Chapter 9: The Truth About the Baby
Marcus drove back to the estate with Collins beside him.
The patrol car carrying Richard followed behind.
He barely noticed the traffic lights.
His mind was fixed on the hospital document.
The child wasn't yours.
It couldn't be true.
He and Eleanor had been married for eight years.
They had built a life together.
They had planned another baby before everything fell apart.
He remembered Eleanor showing him tiny baby shoes in a department store.
He remembered her laughing when he said he wanted a son.
He remembered kissing her forehead and promising that their family would always come first.
Then he remembered Daniel.
His brother had always been close to Eleanor.
Too close, perhaps.
But Marcus had never questioned it.
“Sergeant,” he said, “I need to know whether that document is real.””
Collins kept his eyes on the road.
“We'll verify it.””
“Can you do that now?””
“Not from a photograph.””
Marcus looked out the window.
“Then what if it's true?””
Collins didn't answer.
When they reached the property, emergency lights illuminated the garden.
The rescue team had gathered around the pool.
Vanessa was standing near the equipment, holding something black in her hand.
Marcus recognized the shape immediately.
A key.
The black key.
“Vanessa!””
She turned.
For a moment, relief crossed her face.
Then she looked at the police vehicles.
“You brought him here?””
Marcus approached.
“Give me the key.””
Vanessa held it tightly.
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because if I give it to them, Richard will know.””
“Richard is already in custody.””
Vanessa looked toward the road.
“Not for long.””
Marcus stopped.
“What are you talking about?””
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Daniel is still out there.””
Marcus shook his head.
“Daniel disappeared from a police vehicle. Richard just walked into his own office. How many people are working against us?””
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“More than you think.””
Marcus pointed toward the pool.
“Eleanor is down there. Open the chamber.””
Vanessa looked at the water.
Then she whispered:
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because the second compartment has an independent pressure system. If we release the wrong lock, the chamber floods.””
The rescue diver approached.
“She's telling the truth, sir.””
Marcus turned.
“We have the plans. We know where the second lock is.””
The diver nodded.
“But we need the black key to disable the pressure mechanism.””
Vanessa finally held it out.
Marcus reached for it.
But she pulled it back.
“Before you take this, you need to know something.””
“Not now.””
“Marcus, please.””
He stared at her.
“What?””
Vanessa's voice broke.
“Eleanor wasn't having an affair with Daniel.””
Marcus looked confused.
“Then why did my father send me that document?””
“Because he wants you to believe that.””
Vanessa took a shaky breath.
“The baby was yours.””
Marcus felt his knees weaken.
“What?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Eleanor was pregnant with your child. Richard knew.””
“Then why would he say—”
“Because he wanted you to hate her. He wanted you to stop looking for her.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Why did you help him?””
Vanessa looked down.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
“Of losing everything.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You helped bury my wife.””
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn't know he would lock her inside. I thought they were moving her somewhere safe.””
“You thought?””
“Eleanor had discovered the company fraud. Richard told me she was planning to destroy everyone. He promised that if I helped him, he'd protect Lily.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“And you believed him?””
“I had nowhere else to go.””
“You could have come to me.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You wouldn't have believed me.””
“You never gave me the chance!””
She lowered her eyes.
“I know.””
Marcus looked at the black key.
“Why did you come back tonight?””
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Because Eleanor contacted me.””
Marcus froze.
“When?””
“Three days ago.””
“Three days?””
“She found a way to activate the chamber transmitter. She told me she was running out of oxygen.””
Marcus stared at her.
“And you waited three days?””
Vanessa looked toward the pool.
“I was trying to find the black key. Daniel had taken it.””
Marcus stepped backward.
He wanted to scream.
But then he noticed something.
Vanessa was holding a small envelope.
“What is that?””
She looked down.
“Something Eleanor asked me to give you.””
He took it.
Inside was a photograph of a newborn baby.
A little girl wrapped in a hospital blanket.
On the back, Eleanor had written:
Our daughter. Born seven weeks before they took me.
Marcus stared at the picture.
His lips parted.
“Lily?””
Vanessa nodded.
Marcus looked toward his daughter, who was standing beside the female officer.
“No,” he whispered.
Vanessa spoke softly.
“There's something else.””
Marcus looked at her.
“The baby in the photograph isn't Lily.””
His heart stopped.
“Then who is she?””
Vanessa took another breath.
“Eleanor had twins.””
Marcus felt the world tilt.
“Twins?””
“One survived the birth. The other was taken.””
He stared at the photograph.
For eleven months, he had believed his family consisted of two people.
Now he was being told there might be another child somewhere in the world.
“Who took her?””
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“Your father.””
Marcus gripped the photograph.
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“Who knows?””
Vanessa hesitated.
Then she looked toward the driveway.
A black SUV had just entered the property.
Marcus recognized the driver.
Daniel.
But the person sitting beside him was someone Marcus never expected to see again.
His mother.
Margaret Hale.
She had been dead for five years.
The SUV stopped.
The passenger door opened.
A woman stepped out.
And in her arms was a little girl wearing a pink dress.
The child looked directly at Marcus.
Then she said:
“Daddy?””
Marcus couldn't move.
The girl turned toward the pool.
“Mommy told me you'd come.””
Vanessa began crying.
The rescue diver shouted from the water.
“Sergeant! We have a problem!””
Collins ran toward the pool.
“What happened?””
The diver surfaced, gasping.
“The chamber pressure is dropping!””
Marcus looked at the little girl.
Then at the pool.
Then at the woman he had believed was his dead mother.
Everything had been arranged.
The funeral.
The disappearance.
The hidden chamber.
Even the proposal.
And now the truth was standing in front of him, holding a child who might be his daughter.
Marcus turned toward Daniel.
“What have you done?””
Daniel stepped away from the SUV.
He smiled.
“Welcome home, little brother.””
May you like
Then he raised a remote control.
And the lights beneath the swimming pool began turning red.
