you describe poor Toby. ‘But not in a creepy, serial killer kind of way.’”
She smiled affectionately at her husband. “Because that’s the first thing you think of when you hear about a guy who ‘keeps to himself.’” She turned back to Ford and Victoria. “Anyway, in general, I’d say it’s a pretty quiet block for being so close to Wrigley. Obviously, you’re going to get some people walking by on a Friday or Saturday night who’ve had a few beers at the game. But I’ve lived here for nine months now, ever since we got married, and I practically lived here the four years before that. During that time, we’ve never had any serious issues with noise.”
Hearing this—that the Sutters had been together for nearly five years—hardly improved Ford’s opinion of the man who’d slept with his sister fourteen months ago and then had left without saying good-bye.
Melanie looked to Peter for confirmation, and he nodded. “You know me, I love being close to the stadium. We’re actually staying in the neighborhood, going to a single-family home just a couple blocks over,” he said to Ford and Victoria. “P.J. and I need a front yard to play catch in.” He winked at his wife.
“We’re expecting our first child in December,” she explained, touching her stomach. “And my husband here is set on Peter Junior if it’s a boy—P.J., for short.”
“Because it’s a cute nickname,” Peter said.
“Yes, it is. For pajamas.” Melanie turned back to Ford and Victoria. “We’ll probably still be negotiating this on the way to the hospital.” Then she clapped her hands, getting back down to business. “So. Any other questions I can answer for you?”
Ford glanced at Victoria, who likely was thinking the same thing he was—that Melanie Ames seemed like a nice person who deserved better than her philandering jerk of a husband.
And also that Peter Sutter had some seriously fertile sperm.
“Nope,” Ford told the couple. “I think you’ve covered everything we need to know.”
Twenty-three
THE FOLLOWING DAY, after returning from court, Victoria deliberately ignored another cheeky look from Will when he told her that a “Mr. Dixon” had called again.
When Ford answered his cell this time, she could hear chatter in the background and guessed he was in the Trib newsroom.
“I did some digging into Peter and Melanie,” he said. “They bought a one-point-eight-million-dollar house. Five bedrooms, nice front porch and yard. All that’s missing is the white picket fence.”
“So they have money, obviously.”
“She has money,” Ford said. “Two years ago she left Coldwell Banker and started her own successful brokerage that represents luxury residential properties. She’s like the Victoria Slade of the real estate industry.”
Great. And now Victoria was about to turn this woman’s world completely upside down. “Did you find out anything else about him?”
“He’s a general manager at the XSport Fitness in Lakeview. Probably makes decent money, but nowhere near what his wife is bringing in.” His tone turned dry. “You may get a new client out of this, once Melanie finds out what her husband’s been up to.”
Victoria hung up with Ford, thinking that would indeed be ironic.
On Friday morning, she received the paternity test results from the lab and called her client to give her the news.
“Inconclusive? What does that mean?” Nicole asked.
For starters, it meant that Victoria wasn’t entirely the super-sleuth she’d thought she was. “It means the lab didn’t have a good enough sample to get an accurate result. Apparently, you need the root of the hair to run the test, and none of the hairs we got qualified.” She was quick to reassure her client. “This doesn’t affect anything, Nicole. I just figured we’d run the test for our own edification. But you’re sure this guy is Zoe’s father, right?”
“Positive.”
“Then we move forward as planned. I’ll call him at work today.”
Nicole sounded surprised things were moving so fast. “Wow. Okay. What do you think he’s going to say? It’s not every day a man finds out he has a baby with a woman he probably doesn’t even remember.” Her tone turned serious. “His wife is going to hate Zoe and me, isn’t she? We’ll always be a reminder of how he cheated on her.”
Victoria said nothing for a moment, thinking back to the day when she was ten and had found her mother sitting in the living room, staring blankly out the front window.
He’s leaving us. Your dad is starting a new family and a lot will be changing around here.
“You didn’t know he was involved with someone,