Page 96 of Secret Baby Daddy

Thirty feet is nothing.

I could cross it in seconds.

Instead, I stay where I am.

Because this isn’t my plan alone.

That matters now.

Roman reaches the archive room.

The bait waits exactly where Piper designed it to wait: not hidden so well that finding it feels impossible, not exposed enough to feel planted.

Shelf fourteen.

Box 8842.

Jonah’s old authorization number.

Roman stops when he sees it.

For the first time since he entered the building, he doesn’t move.

“That’s our confirmation,” Piper says quietly.

Roman knew what the number meant.

He shouldn’t have.

I feel twelve years tighten behind my ribs.

Still, I wait.

Roman pulls the archival box from the shelf and places it on the table.

He opens the lid.

Inside are two items.

A small encrypted drive labeled with the original Merrick fire file number.

And an old digital recorder marked:

J. REED – PRIVATE STATEMENT

The recorder contains nothing useful.

Jonah never made the recording.

The drive contains a forensic decoy built by Hayes.

Roman doesn’t know either of those things.

His reaction is almost imperceptible.

Almost.

His shoulders lower.