Chapter 9 - The Child Under Another Name
The missing baby surfaced in France.
Not physically.
On paper.
A birth certificate was filed in Lyon for a girl named Elise Marianne Vale.
Mother listed as deceased.
Father listed as Aaron Vale.
Garrison stared at the document.
"Aaron was Rebecca's husband."
Ross nodded.
"That gives the child a plausible legal identity."
"But Aaron has been dead for five years."
"Which makes it difficult for him to dispute."
Emily asked the obvious question.
"Where is Elise?"
Interpol traced a pediatric appointment to a private clinic near Geneva.
Garrison wanted to leave immediately.
Ross refused.
"You're too visible."
"Nobody knows my face."
"Conrad does."
Emily listened from her hospital bed.
At thirty-four weeks, she was no longer allowed to travel.
That infuriated her.
"Then send someone else."
Ross already had.
Two agents entered the clinic posing as insurance investigators.
They found no baby.
Only an empty examination room.
But a nurse secretly gave them a note.
THE CHILD IS SAFE.
Below it was a date.
And coordinates.
The coordinates pointed to an abandoned chapel in northern Italy.
The date was three weeks away.
The same week Emily's twins were due.
Garrison immediately understood.
"It's an exchange."
"For what?" Emily asked.
Ross looked at her belly.
Nobody needed to answer.
Conrad wanted the twins.
In exchange for Rebecca's daughter.
Garrison's granddaughter.
Emily shook her head.
"No."
"We're not exchanging anyone," Garrison said.
"But Conrad thinks we might."
"Then we'll let him think that."
The plan began.
A false medical leak suggested Emily would be moved to a private maternity residence after thirty-six weeks.
Another leak implied Garrison had become desperate enough to negotiate.
Conrad responded.
A message arrived through an encrypted server.
TWO FOR ONE.
Emily stared at the words.
Her unborn children reduced to arithmetic.
She typed the response herself.
SHOW ME SHE'S ALIVE.
Twenty minutes later, a video arrived.
A newborn girl slept in a white blanket.
Beside her lay a silver locket.
Garrison recognized it instantly.
Rebecca's.
He turned away.
Emily watched the baby breathe.
"She's beautiful."
Garrison could not speak.
Emily touched his arm.
"We're bringing her home."
The video contained metadata Conrad had failed to remove.
Or intentionally left.
A location outside Vienna.
Agents raided it.
Empty.
Another trap.
But inside they found Miriam Holt.
The nurse.
Alive.
Terrified.
She immediately requested protection.
Her testimony broke the case open.
Conrad had maintained children under false identities for decades.
Some were heirs.
Some were leverage.
Some were failures, his term for children whose genetics or circumstances made them useless to his financial plans.
Miriam had assisted because Conrad threatened her own son.
But she had hidden Rebecca's baby instead of delivering her to the final location.
"Where?" Ross demanded.
Miriam shook her head.
"I will tell Garrison."
He arrived by encrypted video.
Miriam began crying when she saw him.
"I'm sorry."
"Where is my granddaughter?"
"With someone Conrad cannot control."
"Who?"
Miriam leaned toward the camera.
"Her mother."
Garrison stared.
"My daughter is dead."
Miriam shook her head.
"No, Mr. Blackwood."
May you like
Emily's entire body went cold.
Miriam whispered, "Rebecca survived."
