Chapter 8 - The Annex
The tactical team searched every room.
The voice had come through an old intercom connected to the building network.
But someone had been there recently.
In a side office, we found bottled water, food wrappers, and a folding chair with zip ties cut on the floor.
Anne had likely been held there.
On the desk sat one page from a hospital transfer log.
BABY B - MERCER.
Destination: North Valley Pediatric Care.
Authorization: V. Lane.
"They moved a newborn off the books."
A second line showed the infant returned to St. Matthew's six hours later.
But the chart number belonged to another child.
"Identity swap," the records investigator said. "Not a medical transfer."
I thought of Rachel exhausted in a hospital bed, believing both boys were safe.
"Did she know?"
Then I found a small digital recorder taped beneath the desk.
A woman's voice said, "I won't sign this. Daniel doesn't even know there are two forms."
I knew her voice after one word.
A man answered, "Mrs. Mercer, this is temporary neonatal authorization."
"Then why does it say placement?"
Rachel said, "Bring my husband back in here. Now."
I pressed play again because grief makes idiots of us.
Rachel had known something was wrong.
And I had been downstairs calling our families, completely unaware.
Mara squeezed my shoulder once.
Then an officer shouted from the corridor.
They had found another room.
Inside was a recently used laptop.
The browser history showed searches for me, Oliver, Anne Brooks, and a private airfield outside the city.
One document was still open.
A passenger manifest for a charter flight leaving at midnight.
Vanessa Lane Mercer.
May you like
Grant Vale.
And Elijah Brooks.
