Chapter 9 - THE CHILDREN WITHOUT NAMES
Thomas refused to explain outside.
Inside his study, he opened a wall safe.
The folder he removed was labeled W.
He placed it on the table.
Inside were copies of adoption files.
Dozens.
Not only Daniel.
Not only Mark.
Children transferred into affluent families across several states between 1978 and 1996.
Some records listed legitimate agencies.
Others listed private guardianships.
Several had handwritten initials beside them.
E.W.
Edward Whitmore.
Claire stared.
“Was he trafficking children?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
Daniel snapped, “What exactly makes this better?”
Thomas sat.
“The children came from families involved in federal witness matters.”
Everyone went silent.
Claire frowned.
“Witness protection?”
“An unofficial predecessor to several programs. During the late seventies and eighties, certain intelligence and law enforcement operations created problems no one wanted documented.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Children whose parents were informants. Children whose parents disappeared. Children born to people with identities that could not remain public.”
Mark looked at his DNA result.
“You’re saying I was hidden.”
“Yes.”
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was a lawyer. Edward handled logistics.”
Daniel leaned over the folder.
“And me?”
Thomas hesitated.
“You were different.”
Claire had heard that phrase from Margaret.
“How?”
“Rebecca and Samuel were ordinary.”
“Then why Daniel?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“Because Rebecca wasn’t.”
Daniel frowned.
“You just said—”
“Samuel believed she was an ordinary woman.”
Thomas opened another envelope.
Rebecca Reed.
Birth records.
Except the woman’s real name was not Rebecca Reed.
REBECCA REED: ASSUMED IDENTITY.
Previous identity classified.
Daniel stared.
“My mother was in witness protection?”
“Something like it.”
“What was her real name?”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“I never knew.”
Claire pointed at the adoption records.
“And Rachel?”
Thomas looked at Mark.
“Rachel was not Margaret’s daughter.”
“We know.”
“She was your biological sister.”
Mark closed his eyes.
Jessica squeezed his hand.
“Did she die?”
“No.”
Mark looked up sharply.
“Where is she?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
“Margaret.”
Mark reached for his phone.
Thomas slammed his palm on the table.
“Do not call her.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret is frightened, but she is not the person you should fear most.”
Claire thought of Samuel’s kidnapping.
“Who is?”
Thomas looked toward Daniel.
“The people Edward worked for.”
“Edward is dead.”
“The organization isn’t.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“What organization?”
Thomas opened the final page.
There was no official name.
Only a symbol.
A circle divided by three vertical lines.
Beneath it:
HALCYON.
Claire looked at Thomas.
“What is Halcyon?”
He whispered, “A private network that made inconvenient people disappear without killing them.”
Mark stared at him.
“You mean new identities.”
“Sometimes.”
“And sometimes?”
Thomas did not answer.
Claire’s phone buzzed.
A message from Helen.
CALL ME NOW.
Claire called instantly.
Her mother answered, panicked.
“Claire, Lily’s gone.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“What?”
“I was in the kitchen. Someone knocked. I looked away for thirty seconds.”
Claire screamed, “Where is she?”
“I don’t know!”
Then Claire’s phone received another image.
Lily.
Sitting in the back seat of a car.
Crying.
May you like
Beneath it:
YOU WERE WARNED.
