Chapter 5 - THE CHILD WHO DIDN’T EXIST
At the hospital, Bradley watched police escort his mother from the ultrasound room.
Margaret did not resist.
That frightened him more than if she had screamed.
She walked with her shoulders straight, ignoring the officers and staring only at Vanessa’s stomach.
Before the door closed, she spoke to Bradley.
“Do not let them remove the capsule.”
Then she was gone.
Bradley turned to Dr. Mercer.
“What does that mean?”
The doctor was reviewing Vanessa’s vital signs.
“I don’t know.”
“You worked at the center.”
“As a resident. I performed routine examinations.”
“You recognized the symbol.”
“Everyone who worked there recognized it.”
Bradley moved closer.
“What did they do?”
Dr. Mercer looked toward Agent Reyes.
She gave a small nod.
The doctor removed his gloves.
“The Marrow Center officially treated infertility. Unofficially, part of the facility conducted research into inherited disease.”
“That doesn’t explain stolen embryos.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
“Then explain it.”
Dr. Mercer hesitated.
“There were rumors that the research went beyond disease prevention.”
“What kind of research?”
“Memory formation. Stress response. Hereditary behavior.”
Vanessa stared at him. “You mean experiments on children?”
“I never saw children.”
“But you saw records.”
“I saw codes. M-One through M-Twelve.”
Bradley thought of Sarah’s file designation.
M-Seven.
“What happened to them?”
“Most were listed as nonviable.”
“And Sarah?”
Dr. Mercer looked at the monitor.
“She survived.”
Vanessa began crying again.
“I want this thing out of me.”
The doctor spoke carefully.
“You are seventeen weeks pregnant. Removing the capsule may be possible, but removing the fetus is a separate decision.”
“I don’t mean the baby.”
Her hand moved protectively over her stomach despite her fear.
“The metal thing. Take it out.”
“It may be attached to vascular tissue.”
“What happens if it stays?”
“I don’t know.”
Reyes’s phone rang.
She stepped into the corner and answered.
Bradley called Leonard Price.
The attorney picked up immediately.
“Bradley, federal agents are in the penthouse.”
“What?”
“They have a warrant. They seized the passports, your computers, and several company servers.”
“Stop them.”
“I cannot stop a federal warrant.”
“What are they looking for?”
“Transfers involving Cole Biomedical Holdings.”
Bradley frowned.
“I don’t own a biomedical company.”
“According to state records, you do.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It was incorporated eleven years ago.”
Eleven years.
The year he married Sarah.
Leonard continued.
“You are listed as majority shareholder. Margaret is the registered director.”
Bradley looked toward the door through which his mother had disappeared.
“I never signed anything.”
“Your signature appears on every annual filing.”
Bradley remembered the hundreds of documents Margaret had placed before him during the early years of Cole Urban Development.
Permits.
Holding companies.
Tax elections.
He had rarely read them.
His mother always marked the signature lines with yellow tabs.
“Freeze everything,” Bradley said.
“I’m trying, but the accounts were emptied this morning.”
“How much?”
A pause.
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
Bradley stopped breathing.
“That company doesn’t exist.”
“The money did.”
“Where did it go?”
“Multiple transfers. Switzerland, Singapore, and a private medical foundation in Canada.”
Bradley looked at Reyes.
She had ended her call and was watching him.
He lowered his voice.
“Who authorized them?”
Leonard replied, “The digital certificate belongs to Sarah.”
Bradley nearly laughed from the absurdity.
“Sarah stole forty-eight million dollars?”
“No. The certificate was rejected.”
“Then who moved it?”
“A secondary authorization replaced hers.”
“Whose?”
Leonard hesitated.
“Your son’s.”
Bradley’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Noah is fourteen.”
“According to the corporate identity documents, Noah Cole is twenty-six.”
Bradley sat down.
Reyes approached.
“Your attorney just found the false identity?”
Bradley ended the call.
“What did my mother do to my son?”
“That depends on whether Noah Cole was the identity they created for your child.”
“What does that mean?”
Reyes placed another photograph on the counter.
It showed a young man leaving a bank in Zurich.
The timestamp was from the previous week.
He was tall and thin, with dark hair.
At first, Bradley did not recognize him.
Then he noticed the eyes.
They looked exactly like Noah’s.
“Who is that?”
“We don’t know.”
“You just said he used my son’s name.”
“He did.”
“Then arrest him.”
“We need to find him first.”
Bradley studied the image.
The stranger’s face was older, but the resemblance was undeniable.
Vanessa whispered, “Could he be related to Sarah?”
Reyes looked at the ultrasound monitor.
“That is one possibility.”
Bradley shook his head.
“Sarah was an only child.”
“No,” Dr. Mercer said quietly.
Everyone turned toward him.
He had opened an archived patient index on the hospital system.
A list of codes appeared on the screen.
M-Six.
M-Seven.
M-Eight.
Beside M-Seven was Sarah’s birth date.
Beside M-Six was the date one year earlier.
Status: Deceased.
Beside M-Eight was the date one year later.
Status: Transferred.
Dr. Mercer scrolled downward.
A photograph loaded.
The young man in the Marrow file had the same face as the man from the Zurich bank.
Bradley stared at the name beneath it.
May you like
ELIAS MARROW.
The child who officially did not exist had just stolen forty-eight million dollars using Noah’s identity.
