“No.”
I looked at him.
“Rebecca, Curtis is unstable.”
“Address.”
“Please.”
Michael hesitated.
Then said quietly:
“Space 18. Sierra Pines Mobile Home Park. Outside Fresno.”
Daniel grabbed my wrist.
“If you confront them, he could disappear.”
I pulled away.
“Cancel the transfer.”
Daniel stared at me.
“If we don’t pay—”
“Cancel it.”
“Rebecca—”
“We’re done paying someone to decide whether my son deserves to live.”
I grabbed my purse.
My mother stood.
“Where are you going?”
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
“To meet Ethan’s sister.”
Daniel came with me.
The drive took hours.
Neither of us said much.
By the time we reached Sierra Pines, it was after nine at night.
The trailer park was dim and dusty, full of aging mobile homes, rusted fences, and overgrown yards.
Daniel parked down the street.
“Please,” he said. “Think before you do anything.”
“I’ve been thinking for eight months.”
I opened the door.
Space 18 was a faded double-wide with beer cans on the porch and a broken lawn chair leaning against the railing.
I knocked.
Three hard knocks.
Footsteps approached.
The door opened.
A young woman stood there in an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants.
Messy brown hair.
Tired hazel eyes.
Ethan’s eyes.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Hannah?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Rebecca. This is Daniel.”
She looked confused.
“I don’t know you.”
“No. But there’s someone you’re related to who needs you.”
Her expression tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
I swallowed.
“Twelve years ago, your parents placed a baby boy for adoption.”
Hannah went completely still.
“You have a brother.”
She stared at me.
“No.”
“His name is Ethan.”
Her hand rose toward her chest.
“My parents told me I was an only child.”
“He’s twelve years old,” Daniel said. “And he’s very sick.”
A man shouted from deeper inside the trailer.
“Hannah? Who is it?”
Fear flashed across her face.
“You need to go.”
I stepped closer.
“Your parents know exactly who we are.”
Hannah frowned.
“What?”
“We’ve been trying to reach you for months.”
Heavy footsteps approached.
I spoke faster.
“Your brother needs a bone marrow transplant. Your parents demanded money before they would allow us to contact you.”
Hannah’s face drained.
“What money?”
“Thousands of dollars.”
“No.”
“They demanded another twenty thousand tonight.”
The door suddenly swung wider.
Curtis stood behind Hannah.
Big.
Red-faced.
Furious.
Linda appeared behind him.
Curtis looked at Daniel.
“You idiot.”
Then at me.
“I told you what would happen if you came here.”
He grabbed Hannah’s arm.
“Inside.”
She didn’t move.
“Dad.”
Her voice shook.
“Are they telling the truth?”
“Hannah, get inside.”
“Did you know I had a brother?”
Curtis tightened his grip.
“Now.”
He tried to pull her backward.
I stepped forward.
“Let go of her.”
Curtis laughed.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“It concerns my son.”
“He was ours first.”
That sentence nearly broke something inside me.
“Ethan is not property.”
Curtis glared at me.
“You people have money. We don’t. You need something from my family, you pay.”
Hannah stared at him.
“You were selling access to me?”
“We needed money.”
“You were charging them so I could help a dying child?”
Curtis turned on her.
“Enough.”
Linda finally spoke.
“We couldn’t afford him when he was born. We did what was best.”
“And what’s best now?” I asked. “Letting him die?”
Linda looked away.
I pulled Ethan’s medical records from my bag.
Then several photographs.
I handed them to Hannah.
She stared at the first one.
Ethan smiling over a birthday cake.
Another showed him in a hospital bed.
Her breath caught.
“He looks like me.”
“Yes.”
Tears slid down her face.
“What exactly does he need?”
“To find out whether you’re a match.”
“And if I am?”
“You would have a choice. Your choice.”
I emphasized the words.
“Nobody gets to sell your body. Not them. Not us.”
Hannah looked at Curtis.
Then she straightened.
“I want to be tested.”
Curtis exploded.
“No.”
She turned.
“I’m twenty-six.”
“You live in my house.”
“And?”
“You think these rich strangers care about you?”
Hannah’s voice hardened.
“They told me I have a brother. You told me I didn’t.”
Curtis stepped toward her.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Daniel moved between them.
“That decision is hers.”
Curtis shoved him.
Daniel stumbled backward.
Then Curtis reached for Hannah again.
I stepped between them.
“If you touch her, I’m calling the police.”
Curtis laughed.
“For what?”
“Extortion.”
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