Chapter 13 - The Clinic
The clinic had been closed for seven years.
Grant's foundation still paid the taxes.
Police surrounded the property while I waited in an unmarked car half a mile away, furious that they would not let me closer.
Twenty-three minutes later, officers came out with Celia.
Alive.
Then Anne Brooks.
Grant was gone.
He had left through a service tunnel before police entered.
Anne was taken to the hospital for evaluation. Two hours later she asked to speak with me.
For a long moment none of us knew what to say.
This woman had raised the child I might have lost.
I was the man whose name could shatter the life she had built.
"If Eli is your son, I'm still his mother."
"Yes," I said immediately.
"Thank you."
She told me Grant arranged the adoption through a private agency. She and Thomas were told the birth mother had chosen confidentiality and the father was unknown.
They paid legal fees, not bribes. They believed everything was legitimate.
Years later, Grant began asking for money.
"Record maintenance fees," he called them.
When Anne refused, he warned her that irregular paperwork could cause the adoption to be challenged.
He had been blackmailing them with a crime he created.
Celia confirmed the last missing piece.
Vanessa had not acted alone at the hospital.
But she had not been the mastermind either.
He discovered Rachel's family trust during an estate review. Two beneficiaries meant less money returning to the foundation.
So one baby became "dead" on paper.
Years later, Vanessa realized Daniel Mercer was lonely, wealthy, and still controlled the surviving child's share.
She approached me on purpose.
Every smile after that suddenly felt rehearsed.
Then Anne asked the question I had been afraid to hear.
"Does Eli know?"
"Not yet."
Thomas said they wanted to tell him themselves, with a counselor present.
Mara entered the room before we could say more.
"We found Grant's car."
"Where?"
"Outside your company headquarters."
May you like
My office occupied the top floor.
And Oliver was there with my sister under police protection.
