Chapter 5 - The Third Floor)
Claire refused to stay home.
Evelyn argued for less than a minute before realizing there was no point.
Noah remained with Emma in the locked house while Claire and Evelyn drove toward the address Brooke had provided.
Brooke went with them.
She insisted.
"If Vanessa is there, she might talk to me."
Claire did not trust Brooke.
Not yet.
But Brooke knew details no one else knew.
That made her useful.
The clinic stood behind a shopping center twenty minutes from the airport.
Its parking lot was half empty.
The sign on the first floor had been removed.
The windows were covered with old paper from the inside.
Evelyn parked across the street.
"We do not enter alone."
Claire watched the building.
"Then why are we here?"
"To confirm whether anyone arrives."
Brooke pointed suddenly.
"That car."
A dark sedan turned into the lot.
Claire recognized Vanessa behind the wheel.
A man sat beside her.
Older.
Gray hair.
Brooke whispered, "Richard."
Evelyn lifted her phone.
"That's Richard Vale."
They watched the sedan disappear behind the building.
Claire's hands shook.
"He's real."
"Very real."
Another car arrived ten minutes later.
A woman stepped out.
Short blonde hair.
Dark coat.
Diane Mercer.
She carried a document case.
Claire stared at the woman who had been scheduled to travel under her name.
Diane entered through a side door.
Evelyn made another call.
Then Claire saw something unexpected.
A black SUV approached the entrance.
Inside sat a man and a woman.
They looked nervous.
The woman was holding a small stuffed elephant.
Claire could not look away.
"Is that them?"
Brooke nodded slowly.
"The family."
The couple entered the building.
Claire imagined Noah in that room.
Passed from one stranger to another.
Called legally surrendered.
Taken to an airport while someone else carried Claire's identification.
Her stomach turned.
"They think I gave him away."
Evelyn nodded.
"Possibly."
"They might not know."
"That's why we need evidence before assuming what role they have."
Twenty minutes passed.
Then the woman came running from the building.
She was crying.
The man followed.
They argued beside the SUV.
Claire could not hear them through the closed windows.
The woman suddenly threw the stuffed elephant onto the pavement.
Then she covered her face.
The man kicked the SUV tire.
Evelyn frowned.
"Something happened."
Brooke whispered, "Vanessa warned them."
The couple got into the vehicle and drove away.
A minute later Diane emerged.
She was on her phone.
Richard appeared behind her.
Then Vanessa.
They stood together.
No question remained.
Claire photographed them.
Richard turned suddenly.
He looked directly across the street.
At Claire's car.
"Drive."
Evelyn started the engine.
The sedan behind the clinic pulled out.
Claire looked back.
"They're following us."
Evelyn accelerated toward a busy intersection.
The sedan stayed two cars behind.
Brooke twisted in her seat.
"That's Vanessa."
Claire called Emma.
"Lock every door."
"They already are."
"Do not open them for anyone."
"Claire, what's happening?"
"Vanessa saw us."
Emma's voice sharpened.
"Come home."
"We are."
The traffic light turned red.
Evelyn stopped.
The sedan stopped behind them.
Vanessa got out.
"She's coming."
Brooke ducked lower.
Vanessa walked toward their vehicle.
Evelyn locked the doors.
Vanessa stopped beside Brooke's window.
She tapped the glass.
Brooke would not look at her.
Vanessa tapped again.
Then held up her phone.
A photograph filled the screen.
Claire could not see it clearly.
Brooke could.
She gasped.
"What?"
Brooke shook her head.
Vanessa smiled.
Then mouthed two words.
Your fault.
The light changed.
Evelyn drove.
Vanessa returned to her car.
Claire stared at Brooke.
"What did she show you?"
Brooke was crying.
"My son."
Claire froze.
"You have a son?"
Brooke nodded.
"Caleb. He's eleven."
"Where is he?"
"With his father in Virginia."
"What was the photograph?"
Brooke took a shaking breath.
"Caleb leaving school today."
Claire's anger shifted.
Vanessa had not merely controlled Brooke emotionally.
She had threatened her child.
"Did Vanessa take it?"
"I don't know."
"Why would she threaten him?"
"Because I talked."
Evelyn kept driving.
"Then we document the threat."
Brooke covered her face.
"I should never have helped her."
Claire looked at her.
"Why did you?"
Brooke said nothing for several blocks.
Then she whispered, "Because Vanessa helped me when nobody else did."
Claire waited.
"When Caleb was six, I lost my job. I got behind on rent. His father wanted full custody. Vanessa paid for my lawyer."
"So you owed her."
"That's what she said."
"And she made you work for her."
"At first it was paperwork. Driving. Picking up envelopes."
"When did you realize children were involved?"
Brooke looked out the window.
"Last year."
Claire's chest tightened.
"Last year?"
Brooke nodded.
"Noah isn't the first."
Evelyn nearly missed the next turn.
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Estimate."
Brooke whispered, "At least seven."
The car went silent.
Claire thought of seven mothers.
Seven babies.
Seven families receiving children through documents that might have been forged.
Evelyn said, "Do you have names?"
"No."
"Anything?"
Brooke hesitated.
Then reached into her shoe.
She pulled out a tiny memory card.
Claire stared.
"I copied Vanessa's files two months ago."
"Why?"
"Because I knew eventually she'd blame everything on me."
Evelyn slowed the car.
"What is on that card?"
"Payment records. Case numbers. Some scans."
Claire's heart began beating harder.
"Does it include Noah?"
Brooke nodded.
"His folder appeared three weeks before he was born."
Claire felt the air leave her lungs.
Three weeks before Noah's birth.
Before the hospital social worker.
Before the temporary guardian.
May you like
Before Claire had ever seen Vanessa Hale.
The plan had started while Noah was still inside her.
