Chapter 4: The Baby They Told Me Had Died
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Graham stood in the doorway with a pistol pointed at my chest. Behind him, the woman wearing Vanessa's face held a photograph of me outside a hospital.
A photograph taken six years earlier.
The night Ava was born.
I stared at the picture.
I remembered that night.
I remembered Elena screaming as the doctors rushed her into surgery. I remembered sitting in a hospital corridor with blood on my shirt, waiting for someone to tell me my wife and daughter were safe.
I remembered Graham arriving an hour later.
He had been our family attorney even then.
He had told me there had been complications.
One baby had survived.
The other hadn't.
I'd never questioned it.
Because I'd been too busy crying over the daughter I thought I'd almost lost.
"Put the gun down," I said.
Graham didn't blink.
"Step away from the door, Marcus.""
"Tell me what happened that night.""
"You're in no position to make demands.""
I looked at the photograph again.
"How many children did Elena give birth to?""
The woman behind Graham smiled.
"Two.""
I turned toward her.
"Who are you?""
"Rebecca.""
"Then why have you been pretending to be Vanessa?""
She tilted her head.
"Because Vanessa was a convenient name. A convenient life. And you were remarkably easy to fool.""
Elena made a choking sound behind me.
"Don't listen to her," she whispered.
Rebecca's smile vanished.
"Still pretending you're the victim, Elena?""
I turned.
My wife was standing beside the metal table, one hand gripping its edge to keep herself upright.
"Tell me the truth," I said.
Elena looked at me.
Her eyes were full of tears.
"Marcus, when I gave birth, there were two girls. Ava and another baby. I heard them crying. I saw them both.""
My throat tightened.
"Where is the other one?""
Rebecca stepped forward.
"With me.""
I looked at her.
"You're her mother?""
Rebecca nodded.
"Biologically, yes.""
"Then why did you leave her?""
Her expression hardened.
"Because Elena stole everything from me.""
Elena shook her head.
"You abandoned her.""
"I was twenty-two!""
"You signed the papers!""
"I was promised that the baby would be safe!""
Rebecca's voice cracked.
For the first time, I saw something beneath her anger.
Pain.
But whatever had happened between the sisters, it didn't explain the prison beneath my swimming pool.
I stepped toward Graham.
"Who arranged this?""
Graham raised the gun slightly.
"Enough.""
"No. Not enough. You signed the death certificate.
You helped conceal my wife. You helped someone steal a child from my family. I want the truth.""
He gave a tired sigh.
"You really should have accepted the official story.""
"Which official story? The one where my wife drowned, or the one where my daughter had no twin?""
Graham glanced at Rebecca.
That tiny movement told me everything.
They weren't working together as equals.
He was taking orders from her.
I looked at Rebecca.
"Why did you come into my house?""
She held up the photograph.
"Because you were about to make a mistake.""
"What mistake?""
"Marrying a woman who didn't belong to you.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You mean marrying you?""
She ignored me.
"Fourteen months ago, Elena discovered that I was using the identity of a woman named Vanessa Cole. She found out about the hospital records, the forged documents, and the money Graham had been moving through your companies.""
Elena shook her head.
"You were stealing from him.""
Rebecca's eyes flashed.
"That money was supposed to be mine!""
"Your father left it to Marcus's company," Elena replied.
"You tried to change the trust documents.""
I looked at Graham.
He said nothing.
Rebecca continued.
"Elena found the original birth records. She found out about the second child. She threatened to expose everything.""
"And you put her under my pool?""
Rebecca's expression turned cold.
"She was supposed to remain hidden until the papers were signed.""
"What papers?""
Graham opened his briefcase.
He removed a thick folder and placed it on the metal table.
"Your estate transfer.""
I stared at him.
"My what?""
"Your marriage to Vanessa would have established certain inheritance rights. Combined with the amended guardianship documents, the transfer would have been straightforward.""
I looked at Rebecca.
"So this entire proposal was about my money?""
She shrugged.
"Your money, your property, your company. You were going to give me everything anyway.""
The casualness of her answer made my stomach turn.
Then I noticed something.
The folder had two signatures.
Mine.
And Elena's.
Except I had never signed those documents.
I picked up the first page.
My signature looked perfect.
Almost too perfect.
"These are forged.""
Graham adjusted his cuffs.
"That is a legal question.""
I looked at him.
"You're going to prison.""
He smiled.
"Not if you don't leave this room.""
A loud bang echoed from somewhere above us.
Graham turned toward the ceiling.
For a moment, his concentration slipped.
I saw my opportunity.
I grabbed the metal table and shoved it into him.
The pistol fired.
The bullet struck the concrete wall.
Graham stumbled backward, dropping the gun.
I lunged.
We crashed against the steel door.
His briefcase flew open, scattering papers across the wet floor.
Rebecca screamed.
Elena grabbed the pistol.
I managed to pin Graham against the wall.
"Where is my daughter?""
He struggled beneath my grip.
"Ask Rebecca!""
I tightened my hold.
"WHERE IS AVA?""
Rebecca backed toward the corridor.
"She's safe.""
"Where?""
She smiled.
"Somewhere you can't reach.""
Then she pulled a small black device from her pocket.
A red light blinked on its surface.
I recognized it.
It was the remote control for the pool's emergency locking system.
She pressed a button.
A mechanical groan echoed above us.
The ventilation cover slammed shut.
The chamber lights went out.
I heard Elena scream.
Then a second sound.
A metallic door closing somewhere in the corridor.
When the emergency light finally flickered on, Rebecca was gone.
So was Graham.
Only Elena and I remained.
I rushed toward the entrance.
The steel door was locked again.
I grabbed the pistol from the floor.
"Elena, can you walk?""
She nodded, although her legs were shaking.
I picked up the scattered papers.
One document caught my attention.
A birth certificate.
Two names.
Two dates of birth.
Two identical entries.
And beneath the second child's name was a handwritten note.
*TRANSFERRED TO MATERNAL GUARDIAN: REBECCA MARLOWE.*
But something else was written beneath it.
A hospital identification number.
I recognized the last four digits.
They were the same numbers printed on Ava's original birth bracelet.
My hands began trembling.
"Elena?""
She looked at me.
"What?""
"Did Ava ever have a different hospital bracelet?""
Her face went pale.
"Yes.""
"What happened to it?""
"Rebecca took it the night you brought Ava home.""
I stared at the document.
Then I noticed a second line.
The second baby's name had been crossed out.
Someone had written a different name over it.
*Sophie Hale.*
I looked at Elena.
"Who is Sophie?""
My wife closed her eyes.
"Marcus...""
"Who is Sophie?""
She opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, my phone vibrated.
I pulled it from my pocket.
A message from Daniel.
Sir, I've found something in Ava's bedroom. Please call me immediately.
Another message appeared.
This one included a photograph.
It showed a small wooden box hidden beneath Ava's bed.
Inside the box were two hospital bracelets.
One read AVA HALE.
The other read SOPHIE HALE.
And beneath them was a photograph of a little girl who looked exactly like my daughter.
I stared at the screen.
Then a final message appeared.
Sir, I think the little girl Rebecca brought into the house is not Ava.
My heart stopped.
Because I suddenly understood.
Rebecca hadn't come to take my daughter.
May you like
She had already taken her.
And the child sitting in my mansion was someone else.
