Baby Love(33)

He broke off then, genuinely upset about discussing this with me. He seemed devastated about what had happened.

“What did she mean about always wanting to have a child? What did she think that I was for Chrissake?”

“You don’t know, do you?”

He paused, stubbing his cigarette out.

"I didn’t think you did.”

He got up and poured more coffee into his mug. A sardonic smile passed briefly across his face. He shook his head as if he wasn’t all that surprised that I apparently was to be the last one to find out about what he was ready to tell me.

“She’s not your mom; she’s your aunt,” he stated simply.

“Your birth mom died before you were a year old. They were sisters. Maggie took you into raise. She was none too happy about it either. Said she did it because she had promised her sister—your mother that she would. I think she did it for the money. It was always about the money with her.”

I was suddenly filled with raw emotion, some of it was relief knowing that I was not a direct descendant of the duplicitous bitch; but I also wondered if my birth mom had been cut from the same cloth as 'Aunt' Maggie. If that was the case, it was a moot point.

"Speaking of which," I interrupted, "What did she do with the $50,000 plus she stole from my trust fund last year?"

It was Daniel's turn to be blind-sided. I could tell he had no clue about the money she took from me.

"She didn't have any money to speak of that I knew about when she got here. She had cashed her last pay check, closed her checking account and came in her Jeep that was loaded down with her clothes and some personal shit. That was about it."

"She didn't move her furniture in here?"

As I looked around, I could see that nothing was familiar. It all looked to be garage sale mix'n'match.

"As you can see, she did not," he replied stiffly.

That meant that Maggie had either sold all of the furniture or had put it into storage. But why not bring it here?

"Did she have a job while she lived here with you?"

He snorted derisively which answered my question. She had devised a way to hide her tracks and stay under the radar after she had robbed me of my trust. But why take the money if she wasn't going to spend it? Perhaps she had loved Daniel in her own perverted way. Perhaps she kept the money hidden away if their relationship hadn't worked out. Maybe losing the baby had been the driving factor in her leaving Daniel and taking my baby. But how could she have known where I was or even that I was pregnant. There was much more to be uncovered.

"Daniel - is there anything else that you can tell me? Did she call you at all after she left? Did she give you any indication that she was planning to leave?"

"My parents came up for the private burial of the baby. They hated Maggie for corrupting their only son as they liked to put it, but they were civil to her that day. They picked up the tab for the burial. We named him even though he was stillborn. Maggie said that everyone deserved to have a name they could be proud to carry, dead or alive. She named him Daniel Renaud and I insisted he carry my last name, 'Henderson."

"Daniel Renaud Henderson," I repeated out loud. "Where did she come up with the middle name, do you know?"

"She said it was her name. I don't know maybe it was her maiden name. She did say that she had been married briefly. It was supposedly her husband that had forced her to get an abortion."

Except that according to what Trey's investigator had learned; Maggie had never been married. Of course, he would have been searching through court and vital statistics records under the name of "Preston," and not "Renaud." This might prove to be an important piece of information.

"Where did she get the name Preston?" I questioned him.

"How the hell should I know Tylar? Most of everything she ever told me was a f*cking lie! I only accidently found out that she wasn't your mom. That slipped out after she delivered our stillborn baby. She was ranting and raving blaming herself for not going to the hospital."

"Why was she so against going to the hospital?" I asked.

"She said she needed to stay underneath the radar on account of you were harassing her about her involvement with me and that you had threatened her in some way. I pointed out that you were still her daughter and she needed to make things right. That's when she slipped and told me. She didn't provide any more details other than what I have told you, I swear."

"Daniel - you said she took your vehicle. May I ask what type of vehicle she took?"

"It's a 2010 white Ford Bronco. It was a present from my parents. It's still registered in my name. I'll write down the license plate number for you. She may have switched plates though. I'll get the VIN for you too. She had transferred her jeep into my name as well. She wanted nothing in her name. She said she simply needed to disappear so that we could be together without complications."

"Why haven't you reported your vehicle stolen?"

"Shit Tylar, I'm not looking for revenge. I loved her once you know?"

"Did you buy this farm?" I asked.

"Yeah - I put $15,000 of my college grant money on it. Maggie said we could plant corn, beans and wheat to sell at market; raise chickens and sheep and make our living off of the land. Right - the place is in foreclosure."