Chapter 11 - THE BABY WHO CHANGED EVERYTHINGWe found a hidden laboratory beneath the clinic.
The door required a biometric scan.
Daniel used his hand.
The door opened.
Inside were rows of glass chambers.
Some were empty.
Some contained equipment.
One held photographs.
Hundreds.
All labeled with dates.
All connected to our family.
I searched frantically.
“Where is Grace?”
Daniel pointed toward the end of the room.
A medical chamber stood there.
Inside was the baby.
Alive.
Sleeping.
Connected to monitors.
I ran toward her.
“Grace!”
The chamber opened.
I pulled her into my arms.
She was warm.
Alive.
I cried.
Daniel looked at the monitor.
“This isn't right.”
“What?”
“This chamber has been active for five years.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“The baby wasn't here the whole time.”
“Then why does the system say she was?”
Daniel examined the data.
Then he froze.
“Because there were two.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“The original Grace.”
He pointed to another chamber.
Empty.
“She was moved months ago.”
“Where?”
Daniel didn't answer.
A screen suddenly activated.
Richard appeared.
“You finally found her.”
I held the baby tighter.
“You're not taking her.”
Richard smiled.
“I don't need her.”
“What?”
“I already have what I need.”
He turned the camera.
Sophie was standing beside him.
Her eyes were open.
But something was wrong.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't scared.
She looked completely calm.
Richard placed a hand on her shoulder.
“She remembers.”
I stared at the screen.
“Remembers what?”
Sophie looked directly into the camera.
“Mom.”
My heart shattered.
“What did they do to you?”
She smiled.
“Nothing.”
Richard stepped aside.
Sophie continued.
“I remember everything.”
“Everything?”
She nodded.
“I remember being here when I was little.”
I couldn't breathe.
“That's impossible.”
“I remember Dad.”
Daniel stepped toward the screen.
“Sophie…”
She looked at him.
“You lied to me.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I had no choice.”
Sophie turned to Richard.
“Tell her.”
Richard smiled.
“Sophie is not merely a genetic carrier.”
“What is she?”
“She is the key to restoring memories.”
I stared at the baby.
“No.”
Richard continued.
“She can reactivate dormant neural patterns.”
“And Grace?”
“She can stabilize them.”
“So you need both.”
“Yes.”
I held Grace tighter.
“You'll never get her.”
Richard looked amused.
“You don't understand.”
He pressed a button.
An image appeared.
It showed our home.
Empty.
Then another image.
My mother's old house.
Then another.
The hospital where I had given birth to Sophie.
Then another.
My father's grave.
I looked at Daniel.
“What is this?”
Richard smiled.
“Insurance.”
Then the screen changed.
A live video appeared.
Someone was standing in my house.
I recognized him.
The man from the highway.
He held a gun.
And beside him was Sophie.
Richard's voice came through the speaker.
“You have ten minutes.”
“Until what?”
“Until your daughter chooses.”
“Chooses what?”
“To come home.”
The screen went black.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from Sophie's number.
Mom, don't trust Dad.
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
He knows what happened to Grace five years ago.
Then a third.
Ask him who actually killed Emily.
I looked at Daniel.
He had gone completely pale.
“You knew.”
He whispered,
“Yes.”
“Who killed Emily?”
Daniel looked at me.
May you like
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Rebecca.”
