“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? Did you really think that the police wouldn’t be able to track you down?”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are, just get down on the floor! Now!”
“All we had to do was check Christina’s address book, find out what clients she had on her books. There were only so many clients with a motive to steal someone’s baby. And you were top of the list.”
“Shut up! I’m warning you!”
“Did you really think the police would just forget about a missing midwife that was pregnant?”
“Just shut up!”
“Yeah, they were too late to save Christina from weeks of torture—but it was only a matter of time before they caught up with you. It wasn’t that hard. How many places does a lowlife like you have to hide? How many farms do you think there are in St. Clears with the surname Young? Just one. Just one place to hide.”
“You know what, I don’t care who you are—you’re not taking my baby.”
“He’s not your baby. He’s mine!” Richard edged nervously forward, his eyes fixed on the gun. “And I’m taking him home.”
“Stay back!” Peter warned, spit flying from his mouth, his hand still quivering. “I’ll shoot anyone who tries to take my son out of this house. I swear to God, I’ll blow their heads off! I’m not afraid!”
Richard stopped in his tracks, holding out his palms in defense. “You can’t keep him. He’s not yours—he never was.”
“Yes he is! He was always mine!”
Richard shook his head. “No he’s not. And he never will be. Can’t you see that? What are you going to tell him when he grows up? How are you going to explain to him that you kidnapped his mother, that you snatched him from her womb—that you let her die? How are you going to explain all that? More lies?”
“I’ll tell him the truth—that his mother died giving birth to him.”
“But that’s not the truth, and you know it! You stole him.”
“No—she stole him from me. She let my baby die. And she as good as put the noose around Sophie’s neck. It was her responsibility to keep them safe. And she failed us. She goddamn failed us!”
“You’re right—it was her responsibility to keep him safe, but only to a point. It wasn’t her fault he died. It was no one’s fault. Can’t you see that? And what about your responsibility? You should have kept Christina safe. You should have taken her to a hospital. Instead you let her bleed to death on a dirty bed. And then you took away her baby.”
“I never meant for her to die. That was a mistake.”
“What did you expect to happen? Did you really think that everything would be all right? That everything would just work itself out? You tied her to a bed and left her to rot. You nearly killed them both. What kind of a father does that make you?”
“Shut up,” Peter sobbed. “You don’t know what it was like. I lost everything. Every-fucking-thing!”
“And what about me? You took away the woman I loved, and my only child, everything that meant something to me.” Richard began to creep forward again.
“Stay back! I already told you I’ll shoot anyone who comes near Jake.”
“And I already told you—his name is Dean!”
“Stay back! I mean it! Don’t push me!”
Richard stopped again. “The police will be through that front door any minute now to take him away. If you let me walk out that door,” he said, pointing behind Peter at the front door, “with the baby, then they’ll go easy on you. They promised me.”
“I don’t care what they promised—I’ll shoot anyone who comes through that door. I mean it.”
“They’ll shoot you first, Peter. That’s what they’re trained to do. And what good will that do? You can never get your life back. You can never be a dad then.”
“I am a dad!”
Just as the baby’s cries intensified, the sound of a car pulling up outside filled the room.