Chapter 9 - THE SECOND LAUREN PIERCELauren stared at the photograph.
“Who is she?”
Elena's hands trembled.
“I don't know her name.”
“You just told me she looks like me.”
“Because she does.”
Lauren took the photograph.
The woman in the background wore a white coat and stood half behind a tree, watching the safe house.
The image had been taken four years earlier, shortly before Operation Harbor Glass collapsed.
Lauren examined the woman's face.
The same gray eyes.
The same narrow chin.
The same small scar above the left eyebrow.
Even the way she tilted her head was familiar.
It was like looking at a photograph of herself taken by someone who had never met her.
“Could this be a relative?” Lauren asked.
“I don't have another daughter.”
“Then who is she?”
Elena shook her head.
“I was hoping you would know.”
Lauren's phone rang again.
Warren.
“Lauren, we need you back at Prescott immediately.”
“Why?”
“The person who accessed the restricted archive used your biometric profile. Security has confirmed that someone matching your appearance was seen entering the research wing.”
“Did they leave?”
“Not through any monitored exit.”
Lauren looked at Elena.
The older woman was already standing.
“I'm coming with you.”
“No,” Lauren said. “You need to stay here.”
“I have spent twenty years hiding from people who wanted me silent. I'm finished hiding.”
They drove back to Prescott with the investigator.
The hospital had become a maze of locked doors and emergency lighting. Staff moved through the corridors in small groups, while security officers guarded the entrances to the research wing.
Captain Warren met them outside the restricted archive.
“The person inside has locked the door from the other side.”
“Have you tried the emergency override?”
“It's disabled.”
Lauren looked at the access panel.
A small green light blinked beside the biometric scanner.
She placed her hand against it.
The door unlocked.
Warren stared at her.
“How did you do that?”
“I didn't.”
The door opened slowly.
Inside, the archive was empty.
Rows of filing cabinets stood against the walls. The central desk held an open laptop, a glass of water, and a single photograph.
Lauren approached the desk.
The photograph showed two infants lying in hospital bassinets.
One wore a white identification band.
The other wore a yellow one.
On the back was a handwritten note.
PIERCE — SUBJECT A.
PIERCE — SUBJECT B.
Lauren felt the blood drain from her face.
“Twins,” she whispered.
Elena stepped into the room behind her.
“No.”
Lauren turned.
“You said you had one daughter.”
“I gave birth to one child.”
“Then explain this.”
Elena took the photograph.
Her lips moved silently as she read the labels.
Then she sank into a chair.
“Oh, God.”
“What is it?”
Elena stared at the two infants.
“There was another baby.”
The room fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
Elena covered her mouth.
“When I gave birth, I was told there had been complications. I was unconscious for hours. When I woke, they told me my daughter had survived, but the other infant had not.”
“Other infant?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“They said one of the babies was stillborn.”
Lauren stared at the photograph.
“Were you carrying twins?”
“I didn't know. They told me there had been an emergency delivery.”
“Who told you?”
“Greiss.”
The answer seemed to reverberate through the archive.
Lauren looked at Warren.
“Can you verify these records?”
Warren nodded.
“We can request the original birth files, but if the archive has been compromised, we need an independent copy.”
Lauren opened the laptop.
A single document was displayed on the screen.
It contained a list of patient identities, dates of birth, and genetic identifiers.
Two entries were marked with the same maternal record.
One belonged to Lauren Pierce.
The other belonged to a woman identified only as L. PIERCE — SUBJECT B.
The second record had been updated three weeks earlier.
Its location was listed as Admiral Prescott Naval Medical Center.
Lauren's pulse quickened.
“She's here.”
Warren examined the screen.
“There's no current patient location.”
“Then find the person who updated the record.”
Warren contacted the security team.
Within minutes, they discovered that the second identity had been used to access the hospital's restricted research wing, but the account was tied to a staff credential belonging to a nurse who had resigned six months earlier.
The nurse's name was Lauren Pierce.
The same name.
The same employee number.
Someone had copied Lauren's credentials and used them to create a second identity.
But the photograph suggested something more.
Someone had been watching Lauren for years.
Someone who looked exactly like her.
A noise came from the far end of the archive.
A soft click.
Then a door opened.
A woman stepped into the room.
She wore cobalt blue scrubs.
Her hair was tied back.
Her face was Lauren's face.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then the woman smiled.
“Hello, sister.”
Lauren felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
Elena rose slowly.
“No,” she whispered. “That's impossible.”
The woman looked at her.
“You always said that, Mother.”
Elena stumbled backward.
Lauren stepped between them.
“Who are you?”
The woman tilted her head.
“My name is Lauren Pierce.”
“That's my name.”
“I know.”
“Why are you using my credentials?”
“Because I was the one who was supposed to have them.”
Warren moved toward the woman.
“Keep your hands where I can see them.”
The woman ignored her.
She looked directly at Lauren.
“You were the child they kept. I was the child they hid.”
Lauren's mouth went dry.
“Why?”
“Because one of us was born with a heart condition. They wanted to study it. They wanted to know why one baby survived and the other didn't.”
Elena shook her head violently.
“No. They told me—”
“They told you what they needed you to believe.”
The woman's voice cracked.
“They took me from you. They gave me another name. They made me part of the research program. And when I got old enough to understand what they had done, I tried to expose them.”
Lauren stared at her.
“Why did you come here?”
The woman looked toward the locked door.
“Because Greiss is leaving tonight. And he has the original records.”
“Where?”
“Under the hospital.”
Warren's expression changed.
“There's no underground research facility.”
The woman smiled without humor.
“That's what the blueprints say.”
She reached into her pocket and removed a small brass key.
It was identical to the key Lauren had found in the restricted archive.
“Greiss is going to destroy the original files before the investigators arrive,” she said. “If he does, nobody will ever know what happened to the children in that program.”
Lauren looked at the key.
Then at the woman who shared her face.
“What do you want from me?”
The woman held her gaze.
“I want you to help me save the children.”
She turned toward the door.
“But before we go, there's something you need to know.”
Lauren waited.
May you like
The woman lowered her voice.
“Eli isn't the only baby they took.”
