Chapter 4 - Hawthorne House
The drive to Hawthorne House took twenty-seven minutes.
Roman made it in sixteen.
Emma sat beside him in the black SUV, one hand gripping the door as Boston disappeared behind them.
Victor followed in another vehicle.
Celeste had been ordered to stay at the hospital.
Marco had been told something worse.
Find out how Caleb had left the fourth floor.
And pray Roman learned the answer before losing another child.
“You’re not going inside alone,” Emma said.
Roman kept his eyes on the road.
“The note said come alone.”
“It was addressed to both of us.”
“It said bring the drive.”
“It said both your children.”
“Our children.”
Roman glanced at her.
Emma looked out the window.
Neither had spoken those words until now.
Our children.
For three years, Roman had built his life around a wound he thought Emma created.
For three years, Emma had lived with missing pieces of memory and the belief Roman abandoned her when she needed him.
Now they had a six-month-old son.
Possibly a daughter.
And someone was using both against them.
Roman slowed as Hawthorne House appeared beyond iron gates.
The estate looked abandoned.
No lights.
Dead vines climbed stone walls.
A fountain stood dry in the circular drive.
Victor stopped behind them.
Roman checked his weapon.
Emma noticed.
“No shooting unless somebody is threatening the babies.”
“That was already the plan.”
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
She saw the man she had once intended to marry.
Beneath the tattoos.
Beneath the reputation.
Beneath the control.
Terrified.
“If Caleb is hurt…”
Emma touched his wrist.
“We get him back first.”
Roman nodded.
They approached the main entrance.
Unlocked.
Inside smelled like dust and antiseptic.
Emma frowned.
“Antiseptic?”
Roman touched a table.
Dust covered the surface.
But footprints crossed it.
Recent.
They followed the prints through a ballroom.
Past faded portraits.
Toward the east wing.
Roman remembered the corridor.
As a child, he had once asked his father what was behind those doors.
Thomas had answered:
Things children don’t need to see.
Roman hated the memory now.
The east wing door opened.
Fluorescent light spilled out.
The abandoned mansion ended.
A medical facility began.
Clean floors.
Refrigerated storage.
Security cameras.
Exam rooms.
Emma whispered, “My God.”
Victor appeared behind them.
“This is bigger than I thought.”
Roman glared.
“You’ve been investigating for years.”
“From the outside.”
A speaker crackled overhead.
“Leave the drive on the table.”
A stainless steel table stood at the center of the corridor.
Roman looked at the ceiling.
“Give me my son.”
A baby cried somewhere beyond the wall.
Caleb.
Emma moved instinctively.
Roman caught her hand.
The speaker continued.
“Drive first.”
Roman removed the flash drive.
Placed it on the table.
Nothing happened.
Then a door unlocked.
Room 14.
Emma entered first.
Caleb lay in a hospital crib.
Awake.
Crying.
Alive.
Emma rushed to him.
She checked his breathing, pupils and pulse.
“No obvious injury.”
Roman lifted his son.
Caleb immediately grabbed his shirt.
Roman closed his eyes.
For one second, nothing else existed.
Then Emma noticed another crib.
Empty.
A pink blanket lay inside.
Roman saw it too.
Lucy.
A label was taped to the frame.
VALE, LUCY E.
Emma touched the blanket.
Still warm.
“She was here.”
Roman’s expression changed.
A door slammed in the corridor.
Victor shouted.
Roman handed Caleb to Emma.
“Lock this door.”
“Roman—”
“Lock it.”
He ran.
Victor was grappling with a masked man.
Roman hit the attacker once.
The man dropped.
Roman tore away the mask.
He didn’t recognize him.
Victor searched his pockets.
Hospital badge.
CHILDREN’S HARBOR MEDICAL CENTER — FACILITIES DEPARTMENT.
Emma came out carrying Caleb.
“He helped cause the blackout.”
Roman crouched.
“Where’s the girl?”
The man smiled through blood.
“You mean the spare?”
Roman’s fist tightened.
Victor grabbed his shoulder.
“No.”
Roman’s voice became quiet.
“Where is my daughter?”
“She was never yours.”
Roman leaned closer.
“Wrong answer.”
Emma stepped forward.
“Who is Lucy with?”
The man looked at her.
Recognition.
“Dr. Carter.”
Emma frowned.
“You know me?”
“Everyone knows you.”
“Who is everyone?”
The man laughed.
“The children who survived.”
Emma went still.
Victor asked, “What does that mean?”
The attacker looked at Roman.
“Your father didn’t just steal babies.”
He smiled.
“He made families.”
Roman’s phone rang.
Unknown number again.
He answered.
The same woman’s voice.
“You found Caleb.”
“Where is Lucy?”
“Safe.”
“I decide what safe means.”
“No. That’s how your father thought.”
Roman looked around.
“You’re watching us.”
“Yes.”
Emma reached for the phone.
Roman put it on speaker.
Emma said, “Are you Katherine?”
Silence.
Then the woman whispered:
“Emma?”
Emma’s knees nearly buckled.
“Katherine.”
Roman watched her face.
“Katherine, where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Lucy is my daughter.”
A sob came through the phone.
“I know.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“You carried them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I thought I was rescuing them.”
Roman said, “From whom?”
Katherine laughed bitterly.
“From the Vale family.”
Victor looked away.
Roman didn’t react.
Katherine continued.
“Thomas contacted me after he disappeared. He told me Emma’s embryos still existed. He wanted to destroy them so Shaw couldn’t use them.”
Emma whispered, “But you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they were yours.”
Emma cried silently.
Katherine’s voice broke.
“I thought if I carried them, I could give them back to you.”
Roman asked, “Then why did I get Caleb through an agency?”
“I never authorized that.”
Something slammed in the background.
Katherine gasped.
Emma straightened.
“Katherine?”
“Listen to me. Lucy is safe for now.”
“Where?”
“You need to stop looking.”
“No.”
“Emma, they will kill you.”
“They already tried.”
Katherine breathed hard.
“Then find Dr. Shaw before he finds Lucy.”
The line went dead.
Roman looked at the masked man.
“Where’s Leonard Shaw?”
The man smiled again.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
Roman stood.
“What’s the right one?”
“Why did Celeste bring Caleb the bottle?”
Victor’s gaze sharpened.
Roman’s phone rang again.
Marco.
Roman answered.
“Talk.”
Marco sounded breathless.
“I checked hospital security.”
“And?”
“Celeste never went downstairs for coffee.”
Roman went still.
“She left Caleb’s floor through the service elevator. She returned twenty-three minutes later with the diaper bag.”
Emma stared at him.
Marco continued.
“There’s more.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“Say it.”
“The penthouse cameras show Celeste entering your home three hours before Caleb got sick.”
Roman looked down at his son.
His sister had lied.
Again.
Marco said:
“She wasn’t alone.”
Roman felt something cold move through his body.
“Who was with her?”
Marco hesitated.
May you like
Then:
“Dr. Leonard Shaw.”
