Behind the Shadows by Patricia; Potter

She felt like a criminal.
    Think about Mom. A kidney. Nothing else . Not the invasion of privacy she prized for herself.
    As Dan posed Leigh next to the horse, Kira slipped the strands of hair into a second envelope, then into her purse. Two chances. Two possibilities. Chris would send the samples to a lab. An extra fee would speed the results.
    â€œWe’re through,” Dan said ten minutes later. “I have some great shots.”
    Kira went over to Leigh Howard. “Thanks for your time. If I have any more questions, I’ll call.”
    Leigh merely nodded. Cooperative but not friendly. The family attorney had indicated Ms. Douglas didn’t overly care for the press. Kira wondered why.
    She left with Dan, her hand clutching the purse. She prayed she had what she needed.
    And wondered whether she’d just taken a few steps toward ruining a life or, at least, changing it forever.
    Late for a scheduled meeting, Max ran a few yellow lights. He’d meant to run in and tell Leigh he’d negotiated a lease for the jumper she wanted. Then he became intrigued with the reporter.
    The reporter crowded out all other concerns. He’d made it his business to understand the media. It had been important to Ed Westerfield to have good press, and Max tried to be thorough in whatever he did. He’d cultivated the business reporters at the paper and had invited editors and executives to Westerfield parties.
    He knew how they worked, and he knew that the state house and city hall reporters took pride in their specialties and seldom did features, particularly on a comparatively small horse show.
    Kira Douglas had also been uncomfortable. Even jittery. He might have attributed the nervousness to the broken cup, yet her smoky blue eyes hadn’t quite met his. Unusual for reporters who usually had few qualms about peeking into private lives.
    So why was she there?
    Something about Westerfield Industries? About Leigh? Maybe Seth?
    He would bet his sports car that it wasn’t a horse show.
    He intended to discover her real purpose. He moved it to the top of his mental priority list.

8
    Kira finished her story and looked at the newsroom clock. Nearly noon.
    She left the newsroom and went to the feature department. Although the Sunday paper wouldn’t be on the stands until late Saturday afternoon, the feature section was printed early. It was available today. Friday.
    There was a pile of them on the editor’s desk, and she grabbed one and took it back to her desk. The photo of Leigh with the horse took up a quarter of the page. Leigh was stunning as she looked directly at the camera. Photogenic didn’t say half of it.
    She resembled the early photos of Katy Douglas. The eyes were similar, and the full mouth. So was the build.
    But where Leigh’s movements were all grace, Kira’s mother’s had been all energy.
    Stop it!
    She was probably seeing things that weren’t there, like someone looking at a newborn and claiming it looked just like the mom or dad. To her, babies were yet unformed. They didn’t look like anyone, only their own small selves.
    When would the test results come in? Chris had said it should be sometime today.
    She had paid an exorbitant sum to have them expedited. A technician from a private lab Chris had recommended had taken a DNA sample from her mother under guise of just another test. The question was whether she—Kira—had obtained enough DNA from Leigh for a true test.
    Her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller. Chris!
    â€œYou have a match,” Chris said without preamble. “Leigh Howard is your mother’s biological daughter.”
    Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t breathe for a moment. She had thought Leigh Howard was probably her mother’s daughter, but she hadn’t known . Even though she’d wanted a match for her mother’s sake, the truth was still like a kick in the