Page 12 of His Everything
Their eyes glance around the apartment, stopping in a bit of surprise when they see the wall of photographs, including the wedding photos of me and Lucy, as well as the ones with Liam in them. They share a look I can’t quite read but I motion to the chair and couch in the living room space. “I asked a neighbor to watch Liam until I figured out who was looking for my Lucy.”
“I have to say, you’re not what we were expecting considering your age,” Elliot says, and my chin goes up a notch.
“Because I don’t have video game or music blaring ignoring my son while he begs for attention? Or because the place isn’t a disaster zone since my wife’s at work because clearly I make her pay the bills?” I question, watching them both fight smiles again. “I’d love for Lucy to quit her dumb job and let me handle the bills. I have plenty in my college fund to cover the apartment and utilities, but the most I’ve gotten her to do is cut back her hours to just one night a week and two day-time shifts which wouldn’t have her away from Liam much longer than if she had classes all day. I learnt about Liam when I found Lucy back in September, and the only reason I even came to town was to tryand find her. She’s everything to me, so there’s no way I’d ignore our son or leave her to clean up when I’m perfectly capable of doing it. I was raised to believe that a man should support his partner, not just monetarily, but in everything regardless of age. That’s what I’m trying to do, while also making sure she’s safe. So…why are you here looking for Lucy? Why would the FBI or a private investigator be looking for her?”
“I was hired four years ago by Lucy’s biological mother,” Elliot states, making my eyes narrow even more in confusion.
“Why would she need to a hire a private investigator four years ago? Lucy was exactly where she left her—with her bastard of a father,” I add, my tone betraying my hatred of the man after everything I’ve learnt about him.
“You know Lucy mother’s?” Conner questions and I shake my head no.
“No, but I’ve known Lucy since we were kids. She was my sister’s best friend, and we all know that her mother left her when she was little,” I admit.
“Do you know how old Lucy was when she moved to town?” Elliot asks and I have to think about that because there’s no part of my life that she hasn’t been a part of from what I can remember.
“Not but she and my sister were two years ahead of me in school, I’m pretty sure that Lucy was in kindergarten with Jessa. It wasn’t until high school that Lucy was in a different year, graduated early, but even still, so-what if they moved after she left Lucy with him? She should have been able to find him easy enough.”
“You’d think, but, that’s not what we believe happened,” Conner states, pulling something up on his phone. “This is an age-progression that was done on a baby photo. The resemblance to Lucy Wilson—Craig now I’m guessing, isuncanny, as is the fact that her first name and birth date are the same as the baby’s…Lucy Jeannine Donnovan.”
“My client told me that her husband hated the name Jeannine, said it sounded and looked stupid, but she loved it. He wanted to use Michelle instead,” Elliot expands with and my brow lifts in surprise. “Lucy Michelle Wilson’s birth certificate and social security number weren’t filed until she was nine-months old.”
“While Lucy Jeannine Donnovan disappeared when she was four-months old, after her twin sister Lisa Danielle was killed and their mother was put in the hospital on life support for a month before she pulled through,” Conner adds. “When she woke, she swore that Lucy had to still be alive, that there wasn’t a body, so she had to be out there. That Lucy was the quiet one and he was okay with her because she didn’t fuss the way Lisa did. They were in the midst of a divorce because her husband swore she was cheating on him, sleeping with any man that came along and he’d attacked her. The judge gave him visitation rights at her house to see the babies but that night, Lisa was fussy after being diagnosed with an ear infection. Which is why he went after Lisa and when Claire tried to stop him, he went after her as well.”
The blood drains from my face listening to him, the part about being quiet far too much to just be a coincidence, especially with the age-progression photo that I’d swear was Lucy in a heartbeat. “One of the reasons Lucy kept Liam secret was because she was scared what her father would do if he found out about him. She had one date in high school, the boy kissed her on the cheek when he took her home, and she said her father swore to do unfathomable things to her if he ever found her with a boy. That he’d use a belt on her if she wasn’t quiet…”
“Is this him?” Conner asks, pulling up another photo and it’s possible but I can’t be certain.
“Lose the hair and add on about forty pounds and it’s possible I guess,” I tell them. “I don’t remember him ever being in any photos. He skipped Lucy’s graduation even. I just…if it’s him why did it take so long to find him? If they were married, the courts would have his information wouldn’t they?”
“His name was Christopher Donnovan, not Wilson,” Elliot explains. “We believe he got a doctor to forge the information to obtain a new birth certificate for Lucy. We can’t find any record for the woman listed as the mother. It’s not hard to imagine that he used a fake identity for himself.”
“He went by Frank. My parents didn’t like him, but they loved Lucy, and she was always invited to join us on vacations. He never left town. Worked at the factory which also employs a lot of illegals,” I add as more and more of it makes sense. “If she’d ever told them that he was physically hurting her, they’d have stepped in, but she was too scared to even try. It’s why she graduated early, to get away from him.”
“But he still lives there?” Conner asks and I nod. My parents would have mentioned if he’d moved since I came to town. “We’ll need DNA to confirm Lucy is really Lucy Donnovan…”
“What?” came from the doorway and my head popped up, seeing my girl there, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief, and I hurried to her, wrapping her up in my arms, not about to lose her over this.
Chapter 9
Lucy
Ihonestly couldn’t have just heard what I think I did, could I? The stranger in our home didn’t just say that they need DNA to prove I’m someone else, right?
“Luce,” Jayden says, his tone worried yet gentle, the same way mine is when reassuring Liam that everything’s okay and my eyes drift up to his, seeing the truth there. I really did just walk into the conversation I think I did.
“What’s going on?” I ask looking from him towards the two strangers that stand up letting Jayden move us to the couch they were just occupying. One of them grabs a chair from the table and settles onto it while the other perches on the recliner Jayden bought. Liam loves snuggling with him in it. I have so many pictures of it because it’s so sweet watching them, even have one as the background and lockscreen on my phone.
“This is likely going to be hard to hear and there’s no easy way to say it. If there were I’d find it, but these men believe that your father kidnapped you when you were four-months old after nearly killing your mom and…beating your twin sister to death,”Jayden tells me, and everything around me goes a little white as bees buzz in my ears.
His face is the only thing I can see, his hand is stroking my cheek, but it takes another minute before I can feel that. My hand tightens in his when I can finally make out his, “Are you okay?”
“Lucy, baby, I’m sorry,” Jayden whispers to me, holding me close. His lips press against my forehead, and I rest my face in his neck for a minute until I feel like I can actually breathe again.
I sit back a bit, my eyes searching his face, the look there tells me every bit of it is true. My heart races as I turn towards the others asking, “You really think my father did this?”
“This is the age-progression photo our techs did when Elliot called to say he thought he’d found you,” the first man stated, holding out his phone my way and the drawing on it definitely could have been of me.
“I routinely search databases for anyone named Lucy with your date of birth,” Elliot added drawing my attention his way. “Your mother was certain he wouldn’t change your first name, that Lucy was his decision. I found your marriage license information and then did a quick search for your name. You don’t have any social media, but I did find your state issued id, and there were notable similarities between you and my client. That had me reaching out to the FBI and I was directed to Conner. It took me a couple extra days to find you since you’d just switched apartments.”