Bloodlines (69 page)

"Yes. I think at first he suspected--well, I'll leave that part of the story to Lillian. One day O'Connor announced that he was marrying a woman he'd only bedded once, because she was pregnant, and Jack was a horse's ass about it. So I confronted him, and in turn he confronted me, and after calling Lillian and threatening her with all sorts of ridiculous things, he learned the truth from us."

Max sat silently, then said, "Can we test to make sure, just so we know I'm the child who..."

"Of course."

"And Lillian--do you think she'll help me bring this out in public? Some of it, anyway?"

"We'll work on that together. I think if she realizes that the Yeagers can finally be punished for what they did to Katy, and our lives, then ...yes." She smiled. "She really isn't one tenth as selfish as she pretends to be."

We left them to talk together. I went out to check on Ethan again. We arrived just in time to hear a doctor express cautious optimism about his survival. We learned that he was out of surgery and about to be moved to ICU. "No visitors for a while, please--except--is there someone named Irene here?" I came forward. "If you can keep it very brief, I think it would be good for him to see you're alive." He smiled. "He thinks we're lying to him."

Frank came with me. Ethan was pale, connected to a lot of machinery, obviously full of painkillers. He smiled at us and said, "Thought I'd lost you."

"No. Rest and recover. We'll get a room ready for you at home."

He looked toward Frank. "You sure you want me there?"

"You saved her," Frank said. "You're family now, like it or not."

"Family," he said. "Sounds good."

** THE END **

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JAN BURKE is the recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award(r) for Best Novel, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Tim, and her dogs, Cappy and Britches.