Chapter 10 - Emma's SecretThe photograph destroyed everything I believed.
A newborn.
Claire.
Hospital gown.
The baby's face partly hidden.
Timestamped four years ago.
The same day Emma was born.
I had been beside Claire during the delivery.
I had held Emma.
I remembered every second.
Or thought I did.
Cole drove us back to the hotel.
He didn't speak for twenty minutes.
Finally he said:
“We need Emma's original birth records.”
“They're genuine.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Daniel, someone has spent years fabricating evidence around your family.”
We requested hospital records.
There was a problem.
The original delivery file had been deleted.
Not misplaced.
Deleted.
The nurse who had handled Claire's delivery had retired.
We found her living outside the city.
Her name was Helen Shaw.
She opened the door.
The moment she saw Emma, she started crying.
“You survived.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
Cole stepped forward.
“What happened the night Emma was born?”
Helen hesitated.
Then let us inside.
“I was told there was an emergency.”
“What emergency?”
“Another baby.”
I stared at her.
“There were two deliveries that night.”
“Twins?”
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“One mother.”
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Two babies?”
Helen nodded.
“One died.”
I felt the room spin.
“Which one?”
She looked at Emma.
“I was told it was the girl.”
Silence.
Cole spoke.
“Who told you?”
“A doctor.”
“Name?”
“Dr. Marcus Bell.”
I knew that name.
Claire's old medical records mentioned him.
Helen continued.
“Later that night, someone came to the nursery.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“What did he do?”
“He switched the tags.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Helen took a photograph from a drawer.
Two newborn bracelets.
One said:
BABY A
The other:
BABY B
One had Claire's surname.
The other had a different surname.
Harris.
I stared at it.
“Harris?”
Helen nodded.
“Lily Harris had a younger sister?”
“No.”
“Then whose child was Baby B?”
Helen's hands shook.
“She was the other girl's mother.”
“Who?”
Helen looked at Cole.
“Vanessa.”
I couldn't speak.
Vanessa had been pregnant.
She had given birth the same night as Claire.
And one of the babies had been switched.
Cole looked stunned.
“That's why Vanessa was sent to Daniel.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
But the pieces were falling into place.
Maybe Emma wasn't Claire's biological daughter.
Maybe Vanessa's child had been taken.
Maybe the entire relationship had been engineered around the swap.
We found Vanessa's medical records.
She had indeed given birth four years ago.
The child's name:
Noah Bennett.
Male.
Not Emma.
Another impossibility.
Unless the records were altered.
Then Helen gave us one final piece.
“The baby from Vanessa's room wasn't a boy.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“It was a girl.”
She handed me another paper.
Female infant. Healthy.
No name.
No father listed.
Transferred before dawn.
The receiving facility was the same one Claire had investigated.
The Observatory.
I looked at Emma.
“What did they do with her?”
Helen started crying.
“They kept her.”
The room went silent.
Then Emma reached up and touched my hand.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“I remember her.”
My blood turned cold.
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Cole slowly turned toward her.
“Emma, what sister?”
She whispered:
“She was in the room with me.”
“When?”
“Before Mommy died.”
I stared at her.
Claire had been dead for two years.
Emma was four.
The timeline didn't make sense.
Unless Claire wasn't dead.
Unless Emma had been exposed to something.
Then Emma said:
“She was behind the glass.”
Cole asked, “What glass?”
Emma looked toward the window.
“The room where they keep the girls.”
I looked at Cole.
He understood.
“The Observatory.”
May you like
Emma nodded.
“I know where it is.”
Related Stories
