“I’m not taking your word for it at all.”
“—because we’ll have the DNA results in a couple of days.”
What
the
fuck?
When he was sure he wouldn’t scream, he said, “It sounded like you said you’re waiting on DNA results. But that can’t be right, since I haven’t submitted DNA for such a test.”
“Now, don’t turn this around on me,” she began, and he groaned.
“Literally every time someone says that, it’s because they want the focus off whatever horrible fucking thing they just did.”
“Hey, it’s my job.”
“It’s your job to hang out in Italy to procure DNA for a test you arranged without the subject’s permission?”
She shrugged. “Kinda.”
He pressed his fingers to his temples and rubbed. Squash … urge … to strangle … gorgeous nutjob … “Okay, first? That’s weird. You’re a weird girl, Delaney. Second, how the hell did you manage to get your hands on my precious, precious DNA, annnnnnd now I’m remembering that I barfed on you a couple of times. It’s my own fault,” he admitted. “I was practically giving it away!”
Delaney made a strange noise, like she was trying to turn a laugh into a cough. “The point is—”
“You have a weird job that requires you to do weird things.”
“—you won’t have to take my word about Lillith when the results come in. So.”
“So…”
“So you’ll know she’s yours—or not—and you can arrange your life accordingly.”
He could only stare. “Just like that.”
“Yep.”
“It’s just that easy.”
“I don’t think it’ll be easy at all, but that’s how it is.”
“And if I’m not her father?”
“Then you’re not her father and I go to the next guy on the list. That’s why I’m here. I was hired to track down and test the candidates, and give the lucky winner custody of Lillith.”
“Right, but … if I’m not the proud papa, what happens next?” Not that it was any of his business, but from where he was standing, this looked like a barely contained mess. So once he was out of the picture, where did that leave Lillith?
Not that he cared.
“Then it’s no longer your problem.”
“And I’m one of the names on your list because…” He’d bet the money in his wallet in the canal that the safe held her list, and probably some other goodies, too.
“Because her mother said so. And in nine years, Donna Alvah never lied to me.”
“Ah-ha!” He felt like jumping up and down but was wary of crushing Peeps and chocolate Easter eggs. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Except we aren’t, because you’ve said that name before and weren’t forthcoming either time.” A pause while her words sank in, then: “You’ve known Lillith’s mom for almost a decade?”
“We served together.”
“Like, in the army? You look like you’re in your early twenties. Are you a veteran? And—”
She cut him off with an impatient gesture. “We were friends and then we weren’t. She went for a different life and that was fine. But then she got into trouble and her default kicked in, which was to make a big mess and then disappear. And that’s when everything went tits-up,” Delaney finished with more than a hint of bitterness.
Whoa. “You’re mad at her,” he realized aloud. At least that’s what it sounded like. Christ. Even when he was getting details, he wasn’t really getting details. “Wait, this Donna person, she went into hiding? Like a WITSEC thing?”
“No, Lillith did.”
“Why? And when?”
“That’s where it gets murky—”
“Oh, that’s where?”
“—because the thing is—”
“The thing is, Mama hid me and got run over, so it took a long time to find me,” Lillith said from the bathroom doorway, and then burst into tears.
Thirteen
Five minutes later, Rake was putting yet another freshly wrung-out washcloth onto Lillith’s forehead. “There. And when this one stops helping, I’ll get you another one. If you want it.”
“Why do you keep doing that?” Delaney asked impatiently.
“Because he doesn’t know what else to do,” the child answered. She patted the washcloth. “It’s okay. I’m better now.”
“I’m so sorry about your mom. And that you got upset. Can I get you anything else?” Rake glanced around the suite for something to give her and cursed his lack of funds yet again. The Bible? No. The room service menus? No. The tiny shampoo? “Do—do you want a hundred Peeps? I could probably make it five hundred if you needed it. Just wait until I leave before you start gobbling them up. I couldn’t bear to watch.”
Lillith sniffed. “You can’t leave. You’re my dad, maybe.”
“It was—uh—I was only joking. About leaving.” Probably. “Do you—do you feel like talking?”
“No. But I will anyway.” The child sighed and sat up, and Rake deftly caught the washcloth as it fell. She fussed with her shirt, smoothing it over her belly, and then speared him with that disconcerting direct gaze. When this kid isn’t going totally unnoticed, she can glare into your soul. It’s … kind of awesome, and now that I think about it, Mom does the same—
He cut off that line of thought. Fast.
“My mother,” she began, as if reciting a book report, “did bad things for good reasons. She took things from bad men. And sometimes she found out they did something bad, and they’d do nice things for her so no one else would find out they did something bad.”
Jesus Christ in a handcar. “So she was a thief and a blackmailer. Ow!” Rake rubbed his now-throbbing foot and glared at Delaney. “Really? I’m the one who’s out of line in this story?”
“And one day,” Lillith continued loudly, sounding like an aggrieved elementary school teacher, “she found out something really bad about someone who lived in Colorado, too. Something much, much worse than what she was looking for. And while Mama was making a plan for us to run, she … she died.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, honey,” he begged, “but where do I fit into this story?”
“Nowhere. That’s the problem.” This from Madame Spoilsport in the corner. Well, near the corner. “I didn’t know any of this until it was almost too late. It might still be too late. And nobody counted on your coming to Venice.”
“Yeah, including me.”
“But here you are. And that’s very curious. But, ultimately, it’s not as important as Lillith’s safety and well-being, which are the top priority.”
There was an expectant (insulting!) pause, which Rake defensively broke. “What? I’m not gonna argue that. Why would I argue that? She’s a kid who lost her mom and people have to look out for her. A mom I didn’t know, by the way. Just to reiterate. Again.”