Chapter 22
Zane
“He’s yours,”Ashlyn’s words hang in the air for a moment before falling to the floor and shattering hard enough to make my ears ring. “Zane?”
“Mr. Calloway?” Matt, one of the cops asks, but I’m still trying to figure out just what the fuck is going on.
“Zane, did you hear me?” Ashlyn asks, holding the baby in one hand and the letter in the other.
“I heard you, I just don’t understand,” I say.
“The letter says–” she starts to read, but I march over to her.
“Let me see that,” I say, and she hands it to me.
Zane,
I don’t know if you remember me. Probably not. You never seemed to notice me at all, even when we were together. I was in love with you so much that when I found out I was pregnant with your child; I kept him. But as much as I love him and as much as it hurts for me to do this, I can’t take care of him anymore. And I want you to have–
I stop and shove the letter back in the envelope. “This is ridiculous. Some chick I don’t even know is claiming we were involved so much that she is trying to convince me we had a baby together? It’s insane.”
“Were you involved with a woman enough to possibly get her pregnant?” Rodney, the other cops asks.
“Every time a man is involved with a woman, there’s a chance of her getting pregnant,” I say. Ashlyn tosses me a look.
“I always used protection,” I say in my defense.
“So the baby isn’t yours?” Matt asks.
“I doubt it,” I say.
“You doubt it or he’s not?” Matt asks.
“Without a test, how would I actually know?” I ask.
“Can I see the letter too, please?” Matt asks, and I hand it to him.
“You want a beer too?” I ask, and they both grin.
“Not tonight, Z,” Rodney says. “This is a pretty hefty case. We need to get it sorted out.”
Fair enough. I nod and cross my arms over my chest. Meanwhile, I watch as Ashlyn coos at the baby who is still suckling contently on her finger.
“The letter is signed by a Nikki with a heart for the dot on the i?” Matt asks.
“Right,” I let out a deep breath. “Of course it was her, but whatever she’s telling you, it’s not true. Nikki was a basket case.”
“Were you involved with her?” Rodney asks.
“We slept together,” I say. “Dated a little. But never anything serious,” I answer.
“Why not?” Matt asks. “Connection issues? Attraction, bad in the sack?”
“No. It wasn’t like that. We just weren’t compatible. She was also a little controlling to the point of being possessive,” I explain. “But I really don’t see how–”
“The first thing we need to do is get the baby to the hospital,” Ashlyn says, and she’s probably right. “We have no idea how long he was out there, and he’s hungry. He can’t be any more than four or five months old. He needs breast milk or formula and a checkup. We can worry about the logistics later.”
“Yes. You’re right,” I agree, walking over to Ashlyn. “I’m sure they’ll take good care of him and everyone will get it all figured out.”
