“Why?” she asked. “We’re a team. What’s the deal?”
“I’ve reconsidered.”
“You don’t have to protect me, you know. Whatever’s going on, I can handle—”
“Chloe!”
Her body trembled as though he’d zapped her with a taser.
“Please go to the car,” Miles said.
A silence hung between them for several seconds. Finally, Chloe let out a theatrical huff and walked off. Miles waited until he could hear her steps on the stairs before focusing in on Gold.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Miles said.
“Me? Who the hell do you think you are?”
Miles almost laughed. “You know, right now, I have no fucking idea. I thought I knew. But now, not so much.” He waved a finger at the pile of shredded paper. “If I could magically tape all that back together, would I find my name? And Chloe’s? And the others’?”
Gold said nothing.
“Your assistant says you’re falling apart. Does that have anything to do with Todd Cox? Or Katie Gleave? Or Dixon Hawley? Or Jason Hamlin? Or Chloe?”
“I don’t know those people.”
“No? You helped bring them into the world. Their mothers were all patients of yours. Want me to run through them?”
Gold stared at him. “No.”
Miles looked down and kneaded his forehead for a moment. “I thought I knew what I’d ask you, but that call... Those names I mentioned, according to the files, I’m their biological father.”
“How could you know—”
“Except I’m not, am I?”
Gold eyed him coldly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Apparently... I’m not Chloe’s father. So maybe I’m not Todd’s. Or Katie’s. Or Dixon’s or Jason’s or Nina’s or Colin’s or Barbara’s or Travis’s. Maybe I’m no one’s fucking father.” He laughed. “How about that! All this worrying I’ve been doing, about these kids, whether they might develop what I’ve got, the plans I had to make their lives better, it’s all a farce.”
Gold was looking past Miles, as if planning an escape.
“So, what’s up, Doc?” Miles laughed sardonically at his own joke. “They’re dying, or disappearing. At first I thought, a wild coincidence, you know? No more. Not since the guy under the bed, the lady in the van.”
“What?”
Miles waved the question away. “There’s only so many people who’d know the connection between them. You’re at the top of that list. Why are they disappearing? What’s going on?”
Miles took two steps into the storage unit, prompting Gold to move back without looking where he was going. When he did, he stumbled over one of the boxes of files and landed on his butt. He got back on his feet.
“I’ve nothing to say. My patients are entitled to their confidentiality.”
Miles said, “We’re way past that.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” Gold said. “Walk away from this. You’ve got no connection to these people, these grown children. They’re not your responsibility.”
Miles let that sink in. “So it’s true. None of them are mine.”
“Walk. Away.”
“How is that possible? Why’s my name on the files?” Miles felt his anger rising along with his voice. “Who is the biological father of these people? What the fuck is going on?”
Gold raised a trembling hand and pointed at Miles. “Go away. Just go.”
Miles suddenly had a realization. “Christ, it’s you. I’ve heard about sick bastards like you. Every single woman who’s been to your clinic, every couple who’s come to you looking for help, the whole thing is a sham. Stupid idiots like me come in, provide a sperm donation, it’s pointless. You’re the one impregnating all those women.”
Gold said, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. If you care anything about yourself — about that girl you came in here with — then forget all about this.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s good advice.”
Miles pointed a finger. “Yeah, well, listen up. If you’re not going to answer my questions I’ll find someone who will. Or go to the authorities, who can bring pressure to bear in ways that I can’t. Maybe I’ll bring them back with me.”
Miles waited another moment, realized there was nothing more to be gained here, and headed back down the corridor for the stairs.
Gold, breathing heavily, heart racing, found a pile of boxes steady enough to hold him, and sat. He took out his phone, entered a number, and put the phone to his ear. When someone finally answered, he said, “It’s Dr. Gold. It’s urgent.”
And then he waited more than two minutes to be connected to the person he needed to talk to.
“Cookson was here... He’s got half of it figured out... Of course I didn’t tell them, but he’s not going to drop this... He’s got one of them with him. The Swanson girl... Whatever he knows, she seems to know... Shredding, that’s what. I’m shredding everything, just like you told me—”
The other party had ended the call.
Gold slowly lowered the phone to his lap and started to cry.
Forty-Six
New Rochelle, NY
When Miles got back to the car, Chloe was in the back seat, arms crossed, looking straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge him when he got in.
“Hey,” he said.
Chloe stayed silent.
Charise, tucked in behind the wheel, said, “Where to now, Mr. Cookson?”
He had no idea. Where to, indeed? What should he do next? Was there anything left for him to do? What was his responsibility now? What did he owe the young men and women on the list? He certainly didn’t have to worry about their medical future, at least not where his genes were concerned.
“Mr. Cookson?”
The fact he wasn’t their father didn’t mean they were no longer in danger. He still had to warn them. And there was the matter of his name being in those files, recording him as the donor when he wasn’t.
Was it time to turn this over to the police? Would the FBI be the appropriate body?
“She’s asking where you want to go,” Chloe said, annoyed.
“Oh,” Miles said, drawn out of his thoughts. “Um, home, I guess.”
“Yes, sir,” Charise said, and turned on the engine.
“That’s not where I’m going,” Chloe said. “Nearest bus or train station will do fine. I’ve got to get to Springfield and get my car.”
“Chloe,” Miles said. “You don’t have to do that. I mean, if you want to go home, that’s fine. But Charise can drive you there. She can drop me off on the way.”
“We were supposed to go at that guy together,” she said.
“Chloe, I’m sorry I sent you away. I needed to talk to the doctor alone.”
“I don’t get it,” she said. “You get the test result, tell me I’m okay, which should be, like, good news for both of us, but instead of being happy about it, you suddenly freeze me out.”
“It’s complicated,” Miles said.
“What’s complicated about my being okay?”
“Nothing. That’s good.”
“So what is it? Did something else happen on that phone call?”
Charise put the car through a three-point turn and powered down the window to enter the code again on the keypad by the gate.
“So am I heading to the closest train station?” she asked.
“No,” Miles said at the same moment Chloe said, “Yes.”
Charise sighed. “I’ll head for New Haven while you two come to a decision. Plenty of train stations along the way.”