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They followed Gabe into the library, settling in the same seats that they had the night before.
“How about I put it on speaker?” Gabe asked, sitting at the chair behind his desk.
“That’s fine,” Lex answered tersely.
“Lex? I’m only going to need to go over the report I’ve made up for you. There’s good news and bad. You’re negative for AIDS, and so is Zane. Caleb as well. We tested him as a precaution.”
“That’s a relief,” Lex murmured.
“Don’t relax too much yet. You’re going to have to go on a regimen of antibiotics for your STD. If they were giving you antibiotics in the past, it was either the wrong kind, or just not enough because this strain of Gonorrhea appears to have been in your system for a while.”
Lex swallowed hard before asking, “What does that mean?”
“That you could be infertile,” Dr. Donnelly replied, sounding grim.
Oddly, Lex wasn’t too surprised. “I have no idea who I am or where I came from. Maybe it’s better that way.”
Gabe stood, approaching Lex before kneeling beside him. “Lex? Please don’t talk like that.”
“Like what?” Lex muttered.
“Like your life is worth nothing,” Gabe replied fiercely.
Lex hung his head.
“I see the good in you, and Zane, Caleb and Harry obviously do too, otherwise they wouldn’t be your friends,” Gabe said sternly. “We’re going to find something in life that will give you purpose. I promise.”
Zane punched him in the shoulder. “You know that I’ll always stick by you too.”
Sheepish, Lex nodded.
Gabe switched off the speakerphone, picking up his phone to finish the conversation. “Thanks, Brian. We’ll see you tomorrow. Lex is looking a lot better today.” Gabe held his hand over the receiver. “You guys don’t need to stick around. We’re going to discuss finding a counselor who might be trustworthy enough to keep your existence a secret for now. It complicates things to not know if you’re minors or not. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a year or two younger than Zane, Lex.”
“Thank you, Gabe,” Lex muttered, nodding his acceptance.
Gabe nodded, smiling wryly.
Both Zane and Lex stood, and Zane pulled the door closed behind them as they exited the study.
As they left, Lex stilled, suddenly realizing that he was finally referring to Mrs. and Mr. Giordano as Lucy and Gabe.
Chapter Eleven
With their hopes of catching the trafficking gang operating out of Milwaukee gone, Jake did other things during the next few weeks to try and help them identify anyone who could have been involved. Zane and Lex sifted through several pictures of mug shots on the computer, without success. It was when Jake brought over a file containing some pictures of several already known suspects that both boys were able to identify a few of the people who’d been captured through the years.
“Is something wrong?” Gabe asked, returning to the room with Lex, who was carrying some bottled water, handing one over to Zane.
Lex noticed that Zane appeared uneasy. “I forgot that there was something else I wanted to tell you. Isabella thought it could be important when I brought it up with her.”
“Okay. Let’s hear it,” Gabe replied, easing back in his chair.
“When we were on the run after escaping the farm, we were actually found by some cops a couple of times.” Zane heaved a sigh. “I was on my guard well enough to always make sure that we had an escape route, especially when we tried to sleep, which was usually during the day. Once we were able to sneak out from the basement of a condemned house through an open window. They were searching on the floor above.”
“And the second time?”
“It happened at a house I remembered living in years ago. It was falling apart too. I thought we’d be safe near a junkyard, but sure enough, the cops showed up again.”
“Are you sure they were real cops?”
