Chapter 10 - ELI AND GRACE
The twins had names.
Eli.
Grace.
Two names Nora had never heard.
Two children who had apparently heard hers.
That truth hurt differently.
Someone had not only hidden them.
Someone had told them a story about Nora.
Grandma Kristina said you were the bad lady.
Nora sat quietly after the call.
Nobody rushed her.
Even the federal agents understood that silence had value.
Finally Nora looked up.
“How did he get this number?”
The kidnapping agent answered.
“We’re tracing.”
“This phone is new.”
“Yes.”
“Only a handful of people have it.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
The leak problem was not completely solved.
Unless the phone number came from Heather.
Heather had called it.
Someone controlling Heather’s devices could have recovered it.
The boy’s call originated from a VoIP service.
Location obscured.
But background audio contained clues.
Wind.
A dog barking.
A distant freight horn.
Analysts began work.
Nora asked.
“Why would Eli have access to a phone?”
Elaine answered.
“Maybe the call wasn’t accidental.”
Nora looked at her.
“You think they wanted him to call?”
“Possibly.”
“To hurt me?”
“Or influence you.”
That made sense.
Kristina understood emotional pressure.
She knew Nora wanted children.
She knew Nora carried years of grief around infertility.
What better weapon than two biological children calling Nora from nowhere?
Daniel asked.
“Would Kristina have had contact with Eli and Grace?”
Federal agents checked.
Nathan and Elise Warren initially denied knowing her.
Then Elise admitted something.
A woman named Kris visited several times after the twins were born.
She claimed to represent the anonymous donor program.
Nora’s stomach turned.
Kristina.
Photos from the Warrens’ family cloud confirmed it.
Kristina holding infant Grace.
Kristina pushing Eli in a stroller.
Kristina attending their second birthday party.
Nora stared.
During that same weekend, Kristina had told Nora she was attending a church retreat in Tucson.
Instead she was celebrating Nora’s biological children.
The cruelty was almost too deliberate to understand.
Kristina had watched Nora endure infertility while privately visiting the children created from Nora’s embryos.
Nora whispered.
“She enjoyed it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“She enjoyed knowing.”
Nobody contradicted her.
Federal agents interviewed the Warrens extensively.
Nathan and Elise appeared genuinely horrified.
They had paid Dr. Voss $180,000 for an anonymous embryo-donation process and gestational carrier.
They believed everything legal.
They had raised Eli and Grace from birth.
They were the children’s parents in every practical and legal sense.
Nora did not challenge that.
She asked only one thing.
“Do they know the children are safe right now?”
The agent nodded.
“They do.”
“Good.”
Nora felt relief.
Whatever biological truth existed, Eli and Grace belonged emotionally to a home that loved them.
Kristina had merely invaded that home.
The boy’s call did not come from captivity.
It came from Chandler.
That became clear thirty minutes later.
Eli had used an old tablet.
Kristina had previously installed a calling application on it.
The tablet still contained Nora’s emergency number because someone remotely synchronized a contact file that morning.
The question changed.
Who pushed Nora’s number into a child’s tablet?
Thomas Keene had remote systems expertise.
But he was already detained.
Dr. Voss might.
Halden certainly could.
Or Kristina had prepared it earlier.
The digital logs showed synchronization happened at 9:58 a.m.
From a server in Colorado.
The network path overlapped with a property owned by Dr. Voss.
Federal agents moved.
The property was a luxury cabin outside Pagosa Springs.
By the time they arrived, it was empty.
Again.
But this time the suspects had left more behind.
Heather’s coat.
Ava’s formula.
Medical supplies.
And a handwritten note.
Nora,
If they separate me from Ava, do not let Kristina take her.
Heather.
Nora read the photograph of the note.
Her throat tightened.
Heather believed something might happen.
She was leaving messages.
Breadcrumbs.
Trying to protect Ava.
That mattered.
Then agents found another note hidden behind a bathroom vent.
Three words.
Voss killed Lauren.
Nobody knew Lauren.
Except Rachel.
When asked, Rachel became silent.
Then she cried.
Lauren Perkinson was Heather’s older cousin.
She died five years earlier.
Official cause.
Single-car accident outside Flagstaff.
Heather had mentioned Lauren often growing up.
They were close.
Lauren had also worked at the fertility clinic.
Nora felt a chill.
“Another employee?”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“Embryology lab assistant.”
The room went silent.
An embryology lab assistant would have direct access.
Nora realized Heather may not have been the original insider.
Lauren could have discovered the scheme.
Or participated.
Or both.
Daniel requested the accident file.
Five years earlier, Lauren’s vehicle left a mountain road at night.
No witnesses.
No brake malfunction documented.
Blood alcohol zero.
Weather clear.
Police concluded fatigue.
But family said Lauren had called Heather twenty minutes before the crash.
Rachel remembered the call.
Lauren sounded terrified.
She said she had found something at work.
She wanted to meet Heather.
She never arrived.
Nora looked at Elaine.
“Voss has done this before.”
Elaine corrected.
“We don’t know yet.”
Nora pointed at Heather’s note.
“She thinks he killed Lauren.”
“That still requires evidence.”
Nora hated how often evidence arrived after damage.
At 2:20 p.m., forensic examination of the Sedona video finished.
The bottle in Kristina’s hand matched a prescription sleep medication container.
Prescription registered to Kristina.
The hotel doctor had never tested Nora specifically for the drug.
But the medical records documented symptoms consistent with overdose exposure.
Nora stared at the report.
Another attempt.
Maybe not intended to kill.
Maybe intended to frighten.
Maybe to create instability.
Maybe to test dosage.
The notebook entry said medication available — E hesitant.
Edgar knew.
He had known.
Nora stopped wondering whether her marriage could be repaired.
That question was dead.
At 3:07 p.m., prosecutors upgraded investigative focus toward conspiracy.
Edgar’s attorney immediately requested a meeting.
This time prosecutors attended.
Nora did not.
Daniel represented her interests.
Afterward, he returned to the hotel.
“Edgar is offering cooperation.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“Now?”
“He says Kristina and Voss controlled the embryo scheme.”
“And the murder notebook?”
“He says his notes were hypothetical conversations.”
Nora stared.
“Hypothetical ways for his wife to die?”
“Yes.”
“He wrote ‘insurance not enough yet.’”
“He claims he was documenting what his mother said.”
“Why didn’t he go to police?”
Daniel gave her a look.
Exactly.
Nora asked.
“What does he want?”
“Reduced exposure.”
“For what crimes?”
“He has not admitted specific crimes.”
“Of course.”
Daniel sat.
“But he gave them one useful thing.”
Nora waited.
“A location.”
“Where?”
“Kristina owns property in Colorado through an LLC.”
“Near Pagosa Springs?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“Outside Telluride.”
Nora frowned.
A much more expensive area.
“What is it?”
“Former private rehabilitation center.”
Nora’s skin prickled.
“Medical?”
“Yes.”
“Remote?”
“Very.”
Agents were already moving.
They arrived at 6:11 p.m.
This time there were vehicles.
A stolen pickup.
Halden’s backup SUV.
And Dr. Voss’s sedan.
Nora stood when the call came.
“Are they there?”
The agent did not answer immediately.
“Is Heather there?”
“Yes.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“Ava?”
“Yes.”
Nora almost collapsed with relief.
“Are they alive?”
“Yes.”
Tears finally came.
Nora sat.
Heather alive.
Ava alive.
Police had entered without gunfire.
Gregory Halden attempted to flee through the back service road.
He was arrested.
Cody Mears was found in a utility building.
Also arrested.
Dr. Samuel Voss was not there.
He had apparently left hours earlier.
Heather was dehydrated and bruised but conscious.
Ava appeared medically stable.
Nora covered her face.
For the first time in nearly twenty-four hours, something had gone right.
Then the agent continued.
“There’s another person here.”
Nora lowered her hands.
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Kristina?”
“She’s in custody in Arizona.”
“Then who?”
The agent checked.
“She gave the name Lillian Voss.”
Nora frowned.
“Samuel’s wife?”
“No.”
The agent paused.
“His daughter.”
Nora had never heard of her.
“Why was she there?”
“We’re determining that.”
“Is she involved?”
“She says she was being held too.”
Nora felt another complication arrive.
Then the agent added.
“She also says she knows why your embryos were selected.”
Nora’s heart tightened.
“Why?”
The agent said.
“She wants to tell you herself.”
Several hours later, through a secure video call, Nora saw Lillian Voss.
Thirty-four.
Dark hair.
Pale.
Exhausted.
She wore a hospital blanket around her shoulders.
Nora studied her.
Lillian looked afraid.
Not of Nora.
Of something behind the camera.
Nora said.
“Why did your father take my embryos?”
Lillian closed her eyes.
“He didn’t start with you.”
“I know.”
“He started with wealthy patients.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Nora almost laughed.
Of course.
Lillian continued.
“Then Kristina met him.”
“When?”
“About six years ago.”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
Before Nora’s worst fertility problems.
Before the affair.
Before the stolen embryos.
“What did she want?”
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“A grandson.”
Nora looked away.
Lillian continued.
“She asked whether my father could guarantee a male embryo.”
Nora turned back.
“What?”
“She said her daughter-in-law was failing.”
Nora felt rage.
Lillian swallowed.
“My father told her he couldn’t guarantee outcomes ethically.”
Nora almost laughed at the word ethically.
“But he said they could select embryos based on genetic testing.”
“So?”
“Kristina wanted control.”
Nora’s hands curled.
“She asked whether an embryo could be transferred without you knowing.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Nora whispered.
“And your father said yes.”
Lillian nodded.
“For money.”
“How much?”
“Initially five hundred thousand.”
Nora felt numb.
“What happened?”
“Your embryos became unusually valuable to them.”
“Why?”
Lillian hesitated.
“Because of your company.”
Nora frowned.
“My company?”
“Kristina believed a biological child could eventually claim part of your estate.”
Nora’s blood went cold.
There it was.
The long game.
Not only replacement.
Inheritance.
A biological child connected to Nora could become leverage.
Especially if Nora died.
Especially if parentage became public afterward.
Kristina could position Edgar as guardian.
Control the child.
Control assets.
Lillian continued.
“The twins were a test.”
Nora stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Kristina wanted to know whether your embryos could produce healthy children.”
The sentence was so monstrous Nora could not immediately respond.
Human lives treated as proof of concept.
“And Ava?”
“Kristina wanted a child Edgar could openly claim after you were gone.”
Nora’s mouth went dry.
“So Heather carried the replacement child.”
“Yes.”
“And the twins?”
“Hidden.”
“For what?”
“Insurance.”
Nora looked at Daniel.
“What kind of insurance?”
Lillian started crying.
“If Ava didn’t survive.”
Nora closed her eyes.
The room became silent.
Kristina had treated children like spare parts in a plan.
Lillian wiped her face.
“There’s something else.”
Nora almost did not want to hear it.
“What?”
“My father kept records.”
“We found some.”
“Not the real ones.”
Nora leaned forward.
“Where are they?”
Lillian looked directly into the camera.
“He gave them to Edgar.”
Nora froze.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Daniel stood.
Nora whispered.
“Why?”
“Because Edgar told him the plan had changed.”
“What plan?”
Lillian hesitated.
Then answered.
“He said Kristina had become a liability.”
Nora felt cold.
“What was Edgar planning to do?”
Lillian looked terrified.
“He was going to make his mother take the blame for everything.”
Nora stared.
Then Lillian added.
May you like
“And after she was arrested, Edgar was supposed to disappear with Heather, Ava, and your money.”
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