Mariah Stewart - Cry Mercy

Henry was the most likely. She tried calling him again, but had to leave another message. She didn't have phone numbers for Justin or the twins. She went to the donor-sibling website and posted a general message.

It seems that Belle was pretty close to finding Donor 1735, but apparently she had help from one of you. The Y chromosome-DNA test that could provide information about the male line would have had to come from one of you guys-because girls don't have Y chromosomes. You can email me privately if you like, but I'd like to confirm which one of you gave Belle your DNA.

Thanks-Emme Caldwell

She sat back and rubbed her temples, berating herself. She certainly was no DNA expert, but she certainly should have figured out that you couldn't trace Y chromosomes through a female offspring.

She got up and walked to the window and looked out on a perfect summer day. Which of your brothers came through for you, Belle, and what did you do with the results of his test?

What would I have done? Emme asked herself.

I'd have found the lab, just like Aaron said, and I would have sent the swab in. Then when I got the results back, I would have sent them in to the databases, just like Aaron did. But first, before I sent the report anywhere, I would have made a copy. Several copies. I would have kept at least one-maybe more than one, in different places, just for safety's sake, since I wouldn't take chances with something that precious. And I would have sent a copy to the brother who'd given me his DNA.

She walked back to her computer and checked her mail. Nothing yet. She wondered how long she'd have to wait before one of the boys owned up-if he'd own up at all. She sent out one more email to the four boys, an addendum, telling them it was okay if they didn't want to own up to having given Belle their DNA, but in the alternative, a copy of the DNA profile Belle had sent back to them would be just fine. She typed the address of the foundation on the bottom of the email and hit send. There was nothing she could do now except wait.

For the third time that day, he sat at his desk, checking her new emails. It had become almost an obsession. At first, he'd only wanted to know what she knew, who she corresponded with on a regular basis, whom she'd told what. Once he had the answers to those questions, he wanted to know more, and so the game had begun. He'd studied the emails for her style, and thought he'd been doing a pretty damned good job mimicking her. He was clearly winning this round: He knew who, and he knew what. Now he had to figure out how best to resolve this particular mess.

This latest one was a bit of a mystery to him.

OMG, Lori, where the hell are you? Answer your phone! Call ASAP!!! Phone home and all that! Seriously, L, I'm worried.

The email wasn't signed and he was certain it wasn't anyone he knew. Lori's roommate, maybe? He debated the wisdom of replying to a message from someone who might pick up right away that he wasn't Lori. As much as he'd love to play with Pammiegirl22's head right now, he really shouldn't. He'd put that one on ice for a while and see what happened.

He reopened and reclosed emails that were months old. She and Belle had been busy little bees, hadn't they? And so eager to share with their donor siblings.

He lingered over the photos that Belle had sent Lori of Belle, Will, and Wayne on a Georgia beach the year before. Once again he enlarged the photo to fill the screen. Belle was so perfect, with her pretty skin and that long beautiful hair. And her smile… she really did have a beautiful smile. It made him happy just to look at her face and remember when one of her smiles had been for him.

The twins, well, they were a different story. It had been a source of irritation to find that they had the same hairline that he had. The same shape of the face. The same eyes. The resemblance, while not overly strong, was definitely there.

He heard a ping and returned to the screen. Ah, he'd been waiting for this one. He opened it quickly.

I appreciate your advice but I don't know that I totally agree. I still don't know what to do about the stuff Belle gave me. If I should tell EC or if maybe I should talk to my mom. On the one hand, my mom won't be happy about me looking for Donor 1735-we've had that discussion before and she thinks it's a bad idea, that the clinic gave him a guarantee of anonymity and that we should respect that. On the other hand, Belle worked really hard to find him-I hate to see all her work be for nothing. And she did trust me with the information. Why would she have done that if she hadn't wanted me to finish what she started? Ali.

He growled deep in his throat. Sometimes it seemed he spent the majority of his time dealing with stupid people. Could she really be serious? Turn over Belle's notes to the fucking investigator? Jesus give me strength. He began to type furiously.

I understand your dilemma totally. It is a hard decision to make. But I did have an idea. I might have told you that I was going to be working in a forensic lab over the summer, right? I start next week-I am so looking forward to it. Anyway, maybe I can get someone in the lab to help me run the DNA results through that website so we can see if 1735's profile is on record somewhere. I think it would be so cool if we could find him-but I think we should be the ones to be looking. It isn't any of that investigator's business, you know? It's ours. Are you still planning on driving to Bryn Mawr on Wednesday? I can maybe meet you someplace and you can give me the stuff and I'll take it with me to work next week. Lori

He waited a few minutes. The sound of Lori's cell phone ringing startled him and made him jump. He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and checked the caller. Of course, she'd want to talk. Well, she was just going to have to go back to her laptop and start typing, because no one was going to answer that phone, probably ever again. He only kept it to monitor who was missing Lori and Henry, to see which fires he could put out via email or text messages. The longer he could keep others from looking for them, the better off he'd be. He knew from his phone call with Henry that their mom had left after his graduation to spend some time in California, so he figured that gave him some time. He frowned, hoping Pam-miegirl22 didn't turn out to be the spoiler.

He watched, and within minutes, another email appeared.

Just tried to call but you didn't pick up. Yes, I am still planning on driving to Bryn Mawr but I'm leaving in about an hour. My field hockey workshop starts at eight tomorrow morning so I have to go today. I really want to play this fall! I can meet you on campus or off. Any idea of the time? It's going to be hot so we might have a late afternoon or early evening practice. Ali

What time were you figuring on arriving today? We're going to be driving to-here he had to stop and consult a map-Harrisburg for our cousin's wedding -God, how lame was that?- so we'll be leaving sometime today too! We could stop to see you on our way through the Philly area! Lori

Oh, wow-that would be so cool to see you both again! I should be there around seven if the traffic through the turnpike tunnels isn't too bad. By the time I check in and everything, I guess I can get away by around eight. Is that too late? Ali

No, that would be perfect. How about eight thirty? Maybe we can find a coffeehouse or something and visit for a while. Lori

Oh, yay! I can't wait! Ali

Neither can I! See you soon! Lori

He added, P.S. Don't forget to bring Belle's notes!

He sighed as he hit send. Dear God, this girl was such a loose cannon. To think she'd come this close to handing over all of Belle's notes to the PI. Clearly, she had to go, and go soon.