Chapter 21: No Baby

The MacCormack kitchen was yellow and small, with a table big enough for six.

Nobody was sitting at it.

Colby stood by the sink with a sheet of paper in his fist.

His mother stood beside him with her arms wrapped around herself.

Vanessa was against the refrigerator in the pale trench coat, with her hair coming loose and a suitcase at her feet.

She looked up when Becky came through the door, and the sweetness went out of her face.

"Oh, wonderful," she said. "The audience."

Kendrick rolled in behind Becky, and Max stayed in the hall.

"Mrs. MacCormack asked us," Becky said.

"I asked," Colby's mother said.

Her voice was steady and her eyes were red.

"I wanted someone in this room who'd tell the truth."

Colby held up the paper.

"I called the clinic you said you went to," he said to Vanessa.

"I got the doctor on the phone myself. They have no patient named Sholes."

"You called my doctor? That's private."

"There's no doctor. There's no appointment. There's no baby."

His voice broke on the last word.

"You forged this. Somebody sold it to you online."

Vanessa's mouth worked.

"Colby, I was scared. I thought if you knew I was pregnant, you wouldn't leave me."

"You said it in front of three hundred people."

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