Chapter 12 - THE THREE CHILDREN IN THE STUDY
Grace screamed when Nathan locked the laboratory door.
"I want my coat!"
Nathan turned.
"Grace, please."
"I want to go home!"
"This is temporary."
He moved toward the cabinet containing her medical files.
Grace ran to the door and pulled the handle.
Locked.
She began crying.
Nathan stopped.
For six years, he had told himself the child was safe because he had given her a comfortable home.
Now she was looking at him with the same fear he had seen in the Cole family's security footage.
He opened the door.
A female physician was waiting outside.
"Take her to the family suite."
Grace refused to move.
Nathan crouched.
"Nobody is going to hurt you."
The little girl looked at him.
"Then why did you lock it?"
Nathan had no answer.
Across town, Alexander and Sarah were meeting with the independent medical investigator who had reviewed the original Morrow research proposal.
Three neonatal identifiers appeared on the screen.
COLE A.
COLE B.
MERCER INFANT.
The investigator explained that the Morrow Biomedical Foundation had been studying a rare hereditary marker found in the Cole family.
Alexander's father had supplied historical family medical information through Cole Consolidated.
Sarah had consented to ordinary prenatal screening.
But that consent had never authorized Morrow to conduct a private longitudinal experiment or separate newborn children from their families.
Nathan wanted a more ambitious study.
Two biological twins raised apart.
One child retained in a wealthy biological household.
Another raised by a guardian outside that household.
A third child of different biological parentage placed into the original family.
The purpose was to compare the influence of heredity, environment, attachment, and family status on development.
Sarah stared at the screen.
"Emily was the third child."
"Yes."
"She was supposed to replace one of my daughters."
The investigator nodded.
"The original plan called for Baby B to enter Morrow's private program and for the Mercer infant to occupy the Cole bassinet temporarily. The records indicate Baby A was also to be transferred for continued observation."
Alexander frowned.
"Then why did Emily stay with us?"
"Because Theodore interrupted the transfer of Baby B. The hospital concealed the resulting confusion rather than report the unauthorized operation."
The investigator displayed the timeline.
Before the scheduled transfer, Laura Mercer arrived at St. Matthew's after giving birth during an emergency ambulance journey.
Her newborn was admitted to neonatal care.
Morrow staff identified the child as a suitable replacement for the planned switch.
During the eleven-minute tagging outage, the Mercer infant was moved into the bassinet designated for Cole A.
The original Baby A was removed through a private neonatal transfer.
Theodore arrived while Morrow was preparing to remove Baby B.
He took Baby B first.
Nora left the hospital with her.
By morning, the staff responsible for the switch had three separate problems.
Theodore had disappeared with one Cole infant.
Nathan's team already had the other.
And the Mercer infant remained in the Cole nursery.
Instead of reporting the truth, Dr. Ward allowed the false discharge record to stand.
Alexander took Emily home.
Nathan kept Baby A.
Nora kept Baby B.
Three children.
Three different homes.
One concealed study.
Sarah covered her mouth.
"Where was Laura?"
"Her father removed her from hospital care after she began asking questions about her baby."
Alexander looked toward the file.
"Did the hospital know Nathan was her father?"
"The admission record identifies Laura as Nathan Mercer's daughter. The investigation is examining who knew he controlled the transfer."
Sarah stood.
"I want every person who signed those documents identified."
The investigator nodded.
"That work is underway."
Then Alexander noticed another page.
A follow-up schedule.
Emily's sixth birthday.
Lily's sixth birthday.
Grace's sixth birthday.
Each had a separate assessment entry.
He stared.
"How did Morrow examine Emily?"
The investigator hesitated.
"Through research partners that obtained pediatric and educational information. Some records appear to have been collected under ordinary service contracts."
Alexander felt sick.
He had spent years believing money allowed him to provide the best doctors and schools for his daughter.
Someone had used those same services to keep studying her.
"And Lily?"
"Some observations were obtained through Nora's caregiver-support payments."
Sarah looked furious.
"Nora was sending them information?"
"We need to determine what she knew was being collected."
Alexander remembered the envelopes Evelyn Grant had shown them.
The foundation payments.
The photographs of Emily.
The threats.
The entire system had been built around adults who believed they could manage danger by keeping the girls' identities hidden.
Then the investigator placed one final record on the table.
A transfer approval.
Dated six years earlier.
Theodore Cole had been listed as the corporate representative who authorized Morrow's original access.
Alexander stared.
"My father?"
The investigator pointed to the date.
"The approval predates his discovery of the unauthorized neonatal transfer."
Sarah looked at Alexander.
"Theodore helped them get access to my pregnancy."
Alexander read the document.
His father's signature was genuine.
Theodore had believed he was authorizing a genetics partnership.
Then, after discovering what Nathan intended, he had taken Lily and hidden her.
Theodore was both the man who opened the door and the man who tried to close it.
Alexander looked toward Sarah.
"I need to know what he knew when he signed."
Before she could answer, his phone rang.
Grace's independent attorney.
Nathan had canceled the court-ordered medical assessment and moved the child out of her registered residence.
No replacement address had been provided.
The attorney spoke quickly.
"We're asking the court for an emergency protective order."
Alexander looked at the photograph of Grace.
The little girl who had asked whether she would have to take the memory test again.
Nathan had brought her to the gate to prove he still controlled her.
Now he had moved her because that control was being challenged.
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And Alexander knew the next person Nathan might use to keep his secrets.
Laura Mercer.
