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  “I’m a donor recipient of Zachary’s, too. Just like you guys. I have a little boy, and Zachary is his biological father.”

  Marcus froze, then blinked.

  Christine’s mouth went dry. “Honey, I’m sorry, I just met Tanya five minutes ago, and I shared with her and Griff that Zachary is our donor.”

  Marcus’s gaze shifted to Christine, and there was a new tension around his mouth.

  “Marcus, I’m sorry, it just came out.” Christine didn’t know what else to say. She couldn’t explain it anymore. She couldn’t make the situation any better. She was tired of apologizing for nothing, of keeping a secret that couldn’t be kept anymore. His ego was killing their marriage.

  Griff had gone completely silent, and even the effervescent Tanya lowered herself into her chair, deflating like a birthday balloon.

  Marcus inhaled visibly, turning to Christine. “Will you sit down, honey? We need to talk.”

  Chapter Fifty-four

  “Marcus, please.” Christine sank into the chair, crestfallen. “You have to get this in perspective, you just have to. We can’t keep it secret anymore and—”

  “No, it’s not that.” Marcus reached down and caressed her shoulder. “Honey, I have news for you. Zachary Jeffcoat is not our donor. He’s not Donor 3319.”

  “What?” Christine asked, dumbfounded.

  “What did you say?” Tanya said, shocked.

  Marcus looked down at Christine, his expression soft. “Gary got Homestead to tell us. He spoke with the parent company today. They offered to settle our lawsuit. They confirmed that Zachary Jeffcoat is not Donor 3319.”

  Christine felt confounded. “That’s not possible. I mean, he told me he was. He matched the profile.”

  Tanya nodded, frowning in confusion. “Yes, and I asked him directly. He told me he was, too.”

  Marcus pursed his lips. “The truth is, he is not Donor 3319.”

  “Then who is?” Christine felt absolutely bewildered.

  “Homestead wouldn’t say.” Marcus’s expression remained gentle, his tone heavy. “That’s not part of the settlement. They won’t breach the real 3319’s confidentiality. We agreed to settle if they would confirm or deny that Jeffcoat was 3319, and they confirmed that Jeffcoat is not 3319. He may look a lot like 3319, but that’s a coincidence. In fact, Homestead took the real 3319 sample off the shelves because other patients were calling about the similarity. I left the office as soon as Gary told me, to bring you home. I was almost here when I got the call that you were in the hospital.”

  Christine shook her head, trying to process the information. A million thoughts raced through her brain. She felt herself slump, looking down. Her entire body ached. Her head thundered. She’d gone through hell and back, for no reason. Zachary wasn’t her donor. She wasn’t carrying Zachary’s baby. She didn’t know who their donor was, after all that. She looked up at Marcus. “So we’re back at square one?”

  “No, not at all.” Marcus frowned slightly, buckling his lower lip.

  “How so?”

  Tanya interrupted, stricken, “I don’t know how this could happen.”

  Griff raised his arthritic hand. “Let’s go ask him.”

  “Now?” Christine looked over at Griff, and so did Marcus and Tanya.

  “Yes. Lawyers have twenty-four-hour visiting privileges. I was going to go over, I was waiting for you, Christine.” Griff rose, pressing himself up by a hand on his desk. “Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” Christine said, dazed.

  Marcus took her hand and helped her to her feet.

  Chapter Fifty-five

  Christine, Griff, Marcus, and Tanya crowded into the interview booth, waiting wordlessly for Zachary to be brought in. Griff and Christine took the two chairs, with Marcus and Tanya standing behind them, and Christine tried to get her bearings. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Zachary wasn’t their donor, or the horrific events of the day.

  The interview booth was the only bright spot in the visiting room, which was otherwise completely empty, with all the chairs vacant and the overhead lighting dim, having been turned on only because they were here. The entire floor was quiet, though Christine could hear shouts echoing hollowly elsewhere in the prison. The booth felt warm and damp, the air close and dusty. A corrections officer stood guard outside.

  Christine straightened up when she saw Zachary through the Plexiglas of the door, approaching with a corrections guard. His face was still bruised and his eyes swollen, and Christine realized with a start that they had that much in common. Otherwise, she felt only confusion at the sight of him, not the connection she’d felt before, her emotions bollixed up. She didn’t know what Marcus was thinking, standing behind her chair, and she was glad she couldn’t see his face.

  The corrections guard took the handcuffs off Zachary, opened the door on the secured side of the booth, and led Zachary inside, where he started talking before he sat down, his blue eyes shining with happiness despite the swelling in his right eye.

  “Is it really true?” Zachary sat down in his chair, leaning forward, his hands on the counter. A huge grin animated his expression. “Am I getting out of here? Did they get who did it? One of the COs told me, he saw on the news! I’m in ad seg, I don’t know anything! What happened? Griff, when am I getting out of here?”

  Griff held up his hand. “I spoke with the D.A. He’s not sure yet. These things take time. It might be tomorrow or the next day.”

  “What happened? How did they find out I didn’t do it? How did they get the guy who did it?” Zachary looked at Christine, confused but still wildly happy. “What happened, Christine? Were you in some kind of accident? Why are you in scrubs? You look like a nurse!”

  Griff kept his hand up. “Zachary, you need to thank Christine. She almost lost her life today, trying to prove your innocence. She is the reason you will be released.”

  “Christine, thank you so much.” Zachary met her eye directly. “I don’t know what you did, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I didn’t kill Gail, I didn’t kill anybody. I knew you believed in me. Thank you so much for whatever you did. For everything you did. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Christine said, on autopilot. She felt shaken to her very core. She thought she saw sincerity in his expression, but she didn’t know whether to trust it. She didn’t trust him anymore. She didn’t trust herself, either.

  Griff cleared his throat. “Zachary, I know how you can thank her. You can explain to her, and Tanya, why you lied.”

  Tanya interjected, standing behind Griff, “Zachary, are you 3319 or not? You told me you were, but Homestead says you’re not. Christine’s husband found out.”

  Zachary’s smile vanished and his lips parted. His gaze went to Tanya, then to Marcus, and finally to Christine. He heaved a deep sigh in his orange jumpsuit, and his lower lip puckered with apparent regret. “Okay, Christine, Tanya, I did lie about that. I’m sorry, I truly am. I’m not Donor 3319. I never donated sperm, or blood, like I told you I did. I’m sorry, but I lied, I did.”

  Christine swallowed hard. The words had a visceral impact, and she absorbed them like a blow. She wasn’t angry, she was confused. The fact that Zachary had been her donor had powered her every thought, and now that he wasn’t, she felt as if the rug had been yanked from under her.

  Tanya interjected, wounded, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you lie to me?”

  “Tanya, I’m sorry to you, too.” Zachary looked up at Tanya, his mouth forming a regretful line. “When you came to the prison that morning, you seemed so sure and so nice, and I thought if I told you yes, that you would help me, and you did. You did help me. You were there for me, you even gave me half of the retainer. I’m sorry that I lied to you, but if you want to know why I lied, I was desperate. I needed help. I didn’t know what to do. You can imagine what it’s like. I go to meet Gail for a date, and she’s bloody, and she’s dead, and I call 911, and the next thing I kn
ow, they arrest me for killing her. They think I’m a serial killer. I was desperate.” Zachary lowered his gaze to Christine, leaning forward urgently. “Christine, I’m so sorry I lied to you, but that was why. You know how they say, ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’? I was desperate. I had to get out of here. When I met you, and we started talking, I really did like you.”

  Christine felt a twinge. She wanted to believe him, but she didn’t. Or she couldn’t. Either way, it didn’t matter now, and she didn’t want to interrupt him, so she let him talk.

  “I had seen the other reporters, but they were so tough and hard, and I thought there was something different about you, something nicer. Lauren, too.” Zachary smiled warmly. “When you started to ask more personal questions, I started to think that you probably came to me because you saw me on TV, like Tanya had. You thought I was your donor.”

  Christine could see how it could happen. She hadn’t known that Tanya was another donor recipient, but if she had, she would’ve suspected Zachary’s admission that he was Donor 3319. Christine had thought that she had gotten to Zachary first, but she had been mistaken. Tanya had, and that made all the difference.

  “Christine,” Zachary continued, his voice gentler, “I was in the gen pop then, I went on the computer and looked up Homestead. Tanya had told me the name and the donor number. I read 3319’s online bio, I got the details, and I used them when we talked. I’m a salesman, and I sold you. But I’m not proud of it and I’m not bragging, I hope you know that.”

  Christine did. She nodded.

  “I’m sorry I lied, but I think you can understand it, can’t you? You didn’t tell me the truth, either. You lied for the same reason that I did, didn’t you? You were desperate to know if I was your donor, and you didn’t want to ask me, straight up, like Tanya did. I don’t know why you didn’t, but I don’t blame you for that. You had reasons of your own, and I had reasons of my own. I had to get out of here. I saw my entire life being taken away. I was in the gen pop then, I saw TV. I was convicted by TV.” Zachary’s voice took on a new urgency, undergirded by fear. “I was being railroaded. Even after I saved the guard, it didn’t make any difference. They say ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ but it isn’t. As soon as you get arrested, you get treated like you’re guilty. Christine, we both used desperate measures, didn’t we?”

  “Yes,” Christine had to answer, hearing the truth in his words. She had lied to him, too. She had been desperate, too.

  “But the thing is, it doesn’t mean that I’m not grateful to you. I’m not lying about that. I never thought that my lying to you would endanger you, in any way. I thought you would be there for me, and then, when you signed on to help Griff, I thought that was nice.” Zachary frowned, his expression darkening. “But I never thought you would be jeopardized. I didn’t think that you would try to catch a serial killer.”

  Christine managed a smile. “I didn’t mean to, but it turned out that way.”

  “Thank God you’re safe, and I’m free! Almost.” Zachary smiled, hunching over the counter. “Now, who’s going to tell me what happened?”

  Chapter Fifty-six

  Christine, Marcus, Griff, and Tanya strolled together toward their cars, Marcus’s Audi and Griff’s Honda Fit, which they had parked in front of the prison because the lot was empty at this hour, except for a handful of official vehicles. Night had fallen, but the guard towers remained illuminated, and their ambient light glinted cruelly off the coiled razor-wire around the institution. The rain had stopped, but moisture saturated the air, making hazy clouds under the lights in the parking lot and bringing up the natural earthy scents of the surrounding countryside.

  Christine breathed in a deep lungful of air, and though it smelled good, she suddenly missed home, where the mist off the ocean salted every breath. She stood in front of Marcus’s car with him, turning to Griff and Tanya. “Well, I guess we should go,” she said, her throat unexpectedly thick. “We’ll stay at the hotel tonight but leave in the morning.”

  Tanya gave her a quick hug. “Take care, Christine. I’m driving back tonight. It’s not that far and I want to see Ranger Rick. It was great meeting you, and you have my information if you want to get back in touch.”

  “I agree, it was great meeting you, too,” Christine told her, meaning it. She really liked Tanya’s free-and-easy attitude about her baby, and it had been fun to get to know another mom who had used a donor.

  “Are you okay with the way it turned out with Zachary?”

  “Yes, are you?”

  “Totally.” Tanya glanced at Marcus. “To me, it doesn’t really matter how a baby comes into the world, only that it does. I just feel lucky in who my baby is. Best of luck with yours.”

  “You, too.” Christine heard the wisdom in Tanya’s words, though she wondered if Marcus did.

  “You did a really great thing today.” Tanya smiled, her grin bright even in the darkness. “You’re going to be a great mother, I can tell.”

  “Thanks.” Christine smiled, but she still felt shaky, especially when she turned to Griff. “I’m going to miss you, coach.”

  “I’m going to miss you, too.” Griff smiled wryly. “Do we have to hug?”

  “You know we do.” Christine opened her arms and gave him a final hug, then let him go. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

  “I will. You, too.”

  “And stay in touch, will you? I want to hear how your bunion operation goes.”

  “No problem. I’ll email you.” Griff chuckled at his own joke.

  Christine smiled. “The laugh is going to be on you, Griff. The future is here.”

  “Don’t threaten me.” Griff chuckled and looked up at Marcus, extending a hand. “Take care of her, young man. You’ve got a keeper. I miss my wife every day.”

  Christine teared up at the unexpected tenderness in Griff’s tone. It was too dark to see his expression in any detail, and she knew how his face would look, right at this moment. Still, she would never forget him, or the lesson he taught the teacher.

  Marcus shook Griff’s hand. “I will, sir. Stay well, and fight the good fight.”

  “Nah. I’d just rather be a lawyer.” Griff laughed in earnest, and they all joined him.

  Marcus turned to Christine, his mouth still tight. “Honey, ready to go?”

  “Sure,” Christine answered, waving good-bye to Griff and Tanya. “Good-bye now!”

  “Drive safe!” Griff called back. “Stay off the damn phone!”

  Christine laughed as she walked to the car, turning her back on the prison. It felt good to put the place behind her, maybe even to put Zachary behind her.

  After all, she knew what she was leaving behind.

  She just didn’t know what she was going to.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Christine rode in the passenger seat while Marcus drove in silence, wending his way through the country roads that led back to West Chester. She knew him well enough to know that he was mulling over everything that had happened and formulating his thoughts. He would know what he wanted to say by the time they got to the hotel, where they would probably have it out. She hoped that they still had a marriage, by midnight.

  “You hungry?” Marcus asked, as they steered around a curve.

  “Yes, but I don’t really want to eat anything right now. I’m mostly tired.”

  “I bet.” Marcus fell silent, and Christine rested her head on the headrest, turning her face to the window, though she couldn’t see much. There were no streetlights along the two-lane road, and dark clouds passed in front of the moon. She watched shadowy pastures whizz by and horses grazing in groups, their shadows indistinct. She realized she had seen enough horses for a lifetime. She wanted to see boats, again. And the beach.

  “Are you in pain?”

  “No,” Christine answered, though the question was ambiguous. Even she didn’t know the answer, anyway. She wasn’t sure what she knew, anymore. She would know better after they had their fight at
the hotel.

  “Did they give you Advil or anything like that?”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  “Who held your hair when you threw up this morning?” Marcus’s tone softened, and Christine smiled.

  “I had to do it all by myself.”

  “That sucks. By the way, Lauren says hi. She was worried about you. I called your mom, too. I didn’t want her to find out from TV. Luckily they had the game on.”

  “Thanks.” Christine felt a guilty twinge.

  “She’s okay, but she wants us to call her tonight. We can call from the hotel.”

  “Thanks for calling her.”

  “No problem.” Suddenly Marcus slowed the car, pulled over, and braked by the side of the road, their tires popping on the gravel.

  “What are you doing?” Christine turned, puzzled.

  “I want to talk to you, and I don’t want to wait.”

  “Okay.” Christine felt her chest tighten. She looked Marcus in the eye, and she could see that he was upset, the troubled curves of his handsome face illuminated by the bluish-green lights on the dashboard.

  “I was wrong, and I’m so sorry about everything that happened, the way it all went down.” Marcus hesitated, clenching his jaw. “I never should’ve let you come down here yourself. I’ve been a total jerk about everything, from the very beginning, even from my diagnosis. You were right that night in the backyard, I made it all about me. It was all about me.”

  Christine swallowed hard, in surprise.

  “But when you left, after I saw what you were willing to do, how far you were willing to go for that baby, our baby”—Marcus’s eyes began to glisten, but he blinked them clear—“it made me think. It made me understand. I married you for a reason, because I love you and because I want to go through this life with you. I didn’t want you to be alone ever, especially not during the tough times. We’re in this together, no matter what, but it took your going away for me to realize that.”