“Oh.” Lacey’s heart pounded. “Do you have a name?”
She heard another sigh on the other end. “Now, I can’t give you adoptive parents’ names. But that would be your family, I suppose, since it’s your brother.”
“Yes, yes. Can you confirm that? Just so I know you have the right child?”
“If I can find…” A pause. Then, almost as if speaking to herself, Mrs. Carmichael muttered, “Matteo…”
Did she say Matteo? Was that his first name or last?
“I can only tell you this, ma’am,” Mrs. Carmichael said. “This baby was quite healthy. If you’re looking for medical records, he had the proper shots, had a perfect Apgar score, and didn’t have a single medical report filed while he was in Holmes. I can give you the delivery doctor’s—no, no, I can’t. He’s retired. I have a pediatrician’s name, but that’s all. No guarantee she’s still working twenty-five years later.”
“That’s fine, it will help.”
“It’s Dr. Martha Elias in Satellite Beach, Florida.”
She scribbled furiously. “That’s great, thank you. Anything else? Anything at all?”
“No, ma’am. That was a closed adoption and I can’t even give you the agency that handled it.”
“Of course not,” Lacey said, her voice a little breathless. “Thank you for your time.”
She hung up and stared at the computer screen. Now what?
She stood, not surprised her legs were shaking, then opened the door and peeked into the hall. Tessa’s bedroom door was closed, with the sound of the shower running audible from the en suite.
Tessa loved a long shower and she’d wash her hair after running, so…there was time.
Think, Lacey, think.Would the family still live in the same town as the pediatrician? Twenty-five years later? Probably not, but it was all she had.
Back at the laptop, she typed,Matteo Satellite Beach.
If this didn’t work, she could cross-reference public records and?—
Roman Matteo, Star Athlete from Satellite High, Signs Multimillion-Dollar Contract with Jacksonville Jaguars.
She stared at the headline at the top of the search results that popped up immediately, then scanned down. More about this football player named Roman Matteo from a small town on the east coast of Florida. Much more. Local news, sports news, national news.
Shehadsaid Matteo, right?
Lacey clicked on the first one and zeroed right in on the picture of one very happy young man holding up a football jersey with a number 14 on it, smiling and looking right into the camera with…the most distinct amber eyes.
Tessa’s eyes.
“Holy jackpot, Batman. That was easy.”
But was ittooeasy?
She clicked on another story and another, trying to find more pictures.
The “signed with Jags” news story was everywhere, but then she found a feature story inFlorida Today, which must be the local newspaper, and scanned every word.
Faith and Bob Matteo call Roman the light of their life, the son…
All of the blood in her veins froze.
…the son they adopted.
Taking a steadying breath, she continued to read, seeing that he was twenty-two…three years ago. Which meant he was twenty-five now.
