Birthright

organization that profited from fraudulent adoptions by kidnapping infants and selling them to childless couples.”
    She didn’t even blink. “That’s perfectly ridiculous.”
    “And that he used and employed members of the medical profession in his organization.”
    “Mr. Cullen, if you think you can accuse me of participating in some fictitious black-market ring, frighten me enough to be extorted or blackmailed, you couldn’t be more mistaken.”
    Doug imagined her simply flattening him, or any irritating underling, with a single blow. “I don’t want money. And I don’t know whether you were involved or not. But I do know you had an affair with Marcus Carlyle, that you’re a doctor, that you might have information that will help me.”
    “I’m quite certain I have no information whatsoever. Now, I’m very busy.”
    Doug didn’t budge, even when she pushed to her feet. “My sister was stolen when she was three months old and days later sold to a couple out of Carlyle’s Boston office. I have proof of that. I have evidence linking another Boston doctor to that event. That evidence and information have been passed to the police. They’ll work their way around to you eventually, Dr. Yardley. But my family is looking for answers now.”
    Very slowly, she sat again. “What doctor?”
    “Henry Simpson. He and his current wife left their home in Virginia abruptly, very abruptly, after this investigation began. His current wife was one of the OB nurses on duty the night my sister was born, in Maryland.”
    “I don’t believe any of this,” she retorted.
    “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But I want to know about your relationship with Carlyle. If you don’t talk to me here, I’m going to have no problem making what information I have so far public.”
    “That’s a threat.”
    “That’s a threat,” Doug agreed easily.
    “I won’t have my reputation impinged.”
    “If you had no part in illegal activities, you don’t have anything to worry about. I need to know who Marcus Carlyle was, who he associated with. You had an affair with him.”
    Roseanne picked up a silver pen, tapped it gently on the edge of the desk. “My husband is aware of my relationship with Marcus. Blackmail won’t work.”
    “I’m not interested in blackmail,” he repeated.
    “I made a mistake thirty years ago. I won’t pay for it now.”
    Doug reached in his briefcase, took out a copy of Callie’s original birth certificate, a photograph of her taken days before she was stolen. He set these on Roseanne’s desk, then took out the forged adoption papers and the photograph the Dunbrooks had provided.
    “Her name’s Callie Dunbrook now. She deserves to know how it happened. My family deserves to know.”
    “If this is true, if any portion of this is true, I don’t see how my regrettable affair with Marcus has anything to do with it.”
    “Accumulating data. How long were you involved?”
    “Nearly a year.” Roseanne sighed and sat back. “He was twenty-five years older than me, and quite fascinating. He was charismatic, commanding, attractive and attentive. I thought we were very sophisticated and modern to have an affair that seemed to satisfy us both and hurt no one.”
    “Did you ever discuss your work, your patients?”
    “I’m sure I did. I’m in pediatrics. A major part of Marcus’s practice was adoption. We were both dedicated to children. It was one of the things that brought us together. I certainly don’t remember him ever trying to draw specific information from me, and none of my patients was kidnapped. I would have known.”
    “But some were adopted.”
    “Of course. That’s hardly surprising.”
    “Were any of the parents who brought newly adopted infants to you for care sent by his recommendation?”
    Now she blinked. “Yes, I imagine. I’m sure there were a few. We were, as I said, acquaintances, then intimate. It would be only natural—”
    “Tell me about him. If he was charismatic, compelling and attractive, why did the affair end?”
    “He was also cold and calculating.” She fingered the photos and papers on her desk. “A very calculating man, and one with no sense of fidelity. You may find that odd as we were having an extramarital affair, but I expected him to be faithful while we were. And he wasn’t. His wife certainly knew about me, and if she had any trouble with that she put on an excellent public front. Word was she wasslavishly devoted to him and their son,