Page 118 of Destiny

Dr. Franklin has followed us, and Davey looks at him, pleading.

“It’s okay, Davey,” he says. “Go back to your office.”

Davey nods and walks back, disappearing behind another door.

I approach Dr. Franklin. “So youdostore samples here. You lied to us.”

“Mr. Steel,” he says to Ryan, “why don’t you and your friend here come back to my office? I think we all need to talk.”

“Yes, I think we do too,” Ryan says, “but first, you’re going to show us where you store your samples.”

“I’m only doing this because you’re a member of the Steel family,” the doctor says to Ryan. Then he turns to me. “And I don’t know who the hell you are.”

“I’m soon to be a Steel in-law,” I say.

We follow the doctor to the end of the hallway and enter an office. The doctor takes a seat behind his desk and gestures for us to sit in the chairs facing him.

Ryan remains standing.

I remain standing.

I peruse his credentials hanging on the wall and framed in dark cherry. BA and MD from the University of Colorado.

“We use the most up-to-date cryofreezing technology there is,” Dr. Franklin says. “As you can see, space is minimal here at the clinic, so I was not lying when I said we do not store our specimens here.”

I nod. “We’d appreciate it if we could have a look anyway.”

“There’s nothing to see here.”

“Then we need the address of your lab. We have reason to believe you have sperm samples from fifty years ago stored somewhere.”

“I told you, we—”

But Ryan reddens. He stalks behind Dr. Franklin’s desk, pulls him up by his collar, and forces him against the wall. “Your clinic’s name is on our sheet of paper. Someone is storingsomethingsomewhere. I want to know what it is and where it is. I want to know now. Or I swear to God, no one willeverfind your body.”

I stop my jaw from dropping.

Has he gone completely mad?

“Ryan…”

Ryan turns to me, his face twisted and nearly unrecognizable. “Brendan, I’m sick to death of this. My mother has come back into our lives and is trying to take my daughter away from me. I won’t have it. I want to find the truth.” He turns back to the doctor. “You tell me now. I’ve got a Glock strapped to my ankle, and I know how to use it. My brother Joe taught me how to shoot. He never misses, and neither do I.”

The doctor’s eyes widen, and I see that they’re not brown as I originally thought but a brownish green. A very frightened brownish green.

“Everything here is on the up-and-up,” he says. “We’re paid. We’re paid for storage services.”

“I’m sure you are. I don’t have any desire to hurt you, Doctor, and I won’t if you show me what I came to see.”

“What makes you think I won’t call the police?”

Ryan slowly loosens his grip on the doctor. “Because I think you know better than to mess with my family. You can have me arrested, thrown in jail, and I’ll be out in less than twenty-four hours with all charges dropped.”

Whether Ryan is telling the truth I have no idea. But the Steels have been known to be able to buy their way out of anything.

“All right, all right. Just let me go.” Franklin’s eyes shift toward the door.

That’s my cue. I go to the door and block it. “You’re not going anywhere, Doctor.”

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