Chapter 12 - THE DOCTOR’S CHILDREN
Nora could not speak.
Dr. Samuel Voss.
Her doctor.
The man who had controlled medication.
Retrieval.
Laboratory timing.
Embryology decisions.
Storage.
Transfers.
The man she trusted while unconscious under anesthesia.
The biological father of three children created from her eggs.
Nora felt violated in a way language could not contain.
Daniel stayed silent.
Elaine arrived twenty minutes later.
Federal agents joined remotely.
The preliminary genetic match was strong.
Not absolute until formal testing.
But strong enough to change the investigation.
Dr. Voss had apparently used his own genetic material.
Nora closed her eyes.
“Why?”
Nobody knew yet.
But medical-fraud investigators had seen similar cases.
Some fertility doctors had secretly used their own sperm in patients.
Illegal.
Unethical.
Devastating.
Nora had read stories.
She never imagined one would become hers.
But this case had an additional layer.
Voss did not impregnate Nora directly.
He created embryos with Nora’s eggs.
Then moved those embryos elsewhere.
The intent seemed more controlled.
More transactional.
Elaine asked.
“Did Kristina know?”
Nora looked at the payment records.
Maybe.
If Kristina cared only about a grandchild genetically related to Edgar, Voss substituting his own sperm ruined the plan.
Unless Kristina did not care about Edgar’s biology.
Unless she cared only that the children looked plausible.
And could be used legally.
Daniel whispered.
“We need Kristina’s communications with Voss.”
Federal agents were already processing the burner phones.
At 6:30 a.m., they recovered deleted messages.
Some went back years.
Nora read selected excerpts under legal supervision.
K.F.:
Need male option.
S.V.:
No guarantees.
K.F.:
Appearance matters more than biology.
Nora stopped.
There.
Kristina knew.
Another.
K.F.:
Edgar will believe what I tell him.
Another.
S.V.:
Using my material increases control.
Nora felt sick.
Kristina replied:
Do it.
Nora closed her eyes.
Her mother-in-law had authorized Voss to use his own sperm.
Why?
Control.
Voss could verify parentage privately.
Kristina could manipulate Edgar.
If Edgar believed children were his, he became emotionally invested.
If biological truth emerged, Kristina and Voss could control him through scandal.
Everyone held leverage over everyone.
A web of mutually assured destruction.
Nora whispered.
“She never cared whether they were Edgar’s.”
Elaine nodded.
“She cared whether Edgar believed they were.”
Daniel added.
“And whether outsiders could be convinced.”
Nora stared at the messages.
Another exchange appeared after the twins’ birth.
K.F.:
Healthy?
S.V.:
Both.
K.F.:
Good.
No affection.
No joy.
Just inventory.
Nora’s hatred for Kristina deepened.
Then another message.
K.F.:
Nora still trying.
S.V.:
Let her.
K.F.:
Cruel.
S.V.:
Useful.
Nora put down the page.
She could not read more.
Daniel quietly removed it.
Nora had spent years taking injections while these people privately mocked her attempts.
They knew viable embryos had existed.
They knew children had been born.
They watched her continue trying.
Kristina’s cruelty had not merely been prejudice toward infertility.
It had been entertainment built around secret knowledge.
Nora stood near the hotel window.
“I want every charge possible.”
Daniel nodded.
“That process is underway.”
“I want the clinic investigated.”
“It is.”
“I want every patient notified.”
“That may take time.”
“I’ll fund independent testing.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Nora.”
“Anyone whose embryos were handled by Voss.”
“That could be hundreds.”
“I don’t care.”
Elaine interrupted gently.
“Do it through counsel and victim-support organizations.”
Nora nodded.
She was thinking like a CEO.
Money.
Logistics.
Fix the system.
But this was not a supply-chain failure.
These were families.
Daniel said.
“We’ll create a foundation if you want.”
Nora looked at him.
“Later.”
Now Heather and Ava mattered.
Eli and Grace mattered.
And Voss remained free.
At 8:11 a.m., authorities located a vehicle linked to Dr. Voss near Cortez, Colorado.
Empty.
Nearby surveillance showed him boarding a bus west.
He wore a baseball cap and carried one backpack.
No Halden.
No accomplice.
He was running alone.
His financial accounts were frozen.
Passport flagged.
Airports notified.
The net tightened.
Edgar, meanwhile, had learned the genetic truth.
His attorney requested another meeting.
This time Edgar wanted to speak to Nora directly.
Nora initially refused.
Then Daniel said.
“You may want to hear him.”
“Why?”
“Because he appears genuinely destroyed.”
Nora laughed.
“Am I supposed to care?”
“No.”
Daniel’s answer surprised her.
“But destroyed people sometimes stop protecting secrets.”
Nora agreed to video only.
Edgar appeared from an interview room.
Bruised face.
Hospital band.
Orange jail-issued clothing had not yet replaced his civilian shirt because charges were still processing.
He looked older.
Nora felt nothing romantic.
Only distance.
Edgar stared at her.
“Is it true?”
Nora said nothing.
“Ava isn’t mine?”
Nora almost laughed.
“This is your question?”
“Nora.”
“You helped steal my embryos.”
“I didn’t know they weren’t biologically mine.”
“You knew they were biologically mine.”
Edgar covered his face.
“I thought she was ours.”
Nora’s voice hardened.
“You thought Ava was ours?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was I not allowed to know she existed?”
Edgar had no answer.
Nora leaned closer.
“You believed she was our biological child.”
“Yes.”
“You let another woman carry her.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with that woman.”
Edgar closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You planned to raise that child after I died.”
His shoulders shook.
Nora did not stop.
“And you allowed your mother to put a rattlesnake in my bed.”
Edgar began crying.
Nora watched without sympathy.
He whispered.
“I hated myself.”
“Apparently not enough to stop.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Nora almost smiled.
“After police arrived?”
“No.”
“I was going to get Heather and leave.”
“That is not stopping.”
“I was going to tell you later.”
Nora stared.
“From Portugal?”
Edgar looked down.
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
Edgar realized Heather had told her.
“Nora, I was terrified of my mother.”
“You were forty-two.”
“She controlled everything.”
“You had a job.”
“You had money.”
“You had a wife.”
“You had access to police.”
“You had access to lawyers.”
“You had choices.”
Edgar shook his head.
“You don’t know her.”
Nora’s anger sharpened.
“I know exactly who she is.”
“She threatened Ava.”
Nora paused.
That mattered.
“What?”
Edgar looked at the camera.
“When I started resisting, she said Ava could disappear.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because of Lauren.”
Heather’s cousin.
Nora leaned forward.
“You knew about Lauren?”
Edgar nodded.
“My mother told me Voss had handled a problem before.”
Nora felt sick.
“And you still stayed involved?”
Edgar cried harder.
“I thought it was a threat.”
Nora’s voice became cold.
“You always thought the bad thing wouldn’t really happen.”
Sedona.
The snake.
Heather’s kidnapping.
Lauren’s death.
Edgar survived morally by refusing to believe consequences until they arrived.
That was not innocence.
It was cowardice weaponized.
Nora asked.
“What records did Voss give you?”
Edgar looked at Daniel.
“My lawyer—”
Nora stood.
“Then we’re done.”
“Wait.”
She stopped.
Edgar swallowed.
“Two hard drives.”
“They were found.”
“One is a decoy.”
Nora turned.
Daniel’s attention sharpened.
“Which?”
“The silver one.”
“And the other?”
“Real.”
“Password?”
Edgar hesitated.
Nora stared.
“People are missing because of this.”
“Voss isn’t missing.”
“He’s running.”
“Give the password.”
Edgar closed his eyes.
“Grace2023!”
Nora flinched at the use of the child’s name.
Daniel sent the password to investigators.
Edgar continued.
“There’s another folder.”
“Where?”
“Encrypted partition.”
“Password?”
“Nora25.”
She almost laughed.
Her name.
The insurance amount.
Of course.
“What’s inside?”
“I never opened it.”
“Why?”
“Voss told me not to.”
Nora stared.
“You were planning to flee the country and still followed his instructions?”
Edgar looked ashamed.
Daniel interrupted.
“What did Voss say would happen if you opened it?”
Edgar whispered.
“He said I would understand why my mother could never let Nora live.”
The room went silent.
Nora felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Nora studied him.
For once, she thought he might genuinely not know.
Federal technicians accessed the hidden partition thirty minutes later.
Inside were video recordings.
Dozens.
Dates spanning six years.
Kristina and Voss.
Meetings.
Discussions.
Payments.
Planning.
Voss had secretly recorded Kristina.
Insurance.
Leverage.
Nora watched only one short excerpt.
Kristina sat in an office.
Older.
Younger by a few years.
But unmistakable.
She said:
“If Nora ever learns what really happened to her father, none of this matters.”
Nora stopped breathing.
Her father.
Daniel looked at her.
“What happened to your father?”
Nora stared at the frozen video.
“He died of dementia complications.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“What did Kristina have to do with him?”
“Nothing.”
At least Nora believed nothing.
The video continued.
Voss asked:
“What did happen?”
Kristina smiled.
“Exactly what needed to happen.”
Nora’s skin turned cold.
Then Kristina said a name Nora had not heard in years.
“Ask Franklin Mercer.”
Nora whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Who is Franklin Mercer?”
Nora could barely speak.
May you like
“My father’s private physician.”
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