Chapter 4 - THE SECRET IN THE BABY'S BLOOD
The next morning, Elliot went to see the attorney who had handled Nathan Whitaker's estate.
His name was Arthur Bell.
Seventy-one years old.
Retired.
Living in Connecticut.
Arthur opened the door and looked at Elliot for a long moment.
“You look like your father.”
“I've heard that.”
“You've never come here before.”
“No.”
“Why now?”
Elliot held up a folder.
“My brother opened a bank account after he died.”
Arthur's expression changed.
“Impossible.”
“That's what I thought.”
Arthur stepped aside.
They sat in his library.
Elliot placed the documents on the table.
Arthur examined them.
“This signature isn't Nathan's.”
“Then who signed it?”
Arthur looked at the paperwork again.
“I don't know.”
“Someone impersonated him?”
“Possibly.”
Elliot leaned forward.
“Arthur, I need you to think carefully.”
“I am.”
“My brother died four years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Three months after his death, someone moved one million dollars into a child-placement organization.”
Arthur remained silent.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Do you know a woman named Rachel Brooks?”
Arthur's face went completely still.
Elliot noticed.
“You do.”
Arthur looked away.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“From Maddie.”
“Who is Maddie?”
“Rachel's daughter.”
Arthur slowly removed his glasses.
“How old?”
“Seven.”
Arthur's hand trembled.
“Then…”
He stopped.
“Then what?”
Arthur looked directly at Elliot.
“Rachel was supposed to receive money from your brother.”
Elliot's blood ran cold.
“How much?”
“Five million dollars.”
“Why?”
Arthur stood and walked toward a locked cabinet.
“Your brother discovered something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Arthur opened the cabinet.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
He handed it to Elliot.
“This was delivered to me one week before Nathan died.”
Elliot opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, FIND RACHEL BROOKS.
Elliot read it twice.
“Why didn't you?”
“I tried.”
“And?”
“She disappeared.”
Elliot looked up.
“She died?”
Arthur nodded.
“Eight months ago.”
“Did she have children?”
“One daughter.”
“Maddie?”
“Yes.”
Elliot's mind raced.
“What about Emma?”
Arthur looked confused.
“Who is Emma?”
“Maddie's baby sister.”
Arthur stared at him.
Then he whispered something Elliot didn't expect.
“Rachel only had one child.”
Elliot returned home with the information burning in his mind.
Maddie was sitting in the living room.
Emma slept beside her.
He sat across from her.
“Maddie.”
“Yes?”
“Your mother's name was Rachel Brooks?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever tell you about your father?”
Maddie shook her head.
“She said he was gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don't know.”
Elliot paused.
“Did she ever talk about the Whitaker family?”
Maddie's eyes widened.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said I wasn't supposed to say that name.”
Elliot felt the room tilt.
“Why?”
“Because Tracy said bad people use names to find children.”
“Did your mother know Nathan Whitaker?”
Maddie looked confused.
“I don't know.”
“Did you ever see him?”
“No.”
“Did your mother have photographs?”
Maddie thought.
Then she ran upstairs.
She returned holding a small wooden box.
“My mom said never open this unless I had no other choice.”
Elliot stared at it.
“Why are you opening it now?”
“Because I think I already used all my other choices.”
Inside was a photograph.
Rachel stood beside a man.
Elliot recognized him immediately.
Nathan.
His dead brother.
But that wasn't what made him stop breathing.
Rachel was pregnant.
Very pregnant.
And beside her was another woman.
Tracy.
Maddie's aunt.
On the back of the photograph were four words.
THE NIGHT EMMA WAS BORN.
Elliot looked at Maddie.
“Where did you get this?”
“Mom gave it to me.”
“Did she tell you who Emma's father was?”
“No.”
“Did she ever tell you why Tracy was involved?”
“No.”
Elliot looked at the photograph again.
Nathan's hand rested gently on Rachel's shoulder.
His expression was unmistakably protective.
Then Elliot noticed something in the background.
A hospital sign.
St. Vincent's Medical Center.
He stood.
“We're going to the hospital.”
Maddie immediately rose.
“I come too.”
“Yes.”
At St. Vincent's, Elliot requested Rachel Brooks's records.
The hospital administrator refused.
Until Elliot's attorney produced a court order.
The records were brought out.
Rachel had arrived eight months earlier after a severe car accident.
She had been pregnant.
Thirty-eight weeks.
She had suffered massive internal injuries.
Emergency surgery had been performed.
Elliot's hands shook as he read the report.
“Where's the baby?”
The administrator looked confused.
“The record says neonatal death.”
“When?”
“Eleven minutes after delivery.”
Elliot looked at the file.
Then at the photograph.
Then back at the file.
Something was wrong.
He found the neonatal record.
The baby's name wasn't there.
Only BABY GIRL BROOKS.
No fingerprints.
No photographs.
No death certificate attached.
“Where's the body?”
The administrator frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“Where was the baby buried?”
“I don't know.”
Elliot looked at Daniel.
“Find out.”
An hour later, they learned there had never been a burial.
No funeral.
No cremation.
No transfer.
No documented remains.
The baby had simply disappeared from the hospital records.
Then a nurse came forward.
Her name was Helen Carter.
She was seventy years old and retired.
She had worked that night.
“I remember the baby,” she said.
Elliot leaned forward.
“What happened?”
Helen's eyes filled with tears.
“She was alive.”
Silence.
“What?”
“The baby was alive.”
Elliot could barely speak.
Helen continued.
“She cried.”
Maddie covered her mouth.
“Then why does the record say she died?”
“Because Dr. Nathan Bell told us to document it.”
Elliot stood.
“Why?”
Helen shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Where did the baby go?”
Helen looked at Maddie.
Then at Emma.
Her face changed.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
Helen stepped closer.
“That's her.”
Elliot's heart stopped.
“You recognize Emma?”
Helen nodded.
“She had a little birthmark behind her left ear.”
Maddie pulled Emma's blanket aside.
There it was.
Small.
Red.
Distinctive.
Helen whispered the words nobody in the room was prepared to hear.
“Rachel's baby didn't die.”
May you like
She looked at Elliot.
“Someone took her.”
