There were dozens of file folders, possibly hundreds, in neat little stacks.

“Dossiers,” Victoria informed me. “Our man is very… thorough.” She spoke like it was completely normal to have “a man” and refer to him as such, then gestured to the different piles of folders. “Those are the girls the White Gloves considered as Candidates but decided against. Next, we have the ones who made our initial pool, and finally, those”—she gestured to the last pile—“are the ones who’ve made it to the final round of selection.”

I reached for the folder on top of the last pile and flipped it open. Lily’s smiling picture stared back at me. Behind the picture, there was a report—a biographical sketch, notes on her parents, a summary of her dating history, which only included Walker. Behind the written summary, there were pictures—of Secrets on My Skin.

Once upon a time, that had been the biggest secret—and vulnerability—in Lily’s life.

“Your PI didn’t say anything about her father’s affair,” I commented, skimming the file.

Victoria shrugged. “Perhaps he’s not as thorough as we believed.”

I looked from Lily’s folder to the others. “You have this information on all of us?” I asked. “And everyone you considered?”

“Date of birth, family history, known social ties, past and current relationships, and potential… points of interest?” Victoria inclined her head. “Yes.”

Without another word to her, I sorted the folders in all three piles by date of birth. My mom had said that it took Ana a little longer than her to get pregnant, but by December, when my mom had told Lillian she was pregnant with me, Ana was expecting, too. Casting a wide net, that put the date of birth for her child at some point in time between late July and the first week in September.

Once I had pulled the dossiers for all the Candidates and Potentials who had been born in that window, I started reading. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Three of the dossiers noted that the subject had been adopted, but all three also included copies of the adoption paperwork.

“Has it occurred to you,” Victoria said as I scrutinized the three folders in question, “that Ana’s child might not know they were adopted? That there might not be paperwork?”

Given the situation with Sadie-Grace’s baby brother, that thought had crossed my mind.

“Has it occurred to you,” Victoria continued quietly, “that the baby might be Campbell?”

“What?” I said. But as I turned the question over in my head, it made sense. Davis Ames had given Ana money. According to his own recounting of events, he’d promised her more when she had the baby but had never heard from her again.