Bloodlines

We all sat. We all drank coffee. No one said a word. Hell if I was going to be the one to light the fuse. I was starting to worry about Helen, who looked twice as upset as she had been before we arrived. I couldn’t figure it out. I knew Max must be happy. Why was Helen angry?

Eventually, Lillian said, “How have you been, Irene? I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“Fine,” I said. “And you?”

Instead of answering, she asked me about Frank. Easy for me to talk about Frank.

After about five minutes of this, Helen suddenly said, “You really don’t care about him, do you? Not really.”

“Frank?” Lillian asked.

“You know I don’t mean Frank! You don’t care about Max!”

“Of course I care about him. That’s why I did what I did.”

“Oh, really? What do you suppose is going to happen when the Yeagers learn that you’ve submitted blood for a DNA test?”

“Mitch is not stupid, Helen-”

“I never inspected him as closely as some others did.”

“-however little you may think of him,” Lillian went on. “He has known for several years now that this would be possible. News stories about the power of DNA tests have abounded recently, and I’m sure he has imagined that Max would want to know his origins. Mitch has been thinking that at any time, I could participate in the testing, and Mitch would have awkward questions to answer if Max proved to be the missing child.”

She turned to me. “Perhaps it’s for the best that you are here today. Perhaps a story could run in tomorrow’s paper, saying I’ve already submitted a blood sample? If you think it would be newsworthy, that is.”

“She doesn’t lay out the front page, you know,” Helen said. “Why can’t you ever learn what it is a reporter does and does not do?”

“I can provide you with the name of the doctor who drew the blood,” Lillian said, ignoring her. “And give you the name and address of the lab that has the sample-or will have it in a few hours, anyway. Max is flying it up to Seattle. He’s chosen a lab up there.”

“Thank God he’s out of the area, anyway,” Helen said.

“He’ll be back Monday.”

“My God,” Helen said. “What can be done?”

“Nothing,” Lillian said. “Will you please use that brain of yours? The key has been to get the test in progress before Mitch could do anything about it. If I waited, he might kidnap Max again, just to keep him from being tested. I felt as you did, until Max told me he was willing to take some extreme measures. Exhumations are not done quite so speedily as blood tests, Helen. If it were to become known that Kathleen would be exhumed-a thought I find unbearable to begin with-Mitch would have the time he needs to make sure something horrible happens to Max.”

“What do you think has stopped him before now?” I asked.

“My very well-known refusal. Knowing that I refused the tests, and that I would fight an exhumation, has been enough.”

“You egotistical fool,” Helen said.

I said, “But Max might have gone to the other side of the family for help. If Warren Ducane-”

Lillian interrupted. “Mitch probably doubts that a man in hiding for over two decades will come forward just to make the parents of Max’s fiancée happy.”

“Exactly why is he in hiding?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Lillian answered.

“Because,” Helen said, “he has known that no one-no one has a longer memory than Mitch Yeager when it comes to avenging slights or injuries. If he needs twenty years to carry out his revenge, he’ll happily take that long to do it. As Lillian is fully aware.”

“Yes, and Warren would be a target of that revenge,” Lillian said. “He took Max away from Mitch and caused questions to be raised about Mitch and his nephews. Mitch had worked hard to make everyone forget his begi

“She means,” Helen said, “that his father was a good-for-nothing who abandoned his family, his mother was a drunk, and his brother was a thief and a bootlegger. Mitch’s own business practices have never been entirely aboveboard, either.”

“He tried to change,” Lillian said, “but there were always those who were ready to snub him or remind him of his past. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps if the Express had left him alone, he would have been just another successful businessman.”

“I don’t believe it!” Helen said furiously. “A woman your age ca

“No,” Lillian said quietly. “How can you possibly ask such a thing?”

“I can ask it when you do things on impulse, things that will only hurt Max. You haven’t solved a problem, Lily-you’ve only created new ones, as well you know. Or is this your own-” She stopped herself, with a visible effort, from finishing that sentence. “You really don’t care about what this will do to Max or anyone else, do you, Lily?”

“He’s all I care about in this, Helen.”

“Helen,” I said, “what aren’t you telling me?”

That silenced them both.

“I know you both adore Max,” I said. “And you know I would never want any harm to come to him, either. I’m trying to figure out what’s really going on here. There are only two possible outcomes for these tests. One is that Max is Lillian’s grandson.”

“I feel sure he is Katy’s son, don’t you, Helen? He is so much like her.”

“Don’t play games with me, Lillian! You’ve put him in danger!”

“I can’t help but think she’s right, Lillian,” I said, “although if we alert the police, they may be able to help us. Because if he is your grandson, Mitch Yeager’s ties to the events of that night in 1958 will be difficult for him to refute.”

“You go right ahead and tell Frank.”

“But, Lillian, you have to face the fact that there is a possibility that the tests will prove he is not your grandson, which-”

“Which will again leave him with no idea who he is,” Helen said. “And no real possibility of ever finding out the truth. Don’t you remember what he went through when all this began? How confused and unsure he was? He’ll feel he came by all his wealth and advantages dishonestly, that he has robbed the estate of some poor murdered infant who will never be found. Oh, Lily, why didn’t you tell Gisella Ross’s parents to stow the Mayflower Compact where the sun don’t shine, right alongside the blue book and all the other trappings of their stupid snobbery?”

“You might as well ask me why I didn’t assassinate Watson and Crick when I saw what their DNA discoveries might lead to,” Lillian said. “Don’t you see, Helen? You’re the one who’s being naïve. Max has never felt sure of his identity. Never. From the moment I learned that DNA was being used to determine paternity, I knew that sooner or later he would want to have DNA tests done. He has, in fact, asked many times before. He cares for my wishes, and without this added pressure from Gisella’s family, perhaps I would have been able to go to my grave without having to face what I’m facing now. But the Rosses’ request is only an excuse that he was all too happy to grab hold of.” She sighed dramatically. “I understand they can test hair from a hairbrush. I feared it was only a matter of time before I’d discover Max combing through my brushes.”

Both women fell silent again. Helen stood and said, “Irene, please take me home.”

“So you see it my way now?” Lillian asked.

“Oh no, Lillian.”

Lillian suddenly went white. “You wouldn’t say anything about- Helen, I’ve made the right choice. You’ll see I’m right.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Lily, but I can hardly believe you’ve considered all the implications. I think you’re wrong about why Mitch hasn’t harmed Max.”

“What do you mean? What do you mean by that?”

“You tell me Mitch is intelligent. And you tell me you think you’re the reason Mitch hasn’t harmed Max.” Her hands clenched and unclenched. “I’ve never told you this, Lillian, but there was a reason Katy asked Jack to come to her birthday party that night, and it wasn’t just to spite you.”