Chapter 12 - The Third File
The file was hidden beneath a stack of old medical records.
No name.
Only a date.
The date of their birth.
Hannah opened it.
Inside was a photograph of three newborn infants.
She stared.
"Three?"
Allison moved closer.
"That's impossible."
Hannah looked at the photograph.
Three babies.
Three identification bracelets.
Three sets of initials.
H.
A.
And E.
Allison whispered.
"Who is E?"
Hannah searched the documents.
There was a medical report.
Triplets.
The word seemed unreal.
Triplets.
Their mother had not given birth to two children.
She had given birth to three.
One child had been Hannah.
One Allison.
The third had disappeared.
Hannah found another page.
Infant E transferred.
Destination unknown.
She turned the page.
Nothing.
Allison began crying.
"Why would they hide a third baby?"
Hannah didn't answer.
The tape recorder sat beside them.
She pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Samuel Whitmore.
"If this recording is ever heard, then the Carter children are in danger."
Hannah froze.
Carter children.
Not Barrett.
Carter.
Samuel continued.
"Richard Barrett was not acting alone."
Hannah and Allison looked at each other.
"There was an agreement."
Static.
Then another voice.
Linda.
"I can't do this anymore."
Samuel answered.
"You knew the consequences."
"I thought he was going to kill her."
Hannah's hand trembled.
"Who?"
Linda's voice came again.
"Emily."
The recording crackled.
Then Samuel said something that changed everything.
"Emily Carter did not disappear voluntarily."
Hannah stopped the tape.
She couldn't listen anymore.
Allison looked at her.
"We need to find the third child."
Hannah nodded.
But there was something else in the file.
A name.
Evelyn Carter.
A child born three minutes after Allison.
Hannah searched the records.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a handwritten address.
An address in another state.
She called Dean Grant.
He listened.
Then he said.
"Hannah, don't go there."
"Why?"
"Because I recognize the address."
"From where?"
"It's connected to your father's old business partner."
Hannah's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Dean Grant hesitated.
"Thomas Vale."
The name meant nothing to Hannah.
But Allison reacted.
She looked at Hannah.
"I know him."
"How?"
"He was at Dad's company."
"Doing what?"
"Legal work."
Hannah stared at the address.
The missing child.
The family secret.
Richard's business partner.
The old hospital.
Everything was connected.
Then the lights in the basement suddenly went out.
Allison screamed.
Hannah reached for her phone.
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside the house.
Hannah whispered.
"Stay behind me."
The footsteps stopped.
May you like
Then a man's voice came through the doorway.
"You should never have opened that file."
