Chapter 18 - The Lab Report

The flashing lights of six ambulances bathed the neighborhood street in rhythmic red and blue.

Toby was sitting on the rear bumper of the lead rig, wrapped in three blankets, sipping warm broth from a paper cup held by a paramedic.

When he saw me walking across the lawn, his face lit up.

"Daddy!"

I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around him, pulling him into my chest so hard I could feel his heartbeat thumping steady and normal against my ribs.

"I got you, buddy," I whispered, tears finally breaking past my eyes. "I got you. It's over."

"Mommy was mad," Toby murmured into my shoulder, his small hands clutching the back of my jacket. "She said I broke the rules."

"You didn't break any rules, Toby. You were the bravest boy in the world."

Detective Cross walked up, holding a manila folder with an official seal from the State Forensic Bureau. His face looked older, etched with lines of exhaustion.

"We ran the immediate blood analysis on Toby’s sample from the ER transport," Cross said quietly, gesturing for me to step aside.

I kissed Toby's forehead and stepped two paces away, keeping my hand on his shoulder. "What does it say?"

Cross opened the folder. "Elena was lying to you about the lab origin, Mark. She was trying to break your head to get you to surrender."

"What do you mean?"

"The DNA is an absolute, unequivocal match," Cross said, tapping the lab printout. "Toby is your biological son, conceived naturally. Elena is his biological mother. There were no harvested ova, no synthetic cloning protocols."

I stared at him, my mind spinning. "Then why did she say that? Why the genetic trust?"

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"Because of what Evelyn discovered three weeks ago," Cross said, turning the page to reveal a secondary genealogical profile. "Your mother wasn't trying to protect the inheritance from Elena. She was trying to protect Elena from Richard."

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