Chapter 10 - The Child Behind the Glass
Miriam’s voice came through a speaker.
“Everyone lower your weapons.”
Federal agents moved along the corridor outside the room.
Mills touched his earpiece.
Miriam tightened her grip around the boy.
“Tell them to move back.”
Brooke rushed toward the glass.
“Caleb!”
The boy began crying.
“Mommy!”
Ethan looked at Brooke.
She collapsed against the window.
“Please don’t hurt him.”
Miriam’s expression remained cold.
“Place Robert inside the examination chair.”
Ethan turned toward his father.
Robert stared through the glass.
“Miriam, this is not necessary.”
“Necessary?” she repeated. “You buried necessity beneath St. Agnes.”
“You know I tried to stop the fire.”
“You knew it was planned.”
“I arrived too late.”
“You always arrived too late.”
Miriam gestured with the gun.
“Chair. Now.”
Robert walked toward the metal examination chair and sat.
Ethan noticed the restraints attached to its arms.
Miriam pressed a button.
The restraints snapped shut around Robert’s wrists.
“Release the child,” Mills said.
Miriam smiled.
“You still believe you are in charge, Detective.”
“Your escape route is blocked.”
“I don’t need one.”
Brooke pounded against the glass.
“Please. He’s only six.”
“So were many children at St. Agnes.”
Caleb sobbed.
Brooke looked at Ethan.
“I thought he was dead. Mom told me he stopped breathing after birth. Then, six months ago, I received a photograph.”
“The fake Lorraine used him to control you?”
Brooke nodded.
“She made me redirect your money. She made me cancel Natalie’s appointments. She said if I refused, Caleb would disappear forever.”
Natalie stirred on the bed.
Ethan rushed to her side.
Her eyes opened slightly.
“Ethan?”
“I’m here.”
“Where…”
“You’re safe.”
Brooke laughed bitterly.
“No one is safe here.”
Ethan loosened Natalie’s restraints.
“Can you move?”
“My chest hurts.”
“You had surgery.”
She looked toward the glass.
“Who is that child?”
Brooke pressed her forehead against the window.
“My son.”
Miriam’s voice returned.
“Robert, tell Ethan why Natalie was selected.”
Robert looked at his son.
“Miriam, let the boy go.”
“Tell him.”
Robert remained silent.
Miriam moved the gun closer to Caleb’s head.
Ethan shouted.
“Tell me!”
Robert’s shoulders dropped.
“Natalie’s biological father was Dr. Elias Warren.”
“The founder of Havenbridge?”
“Yes.”
“Her mother?”
“Miriam Vale.”
Everyone looked through the glass.
Miriam’s face did not change.
Natalie stared at her.
“You’re my mother?”
Miriam closed her eyes briefly.
“When you were born, Elias treated you as proof that the genetic program worked.”
“What program?”
“He believed certain inherited traits could be strengthened through selective pairing.”
Natalie looked sick.
“You mean breeding.”
“Yes.”
Robert continued.
“Elias created the trust in Natalie’s name. When Miriam tried to escape with her, he placed Natalie at St. Agnes.”
Miriam looked at Robert with hatred.
“And Robert promised to help me recover her.”
“I tried.”
“You took her.”
“To protect her.”
“You gave her to Lorraine.”
“Lorraine agreed to raise her in secret.”
“She raised Brooke. Natalie became a servant in her own home.”
Ethan thought of Natalie sleeping in the storage room.
Her own inheritance had funded the house, the cars, and every luxury surrounding the women who controlled her.
Miriam’s voice trembled for the first time.
“I watched my daughter suffer while Havenbridge prepared to take everything again.”
“Then why impersonate her at the hospital?” Ethan asked.
“To keep her medical records under control.”
“You helped falsify them.”
“I created false imaging to buy time.”
“Time for what?”
“To transfer the trust before Elaine Mercer could claim it through Brooke.”
Natalie tried to sit up.
“You knew I had cancer.”
“Yes.”
“You could have helped me.”
“I was trying to reach you.”
“You were in the same hospital.”
“I couldn’t reveal myself.”
Natalie stared through the glass.
“You chose the trust over me too.”
Miriam’s face broke.
“I chose the only weapon strong enough to destroy Havenbridge.”
“No,” Natalie whispered. “You chose money.”
The observation-room door opened behind Miriam.
Elaine Mercer entered.
She looked exactly like Lorraine.
Gold jewelry.
Silk blouse.
Perfectly arranged hair.
She held a gun against Miriam’s back.
“Drop it,” Elaine said.
Miriam slowly lowered her weapon.
Caleb ran toward Brooke as the observation door unlocked.
Brooke fell to her knees and pulled him into her arms.
Elaine stepped into the examination room.
Agents raised their weapons.
She placed her gun beneath Miriam’s chin.
“If anyone moves, she dies.”
Robert strained against the restraints.
“Elaine, the building is surrounded.”
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
“The trust authorization.”
Natalie looked at her.
“You tortured me for money.”
Elaine smiled with Lorraine’s face.
“No, darling. I kept you alive for it.”
“The policy note?”
“Brooke wrote that.”
Brooke looked up.
“That’s a lie.”
Elaine turned toward her.
“Is it?”
Brooke held Caleb tighter.
Elaine pulled a tablet from her bag.
The screen displayed a digital trust document.
“All Natalie must do is authorize the transfer.”
“To whom?” Ethan asked.
“To the Havenbridge Continuity Council.”
“What happens after she signs?”
Elaine looked at Natalie.
“She receives the finest treatment money can buy.”
“And if I refuse?” Natalie asked.
Elaine pressed the gun harder against Miriam.
“Then your mother dies first.”
Miriam laughed softly.
“You still think she cares about me.”
Natalie looked at the woman who claimed to be her mother.
Then at Brooke and Caleb.
Then at Ethan.
Ethan understood her expression.
She was no longer asking to be rescued.
She was deciding.
Natalie reached for the tablet.
“I’ll sign.”
Ethan grabbed her wrist.
“No.”
She met his eyes.
“Trust me.”
Elaine placed the tablet in front of her.
Natalie pressed her thumb against the screen.
The document flashed.
BIOMETRIC AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
May you like
Elaine smiled.
Then the lights went out.
