The Parent Trap

Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Chase Jacobs

POV

You know that feeling in your gut that tightens for no reason what so ever? The one that only gets worse with time. That’s what happened when Carly walked through the door after meeting with her friend.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. My gut screamed at me the second she walked through the door.

She didn’t look injured, from what I could see. She didn’t look sick either. She looked like she was miles away from here.

A part of me wondered if she was alright, if the talk with her friend went alright.

I was sitting in the living room reviewing emails when she entered. Even Stella noticed Carly’s abnormality. She didn’t try to launch herself at Carly as soon as she walked in. She just watched her.

Carly would have noticed her first, smiled at her and picked her up like she normally did. Ask Stella about how her nap was, and about her day. It was six in the evening, Carly has been gone for hours way longer than she said she’d be.

I got up from the sofa calling her. "Carly?"

She walked straight past me, like she didn’t hear or see me.

My frown deepened. "Carly." I tried again.

Again the same reaction or the lack there of, I knew she wasn’t ignoring me.

I was truly concerned now. She had genuinely not heard me calling for her.

I followed her calling again. "Carly."

I watched as she walked toward the stairs slowly. My concern was starting to be replaced by irritation. What the hell was her deal?

I reached out and grabbed her shoulder calling her again.

Her reaction this time was instantaneous. One second I was standing my hand on her shoulder the next I was face down on the floor with her on top of me.

Pain exploded through my shoulder.

Fuck! I screamed out in my mind.

Carly had done the same with Amelia but I knew she used less force with Amelia. This would have dislocated Amelia’s shoulder for sure.

"Carly!" I shout out.

Carly released me almost instantly after that. When I turned around sitting on the floor. I could see her widened eyes, and how pale her face was.

"Oh my God I’m so sorry... I don’t know what came over me." Her voice shook.

I stared up at her, not saying anything, I massaged my shoulder. I was just as stunned as her. I was sure I was more if not equally trained as she was. But this showed me, Carly wasn’t in the military. This was something else.

I didn’t even have a chance to react before I was on the floor. I couldn’t believe she completely neutralized me within seconds. I know I had my guard down but this was... Shocking...

She looked horrified. She kept apologizing. She moved away from me falling down on her butt.

I watched the sheer panic in her eyes. I couldn’t describe what I was feeling right now shock or confusion.

Neither of us moved we just stared at one another. I didn’t know what to say or do. I wasn’t sure if she would attack me if I approached her again.

I noticed her back had fallen and the contents of her purse had fallen on the floor.

Her wallet with mickey mouse stickers Stella had put on last week, Her keys, receipts from places she’s been, a pink baby blanket I’ve never seen before but had my daughter’s name on it.

My breath caught.

It couldn’t be could it?

Maybe she bought it?

Maybe she’d gone and bought the blanket for Stella?

Every muscle in my body went rigid. My gut clenched. I tried to convince myself Carly wasn’t someone who was dangerous to my daughter.

Carly followed my gaze, her face turned paler than it was a second ago, she lunged for the document not far from the blanket.

Too late though I was closer. I grabbed it before she could take it.

A DNA report.

It looked similar to the one I’d gotten all those years ago. My eyes landed on the names.

There’s no fucking way.

Stella Jacobs.

Carly Lewis.

Chase Jacobs.

For what felt like forever I couldn’t do anything but stare at the names on the piece of paper. My brain unable to process what I was looking at. Why those names were together.

I moved my eyes from the report to Carly.

"Daddy..." Stella says causing me to jump.

I look at my daughter. "Honey can you go to Miss Nessa ask her to get you a snack and a walk will you?" I ask my daughter. freewebnσvel.cøm

She looks between Carly and I before she nods and keeps to my housekeeper Nessa.

Then I looked at Carly.

She looked frozen shocked and confused.

Which somehow made everything worse, it made me angry.

"What is this?" I ask through gritted teeth. I knew I was seconds from losing control of my emotions.

Carly swallowed. "I..." she stutters and falls silent. frёewebηovel.cѳm

I stood slowly, still holding the DNA report in my hand.

"What the fuck is this, Carly?" I ask again.

This time she answered me at least. As she spoke, my felt my body relax, she wasn’t hiding anything from me, she didn’t approach us with some scheme to get closer to us. She didn’t even seem to know I held the other half of this report in my office. She explained how she was on her way to meet her friend when she got a call from the bank, how she found this and a hair brush in the box. How she rushed to the hospital and had a second DNA test done. Every word sounded more unbelievable than the last and yet somehow I believed her.

Because for the little I’ve known Carly she’s never lied to me. So I was inclined to believe her when she says she has no idea what this was.

"I don’t know what happened." Her voice cracked. "I don’t remember having a child. I don’t understand how I could leave my child. When you told me about Stella’s mother I hated her. Now that it’s possible I was that woman, I want to hate myself."

The words hit me harder than they should have. But I knew she was truly felt that way. She hated herself for leaving Stella.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I don’t remember Stella. I don’t remember her birth, I don’t remember meeting you. The only thing I seem to remember is your eyes." The pain in her voice was real. She wasn’t lying. She truly hated not remembering her past.

The pain of someone realizing she’d lost something precious she couldn’t even remember having.

Then she told me about Amy, about the phone call with with her, about how she demanded she leave us. She demanded Carly stay far away from me and Stella.

That part caught my attention immediately. She sounded like she knew a lot more than Carly and I did.

I couldn’t even remember the night Stella’s mom and I spent together.

"What exactly did she say?" I ask.

Carly frowned like she’s trying to recall her exact words. "That you were dangerous."

I went still. I frowned, I was dangerous?

Now that was interesting.

"And she was very insistent?" I ask.

Carly nods. "She wasn’t just insistent she sounded almost desperate for me to leave the two of you..."

I crossed my arms, thinking. "And you knew her from before your accident?" I ask.

Something about the entire situation felt wrong, her friend insists she leave and she gets a call from the bank? It sounds so freaking sketchy my bones were screaming at me. Like we were building a puzzle with more than ten pieces missing. Like someone stole the pieces to leave us in a state of confusion.

"No, we met at the hospital after I woke up..." she tells me.

I go back into deep thought. This was rubbing me the wrong way. I couldn’t figure out what the hell I was missing.

By the time Stella came back from her walk with Nessa I still couldn’t figure what the hell was going on. But one thing had become painfully clear to me, nothing about Carly Lewis was normal. Whatever happened five years ago, I would find out exactly what happened, with or without Carly regaining her memories.

Later that night, I stood in Stella’s doorway, watching Carly and Stella sleep, Stella slept in her arms and for once I was looking at with new eyes.

They looked like mother and daughter sleeping together.

I guess I couldn’t see it before because Stella looked so much like me, from her dirty blonde hair to her green eyes. Her facial features however didn’t really look like mine.

I stared at them for a long moment, before I quietly closed the door and headed to my office. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I got some answers. There was only one person I trusted with this.

Michael answered on the second ring. "Sir?"

"I need you to look into something for me Michael."

"Yes sir..."

I leaned back in my chair staring at the dark room. "I need everything you can find on Carly Lewis."

He paused before speaking. "You already had me run a background check on her sir."

"I know."

"And she came back clean sir." he says like he is reminding me.

"I know."

"What am I looking for?" he asks.

I thought about the blanket and the DNA report. The look in Carly’s eyes when she explained what had happened.

"The day Stella was delivered to the office."

Michael went quiet.

My grip tightened on the phone. "I want every security recording, every visitors log, I want any photos or videos taken that day in or in front of the building any and everything you can find I want it."

"Sir?" he sounded confused.

I looked toward the ceiling. "Because I think we missed something."

Michael sighed. "I’ll start immediately sir."

"And Michael?"

"Yes sir?"

I stared at the two DNA reports lying on my desk. "I want a DNA test done."

This time there was no hesitation.

"Between on who?"

My eyes drifted to all the names on the document.

"Between Carly and Stella."

Michael didn’t miss a beat. "Understood."

I could hear him typing. "I’ll start with the office footage."

"And Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to look into someone else as well."

There was a brief pause. "Who sir?"

"Amy Duncan."

The sound of typing stopped. "The nurse?" he asked.

I stared at the DNA report on my desk, the one listing Carly Lewis as Stella’s biological mother and me as Stella’s biological father. Someone had gotten both of our DNA’s and done this test. But how. How had someone gotten close to me to get mine.

Had Carly done it?

"She’s been taking care of Carly since she lost her memories."

"Anything specific?" he asks.

"Everything." I wanted to know everything about the woman. What brand to toothpaste she used, to what time she woke up in the morning. I needed to know if she had the answers I was looking for.

I leaned back in my chair. "I want to know where she was three years ago when Carly was found."

"Yes sir."

"I want to know if she knew Carly before she woke up in the hospital."

"I will do sir."

I thought about Carly’s description of the phone call, how demanding and desperate she was to get her out of my house. Like she knew Cary had some sort of connection to us.

Honestly it didn’t sound like she was concerned for Carly’s well being, it sounded like she wanted to control Carly’s life. She seemed to know more than someone stranger should. I needed to keep an eye on her.

"You think she’s involved in Miss Lewis’ accident?" he asks.

I looked toward the ceiling like it could give me all the answers I needed.

"Somehow while they were running all sorts of tests and exams. None of them found out she had given birth? I think someone knew but didn’t want her to know."

My gaze fell back to the DNA report.

Michael didn’t answer me but I didn’t need him to. Because I knew he knew exactly what I was thinking.

A woman loses her memory, they do every test possible countless, doctors, police and nurses yet they didn’t find anything? That’s hard to believe. There were no clue as to who she was?

Either Carly Lewis was the unluckiest woman alive, or someone wanted to make sure she didn’t know who she was. And I didn’t know what was worse.

"Do the DNA first..." I order him.

"On it, sir."

The line went dead.

I didn’t know what to believe. Was Carly who she said she is? She was either a damn great actress or she truly had no idea who she was or where she came from.

I couldn’t sleep. I just sat there in the darkness wondering who Carly Lewis really was.

Did she have any more secrets? More connections to us than she already did?