Chapter 13 - LAURA'S FATHER
Laura Mercer was halfway through her interview when the emergency exit alarm sounded.
She stood.
"That's him."
The detective looked toward the corridor.
"Who?"
"My father."
A security officer entered.
"There's a man outside claiming he's here to collect confidential medical property."
Laura went pale.
"Don't let him in."
Alexander, who had been waiting in the adjoining room, moved toward the door.
The detective stopped him.
"Stay here."
The officer returned moments later.
The visitor had left when security requested identification.
But he had delivered an envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Grace.
Taken that morning.
Beneath it, someone had written:
YOUR DAUGHTER IS SAFE AS LONG AS YOU KEEP THE MERCER RECORDS PRIVATE.
Laura dropped the photograph.
Sarah picked it up.
Her eyes filled.
"He's threatening his own daughter with another child."
Laura began crying.
"He always does this."
Alexander sat across from her.
"Tell us exactly what happened after the hospital."
Laura took a long breath.
Her father had disapproved of her pregnancy because the baby's father was not part of the family he wanted her to marry into.
Nathan considered the pregnancy a threat to his foundation's reputation.
When Laura entered the hospital after an emergency delivery, he saw an opportunity.
A healthy newborn.
An unauthorized research program.
A private transfer that could be concealed under the confusion surrounding Sarah's emergency cesarean.
Laura was sedated following medical complications.
By the time she was awake enough to ask about her daughter, Nathan told her the baby had died.
She demanded a death certificate.
He produced one.
Then he brought her to a private recovery residence.
At first, Laura believed she was recovering from surgery.
Later, she realized her father was controlling her correspondence and medical appointments.
When she tried to leave, he threatened to withdraw financial and housing support.
Laura eventually escaped and lived under a different name.
She spent years believing her daughter was dead.
Then she found discrepancies in the hospital records.
"I went to Nathan," she whispered.
"What did he say?" Sarah asked.
"He told me I had imagined the whole thing."
Laura looked toward the photograph.
"Six months ago, Nora found me."
Alexander leaned forward.
"How?"
"Nora had recovered one of Theodore's files. It contained the unidentified infant's transport number and my old address."
Nora showed Laura the photograph of the Mercer newborn.
Then a current picture of Emily.
Laura recognized her own eyes.
But she did not simply assume the child was hers.
She began searching for the original specimen records.
Nora helped her obtain the hospital archive numbers.
Together they planned to approach Alexander and Sarah after Lily's parentage was secured.
Then Daniel intercepted Nora.
Laura remained hidden because Nathan's security personnel began following her.
She eventually entered the Cole estate through the maintenance passage Theodore had once shown her.
Alexander stared.
"Theodore knew you?"
Laura nodded.
"He found me during the first year after the birth."
Sarah stood.
"What?"
Laura looked ashamed.
"He told me my baby might still be alive."
"Then why didn't he bring us together?"
"He said exposing my identity would help Nathan locate Lily."
Alexander's hands tightened.
His father had made another decision for someone else.
Laura continued.
"Theodore promised that once he recovered the original hospital files, he would bring all three children back to the proper families."
"Did he tell you where my daughter was?" Sarah asked.
"No."
Laura looked directly at her.
"I knew a Cole baby was hidden somewhere. I didn't know Nora was raising her until years later."
Then she said something that surprised everyone.
"Theodore also told me he didn't trust Richard Vale."
Alexander nodded.
"Richard wanted the shares."
"Yes."
"But Nathan wanted the girls."
Laura's face changed.
"Not exactly."
She took an old notebook from her bag.
Theodore had given it to her before his death.
One page contained the original Morrow agreement.
The study required ongoing access to three developmental environments.
Nathan needed the Cole household to keep raising Emily.
He needed Nora to keep Lily hidden.
And he needed Grace to remain under his guardianship.
If any child was returned before the planned end of the study, the original comparison would collapse.
Alexander stared.
"He wasn't hiding Grace because of the trust."
"No."
Laura swallowed.
"He was hiding Grace because she was the last child he could still control directly."
The detective's phone rang.
The court had granted emergency authority to locate Grace and review her safety.
Nathan's registered residence was empty.
But the investigator had found a recent vehicle record.
The car carrying Grace had entered the Morrow Institute's private research campus.
Sarah stood.
"Then we go there."
Alexander looked toward Laura.
She was trembling.
He expected her to ask to stay behind.
Instead she picked up the photograph of Grace.
"My father took my baby."
May you like
Her voice became steady.
"I'm not letting him take yours too."
