Chapter 30 - The Bracelet at Midnight
The folder contained Megan’s original birth records.
At first, she believed Evelyn had gathered them simply to frighten her.
Then Dr. Reed noticed an inconsistency.
The blood type listed on Megan’s hospital card did not match the blood type recorded during her pregnancy with Grace.
A clerical mistake was possible.
But the signature authorizing Megan’s discharge belonged to Claudia Voss.
Megan sat motionless at her parents’ dining table.
“My mother gave birth in another state.”
Detective Bennett opened the older file.
“The hospital was part of the same medical network. Claudia worked there temporarily.”
Megan’s mother insisted nothing unusual had happened. She remembered holding Megan after the delivery and taking her home two days later.
Yet a photograph from that morning showed a different identification number on the newborn’s bassinet.
A number assigned to another infant.
Jake reached for Megan’s hand.
“We don’t know what this means.”
“It means Evelyn wasn’t only watching your family,” Megan said. “She was watching mine.”
Shortly before midnight, the doorbell rang.
Police officers were positioned outside, but no one had approached the house. The porch appeared empty.
A small package rested beneath the camera.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
The name had faded, but the patient number matched the infant assigned to Megan’s mother.
Wrapped around the bracelet was a recent photograph of a woman standing beside Evelyn’s abandoned car.
The woman appeared to be close to Megan’s age.
She had Megan’s eyes.
On the back was a handwritten message:
You found Jake’s sister.
Now find Megan’s.
Grace began crying upstairs.
At the same moment, every light in the house went out.
Jake reached for his phone, but the screen displayed an incoming video call from Megan’s own number.
Megan’s phone was lying on the table.
Jake answered.
A dark room appeared on the screen.
Someone moved toward the camera and placed a newborn photograph beneath a narrow beam of light.
Two baby girls lay side by side.
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Evelyn did not steal one of us.”
The photograph moved closer.
“She switched us both.”
The call ended.
The lights returned.
Detective Bennett’s phone rang immediately. She listened for several seconds before looking at Megan.
Officers searching Evelyn’s car had opened a hidden compartment beneath the trunk.
Inside were twenty-nine hospital bracelets.
May you like
The final bracelet carried Grace’s name.
And its date was tomorrow.
