CHAPTER 5: THE GIRL IN ROOM 317
“Where is she?”
Ethan's voice shook with rage.
The armed man didn't answer.
He simply pointed his weapon toward Lily.
“Walk away from the child.”
Ethan stepped in front of his daughter.
“No.”
“Mr. Carter, you don't understand what you're dealing with.”
“I understand enough.”
Ethan looked at Emma.
Then Daniel.
Then Vanessa.
Three people who had lied to him.
Three people who knew something about his family.
And somewhere beyond those walls was another child he had spent three years believing was dead.
“I want her name.”
The man smiled.
“You know her name.”
Ethan froze.
“No, I don't.”
“You used to say it every night.”
Emma suddenly covered her mouth.
Ethan turned toward her.
“What does he mean?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“You remembered her.”
“Who?”
“The baby.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don't remember.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“Before they erased your memory.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“Stop saying that.”
Emma stepped closer.
“Your daughter's name was written on your bedroom wall.”
Ethan looked confused.
“I don't understand.”
The armed man interrupted.
“You have five minutes.”
“Five minutes for what?”
“To come with us.”
“And if I refuse?”
The man's gaze moved toward Lily.
“You'll lose another daughter.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
Daniel suddenly attacked.
He lunged forward and knocked the weapon aside.
A gunshot exploded into the ceiling.
Everyone screamed.
“RUN!”
Ethan grabbed Lily.
Emma grabbed Maria.
Vanessa disappeared through the opposite doorway.
Ethan shouted:
“Where is she going?”
Daniel yelled back:
“Forget Vanessa!”
They raced into the service corridor.
Behind them came footsteps.
Several men were entering the penthouse.
“Left!” Daniel shouted.
They turned.
The hallway narrowed.
Maria was carrying Lily now.
Ethan stayed beside Emma.
“Where are we going?”
“Parking garage.”
“We can't take the elevator.”
“I'm not planning to.”
Daniel kicked open an emergency stairwell.
They descended.
Floor after floor.
Ethan's heart hammered.
“Emma!”
“What?”
“You said our daughter is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me her name.”
Emma hesitated.
Ethan grabbed her arm.
“Please.”
Emma looked directly into his eyes.
“Her name is Claire.”
Ethan stopped walking.
The name hit him like a memory trying to break through a locked door.
Claire.
He had heard it before.
In dreams.
Always in the same dream.
A little girl laughing.
A yellow dress.
A red balloon.
And Emma shouting:
“Take Claire and run!”
Ethan staggered.
“I remember.”
Emma grabbed him.
“What?”
“Claire.”
He closed his eyes.
“She was laughing.”
Emma began crying.
“You remember her?”
“Just a little.”
Daniel looked behind them.
“We don't have time.”
They continued down.
When they reached the garage, Daniel led them to an old black SUV.
“Get in.”
Everyone climbed inside.
Daniel started the engine.
Tires screamed against the concrete.
Behind them, several black vehicles entered the garage.
“They're coming,” Maria said.
Daniel accelerated.
The SUV burst through the security gate.
Bullets struck the rear window.
Lily screamed.
Ethan pulled her down.
“Stay low!”
They sped through the streets.
For ten minutes nobody spoke.
Finally Ethan looked at Emma.
“Tell me everything.”
Emma stared out the window.
“I can't.”
“You owe me.”
“I know.”
“You owe Lily.”
Emma looked at her daughter.
“I know.”
“And you owe Claire.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“That is exactly why I'm afraid.”
Ethan's voice softened.
“Why?”
“Because Claire isn't just a missing child.”
“What is she?”
Emma looked at him.
“She is evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“The entire operation.”
Daniel glanced at them through the mirror.
“Not just the operation.”
Emma nodded.
“She is proof that the hospital switched newborns.”
Ethan frowned.
“That still doesn't explain why they wanted her.”
Emma took a breath.
“Because Claire was born with something they couldn't control.”
“What?”
“A genetic marker.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What kind?”
“One that identifies a particular bloodline.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Your family.”
Ethan looked confused.
“My family?”
“Your father's family,” Daniel said.
Emma continued.
“Your father wasn't just a businessman.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What was he?”
“A founder.”
“Of what?”
Emma looked at Daniel.
Daniel answered.
“The Halcyon Foundation.”
Ethan went silent.
The charity.
The hospitals.
The records.
The missing children.
All of it suddenly connected.
“My father founded Halcyon?”
“Yes.”
“And Vanessa?”
“She inherited his position.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa's empty seat.
“So she knew.”
“She knew everything.”
“Then why did she attack Lily?”
Emma shook her head.
“She wasn't trying to hurt Lily.”
“She grabbed her.”
“She was looking for the key.”
Ethan pulled the small metal key from his pocket.
“Room 317.”
Emma nodded.
“That room contains the original birth records.”
“And Claire?”
“She was kept there.”
“Is she still there?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
Emma looked down.
“I don't know.”
Ethan slammed his fist against the dashboard.
“We have to find her.”
“We will.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Daniel suddenly slowed the vehicle.
Ethan looked ahead.
“What happened?”
Daniel didn't answer.
The road was blocked.
A dozen police cars were parked across the intersection.
Police officers stood outside.
Ethan's shoulders dropped.
“Maybe they're here to help.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“No.”
He turned the wheel.
“We're going another way.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
Daniel pointed toward the police vehicles.
“Look at the man standing beside the captain.”
Ethan stared.
A tall man in a dark suit stood beside the police chief.
Ethan recognized him.
He had seen him before.
At his father's funeral.
At Emma's memorial.
At the hospital.
The same man appeared in every photograph connected to the family.
Ethan whispered:
“That's impossible.”
Emma looked at him.
“Who?”
Ethan pointed.
“That man.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“You know him?”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“He was the doctor who signed Claire's death certificate.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“He's alive?”
Ethan stared at the man.
Then the man slowly turned.
Their eyes met across the distance.
He smiled.
And raised a phone to his ear.
Ethan's phone immediately began ringing.
He looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A calm voice said:
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan didn't speak.
The man across the road smiled again.
Then he said:
“You've been looking for Claire.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“Where is my daughter?”
The man's voice became quieter.
“She is safe.”
“Where?”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
A pause.
Then:
“You should ask why Claire was born with your father's DNA.”
Ethan stared at Emma.
“What?”
The man continued.
“Because Claire isn't your biological daughter.”
Ethan's entire world collapsed.
The call ended.
Emma looked terrified.
Ethan turned toward her.
“Tell me he's lying.”
Emma couldn't answer.
“Emma.”
She looked down.
“I'm sorry.”
Ethan's voice cracked.
“Is Claire my daughter?”
Emma finally whispered:
“No.”
Silence.
Then Ethan looked at Lily.
“If Claire isn't mine…”
Emma began crying.
“…then whose daughter is she?”
Before Emma could answer, Daniel's phone rang.
He listened for three seconds.
His face went completely white.
Ethan noticed.
“What?”
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
“They found Claire.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“At the penthouse.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“But we just left.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the rearview mirror.
“Claire wasn't taken from the hospital.”
“She was already there.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Where?”
Daniel's voice dropped to a whisper.
“She's been hiding inside your penthouse for three years.”
And suddenly Ethan remembered the one room in his home he had never been allowed to enter.
May you like
Emma's old bedroom.
The room Vanessa had kept locked ever since she moved in.
