Chapter 2The System’s Puppet

I didn’t have any children’s clothes.

After I washed him up, I wrapped him in a blanket and set him on the sofa. I placed a pink cartoon band-aid over the scratch on his clean face.

“Elliot.”

I had learned his name while I was bathing him.

“How did you get hurt?”

He looked down. “They said I don’t have a mom. That I’m a bastard. I got angry, so I fought them.”

“You lost?”

He nodded.

Of course, he lost. That’s why he had come crying to me.

“When did you find out where I live?”

“A long time ago,” he mumbled. “But Dad told me not to come find you.”

The Lynch family had connections all over the city. Finding my address would have been easy. But Nathan, at least, had the decency to know he shouldn’t disturb me.

I gave a noncommittal “hmm.”

“He was right. You shouldn’t have come.”

His head snapped up, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“Are you going to send me away?”

I nodded and picked up my phone.

“Yes. Call your father. Tell him to come get you.”

Elliot didn’t say anything. He just buried his head in the blanket.

I poked his shoulder. “Hey.”

He didn’t move.

I poked him again. Still nothing.

That stubborn streak… he got that from me.

I dialed the number I had tried so hard to forget. Seven years, eleven digits, and I hadn't forgotten a single one.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

I tried three times. No answer.

Elliot lifted his head, his voice muffled.

“Dad’s sick right now. A lot of doctors tied him up. They’re giving him shots and medicine. He can’t answer the phone.”

I paused.

“Sick?”

The moment the word left my lips, I felt like a fool for prying. What did I care if Nathan Lynch was sick?

The boy nodded. “Dad gets sick a lot. He gets really scary.”

“Then what about your mother? Have her come get you.”

“You are my mother.”

“You know who I’m talking about,” I said, exasperated.

He looked down again. “Dad won’t let me call her Mom.”

I frowned.

What was Nathan playing at? If he had married Amelia, why wouldn’t he let Elliot call her Mom? And why would he let Elliot come looking for me?

Just then, a loud rumbling sound broke the silence.

Elliot was hungry.

I sighed and went to the kitchen.