Chapter 6 - The Mother Who Buried an Empty Coffin
Peter Mallory agreed to speak only to Elena.
The hospital room was guarded by two officers.
His gunshot wound had left him weak, gray, and connected to three monitors.
When Elena entered, he smiled faintly.
“Caroline’s eyes.”
“You said that before.”
Peter looked toward the guard.
“Alone.”
“No.”
“Then I say nothing.”
Elena considered him.
“You attacked us.”
“I was trying to take the ledger.”
“You brought a weapon.”
“To frighten your agent.”
“She shot you.”
“That was unfortunate.”
Elena almost laughed at the absurdity.
She pulled a chair beside the bed.
“The guards stay.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“Fine.”
“Who is Caroline Marsh?”
“Your mother.”
The words hurt differently when spoken by someone who had known her.
“Where is she?”
Peter studied Elena.
“You don’t believe me yet.”
“I believe records were falsified.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“You’re a legally dead man who attacked a bank vault.”
“Fair.”
Elena leaned forward.
“Where is Caroline?”
“Outside Ashford.”
“Address.”
“I don’t know the exact one.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I haven’t seen her in nineteen years.”
“Then how do you know she’s alive?”
“Because Northstar knows.”
Elena stared at him.
Peter coughed painfully.
“Caroline Marsh was twenty-one when she gave birth to you. Unmarried. No money. Her father had thrown her out.”
“How do you know?”
“I worked security at St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
The hospital where Elena had supposedly been born.
“Raymond came through the maternity floor that night.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the chair.
“With Victor?”
“No.”
“Margaret?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Peter looked at her.
“Thomas Keller.”
The supposedly dead doctor.
“Caroline delivered a healthy girl at 2:13 in the morning. Margaret Vance delivered a girl forty-seven minutes later.”
Elena held her breath.
“Margaret’s baby?”
“Severe congenital heart defect.”
“Did she die?”
Peter’s expression darkened.
“Not that night.”
Elena stared.
Victor’s tape had said Margaret claimed the baby died.
“What happened to her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“I was security, not medical staff.”
“Then how did they switch us?”
Peter looked ashamed.
“Money.”
The answer was so simple Elena almost struck him.
“How much?”
“Raymond paid three people that night.”
“You?”
Peter nodded.
Elena stood.
“You helped steal me.”
“Yes.”
Her hand shook.
“You let my mother believe I died?”
“No.”
Peter’s voice rose.
“That part came later.”
Elena stopped.
“What happened?”
“Caroline woke up. The nurse told her the baby had suffered respiratory failure.”
“She hadn’t.”
“No.”
“They showed her a body?”
Peter looked toward the window.
“They showed her a closed infant casket.”
Elena felt sick.
“She buried an empty coffin?”
Peter nodded.
“Raymond arranged it.”
“Why?”
“I thought Victor wanted a healthy heir.”
“But Victor didn’t know.”
“No.”
“Margaret did?”
“Eventually.”
Elena pressed both hands against the chair.
“Where was Margaret’s biological baby?”
Peter looked uncomfortable.
“That is one reason Northstar became dangerous.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Vance switch wasn’t supposed to be permanent.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
“Keller originally believed Margaret’s baby might survive specialized surgery. Raymond arranged a private transfer.”
“To where?”
“A Northstar clinic.”
“Why would Raymond replace her before knowing whether she survived?”
Peter gave her a terrible look.
“Because the replacement was insurance.”
Elena’s stomach twisted.
“Insurance for what?”
“The Vance inheritance.”
Peter leaned back, exhausted.
“Victor’s father had created a family trust. At the time, Victor needed a living child before age forty to retain control of certain holdings.”
Elena remembered hearing pieces of that old family history.
Never this.
“Raymond wanted Victor to remain in control?”
“No.”
Peter smiled weakly.
“He wanted Victor to think he was.”
Elena sat again.
“Explain.”
“Raymond controlled Northstar through proxy companies. Victor controlled Vance Industrial. Keeping Victor in place gave Raymond access to financing, contracts, and political relationships.”
“So I was placed into the family to preserve Victor’s position.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened to Margaret’s daughter?”
Peter looked frightened.
“That is the question Victor spent twenty-four years trying to answer.”
Elena whispered, “Is she alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
“Thomas Keller.”
“He’s dead.”
Peter shook his head.
“No.”
Victor’s photograph flashed through Elena’s mind.
He never died.
“Where is Keller?”
Peter looked at the door.
“Northstar moves people when identities become dangerous.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know something.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“One location.”
Elena waited.
“Bellweather Children’s Institute.”
Samuel had mentioned clinics.
“What is it?”
“It closed sixteen years ago.”
“Then why mention it?”
Peter looked back at her.
“Because below it was another facility.”
Elena felt a chill.
“What kind?”
“I never saw the whole thing.”
“What did you see?”
“Records.”
“Children?”
Peter hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Children without names.”
Before Elena could ask another question, an alarm shrieked from the hallway.
One of the guards opened the door.
Smoke rolled beneath it.
“Fire!”
The hospital corridor erupted.
Nurses shouted.
Sprinklers activated.
Peter grabbed Elena’s wrist.
His grip was shockingly strong.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“If you find Caroline, do not tell her who you are until you ask about the red blanket.”
“What red blanket?”
Peter’s eyes widened.
“They changed more than babies, Elena.”
Smoke poured into the room.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Peter pulled her closer.
“Someone else grew up with your name.”
