The Last Letter(100)

“I don’t really believe in marriage,” Ella added.

What. The. Hell?

“You don’t?” Ms. Wilson asked, clearly not believing her.

“Nope. I was married to Colt and Maisie’s biological father. He walked out as soon as he knew they were twins. Divorced me shortly after. Marrying Beckett would have been absolute fraud when I don’t have any faith in that institution. After all, what is it when vows mean nothing and a piece of paper binds your life to someone’s as easily as the next one dissolves the bond? It doesn’t mean anything. But adoption does. He has an amazing bond with my children and shares just as much of the parenting duties as I do. He takes Maisie to treatments, he takes Colt to soccer and snowboarding. He built a tree house for them and packs lunches in the morning. Does that sound like fraud to you?”

An awkward silence descended as Ms. Wilson feigned looking over her notes. None of this made any sense. Sure, Maisie’s bills were astronomical, but people adopted kids with high levels of needs every day.

“If we’re done here—” Donahue started.

“I’m not satisfied.” The tone of her voice, the way she flat-out glared at Donahue, made me lean forward and scan the details of her face. This was personal.

“How did you know about the unit?” I asked.

“My best guess is she found out from her sister, Cassandra Ramirez.” Donahue stared her down.

Ramirez. He’d gotten out after he’d lost his arm. From what I’d heard from the guys before I left, the transition hadn’t been easy. In that regard, Ella was right—guys like us didn’t give up the adrenaline rush without a fight. I had search and rescue. Ramirez…didn’t.

She swallowed and tapped her pen on the paper a few times before looking up. “Yes, I’m Cassie’s sister. But that has nothing to do with this investigation.”

Bullshit.

“Sure it does,” Donahue said with a shrug. “You want justice for what happened to him. For the fact that he had to quit before he was ready, and I couldn’t give him the same deal I gave Gentry. Not the money—his medical retirement covered that—but the hope of coming back. That’s why you’re here. It’s not for Maisie, or Beckett, or Ella. It’s for me.”

She cleared her throat and stacked up her folders. “That has nothing to do with this. At all. And I’m sorry, but unless you can provide me with proof that you had any established relationship to this child before her diagnosis, I’m going to recommend your case be reviewed and that all current treatments are put on hold while we investigate further.”

“You can’t do that!” Ella snapped. “They are his children by law. He cares for them, supports them, and acts as their dad in every single way.”

“Funny, because when I happened to run into Colton earlier at school, he told me he didn’t have a dad. And when I asked him about you, he said you were his uncle’s best friend and his mom’s boyfriend, but never once mentioned being adopted by you. Why would that be?”

“You spoke to my child without my consent?” Ella flew across the table, and it was all I could do to get my arm around her waist and haul her back.

“Calm down. It certainly wasn’t part of my investigation. I happened to go by the school to get a few more facts on when Margaret was pulled from school and the emergency contacts changed for Colton, when I happened to see him.”

“Liar.” Ella seethed.

“You overstepped,” I said as calmly as possible. “This entire investigation is an overstep, and when we shut you down you can bet we’ll take it higher than you are.”

“There is a little girl’s life at stake.” Ella spoke in an even tone, but her hand had mine in a death grip. “And you only care about getting back at Donahue.”

“I care that the rules are followed, which these men should have no trouble respecting. The truth is that this man adopted the two children of his now-girlfriend, one of whom needs millions of dollars in treatments, and you haven’t even told the kids they’re adopted. It smells really bad. If it turns out a full Tri-Prime investigation isn’t needed, you’ll have my full apologies, of course. We’re cracking down on fraud this year.”

She was on a witch hunt, and even though what we’d done was perfectly legal, and in no way fraud, she was going to twist it up and throw us into hell while they “investigated.” They could pause the payments on Maisie’s treatments, scans, the upcoming radiation…all of it. Even though we’d be found innocent of any wrongdoing, it would be tied up long enough for Maisie to feel the ramifications.

Unless I could prove that I knew the kids before the diagnosis.

A dull roar filled my ears as Ella and Ms. Wilson exchanged words. I’d lose Ella, but I’d known that the moment I’d shown up in Telluride. The time I’d had with her was a gift that I’d had no right to. Hell, I’d stolen it. She didn’t really know the man she was in love with, because I hadn’t told her.

Three things. Three reasons. That’s what I used to make decisions now, used to quell my need to jump first and regret later.

Ella deserved the truth.

Maisie deserved to live.

My love for the kids wasn’t fraud.

Decision made.

“If you’ll wait here a moment,” I said above the fray, excusing myself from the table. I took the stairs two at a time and retrieved the box I kept buried under a stack of underwear in my nightstand.