Chapter 5 - The Sample in the Trash
Harper demanded the truth.
Tyler refused.
“It doesn’t matter where it came from. The report says what it says.”
General Hale turned to his aide.
“Secure the card and photograph the room exactly as it is.”
Tyler laughed bitterly.
“You can’t run an investigation in my kitchen.”
“I’m documenting possible misconduct involving an active-duty officer and her dependent.”
“This is a family problem.”
“It became my concern when I watched you physically restrain one of my captains.”
Harper carried Ava toward the baby carrier.
As she bent down, she noticed a small plastic envelope inside the open Army duffel bag.
It did not belong there.
She lifted it by the corner.
Inside was an unused cheek swab.
A handwritten label read TYLER.
But Tyler’s name had been crossed out.
Underneath, someone had written MATT.
Harper looked toward Tyler’s cousin seated in the living room.
Matt Lawson immediately stood.
“I didn’t know what it was for.”
Tyler’s head snapped toward him.
“Shut up.”
Matt backed away.
“Carol asked me to swab my mouth. She said the family was testing ancestry.”
Carol’s face drained of color.
Harper understood.
Tyler’s real sample had never been tested.
They had compared Ava’s DNA with Matt’s.
Ava was not Matt’s child, so the result naturally excluded him.
Then Tyler presented the exclusion as proof against Harper.
“You used your cousin’s sample,” Harper said.
Tyler’s eyes hardened.
“I needed you gone.”
May you like
The words escaped before he could stop them.
👉 Tyler had finally admitted the DNA test was a weapon—but he still believed Harper would never discover why he needed the house so quickly.
