Chapter 6: The Third Baby
I didn't recognize the handwriting on the back of the photograph.
But I recognized the date.
March 14.
The day Daniel had moved out of our house.
The day he had stood in the driveway with two suitcases and told me he needed time to figure out who he was without being a husband.
I'd cried in the kitchen after he left. Maya had sat beside me, holding my hand, telling me that everything would be okay.
Now I wondered whether our marriage had ended for reasons I had never understood.
"Explain this," I said.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"I can't.""
"Try.""
He rubbed his face.
"Dr. Voss contacted me shortly before the divorce. He told me the hospital had discovered another discrepancy in the original records.""
"The third baby.""
He nodded.
"He said the third child might be connected to the switched identities. He said he needed access to the original documents, and he believed someone in the hospital had taken them.""
"Why would he come to you?""
"Because I had kept the blue box.""
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
"You mean he knew about the letter.""
"Yes.""
"How?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Because I gave him a copy.""
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
"You gave a stranger our daughter's medical records?""
"I didn't know what he was planning.""
"Then why did you do it?""
"Because he told me Maya could be taken away from us.""
I stepped back.
"By whom?""
"He said the hospital could challenge our custody if the original records proved Maya wasn't biologically related to us.""
I stared at him.
"Maya is our daughter.""
"I know.""
"Do you?""
He looked up sharply.
"Renee—"
"No. You don't get to say that after hiding this from me for thirteen years.""
I walked toward the kitchen counter and gripped its edge.
Daniel followed, but he stopped several feet away.
"I thought I was protecting her.""
"By keeping secrets from her? By giving her records to a man who now has her?""
"I never gave him Maya.""
"But you gave him a way to find her.""
His face crumpled.
"Yes.""
The admission hung between us.
For the first time, I understood that Daniel hadn't simply been afraid of the truth.
He had been making decisions about our daughter without me, convincing himself that silence was the same thing as protection.
I looked down at the photograph again.
Three babies.
Three names.
One name erased.
"Who was the third child?"" I asked.
"I don't know.""
"Did you ever see her again?""
"No.""
"Then why did you write the date of our divorce on the back?""
Daniel's mouth tightened.
"Because that's when Dr. Voss told me the third child had been found.""
My pulse quickened.
"Found where?""
"In a private care facility.""
"Which one?""
"I don't know the name.""
"Daniel!""
"He wouldn't tell me! He said the child had been moved under a different identity, and he couldn't risk exposing her location.""
I looked at the key Claire had given me.
"Then we find the records.""
Daniel shook his head.
"Renee, the storage unit could be a trap.""
"So could sitting here.""
"We need to contact the police.""
"We will. But first, I want to know why a doctor who supposedly protected our daughter is now helping a man threaten her.""
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"I think Dr. Voss believes Maya has something he needs.""
"What?""
"The original DNA results.""
I frowned.
"Maya is thirteen. Why would she have them?""
"Because Abigail Mercer sent her something before she died.""
I remembered Maya's words.
I found something in your old papers. A letter with my name on it.
"What did Abigail send?""
Daniel's voice dropped.
"A flash drive.""
I stared at him.
"How do you know?""
"Because Maya showed me a message from Abigail's account three months ago. It said the drive contained the original records and a recording of the meeting where the hospital agreed to alter the reports.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"I thought I could get it back before anything happened.""
"You thought you could handle this alone.""
He lowered his head.
"Yes.""
I picked up my phone.
This time, I called the police and told them everything Daniel had just admitted. I gave them Claire's name, the address of the abandoned office building, and the information about the storage unit.
The officer who answered listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he said, "Mrs. Holloway, do not go to that storage unit alone. We're checking the address now.""
"Can you find my daughter?""
"We're working on it.""
"That's not enough.""
"I understand. But if someone is holding her, we need to proceed carefully.""
I closed my eyes.
"Please find her.""
"We will do everything we can.""
After the call ended, Daniel and I drove to the old medical records facility with a police unit following at a distance.
The building stood behind a chain-link fence on the outskirts of town. Its brick walls were stained by years of rain, and weeds grew through cracks in the parking lot.
A faded sign identified it as the former St. Catherine's Records Annex.
Unit 214 was in a row of storage rooms on the second floor.
The key turned easily.
Inside, metal shelves lined the walls. Cardboard boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling, each labeled with a date and a department name.
A single desk stood in the middle of the room.
On it lay a laptop, a small black flash drive, and a sealed envelope.
I approached the desk.
The envelope had my name on it.
Renee Holloway.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Mrs. Holloway,
If you are reading this, then the investigation has reached the point I feared most. I am sorry that you and your daughter have been drawn into this.
The official records are incomplete. The original results were not lost. They were deliberately separated into three files.
One file identifies the biological parents of Maya Holloway.
One identifies the biological parents of Lillian Mercer.
The third explains why the children were never supposed to be reunited.
I stopped reading.
Daniel stood behind me.
"Keep going," he whispered.
The letter continued.
The third child was not part of the original mistake. She was the reason the mistake was concealed.
My throat tightened.
I read the sentence again.
The third child was the reason.
Not a consequence.
Not another victim of a clerical error.
The reason.
I turned to Daniel.
"What does that mean?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
I continued reading.
The person responsible for changing the records was not acting alone. Someone arranged for one infant to be transferred before the first set of tests could be completed. That infant was assigned a new identity and placed with a family that had no legal connection to her.
The transfer was approved by Dr. Samuel Voss.
The payment records are in the third file.
At the bottom, the writer had added one final sentence.
If Dr. Voss has contacted your daughter, then he believes she has already found the missing evidence.
I looked at the flash drive.
"Let's see what's on it.""
Daniel opened the laptop.
The screen flickered, then displayed a password prompt.
He tried Maya's birthday.
Incorrect.
He tried the date of the hospital letter.
Incorrect.
I thought about the photograph of the three babies.
11:42 p.m.
He entered the time.
Incorrect.
I closed my eyes and remembered Maya sitting at the kitchen table, her fingers wrapped around a pencil, her face pale as she told me about the clinic.
I found something in your old papers.
"What if it's not a date?"" I whispered.
Daniel turned toward me.
"What do you mean?""
"The letter says the third child was the reason everything was concealed. Maybe the password is her name.""
He looked at the crossed-out entry in the nursery ledger.
E.
We tried the single letter.
The laptop beeped.
Incorrect.
Then I remembered the handwritten label on the photograph.
Nursery 4B.
I typed the words.
*NURSERY4B*
The screen unlocked.
A folder opened automatically.
Inside were three files, each bearing a child's name.
Maya Holloway.
Lillian Mercer.
And a third file titled:
*ELENA VOSS — CONFIDENTIAL.*
Daniel sat down heavily.
"Voss," he whispered.
"Is that his daughter?""
"I don't know.""
I opened the file.
A scanned document appeared. It contained a birth record, a transfer authorization, and a DNA report.
The birth record identified the child as Elena Voss, born at St. Catherine's Medical Center on the same night as Maya and Lily.
The transfer authorization had been signed by Dr. Samuel Voss.
The receiving institution was listed as a private residential facility in western Massachusetts.
And beside the signature approving the transfer was another name.
*Daniel Holloway.*
I couldn't move.
I looked at my ex-husband.
He stared at the screen, his face drained of color.
"Daniel?""
He shook his head.
"No.""
"Your signature is on this document.""
"I never signed that.""
I pointed to the screen.
"That's your name.""
"I know what my name looks like!""
His voice broke.
"I didn't authorize the transfer. I swear to you.""
I examined the signature more closely.
The first letter was too rounded. The final stroke was too long.
It looked like Daniel's handwriting, but something about it felt wrong.
I scrolled down.
A second document appeared.
It was a copy of a financial transfer from an account belonging to Daniel's former employer.
The recipient was a company called Mercer Family Services.
The amount was $48,000.
The date was March 14.
The day Daniel left our house.
I turned toward him.
"What did you do that day?""
He stared at the screen.
"I told you. I left.""
"Why?""
He covered his mouth.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he whispered, "Because Dr. Voss told me someone was going to take Maya.""
I felt my stomach twist.
"And you believed him?""
"He showed me a custody petition. It claimed that you and I had knowingly accepted a child who wasn't legally ours.""
"That makes no sense.""
"He said the petition was fraudulent. He said someone had forged the documents, and he needed me to help prove it.""
"How?""
"He asked me to sign a statement confirming that Maya had been placed in our care through a private arrangement.""
I stared at him.
"Was that true?""
"No! I signed because I thought it would help us protect her.""
I looked back at the transfer record.
"And the money?""
"I never sent that money.""
"Then someone used your name.""
He nodded, breathing hard.
"Someone framed me.""
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Daniel and I froze.
The door to the storage unit stood open.
A man appeared in the doorway wearing a dark coat and black boots.
The same boots I'd seen beneath my daughter's bed.
Mark.
He smiled faintly.
"Thank you for finding the files," he said.
Daniel stood between us.
"Where is Maya?""
Mark held up a phone.
The screen showed a live video.
Maya sat in a small white room, her wrists free but her face pale. She looked directly into the camera.
"Mom?""
I rushed forward.
"Maya!""
Mark turned the screen away.
"She's alive. For now.""
I wanted to attack him. I wanted to tear the phone from his hand and hold my daughter until she stopped shaking.
Instead, I forced myself to stay still.
"What do you want?""
Mark glanced at the laptop.
"The third file.""
"You already know about it.""
"I know it exists. I need the original.""
"Why?""
His smile disappeared.
"Because Dr. Voss has spent thirteen years trying to find his daughter.""
I looked at the name on the screen.
Elena Voss.
Mark continued.
"And if you want Maya to come home, you'll help us find her.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"You told me Elena was dead.""
Mark looked at him.
"I told you what you needed to hear.""
Daniel's face twisted with rage.
"You used me.""
"We all used each other, Daniel. That's what happens when people make deals they don't understand.""
I looked at the live video again.
Maya was crying now.
"Mom, don't give him anything!""
Mark ended the video.
Then he held out his hand.
"The flash drive, Renee.""
I clutched it in my palm.
"No.""
His expression hardened.
"Then your daughter stays where she is.""
I stared at him.
For the first time, I understood why he had come into our house, why he had searched beneath Maya's bed, and why he had threatened us.
He wasn't looking for a child.
He was looking for a file.
And somewhere inside that file was the truth about a third baby who had disappeared thirteen years earlier.
A baby named Elena Voss.
I slowly raised my eyes to Mark's face.
"Tell me where Maya is, and I'll give you the drive.""
He laughed.
"You still think you can negotiate.""
He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded document.
He placed it on the desk.
It was a copy of the original transfer authorization.
At the bottom, beneath Daniel's forged signature, was a second signature.
One I recognized immediately.
My own.
I stared at it, unable to breathe.
Mark leaned close enough for me to smell the mint on his breath.
"There's one thing you haven't figured out yet, Renee.""
He tapped the paper.
"The third baby wasn't the only child whose identity was changed.""
May you like
Then he pointed at my signature.
"Your name is on the original agreement.""
