Chapter 3 — The Hospital Record
By noon, the hospital had become a fortress.
Security guarded Lily's room.
Detectives guarded the hallway.
Michael's lawyer had arrived.
And I couldn't stop thinking about one sentence.
Your daughter isn't the first child Diane tried to erase.
The woman on the phone had known Lily.
She had known Diane.
And she had known about the child supposedly born ten months before Lily.
We found her name six hours later.
Nora Collins.
Former neonatal nurse.
Retired twenty-one years.
Last known address:
A small house outside Scottsdale.
Michael wanted to go with me.
His doctor refused.
So I went alone.
Nora opened the door with a cane in her hand.
The moment she saw me, she began crying.
“You have her eyes.”
I froze.
“Whose eyes?”
“Your daughter's.”
I stepped inside.
On the wall were photographs.
Babies.
Dozens of them.
Some were marked with dates.
Others with names.
And one photograph made my heart stop.
A baby wrapped in a red blanket.
Underneath it:
LILY?
I turned toward Nora.
“Why did you write my daughter's name?”
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
Nora pointed toward the photograph.
“That child was supposed to become Lily.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What?”
“Diane had another baby prepared.”
“For what?”
“To replace her.”
The room spun.
Nora continued.
“Your daughter was never supposed to be born.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
She walked toward a cabinet.
Inside was an old hospital ledger.
She opened it.
“Thirty-seven years ago, Diane and David Bennett were involved in a private maternity arrangement.”
“What kind?”
“Illegal.”
She turned the page.
“Babies were transferred between families.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Money.”
Then she pointed to one line.
MATTHEW BENNETT — MALE INFANT.
The next line:
UNKNOWN FEMALE INFANT.
And beneath it:
TRANSFERRED TO D.B.
I looked at her.
“David Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Why would my father-in-law take a baby?”
Nora's expression changed.
“He didn't.”
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“Diane.”
I stared at the ledger.
Then I saw another entry.
MOTHER: ELENA MORRIS.
“Who is Elena?”
Nora's face became pale.
“The woman who gave birth to Matthew's daughter.”
My heart stopped.
“Matthew had a daughter.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
Nora looked at me.
“Diane took her.”
I swallowed.
“Where?”
Nora closed the ledger.
“That is what Diane spent thirty-seven years trying to hide.”
Then she reached into a drawer.
She pulled out a cassette tape.
“This is the last thing David Bennett ever gave me.”
“What is it?”
“His confession.”
I stared at the tape.
“Why didn't you give this to the police?”
“Because David told me never to trust anyone carrying the Bennett name.”
I looked at Michael's name on my wedding ring.
For the first time, it didn't feel like a family name.
It felt like a warning.
Nora handed me the tape.
“Listen to it alone.”
“Why?”
“Because once you hear it…”
May you like
She looked toward the door.
“…you will understand why Diane tried to kill your daughter.”
