Chapter 6: The Price of a Child
I took photographs of every document in Unit 47 before touching anything else.
Arthur called the detective and requested immediate assistance. I called Margaret, asking her to stay available in case the police needed her statement.
Then I stared at Vanessa's name on the payment record.
“Successful transfer of the child,” I read aloud.
Arthur stood beside the cabinet, his face drawn.
“It's possible the wording refers to a legal placement.””
“Legal placements don't require secret payments.””
“No,” he admitted.
“They don't.””
I turned to the next page.
It contained a list of dates, account numbers, and short handwritten notes. Most were meaningless without context, but one entry had been underlined in red.
*MERCER — CHILD TRANSFER — FINAL AUTHORIZATION PENDING.*
Below it was a date.
Tomorrow.
I looked at Arthur.
“They were planning to take Lily tomorrow morning.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did someone take her tonight?””
“Perhaps the plan changed when you discovered the suitcase.””
I thought about Vanessa's phone call. The fear in her voice. The way she'd said Emily was supposed to stay away.
“What if Vanessa wasn't the person who arranged the transfer?”” I asked.
“What if she was only supposed to help?””
Arthur studied the document.
“Then someone else has the authority to carry it out.””
My phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID showed a blocked number.
I answered without speaking.
A man's voice came through.
“Mr. Mercer. You've been busy.””
“Where is my daughter?””
“Safe.””
“Let me speak to her.””
“Not yet.””
I gripped the edge of the cabinet.
“If you hurt her—”
“You should be careful with threats, Daniel. You're the one who has been keeping secrets.””
“I don't know who you are.””
“Of course you don't. Your wife made certain of that.””
Arthur gestured for me to put the call on speaker.
I did.
“Who are you?”” I demanded.
“My name is Richard Cole. I believe you've found something that belongs to me.””
I looked at the hospital records.
“You mean the documents proving you paid people to steal a child?””
Richard chuckled.
“Such dramatic language. Lily was going to receive specialized care. Her father was emotionally unstable, and her stepmother had legitimate concerns.””
“Vanessa isn't her mother.””
“No. But she was willing to sign the paperwork.””
My stomach twisted.
“Why?””
“Ask her. She accepted the money.””
“Where is Lily?””
Richard ignored the question.
“You have until midnight to return the original records. In exchange, I'll tell you where your daughter is.””
“Why should I believe you?””
“Because I have something you want.””
A small sound came through the phone.
A sniffle.
Then a child's voice.
“Daddy?””
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Lily!””
“Daddy, I'm scared.””
“I'm coming, sweetheart. I'm coming.””
A man's voice interrupted.
“That's enough.””
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, unable to move.
Arthur put a hand on my shoulder.
“We need the police.””
“They'll need time to get a warrant, trace the call, and coordinate a search.””
“And if we go alone, we could lose Lily.””
I looked at the payment record again.
There had to be something else in the storage unit.
Something Richard wanted badly enough to threaten a child.
I searched the boxes until I found a small black notebook hidden beneath the rocking chair. Its pages were filled with Emily's handwriting.
The first entries described unusual medication orders at the hospital. Several patients had received prescriptions under false identities. Others had been listed as discharged when they'd never left their rooms.
Then I found a page dated three days before Emily's supposed death.
Richard knows I found the duplicate records. He says he can make the problem disappear. He says nobody will believe me because the documents carry my signature.
The next entry was shorter.
If Daniel ever reads this, he must understand that I did not abandon him. I found proof that someone was using our daughter's medical information to conceal the identities of children being moved through the system.
I stopped reading.
Children.
Plural.
Arthur leaned over my shoulder.
“Keep going.””
The next page contained a list of names, ages, and dates. Beside several names were handwritten notes about guardianship applications, medical records, and transfers between facilities.
Lily's name appeared near the bottom.
Beside it was a code.
47-B.
I turned the page.
The last entry was written in hurried, uneven letters.
Vanessa has been approached. Richard believes she can be persuaded to help because she wants Daniel's money and a family without complications. She doesn't know everything yet. If she agrees, Lily will be the leverage.
I felt sick.
Emily had known Vanessa before our wedding.
She had known Richard was dangerous.
And she had known our daughter might become a target.
I read the final sentence.
If I disappear, don't trust the death certificate. Find the original birth records. The truth about Lily is hidden there.
I looked at Arthur.
“Lily's birth records?””
“Where would they be?””
“Emily's parents' farmhouse. She mentioned it in her letter.””
Arthur took out his phone.
“I'll send the detective there.””
“No. Richard wants these records by midnight. If he thinks we have the evidence, he'll move Lily.””
“We can't give him the documents.””
“I know.””
I closed the notebook.
“But we can make him think we're willing to negotiate.””
Arthur stared at me.
“Daniel, that's dangerous.””
“So is leaving my daughter with a man who thinks children can be bought.””
We contacted the detective, explained the threat, and agreed to meet officers near the farmhouse. I sent Richard a message saying I would bring the records, but only if he confirmed Lily was alive.
His reply came almost immediately.
A photograph.
Lily sat on a couch, clutching her stuffed rabbit. She wore the same pink pajamas she'd had on at home. Her cheeks were wet, but she was looking directly at the camera.
The message beneath the photograph read:
*Bring the original birth records. Come alone.*
I stared at the picture.
There was something familiar in the background.
A framed painting of a red barn.
I had seen it before.
At Emily's parents' farmhouse.
“Arthur,” I said, “I know where she is.””
He leaned over the phone.
“The farmhouse?””
I nodded.
“Richard thinks we're going there for the birth records. He probably believes Emily hid the evidence inside the house.””
“Then we need to get there before he moves her.””
We drove through the rain toward the old property. The farmhouse sat beyond a narrow gravel road, surrounded by bare trees and fields silvered by moonlight.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and damp wood. The furniture had been covered with white sheets after the house was sold, and the floorboards creaked beneath our feet.
I went straight to the bedroom where Emily had once kept Lily's crib.
The room was empty except for a small wooden dresser.
I knelt and examined the floorboards.
One board near the window was loose.
I pried it up with a screwdriver from the kitchen drawer.
Beneath it lay a sealed envelope and a thin leather folder.
Inside the folder were Lily's original birth records, along with a document that made no sense.
It listed Emily as the child's biological mother.
But the father's name was different.
Not Daniel Mercer.
Richard Cole.
I stared at the page.
Arthur read it over my shoulder.
“That can't be right.””
I looked at the date, the hospital stamp, and the signature at the bottom.
The document had been filed three years before Lily's birth.
Someone had altered the records.
Someone wanted me to believe Lily wasn't my biological daughter.
My phone vibrated.
Richard's message appeared.
*You found it. Now you understand why Emily had to disappear. Bring the folder to the barn behind the house. Ten minutes.*
I looked through the window.
At the edge of the property stood an old red barn.
A light glowed behind its upper window.
And from somewhere inside the building, I heard a child's voice calling for her father.
“Daddy?””
I ran toward the door.
Arthur caught my arm.
“Daniel, wait. Look at the back of the document.””
I turned it over.
There was a handwritten note in Emily's unmistakable script.
The father listed here is a lie. Richard changed the record because the real father would expose everything.
Beneath that sentence was a name.
May you like
A name I had never expected to see.
And as I read it, the entire mystery surrounding Lily's suitcase, Vanessa's payments, and Emily's disappearance took a horrifying new turn.
