Chapter 7: The Baby in the Basement
Emily stared at Margaret.
“Thomas?””
The name seemed to hang in the room.
Daniel gripped the back of a chair so hard his knuckles turned white.
“You're saying my son was here?””
Margaret shook her head, crying.
“No. Not here. Not in this house.””
“Then where?”” Daniel demanded.
“I don't know.””
“You just said you were supposed to hide him!””
“I was!””
Emily looked at Claire.
“Mom, please. I need you to explain this.””
Claire stepped closer, but Emily instinctively backed away.
Claire stopped.
“I will.””
David looked at his wife as if seeing her for the first time.
“You knew Margaret?””
Claire nodded.
“She helped me.””
“Helped you do what?””
“Get Emily out.””
Emily swallowed.
“Out of where?””
“The farmhouse.””
Claire glanced at Daniel.
“And away from the people who were moving children.””
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You knew about them.””
“I knew enough.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I didn't trust you.””
Daniel recoiled.
“After everything?””
Claire's voice broke.
“I had watched people die.””
Emily looked at the hospital record.
“Mom, what happened to me that night?””
Claire took a breath.
“When you were born, I was told you were dead.””
Emily's eyes widened.
“What?””
“I heard a nurse say it. I heard someone crying. Then Margaret came to me.””
Margaret whispered, “I found her.””
Claire nodded.
“You found Emily alive.””
“I did.””
“Where?””
Margaret looked at David.
“At the farmhouse.””
David frowned.
“Why was she there?””
“Because someone had moved her.””
Emily's voice trembled.
“Who?””
Margaret didn't answer.
Claire did.
“Victor.””
Daniel slammed his fist against the table.
“Victor Hale.””
Claire nodded.
“He took Emily because he believed she was evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
“That the babies had been switched.””
Emily stared at the two women.
“Switched?””
Claire nodded.
“Emily wasn't supposed to be Emily.””
David stepped forward.
“What does that mean?””
Claire looked at him.
“The baby delivered to me that night was supposed to be registered as mine. But the records had already been prepared before you and I arrived.””
David's face tightened.
“Someone knew she was going to be born.””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Claire looked at Margaret.
“Your mother.””
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I didn't know the entire plan.””
“You knew enough.””
“I knew they wanted a baby.””
Emily's stomach twisted.
“A baby for what?””
Margaret's voice broke.
“To replace Thomas.””
Daniel stared at her.
“What?””
Margaret wiped her cheeks.
“After Elena found out Thomas wasn't biologically yours, she threatened to expose the network. They needed Thomas gone.””
“And Emily?””
“They needed another child to take his place.””
Daniel shook his head.
“That makes no sense.””
“It did to them.””
Claire stepped closer.
“Thomas was six. He had memories. He knew his mother.
He could identify people. Emily was a newborn.””
Daniel's breathing became ragged.
“They wanted to make him disappear.””
“Yes.””
“And use Emily?””
Claire nodded.
“They planned to create a new identity for Thomas and make it look as if he'd never existed.””
Emily whispered, “Then why am I Emily Carter?””
Claire looked at David.
“Because David refused to cooperate.””
David's eyes filled.
“I didn't know how deep it went.””
“You knew enough to fight.””
“I tried.””
“You tried too late.””
David lowered his head.
Emily looked at him.
“Dad, what did you do?””
He swallowed.
“I took you.””
“From where?””
“The farmhouse.””
Emily stared.
“You took me?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did Grandma say she found me?””
“Because she found you first.””
Margaret nodded.
“I found Emily in a laundry basket.””
Daniel stared at her.
“A laundry basket?””
Margaret's voice shook.
“She was wrapped in a white blanket. There was a note pinned to it.””
“What did it say?””
Margaret looked at Emily.
*Not yours. Keep her hidden.*
Emily felt a chill.
“Who wrote it?””
“I don't know.””
Claire whispered, “I do.””
Everyone turned.
Claire's face had gone pale.
“It was Victor.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is he now?””
Margaret looked away.
“Dead.””
Daniel froze.
“When?””
“Sixteen years ago.””
David stared at his mother.
“You never told me.””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
Margaret's voice dropped.
“That he wasn't working alone.””
Emily looked at Claire.
“Then who was?””
Claire shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Daniel suddenly noticed something on the table.
The old photograph of Thomas.
He picked it up.
“Wait.””
Everyone looked at him.
He turned the photograph over.
There was another marking.
A tiny blue ink number.
*417.*
“What is that?”” Emily asked.
Daniel stared.
“The number on Thomas's adoption record.””
Emily looked at the hospital document.
There was the same number.
417.
Her eyes widened.
“They're connected.””
Claire nodded.
“Yes.””
David stepped toward the black box.
“Then the box has to contain the original records.””
Margaret shook her head.
“David, no.””
“Why?””
“Because they're not all here.””
David stopped.
“What?””
Margaret looked toward the basement door.
“The final records were moved years ago.””
“Where?””
Margaret's face went white.
“To the Carter family cemetery.””
Emily frowned.
“Why would records be in a cemetery?””
Margaret whispered:
“Because there is someone buried there who was never supposed to have died.””
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Thomas?””
Margaret shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at Emily.
“Your birth certificate.””
Emily stared at her.
“What about it?””
“The name on it isn't your real name.””
Before anyone could respond, the lights went out.
The house plunged into darkness.
Emily heard glass shatter somewhere upstairs.
Then a man's voice came from the hallway.
“Everybody stay where you are.””
David grabbed Emily.
Daniel moved toward the sound.
Claire screamed.
“David, don't!””
A flashlight snapped on.
A figure stood at the bottom of the stairs.
He was holding a folder.
May you like
And on the folder was written one name:
*EMILY HAYES.*
