Chapter 9 - The Box
Daniel ran.
He had not sprinted in dress shoes since college, but anger made him fast.
The delivery man heard the back door slam and looked over his shoulder. Then he dropped the black box and bolted toward the side yard.
Daniel cut him off near the pool.
“Who sent you?”
The man shoved him.
Daniel stumbled, hit the stone edge of a planter, and came back harder.
They collided against a patio chair.
“Get off me!” the man shouted.
Rachel yelled from the doorway, “Police are coming!”
The man froze.
Daniel grabbed his jacket and saw an employee badge clipped inside.
Reed Property Services.
Marcus’s company.
Daniel looked toward the house.
Marcus was gone.
Vanessa was gone too.
“Rachel!”
She ran back inside.
Rosa remained with Noah behind a locked interior door.
Daniel forced the delivery man to sit on the patio until security arrived. Then he opened the black box.
Inside was the nursery camera.
Two external hard drives.
A manila folder labeled HALE - PRIVATE.
And a disposable phone.
Rachel came back. “They took Vanessa’s car.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
Daniel opened the folder.
The first page was a copy of the surrogacy agreement.
The second was not.
It was a genetic screening report.
Daniel read the names twice.
Intended father: Daniel Hale.
Gestational carrier: Rosa Martinez.
Egg donor: listed as anonymous.
Then he saw a handwritten note on the margin.
DO NOT RELEASE MATERNAL MATCH RESULTS TO D.H.
Initials: M.R.
Marcus Reed.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
“What maternal match results?”
Rachel’s face had gone still. “This wasn’t supposed to be a traditional surrogacy, was it?”
“No. We were told Vanessa’s frozen embryos were used.”
Rosa stepped into the doorway, holding Noah.
“I was told it was a gestational pregnancy too.”
Rachel turned the page.
There was another lab report.
Probability of biological maternity: 99.99%.
Rosa covered her mouth.
Daniel looked at his son.
“Why would Vanessa hide that?”
Rachel lifted the disposable phone from the box.
“Maybe the answer is in here.”
The screen lit immediately.
May you like
One unread message appeared.
MARCUS: IF DANIEL FINDS OUT NOAH WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BORN, WE BOTH GO DOWN.
