Chapter 13: The Photograph That Should Never Have Existed
The photograph lay on the hospital floor.
I couldn't take my eyes off it.
There I was, eighteen years younger, wearing my old gray housekeeping uniform. My hair was tied back, and I was standing beside Olivia Grant in the basement records room.
Except I had never worked in that department.
And I had never met Olivia before she joined the Grand Meridian.
Christopher picked up my phone.
“Mom, look at the date.””
I leaned closer.
November 14.
The date Daniel disappeared.
A second photograph arrived.
This one showed me holding a newborn baby.
My face was turned toward the camera.
The baby was wrapped in a white hospital blanket.
Beneath the image was a message.
You should ask yourself why you don't remember that night.
I felt my stomach turn.
Christopher looked at me.
“Is that you?””
“Yes.””
“Then what's happening?””
“I don't know.””
A nurse hurried out of Daniel's room.
“His condition is stable,” she said.
“But he needs complete rest. He cannot receive more visitors tonight.””
I looked through the glass.
Daniel was motionless.
I wanted to go back inside and demand that he finish his sentence.
I wanted to shake him until he told me who had switched the babies.
But he had nearly died trying to speak.
I couldn't risk losing him again.
Christopher put his arm around my shoulders.
“We'll find out.””
I nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Olivia.
I answered immediately.
“Where are you?””
“Mrs. Hayes, please don't hang up.””
“Who am I looking at in that photograph?””
Silence.
“Olivia!””
“I'm at the Grand Meridian.””
“Why are you sending me pictures of myself?””
“Because you need to remember what happened.””
I gripped the phone.
“I don't remember being in that room.””
“You were there.””
“Who was the baby?””
Olivia's voice trembled.
“Me.””
I closed my eyes.
“Then why did Daniel say you were my daughter?””
“He was wrong about one thing.””
“What?””
“I'm not your biological daughter.””
My heart sank.
“Then who are you?””
“I was the nurse who helped deliver your babies.””
The words made no sense.
Olivia continued.
“I was twenty-four at the time. I worked in the maternity ward at St. Catherine's Hospital.
Richard Reed paid the hospital administrator to alter the records. When I discovered what he was doing, I tried to stop him.””
“Why was I in that photograph?””
“Because you helped me.””
I shook my head.
“No. I don't remember any of this.””
“You were given medication after the delivery. You were exhausted, and someone told you your baby had died. But you woke up while I was preparing the second child for transfer.””
My throat tightened.
“What did I do?””
“You asked me to save her.””
I looked at Christopher.
He was listening.
Olivia's voice broke.
“You begged me not to let them take your daughter.””
A memory flickered.
A hospital room.
A baby's cry.
My hands reaching toward something.
Then darkness.
“Why don't I remember?””
“Because someone made sure you wouldn't.””
I gripped the phone harder.
“Who?””
Olivia hesitated.
“Samuel Brooks.””
I felt cold.
Sam.
The man who had worked beside me for decades.
The man who had brought me the photograph of Nathan.
The man whose signature appeared on the adoption papers.
“Why would Sam do that?””
“He wasn't just a maintenance supervisor, Eleanor. He worked for Richard Reed. He handled the hotel's private records and security operations.””
I looked at Christopher.
“He helped switch the babies?””
“No. He helped hide the evidence afterward.””
“Where is he?””
“Inside the hotel.””
“Why?””
“Because he has the original hospital ledger.””
I closed my eyes.
“What do you want from me?””
“To meet me.””
“Where?””
“Room 1808.””
I glanced at Christopher.
“When?””
“Tonight.””
The call ended.
We returned to the Grand Meridian just after midnight.
Marcus was waiting in the lobby.
He looked exhausted.
“Daniel?””
“Stable,” I answered.
He nodded.
“Thank God.””
I showed him Olivia's messages.
His expression changed when he saw the photographs.
“That's impossible.””
“Apparently, not.””
He examined the image closely.
“Look at the background.””
I leaned closer.
A security monitor was visible behind me.
On it was a date and time.
November 14, 2008.
But the photograph showed something else.
The original presidential suite had been decorated differently.
A gold falcon emblem hung above the fireplace.
Marcus pointed toward it.
“That emblem was removed after my father took control of the hotel.””
“So?””
“So the photograph was taken before Daniel disappeared.””
He enlarged the image.
Then his face changed.
“Wait.””
He pointed to the corner.
A man stood partially hidden behind a filing cabinet.
Samuel Brooks.
But there was something else.
Beside Sam was a second man.
Marcus went pale.
“Who is that?””
I studied the face.
I knew him.
Not personally.
But I had seen him in the old photographs.
Arthur Whitmore.
Except Arthur had supposedly been dead for years.
“Marcus,” I whispered.
“Arthur is alive.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No. That's impossible.””
“Apparently, a lot of impossible things happened in this hotel.””
He looked at me.
“Where are you going?””
“Room 1808.””
“I'm coming.””
“Olivia said to come alone.””
“Olivia could be working with Vanessa.””
I considered that.
Then I nodded.
We took the service elevator.
When we reached the eighteenth floor, the corridor was dark.
Room 1808 stood at the end.
The door was slightly open.
I pushed it.
Inside, Olivia stood beside the eastern wall.
She wore a navy blazer and held a thick leather folder.
Sam stood near the window.
His hands were clasped behind his back.
When he saw me, he lowered his head.
“Eleanor.””
I felt anger rise.
“Don't.””
Olivia turned.
“You came.””
“Tell me who switched the babies.””
She looked at Sam.
He stepped forward.
“I did.””
The words landed like a physical blow.
I stared at him.
“You?””
Sam nodded.
“Richard ordered me to change the hospital records. I refused at first.””
“Then why did you do it?””
“Because he threatened my daughter.””
I froze.
“You have a daughter?””
Sam's eyes filled.
“Had.””
He took a photograph from his pocket.
A little girl with dark curls.
“She died in an accident when she was six. Richard knew I was desperate to save her mother from losing the house. He promised to pay the medical bills. In return, he wanted the hospital records altered.””
I shook my head.
“So you traded my children for money?””
“No.””
Sam's voice broke.
“I switched the records to save them.””
Olivia stepped forward.
“He changed the documents, but he didn't send the children away. He gave one baby to the family Richard had selected and hid the other with someone Daniel trusted.””
I stared at Sam.
“Where is my daughter?””
Sam pointed toward Olivia.
“She isn't your daughter. But she knows where the girl is.””
Olivia opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph of a young woman.
About twenty-five years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small birthmark beneath her left ear.
The same birthmark Christopher had.
I touched the photograph.
“Who is she?””
Olivia looked at me.
“Her name is Grace.””
“Where is she?””
“She's been living in London for the last eight years.””
My breath caught.
“Does she know?””
“No.””
I looked at Sam.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
He lowered his eyes.
“Because I was waiting for Daniel to come back.””
“You let me mourn my husband. You let me believe my children were dead.””
“I know.””
“You watched me clean these hallways every day while you knew the truth.””
He began crying.
“I know, Eleanor.””
I stepped closer.
“You don't get to ask me to forgive you.””
“I wouldn't.””
Then Olivia placed another document on the table.
It was the original hospital ledger.
The final page contained a handwritten entry.
Beside the names of Christopher and Grace was another name.
*Witness: Marcus Reed.*
I turned toward Marcus.
He stared at the document.
“I've never seen this before.””
Olivia pointed to the signature.
“Look carefully.””
It wasn't his signature.
It was his father's.
Richard Reed had signed as a witness.
But beneath his signature was a note.
The children will remain separated until the inheritance is secured. The mother must never learn that both survived.
And below that was another sentence.
Written in a different hand.
Unless she remembers.
I looked at Olivia.
“What does that mean?””
She swallowed.
“It means Richard believed you had seen everything that night.””
I felt my head begin to ache.
Olivia stepped closer.
“Eleanor, there's something else you need to know.””
“What?””
She looked at Marcus.
Then at me.
“The person who gave Richard the original hospital records wasn't Samuel.””
I turned toward Sam.
His face had gone pale.
Olivia whispered:
“It was Daniel.””
And before I could ask why my husband would help the man who destroyed our family, the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot echoed through the corridor.
Then someone screamed.
