Chapter 9: The Sister Behind the Locked Door
Thomas pushed Denise behind him.
I remained in front of the keypad, staring down the corridor as the footsteps grew louder.
A man appeared at the far end.
He wore a dark coat and black gloves. His hair was silver, and a thin scar curved from his left ear toward his jaw.
The photograph in my mind matched the face standing before me.
Robert Hale.
Except Robert Hale was supposed to have died before I was born.
"Step away from the door," he repeated.
I didn't move.
"Who are you?""
His expression softened.
For one terrible second, he looked almost like a grandfather greeting a child he hadn't seen in years.
"I'm the man who should have protected you.""
I laughed in disbelief.
"You locked a girl behind a door and threatened my mother. That's your idea of protection?""
Robert's face hardened.
"You don't understand what happened here.""
"Then explain it.""
"Not in this hallway.""
Thomas stepped forward.
"Mr. Hale, I'm Thomas Bennett. Your estate retained me to investigate the circumstances surrounding your disappearance.""
Robert glanced at him.
"You're still working for the estate?""
"Yes.""
"Then you know better than to interfere.""
"I know you were declared dead in 2009.""
Robert gave a humorless smile.
"Paperwork can be very persuasive.""
He took another step.
Thomas held up his phone.
"I've already contacted the authorities.""
Robert stopped.
"Have you?""
"Yes.""
"Then I suggest you tell them what you've found. Tell them about the unauthorized access to the hospital archive. Tell them about the two birth certificates. Tell them about the medical records you concealed.""
Robert's eyes narrowed.
"And what will you tell them about the girl behind that door?""
I turned toward the keypad.
"Who is she?""
Robert looked at me.
"Your sister.""
The word struck me like a physical blow.
I gripped the wall.
"She's my twin?""
"Yes.""
"Then why did you tell everyone she died?""
"I didn't.""
I stared at him.
"You're standing in front of a locked room where a girl who looks like me is begging for help, and you expect me to believe you had nothing to do with it?""
Robert removed one glove.
"I expect you to understand that seventeen years ago, people made decisions under extraordinary circumstances.""
"People like you?""
"People like your mother. People like Daniel. People like Michael.""
Denise stepped out from behind Thomas.
"Don't you dare put Michael's name in your mouth.""
Robert looked at her.
For the first time, his composure faltered.
"Denise.""
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the corridor.
"You let me believe my daughter was dead!""
Robert touched his cheek.
"I never told you she was dead.""
"You stood in my house and told me the hospital had corrected its records! You said everything was settled!""
"I told you what you needed to know.""
"No!"" Denise shouted.
"You told me what would keep you in control!""
Robert's eyes hardened.
"You should have listened when I warned you to stay away from this.""
Denise stepped closer.
"I have spent seventeen years wondering whether I carried the wrong child home. I have spent seventeen years waking up in the middle of the night, imagining a baby crying in a hospital room. And now I find out that you kept my other daughter locked away like a secret!""
Robert's jaw tightened.
"She was never supposed to be here.""
I felt sick.
"Neither was I?""
He looked at me.
"You're asking the wrong question.""
"Then give me the right one!""
Robert glanced toward the locked door.
"The question is why two babies were born that night, and why the hospital records were changed.""
I stepped toward him.
"Why?""
He took a slow breath.
"Because one of those babies was conceived through a fertility procedure that was never supposed to be documented.""
Thomas went completely still.
Denise's face drained of color.
I stared at Robert.
"What procedure?""
"Northbridge was conducting a private genetic study. It involved embryos created using donated genetic material and transferred to different patients under confidential agreements.""
I struggled to understand.
"You're saying one of us was conceived through IVF?""
"Yes.""
"And the other?""
"Was conceived naturally.""
I looked toward the locked door.
"Which one am I?""
Robert didn't answer.
I turned back to him.
"Which one of us was born through the fertility clinic?""
His eyes settled on my face.
"I don't know.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You're the man who arranged the procedure, and you don't know?""
"I know the records were altered. I know the embryos were mislabeled. I know two women gave birth within minutes of each other. But I don't know which child was transferred to which mother.""
The corridor seemed to tilt.
Thomas spoke quietly.
"Why were the records sealed?""
"Because the clinic's owners feared exposure. They had made mistakes. Serious ones.""
"What kind of mistakes?"" Thomas asked.
Robert looked toward the locked door.
"One of the embryos had been created using genetic material that belonged to a man who was not supposed to be involved.""
"Who?"" I demanded.
Robert's expression tightened.
"Michael Reeves.""
Denise made a strangled sound.
I stared at him.
"Michael was involved in a fertility procedure?""
"He donated genetic material years before he met Denise. He was told it would be used for research, not reproduction.""
Thomas frowned.
"Then how did Denise become pregnant?""
"That's what we need to establish.""
I looked at the door again.
"Why is my sister locked inside?""
Robert's face grew grim.
"Because she knows what happened to Michael.""
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"What do you mean?""
Robert reached into his coat and removed a small silver key.
"Your sister was raised by people who were told she was the biological child of another family. When the truth began to surface, she was brought here for her protection.""
"Protection?"" I repeated.
"You call this protection?""
"Her adoptive parents died when she was twelve. After that, the people managing her care discovered the irregularities in her medical records.""
"And they locked her up?""
"They brought her here because the clinic held the only remaining copies of the original genetic records.""
Thomas stepped forward.
"Who authorized this confinement?""
Robert didn't answer.
I lunged for the key.
He caught my wrist.
"Don't.""
I yanked my hand away.
"Open the door!""
Robert stared at me for a long moment.
Then he inserted the key into the lock.
The metal mechanism clicked.
He entered a code, and the door swung inward.
A girl stood in the center of a small room.
She wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, and a faint scar crossed her chin.
She looked exactly like me.
Not similar.
Not close.
Exactly.
The same eyes. The same nose. The same small dimple beside the left corner of her mouth.
I stared at her, unable to speak.
She took one cautious step forward.
"Maya?""
I swallowed.
"Which one?""
She looked confused.
"What?""
"Which one of us is Maya?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I am.""
I shook my head.
"So am I.""
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she looked at Denise.
"Mom?""
Denise covered her mouth.
The girl flinched.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I know I'm not supposed to call you that. They told me my mother was dead.""
Denise made a broken sound and crossed the room.
She stopped inches from the girl, trembling.
"What's your name?"" she whispered.
The girl looked at Robert.
He turned away.
Then she answered.
"Maya Hale.""
I felt the room collapse around me.
My name.
My face.
My birthday.
My life.
The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded photograph.
It showed two newborn babies in adjacent hospital bassinets.
The same photograph Denise had kept for seventeen years.
But this copy had writing on the back.
The girl handed it to me.
I turned it over.
October 14, 2009. Twin girls. One biological daughter of Denise Carter and Robert Hale. One daughter created using Michael Reeves's genetic material.
Below the note was a final sentence.
*DO NOT ALLOW THE GIRLS TO MEET UNTIL THE ORIGINAL PATERNITY RESULTS ARE VERIFIED.*
I looked up at Robert.
"Who wrote this?""
His face had gone pale.
"I don't know.""
The girl beside me shook her head.
"Yes, you do.""
Robert turned toward her.
She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a small cassette recorder.
"I found this in the archive room last night.""
She pressed the play button.
A man's voice filled the room.
It was older, tired, and unmistakably familiar.
Daniel Carter.
"If you're hearing this, then the girls have found each other. I need you both to know that I never intended for this to happen. I was told one child had died.
I was told the other was mine. But the night I left that hospital, I saw something I could never explain.""
A pause.
Then Daniel's voice cracked.
"Robert Hale wasn't the man who switched the babies.""
The recording continued.
"The man who did it was the doctor who delivered them. And he wasn't trying to hide a mistake.""
I stared at the recorder.
The girl beside me whispered, "There's more.""
She pressed play again.
Daniel's voice returned, lower and more frightened than before.
"He was trying to make sure that when one of the girls turned seventeen, she would inherit everything Robert Hale owned.""
I turned toward Thomas.
"Everything?""
Thomas looked stunned.
The recording ended with a final sentence.
"And if the wrong girl received the inheritance, someone would die.""
The room fell silent.
Then the girl who looked exactly like me gripped my hand.
"Maya," she whispered, "I think I know why they kept us apart.""
May you like
She turned toward Robert.
"Because only one of us was supposed to survive.""
