Chapter 3 - THE NURSE WHO DISAPPEARED
Thomas didn’t open the door.
“Say something only Marian Bell would know.”
Silence followed.
Then the woman outside spoke.
“Sarah named Lucy after her grandmother, but you wanted Grace.”
Sarah looked at Thomas.
Only a handful of people knew that.
Thomas remained cautious.
“What did you tell me after the delivery?”
Another pause.
“That your daughter had your stubborn forehead.”
Thomas unlocked the door.
Marian Bell rushed inside.
Her nursing uniform was gone.
She wore jeans, boots, and a gray raincoat stained with mud.
“Lock it.”
Thomas did.
Marian saw the blood on his face.
“What happened?”
“Evan.”
Her expression hardened.
“So he finally stopped pretending.”
Sarah held up Lucy’s bracelet.
“Did you put this inside?”
Marian stared at the memory card.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew they would search me.”
“Who are they?”
Marian looked at Thomas.
“The people behind Veil House.”
Sarah nearly shouted.
“Stop saying that like it explains anything.”
Marian looked ashamed.
“You’re right.”
She sat down.
“Twenty-three years ago, I worked nights at St. Matthew’s Hospital.”
“The county had an arrangement with a private foundation.”
“Women in danger could give birth anonymously.”
“At least that was what we were told.”
“One night, a terrified seventeen-year-old girl arrived under police protection.”
“She gave birth to a baby girl.”
“Afterward, officials came.”
“They told us the mother had signed adoption papers.”
“She hadn’t.”
Marian’s voice trembled.
“I watched them take that baby.”
Sarah stared at her.
“What happened to the mother?”
“She fought.”
“Then she disappeared.”
Thomas leaned closer.
“What was her name?”
Marian looked directly at Sarah.
“Rebecca Lane.”
The room went silent.
Sarah slowly shook her head.
“That name means nothing to me.”
“It should.”
Marian reached into her pocket and removed an old photograph.
A teenage girl stood beside a hospital bed.
Her dark hair was tied back.
Her eyes were unmistakable.
Sarah’s eyes.
Sarah’s mouth opened.
“No.”
Marian whispered.
“Rebecca Lane was your biological mother.”
Sarah felt the room tilt.
“My mother is Diane Mitchell.”
“The woman who raised you.”
“Yes.”
“But she didn’t give birth to you.”
Sarah looked at Thomas.
He looked equally stunned.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Marian continued.
“The infant taken from Rebecca was secretly adopted three counties away.”
“That child became Sarah Mitchell.”
Sarah could barely breathe.
“Why would they care about Lucy?”
“Because Rebecca Lane wasn’t just a frightened teenager.”
“She had witnessed something.”
“What?”
Marian looked toward the microSD card.
“That’s what Natalie Briggs discovered.”
Thomas pulled an old laptop from the ranger station cabinet.
It took several attempts before it powered on.
He inserted the card.
Only one folder appeared.
VEIL ORIGINALS.
Thomas clicked it.
Hundreds of scanned documents filled the screen.
Hospital records.
Adoption files.
Police reports.
Payment ledgers.
Then one video file.
Thomas opened it.
A woman appeared on screen.
Older.
Maybe in her late forties.
Sarah stopped breathing.
The woman had her eyes.
“My name is Rebecca Lane.”
Sarah grabbed the table.
The recording continued.
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“If my daughter Sarah ever sees this, then they found her too.”
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