Chapter 4 - The Man Who Wanted My Children
I watched the video once.
Then again.
By the third time, my fear had turned into something colder.
Robert Hale had made a mistake.
He thought holding my mother would make me obedient.
But I had already spent hours believing my daughters were going to die.
Fear had burned through me.
What remained was anger.
Detective Bell took my phone.
“We trace this. Nobody responds.”
“He'll hurt her.”
“He wants leverage. That makes her more valuable alive.”
“You don't know him.”
“Neither do you.”
He was right.
That was the problem.
I knew almost nothing.
Claire stood near the window.
“I know somewhere he might take her.”
Bell looked over.
“Where?”
“The old Whitmore research facility.”
I stared at her.
“You knew about it?”
“Not the experiments. The building.”
Twenty years ago, Whitmore Medical had closed a private research campus outside the city.
My grandfather later donated most of the property.
One building remained abandoned because of an ownership dispute.
“Why would Robert use it?”
“Because one of his shell companies bought it six months ago.”
Bell's expression sharpened.
“You have documentation?”
“Yes.”
“Send it.”
I looked between them.
“How long have you been investigating this?”
Claire hesitated.
“Almost two years.”
“And you never told me.”
“I tried.”
“You told me Daniel was corrupt. You didn't tell me someone was doing genetic experiments on my family.”
“Because I didn't know that part.”
I believed her.
I hated that I believed her.
Bell assigned officers to guard the twins.
I refused to leave them until he promised two armed officers would remain outside the neonatal room.
Then Claire and I were taken to a secure police conference room.
My body hurt.
Every movement pulled at my incision.
A doctor threatened to send me back to bed.
I refused.
“You can discharge me or you can argue with me while I walk out.”
She glared.
Then gave me pain medication and strict instructions.
By afternoon, police traced Robert's message.
Not the research facility.
A cell tower near Daniel's restaurant.
“He's playing with us,” Bell said.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
Bell gestured for me to answer on speaker.
“Where's my mother?”
“I don't know.”
“Your father has her.”
Daniel swore.
“Then he's moved faster than I thought.”
“Where are you?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“At the old facility.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Bell wrote something on a notepad.
“Why?”
“Because this is where he kept records Claire never found.”
“Is my mother there?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“I've searched.”
“You expect me to believe you're helping?”
“No.”
Again, that answer.
He sounded different now.
No manipulation.
No charming explanations.
Just exhaustion.
“Why did you lock me in that freezer?”
“I told you.”
“You told me part of it.”
Daniel was quiet.
Then:
“My father ordered me to kill you before the twins were born.”
I gripped the table.
Claire stared.
“I refused.”
“You locked me in a freezer.”
“I staged it.”
“What was supposed to happen?”
“The maintenance worker would find you unconscious but alive. A medical examiner I paid would certify your death using falsified records. You and the girls would be moved under protection before my father realized.”
Bell mouthed: insane.
I agreed.
“You could have told me.”
“I didn't know who was compromised.”
“You could have trusted your wife.”
“I stopped trusting anyone years ago.”
“That includes me?”
“Yes.”
It hurt.
Daniel continued.
“That is why I lost you.”
For the first time, he sounded like he understood.
Not justified.
Understood.
“I didn't send Claire the message,” he said. “Someone else knew my plan.”
“Who?”
“I think your mother.”
My breath stopped.
“No.”
Claire frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Elizabeth knew more than Henry realized.”
I thought of the photograph.
My mother smiling beside Robert.
“She was seventeen.”
“She wasn't innocent forever.”
Anger surged.
“Careful.”
“I'm not blaming her for what happened to her.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“She spent years tracking Robert. Quietly.”
Claire leaned toward the phone.
“Daniel, how do you know that?”
“Because she recruited me.”
Nobody moved.
I stared at the speaker.
“My mother recruited you?”
“Three years after we married.”
“For what?”
“To spy on my father.”
Everything shifted again.
Daniel continued.
“She knew who I was before you met me.”
I stood too quickly.
Pain exploded across my abdomen.
Claire caught me.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“My mother loved you.”
“She watched me.”
“No.”
“She let me marry you because she wanted access to Robert.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Emma—”
“You both used me.”
Silence.
That silence confirmed it.
My mother.
Daniel.
My grandfather.
All of them had decided what I could handle.
All of them had made choices around me.
About me.
For me.
And now my daughters were targets because of secrets no one trusted me enough to share.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“I don't know.”
“Find her.”
“I will.”
“You don't get to promise me anything.”
“I know.”
“Then stop saying you will and do it.”
I ended the call.
Bell's officers searched the facility.
They found computers.
Documents.
Medical refrigeration equipment.
And one hidden room.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens.
My childhood.
My high school graduation.
College.
My wedding.
Ultrasounds.
Someone had followed me for years.
On one wall, photographs of my pregnancy were arranged by date.
Under the most recent picture, someone had written:
TWIN FEMALES — 35 WEEKS.
Below it:
COLLECTION WINDOW CLOSES AT DELIVERY.
I vomited when Bell showed me.
“What does collection mean?”
“We don't know.”
Claire's face said she had a theory.
“Say it.”
“Stem cells. Cord blood. Placental tissue.”
I covered my stomach.
“They wanted samples?”
“Maybe.”
“Then why kill me?”
Claire stared at the files.
“To erase the mother after obtaining the children.”
I turned away.
Bell's phone rang.
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“They found Daniel.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief hit before I could stop it.
I hated that.
“He surrendered?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“He was unconscious inside the research facility.”
“Was he attacked?”
“Looks like it.”
Bell paused.
“He had something taped under his shirt.”
A photograph arrived.
It showed an old cassette recorder.
My mother's handwriting covered one side.
EMMA — IF DANIEL FAILS, PLAY THIS.
They brought Daniel to the hospital under police guard.
I didn't visit him.
Not yet.
Instead, Bell placed the cassette recorder on the table.
Claire found batteries.
I pressed PLAY.
Static.
Then my mother's voice.
“Emma, if you're hearing this, then I ran out of time.”
My throat tightened.
“I need you to understand something about Daniel.”
I closed my eyes.
“His father sent him to you.”
I already knew.
“But Daniel came to me after he discovered what Robert intended for your children.”
I looked at Claire.
“He asked me to help him stop his father.”
The recording crackled.
“I didn't trust him. I still don't know if I should.”
Mom inhaled shakily.
“But the freezer was my idea.”
My entire body went numb.
Claire whispered, “Oh my God.”
Mom continued.
“We needed Robert to believe you died before delivery. Daniel said it was too dangerous. I insisted.”
I stared at nothing.
My mother helped plan the freezer.
“The maintenance worker was supposed to open the door after four minutes. You were never supposed to be in danger.”
Mom's voice broke.
“Someone betrayed us.”
A long pause.
“If you survived, Emma, then Claire probably reached you.”
I looked at Claire.
She stared back.
“I sent Claire the message.”
That answered one question.
Then Mom said something that created ten more.
“Because Claire is the only person Robert has never been able to buy.”
Claire's eyes filled.
“I'm sorry I lied to all of you.”
Another pause.
“Especially about your father.”
The cassette clicked.
Then continued.
“Emma, Robert Hale is not Daniel's biological father.”
Daniel wasn't Robert's son?
My pulse raced.
Mom's next words came slowly.
May you like
“He is yours.”
The recording stopped.
