“She moved,” he said with a trace of bitterness. “And blocked me. She was pretty upset about the breakup.”

The little sliver of hope Deven had was beginning to dwindle. She sat back in the chair on a dejected breath. “Okay what happened?”

“The breakup?”

“Yeah, that but everything else too,” she clarified with a little more urgency in her tone.

“Maybe you know something, and it could help me figure this shit out.” Deven was not going to go into one of her underlying reasons for asking about the details of their relationship. She swallowed the hint of jealousy like a potent flavor on her tongue and steeled herself for Paul’s revelation.

“We met at the hospital,” he said with an absent shrug. “I think she was visiting her mom or brother or someone and we ran into each other—literally—in the elevator.”

“She told you her name was Amber?”

He nodded. “Yep, Amber Wright.”

“Why would she lie about that?” Deven could only shake her head again as she mumbled more to herself.

“Hell, I didn’t know she was lying. I didn’t think to ask for her driver’s license and birth certificate.” It was a weak attempt at humor that neither found funny.

“What else did she say?”

“She was from Charlotte,” he continued. “She had a brother. Said she was up here in Jersey on a temporary detail for a year with her job. She was considering relocating but she hated being so far away from family.” Lies, lies. All lies. “We clicked, started dating . . .” he shrugged. “I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.”

Deven grimaced and nodded as she tried not to picture the abundantly kinky sex she figured they had. “Then, she got pregnant?” she prompted.

“Yeah. I thought it was kind of crazy since she told me she was on birth control. But it was what it was.”

“Then what?”

“We started planning for the baby. Doctor’s appointments and ultrasounds. She would send me pictures—”

Deven’s head snapped up. “Pictures? You weren’t there?”

“I tried to get off when I could,” he said. “But the appointments were at the most inconvenient times. Or she’d have to reschedule. Like remember when I was at the hospital with your . . .” he trailed off and Deven nodded, knowing he was tiptoeing around her miscarriage tragedy. “She had an ultrasound scheduled,” he explained. “I was meeting her at her doctor’s office when she said they had sent her to the hospital for blood work and more testing. Something about a low heartbeat. I was meeting her over there and that’s when I ran into you and all that happened.”

“Did you end up meeting her?”