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she hit the numbers to a direct line she never thought she’d dial again.
    “ Tommy Carpenter’s office. How may I help you?” Chirpy secretary.
    “Can I speak with him please?”
    “ He’s in a meeting right now. Can I take a message?” Damn cheery bimbo.
    “It’s his ex-wife. Please get him on the phone right now. It’s an emergency.”
    The meeting couldn’t have been too important because in less than ten seconds he picked up.
    “ Gloria, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
    “Our daughter’s not dead.”
    “ What?”
    “I just came from the hospital. There’s a little girl whose DNA matches mine, Tommy. They say it’s not her, but it is. I know it. I told you—”
    “ Stop it. Stop it right now, Gloria .” Over the phone, she could picture his lips tightening into that seething angry face he used to make. “ It’s time to move on.”
    “Did you even hear me? I know you’ve moved on. You started planning your new life the minute the doctor gave us the news. Up and married and had more kids and never looked back; but I’m telling you Tommy, something’s up. I want you to come down to Boston and get a DNA cross match on this little girl. Her name is Alison. Then we can prove—”
    “ I was there right alongside you, Gloria. You, the doctor, and me. At the hospital, he told us about the baby, and he showed you an ultrasound of her lifeless body. You had surgery to remove her corpse. I hate to be blunt and graphic but I don’t know how the hell else to get it across to you.”
    She sank in her seat, glad for the distraction of driving to keep her from breaking down.
    The therapists had been right, and Tommy, goddamn him, was right. She’s not my daughter.
    Gloria was about to respond when Tommy barked, “ Don’t call here again with this bullshit.” Then came the dial tone.
    Another jolt of reality. She supposed Donna Mallory’s bit of information would lead to the same result. Some strange coincidences, but in the end the same. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Gloria had accepted her horrible past until a few hours ago, and she trusted that she could, with just a little effort, just as easily go back to the comforting belief—or lie—that she had moved on.
    After her dinner with Donna Mallory, after a couple of glasses of Merlot to numb her, she’d stuff it all back into place. Put it behind her, hidden deep away like a bad family secret.
    6.
    Law Office of Alierdi, Moss, and Carpenter, Miami, late afternoon
     
    Tommy got up and peeked out at his secretary. “I need a few minutes. Absolutely no interruptions.” He shut his door, locked it, and then slumped into his high-priced leather chair. His solid mahogany desk and Mont Blanc pen taunted him, reminding him of what he’d had to do for this corner office and the perks that accompanied it.
    He opened his bottom drawer and pulled a five by seven inch glossy picture out of a file in the back: Gloria on their wedding day. God, she was so gorgeous and so full of hope. Most likely, just as beautiful now, but thanks to him, jaded. Disillusioned by life. Damn it! He had loved her so much; but what they offered him had been too tempting. Besides, he knew that he could never have gotten this far on his own, not without trading the baby. He’d convinced himself that he’d done it for Gloria, but she’d never know that, not ever. Not with the way things turned out.
    How the hell could he have known that she’d react the way she did, saying the baby kicked? How could he have known that she’d lose her ability to have more children, or that she’d go crazy?
    He wiped the tears that threatened to overflow his eyes and spoke to her photo.
    “I am so sorry, Gloria. So sorry. I’ll never stop loving you.”
    He put the picture back in his drawer and beheld the expensive portrait on his desk. His new family standing in front of their enormous house. This was the life he had chosen, for better or worse, and despite his feelings for Gloria and the