Chapter 7: The Missing Embryo
The old fertility wing had been closed for almost eight years.
Officially, the building was condemned.
Unofficially, someone had been using it.
We entered through a side door just after midnight.
The hallway smelled of dust, bleach, and something metallic.
Roy walked ahead.
I followed with Tessa and Mason.
Every few feet, an old fluorescent light flickered overhead.
"This place is supposed to be empty," Tessa whispered.
"It is," Roy said.
Then we heard a machine running.
A low electrical hum.
We stopped.
I looked at Roy.
He raised one finger.
Quiet.
We moved toward the sound.
At the end of the corridor was a glass door.
Behind it sat a row of refrigerated storage units.
Embryo tanks.
My stomach dropped.
Someone was using the old laboratory.
Roy entered the room.
I followed.
A monitor displayed dozens of patient numbers.
Some were familiar.
Others weren't.
Mason walked to the computer.
"These records are live.""
"Can you access them?"" I asked.
"Maybe.""
Roy pointed to a terminal.
"Try that one.""
Mason sat.
I examined the storage labels.
Each tank had a patient number.
Then I saw one that made my heart stop.
*VC-0714.*
My initials.
I touched the glass.
"What is that?""
Roy came beside me.
"I don't know.""
"Your father documented my sample number.""
He looked at the tank.
"That's not your sample.""
"Then what is it?""
He didn't answer.
Mason suddenly called out.
"Guys.""
We turned.
He was staring at the monitor.
"I found the database.""
"What does it show?""
"Patient histories.""
"Open mine.""
He typed my name.
A file appeared.
My medical history.
The fake one.
But there was another section.
*Genetic Material Inventory.*
It listed:
Egg retrieval.
Fourteen oocytes.
Two embryos created.
One transferred.
One stored.
Date: twelve years ago.
I stared at the screen.
"That's impossible.""
Mason shook his head.
"According to this, it happened.""
"I never had an egg retrieval.""
"I know.""
Roy stared at the monitor.
"Then someone used her identity.""
Tessa moved closer.
"What about the embryos?""
Mason clicked.
"One was transferred twelve years ago.""
"To whom?""
He opened the recipient record.
His face went pale.
"There's no name.""
"Just a number?""
"Yes.""
"Which number?""
Mason read it.
"Tessa Miller.""
Tessa stumbled backward.
"No.""
I looked at her.
"You were born twelve years ago?""
She shook her head rapidly.
"No. I mean the transfer. I started fertility treatment six months ago.""
Mason's hands froze above the keyboard.
"Wait.""
He opened another file.
"This record has been modified.""
"How?""
"Someone changed the date.""
He restored an earlier version.
The screen refreshed.
The transfer date disappeared.
In its place:
*Embryo created: 12 years ago.*
*Embryo source: Vanessa Callahan.*
*Sperm source: Roy Callahan.*
*Recipient: Unknown.*
I stared at the screen.
Roy whispered, "Oh God.""
Tessa looked between us.
"That means...""
"The baby you're carrying," I said slowly, "may have been created twelve years ago.""
Tessa's face went white.
"But embryos don't survive like that unless they're frozen.""
I nodded.
"Exactly.""
Roy looked at the storage tanks.
"Which means the embryo existed.""
Mason opened the inventory.
"There's only one problem.""
"What?""
"The embryo is marked as destroyed.""
I turned.
"When?""
"Six months ago.""
"Who authorized it?""
Mason clicked.
"Vanessa Callahan.""
My own name.
Again.
I laughed.
It wasn't funny.
"I wasn't here.""
"I know.""
Roy stared at the screen.
"Someone is using her identity to authorize everything.""
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Roy shut off the monitor.
We froze.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
Then a man's voice spoke.
"You shouldn't have come here.""
Roy moved in front of me.
"Who are you?""
The door opened.
A man in a gray suit stepped inside.
The same man we'd seen earlier.
Daniel Mercer.
Or whoever he really was.
He smiled.
"Dr. Callahan.""
Roy's fists tightened.
"What's your real name?""
The man laughed.
"You've been asking that question for six months.""
"And you haven't answered.""
"I've been answering.""
He looked at me.
"You just haven't understood.""
I stepped forward.
"Why my DNA?""
He studied me.
"Because you were the only person they could never suspect.""
"Who is 'they'?""
"Everyone.""
I felt a chill.
He continued.
"Your husband thinks this is about exposing a corrupt fertility program.""
Roy said, "It isn't?""
"No.""
"Then what is it?""
The man's eyes settled on Tessa's belly.
"It's about inheritance.""
Tessa stepped back.
"Whose inheritance?""
"Yours.""
She shook her head.
"I don't have money.""
"Not money.""
He smiled.
"Blood.""
Roy lunged.
The man stepped aside.
Two armed security officers appeared behind him.
"Don't," Roy warned.
The man looked at me.
"You've spent the last twelve years believing you had no children.""
My throat tightened.
"What are you saying?""
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a photograph.
He handed it to me.
It showed a little girl.
Maybe eleven years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A tiny birthmark beneath her left eye.
I stopped breathing.
I had that birthmark.
The girl was holding a stuffed rabbit.
On the back of the photograph was a name.
*Emily Callahan.*
I looked at Roy.
He looked as shocked as I was.
"Roy?""
He shook his head.
"I've never seen her.""
The man smiled.
"That's because she's been dead for eleven years.""
My knees weakened.
"What?""
"She was your daughter.""
"No.""
"You were never told.""
"You're lying.""
"I wish I were.""
Roy grabbed the photograph.
"Where did you get this?""
The man looked at him.
"From your father's private records.""
Roy's face changed.
"My father knew?""
"Your father helped create her.""
I stared at the photograph.
The little girl smiled at the camera.
And something inside me shattered.
The man turned toward the door.
"Now you understand why your baby matters.""
He paused.
"Emily wasn't the first.""
I looked up.
"What does that mean?""
He smiled.
May you like
"Tessa's baby isn't your only biological child.""
Then the lights went out.
