Chapter 8: The Girl in the Photograph
Darkness swallowed the room.
Tessa screamed.
Mason knocked something over.
Roy shouted, "Vanessa!""
"I'm here!""
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
Then another.
Glass shattered.
I dropped to the floor.
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
Roy.
"Stay down.""
"Where is Tessa?""
"Behind me.""
Another shot.
Then silence.
Emergency lights flickered on.
The man in the gray suit was gone.
So were the two security officers.
Mason crawled toward the computer.
"Everyone alive?""
"I'm okay.""
Tessa nodded, crying.
Roy looked around.
"He's gone.""
I held the photograph in my hand.
Emily.
Eleven years old.
My daughter.
Dead.
I couldn't make the pieces fit.
I looked at Roy.
"Tell me you knew.""
"I didn't.""
"Tell me.""
"I swear.""
"Then why didn't you know?""
He stared at the floor.
"Because I wasn't supposed to.""
"What does that mean?""
He looked at me.
"After my father died, I found his files.""
"The files about me?""
"Yes.""
"Then why didn't you find Emily?""
"I found references to an embryo.""
He swallowed.
"But not a child.""
I shook my head.
"Someone transferred my embryo.""
"Yes.""
"And it became Emily.""
"I think so.""
"Then who carried her?""
Roy didn't answer.
Mason did.
"The records should tell us.""
He turned back to the computer.
The system had rebooted.
He searched Emily's name.
Nothing.
Then he searched the old embryo number.
A record appeared.
*Embryo VC-0714.*
*Transfer recipient: A. Callahan.*
My heart stopped.
"A. Callahan?""
Roy stared.
"My sister.""
I looked at him.
"You have a sister?""
"Had.""
"Had?""
"Anna died twelve years ago.""
I stared at the screen.
"How?""
"Complications after childbirth.""
The room went silent.
I remembered his sister.
I'd met her only once.
A quiet woman.
Pregnant.
I'd been told she'd died from hemorrhaging.
But the dates—
My mind raced.
"She was pregnant when she died?""
Roy nodded.
"Yes.""
"Then what happened to the baby?""
He looked at me.
"She was told the baby was stillborn.""
My skin prickled.
"Stillborn?""
"That's what the hospital records say.""
Mason suddenly looked at us.
"Wait.""
He searched another database.
A birth record appeared.
*Female infant.*
Mother: Anna Callahan.
Father: Unknown.
Status: Deceased.
But below it was a second record.
*Genetic source: Vanessa Callahan.*
I stared.
"That's Emily.""
Mason nodded.
"The embryo was implanted in Anna.""
Roy stepped backward.
"No.""
"Your father used Anna as the gestational carrier.""
I covered my mouth.
"Without telling her?""
Roy's face twisted.
"That's what it looks like.""
Tessa was crying silently.
"Why would they do that?""
Mason opened another document.
"Because Anna's husband was infertile.""
I looked at Roy.
"And my eggs?""
"Your genetic material created the embryo.""
"With whose sperm?""
Mason opened the profile.
"Roy's.""
I couldn't move.
Our child.
Created from our DNA.
Carried by his sister.
Hidden from both of us.
Then declared dead.
"Why?""
Roy whispered, "I don't know.""
A notification appeared.
New file uploaded.
Mason clicked it.
A scanned document opened.
It was a letter from Roy's father.
Dated eleven years ago.
One year after Emily's birth.
I read it aloud.
"'If anyone discovers what we've done, the program will collapse.''"
My voice trembled.
"'The Callahan embryo is the most valuable asset we possess.''"
Roy closed his eyes.
"What does that mean?""
I continued.
"'Vanessa's genetic profile is unusually compatible with the subjects.''"
Subjects.
Not patients.
Subjects.
"'The child must remain officially deceased. Her survival would expose the entire operation.''"
I looked at Roy.
"They didn't kill her.""
"No.""
"They hid her.""
Mason nodded.
"Why?""
I scrolled.
The next paragraph answered.
"'Emily will be relocated to a private facility until she reaches an age at which her genetic value can be utilized.''"
My stomach turned.
"Genetic value?""
Tessa whispered, "What kind of facility?""
We found the answer in the next document.
A private medical center.
Closed now.
Located outside the city.
Mason looked at Roy.
"Do you know this place?""
Roy nodded.
"My father owned it.""
I felt sick.
"You never told me.""
"I didn't know what happened there.""
"You're telling me your father owned a medical facility where they kept children created from stolen embryos?""
"I didn't know.""
I believed him.
But belief wasn't enough anymore.
I needed proof.
We left the old lab.
The police had arrived at the hospital, but Mason warned us not to trust the internal security team.
So we drove separately.
Tessa came with me.
Roy followed.
The facility sat behind an abandoned rehabilitation center.
We found a basement entrance.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled stale.
There were empty rooms.
Old medical beds.
A nursery.
Then we found the files.
Hundreds.
Children.
Embryos.
Genetic profiles.
Some names had been crossed out.
Some were marked *TRANSFERRED*.
Some were marked *DECEASED*.
And one file sat alone on a desk.
*EMILY CALLAHAN.*
My hands shook as I opened it.
Photographs.
Medical examinations.
School records.
A report from when she was seven.
She was alive.
Eight.
Alive.
Nine.
Alive.
Ten.
Alive.
Then the final entry.
*Age 11 — transferred to new guardian.*
I stared at the name.
"Guardian?""
Mason leaned over my shoulder.
"Who?""
I turned the page.
The guardian's name was printed clearly.
*Vanessa Callahan.*
My heart stopped.
"I never had custody of her.""
Roy looked at the page.
"Neither did I.""
Tessa whispered, "Then who signed it?""
At the bottom of the form was a signature.
Mine.
Perfectly forged.
Again.
And beneath it, a date from six months ago.
The same month the entire conspiracy had started moving.
Then we heard footsteps upstairs.
Roy raised a finger.
We turned off the lights.
Someone entered the facility.
A woman's voice echoed down the hall.
"Vanessa?""
I knew that voice.
I had heard it every weekday for eight years.
Hospital Director Evelyn Hart.
She stepped into the doorway.
And she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood the man we'd been calling Daniel Mercer.
Evelyn looked at me.
"You finally found her.""
I stepped forward.
"Found who?""
Evelyn smiled sadly.
"Your daughter.""
My breath caught.
"Emily is alive?""
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
"She was.""
May you like
Then she looked at Tessa.
"And if we don't get her back tonight, your baby will be next.""
