Chapter 12: The Third Child Was Already Missing
My father walked into the coffee shop as if he owned it.
Daniel immediately lowered the pistol.
“Arthur.””
“Daniel.””
They exchanged no greetings.
No handshakes.
No expressions of affection.
Just two men staring at each other across a small wooden table.
I stepped between them.
“Where are my daughters?””
My father ignored me.
He looked at Daniel.
“You've made a terrible mistake.””
Daniel laughed.
“You stole my childhood. You stole my mother. You stole my daughter. I think we're past mistakes.””
My father pulled out a chair.
“Sit down.””
“No.””
“Daniel, please. We can resolve this.””
Daniel slammed the ledger onto the table.
“You've had twenty-six years to resolve it.””
Dr. Carter stepped forward.
“Ryan, you need to see something.””
She handed me the photograph.
It showed three newborn babies in a hospital nursery.
Two were Lily and Grace.
The third had a small bracelet around its wrist.
I recognized the name.
Daniel Mitchell.
I looked at him.
“What's this?””
Daniel's face changed.
“Where did you get that?””
Dr. Carter answered.
“From Sarah's original medical file.””
I examined the photograph.
The three babies were listed under separate identification numbers.
A-01.
B-17.
B-18.
But the final entry was different.
C-03.
There was a handwritten note beneath it.
*Genetic transfer completed.*
I looked at my father.
“Why are there three babies?””
He didn't answer.
Daniel suddenly sat down.
“My father told me I was born alone.””
Dr. Carter shook her head.
“You were.””
“Then why is my name there?””
She placed another report on the table.
“Because the program used your genetic material to create another child.””
I stared.
“Another child?””
Daniel slowly looked up.
“Olivia.””
Dr. Carter nodded.
“Olivia was born through a separate surrogate pregnancy. Her genetic material was taken from Daniel's original medical samples.””
Daniel looked as though he'd been struck.
“My daughter wasn't conceived naturally?””
“Not according to these records.””
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, I felt sorry for him.
Then I remembered Lily.
I remembered Grace.
I remembered Sarah's final recording.
We were all connected by the same man's obsession.
My father finally spoke.
“The program was intended to advance reproductive medicine.””
I turned toward him.
“You keep calling it a program. You used human beings without their knowledge.””
“Your father was trying to build something important,” Dr. Carter said quietly.
My father looked at her.
“Evelyn, don't pretend you weren't involved.””
She lowered her eyes.
“I was involved in the original medical research. I didn't know what you were doing with the children.””
“Convenient.””
“I signed the reports you gave me. I trusted you.””
“And you accepted the money.””
She flinched.
Daniel slammed his hand against the table.
“Enough. Where is Olivia?””
My father looked at him.
“Safe.””
“Where?””
“Project Sanctuary.””
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
“Then we're going.””
My father shook his head.
“You don't understand. The facility is already being cleared.””
I felt my heart race.
“Cleared of what?””
“Medical equipment. Records. Everyone.””
“Everyone?””
He looked at me.
“Lily. Grace. Olivia. Anyone who could connect the research to the original funding.””
I grabbed his jacket.
“Where are my daughters?””
He pulled away.
“Ryan, you need to understand the bigger picture.””
I nearly struck him.
“The bigger picture is two little girls who have been stolen from their father!””
My phone rang.
It was the hospital.
I answered immediately.
“Hello?””
A nurse sounded frantic.
“Mr. Mitchell, we're having a serious problem. Your daughter has disappeared.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
“Someone entered her room using an authorization document. They claimed they were transferring her to another hospital.””
“Who signed it?””
“The document bears your father's signature.””
I turned toward Arthur.
He looked at me.
Then he said calmly:
“I told you I would protect her.””
I shoved him against the wall.
“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?””
Security guards rushed into the coffee shop.
Dr. Carter grabbed my arm.
“Ryan, stop! We need to think.””
I pulled away.
“Think? My child is missing!””
Daniel opened his briefcase and removed a second phone.
“I can track the transport vehicle.””
“How?””
“I placed a tracking device on the facility's medical transfer system two months ago.””
He tapped the screen.
A map appeared.
A vehicle was moving toward an industrial area outside the city.
Daniel grabbed his keys.
“That's Project Sanctuary.””
I looked at my father.
“Come with us.””
He shook his head.
“No.””
I stepped closer.
“If you know anything about what happens to my daughters, you're coming.””
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he smiled sadly.
“You still don't understand.””
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small photograph.
It showed a woman holding a newborn baby.
The woman was Sarah.
But she looked much younger than I remembered.
On the back was a date.
Thirty years earlier.
I stared at it.
“That's impossible.””
My father nodded.
“Sarah wasn't your biological sister in the way you think.””
I felt my head spin.
“What are you talking about?””
He continued.
“Margaret Collins wasn't your biological mother. She was a surrogate who carried an embryo created from two separate donors.””
Dr. Carter stepped forward.
“Arthur, stop.””
He ignored her.
“Sarah was the biological daughter of Margaret and me. But the egg used to create you came from a different donor.””
I stared at him.
“Then why did the genetic report say we were related?””
“Because the donor was my sister.””
My stomach turned.
Sarah and I were still biologically related.
But through my father's family.
My father continued.
“The children were never supposed to be born naturally. Sarah's pregnancy happened outside the program. Your daughters were never part of the original plan.””
Daniel looked furious.
“Then why did you keep them?””
My father finally answered.
“Because their genetic profiles were unique. And because the third child was the one we had been trying to create for thirty years.””
I looked at the photograph again.
The woman holding the baby was Sarah.
But the newborn wasn't Lily or Grace.
It was a different child.
A fourth child.
“Who is that baby?””
My father stared at me.
Then he said:
“Her name is Olivia.””
Daniel went completely still.
“That means she's older than me.””
My father nodded.
“She was born before either of you knew she existed.””
Dr. Carter suddenly covered her mouth.
“Arthur, that's not possible. Olivia's birth records say she was born twenty-six years ago.””
My father smiled faintly.
“Those records were altered.””
I looked at the photograph.
Then at Daniel.
Then at the moving vehicle on his phone.
We had been chasing a missing child.
But the woman Daniel believed was his daughter might have been born years before he was.
And if my father was telling the truth, Olivia wasn't simply another victim of the program.
She was the original child.
The one everything had been built around.
My phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Lily and Grace sitting together in a white room.
Both girls looked frightened.
Beneath the photograph was one sentence.
*Bring the blue ledger to Project Sanctuary by midnight, or neither girl leaves alive.*
May you like
A second message arrived.
*And come alone, Ryan. Your brother is not who you think he is.*
