Chapter 7 - The Empty Blanket
Maya could barely speak.
A woman wearing paramedic clothing entered the room moments before Gideon arrived.
She said Toby needed another temperature check.
Maya recognized the hospital badge and allowed her to approach.
The woman pressed something against Maya’s face.
When Maya woke, the window was open and Toby was gone.
Security cameras around the protected house had been disabled for ninety seconds.
The operation was precise.
Someone knew the location, protection schedule, and building layout.
Detective Ortiz ordered an immediate lockdown.
Amelia sat beside Maya while medical staff examined her.
At first, Maya refused to look at her.
Gideon had imagined their reunion in dreams he never admitted having.
There were no joyful screams.
No instant embrace.
Only an eight year old girl staring at a woman she believed had chosen not to return.
“You’re my mom?”
Amelia’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
“You were alive?”
“Yes.”
Maya pulled away when Amelia reached toward her.
“Then you left me with her.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You all keep saying that.”
Amelia lowered her hand.
“You are right.”
Maya looked toward the empty blanket.
“Toby is gone because grown ups keep deciding things without telling me.”
Gideon sat beside her.
“We are going to find him.”
“You said it wasn’t my job to protect him.”
“It isn’t.”
“But I failed.”
“No.”
“I let the woman take him.”
“She tricked you.”
“I should have known.”
“You are eight years old. You were supposed to be able to trust a paramedic.”
Maya began shaking.
Gideon held her.
Amelia remained nearby but did not force herself into the embrace.
Detective Ortiz connected the archive drive.
It contained Northstar’s original client database.
Thousands of recordings.
Payment ledgers.
Blackmail agreements.
Medical profiles.
Political targets.
One folder was labeled MERCER CHILDREN.
Inside were surveillance videos of Maya beginning when she was three.
Another folder contained Toby’s embryo records.
The transfer file showed a modification.
The embryo implanted into the surrogate was genetically related to Gideon.
But the maternal DNA did not match Amelia.
The clinic had substituted another woman’s embryo material.
Toby was Gideon’s biological son.
He was not Amelia’s biological child.
The unknown maternal profile carried the same rare immune marker identified in Northstar research.
Amelia stared at the report.
“I carried the guilt of leaving my son.”
Gideon looked at her.
“He is still your son.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Love did not disappear because of laboratory fraud.
The archive identified the woman whose genetic material had been used.
Rachel Cole.
Daniel Cole’s first wife.
Emma’s mother.
Rachel had vanished shortly after Emma’s birth.
Daniel claimed she abandoned the family.
According to Northstar records, Rachel had been held in a private medical facility for years because her immune profile was valuable.
Toby was created partly from her stolen genetic material.
That made Emma and Toby biological half siblings through Rachel.
Emma overheard the conversation.
She looked toward Gideon.
“Toby is my brother?”
“In a way, yes.”
“Is my mom alive?”
The archive listed Rachel’s status as active.
Her most recent medical update was two months old.
She was alive.
The same facility holding Rachel might be where the kidnappers took Toby.
A location code appeared beside her name.
CASCADIA FOUR.
Ethan identified it as an abandoned research center beneath a private hospital near the Canadian border.
Federal agents prepared a raid.
Before they left, Isla requested to speak with Gideon.
She had remained in custody since the hallway discovery.
In exchange for protection, she offered information about Toby.
“Daniel is not taking him to Cascadia Four,” she said.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Daniel no longer controls the program.”
“Who does?”
Isla looked toward the observation window.
“Amelia.”
Gideon nearly struck the glass between them.
“You are lying.”
“Ask her where she spent the last eight months.”
“She was investigating Northstar.”
“That is what she told you.”
“Daniel tried to kill her.”
“Years ago. Then she learned how much the archive was worth.”
Isla leaned forward.
“Your dead wife did not come home to save the children. She came because the drive was finally accessible.”
Gideon returned to the protected house.
Amelia was gone.
So was the archive.
On the kitchen table lay a note written in her handwriting.
I am sorry. Toby is the only way to reach Rachel.
Maya stood beside the table.
“She left again.”
Gideon looked toward the open back door.
This time Amelia had not disappeared to protect the children.
She had taken the evidence and followed the people holding Toby without telling anyone.
May you like
Or she had joined them.
Continue to the next part: Gideon pursues Amelia to the hidden research facility and discovers she has been working with Rachel Cole for months.
