Pretty Baby novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Board
I went to Cicero on Thursday night with a recorder in my coat pocket and no plan for my face.
Bernadette opened the door before I knocked, again.
She had on a plain sweater and no gold cross, and her hair was brushed flat.
"I need you to say it all again," I said, and held up the recorder. "Into this. The date, the money, who brought it."
"And then what happens?"
"Then thirteen strangers hear that my mother sold me."
She looked at the little black box for a long time.
"Press the button," she said.
I pressed it.
She sat on the white couch, with her hands between her knees, and she said it.
"It was the second of March, six years ago. I was in the hospital waiting room. Mrs. Hartwell sat down beside me, with her lawyer."
"Say his name."
"Alistair Crane. He read me the release out loud, one line at a time, like a priest.
"I signed as next of kin while my daughter was under the knife."
"Say the money."
"Three hundred thousand in cash. Her driver carried it up my stairs the next morning."
Her voice cracked, and she kept going.
"I kept my copy of the release, because I was scared of her.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Pretty Baby are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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