Chapter 3 - The Man Who Knew Olivia's NameVictor Sloan was not a doctor.
Caleb knew that immediately.
The man wore an expensive charcoal suit, black gloves and the expression of someone accustomed to entering rooms without permission.
Caleb stepped in front of Olivia.
“Who are you?”
Victor smiled.
“Someone cleaning up a mistake.”
George's cane struck the floor.
“You haven't changed.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Neither have you, George.”
Caleb looked at his father.
“You know him?”
George refused to answer.
Victor looked at the babies.
“Hand them over.”
Olivia stepped backward.
“No.”
Victor sighed.
“Mrs. Bennett, don't make this difficult.”
Caleb's voice sharpened.
“You heard her.”
Victor finally looked at him.
“Caleb Hart.”
There was something unsettling in the way he said the name.
Not familiarity.
Ownership.
“You've grown.”
“I don't know you.”
“Oh, I assure you, you do.”
Victor removed a folder from inside his coat.
He dropped it on the table.
Birth certificates.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Three women's names.
And one document Caleb immediately recognized.
His mother's signature.
His heart stopped.
“What is this?”
Victor didn't answer.
George stepped forward.
“You should leave.”
Victor laughed softly.
“You still think you can command this situation.”
Then he turned to Caleb.
“You have no idea what your family buried.”
Caleb opened the folder.
The first photograph showed Rebecca.
Young.
Smiling.
Holding a baby.
The second showed George.
Standing beside her.
His face was grim.
Caleb looked at his father.
“Why is Rebecca with you?”
George stared at the photograph.
“She was your father's employee.”
Caleb blinked.
“My father's?”
“Yes.”
“Why have I never heard of her?”
“Because your father wanted you kept away from certain things.”
Victor interrupted.
“Your grandfather didn't merely own a company.”
He leaned closer.
“He owned people.”
Caleb's blood ran cold.
Victor continued.
“Rebecca discovered financial records that implicated him in an illegal adoption network.”
Olivia gasped.
Caleb looked at the documents.
“No.”
Victor nodded.
“The babies were never supposed to survive.”
Silence.
“They were evidence.”
Caleb turned toward Olivia.
She was crying.
“She took them?”
Victor nodded.
“Rebecca stole Lily.”
“And the others?”
“Were being transferred to wealthy clients.”
Caleb stared at the papers.
Three babies.
Three mothers.
Three disappearances.
Then he noticed a handwritten note.
The handwriting belonged to his mother.
He recognized it immediately.
The note contained only one sentence.
“George, if Rebecca disappears, protect the children from our own family.”
Caleb's stomach dropped.
He looked at his father.
“You knew.”
George's eyes filled with regret.
“Yes.”
Caleb stepped away.
“You knew this entire time?”
“I tried to stop it.”
“But you failed.”
George closed his eyes.
Victor smiled.
“And now you understand why Olivia lived in hiding.”
Caleb looked at the housekeeper.
“Why didn't you come to me?”
Olivia's voice broke.
“Because the last time I trusted a Hart, someone died.”
Caleb felt the room tilt.
“Who?”
Olivia stared directly at him.
“Your mother.”
The words landed like a gunshot.
Caleb turned toward his father.
George's face was white.
Then the clinic lights suddenly went out.
Somewhere outside, a car door slammed.
Victor grabbed the folder.
“They're here.”
“Who?”
Victor looked at Caleb.
“The people who have been searching for those babies for three years.”
May you like
And from the hallway came the sound of footsteps.
Many footsteps.
