“Maureen, hand over the report.”
“Don't make me get rough with you.”
I stood at the bottom of the steps and looked at him.
“What gives you the right to that report?”
“You think you've earned the right to call yourself my father?”
He flicked his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his heel.
“I'm your old man! Kay said if I destroy that report, she'll wire me a hundred grand a month.”
He waved a hand, and a few thugs closed in, steel pipes in their fists.
“Hold her down. Search her!”
“Don't let her ruin your sister's good thing!”
“Nobody's walking out of here with that report today!”
An engine roared to life around the corner.
Three limited-edition sports cars fishtailed up onto the sidewalk and pinned the whole pack of thugs in place.
The doors flew open. A dozen bodyguards in black suits poured out and dropped the men in two or three quick moves.
Michael stepped out of the McLaren in the middle and pulled off his sunglasses.
“Old Scott, that's a lot of nerve.”
“You'd dare lay a hand on someone of mine?”
My father's legs buckled, and he dropped straight to his knees.
“Mr. Delgado, it's a misunderstanding, all of it!”
“I was only teaching my disobedient daughter a lesson. I never meant any offense to you!”
Michael kicked him in the shoulder and knocked him flat.
“Crawl off. Don't get my shoes dirty.”
“I see your face again, I break your legs.”
He turned to me and lifted his chin.
“Come on. Let's go get the report.”
“Let's find out if the kid's mine. I've already booked the hotel for the baby celebration.”
I ignored him and walked straight through the doors of the testing center.
The lobby was eerily empty. Even the duty nurse was nowhere to be seen.
I went to the front desk and rapped on the glass.
“I want the DNA comparison report for Kay and those three men.”
The young nurse at the desk was huddled in the corner, her voice shaking apart.
“Miss Pruitt, the report... we can't give you the report anymore.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean? Is the system down?”
She shook her head over and over and pointed upstairs.
“Half an hour ago, the Farleys locked the system.”
“They even took the attending doctor away.”
“We don't know anything.”
Michael had followed me in. When he heard that, he slammed his sunglasses down on the desk.
“What's Theodore Farley playing at?”
“He wants to rig this behind closed doors and keep the kids for himself?”
“Big as the Farleys are, they don't get to throw out the rules like this!”
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number Theodore had left.
It rang three times before he picked up.
“The report's in. Whose kids are they?”
Dead silence on the other end. Just heavy breathing.
“Mr. Farley, playing dead won't help you.”
“One of you settle the bill. I don't have time to play rich-family games with you.”
The arrogance from our first meeting was gone from his voice. It came low now, with a cold edge I couldn't name.
“It's far more complicated than you think.”
I pressed him.
“How complicated?”
“It's just three men fighting over who gets to be the father, isn't it?”
“Don't tell me it's quadruplets.”
“It isn't only about who the father is.”
Theodore paused.
“Bring the children to the western estate. We'll talk face to face.”
The line went dead, and the dial tone echoed through the empty lobby.
Michael leaned in, his brow knotted tight.
“What did Theodore say?”
“Did he buy off the doctor to fake the results?”
I slipped the phone into my pocket and turned to go.
“He said it isn't only about who the father is.”
Michael froze, then hurried after me.
“What's that supposed to mean, not only about the father?”
“The kids didn't just drop out of thin air, did they?”
I stopped and looked back at him.
"Go get Curt Gilbert. We're all going to the western estate."
Michael kicked the trash can beside him.
"Bring that walking embarrassment along? Haven't we humiliated ourselves enough?"
I pulled open the taxi door and got in.
"Because this thing is probably a hundred times more disgusting than playing the sucker."
