Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Died Twice
Daniel had told me his mother died when he was nineteen.
According to the story I had heard throughout our marriage, Evelyn Cross had been a brilliant but emotionally unstable pharmaceutical researcher. After Daniel’s father left, she became increasingly paranoid. She disappeared during a boating accident on Lake Mercer, and her body was never recovered.
Daniel said he had spent years accepting that she was dead.
Now he sat across from me in the locked study and admitted nearly everything had been a lie.
“My mother survived the accident,” he said.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dr. Shaw said to find out what you stole from her.”
Daniel pressed his palms against his face.
“When I was twenty-three, she contacted me. She had changed her name and was working for a private medical research foundation.”
“What foundation?”
“The Arden Institute.”
I had heard of Arden. It funded fertility studies, genetic therapies and neonatal medicine. Its founders donated millions to hospitals, including St. Catherine’s.
“What did you steal?” I asked.
“A drive.”
“What was on it?”
“Patient records. Research files. Financial transactions.”
“Why did you take it?”
“Because the research wasn’t legal.”
He stood and walked toward the window.
“My mother was part of a program involving newborn genetic screening. Officially, they were studying rare hereditary diseases. Unofficially, they were identifying children with specific genetic traits.”
“What traits?”
“She never told me everything.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I found files on children born with unusual immune responses, neurological markers and blood compatibility profiles. The institute paid hospitals to flag certain pregnancies.”
Cold spread through my body.
“Was my pregnancy flagged?”
Daniel did not answer.
I rose from the chair.
“Was Sophie part of their program?”
“Yes.”
The word barely left his mouth.
I slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
He did not defend himself.
“You knew they were watching my baby?”
“I learned during your seventh month.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I thought I could stop them.”
“By stealing a drive?”
“It contained evidence that could destroy the institute. I told my mother if she came near you or the children, I would release it.”
“Where is it?”
“In a safe place.”
“Give it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I no longer have it.”
A floorboard creaked outside the study.
Daniel opened the door.
No one stood in the hallway, but Noah’s stuffed rabbit lay near the stairs.
He had been listening.
I picked it up.
“Where is the drive?” I asked.
Daniel’s gaze remained fixed on the empty hall.
“I gave it to someone I trusted.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
“You told me your father left when you were ten.”
“He did.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Is anyone in your family actually dead?”
Daniel looked away.
“My father contacted me six months ago. He said he had evidence against Arden and could keep the drive secure.”
“And you believed him?”
“He helped me once before.”
“How?”
Daniel returned to the study and closed the door.
“When I was nineteen, my mother tried to recruit me into Arden. My father arranged the boating accident to help me escape her.”
“So her death was staged.”
“Yes.”
“And you continued lying to me for seven years.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You used the same word people use when they want forgiveness without admitting control.”
His expression crumpled.
“I know.”
“Why would Arden steal our baby now?”
“To force me to surrender the drive.”
“Then why leave another baby?”
“To delay us. To create doubt. To make us afraid of going to the authorities.”
“Whose child is in the nursery?”
“I don’t know.”
I leaned against the desk.
A terrible possibility entered my mind.
“Could she belong to another family?”
“Yes.”
“Then someone else’s daughter is missing too.”
Daniel nodded.
I thought of the newborn upstairs, sleeping beneath Sophie’s mobile. Somewhere, another mother might be staring at an empty crib.
“We’re doing a DNA test today,” I said.
Daniel did not argue.
“We also contact the police.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“They threatened both children.”
“My mother has people inside law enforcement.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No. I expect you to protect Noah.”
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
Dr. Shaw’s name appeared.
I answered.
Only static came through.
Then a man spoke.
“Mrs. Carter, Dr. Shaw has been in an accident.”
“Who is this?”
“That does not matter.”
“Where is she?”
“You have something that belongs to us.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You have the wrong baby.”
My throat tightened.
The man continued.
“And unless Daniel returns the archive, you will never see the right one again.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at me.
Before I could repeat what I had heard, Noah screamed from upstairs.
We ran to his bedroom.
He stood beside the open window, pointing toward the back garden.
May you like
A woman in a dark hospital coat was disappearing between the trees.
Pinned to the windowsill was a piece of yellow yarn.
