in her car early on the morning Keaton was murdered and left the city shortly after four a.m.
Archer pulled the wine bottle from an ice-filled bucket by the table and poured Lake a glass.
“First and foremost, to your survival,” he said, raising his glass. “I keep thinking you’re going to confess that you’re a former Navy SEAL and that’s why you’ve been able to escape raging rivers and pathological killers and…”
Lake grinned. “And avoid the world’s worst case of freezer burn?”
“Exactly.”
“I think I owe it all to pure adrenaline—and to the fear that I’d never see my kids again if I didn’t do something. Of course every time I think about Rory’s baby dying, it makes me so sad.”
“I’ve got something to take your mind off that—another reason to celebrate. I just heard from my producer that Hoss cut a deal. She obviously saw that it was all coming down around her and decided to save her ass. She admitted that Levin had hired that guy who followed you, the one who attacked you in Dumbo. Melanie apparently let Levin know that you’d called and he sent the guy there after you. Hoss is claiming it was only to scare you. Regardless, this ties up some loose ends—and it also means you’ll be safe. As soon as the police have him in custody, you can make an ID.”
Lake let out a ragged sigh of relief. It meant that there wouldn’t be lingering questions or suspicions about what she’d told the police. They would have no reason to ask for her DNA.
“I guess it’s no surprise that Hoss was in the thick of it,” Lake said. “She oversaw everything that went on in the lab. But what about Sherman? Was he in on it, too?”
“Apparently, yes.”
“And the associates and nurses?” she asked, dreading the answer. “I’ve been worried about the guy who recommended me—Steve Salman.”
Archer shook his head.
“No, it doesn’t look like it went that far down. At least from what the cops can tell right now.”
Though Steve had offered her no support, she couldn’t bear the thought of his life being ruined. He was her friend’s brother, after all.
“There’s one more person I’m curious about,” she said. “The therapist, Harry Kline. He wasn’t involved, was he?”
Archer scrunched his mouth. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “If it’s the guy who I think it is, he’s been nothing but cooperative. I hear he was pretty shocked.”
She thought of the story Rory had told her about Harry and his daughter. On Sunday, as she’d lain in her bed recuperating, she decided that there must have been a grain of truth to the tale. Keaton had possibly flirted with Harry’s daughter—rather than the other way around—and Rory most likely saw the daughter as a real threat. She’d probably gone to Harry and claimed Keaton was after the girl. That would have resulted in the daughter being removed. Harry had left a message for Lake this week, but she hadn’t wanted to return it until her own situation was more settled.
“The bottom line is that the clinic is being closed,” Archer said, interrupting her train of thought. “With the top people implicated, there’s no way it can go on right now.”
Lake smiled ruefully.
“Of course, that doesn’t help Alexis Hunt,” she said. “She still has no rights to her child.”
“I know. And according to what the technician told the cops, embryos from at least thirty other couples were used fraudulently. And a fair number of embryos were sold for research without permission.”
“Once that news gets out, so many former patients are going to wonder and begin to freak out,” Lake said. “It’s just so awful.”
“And yet think of what you did, Lake.” Archer said. “You spared countless other people the same fate.”
“It was hardly heroic. I just sort of stumbled onto the truth.”
“You did more than that and you know it. Speaking of stumbling, here’s an interesting tidbit. Apparently part of the reason why the lab technician gave it up so quickly was because Keaton had recently asked him a few probing questions about some of the procedures. This lab guy was already worried the lid was about to blow off.”
That could explain why Melanie Turnbull’s name was in Keaton’s apartment, Lake realized. Something had pointed him in that direction—though Lake would probably never know what it was.
“Anything new from your end?” Archer asked.
“I told you about the drug test. The DNA test on Rory’s baby should come back soon.”
“Madelyn said you handled yourself