Chapter 9 - the birth certificate)
The next discovery came from a document Daniel had seen dozens of times.
Lucy’s birth certificate.
At first everything looked normal.
Lucille Caroline Whitmore.
Father: Daniel James Whitmore.
Mother: Caroline Elise Whitmore.
Date.
Hospital.
Signatures.
Marcus examined the digital copy inside Caroline’s files.
Then compared it to the paper certificate stored in Daniel’s safe.
“They’re different.”
Daniel leaned over him.
“Where?”
“The registration number.”
One digit.
The paper certificate ended in 4187.
Caroline’s scanned copy ended in 4181.
Marcus contacted a former colleague at vital records.
The official registry matched neither.
The original entry had been amended two days after Lucy’s birth.
Daniel felt nauseated.
“Amended by who?”
A hospital administrator named Diane Voss.
She had disappeared five years later.
Her car was found at an airport.
No body.
Marcus searched Halcyon documents.
Diane Voss received seventy thousand dollars six weeks after Lucy was born.
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“What was wrong with Lucy’s birth registration?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why does Helena care about her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You seem to know everything right before I discover it.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I know pieces because my mother made me help her.”
“With what?”
“Moving documents. Making introductions. Delivering envelopes.”
“For a child trafficking organization?”
“I didn’t know.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“What did you think Helena did?”
“Political consulting. Wealth management. Private investigations.”
“She threatened Caroline.”
“Yes.”
“And you helped.”
“Yes.”
Daniel turned away.
Lucy was downstairs eating breakfast with Mrs. Grayson.
He had increased security.
Nobody entered without Marcus’s approval.
Still, Daniel felt unsafe inside his own walls.
At noon Caroline called again.
This time from a different number.
Daniel answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Did you find the card?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know about Lucy.”
“I know someone marked her as an asset. I don’t know why.”
Caroline was silent.
“Tell me.”
“I need to know she’s safe.”
“She is.”
“No one is safe in that house.”
“Then tell me where to take her.”
“No.”
Daniel’s frustration exploded.
“Caroline, stop speaking in riddles. I buried you. I told our daughter her mother was dead. For three years I blamed myself every day. Now you call me and refuse to explain anything.”
She began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“I know.”
“Come home.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the moment Helena knows I am physically with you, she will activate the contingency.”
“What contingency?”
Silence.
“Caroline.”
“Lucy is not your biological daughter.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
The room tilted.
Marcus looked up.
“What did you say?”
Caroline cried softly.
“Daniel…”
“What did you say?”
“She is my daughter.”
“You said not mine.”
“She is yours in every way that matters.”
“No.”
He stood.
“No. You don’t get to say something like that and then give me philosophy.”
“Daniel.”
“Who is her father?”
“I don’t know.”
The sentence made no sense.
“You don’t know?”
“I didn’t give birth to Lucy.”
Daniel sank into the chair.
Marcus’s face hardened.
“What?”
Caroline continued through tears.
“She was brought to the hospital the night my baby died.”
Daniel could not speak.
Images rushed through his mind.
Caroline’s difficult delivery.
He had been unconscious after collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration.
Doctors told him their daughter was healthy.
He held Lucy the next morning.
Caroline was emotional but distant.
He thought it was shock.
“Our baby died?” Daniel whispered.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Helena gave me a choice.”
Daniel felt hatred rise.
“What choice?”
“She said the baby in the nursery had no family. She said if I refused, the child would disappear into the system. She told me our daughter had died from complications before you woke.”
“You let me believe…”
“I was broken.”
Daniel pressed his fist against his mouth.
“I held Lucy. And I loved her. Then Helena told me if I spoke, she would take Lucy away and expose me as a kidnapper.”
Marcus wrote furiously.
“Why would Helena give you a child?”
“I didn’t understand then.”
“Now?”
“Lucy belonged to someone Helena needed to control.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling again.
His love for Lucy had not changed.
Not even slightly.
But his entire understanding of his family had shattered.
“Does Lucy know?”
“No.”
“She never should.”
Daniel agreed instantly.
Whatever biology said, Lucy was his daughter.
Caroline continued.
“I began investigating Helena because I needed to know where Lucy came from.”
“That’s how you found Halcyon.”
“Yes.”
“And the missing children.”
“Yes.”
“Did you discover Lucy’s real parents?”
“I found one name.”
Daniel waited.
“Her mother was listed as Amelia Cross.”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus searched.
Nothing immediate.
“Father?”
“Blank.”
Caroline’s voice lowered.
“But there was another note attached to Lucy’s intake file.”
“What?”
“DO NOT RELEASE TO FAMILY.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Meaning?”
“I think someone was searching for her.”
A crash sounded upstairs.
Daniel ran.
Security shouted.
Lucy’s room was empty.
The balcony door stood open.
A rope ladder hung over the railing.
Daniel raced outside.
Below, one guard lay unconscious.
The lawn gate was open.
Then Lucy called from behind him.
“Daddy?”
Daniel spun.
She was standing inside the bathroom.
Safe.
He grabbed her.
“What happened?”
“A lady came through the window.”
“What lady?”
“The other lady?”
Lucy shook her head.
“No.”
“Who?”
“She looked like Mommy.”
Daniel froze.
“Caroline?”
Lucy shook her head again.
“No.”
She reached into her pocket.
“She gave me this.”
A folded photograph.
Daniel opened it.
Two newborn babies lay in hospital bassinets.
On the back someone had written:
May you like
ONE OF THEM IS LUCY.
THE OTHER ONE IS STILL ALIVE.
