Chapter 58 

[Jude] 

Bright and sunny with a touch of wind, it is a perfect day to sail back to LA. Maybe if I have enough time, I can get in a nice surf before heading home. 

Cordelia has been a bigger challenge than I expected her to be. It seems that the only way I can keep her under control is by using a combination of drugs and hypnosis. It is a good thing we aren’t trying to save the health of her child because, with the number of narcotics we have been pumping into her system, there are likely to be some unfortunate side effects. We may even be doing her a favor by ending its life when we harvest her uterus. 

This last time Angelica had to tie her down to the bed. Only then were we able to administer the drug to put her in another medicinal coma until we were ready for the procedure. We aren’t trying to kill her- Angelica wants her alive to know the pain she caused us by experiencing it firsthand. “Death would be too good for her,” she told me the last time we spoke about it. 

I only care about her womb. I couldn’t care less about the woman carrying it. 

The trip to the coast was quick and easy. After docking, I went to my apartment to gather packages that had arrived while I was away, including a few very special pieces of mail: Cordelia’s genetic results. Before we can implant the uterus into Angelica, it needs to be a perfect match, or at least as perfect of a match as we can manage. 

Over the years we have experimented with various donor organs and people paid for their trouble. At first, we started looking for people who had similar characteristics to Angelica, hoping they’d be a better match. Our first true attempt was a disaster, so we went back to the drawing board, doing experiments again with animals before moving back to human subjects. 

Eventually, we did come up with a procedure that was successful about 60% of the time, but we have found that the most success occurred between close family members sharing near identical genetic markers–siblings. 

That’s when Angelica had the brilliant idea of kidnapping her sister Cordelia. If this packet says what we both think it will, she will be the best match for a transplant. A perfect match. They may look completely different, but they both share a mother and a father. There must be some shared DNA between the two, more than between two complete strangers. 

I was hoping to look at these with Angelica. We would celebrate with a little wine and maybe have a nice. evening together before starting the process to give Angelica her dream–another chance at a child together. But as I put the last of the supplies in the boat, the parcel was too enticing. I needed to see what was inside. 

I sent off two samples to be analyzed along with Angelica–one from Cordelia, and another from a stranger, a woman who had agreed to the test in exchange for a free prenatal exam to use as a “control.” I am expecting that even if Cordelia is not the BEST match, we will see enough similarities for it to be a GOOD match. 

Carefully, I tear open the envelope and pull out the test analysis. I pull out Angelica’s and lie side by side with the first one. 

How can this be possible? They only have a 15% similarity. Maybe I got the wrong form. 

+25 BONUS 

Chapter 58 

I pull out the other form and place it side by side with Angelica’s. This one is even lower at 5%. Well, that is the stranger’s DNA. I double–check the names only to discover I am completely wrong. 

likely distant cousins. Whereas Cordelia doesn’t look like she is related at all. Even 5th cousins have more genetic similarities. 

The stranger is a better genetic match than Angelica’s sister. They 

Did I do the tests correctly? 

Yes, of course I did. 

So either the lab made a terrible mistake, I made a terrible mistake, or they are not related. 

In the end, the simplest explanation is usually the truth 

“Fuck,” Poor Angelica. “How am I going to tell her?” 

I don’t want to go home and face her. I don’t want to have to be the one to tell her the last year of planning and preparation was for nothing. 

We need to keep searching until we find the right person. 

Even more important, we will need to get rid of any evidence that we ever knew Cordelia Steele. Because now that she is useless to us, there is no reason to keep her here. Unfortunately, we also cannot let her go, and she has proven almost impervious to hypnosis 

If only she had a weaker mind. 

“Sorry Angelica,” I say to the wind. “We’re going to need to kill your sister.” 

VictoryAnne Vice