“You wanted to punish us? We had the entire Allegheny County Police Department searching for you. All your friends and family. Austin. Blythe.” I lifted an eyebrow—I know all your secrets.

“I’m sorry I never told you about them, but I knew you wouldn’t approve.”

“You don’t give me much credit, do you?”

The man in the bed coughed, smiled wanly. “You remember me?”

I stood up, straightened my back. “Of course I remember you, Bennett. You’re the man who abandoned his newborn daughter on the side of the road. Then took her away from me for six months, allowing me to think she was dead.” I wasn’t going to play polite at this reunion. This man threatened to send me to jail while he abducted my child.

“Mom, stop.” Vera stepped in front of me, forcing me to look at her. “I’m the one who pursued Bennett and asked to meet him when I found out he was dying. I’m the one who suggested coming here. I wanted a chance to know my biological father before it was too late. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Except for abandon his baby on the side of the road, I didn’t say. I wasn’t letting that tidbit go.

I studied the sick man, so clearly close to death. His body was emaciated, his face and eyes badly jaundiced. His pale skin was mottled with swollen blood vessels radiating outward like spider webs. The palms of his hands were unnaturally red. He itched himself absently, his arms covered with scratch marks. His breath came in ragged gusts. A trash can by his bedside reeked of vomit.

I noticed how Vera called him Bennett, not Dad.

“You’ve raised a beautiful kid. Compassionate too,” Bennett said.

“Yes, I know. She’s amazing.” I wanted to kiss her forehead, tell her how amazing she was. Instead I gave her space. “Six months, though, Vera? That’s a long time to make me worry about you.”

“It wasn’t about you, Mom. It was about me. And my own closure.”

I nodded. She was right—only about that, though.

“I’m sorry I kept her from you for this long,” Bennett wheezed. “But she insisted on staying with me until the end. I didn’t expect it to take so long.”

“Cancer?” I asked.

Bennett chuckled. “Not this time. Believe it or not, I beat prostate cancer. This time it’s liver damage. The drink finally caught up to me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Though I didn’t know this man, it was heartbreaking to watch anyone—even the man who abducted my daughter—die like this.

“We can get you proper medical care. This isn’t where you should be, in an old abandoned house. Which is freezing, by the way.” I shivered under the harsh chill. “You should be in a hospital getting medical attention.”