Harlan Coben - Long Lost

She saw it now. “Oh my God. .”

“I don’t know all the details. One of Dr. Cox’s residents was a big supporter of Save the Angels, I guess. Do you remember a Dr. Jimenez?”

Terese shook her head.

“Save the Angels pressured Cox just as he was starting up CryoHope. I don’t know if he didn’t want the press or if there was a payoff or if he was sympathetic to the Save the Angels cause. Cox probably realized that there were embryos that had no chance of being used, so, well, why not? Why let them stay frozen or be destroyed? So he gave them up for adoption.”

“So this girl”-her eyes stayed on the picture-“this is my daughter?”

“Biologically speaking, yes.”

She just stared at the face, not moving.

“When Dr. Sloan took over six years ago, he found out what had been done. He was in a tough spot. For a while he debated just keeping quiet but felt that was both illegal and medically unethical. So he took something of an in-between route. He contacted Rick and asked permission to allow the embryos to be adopted. I don’t know what must have gone through Rick’s mind, but I guess when the choice was having embryos destroyed or giving them a chance at life, he chose life.”

“Wouldn’t they have to contact me too?”

“You had already given that permission way back when. Rick hadn’t. And no one knew where you were. So Rick signed off on it. I don’t know if it was legal or not. But the deed had already been done anyway. Dr. Sloan was just trying to clean up the mess now, in case there was something out there that screening might help with. And in this case, there was. When Rick found out he had Huntington’s disease, he wanted to make sure the family who’d adopted the embryos knew about his medical condition. So he went to CryoHope. Dr. Sloan told him the truth-that the actual embryos had been implanted years ago via Save the Angels. He didn’t know who the adoptive parents were, so he told Rick that he would make a request to get the information with Save the Angels. My guess is, Rick didn’t want to wait.”

“You think he broke into their offices?”

“It adds up,” I said.

She finally wrested her eyes off the photograph. “So where is she now?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“Biologically.”

Something crossed her face. “Don’t hand me that. You found out about Jeremy when he was fourteen. You still consider him your son.”

I wanted to say that my situation was different, but she had a point. Jeremy was biologically my son, but he had never known me as his father. I had found out about him too late to make a significant difference in his upbringing-but I was now still a part of his life. Was this situation any different?

“What’s her name?” Terese asked. “Who raised her? Where does she live?”

“Her first name might be Carrie, but I can’t say for sure. The rest of it I don’t know yet.”

She lowered the photograph onto her lap.

“We need to tell Jones about this,” I said.

“No.”

“If your daughter was kidnapped-”

“You don’t believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, be honest with me. You think she’s involved with these monsters-that she’s one of those girls Jones talked about, with daddy issues.”

“I don’t know. But if she is innocent-”

“She’s innocent either way. She can’t be more than seventeen. If she somehow got caught up in this because she was young and impressionable, Jones and his pals at Homeland Security will never understand. Her life will be over. You saw what they did to you.”

I said nothing.

“I don’t know why she’s with them,” Terese said. “Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome. Maybe she had terrible parents or is a rebellious teenager-hell, I know I was. Doesn’t matter. She’s just a kid. And she’s my daughter, Myron. Do you get that? It’s not Miriam, but I have a second chance here. I can’t turn my back on her. Please.”

I still said nothing.

“I can help her. It’s like. . it’s like it was meant to be. Rick died trying to save her. Now it’s my turn. The call said not to tell anyone but you. Please, Myron. I’m begging you. Please help me rescue my daughter.”

With Terese still beside me, I called Berleand back.

“Jones implied that you somehow lied or doctored the DNA test,” I said.

“I know.”

“You do?”

“He wanted you off the case. I did too. That was why I didn’t return your call.”

“But you called before.”

“To warn you. That’s all. You should still stay out of it.”

“I can’t.”

Berleand sighed. I thought about that first meeting, at the airport, the tired hair, the glasses with the oversize frames, the way he took me out on that roof at 36 quai des Orfevres and how much I liked him.

“Myron?”

“Yes.”

“Before, you said you knew that I didn’t lie about the DNA test.”

“Right,” I said.

“Is this something you deduced because I have a trustworthy face and almost supernatural charisma?”

“That would be a no.”

“Then please enlighten me.”

I looked over at Terese. “I need you to promise me something.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I have information you’ll find valuable. You probably have information I will find valuable.”

“And you’d like to make an exchange.”

“For starters.”

“Starters,” he repeated. “Then before I agree, why don’t you fill me in on the main course?”

“We team up. We work on this together. We keep Jones and the rest of the task force out of it.”

“What about my Mossad contacts?”

“Just us.”

“I see. Oh, wait, no, I don’t see.”

Terese moved closer so she could hear what he was saying.

“If Matar’s plot is ongoing,” I said, “I want us to bring it down. Not them.”

“Because?”

“Because I want to keep the blond girl out of it.”

There was a pause. Then Berleand said, “Jones told you that he tested the bone samples from Miriam Collins’s grave.”

“He did.”

“And that it’s a match for Miriam Collins.”

“I know.”

“So forgive me but I’m confused. Why then would you be interested in protecting this probably hardened terrorist?”

“I can’t tell you unless you agree to work with me.”

“And keep Jones out of it?”

“Yes.”

“Because you want to protect the blond girl who probably had a role in the murders of Karen Tower and Mario Contuzzi?”

“As you said, probably.”

“That’s why we have courts.”

“I don’t want her to see the inside of one. You’ll understand why after I tell you what I know.”

Berleand went quiet again.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked.

“Up to a point.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that once again you are thinking small-time. You are worried about one person. I understand that. I assume that you will tell me why she is important to you in a moment. But what we are dealing with could involve thousands of lives. Thousands of fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. The chatter I heard suggests something huge is in play, not just one strike, but a variety of attacks over the course of many months. I don’t really care about one girl-not against the thousands that might be slaughtered.”

“So what exactly are you promising?”

“You didn’t let me finish. My not caring about the girl cuts both ways. I don’t care if she gets caught-and I don’t care if she escapes prosecution. So, yes, I am with you. We will try to solve this ourselves-something I’ve been doing pretty much anyway. But if we are outmanned or outgunned, I reserve the right to call in Jones. I will keep my word and help you protect the girl. But the priority here has to be stopping the jihadists from carrying out their mission. One life is not worth thousands.”