take on a deputy. Figured I’d follow and see how things played out.” He took a step toward them.

“Don’t take another step or I’ll shoot,” Reya said.

“But she’s mine.”

“No!” Reya’s cry rose into the night, echoing in the trees like the call of a wounded animal. “When will you people realize? This ismychild. My Darcy. I did not take your Luna. Now go away.”

“I can’t do that.” He slowly reached for his gun.

“You were warned.” Reya pulled the trigger, firing off four charges.

The man, maybe Luna’s father, dropped to the ground and lay unmoving.

Reya turned to Bristol. “We go inside now. This is what can happen to you if you don’t listen.”

---