Chapter 3 - The Ghost of a Sister
The rain felt like needles against my face as Ethan’s chilling laugh was swallowed by the wail of police sirens. His words hung in the freezing air, heavier and colder than the storm itself: *She was born six months ago. And you’ll never find who has her.*
My heart hammered so violently I felt it against baby Oliver’s tiny chest. I pulled him tighter against my coat, shielding his delicate face from the spray of water kicked up by the patrol cars. Julian Mercer was at my side in seconds, his hand steadying my elbow on the slick metal steps of the private jet.
"Claire, give the child to the EMTs," Julian said, his voice firm yet gentle. "You're trembling. Let them check him over."
"No," I choked out, my voice cracking. "I can't let go of him. Ethan said... Julian, you heard him. The second embryo. It wasn't destroyed. He implanted it into someone else six months before Oliver was born."
Julian’s jaw tightened, his eyes darkening as he glanced down the tarmac where Ethan was being shoved into the back of a state trooper's vehicle. "Ethan is a narcissist backed into a corner. He’ll say anything to torture you, Claire. To keep a hold over your mind even from behind bars."
"What if he isn't lying?" I demanded, turning to look at my cousin, who was still slumped on the grating, sobbing into her hands.
I walked over to her, the wind whipping my soaked hair into my eyes. "Bella. Look at me."
Bella lifted her tear-stained face, her mascara running in black streaks down her pale cheeks. She looked pathetic, shivering in her designer silk dress that was now caked with tarmac grime.
"Did Ethan have another child?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet. "Tell me the truth, Bella, or I swear to God I will tell the district attorney you planned this kidnapping from day one."
"I... I don't know!" Bella stammered, raising her hands in surrender. "Claire, please! He never told me about another baby! He only came to me five months ago, begging me to hold Oliver, claiming you had suffered a nervous breakdown and were unfit! He said he would pay off my mother’s medical debts if I played along as the surrogate mother for the christening ceremony. I swear, Claire! If there’s another baby, Ethan handled it through his offshore accounts. He never trusted me with his real secrets!"
Uncle Richard stepped up behind us, holding a heavy umbrella over Oliver and me. His face was grim, etched with the deep lines of betrayal. "The FBI is taking jurisdiction over the tarmac incident, Claire. Ethan isn't going anywhere. But if what he claims is true, we have forty-eight hours before whoever holds that child realizes Ethan has fallen."
I looked down at Oliver. He had drifted off to sleep in my arms, exhausted by the cold and the chaos, his tiny hand curled tightly around my index finger. Somewhere out there in the dark, another child carrying my blood was living in the shadows, stolen before she even drew her first breath.
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"Get the car, Julian," I said, wiping the rain and tears from my cheek. "We’re going to Ethan’s private office. Before his lawyers have time to shred the truth."
***
