Chapter 5 - The Price of Lily's Life
Jessica's first instinct was to scream.
Her second was to move.
"Where?"
Thomas laughed quietly.
"Emily knows."
The call ended.
Jessica turned.
Emily had already gone pale.
"Where?"
Emily shook her head.
"No."
"Emily."
"He'll kill us."
"He has Lily."
"I know."
"Then tell me."
Emily closed her eyes.
"The clinic."
Mike stared.
"The same clinic?"
"Not the public building. There's an old research wing outside the city."
Jessica grabbed her purse.
"We're going."
Emily caught her arm.
"You don't understand Thomas."
"Then explain while we drive."
They left the lake house.
Emily sat in the back.
Mike drove.
Jessica called police.
This time, she didn't tell the impossible story.
She gave them the simple one.
A child had been kidnapped.
She supplied Thomas's description, vehicle information Claire texted, and the location they were heading toward.
Then she called the attorney who had received the evidence.
"Open everything I sent you."
"Jessica, what—"
"If I don't call you within two hours, give it to the police and every major newspaper you can reach."
"Are you in danger?"
"Yes."
She ended the call.
Emily stared at her.
"You've changed."
"You disappeared for four years."
"Fair."
Jessica looked back.
"Now talk."
Emily did.
Five years earlier, she'd followed Claire because she believed Claire was exploiting Mike.
Instead, she discovered Thomas Bennett.
Richard's estranged brother had secretly returned to the United States.
Thomas had spent years convinced the Bennett fortune should have belonged to him.
Richard controlled the family trust.
Mike would inherit.
Thomas received almost nothing.
"So he created Lily?" Jessica asked.
Emily nodded.
"He thought if he controlled Mike's heir, he could eventually control the trust."
"But why my eggs?"
"Because the trust documents had a strange clause."
Mike glanced in the mirror.
"What clause?"
"Richard had amended part of the family structure after you married Jessica. Any biological child you two had would receive priority rights."
Jessica stared.
"Richard liked me?"
Emily almost smiled.
"He loved you."
That hurt unexpectedly.
"Then Thomas used our genetic material."
"Yes."
"How did you become involved?"
"I found the embryo."
Emily looked out the window.
"Thomas planned to implant it into a surrogate he controlled. When I threatened to expose him, he told me he'd destroy it."
"So you volunteered."
"I thought I was saving your child."
Jessica couldn't speak.
Emily's voice softened.
"I knew how badly you wanted a baby."
Tears burned Jessica's eyes.
"You should have told me."
"I wanted to."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because by the time I realized what Thomas really planned, I was already pregnant."
Mike asked, "Where was Dad?"
"Trying to expose Thomas."
Emily looked at him.
"Your father discovered everything shortly before Lily was born."
"What happened?"
"Thomas killed him."
Mike's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"He made it look natural."
"And you saw it."
"Yes."
"Then Thomas faked your death."
Emily nodded.
"He threatened Lily. He had people everywhere. Clinic staff. Lawyers. Security. I believed disappearing was the only way to protect her."
Jessica turned.
"You raised Lily alone?"
"Mostly."
"Why did she call me Mommy?"
Emily smiled through tears.
"Because she knows who you are."
Jessica's chest tightened.
"I never lied to her about you."
"What did you tell her?"
"That she had two mothers."
Jessica looked down.
"One who carried her and one who dreamed of her before she existed."
Jessica began crying silently.
Mike looked away.
Emily reached forward and touched her shoulder.
"I showed her pictures of you. I told her someday, when it was safe, she'd meet you."
"Why today?"
"Because Thomas found us."
Emily explained she'd discovered Thomas planned to attend the wedding under Richard's identity.
Claire had secretly been helping Emily gather evidence.
The wedding offered a public location filled with witnesses.
Emily intended to reveal everything.
Thomas moved first.
"Claire's been helping you?"
"For three years."
Mike laughed bitterly.
"While living with me."
Emily hesitated.
"Claire stayed with you because I asked her to."
Mike's face hardened.
"What?"
"She was protecting you."
"By lying to me every day?"
"Thomas watched you."
Mike didn't answer.
Jessica understood his anger.
It resembled her own.
People had justified years of lies by calling them protection.
The research facility appeared after dark.
Police were still twenty minutes away.
Too long.
Mike parked.
Emily pointed toward a side entrance.
"Thomas will expect me."
Jessica said, "He won't expect me."
"He specifically demanded me."
"Exactly."
Jessica took the flash drive.
Mike frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"Buying time."
"Jessica—"
She looked at him.
"Stay with Emily."
"No."
"You want Lily back?"
"Of course."
"Then trust me once."
Mike stared.
The irony wasn't lost on either of them.
Finally he nodded.
Jessica approached alone.
The door opened before she touched it.
Thomas stood inside.
Still wearing Richard's face through resemblance, posture, and practiced mannerisms.
"Where's Emily?"
"Safe."
"Lily isn't."
Jessica held up the drive.
"I have something better."
Thomas's eyes narrowed.
"Evidence."
"Copies."
"You think that protects you?"
"No. The fact that everything gets released if I don't make a phone call does."
Thomas smiled.
"You're bluffing."
Jessica took out her phone.
"Try me."
Thomas studied her.
Then stepped aside.
"Come in."
Jessica entered.
The hallway smelled antiseptic despite the abandoned appearance.
"Where's Lily?"
"Nearby."
"Let me see her."
Thomas led Jessica into a former procedure room.
Lily sat on a chair.
Her hands weren't tied.
She looked terrified.
"Mommy!"
Jessica's chest broke open.
"I'm here."
She started toward her.
Thomas blocked her.
"The drive."
Jessica held it out.
"Lily first."
"You don't negotiate."
"Neither do dead men."
Thomas's smile disappeared.
Jessica continued.
"Richard's dead. Emily's alive. Claire turned on you. Your records are copied. You're finished."
Thomas stepped closer.
"You think this is about money?"
"What else?"
"Legacy."
Jessica almost laughed.
"Men like you always call greed something prettier."
Thomas's face hardened.
Lily suddenly looked behind him.
Jessica followed her eyes.
Mike stood in the doorway.
Thomas turned.
Mike hit him.
Hard.
Thomas fell.
Jessica ran to Lily.
She pulled her close.
Emily entered from another door.
"Go!"
An alarm began sounding.
Thomas had triggered something.
Mike grabbed him.
"Where's the exit?"
Thomas laughed.
"You came into a building designed to destroy evidence."
Smoke began pouring from ceiling vents.
Jessica's heart stopped.
Not smoke.
Gas.
Emily covered her mouth.
"Move!"
They ran.
Mike followed.
Thomas remained behind.
Jessica looked back once.
He wasn't trying to escape.
He was smiling.
They reached the corridor.
Doors began locking automatically.
Emily led them toward the side exit.
One door.
Then another.
Jessica carried Lily.
Mike kicked open a fire door.
Cold night air hit them.
They stumbled outside.
Police sirens approached.
Jessica collapsed onto the grass with Lily.
Emily dropped beside them.
Mike coughed violently.
Then officers surrounded the building.
Jessica looked back.
No Thomas.
"Where is he?"
Mike pointed.
A rear door stood open.
Thomas had escaped.
Jessica's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
A photograph appeared.
Claire was sitting in Mike's apartment.
Someone had taken the picture through the window.
Under it:
YOU SAVED THE WRONG WOMAN.
Mike stared at the screen.
Then his own phone rang.
Claire's name.
He answered.
"Claire?"
A man's voice spoke.
"Tell Emily I still have the original birth record."
Emily went rigid.
Jessica looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Emily's face turned white.
"Jessica..."
"What?"
May you like
Emily whispered:
"Lily wasn't the only child created at that clinic."
