Brady’s unerring instinct knotted loose ends together. “She was the one who told my mother the children she carried weren’t her own.” Then that final, damning connection. “And my father had her silenced. I’m so sorry.” Tears illuminated her dark eyes. She blinked them clear as she truly saw Cee Cee’s friend. “That makes us . . . half-sisters.”
Mary Kate offered an encouraging smile. “Family. Yes.”
“But not Olivia.” Not a question but rather a need for confirmation.
The doctor spoke to that. “My guess is Genevieve Savorie saw her chance at immortality and took it,” Susanna supplied. “With or without telling your father. They were building the perfect beast, so to speak.”
Cee Cee slumped back into the couch cushions, palms pressed to her middle, thoughts churning too rapidly to stop. “For what purpose?”
“Whatever they decide,” the doctor surmised, “will not be in our best interest. A disposable workforce, a military elite, the next gen leader under their control? Any or all those things are possible. They now have the technology and the funds. They just needed the basic building blocks.”
“And when they finished their one-stop shopping at Dr. Jones’ clinic, they tried to get rid of the evidence.” Cee Cee purposefully closed her eyes to deny a surge of helpless fury. After a fierce, purging breath, her tone rumbled with determination. “We need to stop them. We need to protect our own and save our children’s future. We need to find a way to end Genevieve Savorie.”
“And,” Ophelia spoke up quietly, “my father.”
– – –
Bolstered by the confidence of the other women, though shaken by revealed truths, Cee Cee returned to her overflowing work desk, noting the empty one beside her with a regretful sigh. She’d started sorting her messages when a call buzzed in.
“My office.”
Her captain didn’t look up from his papers. “Have a seat, Detective.”
She settled across the desk from him, balancing on the edge of her chair the same way she feared her career teetered. When his head lifted and an unwavering stare locked on hers, jumper cables of shock snapped through her. She wasn’t on his shit list. This was something else. Something . . . huge.
“We can’t stop change, Lottie.”
Her gut tightened at the topic and his use of the fond moniker. Damn! He was pulling her off the streets. “We can give it our best shot, sir.”
An appreciative chuckle then the sober mood settled more deeply than before. “Other than your father’s, there’s no one whose opinion I respect more than yours.” He glanced toward the wall behind him where an old photo of two young officers hung amongst his many commendations. Tommy Caissie, his wide, roguish smile a dashing contrast to deep-toned Creole skin beside a stiffly pale and proper Byron Atcliff.
“I miss him, too, Uncle Byron.”
“Tommy was a good man, a good officer and friend. But not much of a father.” He put up his hand before she could make a weak argument. “I trusted him to have my back, on the streets and off them. The way I trust you to do the same.”
Surprise and professional gratification slowly succumbed to caution. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’m running this by you first because I trust your instincts, and I need your backing.”
Her brows puckered. “Sir?”
“In light of this fiasco with Brady, I anticipate a shakeup. Deputy Superintendent is something that’s been nudged my way. I’d like to start grooming you to take my spot.”
That she hadn’t seen coming. Before she could sputter any kind of response, he continued his well-vetted pitch.
“You’re respected by your peers and superiors. You can work the media and, along with your impeccable record, being a woman of color is to your advantage. Relatable, inspirational, and timely. Plus, you’re someone I can trust to have my back, and that of the department and city. Detective . . . Charlotte, take a breath.”
Cee Cee gulped and continued to stare at him as if he’d started speaking in tongues.
He smiled. “Let it settle in, Lottie, and then try to tell me it’s not what Tommy wanted for you, and you for yourself.”
Slowly, she explored the idea, mentally poking, rolling the possibility over in her mind. Coming up with one big drawback. “You’re forgetting the obvious.” She placed palms on her slightly rounded middle.
His enthusiasm failed to ebb. “A woman and a mother. Selfishly, I’ve been looking for an excuse to get you out the neighborhoods without losing all that you contribute to this to department. Charlotte, you’ve uncanny instincts and unshakable loyalty. When