Chapter 10 - The Woman Buried Without Her Child
# Chapter 10 - The Woman Buried Without Her Child
Leo remembered standing beside Daniel Mercer as Rebecca's coffin was lowered into the ground.
He remembered the rain, the black umbrellas, and the unbearable silence of a man who had just lost his wife.
But there was something else about that funeral.
Something Leo had forgotten until now.
Daniel had never allowed anyone to see the baby.
Not once.
Not at the hospital. Not during the funeral. Not in the weeks afterward.
When Leo had asked about the child, Daniel had said the baby had died with Rebecca.
And Leo had believed him.
Now, six years later, a woman who had helped falsify hospital records was telling him that Rebecca's child had survived.
"You're lying," Leo whispered into the phone.
Sarah Whitmore, whose real name was Dr. Eleanor Voss, did not immediately respond.
"Leo, I understand why—"
"No. You don't get to tell me what you understand."
His voice rose inside the cramped green van.
"You watched my family fall apart. You knew my son was missing. You knew another child had been living under his name. And you sat across from me in that diner pretending to be a waitress!"
Samuel Reed reached toward him.
"Leo—"
"Don't touch me."
Samuel withdrew his hand.
On the phone, Sarah took a slow breath.
"Rebecca Mercer gave birth to a boy six years ago. That much is true."
"And Daniel told everyone the baby died."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the people running Project Second Life wanted the child."
Leo closed his eyes.
He could still picture Rebecca.
She had been gentle and reserved, with dark brown hair and a habit of laughing quietly whenever Daniel became too serious.
She and Evelyn had been friends.
Close friends.
Rebecca had even helped organize Evelyn's baby shower.
Or at least, Leo had believed it was a baby shower for one child.
"Who is Rebecca's son?" Leo asked.
Sarah hesitated.
"That is what I've been trying to tell you."
"Then tell me."
"The child registered as Thomas Daniel Vale was not born to Evelyn."
Leo felt the blood drain from his face.
He looked toward Samuel.
The older man lowered his eyes.
Leo whispered, "Thomas is Rebecca's son?"
"According to the original maternity records, yes."
"And Toby?"
"Tobias Leo Vale was born to Evelyn."
Leo leaned back against the van seat.
For several seconds, he could not speak.
Thomas.
The boy who had waited outside Blackwood.
The boy who had made him breakfast.
The boy who had thrown his arms around him and called him Daddy.
He wasn't Evelyn's biological child.
But he had Leo's eyes.
Leo's smile.
And the same face as Toby.
Something still didn't fit.
"Who's Thomas's father?" Leo asked.
Sarah went silent.
"Is it Daniel?"
"No."
Leo frowned.
"Then who?"
Sarah's voice became strained.
"That answer is inside the original genetic records."
Leo looked at the laptop.
"Then why didn't you put those records on the drive?"
"Because Adrian altered the files after I disappeared."
"How convenient."
"I don't expect you to trust me."
"Good."
"But I need you to understand that the children were not selected randomly."
Leo stared at the photograph of the two boys.
"Then why do they look alike?"
Sarah hesitated.
"Because their biological connection is much closer than anyone was supposed to discover."
Leo's stomach tightened.
"What connection?"
Before Sarah could answer, a sharp noise sounded on her end of the call.
A door opening.
Then footsteps.
"Who's there?" she called.
Leo straightened.
"Sarah?"
No answer.
A man's voice spoke in the background.
"Dr. Voss. We need to talk."
Sarah inhaled sharply.
"How did you find me?"
The man said something Leo couldn't hear.
Then Sarah whispered into the phone.
"Leo, listen carefully. Don't go to Hawthorne Estate."
"Why?"
"Because the boy in the photograph isn't the one they're holding there."
Leo froze.
"What?"
A sudden crash interrupted her.
The phone struck something hard.
Leo heard Sarah gasp.
Then the call ended.
For several seconds, Leo stared at Samuel's phone.
"Call her back."
Samuel dialed.
No answer.
He tried again.
Straight to voicemail.
Leo slammed his fist against the dashboard.
"Damn it!"
Samuel looked toward the road.
"We need to contact Collins."
Leo shook his head.
"We need to find Sarah."
"We don't know where she is."
"You know everything else about her!"
"Leo—"
"She's the only person who knows what happened when the boys were born."
Samuel looked exhausted.
"I know."
"Then find her."
The older man began typing on the laptop.
Leo turned toward the window.
His reflection stared back at him.
Hollow cheeks.
Dark circles.
The face of a man who had spent five years in prison and less than one day in freedom.
He had believed the worst part of his life was over.
Instead, he was discovering that prison had only hidden him from a nightmare that had continued without him.
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
Stop asking about Rebecca Mercer.
Leo stared at it.
A second message arrived.
Some graves should remain closed.
His hands tightened.
Whoever was watching them knew about Sarah's call.
They knew exactly what she had revealed.
And they were frightened by the name Rebecca Mercer.
Leo showed Samuel.
The older man's expression darkened.
"That confirms someone is monitoring our communications."
"Then let them listen."
Leo typed a reply.
Where is my son?
The answer came almost immediately.
Which one?
Leo felt his anger surge.
He typed again.
Both.
This time, the response took longer.
Then a photograph appeared.
It showed a small boy lying unconscious on a hospital bed.
A blue identification bracelet circled his wrist.
His face was turned partly away from the camera.
Beneath the image was a message.
One of them is running out of time.
Leo felt the world go cold.
Agent Mara Collins arrived forty minutes later.
She stepped out of an unmarked dark SUV wearing a navy jacket and carrying a leather folder.
She was in her early forties, with dark hair pulled tightly behind her head and an expression that suggested she had learned long ago not to trust appearances.
Two other agents remained near the vehicle.
Collins approached Leo.
"Mr. Vale."
He stood.
"Did you find my son?"
"Not yet."
Leo looked away.
She continued.
"We've confirmed that the message showing an unconscious child was transmitted through an anonymized network. We're attempting to identify its origin."
"He's in a hospital bed."
"We don't know when the photograph was taken."
Leo stared at her.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No. It's supposed to keep us from making a decision based on something the kidnappers may have staged."
Leo fell silent.
He hated that she was right.
Collins opened her folder.
"We also recovered additional information from the hospital archives."
Samuel stepped closer.
"Original birth records?"
"Some."
Leo felt his heart hammer.
"What did you find?"
Collins removed two documents.
"Six years ago, Evelyn Vale was admitted to Eastbridge Memorial Hospital. She delivered one male infant."
Leo nodded slowly.
"Tobias."
"That is the name on the earliest available record."
"And Rebecca?"
Collins looked at him.
"Rebecca Mercer was admitted to the same hospital eleven hours earlier."
Leo stared.
"She gave birth?"
"Yes."
"To Thomas?"
"Her records identify a male infant, but the name was changed multiple times."
Leo swallowed.
"Was the baby alive?"
"At birth, yes."
"And Rebecca?"
Collins hesitated.
"She died approximately six hours after delivery."
Leo closed his eyes.
He remembered Daniel's grief.
The funeral.
The empty nursery in Daniel's house.
All those years, he had believed Rebecca and her baby had died together.
Collins continued.
"There's another detail."
Leo opened his eyes.
"What?"
"Rebecca's death was classified as a medical complication. But the original attending physician filed an internal report questioning the circumstances."
Samuel stiffened.
"Who was the physician?"
Collins looked at him.
"Dr. Eleanor Voss."
Leo stared.
"Sarah."
Collins nodded.
"She believed Rebecca received medication that was not documented in the treatment record."
Leo felt a chill.
"Are you saying someone killed her?"
"I'm saying her death deserves further investigation."
Leo looked at Samuel.
The older man appeared deeply troubled.
"Why would they kill Rebecca?"
Collins hesitated.
"Perhaps because she learned something about the project."
Leo remembered Sarah's warning.
Some graves should remain closed.
He looked back at Collins.
"Then we need to exhume her body."
Collins nodded slowly.
"We're already seeking the necessary authorization."
As the afternoon faded, Leo sat alone inside the van.
Collins and Samuel were speaking outside.
He could see them through the windshield, their expressions serious.
The hard drive lay beside him.
He opened the folder containing Thomas's records.
Photographs filled the screen.
Thomas at age two.
Thomas at age three.
Thomas sitting at a classroom desk.
Thomas undergoing medical examinations.
Leo clicked through them slowly.
Then he noticed something strange.
In nearly every photograph, Thomas wore a blue bracelet.
Sometimes it was visible beneath his sleeve.
Sometimes it was partially hidden.
But it was always there.
Leo enlarged one image.
The bracelet contained a number.
SL-002
He frowned.
He opened Tobias's file.
The earliest photographs showed Toby wearing a similar bracelet.
SL-001
Leo stared.
Subject 001.
Subject 002.
The project had assigned them numbers.
But the hospital records suggested the children had different mothers.
Why would they be enrolled as a pair?
He opened a developmental assessment.
A sentence caught his attention.
Subjects demonstrate unusually high phenotypic similarity despite differing maternal origins.
Leo leaned closer.
Phenotypic similarity.
Their physical appearance.
He scrolled down.
Another sentence appeared.
Paternal genetic contribution remains consistent across both subjects.
Leo stopped breathing.
He read it again.
Then again.
Paternal genetic contribution.
Consistent across both subjects.
Leo's hands began trembling.
If the report was accurate, both boys had the same biological father.
And one of the mothers was Rebecca Mercer.
He stared at the screen.
No.
It couldn't be.
He had never had an affair with Rebecca.
Never.
He had respected her as Daniel's wife.
They had been friends, nothing more.
Then he remembered the medical consultation seven years earlier.
The private clinic.
The blood tests.
The procedures he couldn't fully remember.
He felt sick.
Could someone have used his genetic material without his knowledge?
Could Rebecca have been involved?
Had she known?
Leo opened the next document.
REPRODUCTIVE MATERIAL PROCUREMENT — PRIMARY SUBJECT
A table appeared.
Dates.
Sample numbers.
Storage locations.
And one name.
LEO VALE
He stared.
His name.
Again.
He scrolled farther.
A line near the bottom contained a reference to two separate reproductive procedures.
One associated with Evelyn.
The other with Rebecca.
Leo felt the world tilt.
Both children might be his biological sons.
But one had been born to his wife.
The other to his best friend's wife.
And someone had arranged it.
Collins returned to the van.
She found Leo staring at the laptop.
"Mr. Vale?"
He looked up.
His face was pale.
"I need you to see this."
She leaned forward.
Leo pointed to the document.
Collins read it carefully.
Her expression changed.
"Where did you find this?"
"Thomas's file."
She continued reading.
Then looked at him.
"This suggests the project used reproductive material associated with you."
Leo swallowed.
"Without my permission."
"Possibly. We need to verify the records."
"I never agreed to this."
Collins nodded.
"I understand."
Leo looked away.
His voice cracked.
"Rebecca was my friend's wife."
Collins said nothing.
"I never touched her."
"I hear you."
"Then how could this happen?"
Collins studied the document.
"There are several possibilities. We can't determine which is true from this file alone."
Leo stared at her.
He wanted certainty.
Instead, he had another possibility.
Another terrible possibility.
Thomas might be his biological son after all.
Not because of an affair.
Not because of a secret relationship.
But because someone had used his reproductive material as part of an illegal medical program.
He thought of Rebecca.
Had she consented?
Had she been deceived?
Had she died because she tried to expose the truth?
Collins closed the laptop.
"Mr. Vale, we need to preserve this evidence."
Leo nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Hello?"
A child's voice whispered, "Daddy?"
Leo's heart stopped.
"Toby?"
The boy was crying.
"Daddy, I'm scared."
Leo gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Are you hurt?"
"My head hurts."
Leo felt panic rise.
"Listen to me. Is there anyone with you?"
The boy sniffled.
"A lady."
"What lady?"
"She says she's my aunt."
Leo frowned.
"Your aunt?"
The boy nodded, though Leo couldn't see him.
"She says Mommy lied."
Leo closed his eyes.
"Toby, tell me what you can see."
"A big window."
"What else?"
"Trees."
"Anything outside?"
"A white fence."
Leo looked toward Collins.
She was already signaling to another agent to trace the call.
"Good boy," Leo whispered. "You're doing great."
The child began crying harder.
"Daddy, please come."
"I will."
"Promise?"
Leo's throat tightened.
"I promise."
Then the boy whispered something that made Leo freeze.
"Why did you give me away?"
Leo stared at the phone.
"What?"
"The lady said you gave me away when I was a baby."
"No, sweetheart."
"She said you signed the papers."
Leo looked toward the laptop.
The authorization document.
His signature.
The medical program.
The child continued.
"She said you chose my brother instead."
Leo felt tears burn his eyes.
"That's not true."
The boy sobbed.
"Then why am I here?"
Leo struggled to breathe.
"Because someone lied to us. But I'm coming for you."
There was a noise in the background.
A door opening.
The boy gasped.
"She's back."
"Toby?"
The phone rustled.
A woman's voice spoke.
"That's enough."
Leo stiffened.
"Who is this?"
The woman didn't answer.
"Where's my son?"
A pause.
Then she said, "You don't remember me, do you, Leo?"
He frowned.
The voice was familiar.
Soft.
Measured.
Almost gentle.
"Who are you?"
She laughed quietly.
"That's disappointing."
Leo felt a chill.
"Tell me your name."
The woman sighed.
"We met seven years ago."
Leo's pulse quickened.
"At the clinic?"
"Very good."
He remembered the dark-haired woman beside the medical cart.
The white room.
The strange questions.
The moment before everything went black.
His mouth went dry.
"You're the nurse."
She laughed again.
"I was never a nurse."
Leo stared at the phone.
"Then who are you?"
"My name is Dr. Helena Ward."
Collins immediately looked up.
The name meant something to her.
Leo noticed.
"Who is she?" he whispered.
Collins held up one finger, urging him to keep talking.
Helena continued.
"I supervised your original recruitment."
Leo felt sick.
"You used me."
"We gave you an opportunity."
"You stole my children."
"That's a dramatic interpretation."
Leo's hands trembled.
"Where is Toby?"
Helena's voice became cold.
"At a place where he can finally learn the truth."
"What truth?"
"That his father was never an innocent participant."
Leo stared at the phone.
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
A faint clicking sound came through the speaker.
Then Helena said, "I'm sending you something."
A message arrived.
An audio file.
Leo opened it.
His own voice filled the van.
Younger.
Calmer.
Unmistakably his.
"I understand the terms of the study."
Leo froze.
The recording continued.
"I understand that the children may be separated."
His breath caught.
Then his recorded voice said something that made his blood run cold.
"If this is the only way to save Evelyn, then I'll sign."
The audio ended.
Leo stared at the screen.
Save Evelyn?
From what?
He looked toward Collins.
Her expression was grave.
Helena spoke again.
"Now do you remember?"
Leo couldn't answer.
"Seven years ago, your wife was dying."
Leo shook his head.
"No."
"Her doctors told you she had less than a year."
"That's impossible."
"Then ask her about the diagnosis."
Leo felt the world spinning.
Evelyn had never told him she was terminally ill.
Not once.
Helena continued.
"You agreed to the project because we offered her a treatment that didn't exist anywhere else."
Leo stared at the phone.
"And in return?"
Helena's voice softened.
"You gave us permission to use your genetic material."
Leo closed his eyes.
The recording.
The documents.
The missing memories.
It was possible someone had manipulated him.
It was possible the audio had been edited.
But there was one question he couldn't ignore.
"What happened to Evelyn?"
Helena paused.
"She survived."
Leo swallowed.
"And Rebecca?"
Silence.
Then Helena said, "Rebecca discovered what we were doing."
Leo's heart hammered.
"What happened to her?"
Helena's voice became almost regretful.
"She tried to take Thomas away."
Leo felt sick.
"And you killed her."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
A long silence followed.
Then Helena whispered, "Leo, there's something you need to understand before you come looking for your sons."
He stared at the phone.
"What?"
"Rebecca Mercer wasn't the only woman who died because of Project Second Life."
Leo felt a chill.
"Who else?"
Helena's voice dropped.
"The woman you buried six years ago wasn't Rebecca."
Leo stopped breathing.
"What?"
A faint smile seemed to enter her voice.
"Rebecca Mercer is alive."
Leo stared at the phone.
"And she's the woman holding your son."