Chapter 11 - THE THIRD GIRL AT THE GATE
Nathan Mercer grabbed the little girl's wrist when she tried to step away from the black sedan.
Alexander saw it on the security monitor.
"Open the pedestrian gate," he ordered.
Sarah caught his arm.
"Alexander, we don't know what he wants."
"I know he has our daughter."
Upstairs, Emily and Lily were sitting together on Lily's new bed. Neither knew that another little girl had arrived outside the mansion.
Alexander wanted to keep it that way until he understood what Nathan intended.
The gate opened.
Nathan entered with the child beside him.
She wore a white coat, black shoes, and a faded hospital bracelet that looked absurdly small around her wrist.
Alexander stopped several feet away.
"What's her name?"
Nathan smiled.
"Grace."
The girl looked at Alexander.
Then at Sarah.
"Are you the people from the photographs?"
Sarah's knees weakened.
"What photographs, sweetheart?"
Grace turned toward Nathan.
"May I tell her?"
Alexander felt his anger rise.
"You don't need his permission to speak."
Nathan tightened his grip.
Grace fell silent.
Sarah stepped forward.
"Please let go of her."
Nathan released the girl's wrist.
Then he looked directly at Alexander.
"You've spent a week searching for children who were never lost."
Alexander stared.
"My daughter lived inside a wall because your people were trying to take her."
"And now she's safe."
"Tell me why you're here."
Nathan produced a leather folder.
Inside were a birth certificate, guardianship documents, medical records, and photographs of Grace growing up.
There was a picture of her riding a bicycle.
Another at a birthday party.
Another standing beside Nathan in a greenhouse.
Everything appeared ordinary.
That frightened Sarah more than a photograph of a laboratory.
Grace had been living somewhere.
Eating breakfast.
Going to school.
Learning to ride a bicycle.
While Sarah had been told she had only one daughter.
"Did you raise her?" Sarah asked.
Nathan nodded.
"Since she was an infant."
Alexander took the folder.
The birth certificate listed Grace Mercer.
Guardian: Nathan Mercer.
Biological parent information was restricted.
"Why did you change her name?"
"Because the Cole name attracts attention."
Alexander looked at the hospital bracelet.
"Then why bring her here wearing that?"
Nathan smiled.
"Because we have reached the point where identity matters."
He handed Alexander a second document.
A proposed acknowledgment of parentage and temporary guardianship agreement.
Alexander read the first page.
His expression hardened.
Nathan wanted the Cole family to recognize Grace as the biological daughter born as Baby A while leaving her existing guardianship under his control until an independent court decided otherwise.
The agreement also required the family to preserve his access to the child's medical information.
Sarah took the document.
"No."
Nathan turned.
"You haven't read the entire thing."
"I've read enough."
"You may be her biological mother, but you are a stranger to her."
Sarah flinched.
Nathan saw it.
He continued.
"Grace has a stable home. You cannot simply take her because a laboratory found a genetic relationship."
Alexander stepped forward.
"Then we'll let the court determine what happens."
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"Be careful what you ask the court to examine."
Grace suddenly pulled away from him.
"I want to go home."
Sarah crouched.
"Where is home, sweetheart?"
Grace pointed toward the car.
Nathan reached for her again.
Alexander moved between them.
"Don't."
The security officer at the gate approached.
Nathan raised both hands.
"Very well."
He looked toward Grace.
"Get in the car."
The girl hesitated.
Then whispered something Alexander could barely hear.
"Will I have to do the test again?"
Sarah went completely still.
"What test?"
Nathan answered before Grace could.
"Routine medical screening."
Grace shook her head.
"No. The memory one."
Nathan's expression changed.
He looked toward the driver.
"Start the car."
Alexander stepped in front of him.
"Nobody is leaving until the police arrive."
Nathan's voice hardened.
"You have no authority to detain me."
"Then you're free to wait outside the gate."
Grace began crying.
"I don't want the chair."
Sarah reached toward her.
Grace backed away.
Nathan took her hand and moved toward the sedan.
Alexander had no legal order authorizing him to seize the child.
He also knew that another physical confrontation could terrify Grace.
He let them reach the vehicle while security recorded the entire encounter.
Before entering, Nathan turned.
"You have two daughters inside. Don't turn this into a fight that takes all three of them away."
The sedan departed.
Sarah stood beside Alexander, shaking.
"He brought her here to threaten us."
Alexander watched the car disappear.
"No."
He looked at the unsigned agreement.
"He brought her here because he needs something."
Five minutes later, Grace's independent medical records were requested through the emergency guardianship proceedings.
Then Alexander received a call from the investigator examining the Morrow archive.
The woman spoke quietly.
"Mr. Cole, Nathan Mercer has been using Grace in a longitudinal genetics program."
Alexander closed his eyes.
"What kind of program?"
"We don't have the complete protocol yet."
A pause.
"But we've found a six-year-old study file comparing three children born on the same night."
Alexander looked toward the staircase.
Emily.
Lily.
Grace.
The investigator continued.
"The records identify them as three separate developmental environments."
Alexander understood.
May you like
The girls had not merely been switched.
Someone had spent six years studying what happened afterward.
