Sarah held the report between both hands.
“The comparison,” she said carefully, “does not establish Jeremy as Evan's biological father.”
Evan stared at her.
Jeremy looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe.
Lacey's face went blank.
I heard myself ask, “Then who is?”
Sarah lowered the report.
“That is the problem. The test wasn't completed against Aaron.”
Jeremy's shoulders dropped.
“What does it establish?”
“That Evan shares a close genetic relationship with Lacey.”
Lacey stared at her.
“Of course he does. He's my son.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Not simply as a mother and son.”
Silence spread through the room.
Evan looked at his mother.
“What are you saying?”
Sarah placed the report on the table.
“The markers indicate that Lacey and Evan are related as siblings.”
Lacey stepped backward.
“No.”
Evan laughed once, sharply, as though the result were absurd.
“That's impossible.”
Sarah didn't argue.
“It is the result.”
Jeremy looked at Lacey.
Then at Evan.
His face had gone pale.
“I don't understand.”
Sarah pointed to the report.
“Neither do I. That's why we need the original laboratory file.”
Evan grabbed the paper.
He read the numbers himself.
“Could this be wrong?”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “Any test can contain an error. But not enough to explain a result like this without further testing.”
Lacey sank into a chair.
“I have a son.”
She looked at Evan.
“I gave birth to him.”
Sarah nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then how can we be siblings?”
No one answered.
I looked at Jeremy.
He was staring at the floor.
Something about his silence bothered me more than the result.
“Jeremy.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“You knew something.”
“No.”
“You're thinking too hard.”
His eyes met mine.
“I don't know what this means.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
He swallowed.
“I knew there was another possibility.”
Evan turned toward him.
“What possibility?”
Jeremy rubbed both hands over his face.
“When Lacey got pregnant, she told me the baby was mine.”
Lacey looked stunned.
“You said you never knew.”
“I didn't know for certain.”
“You said you believed Evan was your son.”
“I did.”
“Then what are you hiding?”
Jeremy looked at her.
“I had a paternity test done.”
The room went silent.
“When?” I asked.
“Three years ago.”
Lacey stood.
“You tested Evan?”
Jeremy nodded.
“Without telling me?”
“I was trying to be sure.”
“What did it say?”
Jeremy looked toward the window.
“I never received the final report.”
Evan stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You've had three years to tell me this.”
“I thought the lab had lost the sample.”
“Then why didn't you order another test?”
Jeremy didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Where is the first report?”
He looked at me.
“I don't have it.”
“Who does?”
His silence answered.
“Your father?” I asked.
Jeremy shook his head.
“My brother.”
Aaron.
The name changed the room.
Lacey stood slowly.
“You said Aaron disappeared.”
“He did.”
“But you know where he is.”
“I know where he was.”
“Where?”
Jeremy hesitated.
“Georgia.”
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
“You never told me that.”
“I didn't know if it was still current.”
I looked at Jeremy.
“Why would Aaron have Evan's DNA report?”
“Because I sent him the sample.”
Lacey's voice cracked.
“You used your own brother to test whether my son was yours?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Jeremy looked at her.
“That he wasn't.”
Lacey shook her head.
“And you never told me.”
“I didn't want to destroy what we had.”
Her laugh was bitter.
“You married me while wondering whether my son belonged to you.”
“I loved you.”
“No.”
She stepped away.
“You loved the version of your life that didn't require you to tell anyone the truth.”
Jeremy flinched.
Evan walked toward the door.
I stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“Outside.”
He opened the door.
I followed him.
The night air was cold.
He walked to the driveway and stood beneath a pecan tree.
After a moment, I joined him.
“You don't have to say anything.”
“I don't know who I am.”
“You're Evan.”
“That isn't enough.”
“It has to be tonight.”
He looked at me.
“Is Jeremy my father?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you think he is?”
I considered the question.
“I think he believed you were.”
“That isn't the same.”
“No.”
He looked down.
“Mom told me my father was Jeremy.”
“I know.”
“She said he loved me.”
“He may.”
“He married her.”
“Yes.”
“Then I find out she might actually be his daughter.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“And now the DNA says she might be my sister.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“How do you know what to say?”
“I don't.”
That finally made him smile faintly.
“Fair enough.”
We stood quietly.
Then his phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
The message came from the same unknown account.
Ask Jeremy why Aaron was paid every month.
Evan handed me the phone.
I read it twice.
“Whoever this is knows more than Sarah.”
He nodded.
“Do you know who Aaron is?”
“Uncle.”
“Have you ever met him?”
“No.”
“Has Jeremy talked about him?”
“Only once.”
“What did he say?”
“That Aaron was dangerous.”
I looked toward the house.
“Then why was he trusted with the DNA?”
Evan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
We went back inside.
Jeremy was standing by the table.
I held out Evan's phone.
“You need to read this.”
He did.
His expression changed.
“What payments?”
“That's what I want to know.”
Sarah walked toward him.
“Jeremy, your father was making payments to the Burchams.”
“I know.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I discovered it after my father died.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I didn't know what the payments were for.”
Sarah's expression hardened.
“You knew enough to investigate.”
“I did.”
“What did you find?”
Jeremy looked at her.
“Bank transfers.”
“To whom?”
“The Burcham family.”
“How much?”
“Two thousand dollars a month.”
Lacey sat down.
“For eighteen years.”
Jeremy nodded.
“Exactly.”
She looked sick.
“My parents received twenty-four thousand dollars a year.”
“Yes.”
“For me.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Jeremy.
“And you did nothing?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I hired a private investigator.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
“Who disappeared?”
“The investigator.”
Nobody spoke.
Jeremy reached into his jacket.
He removed an old photograph.
A man stood beside a car.
“This was the last photograph I received.”
Sarah took it.
Her face changed.
“That is Aaron.”
Jeremy nodded.
“He was with the investigator.”
Lacey stared at the picture.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Evan stepped forward.
“Maybe the investigator found him.”
Jeremy looked at him.
“Maybe.”
“Then we find Aaron.”
Sarah shook her head.
“You don't know what you're walking into.”
Evan answered quietly.
“Neither did you when you opened that box.”
Sarah looked at him.
He was right.
Jeremy picked up his keys.
“I know a place Aaron used to go.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
“An old hunting cabin.”
“Where?”
“Two hours north.”
Lacey stood.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You've made enough decisions for me.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Fine.”
I reached for my purse.
Jeremy looked at me.
“You don't have to come.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you?”
“Because I'm tired of learning about my marriage from strangers.”
Nobody argued.
We left before midnight.
The road north was dark.
Evan sat in the back beside Lacey.
I sat in front.
Jeremy drove.
For nearly an hour, nobody spoke.
Then Lacey asked, “How long have you known about the payments?”
Jeremy answered without looking back.
“Five years.”
“And you still married me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He gripped the wheel.
“Because I believed I could protect you.”
“From what?”
“From the truth.”
Lacey laughed softly.
“You've spent twenty-five years protecting people from the truth.”
Jeremy didn't answer.
The cabin appeared beyond a line of trees.
Its windows were dark.
Jeremy stopped the truck.
“That's it.”
Evan opened his door.
“Wait.”
A light flickered inside the cabin.
We all froze.
Someone was there.
Jeremy reached for the flashlight.
Then the front door opened.
A man stepped onto the porch.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably related to Jeremy.
Aaron.
He looked at all of us.
Then at Lacey.
His face crumpled.
“Oh, God.”
Jeremy stepped forward.
“You knew.”
Aaron stared at him.
“I knew everything.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Aaron Finally Appeared, Carrying the Missing DNA Report and a Confession That Rewrote What Everyone Thought Had Happened
The Errand That Should Have Taken Ten Minutes Turned Into a Question I Could No Longer Pretend Not to Understand
Part 5 of 8
