Chapter 1 - The Ghost From the Past
I stared at the photograph resting on the pristine white tablecloth.
It was undeniably Matthew, looking perhaps a year or two younger, standing next to a woman with tired eyes and familiar bone structure.
She was the woman who had given him up for adoption twenty-seven years ago.
Her name was Sarah.
I had never kept Sarah a secret from Matthew, but he had never expressed a desire to find her.
Now, Olivia was wielding this woman’s existence like a loaded weapon in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
The police officer stepped closer, his hand resting cautiously on his utility belt.
“Ma’am, I need you to explain what this photograph has to do with the stolen narcotics,” he said to Olivia.
Olivia smiled, a cold, calculated expression that made my blood run icy.
“Because Linda isn’t the one taking the pills,” Olivia said, pointing an accusatory finger at me.
“Matthew has been writing fraudulent prescriptions under Linda’s name to supply his biological mother’s drug habit.”
Matthew looked as if all the air had been violently sucked from his lungs.
“That is a complete lie,” he choked out, his voice trembling with sheer disbelief.
“I haven’t written a prescription outside of the hospital in over three years.”
Olivia shook her head, adopting a mask of absolute tragedy.
“He’s an addict enabler, Officer,” she lied smoothly.
“That’s why he was in the pharmacy last night, stealing what he couldn’t prescribe.”
The officer pulled out a pair of steel handcuffs.
“Dr. Collins, I am going to have to ask you to come down to the precinct for questioning.”
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My son did not fight as the cold metal locked around his wrists.
He just looked at Olivia, his eyes filled with a shattering realization of who he had actually married.
