Chapter 4 - The Missing Eleven Days
The truth began to emerge in fragments.
A forged hospital record.
A missing nurse.
A dead grandmother.
A stolen baby.
And a family that had apparently been lying for years.
But one question haunted me.
If Leo was connected to my son somehow, what happened during the eleven days Noah lived?
Lorenzo arranged for us to return to St. Catherine's.
The hospital had changed.
New administration.
New security.
But the old maternity wing remained.
A nurse named Claire remembered me.
She recognized me immediately.
“Hunter?”
I nodded.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I heard about your baby.”
“Do you remember that night?”
Claire hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
She looked toward Lorenzo.
“I need privacy.”
Lorenzo stepped outside.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Your baby was moved.”
“What?”
“After his condition worsened.”
“You told me he died in intensive care.”
“He did.”
“But?”
She looked terrified.
“There was another baby.”
My stomach dropped.
“What baby?”
“A premature infant whose mother had died.”
I stared at her.
“Leo?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“There was confusion with the records.”
“Who caused it?”
“I don't know.”
Then she whispered:
“Dr. Adrian Vale.”
Lorenzo's expression changed when I told him.
He knew the name.
“Vale worked for my family.”
“What?”
“Medical consultant.”
“Why?”
“He handled private medical matters.”
I stared at him.
“You mean your family had its own doctor?”
“Yes.”
“And he worked at the hospital when Noah died?”
“Yes.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
Except one thing.
Why?
We found Adrian Vale living under another name in Connecticut.
Lorenzo wanted to send armed men.
I stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because if he knows you are coming, he'll run.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I go.”
He stared at me as if I'd lost my mind.
“You?”
“He may talk to me.”
“And why would he?”
“Because I'm the mother.”
Lorenzo's expression softened.
“Then I'm coming with you.”
The meeting was a disaster.
Vale recognized Lorenzo immediately.
He ran.
We chased him through a grocery store parking lot.
He slipped.
Lorenzo caught him.
“You have five seconds.”
Vale looked at me.
“Hunter?”
“Yes.”
His face went white.
“You're alive.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“You don't know.”
“Tell me.”
Vale's voice shook.
“The babies were switched.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Which babies?”
“Yours and Sophia's.”
Lorenzo's face turned to stone.
“No.”
Vale nodded.
“The bombing wasn't random.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“What are you saying?”
“Sophia knew someone wanted Lorenzo dead.”
“She was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“She gave birth before she died.”
Vale nodded.
“And the baby?”
“Leo survived.”
I looked at him.
“Then what happened to Noah?”
Vale swallowed.
“There was no Noah.”
The world tilted.
“What?”
Vale looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“The baby you buried wasn't yours.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Then whose baby did I bury?”
May you like
Vale whispered:
“Someone else's.”
