Chapter 11 - DIANE'S LAST SECRET
Victor's escape made national news.
I barely heard the reporters.
My only thought was Diane.
She had betrayed us.
But she had also given us the ledger.
If Victor wanted her alive, she knew something he desperately needed.
We tracked the vehicle to an abandoned motel.
When we arrived, Diane was inside.
Alone.
Barely conscious.
She had been beaten.
I knelt beside her.
"Where is Victor?"
She opened her eyes.
"He has Chloe."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"He took her."
"Why?"
"Because she knows where the final file is."
"What file?"
Diane whispered:
"Your father's."
I stared.
"What did my father leave?"
"A confession."
"Where?"
"Inside the house."
My childhood home.
The house had been empty since my father's death.
We went there immediately.
The place smelled like dust and old wood.
I remembered sitting at the dining table as a child.
My father teaching me how to count.
My mother laughing in the kitchen.
The memories felt different now.
We searched his office.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a photograph.
My father standing beside me.
The frame was slightly crooked.
I removed it.
Behind it was a safe.
The combination was my birthday.
Inside was a small recorder.
And a letter.
I pressed play.
My father's voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, I've failed you."
I froze.
"I knew Lucas survived."
My eyes filled with tears.
"I was told he would be safe."
He continued.
"Victor convinced me the boy was part of a medical program that could save thousands."
I clenched my fists.
"I was wrong."
My father admitted he had accepted money.
But then he tried to expose Victor.
Victor threatened him.
He threatened me.
He threatened Natalie.
So my father stayed silent.
Then came the final sentence.
"The proof is hidden where Lucas was born."
The hospital.
I looked at Marcus.
"We need to go."
But before we left, the recorder clicked again.
Another file.
My father's voice returned.
"There's something else you must know."
I listened.
"Natalie wasn't the only mother whose child disappeared."
My blood froze.
"There were twelve."
Twelve children.
Twelve families.
Twelve fake deaths.
Victor had built an entire network.
Then the recording ended.
Marcus looked at me.
"We have enough."
"Not without the children."
"We'll find them."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Victor.
I answered.
"Where's Chloe?"
He laughed.
"Safe."
"Let her go."
"Bring me the ledger."
"No."
"Then she dies."
I stared at the phone.
"What do you want?"
"The original medical archive."
"I don't have it."
"You will."
"Why?"
"Because your wife knows where it is."
I looked at Natalie.
She shook her head.
Victor continued:
"Ask her."
The call ended.
I turned toward Natalie.
She looked terrified.
"What does he mean?"
She whispered:
"I remember something."
"What?"
"The night Lucas disappeared."
"What happened?"
"I was taken downstairs."
"By whom?"
She closed her eyes.
"Your father."
My heart stopped.
"He brought me to the hospital basement."
"Why?"
"He told me Lucas was alive."
I stared.
"Then what?"
"He gave me a key."
"What key?"
She reached into her bag.
A tiny brass key.
"I kept it for seven years."
I took it.
There was an engraving.
B-17.
Marcus looked at me.
"That's not a room."
"What is it?"
"An archive locker."
We went back to the hospital.
Basement level.
Locker B-17.
The key opened it.
Inside was a single envelope.
I opened it.
There were twelve photographs.
Twelve children.
And one document.
TRANSFER NETWORK — FINAL LIST.
Lucas was number one.
The remaining eleven children were still alive.
I looked at Natalie.
"We're not stopping."
She nodded.
"We bring them all home."
Then the lights went out.
A voice came through the darkness.
"That's exactly what I was afraid you'd say."
Victor.
May you like
He had found us.
:::
