Chapter 24 - The File That Shouldn't Exist
Victor had gone through a dead doctor's practice and changed a twelve-year-old medical record within one day.
That wasn't random.
It was a message.
The investigator sent officers to St. Matthew's immediately.
We went with them.
The records department was on the fourth floor of an old hospital wing scheduled for renovation.
The clerk led us through rows of cabinets.
“These records were never digitized,” she said. “Most of them haven't been touched in years.”
“Until yesterday,” I said.
She nodded.
We reached a locked room.
The clerk opened it.
There were hundreds of boxes.
“Where's the Brooks file?”
She checked the computer.
“Section K.”
We searched for twenty minutes.
Nothing.
Then Anna found an empty cardboard box.
“Here.”
The label read:
BROOKS, DIANE — OBSTETRICS — 12 YEARS PRIOR
Inside was one envelope.
Empty.
Someone had removed everything.
The investigator looked at me.
“Victor.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Look at the date.”
The envelope had been stamped yesterday.
But the box had been sealed for twelve years.
The investigator looked puzzled.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It means someone had access.”
“Who?”
A man behind us answered.
“I did.”
We all turned.
An elderly janitor stood in the doorway.
He looked nervous.
“Who are you?”
“Thomas.”
He pointed to himself.
“I've worked here twenty-eight years.”
The investigator stepped closer.
“You accessed the file?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say you did?”
“Because I saw the man.”
“What man?”
“Victor.”
Anna stepped forward.
“What did he look like?”
Thomas described him.
Exactly.
“Why didn't you report him?”
The old man's hands shook.
“Because I recognized him.”
“From where?”
“From twelve years ago.”
Everyone froze.
Thomas looked at Diane.
“You were the young mother.”
Diane covered her mouth.
“You remember me?”
“I remember the baby.”
“What happened?”
Thomas looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“Two men.”
“Names?”
“I don't know.”
“Can you describe them?”
“One was Richard.”
Diane gasped.
“The other?”
Thomas looked at me.
“He came back yesterday.”
“Victor.”
Thomas nodded.
I felt sick.
“So Richard was there.”
“Yes.”
“And Victor.”
“Yes.”
“What did they do?”
Thomas stared at the floor.
“They brought a baby out.”
Diane began to cry.
“Where did they take him?”
Thomas pointed.
“Basement.”
“Why?”
“They kept him there until someone came.”
“Who?”
Thomas whispered a name.
“David.”
Anna stared.
“David came?”
“He came after they had left.”
“What did he do?”
Thomas looked at Diane.
“He held the baby.”
Diane broke down.
“Did he know it was my son?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Because your husband was afraid.”
“Of who?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Victor.”
I stared.
“Victor was there that night?”
“Yes.”
“And David was afraid of him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Instead he said:
“David told me something.”
“What?”
“He said, ‘If they ever find the boy again, they'll use his blood.’”
My stomach dropped.
“His blood?”
Thomas nodded.
“I didn't understand.”
The investigator did.
“DNA.”
Thomas looked at him.
“What?”
“The trust.”
Everyone went quiet.
The investigator continued.
“Lucas isn't simply a beneficiary. His biological identity may be the legal trigger.”
Anna whispered.
“So Victor wants his DNA.”
“Or access to it.”
I suddenly remembered the phrase from David's recording.
Lucas was never the one Victor wanted.
Maybe that wasn't entirely true.
Maybe Victor wanted what Lucas could unlock.
A knock sounded from the hallway.
An officer rushed in.
“Agent, we found something.”
“What?”
“Security footage.”
He held up a tablet.
The footage showed Victor entering the hospital the previous night.
He walked directly to the records room.
Then another man entered.
We couldn't see his face.
But he carried a brown leather case.
The same kind I had seen in Richard's office.
The footage continued.
Victor handed him a folder.
The man opened it.
Then he looked directly at the camera.
The screen froze.
Evan moved closer.
“Who is that?”
Nobody answered.
I zoomed in.
The face became clearer.
I recognized him immediately.
I had seen him before.
At the merger dinner.
Standing behind David in an old family photograph.
“That's Dr. Bell.”
The investigator shook his head.
“Dr. Bell is dead.”
I pointed at the screen.
“Then tell me why his face is on that footage.”
Nobody spoke.
The investigator grabbed the tablet.
“Enhance the frame.”
The officer did.
We watched.
The man turned toward Victor.
His lips moved.
We couldn't hear the audio.
But the footage technician isolated the sound.
A single sentence emerged.
“The boy remembers everything.”
Diane collapsed.
Anna whispered:
“Lucas was old enough to remember that night.”
Evan turned toward her.
“How?”
“He wasn't a newborn when Victor took him.”
“What are you talking about?”
Anna stared at us.
“He wasn't twelve when they took him.”
I felt my heart stop.
“How old was he?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Three.”
