Chapter 18 - The Second CribInside the elevator was a woman.
She stood alone.
Holding a newborn.
The same size as Ethan.
For one impossible second, I thought there were two babies.
Then I realized the woman was holding a photograph.
Not a baby.
A picture.
She stepped out.
“You're too late.”
I grabbed her.
“Where is my son?”
She looked at Emily.
“Which one?”
Emily screamed.
“My baby!”
The woman smiled sadly.
“I was there the night you gave birth.”
“Who are you?”
“Dr. Rachel Mason.”
Linda whispered:
“No…”
Rachel looked at her.
“You remember me.”
I stared.
She had been removed from every file.
Every hospital record.
Every database.
She was the doctor who had delivered Ethan.
Or someone.
“Where is my son?”
Rachel looked at me.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not with you.”
I nearly attacked her.
Mara stopped me.
“Listen.”
Rachel pulled out a phone.
On the screen was a live video.
A room.
A crib.
Ethan asleep.
I exhaled.
He was alive.
“Give him to me.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor is coming.”
“Let him come.”
Rachel shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
She turned the phone.
A second crib appeared.
Another baby.
Same age.
Same features.
Same eyes.
Emily made a sound I've never heard before.
“There are two.”
Rachel nodded.
“Two boys.”
I stared at the screen.
“Which one is ours?”
Rachel looked at Linda.
“Ask your mother.”
Linda shook her head.
“No.”
“Ask her.”
I turned.
“Mom.”
Linda was crying.
“I don't know.”
“You know!”
“I don't!”
Rachel spoke quietly.
“That's the truth.”
Emily stepped forward.
“What happened?”
Rachel looked at her.
“You were part of an experiment.”
“Why?”
“Because your pregnancy was unique.”
She explained.
Emily carried one half of the genetic sequence.
Daniel carried the other.
Victor wanted to see whether two children could be created from the same genetic combination.
“One child was born naturally.”
“The other was created artificially from the same genetic pattern.”
I stared at the two babies.
“So one is ours.”
“Yes.”
“And the other?”
“A manufactured match.”
Emily shook her head.
“How?”
“Artificial gestation.”
Mara whispered:
“Project Lullaby's final phase.”
Rachel nodded.
“Victor doesn't need to take Ethan anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because he already has another.”
She looked at me.
“He created a replacement.”
My blood ran cold.
“What happens to the real one?”
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
“That's what you have to decide.”
“What?”
“Which baby you want to save.”
The door behind us opened.
Victor Hale walked in.
He applauded slowly.
“Now we're finally getting somewhere.”
May you like
Then he looked at Emily.
“You've spent months loving the wrong child.”
