Max was slightly more present, but he had returned to his previous habits: kayaking, running, riding his motorcycle . . . Sometimes he was gone for three or four hours, but he always returned and took the baby from me. He would talk to her and cuddle her, playing with this little stranger as if she were his own. But there was a wistful sadness on his face, even as he smiled and gurgled at the pretty child.

I had collected Maggie’s DNA quickly and efficiently while Freya was being lasered and Max was on his motorbike. But the tube sat in my bag for over a week. I was eager to deliver it to Jamie, eager for her to prove that Maggie was Brian’s baby and take her away. She was a good baby—cheerful and unfussy—but she was still a baby. She still needed constant attention, still pooped, and puked, and screamed when she needed something. But I hadn’t had an opportunity to get away from the house.

Since her parents could not be relied upon, I would have to bring Maggie with me. There was a newborn bucket car seat in the garage. I would strap the baby into my truck, load a bag with diapers and bottles and burp cloths and rattles, and then I would text Jamie and arrange a meeting. There was a small picnic area on the north side of the island’s only lake. The mosquitoes were bad out there this time of year, so it would be abandoned. It had better be. Because if anyone saw us, if anyone told Freya . . . The thought made my forehead sweat and my bowels loosen.

Freya had warned me about Jamie. “There’s something you need to know. . . .”

I knew everything, of course, but I looked at her with wide, innocent eyes, tilting my head like a curious puppy.

“Jamie’s got this crazy idea that Maggie should live with her and Brian.”

“Oh my god. Why?”

“Because she’s delusional. And dangerous. You know she can’t get pregnant, so now she’s obsessed with my baby. You need to keep Maggie away from her. If she shows up here, call the police. And then call Max and me.”

If Freya found out I’d taken the baby anywhere near Jamie, I’d be fired. And kicked out of her home. And banished from her life. And if she found out I provided a sample of her daughter’s DNA . . . Well, I wasn’t sure what Freya was capable of. I just knew I had to be very careful.

And then, one morning, Freya announced that she was going away.

“Away where?” I demanded. Maggie wasn’t even a month old. Freya had only recently started leaving the house. Now she was taking a fucking vacation?

“One of my old friends is having a bachelorette weekend in Sonoma.”

“But all your old friends turned on you.”