5. Echo

Chapter 5

Ech o

T he Shepherd Security Digital Team tracked down six Blain Sullivans. None of them were the correct age. They had exhausted all leads. So, the next day, Jackson went to Blain Sullivan’s previous employer to try to get info on him. He’d worked as a bartender at a restaurant and bar in Lombard when he and Maeve dated. Jackson got caught in the St. Patrick’s Day parade traffic and ended up parking several blocks away. He dodged the rowdy and drunk revelers as he made his way through the crowd. All he needed was Blain Sullivan’s Social Security Number and date of birth from the W-9. Then they’d be able to find him.

Jackson ran into resistance from the owner, who didn’t want to give him Sullivan’s personal information. He was sitting at the very busy bar with a green beer in front of him, waiting for the owner to come back with one of the waitstaff who might have an address or phone number for Sullivan.

The bartender leaned over the bar. “Through the door behind me is the office. Everything’s on the computer. This place’s name is the ID and the password. I knew Blain. He was a good guy and would want to know. I wish I had his contact info, but I don’t. ”

Jackson thanked him and then went into the office and retrieved the info he needed.

The Digital Team found him in ten minutes with his Social and birthdate. The good news was that he had enlisted in the U.S. Navy. The great news was that he was stationed at Great Lakes, just an hour north of them. He was a corpsman at the base hospital. His official records listed no dependents, and he was unmarried, even better news.

Jackson and Doc left immediately to drive to the base. Jackson did contact Shepherd to have him go through official channels to have the base commander’s office notified of their arrival. As they still held military rank, they technically didn’t need official access, but it was always better to notify the C.O. of their plans to contact one of his people on base.

After passing through the main gate, they drove to the hospital on the recruit training side of the base. They parked and when they entered the hospital and presented their IDs, requesting to see HC Sullivan, they were directed to a private office. Just a few minutes later, HC2 Sullivan entered the room.

“I’m told you wanted to see me, sirs,” he said.

They introduced themselves, including their rank. Jackson brought up the picture of him on his phone that had come from Maeve’s phone. He held it up beside him. It was a match. He turned his phone so the corpsman could see the picture. He looked younger in it and had longer hair.

He laughed at seeing it. “Jesus, where’d you get that picture of me?”

“Do you know when this was taken?” Jackson asked.

“It had to be about four or five years ago,” Sullivan said. “What’s this about?”

Jackson told him the date the picture was taken. “Do you know two women by the names of Maeve and Quinn Daily?”

The expression on his face immediately changed, the smile replaced by a scowl. “Yeah, I knew them a few years ago. ”

Doc put his hand on Sullivan’s shoulder. “Son, you’re going to want to sit down for this.”

His questioning gaze bounced between the two of them. “I’ll stand, thank you. What’s this about?”

“At this point, we have come to ask for a DNA sample for a paternity test. There is no court order, but one could be obtained easily,” Doc said.

“Paternity test?” he said, his face flushing red with anger. “It’s been nearly four years since I saw them.”

“We’re hoping you won’t need an order to cooperate, as there isn’t really time to go through the process.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

They gave him the condensed version of the story.

“Maeve is that little girl’s mother, regardless of the fact that Quinn gave birth to her. And she’s not looking for child support or anything from you if she makes it through the surgery okay. But if she doesn’t, and you are Ciara’s father, she wanted you to at least have the option if you wanted it,” Doc said.

“I can’t believe they thought I was the father of the baby all this time and neither of them told me.”

“Maeve said she had no way of finding you. She always believed you had the right to know.”

“Damn right I did,” he said. There was anger in his voice.

“You need to take some time to process this,” Doc said. “But the first step is the paternity test to know for sure. Quinn admitted to being with several other men beside you around the time she got pregnant.”

“Quinn. That’s one manipulative, deceptive piece of work. She was so convincing. And Maeve. I screwed up and when I realized Quinn had lied, I tried to apologize to Maeve. She couldn’t forgive me. I don’t blame her. I know I didn’t do right by her. I really felt bad about that.”

“You can make that up now, if Ciara is yours,” Doc said.

“And if so, trying to take Ciara from her would be wrong. She’d share custody if that’s what you decided you wanted, but it would kill her if you tried to take her away,” Jackson said.

“I wouldn’t do that. Can I talk to Maeve even before we get the test results? I’d like to help her if she’d let me, even if Ciara isn’t mine.” He paused and shook his head. “The fact that Quinn isn’t going to help her shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. There’s a special place in hell for that bitch.”

Jackson and Doc exchanged glances.

“Maeve’s blood pressure cannot elevate,” Doc said. “That could be devastating to her health.”

“I get it,” he said. “I don’t plan to upset her.”

“Let us make sure she won’t be stressed to just hear from you,” Doc said. “Now, that paternity test?”