CHAPTER 7 — The Child They Erased
The hospital room became so quiet that even the heart monitor seemed too loud.
Emily stared at the faded birth records in Thomas Brooks' trembling hands.
"There... was another baby?"
Thomas nodded slowly.
"Three babies were born within eleven minutes that night."
He carefully unfolded a yellowed delivery chart.
Baby One.
Emily Carter.
Baby Two.
Ava Whitmore.
Baby Three.
The space where the name should have been...
...had been cut out with scissors.
Sarah covered her mouth.
"They erased the name..."
Thomas looked directly at Detective Miller.
"They didn't erase it."
"They erased the child."
The detective frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Thomas slid another photograph across the bed.
It showed three newborn bassinets.
Two were occupied.
The third was empty.
On the back, someone had written one sentence:
"Witness removed before sunrise."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"A witness?"
Thomas nodded.
"The third baby wasn't just another newborn."
"That child was born with a rare genetic marker."
"The same marker that could prove Emily and Ava had been switched."
Emily whispered,
"So... someone kidnapped a baby?"
Thomas answered quietly.
"No."
"They hired someone to make sure the baby was never found."
Just then, Detective Miller's phone rang.
His expression changed instantly.
"The old maternity building..."
He looked around the room.
"They found human remains hidden beneath the basement."
Everyone stopped breathing.
But before anyone could speak...
The detective received one more message.
"It's not a baby's skeleton."
"It's an adult."
And the victim had been carrying...
May you like
A tiny silver locket with three engraved initials:
E. A. M.
