Chapter 12 - The Children in the FilesVictor was arrested three hours later.
The black SUV was found abandoned near a bridge.
His weapon was recovered.
So were dozens of files.
Not money.
Not drugs.
Birth certificates.
Adoption papers.
Names.
Dates.
Hospitals.
Children.
Hundreds of them.
The documents revealed a network that had operated quietly for decades.
Babies were moved.
Records altered.
Families were paid.
Some children were placed with wealthy couples who believed they had completed legitimate private adoptions.
Others vanished into foster systems under false names.
I read the files until my eyes burned.
Then I found mine.
My original name was not Elena Parker.
It was Emily Hale.
The daughter of Victor Hale.
But that wasn't the worst part.
A second document showed another name.
My biological mother.
My mother had hidden her identity too.
She wasn't the woman who raised me.
She was the woman who had taken me.
I couldn't look at her.
Daniel sat beside me.
"Don't read anymore."
"I need to."
"You don't have to."
I held the file.
A third document changed everything.
It listed the transfer of my adoption records.
The buyer's name had been blacked out.
But there was a handwritten note.
Family Parker.
Then another.
Child designated as future beneficiary.
"Beneficiary of what?"
Daniel took the page.
"Assets."
Then he frowned.
"Wait."
He pointed to a signature.
This signature belonged to a lawyer I knew.
Our family's lawyer.
The same attorney who had handled my parents' estate planning.
My mother had planned something.
Something involving me.
Then Officer Harris entered.
"We arrested Victor."
I looked up.
"What did he say?"
"He asked for you."
"Why?"
"He says the files don't tell the full story."
"What story?"
"He claims your parents weren't protecting you from him."
My chest tightened.
"What were they protecting me from?"
Officer Harris hesitated.
"From themselves."
I stared.
"Explain."
He placed another document on the table.
It was a bank transfer.
The recipient was my mother.
The amount was enormous.
The date was eighteen years ago.
The transfer came from Victor.
But there was another payment.
Made twelve years later.
That one was from a company in Daniel's name.
I looked at my husband.
His face went white.
"That's impossible."
He stared at the document.
"I've never heard of that company."
Officer Harris turned the page.
"The company was registered using your identity."
Daniel whispered:
"Someone has been using me."
I looked at the door.
"Who?"
May you like
Officer Harris answered:
"That's what Victor wants you to ask him."
