Chapter 11 - The Fourth ChildDetective Cole refused to let me go alone.
We traced Lucas to an abandoned warehouse outside town.
Inside, there was no sign of him.
Only a table.
A lamp.
And a phone.
The phone rang when we entered.
I answered.
Lucas's voice came through.
“If you're hearing this, you found the files.”
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Who has the child?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your mother.”
My blood turned cold.
“She said the child was sold.”
“She lied.”
“Where is the baby?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“My father's old property.”
Christopher stepped toward me.
“Which one?”
“Red Creek.”
The call ended.
Detective Cole contacted local police.
At the same time, another officer called.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Bellini is missing.”
My mother had disappeared from the hospital under guard.
Someone had disabled the security alarm.
We returned to the station.
The search began immediately.
An hour later, police found her car.
Empty.
Inside were the custody papers.
A passport.
Cash.
And a note.
You will never understand what I did for this family.
I stared at the note.
“What family?”
Christopher answered.
“The Mercers.”
The search team went to Red Creek.
It was an old property surrounded by woods.
The main house was empty.
The basement door was locked.
Detective Cole forced it open.
Inside was a nursery.
Crib.
Medical equipment.
Formula.
Blankets.
A monitoring screen.
The room was warm.
Someone had been there recently.
On the wall were photographs.
Not of Emma.
Of the other children.
Noah.
Claire.
And a fourth baby.
There were dozens.
Each photograph was labeled by date.
My stomach twisted.
Then we found the medical chart.
The baby's name was listed:
Mia.
Mother:
Rachel Hart.
I almost collapsed.
“What?”
Christopher grabbed the page.
“This is impossible.”
“No,” Detective Cole said.
“It's a registration form.”
The baby's DNA matched mine.
The child was biologically mine.
My mother had created a second daughter from my genetic material without my consent.
Emma was not the only child she had engineered.
Mia was my daughter too.
But where was she?
A recording played from the nursery monitor.
My mother's voice.
“She will remain hidden until Emma is secured.”
A man's voice asked:
“And if Rachel finds her?”
“She won't.”
“Why?”
“Because Rachel believes Emma is her only child.”
I felt sick.
They had built an entire secret family around me.
Then footsteps sounded upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Detective Cole drew his weapon.
The sound moved toward the basement.
The door opened.
Lucas stood there.
Hands raised.
“I didn't hurt anyone.”
Christopher stepped toward him.
“Where is the baby?”
Lucas pointed behind us.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
He stared at me.
“With the only person my grandmother couldn't control.”
“Who?”
Lucas answered:
“Your husband.”
My world stopped.
“Ethan?”
Lucas nodded.
“He took the baby.”
“Why?”
“To protect her.”
“From whom?”
Lucas looked at the police.
“From all of you.”
Before anyone could react, a gunshot cracked in the woods outside.
Lucas dropped to the floor.
The lights went out.
May you like
And someone screamed from the darkness:
“Take Rachel!”
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