Suddenly her phone rang, and the screen said it was Marcus calling. She thought about letting it go, but answered it. “Hello?”

“Hi, are you on your way home?” Marcus asked, but his tone was still too cool for Christine’s liking. It told her that he wasn’t about to apologize or back down, nor was he having any second thoughts. She should have expected as much, he wasn’t that kind of man. Her mouth went dry, so she picked up her water and took a sip.

“No, I’m grabbing something to eat.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I just got a call that I have to go back to Raleigh. There’s a problem at the site.”

“Oh.” Christine knew he meant the office complex his firm was building in North Carolina.

“I have to be there tomorrow morning, so I’m going to leave tonight. They got me on the last flight out. That okay with you?”

“Fine.” Christine heard herself sounding angry, but it couldn’t be helped.

“We both need to cool off.”

Christine snorted. “I don’t think I’ll be cooling off, Marcus.”

“We can talk about it when I come back.”

“I’ll look forward to that.” Christine took another sip of water. She could be sarcastic, too, when circumstances required. She knew it wasn’t a good thing, necessarily.

“I thought about what you said about the lawsuit.”

“And you decided I’m right?”

“No.” Marcus paused. “I called Gary. He agreed to meet with you tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”

“I don’t want to meet with Gary.”

“I was going to go with you, but then I got the call. You can go alone, and I think you should. He can answer any questions you have.”

“I don’t have any questions.”

“Look, I spoke with him. He said that we don’t necessarily have to sue the clinic. He said he could explain it to you if you went in.” Marcus’s voice softened slightly. “I really wish you could go. Then, if you really don’t want to file a lawsuit against Families First, we won’t. Okay? We won’t sue Davidow for leverage against Homestead. But the least you can do is get the facts before you make your decision.”

Christine set down her water bottle. “Okay, I’ll go, but no promises.”

“Fine.” Marcus sighed, exasperated. “I’ll text you the address and let him know to expect you.”

“When are you leaving for Raleigh?” Christine decided not to remind him about the ultrasound. She didn’t want him there.

“I’m going to leave for the airport any minute. I let the dog out and fed the cat.”

“Thanks.” Christine swallowed hard. She knew Marcus had a soft heart, and she always thought he’d be a great father. Tears came to her eyes, and she was glad she’d kept her sunglasses on. People around her probably thought she was blind.

“Okay. Sleep tight. I’ll land too late to call you. I’d wake you up.”

“No worries, travel safe.”

“Love you,” Marcus said, after a moment, but it didn’t sound that way.

“Love you, too,” Christine said back, matching his tone. She hung up and pushed her tray away, her thoughts racing. She wanted to know if Jeffcoat was their donor as much as Marcus did, and she wondered what the lawyer would say about it tomorrow. She didn’t relish the meeting, but her thoughts strayed to Homestead and their donor, and she found herself thumbing through her phone to his profile. She had saved it to Dropbox, and she could access it through her phone. There had to be something, anything, in it, that would be a clue to his identity or suggest that he was somehow Zachary Jeffcoat.

She opened the file and skimmed through the interview notes, and after that was the self-reported section of the profile, where Donor 3319 had answered questions on a form. She read the first one:

Q: Describe your personality: funny, timid, brave, bold, serious, goal-oriented, curious, impulsive, etc.

A: I think of myself as a serious person, but that doesn’t mean I’m not fun to be with. I find fun in different places. I genuinely enjoy reading and learning new things. I love learning about different civilizations, their architecture, the government, and how they set up a system of laws.

Christine thought he didn’t sound like a person capable of killing anyone, much less more than one person. But then again, he could have been an excellent liar. She read the next question and answer:

Q: What are your interests and talents?

A: I love reading and research. I intend to become a research physician for that reason. I’m not crazy or boastful enough to say that I could cure cancer, but I do feel that I could best utilize my talents in advancing the cause of medicine and making people’s lives better. I know the medical world is fraught with political and insurance issues, but doctors heal, and I actually want to try to cure something in my lifetime. I want to make a difference.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

A: Answer above. Except to add that I would like to have a family of my own someday. I have a girlfriend of one year, but she isn’t ready to start a family soon.

Christine paused a moment. She hadn’t seen any mention of a girlfriend in the articles about Zachary Jeffcoat, nor had they mentioned any family, but then again, the articles had been so short. She remembered she thought it showed maturity, but now she wondered if that was a lie. She doubted Homestead followed up on facts like that. She went back to the profile and resumed reading.

Q: Tell us how skilled you are in the following subjects: Math:

A: I love math and am excellent at it. I considered being a math major.

Q: Mechanical:

A: My manual dexterity is excellent and I’m good at engineering tasks like repairing things around my apartment. I consider myself handy.

Q: Athletic:

A: I am not athletic, I must admit. Because I’m tall, basketball coaches always used to approach me, but I am not interested. I don’t think I really like team play and am much more a loner. I’m an only child, and I like chess very much. I’m good at it because I think I am a strategic thinker. I noticed that the questionnaire doesn’t even ask about games like that, which I think is a deficiency with the questionnaire.

Christine remembered that Marcus had liked that answer because it sounded like his younger self. He’d played chess in college. She read the answers again and thought about them differently, trying to view them with a critical eye, but their donor didn’t sound like some kind of vicious criminal. He just sounded like a thoughtful, smart young man, with just a touch of superiority. She didn’t know if that sounded like a serial killer, but she knew it sounded like Marcus. She read on: