Chapter 6 - Andrew Caldwell’s Last Night)
Daniel’s father, Andrew Caldwell, had died twenty three years earlier.
The official story was simple.
A winter storm.
A wet highway.
A car that crossed the center line.
Daniel was fourteen.
Margaret became a widow for the second time in everything but name, because Harrison was still alive then but emotionally absent from the family.
Claire had heard the story dozens of times.
What Daniel had never told her was that Andrew had been driving to St. Vincent Fertility Center when he died.
Arthur Bell knew.
They met the following morning in Maya’s office.
Daniel was not invited.
Arthur placed a folder on the table.
"I should have told you yesterday."
Claire’s patience had disappeared.
"Yes."
Arthur accepted that.
"Andrew discovered the preserved tissue program shortly before his death."
"Thomas’s sample?"
"Thomas and someone else."
"Who?"
"I don’t know."
Claire stared at him.
Arthur continued.
"Harrison investigated Andrew’s accident privately."
"Did he think Margaret caused it?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"He never named anyone."
Arthur opened the folder.
Inside were photographs of Andrew’s damaged car.
Claire looked away.
No bodies.
Only twisted metal.
Arthur pointed to one photograph of the vehicle’s brake assembly.
"Harrison hired an engineer."
Claire read the report.
The brake line had been damaged before the collision.
Maya’s expression hardened.
"This was never sent to police?"
"It was."
"And?"
"They called it inconclusive."
"Why?"
Arthur gave a sad smile.
"Because the Caldwell family had influence in both directions."
Claire understood.
Someone powerful enough to bury the truth had wanted the death ruled an accident.
"Did Margaret know?"
"Harrison never told her what the engineer found."
"Why?"
"He suspected someone inside the family."
Claire sat back.
"What does this have to do with Sophie?"
Arthur opened another envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of a handwritten notebook page.
Andrew had written:
T is not the only sample.
M lied.
S knows.
If anything happens to me, ask Reed about A19.
Claire read it twice.
"A19."
Arthur nodded.
"The second preserved sample."
Maya asked, "Who is S?"
"Possibly Samuel Reed."
"And M?"
Claire answered.
"Margaret."
Arthur nodded.
Claire pointed at the page.
"What about T?"
"Thomas."
"So Andrew discovered A19, went to the clinic, and died on the way."
"That is Harrison’s theory."
Claire stood and walked toward the window.
Her daughter was at Rachel’s house drawing pictures and watching cartoons.
Meanwhile a secret created decades before Sophie’s birth was tightening around her life.
Claire’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She answered.
No one spoke.
"Hello?"
A man breathed heavily on the other end.
Then whispered, "Mrs. Caldwell?"
Claire recognized the voice.
Michael Voss.
"Where are you?"
"I can’t tell you."
"Your mother is worried."
"She went to you?"
"Yes."
Michael cursed softly.
"Listen to me. Don’t trust Daniel."
"I don’t."
"Don’t trust Arthur either."
Claire looked at Arthur.
He watched her carefully.
"Why?"
"Because everyone who worked for Harrison had a reason to protect him."
"Protect him from what?"
Michael’s breath became uneven.
"I found the original clinic ledger."
Claire gripped the phone.
"Where?"
"Doesn’t matter."
"What does it say?"
"C17 was Thomas."
Claire closed her eyes.
"And A19?"
Michael became silent.
"Michael?"
"That’s the problem."
"What is?"
"A19 wasn’t a male fertility sample."
Claire frowned.
"What was it?"
"A preserved embryo."
No one in the room moved.
Claire put the phone on speaker.
Michael continued.
"Created in 1994."
Maya asked, "From whose genetic material?"
Michael sounded close to panic.
"That’s why I left."
"Whose?"
"The paternal source was Harrison Caldwell."
Claire’s mind raced.
Harrison’s embryo.
"Who was the maternal source?"
Michael whispered one word.
"Unknown."
Arthur stood abruptly.
"That’s impossible."
Michael heard him.
"I told her not to trust you."
Arthur approached the phone.
"Michael, Harrison never participated in embryo creation."
"The ledger says he did."
"The ledger was altered."
"Maybe. But A19 still exists."
Claire froze.
"Exists?"
Michael inhaled.
"It was transferred."
"When?"
"Six years ago."
Claire did the calculation.
One year before Sophie was born.
"To whom?"
"I don’t know."
"Michael."
"I only found the transfer code."
"What code?"
"R47."
Arthur looked ill.
"What?"
Claire turned to him.
"You recognize it."
Arthur shook his head too quickly.
"Arthur."
Michael said, "Ask him who Rachel Bell is."
Claire stared at Arthur.
"Who is Rachel Bell?"
Arthur sat down.
His face suddenly looked twenty years older.
"My daughter."
Claire felt a new wave of confusion.
"What does she have to do with this?"
Michael answered before Arthur could.
"R47 was the code for her treatment cycle at St. Vincent."
Arthur whispered, "No."
Michael continued.
"Your trusted investigator’s daughter received an embryo created from Harrison Caldwell’s genetic material."
Claire looked at Arthur.
"Is that true?"
"I didn’t know."
Michael laughed bitterly through the phone.
"You people never know anything until someone dies."
Then a loud sound came through the line.
A door.
Michael gasped.
"Someone’s here."
"Michael?"
"Mrs. Caldwell, if they get the ledger, find locker 218 at Grand Central."
"Michael, call the police."
The line went dead.
Claire immediately called him back.
No answer.
Arthur stood.
"I’m going to find my daughter."
Claire blocked his path.
"Not until you tell me why her fertility treatment was connected to Harrison Caldwell."
Arthur looked desperate.
"I swear to you I never knew."
"Was Rachel a patient at St. Vincent?"
"Yes."
"Did she have a child?"
Arthur’s eyes filled with something Claire had not expected.
Grief.
"No."
May you like
"What happened?"
"She disappeared during her pregnancy."
