Chapter 11 - THE DETECTIVE WHO KNEW ABOUT THE THIRD CHILD
Daniel stared at Marcus Hale.
The detective who had seemed like the only trustworthy adult left in the nightmare suddenly would not meet his eyes.
Vivienne noticed.
And smiled.
“That expression suits you, Detective.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Quiet.”
Vivienne laughed softly.
“Still giving orders.”
“Even now.”
Daniel moved toward him.
“Who has my son?”
Marcus looked at Noah.
Then Sophie.
Then Elena.
“Not here.”
Daniel’s restraint finally snapped.
He grabbed Marcus by the front of his jacket.
“My son has been missing for seven years.”
“I didn’t even know he existed until five minutes ago.”
“So don’t tell me where we can talk.”
Marcus did not resist.
His voice remained calm.
“Daniel, there are children standing ten feet away.”
Daniel froze.
Elena walked over.
“I’ll take them inside.”
Noah immediately clung to her.
“No.”
She crouched.
“It’s okay.”
“No.”
He grabbed her hand with both of his.
“You disappeared before.”
Elena’s face broke.
She looked at Daniel.
Daniel felt the meaning behind those words.
Before.
Noah remembered being separated from her.
Perhaps not the hospital.
But the months she had spent working near him while pretending to be nobody.
He was terrified she would vanish again.
Elena touched his cheek.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Sophie stood beside them.
She looked older than eight in that moment.
Not because of her face.
Because of the way she watched every adult before deciding whether to believe them.
Elena extended a hand.
“You too.”
Sophie hesitated.
Then took it.
An officer escorted Elena and both children into the lake house.
The moment the door closed, Daniel turned back to Marcus.
“Now.”
Marcus exhaled.
“There was a boy.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“You knew.”
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Marcus looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
Daniel almost hit him.
Charles stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
“Stay out of this.”
Marcus continued.
“Samuel Reed discovered the twin delivery.”
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because Samuel believed the second boy was already in danger.”
Daniel stared.
“From whom?”
Marcus looked at Vivienne.
She tilted her head.
“Don’t look at me.”
“You were involved.”
“I was involved in Noah.”
“Not the twin.”
Daniel turned.
“What does that mean?”
Vivienne’s expression changed slightly.
“The second baby was never supposed to survive.”
Elena had returned to the doorway unnoticed.
Everyone froze.
Her voice was barely audible.
“What did you say?”
Vivienne looked annoyed.
Daniel turned.
“Elena, go back inside.”
“No.”
She walked toward them.
“No more sending me away when people talk about my children.”
Daniel nodded.
She deserved that.
Vivienne looked at her.
“The second baby was premature.”
Elena’s face drained.
“Noah was premature too.”
“Yes.”
“But the other boy was weaker.”
Vivienne shrugged.
“The doctors believed he would die.”
Elena’s fists tightened.
“And when he didn’t?”
Vivienne looked toward Marcus.
“Ask him.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“I wasn’t there.”
“No.”
Vivienne smiled.
“But your partner was.”
Daniel stared at Marcus.
“What happened?”
Marcus spoke slowly.
“Samuel entered St. Matthew’s that morning after receiving a tip.”
“From whom?”
“Rachel.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Rachel knew?”
“Yes.”
“She already knew what had happened with Sophie.”
“She had been tracking Vivienne.”
Vivienne laughed.
“Rachel was obsessed.”
Elena turned on her.
“She was trying to rescue children you stole.”
Vivienne’s smile vanished.
Marcus continued.
“Samuel discovered that two male infants had been born during Elena’s delivery.”
Daniel’s heart hammered.
“One was Noah.”
“Yes.”
“The other?”
“Hospital records temporarily identified him as Baby B.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Daniel whispered.
“What happened to Baby B?”
Marcus looked toward the lake.
“Samuel believed someone removed him before sunrise.”
“Who?”
“We never proved it.”
Vivienne interrupted.
“But you knew.”
Marcus stared at her.
Vivienne’s smile returned.
“You knew exactly who took him.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Tell me.”
Marcus remained silent for several seconds.
Then he said a name.
“Victor Laurent.”
Vivienne’s father.
Daniel felt cold.
“Victor died five years ago.”
Vivienne laughed.
Daniel slowly looked at her.
The laugh said everything.
“Oh, come on.”
She shook her head.
“Have you learned nothing tonight?”
Daniel stared.
“Is anyone in your family actually dead?”
“My father is.”
Vivienne’s smile faded.
“But he didn’t die five years ago.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“What?”
Vivienne leaned against the railing.
“Victor died nineteen months ago.”
Charles went pale.
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew.”
Charles said nothing.
Vivienne nodded.
“Of course he knew.”
“Those two spent decades cleaning up each other’s disasters.”
Charles turned toward her.
“Victor was not my partner.”
Vivienne laughed.
“You invested together.”
“You bribed together.”
“You moved patients together.”
“And when things went wrong, you blamed everyone below you.”
Charles’s voice hardened.
“Your father crossed lines I never approved.”
Vivienne stepped toward him.
“And you kept taking the profits.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Where did Victor take the boy?”
Marcus opened an old file on his tablet.
“Samuel traced a private medical transport leaving St. Matthew’s at 5:42 that morning.”
“Destination?”
“A Laurent-owned pediatric research center.”
Elena’s face twisted.
“Research?”
Marcus nodded reluctantly.
“Outside Baltimore.”
Daniel felt sick.
“What happened there?”
“The transport log was altered.”
“Then how did Samuel find it?”
“He had a source inside.”
“Who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“A nurse named Claire Donnelly.”
Vivienne went still.
Daniel noticed.
“You know her.”
Vivienne looked away.
Marcus continued.
“Claire said the infant was transferred again after three days.”
“Where?”
“She never knew.”
Daniel’s frustration rose.
“So we have nothing.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at Vivienne.
“We have her.”
Vivienne smiled.
“I don’t know where the boy is.”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“You just said he’s being raised by the man who killed Reed.”
“I said someone else has been raising him.”
“That someone is Victor?”
“No.”
Daniel froze.
Marcus frowned.
“Then who?”
Vivienne looked directly at him.
“You.”
Marcus’s face went blank.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel stared at the detective.
“What does she mean?”
Marcus shook his head.
“She’s lying.”
Vivienne’s smile widened.
“Am I?”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Stop.”
“You really never wondered why your wife refused DNA testing?”
Marcus’s face drained.
Daniel looked between them.
“What wife?”
Marcus stared at Vivienne.
“Don’t.”
Vivienne ignored him.
“You really never wondered why she appeared with a baby seven years ago after spending six months away?”
Elena whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Marcus turned toward Daniel.
“This is not what she’s making it sound like.”
Daniel’s heart pounded.
“You have a son?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“How old?”
No answer.
Daniel shouted.
“How old?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Seven.”
Elena staggered backward.
Daniel felt the entire night collapse inward.
“What is his name?”
Marcus whispered.
“Eli.”
Vivienne smiled.
“And Eli Hale was never Marcus Hale’s biological son.”
Marcus snapped.
“You don’t know that.”
Vivienne looked at him almost pityingly.
“Your wife did.”
Marcus went pale.
Daniel moved toward him.
“Where is Eli?”
Marcus stepped back.
“With my sister.”
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you until we verify this.”
Elena’s face hardened.
“Verify?”
She stepped between them.
“You get to go home every night believing he is yours.”
“I spent seven years believing mine was dead.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“I understand.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“You absolutely do not.”
Daniel held out his hand.
“Give me the address.”
Marcus did not move.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“If that boy is my son, every second you delay this is another second he lives inside someone else’s lie.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then his phone rang.
He looked down.
His face changed instantly.
“My sister.”
He answered.
“Laura?”
A woman was crying on the other end.
Marcus stiffened.
“What happened?”
Daniel stepped closer.
Marcus put the call on speaker.
A frightened female voice filled the silence.
“Marcus, someone came to the house.”
Marcus went white.
“What do you mean?”
“They took Eli.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Marcus shouted.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“They left something.”
“What?”
A pause.
“A photograph.”
Marcus’s hands shook.
“Of what?”
The woman began crying harder.
“Of you and Detective Reed.”
“And there’s writing on the back.”
Marcus swallowed.
“What does it say?”
The voice trembled.
“It says…”
“Samuel should have stopped digging.”
The line went silent for a second.
May you like
Then Laura whispered the final sentence.
“And now you should too.”
