Chapter 10: The Recording That Changed Everything
The elevator doors opened, but Darius couldn't move.
His father's voice still seemed to hang in the air.
You weren't supposed to find out that the boy was yours.
Darius replayed the recording.
Once.
Twice.
On the third listen, he noticed something beneath the crash at the end. A faint beeping sound, followed by a man's voice saying a name.
"Grant.""
Darius gripped the phone.
His father hadn't merely suspected something was wrong. He had known that a boy existed, and he had known someone was trying to keep the truth from him.
But which boy?
Lucas?
Or another child nobody had mentioned?
Darius stepped out of the elevator and called Tanya.
"Where are you?""
"Outside Elena's room. Why?""
"I have a recording of Dad. He says Martin betrayed him, and he mentions a second child.""
Tanya fell silent.
Then she said, "Come back upstairs. Now.""
When Darius returned, Tanya was standing beside Elena's bed with a laptop open on the tray table. Elena was awake, pale but alert, and Maya was asleep against her side.
Darius played the recording.
Elena's face drained of color.
"That's his voice," she whispered.
"You recognize it?""
"I heard your father speaking to Martin on the phone a few days before he died. They were arguing about a child.""
Darius sat down.
"What child?""
Elena shook her head.
"I couldn't hear the name. Your father kept saying that the child deserved to know the truth. Martin kept telling him it was too dangerous.""
Tanya stopped the recording.
"Could they have been talking about Lucas?""
"Maybe," Elena said.
"But there was something else. Your father mentioned a woman named Rebecca.""
Darius frowned.
"Rebecca who?""
"I don't know. He said she had been promised that her baby would be returned to her.""
Tanya's fingers hovered above the keyboard.
"Another adoption.""
Darius stared at the screen.
"How many children did Martin take?""
Nobody answered.
Then Elena reached toward him.
"Darius, I need to tell you something about the night your father died.""
He leaned forward.
"Go ahead.""
"I spoke to him that evening. He called me just before nine. He sounded frightened. He said he had found proof that Martin was using false adoption records to blackmail families.""
Darius felt his stomach tighten.
"Blackmail them how?""
"He said some families had paid to adopt children through private arrangements. Other families had been threatened into surrendering their babies. Martin kept copies of everything. He used the records to control people.""
Tanya's expression hardened.
"So he built a business out of stolen children.""
"Not every adoption was illegal," Elena said.
"But some were. And once someone became suspicious, Martin used their secrets against them.""
Darius looked at the brass key.
His father had spent his final hours trying to stop a man who had turned children into bargaining chips.
And Naomi had helped him.
Or so Darius had believed.
"Where did the recording come from?"" Tanya asked.
Darius checked the message details.
"It came from an unknown number. The file was uploaded eleven minutes ago.""
"Can we identify the sender?""
"Not from the information I have.""
Tanya began typing.
"I'll send it to Detective Harris. We need an official copy before anyone tries to erase it.""
Darius's phone rang.
Detective Harris.
He answered immediately.
"Have you found Lucas?""
"We've located a vehicle registered to Grant Mercer near the private airfield. A witness saw a teenage boy getting into it.""
Darius stood.
"Then we know where they're going.""
"We have officers heading there now. I need you to stay at the hospital.""
"No.""
"Darius, this is an active investigation.""
"My son is on that plane.""
"We don't know that.""
"Then let me help you find out.""
The detective exhaled.
"Listen carefully. The airfield is private property. We're coordinating with local authorities. If you arrive before we secure the area, you could jeopardize the operation.""
Darius looked at Maya sleeping beside Elena.
He wanted to run.
He wanted to tear apart every building between the hospital and the airfield until he found Lucas.
But his daughter needed him, too.
"Tell me what you need from me," he said.
"Send me the recording. Then stay reachable.""
Darius ended the call and transferred the file.
A moment later, another message arrived from the unknown number.
This time, it contained a photograph of an old document.
At the top were two names.
*Lucas Cole.*
*Rebecca Mercer.*
Beneath them was a handwritten note:
One child was taken to protect a fortune. The other was taken to protect a name.
Darius stared at the screen.
"Rebecca Mercer," Tanya whispered.
"Martin's first wife.""
Elena shook her head.
"No. Rebecca was his second wife. His first wife died years before the adoption records appeared.""
Tanya turned toward her.
"How do you know that?""
"Because I met Rebecca once. She came to the hospital the day after the twins were born. She told me Martin had promised to help me get my children back.""
Darius's heart pounded.
"What happened?""
"She never came back.""
Tanya searched the name on her laptop.
"Rebecca Mercer died seven years ago.""
Darius closed his eyes.
Another dead end.
Then Tanya found a news article.
"Wait. There's a son listed in the obituary.""
She turned the laptop toward them.
*Grant Mercer, surviving son.*
Darius looked at the photograph again.
"Rebecca had a child.""
"Yes," Tanya said.
"But look at the birth year.""
The article listed Grant as thirty-four years old.
Martin's son was too old to be the second child his father had mentioned.
Which meant the Rebecca Mercer in the adoption document might be someone else entirely.
Elena began shaking.
"No," she whispered.
"No, that's impossible.""
Darius reached for her hand.
"What is it?""
Elena looked at him with sudden terror.
"Rebecca Mercer wasn't the name of the woman who adopted the second child.""
"Then whose name was it?""
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"That was the name Naomi used when she came to the hospital.""
The room went silent.
Darius slowly turned toward Tanya.
Naomi had used a false identity to arrange the adoption of another child.
And if Elena was right, that child might have been born on the same day as Maya and Lucas.
Darius's phone rang again.
Detective Harris.
"We have a problem," the detective said.
"What happened?""
"The airfield is empty. The aircraft is still there, but there's no sign of Grant or the boy.""
Darius gripped the phone.
"Did they leave?""
"We don't know. But we found something in the hangar.""
"What?""
"A bag containing Lucas's school uniform, his phone, and a bloodstained shirt.""
Darius closed his eyes.
"Is the blood his?""
"We're testing it.""
The detective paused.
"There's something else. Someone left a message on the hangar wall.""
Darius's throat tightened.
"What message?""
The detective read it aloud.
*Ask your father why he kept the other child.*
The line went silent.
Darius looked at the old recording.
His father had known about another child.
And now someone was telling him that Edward Cole had kept that child hidden.
Not Naomi.
Not Martin.
His father.
For the first time, Darius wondered whether the man he had spent his entire life admiring had been part of the very conspiracy he was trying to expose.
Then Maya stirred in her sleep.
"Don't let them take my brother," she murmured.
Darius crossed the room and gently brushed her hair from her forehead.
"I won't, sweetheart.""
But as he looked at the photograph of Lucas, one terrible possibility settled over him.
May you like
What if Lucas hadn't been kidnapped because he was Darius's son?
What if someone had taken him because he knew who the other child really was?
