Chapter 9: The Woman Behind the Voice
Marissa couldn't move.
The voice on the phone had been faint, almost broken by static, but she knew it.
She had heard it eleven years ago.
Outside the operating room.
A nurse's voice.
A woman whispering to someone behind a half-closed door.
“Mrs. Bennett can't know yet.””
Marissa looked at Leo.
“Where did you get that phone?””
Leo held it out.
“It was in my pocket.””
“I put it there,” a voice said.
Everyone turned.
Dr. Whitmore was standing several feet away.
His face had gone pale.
Daniel stared at him.
“You knew?””
Whitmore didn't answer.
Marissa stepped toward him.
“You knew that woman?””
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
“Who is she?””
“I don't know where she is now.””
“Who is she?””
Whitmore swallowed.
“Anna Mercer.””
Marissa's blood ran cold.
Daniel frowned.
“Who?””
“The nurse who assisted during the delivery.””
Marissa stared.
“I knew her.””
Whitmore nodded.
“She was in the room when the twins were born.””
“And she called Leo.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Whitmore looked toward the ambulance where Charles was being treated.
“Because she was there when your father ordered the separation.””
Daniel's face hardened.
“My father?””
Whitmore nodded.
“And she was the only person who kept a copy of the original birth records.””
Marissa's voice dropped.
“Then why did she disappear?””
Whitmore looked at her.
“Because she was afraid.””
“Afraid of whom?””
He glanced toward the road where Vale had vanished.
“Him.””
Detective Cole stepped closer.
“Anna Mercer has been missing for eleven years.””
Marissa stared.
“You said you didn't know where she was.””
“I don't.””
“Then how could she call Leo?””
Whitmore looked at the phone.
“She wanted you to hear the truth before she was found.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Room 214.””
Whitmore nodded.
“The delivery room.””
Marissa shook her head.
“That wing was demolished.””
“Not all of it.””
Cole looked between them.
“What exactly are we going to find there?””
Whitmore answered quietly.
“The original records.””
“And?””
“A recording.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“What recording?””
“The one Anna made the night your twins were separated.””
Marissa looked at Leo.
He was listening silently.
“You heard a woman say your name before you were born,” Marissa whispered.
Leo frowned.
“How would she know me?””
“Because she held you.””
Marissa covered her mouth.
“I never got to.””
Leo looked at her.
“You can now.””
She pulled him close.
For a few seconds, he simply stood there.
Then Ethan stepped beside them.
Marissa put one arm around each boy.
“We're going to the hospital.””
Daniel looked at Detective Cole.
“Can you come?””
Cole nodded.
“You're going to need protection.””
Daniel looked toward Charles.
“And him?””
Paramedics were already treating him.
Cole glanced over.
“He's alive.””
Marissa exhaled.
“But barely.””
Daniel looked at his father.
For the first time in years, anger and grief tangled together in his face.
“We're not leaving him.””
The ambulance doors shut.
Then the convoy pulled away.
The hospital was twenty minutes from the cemetery.
No one spoke during most of the drive.
Ethan finally broke the silence.
“Mom?””
Marissa turned.
“Yes?””
“Did Grandpa really try to split us up?””
Marissa looked at him.
“I don't know everything yet.””
“But he did.””
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
Ethan looked at Leo.
“Then I'm glad he failed.””
Leo gave a small smile.
“Me too.””
Daniel watched them through the mirror.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?””
No voice.
Just breathing.
Then a woman's whisper.
“Do not go to Room 214.””
Daniel stiffened.
“Anna?””
The line went dead.
He immediately showed the phone to Cole.
“That was her.””
Cole frowned.
“How would she know where we're going?””
Daniel stared ahead.
“She was warning us.””
Whitmore shook his head.
“Or someone wants us to think she was.””
The hospital appeared through the rain.
Room 214 was in an old wing behind the main building.
Most of it had been closed for years.
Dust covered the hallway.
Broken signs hung from the walls.
An officer forced open a rusted door.
“There's nothing here.””
Daniel checked the room number.
214.
He looked at Whitmore.
“This is it.””
The room contained a single examination bed, a rusted cabinet, and a faded ceiling light.
Marissa walked slowly inside.
Her hand brushed the wall.
“This was where they told me he was dead.””
Leo remained in the doorway.
Marissa looked at him.
“I wish I could remember holding you.””
“You can make new memories.””
She stared at him.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Yes.””
Daniel searched the room.
“Where is the hidden compartment?””
Whitmore pointed toward the wall behind the cabinet.
“There.””
They moved the cabinet.
A rectangular outline appeared beneath the wallpaper.
Cole pulled out a knife.
She cut through the old paper.
A metal panel was revealed.
Daniel pried it open.
Inside was a sealed black box.
Marissa stopped breathing.
Whitmore whispered, “That's it.””
Daniel removed it.
There was a cassette inside.
And an envelope.
Marissa's name was written across it.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
The letter inside was short.
*Marissa,*
*By the time you read this, they may have told you your second child died. He did not.*
Her vision blurred.
She continued.
**I saw what happened. Your father-in-law arranged the transfer. Dr.
Whitmore was threatened. Graham Hale was paid. I was ordered to change the second baby's records.**
Marissa looked at Whitmore.
He bowed his head.
The next line made her stop.
*But there is something you don't know.*
Daniel leaned closer.
“What?””
Marissa kept reading.
*The child you were told was Benjamin was not the child who left the hospital.*
Her hands went cold.
“No.””
Daniel took the letter.
His eyes moved across the page.
“What does that mean?””
Whitmore's face had gone white.
Marissa looked at him.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“Suspected what?””
He didn't answer.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“You're going to tell us.””
Whitmore stepped backward.
“The records were switched twice.””
Daniel froze.
“What?””
“The first separation was exactly as we thought.””
He looked at Ethan.
“Ethan stayed with Marissa.””
Then at Leo.
“Benjamin was sent to the Hales.””
“So what's the problem?””
Whitmore pointed toward the letter.
“Anna discovered another switch.””
Leo stepped forward.
“Another switch?””
Whitmore nodded.
“Someone attempted to replace Benjamin with another infant.””
Marissa stared.
“Why?””
“To make sure no DNA test could ever identify him.””
Daniel's voice sharpened.
“Are you saying Leo isn't Benjamin?””
“No.””
Whitmore looked directly at the boy.
“He is.””
Marissa released a breath.
“Then what's the switch?””
Whitmore looked at Ethan.
“The hospital's records were altered to make it appear that Ethan was the second-born child.””
Daniel frowned.
“Why would anyone care which twin was born first?””
Whitmore answered quietly.
“The Bennett trust.””
Marissa's eyes widened.
“The firstborn inherits.””
“Yes.””
“So someone changed the birth order.””
Whitmore nodded.
“Your father wanted Ethan to remain firstborn on paper.””
Daniel stared.
“But Ethan really was first.””
“Yes.””
“Then why change it?””
“Because your father knew Benjamin might one day return.””
Whitmore looked at Leo.
“If Benjamin returned as the second-born son, he could contest the trust.””
Daniel's fists tightened.
“So my father's whole plan depended on hiding him.””
“Yes.””
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Everyone turned.
Cole raised her weapon.
“Who's there?””
No answer.
Then the lights went out.
The room fell into darkness.
Marissa grabbed Leo.
Daniel pulled Ethan close.
A door slammed somewhere nearby.
Then another.
Cole shouted, “Stay where you are!””
A gunshot exploded down the corridor.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
“Police! Drop your weapon!””
Another shot.
Daniel pushed the boys behind the cabinet.
“Stay down!””
Leo reached for Ethan.
“I've got you.””
Ethan gripped his hand.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Marissa.””
She froze.
Not Anna.
Not Vale.
A man's voice.
Familiar.
Soft.
“It's me.””
Daniel's face changed.
“Dad?””
Charles appeared in the doorway.
Blood stained his shirt.
He was holding a gun.
Cole immediately aimed at him.
“Drop it!””
Charles didn't.
Instead, he looked at Marissa.
“I came to tell you the last part.””
Daniel stepped in front of her.
“What last part?””
Charles's eyes moved to Leo.
Then Ethan.
“Neither of you understands why your grandfather was so afraid.””
A siren wailed outside.
Charles lifted the gun slightly.
“The truth isn't about the inheritance.””
Marissa whispered, “Then what is it about?””
Charles looked directly at her.
“Your marriage.””
Daniel stared.
“My marriage?””
Charles nodded.
“Your father never wanted the twins separated because of money.””
He took a shaky breath.
“He did it because he discovered something about Marissa.””
Marissa's face drained of color.
“What?””
Charles looked at her.
“You were never supposed to be the children's mother.””
Silence.
Daniel stared at his father.
“What did you just say?””
Charles lowered the gun.
“Marissa, you were carrying someone else's embryos.””
Marissa couldn't breathe.
“What?””
Charles's voice broke.
“Your father-in-law used an illegal fertility arrangement to create the heirs.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
Charles continued.
“The embryos weren't yours.””
Marissa looked at Leo.
Then Ethan.
“No.””
“They were created from another woman's eggs.””
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Whose?””
Charles looked toward the doorway.
A shadow moved in the hall.
Then a woman stepped into the light.
Her hair was gray now.
Her face was thinner.
But Marissa knew her.
Anna Mercer.
The nurse from eleven years ago.
She looked directly at Leo.
Then at Ethan.
And whispered:
“Mine.””
Marissa's world tilted.
Anna began to cry.
“I am your biological mother.””
And behind her, Detective Cole saw something that made her raise her weapon again.
Graham Hale was standing in the corridor.
May you like
Alive.
And holding Anna's blood-stained hospital badge.
