Chapter 11 - The Birth Certificate
Nora stared at the judge. "I gave birth to Eli. I can name the nurse who held my hand."
Cho asked for the document behind the allegation. It was a certified-looking birth record listing a different mother and a different hospital.
"This is false," Nora said. "Eli was born at St. Anne's. That says Riverside, which hasn't delivered babies in twenty years."
Cho used the discrepancy immediately. The judge continued the protective arrangement with Nora and ordered the underlying records authenticated before any further action.
Outside, Eli waited with Tessa, lining acorns on a bench. "Did they decide I'm someone else's?" he asked when he saw Nora.
"No," she said firmly. "They don't get to turn you into somebody else with a piece of paper."
The fact that a forged record had reached a court frightened Ben more than a shouted threat. It showed how thoroughly ordinary systems could be misused.
Alvarez's forensic analyst, Jordan Price, arrived with good news: much of the clinic data had been scanned before the files were drenched. The originals were damaged, but searchable copies survived on an offline drive.
"Anything linking Harlan?" Alvarez asked.
"A handful of invoices, lots of missing audit trails, and a recurring code: LANTERN. It's on placement files, clinic payroll, and water testing contracts."
"What does LANTERN mean?"
"No clue yet."
Leah requested another interview through counsel. Alvarez met her in a monitored room and recorded everything.
"My sister thinks I disappeared," Leah began. "I didn't. I was sent into another identity. They convinced me the Parkers didn't want me."
"Who convinced you?"
"Harlan and Nora's father. But Dad wasn't running it. He was scared."
"Of what?"
May you like
Leah pushed across a scrap of paper with a six-digit number.
"The key to LANTERN isn't in the county," she said. "It's in the school.
