SCARRED - Part 3 (The SCARRED Series - Book 3) by Kylie Walker

was no traffic...foot or vehicle. Seeing no motion anywhere, he casually stepped out onto the path and strolled along at a leisurely pace until he reached the end of it and turned onto 164th street where he’d left his car. When he reached it, he took a big gulp of the crisp night air and smiled. It felt good to be productive.

Chapter 11
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    D erek sat looking at his in-laws, trying to find the words to tell them what he’d come here for. He had a whole speech prepared, but now as he looked at them he spent a fraction of a second wondering if he was doing the right thing. If Chloe was completely receptive to the idea, he wouldn’t be so concerned. She’d finally agreed to meet them, but she was skittish about it...and still so worried about Jesse coming after her, that he almost felt like he was cheating them all over again. They had been cheated out of twenty-four years with her. What if she met them and then she wanted to go on with her life without really knowing them. Would he be cheating them all over again?
    “Derek,” Samantha said, gently, “You’re frightening us a little bit.”
    “Oh jeez, I’m sorry. I got lost in my thoughts there for a moment.” He looked at Trevor who was trying not to look impatient, but he’d been sitting here for a full fifteen minutes since he’d told them he had “news” about the questions he had come here and asked them the last time.
    “I’m just not sure how to say this. It’s not bad news...at least not now...”
    Samantha reached across the table and took his hand in hers. She looked at him with those soft brown eyes and said, “It’s okay, Derek. Whatever you have to say, we can handle.”
    He smiled at her. He knew she was right. They had already lost two children and they were still two of the most amazing human beings he’d ever known. They survived that with grace. They would survive this as well.
    “When your girls were born, the doctor who delivered them was involved in a black market baby ring. I spoke to the midwife that was there and I gathered statistics on the infant mortality rate at the hospital where the girls were born. There was an inordinately large amount of infant deaths and still born babies during that time...but mostly amongst those having multiple births. The doctor wasn’t able to give me any information. He has Alzheimer’s...” He could already see the hope on their faces and now he was racing to spit out his news. “I don’t think Sarah’s sister died that day.”
    Samantha looked both hopeful and confused. Trevor looked almost angry, which was unlike him. Neither of them spoke for a long time until Samantha finally broke the silence by saying, “What do you think happened to her?” Her chin was held high and her posture was perfectly straight, but the look on her face told him she was crumbling inwardly. He hoped that he could make it better...
    “She was sold and illegally adopted. I found her, by accident...”
    Trevor jumped out of his chair, almost knocking it over. Samantha didn’t even look up at him; her eyes were riveted to Derek’s face.
    Samantha managed to croak out a whisper. “Where is she?”
    “Derek,” Trevor’s voice was low and husky and it had an almost threatening edge to it that Derek had never heard. “Before you answer that question, please tell me that this is more than a “feeling.” Tell me you have proof...DNA proof...”
    “I don’t have DNA, but this woman is the spitting image of Sarah. She changed her hair and eye color and I could still see it. She told me her history of being adopted and I checked it out. There is no trace of the adoption agency these people supposedly went through and no trace of a birth record for her anywhere. She was born on the same day as Sarah, she’s the same age. She grew up in New York...” Samantha let out a strangled sob and Trevor knelt down and took her into his arms.
    He still looked skeptical.
    “They gave us