Chapter 6 - The nanny screamed when she saw the photograph.I knew that scream.
It was the sound of a person watching their world collapse.
“Where is your daughter?” I asked.
“She was at school.”
“Tonight?”
“She was supposed to be.”
Frank checked.
She wasn't.
The school had closed two hours earlier.
The daughter had never been picked up.
Someone had taken her.
I looked at the message.
BRING THE GIRL TO THE BASEMENT.
Frank shook his head.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“You can't go.”
“She's a child.”
“You have another child dying.”
I stared at him.
He was right.
But another thought entered my mind.
Whoever was behind this wanted the nanny in the basement.
Why?
Because they knew what was down there.
That meant the hidden room wasn't merely a secret.
It was part of a larger operation.
We returned to the underground chamber.
The old files remained spread across the table.
I picked up the first Project Noah document.
The signature bothered me.
It was mine.
But it wasn't exactly mine.
The final stroke was too long.
I studied it.
Then remembered something.
My father used a similar signature.
He had died before I built my company.
Frank noticed.
“You think your father signed them?”
“I think someone copied his signature.”
“Why?”
“To make me believe this was my project.”
I turned the page.
There was a secondary seal.
A medical institution.
I recognized it.
Briarwood Children's Research Center.
The name made Emily's warning make sense.
Daniel had worked security.
My mother had known Emily's family.
And the research center had once received a massive anonymous donation from my father.
I called my legal team.
“Dig into Briarwood.”
The response came back in minutes.
The center officially closed seven years ago.
Unofficially?
It still owned three properties.
One in Boston.
One in Maine.
One in Connecticut.
Frank's phone buzzed.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“Hospital security.”
He put it on speaker.
The lead paramedic's voice came through.
“Mr. Carter, we have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone accessed Noah's room.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
“Hospital badge belonging to a pediatric anesthesiologist.”
“Name?”
“Dr. Victor Hale.”
I knew the name.
He was one of the specialists I had personally hired to consult on Noah's congenital screening.
“How did he get in?”
“He had authorized credentials.”
“Where is he now?”
“Gone.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Did he touch Noah?”
“We don't know.”
“Then find out.”
“There is more.”
“What?”
“When our nurse entered the room, the baby's monitor had been altered.”
“To what?”
“A temperature alarm.”
I stared at Emily's words in my memory.
Stop warming him.
Someone had deliberately manipulated the temperature system.
My son was being pushed toward the exact condition described in Project Noah.
I looked at Frank.
“This wasn't an assassination attempt.”
He nodded.
“It was a test.”
Then we heard footsteps.
The nanny turned.
No one stood in the corridor.
We checked the camera feed.
Static.
Again.
Another blind spot.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Mr. Carter.”
We all turned.
A man stepped into the light.
Black suit.
Gray hair.
Blue circle pin.
He wasn't carrying a weapon.
He didn't need one.
He smiled.
“You've finally found the basement.”
Frank raised his gun.
“Hands where I can see them.”
The man obeyed.
Slowly.
“My name is Richard Vale.”
I knew him.
Every billionaire in Boston knew him.
He was a private financier.
A philanthropist.
A man who had donated millions to children's hospitals.
He smiled.
“You're looking for Noah.”
I stepped forward.
“What did you do to my son?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
He sighed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Richard looked at the walls.
“This was built long before your mansion.”
He paused.
“And long before you were born.”
“By my father?”
He smiled.
“No.”
“Who?”
Richard looked directly at me.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“My mother died three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Why would she build this?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Because she knew what would happen to your son.”
I stepped closer.
“What did she know?”
May you like
Richard's expression became almost pitying.
“That you were never supposed to have him.”
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