Page 35 of Floodgates

“I know it’s right, so… what?”

“So I’m working a case right now involving a man who was burned to death in his home.”

“Jesus,” I gasped, horrified.

“Yeah, so I’ve been working it maybe three months, and I haven’t been able to come up with anything concrete except for one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“All I’ve got is the fact that Timothy Stanson had previously reported being attacked in a public bathroom and being beaten up.”

I shivered and pulled the blankets up around me.

“As soon as I found out he’d been beaten, I checked to see if there were any matching reports filed within the last few months. One name came up a perfect match, and that was Celia Hughes. Are you following me so far?”

I nodded, unable to speak.

“As I was questioning Celia yesterday… wait,” he said, stopping. “Is that right?”

“Technically it’s Sunday now,” I told him. “So you must’ve been talking to her on Friday.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. Okay, so when I asked her who might want to hurt her, or her baby, she gave me a name that surprised me.”

“What name?” I choked out, shivering again and moving closer to the side of the bed, needing to be in his personal space for whatever reason.

“Yours.”

“Mine?” I was stunned. My stomach twisted into a painful knot as my throat went dry.

“It seems your ex-boyfriend is the father of Celia Hughes’s baby.”

Time stopped. Terror gone, shivering gone, all pain forgotten.

“Tracy?”

Wait.

“Honey?”

Wait….

“Trace.”

“What?” I choked out.

“Are you listening to me?”

I nodded slowly.

“Did you understand what I said?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then I’m gonna say it again, okay?”

“Yeah.” I felt like I was in a vacuum and all the air was being sucked out of the room.

He took a quick breath. “Your ex-boyfriend, Breckin Alcott, is the father of the child that Celia Hughes is carrying.”