Chapter 10 — The Second Video
Chapter 10 — The Second Video
The emergency lights painted the hospital corridor red.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Ryan shouted:
“NOAH!”
His voice echoed through the hallway.
I tightened my arms around Lily.
The social worker rushed toward us.
“Mrs. Carter, stay inside the room!”
Ryan ignored her.
He ran into the corridor.
“Ryan!”
I followed as far as I could with Lily in my arms.
The hospital had become chaos.
Nurses were shouting.
Security officers were running toward the elevators.
Someone had pulled the fire alarm.
And the folder containing the original medical records was gone.
But there was something worse.
The hospital security camera above the corridor was blinking.
Ryan looked up.
“The cameras.”
Detective Morales appeared at the end of the hallway.
“I know.”
“Can you access them?”
“I'm trying.”
She held a radio to her mouth.
“Lock down the exits. Nobody leaves.”
Ryan turned to her.
“My father was here.”
“I know.”
“And Victoria.”
“I know.”
“They disappeared during a power failure.”
Morales looked toward the elevator.
“Then someone inside this hospital helped them.”
My stomach tightened.
“How many people knew we were here?”
Morales looked at me.
“Too many.”
Twenty minutes later, we were back inside the room.
The lights had returned.
The doors were locked.
Two officers stood outside.
Lily was sitting beside me, holding a stuffed rabbit the nurse had given her.
She had no idea that her entire world was collapsing around her.
Ryan stood near the window.
He looked broken.
“My father came here.”
I nodded.
“He spoke to you.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That your mother would have killed you if you'd known the truth too soon.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“And then he disappeared.”
I reached for his hand.
He took it.
For a moment, we stood silently.
Then my phone vibrated.
One message.
No number.
No name.
Just a video file.
SECOND VIDEO — PLAY ME.
Ryan looked at me.
“Don't.”
I stared at the screen.
“We need to know what they're doing.”
“It could be a trap.”
“It probably is.”
“Emily—”
I pressed play.
The screen went black.
Then a voice spoke.
My own voice.
“Please don't take my baby.”
I froze.
That was me.
Seven months earlier.
The night Lily was born.
I watched the video.
I was lying on a hospital bed.
Drugged.
Weak.
Barely conscious.
Diane stood beside me.
A newborn cried somewhere off camera.
My newborn.
My daughter.
Diane leaned over me.
“Where is the trust document?”
I whispered:
“I don't know.”
“Where did Catherine hide it?”
“I don't know.”
Diane slapped the bed beside my head.
“Don't lie to me.”
I began crying.
“I don't know.”
She looked toward the camera.
“Then we'll use the child.”
The video ended.
I couldn't breathe.
Ryan took the phone from my hand.
“Why was she asking you about Catherine's trust?”
I shook my head.
“I didn't know anything about it.”
A second video began automatically.
This time, Catherine appeared.
Ryan's grandmother.
She was sitting in a library.
Older.
Tired.
But perfectly lucid.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, then Diane has already begun.”
Ryan moved closer.
Catherine continued.
“The trust was never intended to belong to my son Robert.”
Ryan's face changed.
“It was intended for his children.”
The screen showed a document.
“The first biological child receives controlling interest.”
“The second receives protective interest.”
“But if either child is removed from the family without the mother's consent, the trust becomes irrevocable.”
Catherine paused.
“That clause exists because I discovered what my son was planning.”
Ryan whispered:
“My father.”
Catherine continued.
“Robert believed money could solve every problem.”
“He was wrong.”
“He began making arrangements before my death.”
“Arrangements involving my grandchildren.”
The video suddenly cut.
Then Diane appeared.
She looked furious.
“Turn it off.”
I stared.
She was speaking directly to someone outside the camera.
“Turn it off!”
The video ended.
Ryan looked at me.
“She knew.”
“Diane knew Catherine recorded this.”
“Yes.”
“And she tried to destroy it.”
“Yes.”
Morales took the phone.
“Can you send me the file?”
I nodded.
She immediately transferred it to her evidence system.
Then she looked at the screen.
“There is metadata.”
“What kind?”
“The video wasn't recorded seven months ago.”
I frowned.
“When?”
Morales zoomed in.
“Yesterday.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“Yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“But the footage shows Catherine.”
Morales nodded.
“Someone copied the original footage yesterday.”
Ryan stepped back.
“So someone still has access to Catherine's old files.”
Morales looked at him.
“Exactly.”
That night, we discovered another secret.
The hospital's basement archive had been accessed three times in the past month.
All three times using the same employee ID.
The employee was dead.
Had been dead for four years.
Ryan stared at the access log.
“This is impossible.”
Morales shook her head.
“Not impossible.”
She pointed at the screen.
“Someone is using a dead man's identity.”
“Who?”
“We're finding out.”
Then the hospital administrator rushed in.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
She held a small evidence bag.
Inside was a cassette tape.
An old-fashioned one.
I stared at it.
“What is that?”
“It was found behind the archive shelves.”
Ryan looked confused.
“Why would anyone hide a cassette?”
Morales turned it over.
A handwritten label was attached.
FOR EMILY.
My heart stopped.
The hospital didn't have a cassette player.
But Morales did.
We gathered around a conference table.
She inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Robert.
“If Emily ever hears this, it means I failed.”
Ryan leaned forward.
His father continued.
“I couldn't stop Diane.”
“I couldn't stop Victoria.”
“And I couldn't stop myself.”
I felt cold.
Robert spoke slowly.
“I made a deal with Diane.”
Ryan whispered:
“What?”
The tape continued.
“She wanted Lily.”
“I gave her information.”
“Not the child.”
“Information.”
“She wanted to know where Catherine's trust documents were hidden.”
“I told her I didn't know.”
“She didn't believe me.”
A pause.
Then:
“She threatened Noah.”
Ryan's face collapsed.
“No.”
Robert continued.
“So I made a decision.”
“I allowed Diane to believe Lily was dead.”
My hand covered my mouth.
Robert's voice cracked.
“I took Lily away before she could be harmed.”
Ryan stood.
“Then why did he let Diane take her?”
The tape answered.
“I couldn't keep both children.”
Silence.
“I could save one.”
“And I chose Lily.”
Ryan looked at me.
“Then who saved Noah?”
Robert didn't answer.
Instead, the tape continued.
“I left Noah with the only person I believed would love him without knowing why.”
I looked at Ryan.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“You mean Emily.”
“Yes.”
Robert had deliberately left Noah with me.
He knew I would love him.
He knew I would protect him.
He knew Diane couldn't easily take him because she believed Noah was merely the second child.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“I didn't know Diane had already begun manipulating the records.”
The tape crackled.
“When I realized what she'd done, it was too late.”
Ryan sat down.
“What records?”
The tape answered.
“Lily's birth records.”
I looked at the medical files.
“That's why they say Victoria was her mother.”
“Yes.”
Robert continued.
“And Noah's records.”
Ryan looked up.
“What about them?”
“They changed Noah's identity too.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Because Noah witnessed something.”
“What?”
Robert's voice dropped.
“The night I supposedly died.”
The tape became distorted.
We heard footsteps.
A door opening.
Then Robert whispered:
“Someone is here.”
A woman's voice said:
“Robert?”
Diane.
Ryan stood.
His hands were trembling.
Robert continued:
“I'm sorry.”
Then the recording cut.
We stared at the silent machine.
Morales rewound it.
Played it again.
Same ending.
No conclusion.
No explanation.
Just Diane's voice.
And Robert saying he was sorry.
At 2:00 a.m., we received a call from the police.
Noah had been found.
Alive.
I nearly collapsed.
“Where?”
“An abandoned house outside Evanston.”
“Is he hurt?”
“Physically, no.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes.”
Ryan was already grabbing his coat.
We rushed to the police station.
Noah sat in a small interview room.
When he saw me, he jumped up.
“Mom!”
I ran to him.
He wrapped both arms around my waist.
I held him so tightly that he laughed through his tears.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
Ryan knelt beside him.
“Are you okay?”
Noah nodded.
“Where were you?”
“A house.”
“Who took you?”
Noah looked at the floor.
“Grandpa.”
Ryan froze.
“Robert?”
Noah nodded.
“He said he was my grandpa.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
Noah looked at me.
“He showed me videos.”
My stomach tightened.
“What videos?”
“Of you.”
“Me?”
He nodded.
“Mommy, he said I needed to remember.”
“Remember what?”
Noah looked frightened.
Then whispered:
“Grandma didn't kill Grandpa.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
Noah continued.
“Grandpa said everyone thinks he died because Grandma poisoned him.”
The room went silent.
Ryan stared at his son.
“What did he say actually happened?”
Noah looked at him.
“Grandpa said he was alive.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Noah shook his head.
“He said he died.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He said the man who came back wasn't really Grandpa.”
Ryan stared.
“What does that mean?”
Noah reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a tiny memory card.
“Grandpa told me to give you this.”
Ryan took it.
“What is it?”
“A video.”
“Of what?”
Noah looked at me.
“The night he died.”
We watched the video in silence.
It showed Robert Bennett inside his home.
He was arguing with Diane.
“You cannot take the children.”
Diane screamed:
“They belong to this family!”
“They belong to their mother.”
“You're going to destroy everything.”
“I already know what you did.”
Diane stepped closer.
“What?”
“You changed the birth records.”
Diane froze.
Robert continued.
“You separated the twins.”
“You stole Lily.”
“You manipulated Emily.”
“And now you're trying to control the trust.”
Diane's face hardened.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Robert smiled.
“I was planning to.”
Diane looked confused.
“What?”
“I needed you to believe I was gone.”
The camera moved.
Another person entered.
Victoria.
Then another.
Dr. Vale.
And finally—
a fourth man.
Ryan stared at the screen.
His face became completely white.
I looked at him.
“Who is that?”
He couldn't answer.
The fourth man stepped into the light.
He looked exactly like Robert.
Same face.
Same height.
Same voice.
But he wasn't Robert.
Noah whispered:
“Grandpa said that man was his brother.”
Ryan's lips parted.
“My father had a brother?”
The video continued.
Robert turned toward the man.
“You promised you'd stay away from my family.”
The other man smiled.
“You made the same promise.”
Robert shook his head.
“You're insane.”
The man stepped closer.
“You should have known better than to leave me alive.”
Then the screen went black.
A gunshot sounded.
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Ryan whispered:
“Who was that?”
Noah looked at him.
“Grandpa called him Uncle Richard.”
I felt cold.
“Richard?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I've never heard that name.”
Morales stared at the screen.
“Then we have a new problem.”
“What?”
She paused.
“If Robert had a twin brother…”
She looked at the timestamp.
“…then the man who signed these records may not have been Robert at all.”
Ryan understood.
Someone had been impersonating his father.
For years.
Someone who knew every family secret.
Someone who had access to Diane.
Someone who knew about the trust.
Someone who had been present the night Robert disappeared.
And someone who now knew where Lily and Noah were.
My phone vibrated.
One final message appeared.
YOU FOUND THE SECOND VIDEO.
Then:
NOW FIND THE SECOND FATHER.
I stared at the words.
Ryan reached for my hand.
Behind us, Noah began crying.
And for the first time, I realized the truth was bigger than Diane.
Much bigger.
Diane had stolen my children.
May you like
But someone else had built the world that made it possible.
And that person had just learned that we were finally looking for him.
