that coma, he was almost three years old. I didn’t bring it up before because I had to be sure before I pulled him into this.”
Kate closed her eyes to block the tears. “When I asked you for legal advice, should I turn out to be Annie Harrison, it was with Reed in mind. I think it’s probably a safe bet he’s Ryan’s son. He looks a lot like him. I’ll want to have him tested as well, just to be sure.”
“Of course.”
“And I want to tell Ryan about him. I’d appreciate it if you’d not say anything today.”
“Of course not.” Simone jotted a few notes on her legal pad.
Kate massaged the scar on her head, thoughts of Ryan circling in her mind. Of Julia’s reaction to her. Of what they would both say and do when they found out about Reed. “He’s going to want to get to know Reed, in the same way I’m going to want to get to know Julia. It could get sticky with visitation issues, etc. He already doesn’t like me. I don’t see this making things any better.”
“We’ll work it out. Don’t worry about that. Ryan is a fair and honest man. Regardless of what the press says, regardless of how he’s feeling right now, he’ll cooperate.”
“I’m not so sure.” Kate ran her hands through her hair as tears filled her eyes. Why did this hurt so bad? She should be happy. Ecstatic that she had her answer. She finally knew who she was. Why wasn’t that enough?
Simone skirted the desk between them and wrapped her arms around Kate. “Just breathe. We’ll get you through this. I promise.”
Kate closed her eyes. Focused on the push and pull of air in her lungs. Centered herself on that one small thing she could do now. Everything else…everything else would work itself out. She had to give it time. Her head knew that even if her heart didn’t totally understand.
She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Thank you. I…I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I appreciate your help and friendship. I didn’t realize how much I missed having a friend around until now.”
Simone smiled. “I liked Annie a great deal. We were good friends. But I like you a lot, too. I’d be your friend whether I’d known her or not.”
“I appreciate that too,” Kate whispered. She dried her face and looked at Simone again, this time knowing she could get through the emotional fallout from this so long as she stayed focused on her goal. “There’s one more thing I’d like to discuss.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“I’ve been doing some research, trying to find answers. It was only speculation before, but now that we know for sure… I don’t know if it will make a difference in the long run, but I need to know what happened to me. Jake knew something. He had to. There has to be a reason he lied to me. Was I living a double life? Did someone intentionally try to hurt me only something went wrong? Did I run away from my family? I can’t go through life not knowing the truth.”
Simone leaned back against Kate’s desk. “Go on.”
Kate paced in front of the window. “Well, from what I can deduce from the crash records, my body was never recovered, obviously,” she added sarcastically. “But there was a body in my seat.”
“Correct.” Simone went back to her briefcase, flipped through her file on the crash. She’d obviously done some research herself. “The manifest shows you checked in on the flight, which means the stewardess did a head count and your seat was accounted for after the bulkhead doors closed. You’d made it through security with your boarding pass and ID. And your personal belongings were recovered after the crash—your suitcase, but also your purse, specifically, found wedged under a seat. Ryan identified it.”
“Do you think he still has it?”
“I don’t know. I could ask. What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just hoping seeing it might bring back a memory. I’ve had no luck at that nursing home. They won’t even let me through the door anymore. But I really feel like that’s a starting place.”
“They haven’t returned my calls, and I don’t have enough here to get a court order to go through their files.”
“I know.” Kate pinched her throbbing forehead. “If I could just get in their record room myself.”
Simone reached back for her file and opened it on her lap. “Where is it? San Mateo?” She skimmed